What Sagittarius means: the sign that aims past the room

The sign before the shortest day

Sagittarius runs from 240 to 270 degrees of the ecliptic, closing where the Sun stands farthest south. It is one of twelve equal signs laid off from the March equinox and is not the constellation, which the Sun passes through from mid-December into January; the Aries page covers the drift. Sagittarius is mutable, ending its season, and the third and last fire sign.

Jupiter's sign makes a planet reach

Sagittarius points a planet at a horizon. The planet does its job broadly, with conviction, and with its eye on something further off than the task in hand. Mercury in Sagittarius says the big thing first and leaves the detail to someone else. Venus in Sagittarius is drawn by the person from somewhere else. Saturn in Sagittarius labors at getting the belief right, and holds off from committing to any one place.

Sagittarius at the Sun, Moon and horizon

A Sagittarius Sun books the flight before checking the dates and reads the history of the place on the plane there. On the way somewhere, the long drive or the second country of the year, it is entirely itself, and an argument about meaning that runs past midnight counts as being on the way somewhere.

A bad week for a Sagittarius Moon ends in a walk that turns into a hike, or a weekend that turns into a week. Room and a reason are what it has to have, and the question that tightens its chest is being told exactly where it has to be next year.

Sagittarius rising is the tallest-seeming person in the room, whatever the measurement, and tells the stranger where they ought to go on vacation within five minutes. The manner is frank and cheerful, and the follow-up is sincere and late.

Gemini opposite, Jupiter, the 9th house

Gemini lies across the wheel from Sagittarius: the near world of errands and neighbors against the far world of journeys and belief, and a Sagittarius planet has to reckon with whatever stands in Gemini. Jupiter rules the sign; the planet's domain, where a person expects more and is generous, is Sagittarius's native mood. The house that corresponds is the 9th: travel, study, belief, the big picture.