[This ceremony is available in Spanish here.]
As nights grow longer and fall’s chill crispens to winter’s cold, Sagittarius ignites the fires of inner vision and with them, the yearning for new and broader pathways. The New Moon in the sign of the archer offers a chance to fulfill this urge.
A Solar Eclipse marks the present portal, greatly increasing the staying power of what we seed now as it lifts the archer’s sights further into future, including the portal of 2012.
Concerns around our personal paths become magnified. Am I on course with my spiritual practice? Is my current work taking me in the best direction? Questions that tend to rise at this season are now underlain with anxiety about planetary tendencies: Is there something to the catastrophic prophecies? Will earth as we know it survive the climate changes? What about my family’s security? And the future of human rights? If there is indeed a spiritual portal, am I doing all I can to synchronize?
By turning these queries upward, we can lift them to the octave of dharma signaled by this lunation’s proximity to the North Node. Native Mexican astrology confirms the promise of fortune, relating the present eclipse to the Great Mother, as well as Chac Mool or Tlaloc, the rain spirit or essence (“god” was not a native concept), commonly depicted with a vessel in his lap. Although the Spanish colonizers assumed this bowl was designed for physical offerings, it actually represented the spiritual faculty of receiving the gift of water, and with it, life and supply.
Ruled by Jupiter, the New Moon takes place on the cusp of the Celtic tree sign of The Elder, whose lord is Saturn. Both of these planets relate to success, and both are considered teachers. Mercury, the tutor, goes retrograde just before this portal, indicating that the trails opened now are best directed within and in reference to what we have begun or planned in the past.
The following ceremony and affirmations are designed to clarify and consolidate the highest paths through our personal and planetary thresholds.
Prayerful altar-ations
- Candles, garments and decor in tones of brilliant purple with touches of gold or golden-yellow
- Sagittarian stones such as white quartz, lapis lazuli and turquoise
- Poinsettia, Oak Leaf Hydrangea or other bright fall foliage
- Jasmine or sandalwood incense
Ceremony and Affirmations
1. Light your incense, saying something like,
This is an offering for the angels of guidance and faith, whose assistance I request to clarify and consolidate my highest spiritual and material pathway, and share this grace with all receptive souls on the planet.
2. Light your candle or candles, saying something like:
This flame represents the Great Light that is with me and in me, guiding and assisting me on the best path to spiritual and material fulfillment.
3. Repeat words like those that follow for ten minutes or more, slowly and with attention:
The Same Mind that knows the true path for my spiritual and material fulfillment also knows how to guide me and assist me on it, and is doing this through Its infinite channels and with Its almighty means now.
4. Share your consciousness with the planet by repeating words like these for another five minutes:
The Same Mind that knows the highest and the best path for the planet also knows how to guide us and assist us on it, and is doing this through Its infinite channels and with Its almighty means now.
To make the most of such affirmations, use them during at least 6 minutes daily from now until the Winter Solstice.
Would you like to know that you’re on course with your life? Have you ever wondered whether there may really be a golden era for humanity? In her book, Eclipses, astrologer Celeste Teal names this portal, “Blazing New Trails.” By joining your intent with Omnipotent Good at the present cosmic crossroads, you can empower the archer within to co-create the answers to questions like these.
Additional bibliographical references:
Bills, Rex E., The Rulership Book (USA, American Federation of Astrologers, 1971)
Paterson, Helena, The Handbook of Celtic Astrology: The 13-Sign Lunar Zodiac of the Ancient Druids (Llewellyn’s Celtic Wisdom)
Teal, Celeste, Eclipses: Predicting World Events & Personal Transformation (Special Topics in Astrology Series) (Woodbury, MN, Llewellyn, 1990).
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