The Liberation of Sagittarius
Sagittarius teaches us about truth. Its arrow aims at wisdom. It has no fear that the arrow will miss its target — it has only faith in the path ahead.
Like its predecessor Scorpio, Sagittarius is associated with a variety of symbols. Its glyph is clearly evocative of its title, the Archer, consisting of a cross terminating in a skyward-pointing arrow. But what takes aim isn’t quite as clear. From culture to culture, artist to artist, Sagittarius is depicted with varying degrees of humanity. Sometimes the archer is wholly human, sometimes clearly mythical.
But in the archetypal spectrum that is the zodiac, what can we infer about the sign and its placement from these symbolic discrepancies?
Many of us are familiar with Sagittarius as the centaur. Half man half horse, the centaur is certainly befitting of Sagittarius’ bicorporeality, a trait shared by Gemini and Virgo. But if we travel farther back into the fertile crescent of Sumeria, we find two very different bodies at work. The Archer of Babylon was also equal parts man and horse, but as the cavalry soldier.
The cavalry archer places his faith in a king. His courage is born of the solidarity he…
