The 2023 Sagittarius New Moon reaches its maximum phase at 3:32p PST on Tuesday 12th December 2023 (20°40’). This is the last New Moon phase for 2023, and it’s quite significant.
Ruled by Jupiter, Sagittarius is mutable fire energy, which adapts to its surroundings in order to find room to grow. It is both active and intellectual, which results in Sagittarius being all about putting (Gemini) theory into worldly practice through taking big and bold actions. It’s also known for its tendency to be larger-than-life in sharing its optimism and positive energy, and it makes its best effort to look at every experience through a positive filter, embodying the saying, “You win some, and you learn some.”
However, Sag’s big picture thinking isn’t limited to “good things”. It can also magnify challenges which need to be dealt with in order to bring joy into one’s life experience. A willingness to face its challenges as opportunities for positive personal and social growth gives Sagittarius not only lessons learned but wisdom gained. Sagittarius is also known as the “professor’s” sign for that very reason – it will share what it learns from its experiences, often through teacher, mentor, or elder roles.
Sagittarius serves the purpose of opening our minds to the fact that the world is far bigger and far more diverse than many of us could ever imagine. Its energy helps us see that great big world with an open mind and an open heart. Sagittarius also reveals that there’s amazing potential to find joy, trust, and possibly even love in learning about and understanding our differences, rather than looking at our differences as reasons for fear and mistrust.
Overcoming fear and distrust – of others and of our own individual selves – is why Sagittarius encourages us to get out into the world and find out for ourselves! It reminds us not be satisfied with simply thinking and/or talking about something, but to understand that factual truth is found in actually living it. The world is meant to be experienced. People (and that includes you) are meant to be experienced, not observed or judged in theory, but to be shared through practice. However, how we choose to see others is often rooted in how stable, secure, and confident we feel in our own self-identities and our own life conditions.
We see this on the large scale in our current world events. Our social institutions and our beliefs/trust in them are being challenged in ways many of us never imagined would happen in our lifetimes, or at least not for a second (or in some cases, third) time. And though we may try to perceive these events as separate from one another and from our lives, they are interconnected and they are affecting how we perceive and experience our own individual, personal lives. What’s happening in the world is affecting the state of the societal structures we operate within as well as our sense of stability and security in our lives. We’re all being changed within by the world around us, which has many of us either resisting changes or inspired to make sweeping changes in how we live our lives.
To that point, the 2023 Sagittarius New Moon’s maximum phase occurs on a numerological 4 Universal Day in Western Africa, Western Europe, and all points west of them; and on a 5 Universal Day in all points east of the afore-mentioned.
The 4 Universal Day energy focuses on the establishment and/or sustenance of stable and secure foundations in one or more areas of our lives. Routines and patterns in regard to physical, material, and/or financial resources and experiences may become very apparent on this day, and we’ll either try to uphold them in order to maintain or reinforce the status quo, or we’ll recognize a need to break them in order to catalyze positive change in our lives. Security and safety are often big themes on 4 Universal Days, so we’re also likely to notice what and/or who we can count on in our lives on this day.
The 5 Universal Day energy focuses on change and making changes to the status quo. These changes could be made in order to break patterns of instability and insecurity, but they could also be made to create disruptions to distract from other things that may be going on. Regardless of the intention behind the changes, there is order in the chaos, and the shakeups – orchestrated or not – will serve a greater purpose in our lives and possibly in the lives of others.
Both the 4 UD and 5 UD energies are occurring under the umbrella of a 1 Universal Month of new beginnings, fresh starts, and initiative action. This indicates many of us feeling ready to take the first steps in new directions for our lives, adapting new ways of thinking and speaking about ourselves and the world around us as we actually begin experiencing the world around us and/or getting things started in this last month of a 7 Universal Year of science and spirit, reflection and analysis, resting and regrouping in preparation for the harvest of the upcoming 8 year.
