Written by Aleen

What is your body trying to tell you?

We are in Sagittarius season, and I write this under the New Moon in Sagittarius. There is a feeling of optimism we all needed back in our life.  

In tarot, Sagittarius is represented by the card Temperance.

Temperance is a card that feels very human to me. Even though the image on the card is an angel, when I see it, it brings me back to the present moment, to my body, to being very human. 

It is different to other cards that have similar themes of balance. Temperance feels very individual and based on our personal version of intuition. The card reminding us that we are to move with the ebb and flow of life, not judge it. That we are also human, and that means we need to take care of our human bodies and sometimes the hardest of all, listen to it.

It is difficult to be in a position when your mind wants to move, yet your body asks you to pause. Or even the opposite, when your mind wants to wait yet your body knows it needs to move.

This is where we connect to Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn, which occurs on the same day as the new moon.

Energetically I don’t feel heaviness with this retrograde. Lessons will exist, although it feels like we are getting a chance to learn it in a lighter way. Mercury is the Roman name for Hermes, the Greek God. Hermes was the only God who was able to enter the Underworld as well as Olympus, the higher realms, without permission or another guide. He could take messages from one world to another completely unscathed. 

When I connect in with the energy of this retrograde, it feels like a rebalance of our joy. Capricorn is a very driven sign, although can we balance joy and drive? Can we stay joyous on the journey towards the goal? Eliminating the hustle mindset and bringing forward the intuition of our body.

When did we start to feel like we needed to be serious towards our goal instead of light? Was it when we felt pressure from others or more likely ourselves. Did our minds start telling us everything we weren’t by not having this goal? 

Now is the time to rewrite this all and add the essence of joy that has been missing. 

This December is a preparation for January itself. Listening to our bodies will be a major focus. Our bodies are our intuition. The intuition does not sit in the mind like some people believe, maybe because we link it so closely to the third eye. Our intuition is our whole body, our instincts, our reactions, our health. The chills we receive in the body when we know something is true, the discomfort we feel in the body when we know something just doesn’t seem right.

It is time to hear what our bodies truly find joy from, not what our minds think it receives joy from.

This is when I go to the origin of the word temperance, which is Latin for moderation and self control. The virtue of temperance was one of the pillars for the Stoics, some state as the most important. Doing nothing in excess. 

It comes back to ourselves. To our discipline. To listening to our bodies and what it needs.

Earth signs, like Capricorn, can be very disciplined. Although they can also have such a laser focus on a goal it creates imbalance (they can focus on work and forget about other aspects of life). This is where Temperance steps in. The Sagittarius and Capricorn mix is the joy and drive co-existing. Not one in more excess then the other. 

The irony that we are in a month of Temperance as we move closer to the holiday season is not lost on me. This is where our temperance will be needed. If you are reading this, I know you have done the work to get to this point. This isn’t a test, it is your embodiment. This is it. Listen to your body throughout, it won’t lead you astray.  

Love, Aleen

13 December 2023