Let's look at the building blocks of each sign and some ways they have changed and are changing. Each sign has a history of collective cultural construction based on myth (stories) and connect-the-dot constellations, as well as on astute observations of human nature.

The kinds of charcters that appear again and again in stories have coalesced into some pretty consistent archetypes, but as these characters appear in more modern stories, video games, and graphic novels, the collective view of them changes again.

My goal here is to teach some basic astrology so readers can understand how astrologers put together a picture of a personality type for each sign and how those personality types show up in our stories today. But I also hope you will join me in questioning it a bit. Comment on the “right” way to interpret all this at your own risk.

Basic Symbolic Building Blocks

1. Historically Associated Gods, Goddesses, Planets, and Celestial Bodies

This area is obviously the most complex, and different interpreters will bring in different influences. My biggest pet peeves have to do with the naming of planets and asteroids, not using asteroids as rulers, and the sexism built into all this.

Only one planet was named after a woman, and the woman they chose was Venus: beautiful, sexy, and a traditional “Good Mother” of blonde cherubs.

Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old English schoolgirl, named Pluto in 1930. It was the perfect opportunity to choose a female. She could have chosen Trivia (Hecate) if she was so fascinated by the underworld.

We could also mourn the fact that astrology, like a lot of our institutions and political ideas, having traveled through many cultures, got stuck in the Roman calendar and the Roman pantheon. The zodiac label you are given differs when using the Judeo-Christian and Indian (Vedic) calendars.

But even sticking with Rome, left to me, Justitia, the Roman Goddess of Justice, would rule Libra; the hot planet now named Venus would be Mars (and still rule Aries); and the planet now named Mars would be wise Minerva. Also, Pluto would be named Trivia (Hecate) and would still rule Scorpio.

But I do love having Venus in the mix, and I do love its association with Taurus—maybe the asteroid now named Athena could be Venus.

Yet, honestly, why are we relegated to using the Roman pantheon anyway? There are some super cool Japanese, Tibetan, Mayan, African, Celtic, and Nordic gods and goddesses I’d like to bring into this game. Why can’t the Yoruba God of the Hunt, Orisha Oshosi, rule Sagittarius? Kannon, the Japanese goddess of mercy and service, could rule Virgo.

The point is, modern astrologers, influenced by psychologist Carl Jung, scholar Joseph Campbell, and their successors, do play this game. They start with the traditional pantheon and bring in others to make a point. For now, I’ll do that too.

Maybe I’ll make my own zodiac later for fun. For now, we have what we have, and let’s learn it. Then we can play around.

Some signs began with a single association; as planets were discovered and named, they added another, and consequently, the archetype evolved. These are the associations most astrologers use today.

Signs with a single ruler (and no shared planet):

• Aries: Mars

• Cancer: Moon (Moon goddesses)

• Leo: Sun (Sun gods)

• Sagittarius: Jupiter

• Capricorn: Saturn

Signs with two rulers:

• Scorpio: Mars + Pluto

• Aquarius: Saturn + Uranus

• Pisces: Jupiter + Neptune

Planets that still rule two signs:

• Mercury (Gemini, Virgo)

• Venus (Taurus, Libra)

⭐Learn more about the history of astrology itself (not the archetypes or signs) and how it evolved in this article about Planetary Science in the Oxford Encyclopedias.

We know the symbols and metaphors that build the archetype have changed and continue to change. It’s the themes, lessons, values, and personality types that stay true to human nature across the centuries.

Subscribe now

2. Elements: Fire, Air, Earth, Water

The elements of fire (heat, light), air (sky, wind), earth (stone, metal, earthquakes), and water (rain, wood, flood) are recognized worldwide and are associated with distinct emotional and personified characteristics.

3. Modalities: Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable

The modalities of the signs are a way to describe similar modes of expression between pairs of opposite signs on the wheel

CARDINAL

Aries & Libra (male), Cancer & Capricorn (female) are Cardinal Signs. The key attribute is initiation. They represent the idea-generation and leadership start-up phase of the creative process.

