June 3, 2023 at 9:40 pm Central—This month’s full moon shines brightly in Sagittarius, and while the trine from Mars inspires adventure and motivates drive, the square from Saturn reminds us there is still a lot of hard work left to go and maybe an obstacle or two to iron out.
Sagittarius is the part of our charts where we dare to quest like a modern day Percival in order to find our personal holy grail of purpose and meaning.
Given the celestial activity these past couple of months, it’s likely that our Sag house reveals the stage where many of themes of these moving parts have culminated. Yet, it hasn’t been easy. This Full Moon illuminates the path we’ve been on and encourages us to keep going.
Nine of Wands
It’s helpful to look at the tarot card associated with this decan, the Nine of Wands. In this card, we see a man that looks like he’s a bit busted and bruised. His bandaged head suggests it’s important not to let our own thoughts derail us. He holds a defensive posture and his facial expression says: “Go ahead and try!” There’s a determination in this card to finish what we’ve started even if we don’t know how much longer we can sustain our pace given the challenging terrain we’re navigating.
Yet, we’re near the end. All nines in tarot correspond to The Hermit in the major arcana. It’s in the nines—especially in the suit of Fire (Wands) and Air (Swords)—where we’re asked to call on our inner mettle contained within an outer husk of vulnerability. When we break through our armored insecurity to find our strength to keep on going, a shift occurs gracing us with a second wind that comes out of nowhere.
The Bridle
Austin Coppock offers the image of a bridle to the second decan of Sagittarius, where this Full Moon illuminates the sky from. A bridle keeps a rider and a horse united. In the same way, in this celestial field of Sag II, we’re often asked to hone in on our focus to keep our intention and action together. Doing so results not only in sustained control, but on keeping our horse (action) steady from unpredictable events that would spook our direction and throw us off course.
As this decan is ruled by the Moon, Coppock speaks of the vulnerability present as well. Moon is memory. It’s the past. Our conditioning, habits and impulses safeguard us from wounds scripted in a long time ago. Perhaps something to be aware of at this time is when we’re allowing yesterday’s wounds to keep informing tomorrow’s potential. That sweet spot, the present moment, truly has the power of focus when harness it.
Summary
Saturday’s Full Moon in Sagittarius reminds us of the positive strides we make when we consistently put one foot in front of the other despite our insecurities. The key to a purposeful path doesn’t lie in the past. It’s not in the future either. We discover the key when we drop into the here and now. By immersing ourselves in the present, we push past our vulnerability to discover the strength and clarity needed to continue moving forward.
First image, Bridle, created by me in Midjourney. Second image by the artist Pamela Coleman Smith for the Rider Waite Smith tarot deck.