Sagittarius Season and Exploration
Sagittarius is the season of celebrations and exploration. It's a moment for us to expand our skills, ideologies, and even our relationships. So what are some ways this can manifest in our life? Welcome to Exploring Esoterica, the podcast where I break down different esoteric practices and shed light on the history and truth behind them. Let's explore the expansive and adventurous sign of Sagittarius.
I'm recording this in the middle of December, the last week before the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. We're continuing through the holiday season, although I'm not sure if many people have been full of cheer this year, but I could be wrong. It does feel like it has been a contentious year for most people, and maybe we're just all ready for it to be over. That is a sentiment I've hurt so far. As for me, this has been a somewhat surprising time, but also a bit relaxing. I've been focusing a lot just on my personal life and some fortunate things have come about, so I am feeling a bit grateful. Although things are far from perfect.
As I've hinted so far. This is the season of exploring possibilities and expanding our station in life, at least in a contemplative sense, even if we don't make concrete action just yet. Possibly the most concrete action people are taking is getting ready for Christmas and New Year's at the end of the month and planning for next year. The latter is what I'm excited about. But Sagittarius is a season that can help us dream and explore those goals and desires that interest us. So I want to discuss two things in this episode.
Number one, I wanna explore the sign of Sagittarius in the tropical zodiac, and number two, how that relates to expanding our life. So let's go ahead and get started.
[01:41] Sign of Sagittarius
In the tropical Zodiac, the signs line up with the seasons instead of the actual constellations in the sky. So the cardinal signs of Aries, Libra, Capricorn, and Cancer line up with the solstice and equinoxes. If you wanna learn more of this overall structure and timing, listen to episode 15: the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
Autumn is a season of celebration and collaboration. It was a season of harvest in ancient agricultural societies. So as things come to completion and mature in the summer, autumn is where we enjoy the rewards of our hard efforts of the year.
Libra kicks off the season at the autumn equinox, which is a time of celebration and collaboration, but also focusing on equality and fairness. The sign is ruled by Venus, so the focus is on maintaining relationships and what's best for the group. Scorpio is the season of emotional empowerment and deepening our relationship with others. There's still a focus on justice and fairness, but in a more emotional and sometimes secretive sense. As I mentioned in my episode of Scorpio season, which was episode 20, we don't show our cards all at once, but instead may make time to plan and do things behind the scenes. The sign is ruled by Mars, so there's a correlation with taking action, but when the time feels right.
And lastly, we have Sagittarius ruled by the expansive planet Jupiter. So the focus is on expanding our horizons and engaging with our dreams and ideals in some way. Sagittarius and Pisces are both ruled by Jupiter, so they share the expression of expanding our ideals and desires. They are also mutable signs, meaning the seasons are about to change to the next. Pisces at the end of winter, and Sagittarius is at the end of Autumn.
So our plans and actions may not be as straight forward as during the cardinal signs of say, Libra or a fixed sign like Scorpio. Jupiter also isn't as concrete or detailed, like the significations of other planets, especially Mercury. If we look at the signs ruled by the planets according to traditional astrology, we see that the signs ruled by Jupiter are opposite the signs ruled by Mercury. Meaning a set of specific details and concrete plans, as with Mercury, we're engaging with our ideals and broad concepts, as with Jupiter.
Pisces is a water sign, so there's a focus on our relationships and dreams and intuitions. Sagittarius is a fire sign, so our desire and interests come to the forefront. This can also include our skills, we want to expand knowledge we want to learn, and new experiences we want to embark on or share with others. This is also the season of travel, which I'll come back to in just a second.
In a perfect world, we would welcome these new changes and moments to broaden our horizons. But in reality, we still have the confines of modern society. There's still everyday life that we must tend to that needs our attention. Contracts need to be signed, details need to be hashed out, and meetings must be attended simply because that's a reality of most people's lives. That doesn't mean that we should be afraid of mistakes happening, but understanding that huge projects and undertakings might need to hold off as we allow ourselves to dream big and see what we want to express and explore. But let's explore how this can manifest in our lives.