FIXED

Taurus & Scorpio (female), Leo & Aquarius (male)are Fixed Signs. The key attribute is tenacity. The Fixed Signs represent the building phase of the creative process and craftsmanship.

MUTABLE

Gemini & Sagittarius (male), Virgo & Pisces (female) are Mutable Signs. The key attribute is adaptability. The mutable signs represent the revision (transformation) phase of the creative process and the distribution or communication of the resulting work.

When indigenous people from places like the Americas, Asia (and Australia and New Zealand) incorporated European astrology into their own religions and mysticism, and vice versa, those associations with the natural elements evolved. For instance, Virgo’s association with “Mother” Earth, plants, and growing things expanded.

Subscribe now

⭐SEE ALL POSTS on the Archetypes

4. Constellations

Sounds like a simple combination so far (Jupiter+fire+mutable = Sagittarius), but as the associated characteristics of these building blocks evolved through interactions with myriad cultures and were debated and integrated by astrologers, astronomers, storytellers, and philosophers across the centuries, a unique picture of each sign emerged.

When I describe the core building blocks of each archetype, I am not starting with Babylonians, Hellenistic Greeks, or Egyptian men on a hillside at night drinking and connecting the dots of constellations. Well, I am, but only for the purposes of humor.

We have no idea how they made those decisions, when, or even if the Babylonian seed drill was the inspiration for the original Aries constellation, before the ram became the symbol. That is entirely my conjecture, as far as I know.

I saw a picture of a seed drill, looked at the constellation, and knew the (wealthy) Babylonian astrologers called it “The Hired Man” because it signaled the time to hire people to plant and care for animals.

That idea wasn’t warrior-energy enough for the testosterone-worshiping Greeks and Romans, and the Greeks had this cool story about a golden ram, so…

What we know for sure is that the first sign of the zodiac and the Northern Hemisphere birth of the year in spring were one and the same. Male procreation is the enduring theme of Aries, not eggs and seeds.

That is what I will focus on most: basic symbols and enduring meaning. It is the ram, not the seed drill, that most influenced that archetype. Archetypes shift across time. It’s about time for another shift, but these things happen slowly.

We don’t have to shift back to a female starting lineup for spring. We can just let female characters be Aries, and every Aries trans or female character in a beloved story helps make the archetype less gendered.

Oh, yeah, if you got this far. I’m all for WOKE astrology and writing. Feel free to unsubscribe if you can’t be open-minded about that.

I will cite a few sources for each inspiration for the archetype in the articles dedicated to them, but I will not provide academic analysis. Again, we all know the ram metaphor well. I’ll include links if you want to follow up. That is not my focus. I don’t think all that’s crucial to storytellers today.

Subscribe now

Why Every Association Cannot Be Identified and Described Here

There are many cultural influences on the zodiac’s archetypes from across Asia, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. It’s practically impossible to determine the full extent of the influences on every philosopher, storyteller, astrologer, and astronomer who served as a collector and shaper of these disparate cultural elements that originally defined the archetypes of each sign.

The complexity of origin was only compounded as the archetype’s development continued through history. For example, it expanded and evolved again following contact with indigenous cultures of the Americas, as those stories, arts, and gods were incorporated into the minds of philosophers, storytellers, and astrologers who have discussed and written about astrology since the 1400s. The synthesis and feedback loop of cultures has continued to inform the archetypes and storytelling.

Religion, mysticism, and metaphysics have a dynamic relationship with astrology, and all contribute to contemporary storytelling.

Comics, graphic novels, and video games introduce an additional dimension by labeling characters specifically according to moral inclinations. It’s not really about their personality traits; it’s more about predicting how they will act.

Subscribe now

⭐RELATED POST: WHY Learn Archetype Astrology? (Even if You Don’t Believe In It.) A: Do you want to design a game? Write a screenplay? Understand why certain characters do what they do?

