This week the sun joins Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius on Tuesday. The moon enters Sagittarius on a new moon night on Wednesday.

During Scorpio season we went inwards and found wisdom that helped us deal better with the human condition.

When the sun moves to Sagittarius we emerge from our own personal cave or underworld. It might be freezing outside, but the sun is bright, the sky is clear, and we take a deep breath of joy. We have made it.

My last week was challenging. With so much water and no fire, with Mars retrograding and Saturn squaring the sun. I felt tired and sad. I tried to find the middle path between allowing room for the heaviness I felt (Scorpio), and finding joy and contentment within the situation (Sagittarius).

Sagittarius and Scorpio might be night and day, but they also have one thing in common. In their high road, both are highly spiritual.

Most of our spiritual concepts today relate in some way to Buddhism. The most essential teaching of Buddhism is the four noble truths. These are the truth about suffering, the truth about the cause of suffering, the truth about the cessation of suffering and the truth about the path towards the cessation of suffering.

Scorpio is all about the first and second noble truths. Scorpio understands and accepts that the human condition involves suffering. It wants to get to the root of suffering.

Sagittarius is all about the third and fourth noble truths. It believes that we can stop suffering and that there is a path to get there.

There is a lot of confusion regarding the noble truth. So many spiritual guides trying to sell us the end of suffering. “Be happy now”, they tell us. “Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional.” And so forth.

“Thinking we should be able to have a life without any suffering is as deluded as thinking we should be able to have a left side without a right side. The same is true of thinking we have a life in which no happiness whatsoever is to be found.” 

“If we can learn to see and skillfully engage with both the presence of happiness and the presence of suffering, we will go in the direction of enjoying life more. Every day we go a little farther in that direction, and eventually we realize that suffering and happiness are not two separate things.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

This is the key to wellbeing. Finding a way to accept happiness and suffering as an integral part of our existence.  

If you suffer and can’t find joy in life, connect with Sagittarius energies. This is the most optimistic sign of the zodiac. Sagittariuses see the good in everything. They find joy even when it’s nowhere to be found. They have faith in the world, in humans, in our evolution. They always believe that things will work out, and as a miracle, sometimes against all odds, things do work out for them somehow.

If you keep telling yourself that you are happy now, that life is good, and that everything will eventually work out, but feel a lump in your throat when you do; if you are exhausted from faking a smile when you feel like crying; if you can’t reach intimacy with others, you need to connect with Scorpio energies.

Scorpio will teach you to grow and find wisdom through your suffering.

The new moon in Sagittarius, which comes right on Thanksgiving Day, is a perfect opportunity to reflect on all the things that you are truly grateful for. Not the things that you should be grateful for.

Don’t cover up your discontent with your gratitude. Acknowledge the parts of your life that you are not grateful for, the things that cause you suffering.

Remember that suffering and happiness go hand in hand. So do gratitude and discontent. You are allowed to be discontent and to be grateful at the same time.

It is also a wonderful time to review what you accomplished this year. You might not be exactly where you want to be, but you surely have made some progress.

I am very proud of my achievements this year. Work wise, I became one of nineteen Debra Silverman certified astrologers worldwide. I started teaching at Debra’s school. I launched my bilingual website. I found my voice as a writer and published some successful posts on Tiny Buddha, Elephant Journal and more. I started writing my book. I started speaking at summits.

On the personal level, I got closer to my husband and found harmony in our marriage after a long period of struggles. I formed some wonderful new friendships and reached greater intimacy with old friendships. I found a good balance between work, motherhood, marriage, friendships, health-maintenance, fun and rest.

On this new moon in Sagittarius:

• Reflect on everything you are grateful for, while acknowledging the things you are not happy with.
• Make a list of this years’ achievements. Hang them on the wall, or on your fridge. Email them to me, post them on social media, take pride in what you have accomplished.
• Remember that your achievements are not yours alone. Thank all the people in your life who supported you on your path and enabled them.

This is where I’d like to thank you. Without you, I could not have done all of it. The beautiful feedback I get from you and other clients and readers every week, warm my heart, and give me the energy to keep going, even on days when I feel low and discouraged. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

This is going to be a feel-good week! Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, trines the sun. This means that we will be supported in feeling blessed and lucky during this week.

Mars still retrogrades, which might make us less energetic than usual, but three to four planets in fire will certainly make it much easier to deal with, compared with last week.

My family and I are traveling to spend time with our extended family in Marfa Texas. It’s true that Thanksgiving has some bad connotations, but spending time with family is always precious and valuable.

Have a wonderful week,

Happy holiday,

Much love

Yael