[04:44] Exploring 12 Areas of Life
The main expression of this sign is on exploration and discovery. Jupiter is a planet of expansion, and right now Jupiter is exalted in the sign of cancer as of this recording. But regardless of what sign Jupiter is currently in, there's still a sense of wanting to grow and expand a certain area of our life whenever the sun enters the sign of Sagittarius. Now my episode on Outgrowing Your Life, which was episode 19, I broke that concept up into four different areas. I wanna do the same, but this time relating it to the 12 houses of a astrological chart.
Most forms of astrology recognizes 12 areas of a chart, depending on a house system. I use whole sign houses because it's most related to ancient techniques from the Hellenistic era of Greece and is the easiest to understand. Again, as a reminder, whole sign houses assign all 30 degrees of a house to a sign. For instance, if your ascendant is a Gemini, the whole sign of Gemini is your first house. Some systems like Placidus starts the first house at the ascendant and then breaks the chart up accordingly. This means that Gemini could straddle both your first and 12 houses. In my opinion, that makes it a little bit more complicated, but I understand why several systems were developed and are still used.
If you need a refresher of all 12 houses, feel free to listen to that episode as well. But let's break this up into the four quadrants, because that might be the easiest to visualize. And I'm going to do these in angular triads. If you're listening in a podcast app, you should see an astrological chart there highlighting which houses I'm talking about.
[06:16] Ascendant Triad
But the first triad is the 12th house, ascendant and second house. These, to me, are the things that impact us in the most immediate way. First house is the house of self while second is our livelihood. 12th is a bit tricky because it can have several meanings, but for me, these are the matters that feel restrictive, areas of loss and mental stress, secrets, and what we keep hidden from others, or even a sense of spirituality. It's those things that can weigh heavy on our mind and what we practice and develop in solitude. There's also a negative connotation with enemies, prisons and confinement, and being outcast or a general sense of loneliness. I don't see it as simply a negative house, but one of obligation, and things that we simply have to deal with because of the reality we live in.
It's those things that we're forced to deal with in some kind of personal and even spiritual way. Sagittarius, in any of these signs can mean that we're wanting to explore what makes us tick, what motivates us in life, and how can we go about attaining or achieving that. This may look like developing some kind of spiritual practice or creative endeavor in secret. This may also look like traveling to discover some new idea and understanding of the world.
The second house is also a place of obligation as it relates to our finances and livelihood, so this might be the season of us exploring a new career or financial opportunity, new skills we can develop, and even relationships that can help us in some financial way. I don't believe Sagittarius is a season where things are set in stone, but it is a time where we are collaborating on ideas and projects that can turn into something substantial, especially as the winter solstice approaches, which is Capricorn season.
[07:54] IC Triad
Next triad is the IC triad, which are the third, fourth, and fifth houses. These are those relationships closest to us, which include our family and close friends. These may have the most impact on our personal life. These houses are still below the horizon if you look at a natal chart. Third is more about communication and extended family like siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and I would even add close friendships that can feel like family. Fifth house is our children, intimate partners, and again, friends that we spend a lot of time doing fun and recreational activities with. These houses can form a foundation of how we function in the world. It's the knowledge we retain from these close relationships, the events and circumstances that formed in our childhood that we carry into adulthood, and those experience that we pass onto others, especially those of us with children.
Sagittarius in these houses can mean expanding that knowledge we share and gain from others, and not just everyday knowledge, but our ideals, morals, and ethics. Those higher level, broad philosophical ideas and even traditions that we engage with in our family structures. Yes, the ninth and 11th houses may have stronger association with these topics, but that's in a more public sense, whereas this is still a bit more private. A slight nuance in the differences between those two areas of which I'll get to. But the main expression is that the idea of expanding our experiences and exploring other ideas, which can also include family trips and vacations, exploring new traditions, and even collaborating with friends and family to help you achieve those desires and goals that seem intriguing at the moment.
[09:29] Descendant Triad
Next triad is the descendant, which are the sixth, seventh, and eighth houses. These strongly correspond to the relationships we have sometimes in an intimate way, other times in a professional sense. With the sixth, these are our daily routines, but also those daily obligations we have, which for many of us does include our jobs and coworkers, whether that's our bosses or just fellow peers. This house is also associated with health concerns. The eighth house being above the horizon, are those resources we share with others, which most times means money and other assets. This house also relates to challenging themes of loss, sacrifice, and mortality. Again, areas of things we must face and confront in some way due to the reality of life.
