Happy December my lovely friend… yes, it’s been a minute. And here we are riding the final exhale of 2018, a year that for many, myself included, has been rife with challenges and uncertainty. Personally, I can’t say that I’m sorry to close the door on this year, and to deeply, consciously inhale the potential of a new one.

And you have the opportunity to do exactly that on this New Moon in Sagittarius today, Dec. 7, 2018 (Dec. 6 Pacific). I encourage you to shake yourself off, open wide, and embrace the joy of this new beginning. Every new moon each month is the opportunity to refresh yourself and start anew in some area of your life – but this one is kind of spectacular. The questions to ask are: What is my journey? Where am I heading? And perhaps more importantly: Is my journey a happy one? Does my journey help me to expand my consciousness and grow as a human being? And then: What area of my life is this New Moon impacting? (We can see that by the house within which it occurs – and the other planets it touches by aspect.)

At this New Moon allow yourself to be filled with the shining possibilities that Sagittarius always offers. When both your emotions (Moon) and your ego and purpose (Sun) combine (New Moon) in this particular sign, you can tap into an extraordinary font of positive, optimistic, and joyous energy. It’s exciting. It projects you into the future. It’s adventurous and certain of the best possible outcome, even without knowing what that outcome may be. More than anything Sagittarius is about the journey rather than the destination. And that means enjoying and celebrating along the way, and finding meaning along the path. And when Jupiter, the ruling planet of Sagittarius, is involved, as he is at this New Moon, the impetus, the purpose of this energy is to infuse you with this optimistic sense of things. He requires you to do something positive, something exciting, something that grows and expands who you are and how you feel about yourself. He is pushing you toward new experiences, the resulting wisdom of those experiences, and a sense of omnipotence. Wherever the New Moon happens for you, that’s where you’re meant to become Zeus – larger than life and as expansive as the heavens. A big thought… but Jupiter is always big. (And yes, there is a lower vibrational way to use Sag and Jupiter energy… I’ll simply frame it as self-aggrandizement and self-righteousness… but why go there? It’s a choice.)

This New Moon in Sagittarius that conjoins with Jupiter is also in a challenging connection to Mars and Neptune. The downside of this combination has the potential to seduce you into perpetuating the idea that you are, or have been, victimized, misunderstood, used as a doormat – or that your codependent tendencies are out, loud, and proud – or that your inner escape artist is poised to descend into whatever may be your avoidance tactic of choice (binge watching, pot, alcohol, sugar, drugs, social media). Mars in Pisces connected tightly to Neptune could have you feeling inadequate to the task (the celebration), or rationalizing that no action at all is a plausible choice. BUT! The UPSIDE of this combination is sublime. SUBLIME! If Jupiter is your joyous moral fibre and optimistic compass leading you into the future, then Neptune is your inner Divine nature who reaches into the transcendent realms toward God/dess. Neptune with Mars lends the capacity to act on your exalted imagination, your expression of Divinely inspired artistry, your ability to connect to beauty on every level and merge with it. See? Sublime!

The take away of the total energy of this New Moon is – travel happy. Despite everything. Choose to find the goodness and beauty in front of you, make decisions and take actions from your inner Divine nature, and walk forward in that state of mind. TRAVEL HAPPY! That can be your New Moon mantra.

And that brings me to this. You must choose what you think, what you feel, what you say, which direction you turn, and what actions you take in all the moments of your life. Every single moment is a confluence of decisions. And all those moments string together and become your past, your present, and your future – your LIFE. So it makes sense to choose the high ground, to divine meaning, to seek and find the positive (even when that feels almost impossible), and even to laugh out loud, in as many moments as you possibly can. It’s appropriate and wonderful, right now, to embrace the Green Man, the symbol of joy and vitality, of sparkling life and merriment. Witness the Green Man as the Ghost of Christmas Present as he visits the sour faced Scrooge on Christmas Eve, as Father Winter, and as the fat old elf Santa Claus – all gift bearers. They all have a shared history and mythology, and all are faces of Jupiter, who dominates the energy of this moment.