Gaming Character Tropes & Examples & the Moral Path

• Lawful Good: Teachers, paladins, knights, idealistic superheroes

• Chaotic Good: Rebels, freedom fighters, and tricksters who think it's good for everyone if they shake things up.

• Lawful Neutral: Characters willing to bend the rules when necessary to achieve the collective good.

• Chaotic Neutral: Mercenaries, opportunists, lone wolves, and other characters who do what they need to do to benefit themselves.

• Neutral Well, it depends.

• Villain Types: Tyrants, Cynics, Schemers, Anarchists

A Libra villain wants their own laws to dominate in perfect order and calls that “justice.” A Sagittarius villain is cynical. No one else is ethical, so why should I be?

Many people confuse tropes and archetypes, but each of the above gaming categories can fit into the bigger categories of each zodiac sign. You can have a Sagittarius who is lawful good, or chaotic good, or a cynical villain who has become a lone wolf. The freedom and truth aspects of that archetype can bend in any direction.

Karma

Many people think of karma as “What goes around, comes around” and believe that’s true in a religious sense. Christians believe the consequences will come one way, and those who believe in reincarnation believe it comes in another way. I will not address it in those terms, although I will discuss the broader context of the twelve signs as a pathway from one lesson to the next and from one character arc to the next.

If anything, I’ll approach it in a manner similar to the Roman Stoics, who also influenced the philosophy of astrology.

All our thoughts and actions, and their consequences, form a complex tapestry that we can never unravel, and we cannot point to this or that as the cause or consequence. We can’t do it for ourselves, so we certainly shouldn’t try do it for others—except inside our stories.

Philosophy

Philosophy and psychology are my focus here. If writers sit around in a writer’s room drawing from the Myers-Briggs personality tests or astrological karma, that is the conversation I am diving into. Everything is connected somehow to everything else.

Astrology is the name given to a series of diverse practices based in the idea that the stars, planets, and other celestial phenomena possess significance and meaning for events on Earth.

It assumes a link between Earth and sky in which all existence, spiritual, psychological, and physical, is interconnected. Most premodern cultures practiced a form of astrology.

A particularly complex variety of it evolved in Mesopotamia in the first and second millennia BCE from where it was imported into the Hellenistic world from the early 4th century bce onward. There it became attached to three philosophical schools, those pioneered by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, all of which shared the assumption that the cosmos is a single, living, integrated whole. -Nicholas Campion (bold and italics mine)

It’s Complicated

Like the interconnected threads of karma, the process of astrological archetypal evolution is so complex and dynamic that, as storytellers, we can learn and absorb as much knowledge as possible, then respond intuitively in the end.

Such is the creative process. It’s good to have lots of tools in your toolbox. This continuous change ensures that each archetype is a living, evolving entity.

Riches I hold in light esteem,
And Love I laugh to scorn;
And lust of fame was but a dream,
That vanished with the morn:

And if I pray, the only prayer
That moves my lips for me
Is, “Leave the heart that now I bear,
And give me liberty!”

Yes, as my swift days near their goal:
‘Tis all that I implore;
In life and death a chainless soul,
With courage to endure.

-Emily Bronte, “The Old Stoic”

Sagittarius Symbols

We do not put centaurs in too many stories, but we have not abandoned the bow and arrow or the horse. The cowboy hats of the Americas and wide-brim hats in general—meant to keep the rain off when you travel— are now a symbol for Sagittarius. Sagittarius has always been The Wanderer, and the values of courage, freedom, and truth have always been part of the archetype.

The personality traits represented by the Horse in the Chinese zodiac certainly align with Sagittarius. There are thousands of associations, but we know the archetype when we see it, even if cultures do not call it Sagittarius.

If you are unsure about the distinction between archetypes, stereotypes, and tropes, or just want to know how I am using those words, read . . .

RELATED POST: Archetype Astrology? | Archetypes vs Tropes vs Stereotypes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: The Modern Sagittarius | Familiar Faces in Fiction

• Sagittarius Genres and Themes

• Character Tropes & Stereotypes

• Sagittarius Personality Traits

• Dark Sagittarius

• Character Case Studies (Bilbo, Gandalf, Katniss, etc.)