While these three houses can also have the expression of exploring new experiences and opportunities with relationships, these can also involve commitments that we made to these people. Sagittarius is immutable sign ruled by Jupiter. The sign and planet aren't really associated with fine details and concrete plans like the planet Mercury, so there may be instances where we drop the ball due to focusing on big picture items instead of the small stuff. Luckily, there's a lot of optimism expressed in this sign, making it easier to forgive or ask for forgiveness without too much baggage and strife. Not always, obviously everyone is different, but that is the general vibe.
This can be the season where we look at our relationships in a broad sense and come to terms with them. There can be some ideologies we review and may feel the desire to change and expand. There's still the vibe of collaboration and seeking opportunities, but perhaps we start seeking better people to partner with. Maybe it's time to change the dynamic up a bit. Back to my episode on Outgrowing Your Life, Sagittarius season may be the perfect time to meditate on what needs to change in your relationships and what you're craving. This could be the time to make strides and faith towards that.
[11:24] Midheaven Triad
And lastly, we have the Midheaven, which are the ninth, 10th, and 11th houses. I find these to be the most public of the houses and what we share and do for others, whether that's our career, community, or for a certain audience that we're cultivating. These houses are where the strongest association for travel comes through, especially with the ninth house. This is all in the pursuit of new desires, goals and opportunities. This will come in the form of a career change, community projects, and new ideas that you could share with others. Ninth House also has a strong correlation to religion, philosophy, and spirituality. So this could be the season to expand your religious or spiritual practices or even discover a new practice that you resonate with on a deep level.
Many of us grew up in family structures that believed in a certain religion, such as Christianity. That religion doesn't resonate with everyone, but it can take courage and a lot of deep exploration of ourselves to confront that reality and choose a different spiritual path that could be quite different from what our family and society taught us. Sagittarius is a season where we can explore that with a bit more confidence and optimism than say the previous seasons of Scorpio, which can have a deep brooding vibe to it. Both seasons are great for self-exploration, but while Scorpio is a more internal process, Sagittarius has a more outward and fiery expression in which, due to being ruled by Jupiter, we can take action and faith that something will work out. I personally don't feel so optimistic during Scorpio season and I find that to be a better time to reflect and meditate on whatever emotional blocks I may have.
But these are just some ways that the season may manifest for us. This is the end of Autumn, right before the winter solstice, so we may also be in the mood for planning for the upcoming season and year. I've already started marking a few important dates in my planners for future projects and opportunities to explore.
Mutable signs are also called double bodied, which means the expression can be both a current season and a bit of the following season. For Sagittarius, that looks like collaborating and the celebration of autumn with the planning and finishing things up for winter.
[13:31] One Last Point
So that's how the season of Sagittarius could manifest for most of us. But before I end this episode, I want to compare this with how I ended the episode on outgrowing Your Life. In that episode, I analyzed the effects of a Jupiter return. Those times can feel expansive and exciting, but also a bit restless and daunting. I'm currently going through my Jupiter return and I've had to face a lot of harsh realities that have given me a deep understanding in life. Sagittarius season may not be the same deep impact, but it could. The sun shines a light on areas in our life as the seasons change and it ingress into a new sign. This can signal a need to change something or engage in that part of our life in some way.
But in that episode, I did leave two suggestions. Number one, try something, and number two, use your intuition. Again, this is the time to do both of those things with a dose of faith and confidence that something will work out. Even if we need to go back and fix a few details, this can hopefully lead us to learning something new and gaining experience that can help us along our journey.
So that concludes my episode on Sagittarius season. If you would like to support me directly, you can go to my website and buy my books or make a donation. You can also find transcripts to the episodes there as well. You can join my monthly newsletter so you can stay updated on what's going on in my life and my content. For those of you watching on YouTube, be sure to subscribe and leave me a comment. And with all that said, thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you in the next one.
