Sagittarius

The Archer, interactive fire, ruled by Jupiter

Swift as an arrow in mind and/or body, Sagittarians revel in freedom of motion. Fresh air, open road, and expanding horizons give this enthusiastic sign room to roam the world with long, galloping strides. Sagittarius is kin to the large-hearted bear who went over the mountain to see what she could see. Another mountain? Onward!

Dull routine is stifling to these adventurers, who re-imagine the mundane in a larger, mythic dimension, translating the symbolic meaning of daily life. As they reinterpret the world, they enlighten social vision with futuristic perspectives. "Wisdom is so large and truth so manifold!" exclaimed Sagittarian poet Emily Dickinson. "The only news I know is bulletins all day from Immortality."

Artemis/Diana is the Divine Huntress--the crescent Moon her bow, bright sharp stars the points of light she aims into the heart of the galaxy and beyond. From Earth, the center of the galaxy is seen through Sagittarius. Her domain is the mountain wilderness, where she runs freely through the forest or schusses down the ski slopes. Independent and self-possessed, she aspires toward the heights, as the upright evergreen, nature's pledge of faith through the long white winters of the north country. Ahead of the crowd, she is hard to catch, wary of relationships that would domesticate her, morally indignant at violations into her natural, righteous realm. Sagittarians need the as above/so below inspiration and ground of nature to fuel the horsepower of their body/mind Selves.

Diana, Mountain Eve

Spruce Mountain, the peak of inspiration,
Centered erect from its rising rounded slopes,
The breast of a vital woman.
To the south her head arches back, one arm curved
Around the valley of her neck,
Filled with quivering arrows of pine and fir.
She bristles with them, a great, brown bear
Couching, alert, she watches her solar twin
Sail toward the Pacific,
Shafts of colored cloud streaming winds
Through the trees of her hair.
In his darkness she will rise,
Calling on the crescent Moon,
Hung in the horns of a majestic Elk.
The northward descent climbs down a ribbed ledge,
Bounds across a rippling field of belly.
A pelvic angle slopes between sleek ridges
Of rose hip and thigh. One knee bends into a hill.
The other lays out more smoothly,
A child's hike, to the foothills and plains.
There she steps early into the morning stream,
Wakening to the fresh, swift waters.
Winter's dawn banks an altared light that shines toward eternity.

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