PART 2: ♐Archetype Building Blocks

• Jupiter, Gods, and Centaurs

• Values, Lessons, and Themes

• Hercules & The Killing of the Stymphalian Birds

A more detailed table of contents is available by clicking the lines that appear in the left margin when reading on a desktop.

Subscribe now

PART 1: The Modern Sagittarius | Familiar Faces in Fiction

Sagittarius GENRES and THEMES

Sagittarian story themes focus on self-mastery and fighting cynicism, tyranny, dishonesty, and dishonor. These stories are often about developing the courage to do what is right after figuring out exactly what that might be.

Sagittarius genres tend to be travel and road-trip stories, thrillers, westerns, adventure, science fiction, and fantasy. The settings for Sagittarius stories can have wide-open vistas (and often do) or cramped quarters below a submarine deck. The point is that, in some way, the setting is wild or dangerous — or both.

Of course, there are horror, mystery, and romance that may feature a Sagittarian character, but these genres often incorporate themes from other signs. The usual tropes for a Sagittarius character in a different sign’s theme are to function as a jester, sidekick, or guru. Maybe they just have a big mouth.

In other words, they might get murdered in the first 10 minutes of a Scorpio story because they confronted a murderer with the truth (while they are alone out in the middle of nowhere) and said they plan to bring the killer to justice. Good job, Sagittarius.

Sagittarius CHARACTER TROPES & STEREOTYPES

Until recently, Sagittarius has appeared in most stories as male, but not always. That is how the archetype was designed, first by male astrologers and then by patriarchal warrior societies.

If you want to write an unforgettable Sagittarius character, male or female, you have to look past the way people, who weren’t culturally perceptive enough to know the difference between archetypes and stereotypes, first conceived it.

When I get to the section below on case studies, I’ll talk about Eowyn in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as the iconic female Sagittarius example.

Subscribe now

SAGITTARIUS PERSONALITY TRAITS | Go Big or Go Home

Big & Lucky

Because Jupiter rules Sagittarius, everything about a Sagittarius character will be larger than life. They usually have strong voices, loud, hearty laughs, and are almost always big and tall; the basic point is to make sure they don’t blend into a crowd. If they do, it won’t be for long.

They are often portrayed as immense individuals. Think Brienne of Tarth (A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin), Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien), Hagrid (The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling), or Cormoran Strike (Cormoran Strike series, Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling).

Of course, writers can play with this. Sagittarians Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins are, respectively, very big and very small, but both are big personalities, and their presence is strongly felt throughout the entire story. Sagittarians Brienne of Tarth and Arya Stark follow the same pattern.

Apparently, if you worship Jupiter correctly, you will be luckier than anyone who worships any other god. In stories, a Sagittarius’s luck often starts as catastrophic and becomes ridiculously good—no middle ground.

Katniss Everdeen is the perfect example of that in The Hunger Games. Mat Cauthon, in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, is another example. Both have disastrous luck at first, but over the course of time, we see that no one could be luckier.

Of course, luck benefits from self-confidence, and Sagittarius has that in spades.

In fact, a writer of the super lucky Sagittarius character has to write fantasy or farce or try to walk the line and stop while it’s still marginally believable.

My favorite example of Jupiter’s luck appears in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of The Hobbit. Bilbo (Sagittarius) and the Dwarves, for 99% of three movies, avoid broken bones, crushing, falling, being eaten, being shot, and death. Gandalf (also Sagittarius) and Bilbo survive the entire adventure, of course. These characters are SO lucky in this children’s book; it is as big and silly as Tolkien meant it to be.

People talk about living a “small life.” When your life suddenly expands, you might find yourself thanking Jupiter or cursing him. You can get a raise or a windfall, but you can also get fat or end up with a thousand things to do.

