Sagittarius New Moon: Adventure Beckons

“Everything okay?” the man behind the bar asks.

I’m standing just inside the doorway, and it crosses my mind that this guy must not see a lot of people that look like me enter his establishment. Maybe he thinks I’m having car trouble?

But fair enough… I feel a little out of my element, too: Many eyes are on me as I step into this cozy, timeworn building. I glance around and see that the bar runs along one side of the room, with a couple of busy pool tables on the other. The mid-afternoon sun streams through the windows, and most of the tables are occupied as well. I appear to be the only white person here, and I’m probably one of the youngest too, by at least a decade, and one of only a handful of women, based on what I see as I glance around.

“I saw your sign for boiled peanuts,” I reply.

I’d been driving on the back roads in the Lowcountry between Charleston and Savannah. A couple days prior, I’d just co-delivered the keynote address at a law conference in South Carolina, and – as was typical for me after traveling to another state for work – I’d decided to take some time off, rent a car, and do some sight-seeing. My colleague and buddy had headed back to Minneapolis the day before, so I was on my own in my travels, which wasn’t unusual for me.

“You want boiled peanuts?” the man clarifies, cheerfully surprised. To my Midwestern ears, it sounds like bowl-peanuts.

I love to travel. I’ve lived in Spain, spent significant time in Australia and Germany, and have visited Morocco, New Zealand, and many other counties – but this place, along the marshland countryside, feels equally foreign to me.

“Yes, I’d love some! I’ve heard of boiled peanuts, but never tried them,” I offer.

Driving on the sparsely occupied road, I’d started feeling a bit peckish. So when I came upon a small, lone property with a hand-painted wood sign out front, leaning against an oak tree, that read BOILED PEANUTS, I decided to pull over.

Living in the Midwest, I’m familiar with the mighty Mississippi; with glistening snow and soaring bald eagles and tall sugar maples and wild turkeys and freshwater lakes; with squeaky cheese curds and salty sausage sticks and earthy wild rice and dense frozen custard. So live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, wind-whipped sand dunes, and seeping wetlands – as well as boiled peanuts, creamy grits, and no-frog Frogmore stew  – are completely unknown to me.

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“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
- Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

On November 23rd at 4:57pm CT, we welcome a beautiful New Moon at 2° Sagittarius.

New Moons always occur when the Sun and Moon join up, beginning a new cycle together. They’re the time for sowing metaphorical seeds of new growth – for considering what you’d like to begin, and bringing intention to the surrounding period of time with a fresh start in mind.

The sign the New Moon occurs in gives information about the type of soil in which we’re planting. And visionary Sagittarius – the sign of the archer – offers a hopeful message of expansion and growth. Among other things, it’s aligned with the idea of broadening your horizons, having an adventure, sharing something you have extensive knowledge of, or diving into something unfamiliar.

Is there a grand adventure calling to you? How can you broaden your horizons – the physical ones of course, but also horizons of the mind? Sagittarius encourages looking up and out: Can you see and feel the great big world before you?

Inspired Jupiter – the ruler of this lunation – is extra potent because it stations direct* in compassionate Pisces a few minutes after the New Moon occurs, making an out-of-sign trine to the luminaries, which is a connection of ease and flow. Thus, this New Moon has an intuitive, spiritual, empathic, healing undercurrent to it, despite Sag being a fire sign, one of inspiration and action and seeking and growth. Be aware that sometimes Pisces can also represent illusion, deception, addiction, confusion, and feeling cloudy or foggy. How can you lean into the helpful, healing parts, and avoid escapism and overindulgence?

Relationship planet Venus and communicator Mercury have both entered optimistic Sagittarius over the past week as well. With four planets in Sagittarius, we’re being encouraged to consider: What would it take for you to aim for the stars? What beckons? Is there an invitation you’ve been thinking of accepting – or perhaps offering?

As you make your plans, do remember that Mars is still retrograde in Gemini: Whatever you plant right now might get an adjustment after mid-January, when the planet of action turns direct.

But exploring the bounty around you can often be a lovely option, and you don’t always need to go far from home to do it, either. What’s possible for you right now?

How can you return to the place you started and see it beautifully, “with new eyes and extra colors”?

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The man steps out from behind the bar, moves over to a side area, and occupies himself filling a small brown paper bag with what I can only guess is the mysterious snack food.

I’d stepped foot into another universe, and as the older gentleman approaches, he smiles and asks, “Want to see how they’re made?”

I’m completely delighted. “That’d be wonderful!”

He hands me the bag he’s just filled, and I can feel warmth through the thin paper. “Follow me,” he instructs, as he heads out the door.

We arrive at the side of the little dwelling, and I watch, mesmerized, as he expertly makes his way around a large pot with a jet burner underneath. He grabs a long wooden paddle, removes the lid, and stirs the next batch of peanuts, which are boiling away inside.

The gent wonders aloud where I’m from, and we strike up a conversation, as I ask question after question about what he’s doing to his cuisine. He’s a real talker, and seems happy to chat away the whole time, sharing his knowledge and telling me about the importance of salt, and good legume-washing skills, and the many uses for the large gunnysacks that the peanuts come in.

“Do you know how to eat them?” he inquires at one point. And of course, I don’t; I honestly have no clue. Do you eat the shell?**

So he shows me how to enjoy the nutty fare, and, imitating him, I pinch the end of the shell and pop the two soft, beany bits into my mouth. It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted – an explosion of salt and softness and warmth.

My eyes must have lit up, because the man starts laughing, clearly pleased. “You like them?”

And I genuinely do. More like a bean, really, than any type of peanut I’ve ever tasted. It’s unexpectedly delicious, and I tell him so.

When we finally part ways and I’m back in my car, I feel lucky: A simple stop for a nibble turned into a step into another dimension, where a generous, warm, knowledgeable fellow shared his gift of cooking, storytelling, life lessons, and wisdom.

And that’s how a Sagittarius adventure can make you feel: Hopeful, expansive, and fortunate – in that bountiful, Jupiterian way.

This New Moon in Sagittarius is inviting you on a call to adventure. It’s a big, wide world out there: Can you allow yourself to open up to it? And, what will you do with this abundant offering?

Essay and photo ©2022 Jen Braun, JJ Boots Productions LLC

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*When a planet stations, it means that it appears to not be moving. This is an optical illusion – of course, the planet doesn’t stop! But from our perspective on Earth, when a planet turns retrograde or direct, it is still. And a stationary planet tends to become more noticeable in its expression and energy.

**PSA: No, you definitely don’t.