Highlights for Nov. 22-28, 2021: Encounters with the Unfamiliar

Encounters with the Unfamiliar

Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone.

New eyes and wonderment

Once, on a visit to New Zealand, I stepped outside on a cool, clear evening and looked up at the sky. What I saw made me a little dizzy: not just a thick blanket of stars, but constellations so different from the ones I’m used to! As an urban dweller, I had no idea that I’d become so familiar with the night sky – until I saw one that was utterly foreign to me.

Sagittarius rules encounters with the unfamiliar. Some of them take us as far away as the other side of the world, where the sky is upside down. But simply traveling to an unfamiliar part of your own city will do the trick as well. Whenever you find yourself feeling a little bit uncomfortable, like a proverbial fish out of water, then you’re doing Sagittarius right. Whatever makes you look at the world, or even just your own life, with new eyes and wonderment – that’s Sagittarius territory. And that’s what you’re invited to explore over the next month, as the Sun is in Sagittarius (beginning Nov. 21, 2021, 6:34 pm PST).

The jester on the sidelines

At first glance, Mercury entering Sagittarius (Nov. 24, 2021, 7:36 am PST – through Dec. 20) doesn’t seem like a bad fit. Both planet and sign are talkative, interested in the world and in communication. So why is Mercury considered to be disadvantaged – “in his detriment” – in Sagittarius?

It’s Mercury’s job to gather information, which includes remaining open to new ideas. But it’s Sagittarius’ job to make sense of information and formulate opinions. The masters candidate has to stop researching (Mercury) at some point and present her thesis (Sagittarius). The author has to surrender the manuscript to his publisher. The employer, having interviewed the best candidates, has to decide which one is the right fit.

Mercury is happy to adopt Sagittarius’ vivid, enthusiastic, jovial communication style for a few weeks. But secretly, he feels sidelined in Sagittarius’ court, where the king has made up his mind and is not welcoming new information. Mercury in Sagittarius is a jester on the sidelines in a cast… too often allowed only to entertain, and not to inform.

Routine, ritual, and recreation

This Last Quarter Moon (Nov. 27, 2021, 4:28 am PST) falls on the Sabian symbol 6 Virgo: A merry-go-round. It may feel as if you’re going around in circles, but isn’t that the nature of daily life? We get up, have some breakfast, do some work, have some lunch, work, have some dinner… and in between we get some exercise, walk the dog, clean the cat box, get the kids to school.

The cumulative effect of all this mundanity might be discouragement, the feeling you’re not getting anywhere. We spend so many of our waking hours tending to repetitive tasks; why not perform them with devotion and care? There’s so much routine to daily life…but put some intention behind the everyday, and it becomes ritual.

The Sun is on the Sabian symbol 6 Sagittarius: A game of cricket. It’s a slow, pastoral game, cricket. So, don’t be in a hurry. Break up your routine with leisure, and in activities with friends. Since Sagittarius and Virgo are both nature-loving signs, this is a good time for tackling outdoor tasks – and a little outdoor recreation as well.

Solid forms

At the Sun/Mercury inferior conjunction on Oct. 9, during the introspective Mercury retrograde time, the seed of an idea was planted. Now, at their superior conjunction (Nov. 28, 2021, 8:39 pm PST), you can see very clearly whether that idea is viable. This conjunction forms on the Sabian symbol 8 Sagittarius: Rocks and things forming there. So this might mean your idea is ready to take solid form… or it could mean that you’ve got rocks in your head!

Both the Sun/Mercury conjunction and the sign Sagittarius have a tendency to believe what they believe, input to the contrary be damned. So take this week to really interrogate your plans and ideas; journal about them, or talk them over with a close friend. Then, get to work making them real.