12/11 (Sat), 3:30pm HT; 12/12 (Sun), 1:30am UT

New Moon conjunct Sun in Sagittarius, traditionally considered one of the happiest and most harmonious New Moons of the year. As Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, bringer of wealth and hearty pleasures, the early weeks of December have been throughout the Northern hemisphere the time for enterprises of all kinds to celebrate the profits and achievements of the year, and gather the clans for feasts of love and friendship.

The Sagittarius New Moon has been interpreted as the annual waning of female energy as the male energy waxes now toward the birth of the solar hero child in late December. One mythic expression of this theme is the Greek tale of the annual descent of Persephone into the underworld until spring (see below). In fact, however, at this point the female does not actually weaken or decay. If anything, she reaches fruition with the gathering in of the harvest, creating the moment at which her cycle is productive and complete.

The nature of the harvest becomes evident in the relation of other planetary energies to the conjunction of Sun and Moon. It is very powerful this year, as Mercury and Pluto link with Sun and Moon in a four-planet conjunction that is quintile (72° from) both Jupiter in Libra and Uranus in Pisces. The result here is a harvest of not only the fruits of the Earth, but of the products of human imagination and creativity as well.

From the Universal Festival Calendar -by Dan Furst