In the Pacific Northwest, it’s raining as I write this.  The gentle pattering of rain is drenching the Earth with wetness, making up for all those days of having to go without. And so it goes with astrology. Those of us who study it know that astrology flows with the cyclical seasons of life. Just as spring follows winter, yang follows yin, each zodiac season relieves the former. The good and the bad news is: Everything changes. Nothing can last forever. And so on the heels of the shadowy, intense, autumnal, inward looking sign of Scorpio -the season of increasing darkness, of falling leaves and fallen loved ones, of grief and intense emotions and psychological introspection – arrives Sagittarius in a fiery bluster, all bravado and festive boisterousness.

“Why is everyone so serious?” demands Sagittarius, who resembles cross between a Viking warrior and a pep rally leader, while slamming his ale horn down on the bar, and flicking a quarter into the jukebox as Johnny Mathis starts playing. Sagittarius, pointing out that we’ve all grown a bit too broody and moody for our own good, strikes up a philosophical conversation. “Sure,” he says, “you’ve become a deeper, more whole human being who is in touch with your darkness and humanity, but in the process you’ve lost your perspective. You’ve forgotten how to lighten up. Look outside your window. There’s a whole world out there just waiting for you to explore it. Get up and get out there. But before you do, let’s eat, drink and dance.”

Death lays all the cards on the table and strips us down to our essence. Scorpio season puts us in touch with our aliveness… then Sagittarius comes along to show us how to really live.  How? For starters, we shall eat. A lot. A few days after the Sun enters Sagittarius, at least in America, we will gorge our selves with too much food and drink in a holiday we call Thanksgiving. We will feast, like King Zeus/Jupiter at the buffet of life, as an affirmation of abundance. We will give gratitude, and in so doing demonstrating our faith in the goodness and bounty of life. As we give thanks, we will renew our commitment to live the life we have been given to the fullest, while remembering what and who matters most. The losses and learning of Scorpio season will not be forgotten; they will generate new journeys, and meaningful new perspectives.

Sagittarius New Moon lets Scorpio bygones be bygones, encouraging us to leave the darkness behind and enter into life again, full throttle. To hit the reset button, drink from the dregs of life. Celebrate. Give gratitude.  Have a new experience, or several. Expand your scope, by traveling, learning and living. Sagittarius energy is buoyant, expansive, wants to gather new experiences, reach, stretch and grow beyond what it knows. Sagittarius says: Seekers, Wanderers, Journeyors, to see what the world has for you, you must venture out into it. Sagittarius’ appetite for life, unparalleled to any other Zodiac sign, asks us to feed our spiritual and physical hunger. And not a moment too soon. We need to shake off the pall of grief, the dark night of the soul. We need hope. To go forward, we need a lighter spirit. We need to huddle around the table, eat, drink and make merry in good cheer. Not as a superficial act but as an affirmation of our faith in, and of the wonder of, life.

image: Viking Feast by Harvey Dunn