What's wild and seeking is set free today, with Venus and Mercury moving into fire sign Sagittarius. Mutable Sadge is the frisson in the champagne and the spike in the punch of holiday parties. It's the restless desire to mix with new people, know more, travel, philosophize about what's happening in the world, and experience something untamed and uninhibited in love.
The direct aim of Sagittarius is shocking and liberating. To sensitive souls, it can feel brutal, the ripping off of the symbolic band-aid. In the constellation, the Archer aims at the heart of the Scorpion, fearlessly exposing what's still in shadow, to the light of the higher mind. Some classical astrologers referred to its threatening aspect, writes Deborah Houlding, of Skyscript.
Houlding has fascinating material on the bestial and fierce side of the centaur and the constellation Sagittarius in myth. The Mesopotamians, she writes, drew the centaur of Sagittarius as twin-headed, with human facing forward and an animal facing back. She writes, "The shadowing animal face reminds us that whilst the Sagittarian might strive towards humane development, an underlying bestial energy exists, capable of spontaneous brutality when the bounds of reason are not consciously applied."
She looks further back for the originating myths, to the Scythians, fabled Archers who first used horses in battle around 3000-2000 BC. The horse and rider looked like one being, a creature with supernatural speed that make them an awesome foe. Houlding writes, "It is claimed that when the Greeks first saw the Scythians they believed the horse and rider to be one, giving rise to imaginative and fear-inspired tales of the war-like centaur."
It's interesting to note that Venus and Mars are trine to quickening Uranus and squaring Chiron (Pisces) now, since Chiron in myth was the wise centaur who was hit by Hercules with a poison arrow dipped in Hydra-venom. In astrology, Chiron is the wounded healer and signifies in the birth chart where your wound-that-never-heals is medicine for others. This may be a time of surprising or forceful lancing of a wound, through courageous truthtelling or life-altering decisions. The Archer has a lightness that takes the edge off, and enables us to say what we couldn't say before.
But there's another side, that Houding's article makes clear -- the rough and ready trampling through that comes with a built-in intensity and edge. And while it at first makes us dangerously unbridled, on fire, a bit touched with the searing reality, the truth that Sagittarius brings us now, could, as the saying goes, set us free.
I welcome your submissions for Photo of the Week. An energetic atmosphere related to a sign, aspect or transit? The Zodiac spotted on your travels? Send to me with Photo of the Week in the subject line to astrology.guide@about.com.
- Mercury in Sagittarius, Retrograde at 20 degrees on November 24th, Direct at 3 degrees on December 14th, to January 9th.
- Venus in Sagittarius to November 27th.
- Around About: More pictures of the week.
There is so much symbolism depicted here,. I find it interesting because our scripture likens the body and its passions to a wild mare with meditation and self reflection the reins to tame her. So it would seem horse and rider are indeed one.