Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter “the greater beneficient” associated with generosity, abundance and good fortune. At 24° of the sign A Bluebird Perched On The Gate Of A Cottage is the symbol whose keynote is: the reward which meets every effort at integrating into a social environment for those who remain true to themselves. I must remind you that these images were not divined in any order, so the fact that these past few days have developed the same scene is either mere coincidence (no) or an outcropping of the divination (yes). The bluebird of happiness is more than that as blue, a rare color in nature, especially combined with a bird, symbolizes spiritual orientation. Of course this sign is ruled by Pisces in a twelve-fold sequence, the twelfth astrological house being that of non-material, energetic “spiritual” existence—associated with the biblical archetypes of Jesus and Mary, who wore della robbia blue. The mention of the cottage speaks to the possiblity of it being one of a colony or community, such that the individual inhabitants seem to be at peaceful agreement with others, living in blissful harmony. A cottage is a humble dwelling set, typically, in a natural surrounding, thus living in concert with nature is also highlighted here. When we give ourselves just the basic things we need, we leave room for the Universe to give us the rest, meeting us halfway. Abundance is not only not always material, it is mostly immaterial and we clutter our lives with nonessential manifestations of want that block expressions, like the bluebird, of the Universe’s abundant and happy nature that is our natural birthright.

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At Sagittarius 23° A Group of Immigrants As They Fulfill The Requirements of Entrance Into The New Country is the symbol du jour. Today we focus upon consciously accepting the ways of a new stage of experience, in readiness for the opportunities it will present. There is a sense of passing through a threshold and making a mindful transition. I’m down with this image today I must say. I had one of those nights where I really didn’t sleep at all—it happens often when I’m preparing for a show wherefore I do a great deal of rehearsing in my head in bed. I am tired of doing things the old way. And repetitive or ritual experience whereby I anticipate things may’ve changed remind me that you can’t expect different results from doing the same things the same way. As we cross that threshold to a realm of new experience there will be requirements to meet, those that signal a readiness to adjust to new ways of life.

It can take on the character of a trial by fire, but it should be worth it. Our success in the new realm will in large part be dependent upon how we cross said threshold, in what state of mind and spirit we do so. In a way, this image combines the last two. We are seeking to assimilate but while retaining our original identity. I don’t know about you but there is something really right on about reading this symbol today. Sagittarius is very much about freedom, especially when it comes to freeing the mind. And as this oracle falls under Aquarian rule, we get that extra sense of entering into a new order. I want a new order. Not that the old one didn’t work, but because it worked effectively for that time. You know what I mean? We don’t necessarily transition from a bad place, but we always transition from an outmoded one. At the same time, all is transition, of course. But when we consciously cross a threshold of experience bent on marked change, we are actually acting like a mutation which is tantamount to continued evolution. That is the Aquarian energy. Evolution doesn’t happen along one continual line. Extinction does. Evolution requires mutating and branching off, deviating and diversifying. I’m ready to diversify my portfolio of life. Who’s with me?

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I know these entries haven’t been lengthy these last several days but I’m so busy I barely have time for getting anything down on “paper”. Today’s symbol at 22° Sagittarius is A Chinese Laundry and its hinged on making use of ones special racial-cultural background in order to survive and prosper in an alien environment. I have found myself being envious of those whose cultural background has afforded them special skills, not limited, of course, to the symbolic notion of a Chinese laundry. Oftentimes when people come from other places they don’t see the obstacles that natives do. I felt that the times I lived abroad. And I’ve seen some scrappy foreigners move mountains here at home. This symbol is ruled by Capricorn in a twelve-fold sequence. The Goat is a symbol of culture. Culture gods took goat form, enriching mankind’s experience. The Saturn-ruled sign of Capricorn is about preservation, time and tradition. I don’t feel as if I have a family anything to draw upon, that is of course unless I planned on being a bookie—I recently discovered that this was at least the sideline job of many of my Italian relatives. Likewise I don’t believe that I could support myself on my Irish heritage of drinking, isolating, ironing and folding laundry. Although there’s that word again.

What I always loved about businesses based on foreigner’s cultural heritage or skill was that they would create a little island of their native culture in the new environment. They created a bubble. Stepping into their shops, stores, restaurants and such was like entering into their home country. And, so, they also enriched the new environment where they’ve established themselves. I suppose, since I fancy myself some kind of metaphysician who has descended from a long line of seers, a fictionalized fact or a factual fiction, I am actually doing something that (most likely) speaks to some kind of cultural heritage. But really my calling was the stage whereupon I’ve treaded fairly lightly and never made a huge career for myself. But as I do it for the love not for fame or money, I continue to put myself up there regardless. I wonder, if I had any connection to my past heritage beyond one generation, if I would find other hambones in my family. I image I would. But this image is really about national character and I never felt as if I’ve had that despite the fact that grandparents came over on a boat from Europe.

