Tomorrow (Monday) Mercury finally leaves Scorpio, where it’s been since Oct. 3 thanks to last month’s retrograde. It enters Sagittarius at 4:41 am EST (9:41:26 UTC). Mercury being the planet of the mind, this activates awareness of what else is happening in Sagittarius, and other activity that relates to it.
Composite image of shooting stars taken near Munich, Germany, during the 2018 Perseid meteor shower, with the Milky Way. Photo by Luis Calçada (flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0).
Notably, the Sun is currently traversing the second half of this sign: the zone between the Great Attractor at 14+ Sagittarius (a deep-space phenomenon toward which our region of the universe is moving) and the Galactic Core at 27+ Sadge (the center of our Milky Way galaxy).
These are both very large features of space, far enough away that we cannot see them directly. It’s no wonder the natal placement of Mercury in Sagittarius tends to describe focusing on what is far-off and/or broad in scope, sometimes to the detriment of the details.
Yet people with this Mercury are apt to be direct and sincere, even if sometimes a little thoughtless about what flies out of their mouths. Astrologer Isabel Hickey writes, “Their thoughts are like shooting stars” — perhaps one of her more poetic and inspiring descriptions.
After all, who has not made a wish on a shooting star, or felt the sighting of one to be some kind of ‘good omen’ or synchronous message from the cosmos, even if only as a child? Although shooting stars have no direct astronomical connection to the Great Attractor or the Galactic Core (at least, not that science has discovered yet), it’s hard for me not to see some kind of resonance in these associations.
At this time of year, the Earth and the Sun are facing into the galaxy and into a larger galactic structure, focusing us on the Big Questions of Existence — both on a felt/intuited spiritual level, and on an intellectual level. The kinds of questions that probe who you are and why you’re here; what you have to learn, and what you have to give; how the planet and the universe came to be; birth and death and truth and love and soul. You get the idea.
Chart section showing (L to R): Mercury, Pallas, the Sun in Sadge; Pholus, Jupiter, South Node, Ceres, Venus, Saturn and Pluto in Cap.
Connecting a little differently to Sagittarius: that sign’s ruler, Jupiter, is in early Capricorn. It is currently making a square to the centaur Chiron in Aries (and a conjunction to the centaur Pholus in Cap).
Jupiter square Chiron is provoking action. This is not the theoretical aspect of spirituality — it is the bold and experimental version. In other words, it’s time to test your knowledge or your theory. Test your experience against what you learned in the past.
Many years ago, when I was struggling deeply with what I wanted to do for work (which was masking my need for a sense of purpose), an artist friend and fellow Taurus said to me, “You cannot think your way into knowing what you want to do. You just have to try things. If something doesn’t work out, try something else.” Jupiter square Chiron has that feel: getting experience rather than just thinking about something.
Moving a little deeper into Capricorn, Venus enters the Saturn-Pluto conjunction during the second half of the week. It makes its exact contact with Saturn on Wednesday (though you’re probably beginning to feel it) and meets with Pluto on Friday.
On one level, this is an image of the ongoing Saturn-Pluto pressure showing up in your intimate relationships somehow. It may describe some intensity or seriousness. Venus-Saturn in particular could indicate an element of loss or perceived loss/loneliness. Yet there is also the potential for contact here — as in, a practical, grounded approach to relating. Or an awareness of how much you have learned and grown in your relationships.
Speaking of relationships: that most tangible of all interpersonal events — a Full Moon — peaks Wednesday night into Thursday. This is the Gemini Moon opposing the Sagittarius Sun. We’ll have more about this later in the week (check the Written in the Planets daily dispatches). For now, note that the Sun and Moon will be aligning near the midpoint between the Great Attractor and the Galactic Core.
Who is mirroring the Great Mysteries of Existence back to you? And can you see yourself in them?
— with Eric Francis
P.S. Back when Eric worked for Jonathan Cainer in 2005, he wrote a two-part series called Sagittarius Secrets Revealed. You can read those essays here and here.