Sagittarius New Moon Newsletter - Embrace The Itch

If we can master the art of play, we can conquer even the darkest of times

Fucking Mars, man.

He’s been hugging the sun tight as the year winds down, getting his grubby little fingers all over the last 3-4 new and full moons.

Mars is amplifying some of the least appealing parts of Sagittarius. Both of these energies are quite restless, and when combined, we end up fidgety.

Just kind of uncomfortable, can’t sit still.

This fidgety energy is making it hard to rest. It’s not bad, per se, but fuck man, give it a rest.

They’re calling for us to move our bodies. To stretch outside of our capacities.

Sagittarius gets The Itch. It’s a discomfort that persists, and, annoyingly, only worsens when you scratch it.

Of course, the beauty of Sagittarius is its generosity, faith, and desire for exploration. Sag has a reputation for being not just a physical traveler, but an interdimensional one. Sagittarius will boldly go where no man has gone before in his quest for Truth.

This isn’t about facts. It’s about Truth.

The restlessness, the fidgeting, the itch. The source of it is twofold: a hunger for more, and doubt. What once seemed to be unquestionable is now forced into the equation anew, subject to a level of scrutiny that seems unwarranted.

What we thought couldn’t be questioned, we are again questioning.

Placing Sagittarius Into Context

Coming out of the darkness of Scorpio, Sagittarius is reeling a bit and knows that demanding Capricorn is on the horizon. The 9th sign in the zodiac and the most advanced fire sign, Sagittarius is on a journey, and Sagittarius needs to get it right. Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, does not mess around.

Supposing we learned the lessons of Scorpio, we can now begin to make some statements about how things are. What is good, true, and beautiful? What do we know? And how can we act on and implement this truth into our embodied experience?

Sagittarius has ideas. It learns through exploration and then, comes back to share it, to test these hypotheses and see how they are received. This is why Sagittarius travels and explores: to bring the Truth back home.

Enlightened Sagittarius acts upon these truths but still holds them lightly. Neurotic Sagittarius is zealous and tries to convince and convert others. Teaching, for Sagittarius, should be part of the ongoing experiment.

Can we teach without preaching?

Capricorn, the sign after, takes what is true and takes it a step further: this is how things should be. Sagittarius is both an explorer and an investigator, the metaphysical researcher. Capricorn emerges out of Sagittarius. Our quest for universal truth is the foundation for our power structures.

(Think: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”)

Sagittarius is also a mutable sign, flexible, adaptable, and fickle. Sagittarius should be more concerned with getting it right than being right.

Belief is not the enemy, but it can be a trap. Beliefs are designed to be tested, not blindly adhered to and forced upon others.

Dreams

Sun and Moon are square to Neptune in Pisces here, so we may be having more vivid dreams than is typical, and there could be a frantic nature to some of them. The restless itch is making for an uneasy archetypal terrain for our dream life, and it’s amplifying the most challenging parts of Pisces: paranoia, confusion, and disarray.

What to do?

It comes down to Scorpio, annoyingly. Have you done enough inner work to be confident in what is True? Have you honed your perspective by dismantling your biases? Can you see what is?

If you’re confident in the depth and breadth of your inner work, my advice is to stay the course while integrating meaningful feedback. I would also be very careful about what feedback is “meaningful”.

If you’re questioning it, well…maybe it’s time to revisit it and build the confidence that you are seeing clearly.

Have you been humbled by what life has thrown at you recently? Are you sure you’re getting it right?

Venus in Scorpio opposite Jupiter in Taurus is demanding a lot of us. We have to value substance and what is real while also being particularly mindful of image and how things look. It’s not enough to have done the work, we have to present the finished package in a way that looks good.

Perception may not be reality, but it sure does make a difference in whether we hear someone with our defenses up or down.

It’s not enough to be right about what people need, it needs to speak to their current perceived value set.

Not what the real problem is, but what they think the problem is.

The Gene Keys

The New Moon is activating the 26th Gene Key, with the Shadow of Pride, the Gift of Artfulness, and the Siddhi of Invisibility.

A heavy shadow, Richard names the fear of “lack” as the dilemma of this Shadow, the tendency for us to focus on the things we don’t have. He tells a story of a time when he volunteered in a refugee camp, and was amazed by the resilience of one group, The Kurds. A perpetually persecuted Middle Eastern ethnic group, the Kurds are a people without a home in many ways.

Gassed by Saddam Hussein and pushed from their ancestral homes, if anyone has a right to wallow in their sadness, it’s the Kurds.

Richard tells the story of seeing groups of Kurds, huddled in refugee tents in the cold, find abundance in a happiness desert by singing songs, playing music, gathering around fires, and supporting each other, sharing what little they had with the people around them.

This willingness to enjoy the things they do have and see the richness is the gift of Artfulness.

Toddlers

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you’d become upset? Whether you didn’t get something you wanted or you scraped your elbow, it’s as though all you could focus on was how unhappy you were with what happened.

And your parents would try to coax you out of it by inviting you to play, to get ice cream or something. This attempt to cheer you up was often met with some kind of “No, let me be mad” defense.

“No, I don’t want to have fun, I’m mad!”

This is the shadow of Pride. When we shift our perception from what we’re mad about, we open the gift of Artfulness.

I see this a lot with my son. He bonks his tiny little toe on something 6 times a day. We treat him SO UNFAIRLY at times that he melts down.

And soothing him only goes so far. Of course, we acknowledge his pain and tell him it’s going to be okay. And, at a certain point, all that does is continue the fixation on the unhappiness.

By engaging in play alongside him, it allows him to shift his attitude and emerge from his Pride. We do this by playing with our dog, Princess Leia, or one of our exciting “chase me” games.

The Gift of Artfulness is a treasure. It says, I don’t care what kind of hand I’ve been dealt, I’m still going to play to win.

I’m not going to give up and surrender to a shit hand. I won’t allow that shit hand to determine how I play the game.

I’m going to play my game. I’ll make art out of a shit sandwich. This play, this Artfulness, is often the only way to pull us from our depths. This is why laughter is the best medicine.

Play music. Sing. Mess around. It bypasses our defense mechanisms more than practical advice.

Richard calls those who imbibe this 26th Gift “Sacred Tricksters”.

They show us how to Embrace the Itch without scratching it. How to love the lack, and not scorn it.