In contrast to the previous image where we are making believe, pretending toward some sort of growth or evolution, changing our position in the social or spiritual heirarchy, this image is about preserving that heritage from which you derive and exploiting it for survival and gain and also as a means of self-containment, not having to change or evolve, but rather taking that original home with you, like some tortoise shell. Slow and steady winning the race, this image is the opposite of one having to join some kind of rat race, assilimating and climbing ladders; this is the approach that says, you’ll come to me (for business) because I provide a service and you need me; and meanwhile, I may be talking behind your back right in front of your face and you won’t even know it. This approach does not see the new world as a superior environment or group, it sees it as a wild frontier who demand what you’re supplying. And this requires hard work and a sense of humor.

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A Child And A Dog Wearing Borrowed Eyeglasses is the Sabian Symbol at 21° Sagittarius which is also ruled by Sadge in a twelve-fold sequence. The use of imagination and make believe in anticipating higher stages of development is the keynote. The image hinges on the notion that one can hasten the evolutionary process of a being—by making the dog more human, through imitation, we might be accelerating its growth. Eyeglasses symbolize intellect and, with Sagittarius, we are always dealing with the higher mind evolving out of the purely animal, the Centaur expressing this development. If we wear the mask of a god, or the vestment of a guru, we are at once pretending to be them while also invoking their power to actually be them. It’s all about learning through imagination, better known as fake it till you make it.

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Here we go with foresight again: In An Old-Fashioned Northern Village Men Cut The Ice Of A Frozen Pond For Use During The Summer is the symbol at Sagittarius 20°, ruled by Scorpio in a twelve-fold sequence (the fixed-water sign translates to ice). We see the relationship between man and nature—which is inherent in the Centaur image—the planning ahead based on knowledge of natural cycles. Using natural resources in supply of future needs. Again there isn’t much more to say about this symbol. It’s another Sagittarius it-is-what-it-is image.

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In contrast to it’s opposite sign of Gemini, focused as it is on the immediate (both in time and space) Sagittarius is far-sighted. And at 19° of the sign we find Pelicans Menaced By The Behavior And Refuse of Men Seek Safer Areas For Bringing Up Their Young. And yes we are the pelicans. And those of us concerned with the future, do need to discover new ways of living and a devise a plan to make our biosphere more healthy and wholesome. It is not just the environment that is being polluted, though, it is the minds and feelings of new generations who have become desensitized to media pollutants as well. Again there isn’t much meaning here beyond the obvious. We need to come up with a plan for survival because we are killing ourselves, and each other, and taking many if not ultimately all the other species with us. Meanwhile I don’t think our future vision will serve us; that is to say I don’t think we will have the capability of meaningfully inhabiting another planet before we destroy this one. But you know what don’t worry about it. There are far more important things. Just look at what people are tweeting about and liking and promoting. Surely, we care more about what same people got a Golden Globe nomination or what new fashion collection some hyped, auto-tuned pop star is launching. Are we so blind that we don’t even see how we have been made pawns in our own destruction. Did you know the pelican, obviously chosen for this oracle for this very reason, will give its young parts of its own flesh and blood to keep it alive in times of dearth. Well guess what this is is a time of dearth. What are you going to do about it?

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Children Playing On The Beach, Their Heads Protected By Sunbonnets is the symbol for Sagittarius 18°, ruled by Virgo in a twelve-fold sequence. It speaks to the protection that our culture affords us as we become accustomed to powerful energies in our unconscious. Sagittarius rules philosophy and religion which can spoonfeed and contextualize heady concepts to us within the framework of existing traditions; and Virgo is all about slowly digesting and adapting to change. Culture provides a context and protection from what forces would otherwise blow our minds—the sun and sea in this image represent powerful forces, masculine and feminine, that have the power to uplift and inspire us but also to burn and drown us. Religious and cultural institutions are often focused on the young, acting as protective agencies to keep them from becoming lost. However, their tendency toward rigidity and hypocrisy will undermine this aim.