The combination of the astrological and numerological energies makes this 2023 Sagittarius New Moon an excellent resent button for many of us in regard to our personal (and possibly, professional) foundations. The main issue to address at this time is whether or not your current foundation and/or current conditions are conducive to your growth and expansion. Are you in a position to grow or expand in the way(s) that you want or need to now? What do you need in order to take that next step or make that progression to the next level? Maybe you’ve recently completed a chapter of your life and you’re ready to begin a new one, but unsure how to begin. Do you feel secure in yourself and confident in your ability to at least give something new a try?
Whatever your current circumstances may be, please know that you’re not starting from nothing. You really do have the wisdom of your past experiences to help you find and build whatever comes next for you. Just because you’ve never done it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to figure it out, or that aspects of the new will be too new for you to adopt. In fact, everything new has something about it that will be familiar to you in some way – something that will help you realize how interconnected everything and everyone is in this great big world.
That, and it’s how getting out into the world helps you learn and understand that our differences aren’t what keep us apart – it’s our closed, narrow, inexperienced and possibly misinformed/miseducated minds that keep us apart. Direct action and first-hand experience in a new or unfamiliar environment can bring shifts in your world view that open not only your mind and heart, but opportunities and possibilities for how your life can grow and expand from where it is right now. And because it’s an experience you get to have for yourself, you will be able to speak to it with authenticity and integrity – you’ll be credible because you’ve been there and done that, because you took the action to have the experience.
This 2023 Sagittarius New Moon is a prime opportunity to earnestly and authentically change course, which could potentially change your life and the lives of others in relationship with you. Remember that Sagittarius and Jupiter almost always make a matter a bigger deal than yours alone, so any changes you make now will affect others, and may do so in a big way.
For more insights into the specific energies of this 2023 Sagittarius New Moon, here are the astrological transits within 3-5° orb at the time of the 2023 Sagittarius New Moon’s maximum phase:
Sagittarius 1 Sun conjunct Moon (20°40’) – This energy encourages you to step forward into the unknown. You may not know exactly where you’re going, but you know where you’ve been, and you’ve learned that the only one who can move you forward in your life toward the fulfillment of your greatest adventures is you. Emotionally and intuitively feel your way through the unknown or uncertain.
- (wide) trine Aries North Node conjunct Eris Retrograde (23-24°) – Radical individuality as result of outside influences. An alienating sense of “otherness” becomes a strength, converting what was once a weakness into a powerful force for independent, self-affirming action.
SEQUENCE: (Scorpio Venus conjunct Pallas Athena) semi-sextile Sagittarius Ceres semi-sextile Capricorn Mercury (7-9°) – Recognizing patterns of intimacy, vulnerability, and transformation through emotional and spiritual depth leads to a wider world view which encourages more open-minded values, which leads to better-focused thoughts and communications when pursuing your goals.
Scorpio Venus conjunct Pallas Athena (9°) – An opportunity to recognize your patterns of emotional and/or spiritual vulnerability and intimacy, which also provides an opportunity to transform those areas of your life.
Sagittarius Mars trine Aries Chiron Retrograde (13-15°) – Actions taken to grow and expand empower those who are releasing the self-identity wounds projected onto them by others. This is a “removing of the shackles”, understanding that many of the limitations you’ve perceived were never really yours, and you can free yourself of them now through direct and intentional action.
Cancer Vesta Retrograde trine Pisces Saturn (1°) – Others’ emotional investment in self-identity is empowered by a renewal of focus upon how we, as our individual selves, are serving Oneness.
Leo Black Moon Lilith Retrograde semi-sextile Virgo Juno (17-19°) – Ego-driven attention-seeking fuels a renewed commitment to pragmatism and ensuring the functionality of one’s life (in other words, making sure life is working for you).
Capricorn Mercury trine Taurus Jupiter Retrograde (6-8°) – Goal-oriented thinking empowered by opportunities to raise the quality of one’s lifestyle and/or to expand one’s lifestyle resources.
The energy of the 2023 Sagittarius New Moon will be felt from Saturday 9th December through Friday 15th December 2023. This is an excellent moon phase for resetting your personal, social, and/or professional agenda, making sure that the foundation you’re (re)setting is solid enough for the growth you’re ready to experience.
You can overcome your insecurities, fears, and prejudices by stepping out into the great big world… and finding joy, trust, love, and most important, yourself in it.
Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