I recently reposted a message on Facebook that was originally posted by one of my wisest friends. It goes like this: If you want 2019 to be your year, don’t sit on the couch and wait for it. Go out. Make a change. Smile more. Be excited. Do new things. Throw away what you’ve been cluttering. Unfollow negative people on social media. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Be fierce. Don’t gossip. Show more gratitude. Do things that challenge you. Be brave.

Almost all of these are qualities of Sagittarius and Jupiter! That struck me when I read it – how perfectly this encouraging advice aligns with the meaning of this wonderful New Moon. So take these words to heart. Read them repeatedly. Print them out and put them up somewhere where you will see them often. Let them become your cheerleader to move you into 2019.

Now let’s look briefly at the past of 2018, the current energies, and into the future of 2019 – sort of like the spirits of Past, Present, and Future, who visited old Scrooge, just before he made that brilliant transformation from a truly miserable and miserly curmudgeon, into a joyful, loving, optimistic and happy (Jupiterian) man:

PAST
The driving force of 2018 was the Mars/Uranus square that was active from April through October. What to say about this? We experienced a disruptive, highly energized force that had us constantly on the inhale… the feeling that everything was up in the air with no place to land. Impulsive actions and a sense of urgency were markers of this time. The challenge was how many plates can you keep spinning at once? Very volatile, very forceful energy. For some this was an exhilarating foray into new territory that was refreshing and enlightening, even if challenging. For others it was unsettling and anxiety was high. And for still others the disruption of all that was known was at hand with the rug yanked hard from beneath their feet. The question was “Have you found self-mastery through your actions despite the chaos?” And it’s certainly not too late to answer that question.

PRESENT
We get to exhale. 😊 First, Jupiter moved into Sagittarius on Nov. 8, 2018. I certainly felt that shift! It felt like a lift up – a heart opening. Second, Mercury went DIRECT yesterday, Dec. 6, 2018, and by the 12th will be in Sagittarius along with the Sun and Jupiter, and where this New Moon and your new beginnings occur. So your projects and ideas can begin to move forward if they’ve felt back-burnered during the retrograde, and your communications with others can be optimistic, brightly clear, and incisive (except when Mercury squares Neptune between Dec. 20-28, when communication can be blurred, artistic, beautifully muddled, and/or wisely compassionate.) Third, we’ve got this fabulous New Moon in Sag, which is what the bulk of this writing covers. And finally, this Winter Holiday Season is the first we’ve had in two years when Mercury was not retrograde throughout, and the first in 12 years with Jupiter in his own jovial sign of Sagittarius. There’s a lot of happy/merry to tap into this year!
(Apparently gift-giving & spending are way up!)

FUTURE
First, we can look forward to a January and February during which no planets are retrograde! The potential here is that things really begin to move forward on all fronts. Yay! Second, January is eclipse season with a New Moon Solar Eclipse in Capricorn, and a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Leo. More to come on those later. Third, the biggest shift we’ll experience, beginning in March of 2019 and continuing for the coming 7 years, is Uranus moving from the fiery Aries, where he was potent and aggressive, into earthy Taurus. With Uranus, the Great Liberator, meeting the immovable force that is Taurus the Bull, we have a dynamic of RESISTANCE meeting a dynamic of CHANGE. Wherever that energy impacts your life via your birthchart will be an area that will require a tremendous amount of attention to navigate well. Those with planets in Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, will be profoundly moved by this influence at some time during the 7 year cycle. Everyone is feeling this shift of energy, and these 4 signs will require the greatest changes. On a global scale the shift of Uranus into Taurus will strongly influence technology and innovations toward earth friendly devices; the weather and climate change; the environment and our connection to the Earth as advocates and caretakers; and our finances, investments, banking, the stock market, and our possessions. We’re obviously already seeing much of this as Uranus has already visited Taurus briefly from May through November of 2018. DO NO FREAK OUT. Uranus is always somewhere breaking down the status quo and ushering in a new way. He’s just shifting his position and changing his focus for the coming 7 years, and we will shift and change with him.

For right now I wish for you a beautiful, loving, peaceful, and joyous Winter Holiday! Choose all your moments wisely, and TRAVEL HAPPY into 2019!