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Today’s musing will be quick because the Symbol is an obvious one: An Easter Sunrise Service Draws A Large Crowd is the image at Sagittarius 17°, ruled by Leo in a twelve-fold sequence. And it simply deals with the fact that we assign our religious ritual holidays to natural events that occur at specific times of year. Easter is the Christian way of celebrating the natural rebirth of Spring. It really is that simple. Mankind has always wanted the psychic human equivalent of such marvelous natural events as Spring.

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Sea Gulls Fly Around A Ship In Expectation Of Food is the Sabian Symbol at 16° Sagittarius which is ruled by Cancer in a twelve-fold sequence and, as we’ve seen with that premier water sign, associated with flood myths like that of Noah and his ark, the sea and ships often coincide with Cancer’s rulership, providing me personal validation for inferring this simple twelve-fold sequence. But there is more to this symbol than meets the eye. We are dealing with nature being made subservient to human dominion.

Just as those animals, two by two, were dependent upon Noah to shuttle them into a new delivered state of existence, the sea gulls in this image (and everywhere, because this is true enough) would rather be dependent upon what scraps the ship might cast overboard than pursue their natural process of hunting for food. We see here how man has a tendency to pervert nature, not just within our own species, but how our very existence alters the natural course and balance of things. The symbolism here is that the gulls represent normal, “wild” energies of the human soul, our psychic sensitivity, you might say; which all too easily attaches, and becomes dependent, upon external, social circumstances, if not corruptive social circles. If the sea represents the (collective) unconscious, then the byproduct of our human tampering, fishing around, within that realm can alter our instincts, making them dysfunctional and codependent. In other words, tampering with our psyches—or having them tampered with, may result in some form or other of trauma, compulsion or other such alteration in our natural state of mind and being.

We know the benefits of socialized limits, but we must also be aware of the social disease that stems from a system that doesn’t require self-reliance, even if it is a proponent for it. As strong as (our) nature is, it all too readily becomes subservient to the human collective trend toward domination of the planet and subjugation of the natural world.

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Why, you may ask, is the symbol for Sagittarius 15°, coinciding with December 6, The Ground Hog Looking For Its Shadow On Ground-Hog Day, February 2, which would be ruled by Gemini, in a twelve-fold sequence. I don’t know. I’m sure it’s metaphorical. I doubt that Elsie Wheeler thought she was assigning this image to an Aquarian Sabian Symbol (February 2 falls in Aquarius). I can’t have all the answers, you know. I do know this (because I read about it): Today’s symbol is about “the value of anticipating new turns of events and ascertaining future prospects.

I know someone who today experienced a new turn of events. I suppose because she did it effects me too. But, otherwise, it’s just very Sagittarian, the archer, to project into the distance/future, while the shadow side of doing so would be called getting ahead of yourself. (I was pulled away and several hours passed) And now I’ve had my own sudden change of events, a redirect if you will, life all being in the editing. And I fully comprehend the reason dual Gemini rules this oracle. If we are projecting, with anticipation, into the future, basically there are two outcomes: the desired one (the ground hog doesn’t see his shadow and spring is nigh) or the other one(s). If we are waiting on a decision, ’twill either be the result we want—a Yes—which is specific, or a the other outcome—a No—but, as we tell clients all the time: no is yes. No is actually a wide open field of other possibilities; and we are thankful to the No because it tells us that our desired outcome was only half a connection. You see we want our desire (our part in the equation) to match our destiny (the universe’s part).

Sagittarius, whose motto is “I see” as well as “I understand”, being the so-called opposite sign of Gemini, sees beyond the duality of either or to tertiary outcomes that incorporate both sides of the equation. It is a third-eye vision that has some practical applications in life. As Stella and I say: “it is this or something better.” So we plan for all inevitabilities, in a sense, knowing that a closed door hastens us further down the corridor of life to our desired goal. It is what is called an “eonic” view that is to say we are thinking and planning beyond the immediate, “event consciousness” of Gemini whose shadow side always needs some buzz from happenstance, and taking a longer perspective, one of prospective, seeing what native Americans called “the long body”, thus eonic visioning. That’s the superpower of Sagittarian archers to see beyond the immediate and imagine any number of fields of experience that span time.

So if the ground hog sees its shadow we have another six weeks of what was the supposed undesired outcome? No. We are willing to imagine that field of time/space as being ripe with ultimate potential and opportunity. We, too, will “go back in” and focus more on interior work, knowing that there is more internal development to be had before we bust out into the world with our plans and projects. We are grateful for what might be a grace period for perfecting our visions, for crossing all our t’s and dotting all our i’s.

Incidentally, the groundhog was given the name “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.” Just remember, the weather within never changes!

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