Welcome to the New Moon of Sagittarius

The archer who only sees the target

Karen Berg describes the Sagittarian with affection and without euphemism. Someone light and jovial, one of the friendliest signs of the Zodiac. They accept most things, they do not dwell, they do not go deeper than they need to. And they love risk: roller coasters, bungee jumping and, sometimes, business deals that are far too risky.

The symbol says a lot. The centaur has the body of a horse and a human head: movement and intellect. He draws the bow, sees the target and goes. The problem is what stays behind. People waiting for a hug, a kiss, some recognition, an "I love you", flowers. And the Sagittarian, honestly, does not even notice. "You know who I am. I don't need to prove myself."

She also speaks, with humor, about the lack of tact, which some people call honesty: telling the truth without asking whether it will hurt. And about a spiritual risk. The Sagittarian can become a spiritual surfer, gliding over the surface of everything and never going down into the depth where life is truly built.

You do not need to be born in Sagittarius to recognize yourself here. Who is waiting for a hug from you?

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

Every day has its own energy

Before speaking about the month, Karen Berg explains where Sagittarius shows up in a chart. The sun sign is the personality, how you present yourself to the world. The Moon is the emotional level. The ascendant determines where the planets sit inside this finite being called you. Anyone with any of the three in Sagittarius will recognize themselves.

But she insists: this applies to everyone. When a cosmic energy descends, it continues. The negativity of the ninth of Av, she says, was planted back at the beginning, in the desert, and the energy of that day stays bound to the same date to this day. In the same way, every day has its own angels and its own energy. So does every week. So does every month.

In the 2017 lecture, she warned that the first two weeks of the month would still carry the weight of Scorpio, because that year Jupiter, the ruling planet of Sagittarius, was in Scorpio. Her advice was to postpone contracts, partnerships and important decisions to the second half of the month. The sky of 2026 is different. The principle remains: the start of a month can still carry the month before. Do not mistake that weight for your destiny.

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

Gimel and Samech: 63

Every month has its letters. For Sagittarius, Karen Berg teaches, the Samech created the sign and the Gimel created its ruling planet, Jupiter. People ask how a letter could create a planet. Her answer is simple: in the same way a sperm and an egg create a human being. The letter is the DNA.

The Gimel is worth 3. The Samech is worth 60. Together, 63. And 63 is also the value of the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, Yud · Hei · Vav · Hei, when they are spelled out in full. It is the highest vibration of letters we use to reach the Creator, what we meditate on and pray with.

That is why, she says, this is the month of miracles. The code of the month itself points to the highest source of Light.

Author's note: kabbalists call this 63 form Sag, written precisely with the letters Samech and Gimel.

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

There is no coincidence

The 36 righteous who sustain the world are not, for Karen Berg, a pretty legend. They are packets of energy, cosmic collectors that sustain and nourish a frequency in our world. And the month that carries 36 in its very name is the month of the 36 candles of Chanukah.

She does not believe things simply happen. She recalls, with humor, that even Webster's dictionary splits the word in two: co-incidence, two incidents joining together. Because we cannot see, feel or touch what joins them, we call it chance.

This month, it is worth looking at your life through that lens. What did you call chance in recent weeks that may have been a message?

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

What blocks the miracle is a lack of gratitude

How many of us wake up in the morning and say: what a miracle, I get up, I get out of bed, I can eat, I can walk? Someone has a baby, it is a miracle. But we do not think that way. We only call a miracle what lies beyond nature and, preferably, what is good for us.

Karen Berg says that what blocks the path to the miracle is a lack of gratitude and appreciation for what already exists. We think it is owed to us. Rav Berg used to say he wished everyone would be sick for one day in their life, just to appreciate what it means to be healthy.

She tells the story of the man who spent his whole life praying and never received an answer. "Of course you did. The answer was no." Nobody wants to hear that. But how many times have we said no to someone who asked for help, or to a friend in need, because that day there was someone more important?

The most important point about miracles, she says, is to have a part of you willing to share something of yourself with another person. In that sharing there is an opening. If it is only "I want, I need, I am", you may get it, but it will come as payment for something else.

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

We are not victims, we are volunteers

One of the strongest lines of the lecture. We arrive where we are because that place was created for us: to do our cleansing, to rise to the next spiritual level, or because of a process of tikkun (correction) that may even come from a past life.

That is why, when we lose something, she asks for another way of seeing. Sometimes we lose people we love, and that means we need to move into another phase of life, where other opportunities will arise. Sometimes we lose money, perhaps money that should not be in our life right now, or that comes to teach us what lack is.

She warns that this month may bring endings: of relationships, of partnerships, perhaps some betrayal. If it happens, she says, it is a good thing. Either something better is waiting for you, or there is something to learn, sometimes how to stand on your own. And she makes it clear she is not telling anyone to separate. She is asking you to see where the relationship is heading and how you can improve it.

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

First the unity, then the oil

Karen Berg rereads the miracle of Chanukah. A huge army against a few people, the Maccabees, and the few won. Why? Because they had unity, a sense of purpose, a great bond among them. Then they entered the destroyed Temple and found a small jar of oil that should have burned for less than a day. It lasted eight.

Which was the greater miracle? Most people would say the victory. But it is written that the greater part of the miracle was the oil, and that is why we light the lights for eight days.

Her explanation: the physical part has to come before a miracle can happen. The unity was the physical part. It was the same at Purim, when Esther asked the people to fast and become one, and the miracle came. The oil was the Creator answering. The miracle was not winning the war. It was receiving the affirmation of the Light.

What bond can you create this month, so that your oil has somewhere to burn?

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).

The kiss of the Creator

Karen Berg gives a name to the small everyday miracles: the kiss of the Creator. Someone invites her to dinner, she accepts out of obligation, not wanting to go, and the next day the person calls to say they caught a cold. She is looking for a parking space, stops for a moment, and a car pulls out right in front of her. The kiss of the Creator.

We have all felt that kiss. The problem is that we do not acknowledge it, and when we do not acknowledge it, she says, the Creator does not kiss as much as He would. The difference between saying "great, I got a parking space" and saying "thank you, Creator" is the difference between merely living and truly feeling what it is to be alive. The more you raise that awareness, the more these things happen.

Her tool is small. Ten minutes in the morning and ten at night, emptying the mind and waiting to see what the messages are. Ten minutes is nothing. In time, maybe twenty, or thirty. And, on waking, telling yourself that everything is fine: that is how we create this space of goodness.

Karen's mother spent years calling in the morning to ask: "How is today, terrible?" Near the end of her life, she said: "You know what? It's pretty good."

Source: Karen Berg, New Moon of Sagittarius lecture (2017).