The Centaur & the Caduceus --> New Moon in Sagittarius December 2010

Today’s new Sagittarius Moon, the 5^th December, at 17:36 gmt, is a signal to lift our metaphorical archer’s bow and direct the quivering arrow to fly high through the sky, like a thoughtful prayer with wings that carry hope, optimism, and the next big idea. The Archer is a brave and bright, forward-looking sign, able to envision the best to come. As a fire sign, it directs light as a beam of focused intent; being mutable Sagittarius illuminates the path, enabling one to move towards a target’s centre by adjusting when needed. 

As many planets now in Sagittarius suggest hitting the mark in one, there are always more targets in the distance for the far-sighted centaur, who eyes the centre of galaxy. While dynamic Mars, strategic Pallas Athena, soulful Moon, Spirit Sun and sacred Vesta are together in this sign, it also suggests we make a plan (the likes of which will differ for everyone, according to where 14Sagittarius lies in the horoscope) and remain hopeful.  

In many ways this December presents a defining moment, primarily because the destiny-fulfilling North Node is with transformational Pluto and communicative Mercury in practical Capricorn, to also make the first of three conjunctions on Monday, the 6^th, due to Mercury’s imminent retrograde on the 10^th December – (No crying over missed Xmas cards or presents – you have been warned!).  On the same day, at the start of the week, Uranus, the planet of dramatic change goes forward. 

Best make a note that powerful Pluto conjuncts Mercury, planet of communication, on the 6^th, 14^th, and again on the 18^th January; this union suggests that practical insight is the key to manifesting long-held ambitions. Mercury and Pluto in Capricorn bring about a serious kind of wisdom and mind control.  As Nagarjuna says in an 1800 year old 'one-liner' “Without the discipline of guarding the mind, what use are other disciplines?”

Mercury in retrograde at 5 Capricorn also sparks off this year’s mega cardinal T-Square once again, reminding us of that greater challenge: to find the balance between autonomy and relationships, security and status.  During this Mercurial phase not only will we have the power to manifest, mould, and create by focusing with the light of wisdom to become one with the target (as Mercury slips back into Sagittarius for the Solstice Lunar Eclipse), but we might also need to be the objective observer and make several attempts to achieve goals, as this Mercury back-flip indicates. 

As always, multi-faceted-multi-talented-multi-tasking Mercury is always on the go; and this retrograde sees the planet of versatility and curiosity extra busy, in triple contact with quite a few planets: Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. This could therefore make the run up to Solstice, the New Year and beyond mighty hectic, sifting through all kinds of information and ideas to implement solutions – indeed, certain discussions may not see any resolve until the end of Feb. One thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment with Mercury as active as this.

Mercury is also the planet of healing. With that in mind, as this new moon is working towards a culmination at Solstice, with a partial Lunar Eclipse pointing towards the galactic centre, conjunct Mercury, Pallas Athene and Mars, it is essential to maintain faith and keep feet on the ground whilst our lights, the Sun and Moon, male and female energies align with the galactic vortex. To my mind this is an important time to activate the internal caduceus, Mercury’s healing wand, and gather in circle to meditate and raise our vibration to that of unconditional love so that we can create a subtle but powerful light body - one that mirrors the beautiful violet light gamma ray of our galaxy, which interestingly looks like a mega purple infinite 8!