There is nothing small about a Sagittarius life. It’s like winning a billion dollars. Is it really lucky? How in the world would you manage all that? Wouldn’t you rather win a bit less? It makes a more interesting story, though, right?

Bold & Blunt

Sagittarians hate wandering around a party making small talk, so they’d rather pick a fight, or grab a lampshade and dance on the table, and — like all centaurs everywhere— They’ll drink too much and talk too much.

They will embarrass you and themselves by telling all your secrets, and theirs too.

They have the foot-in-mouth disease of blurting out the truth at inconvenient, uncomfortable moments, probably at the top of their lungs.

Think Hagrid, again.

This is a character who starts their hero’s journey by opening their big mouth, telling off a manager or customer, and getting fired.

This is the best friend who tells someone their coat smells, or they have mascara on the tip of their nose. This is the character who tells their friend (five minutes before the wedding) that it’s a mistake to marry that man. Annoyingly, they are almost always right.

This is the character who suddenly spouts the most uncomfortable truth about another to their face, resulting in both of them standing there in shocked silence.

Dexterity in speech starts in Gemini, but Sagittarius is known for everything from using words to evade commitment to the off-the-cuff, inspirational throw-yourself-into-battle speech. When a Sagittarius character speaks the blunt truth to another in a story, the audience might say aloud, “Facts!” or “She’s not wrong.”

The Lesson

Like Gemini, Sagittarius is supposed to master skilled speech. One of the Gemini and Sagittarius lessons blended together is what might be called “right speech” by the Buddhists.

You say the right thing at the right time to the right person, and you don’t abuse your skills. Truth + kindness. Not so easy to master.

Cheerful, Optimistic, & Easy-Going

“We Cowpokes, we take it as it comes,” says Sagittarian Cooper Howard, and then he repeats it when he is The Ghoul in Fallout (Amazon Prime Video). He means it differently each time, but he is a (mainly) flexible character playing with the cards he is handed.

Howard used to be a very easy-going and optimistic guy before circumstances changed him into the dark Sagittarius/Scorpio villain he is now.

Take Jovial optimism and add the mutability of this sign, and you have someone who gets along with everyone, as long as they don’t push for too much commitment or ask them to do something unethical or betray them.

Most stories are about people learning, changing, adapting to circumstances, and overcoming the lucky or unlucky odds and their own weaknesses. Everyone needs a little mutability, but there is always the risk that people will take advantage of you. Whether you can hold onto your soul when you stop being easy-going is great drama

Hilarity Ensues

Jupiter, being a son of Saturn, was a pretty serious guy, so how did Sagittarius get to be considered the funniest sign? It’s more about Jupiter making the people happy. If you are aligned with Jupiter and have his approval, you will be both lucky and light-hearted. The word jovial comes from the root jov (from Jupiter).

The idea of the good humor of Sagittarius is something that evolved, not just from having the favor of Jupiter, but also from the happiness that results from being an honorable person, having immense good luck, being open-minded about people who are different from you, keeping a positive outlook (aka known as “keeping your sense of humor”), and also from those stories of clever centaurs drinking too much wine and partying like it’s 1201 BCE.

If you are deeply knowledgable about human nature and the absurdities of life, you can’t help but laugh.

Intolerant of Trivia or Foolishness

Foolishness should be differentiated from playfulness here. Sagittarians love to fool around, as long as it’s witty, artful, or meaningful. But show a lack of considered thought or an obsession with meaningless conversation, and you will either wonder where they went or have to recover from being told what a fool you are.

Ethical and Truthful

The thing Sagittarius characters do best, in my opinion, is help give people the courage to speak the truth and face the consequences of that. A main character in a theme that involves calling out fraud, lies, and corruption with radical honesty, or a story where the truth changes history, is usually a Sagittarius.

The Sagittarius hero is an ethical character who stands up — at some point — in a legislature, or board room, church meeting, staff meeting, or in the face of the president or king—and tells the uncomfortable truth.

Putting your life and livelihood on the line because of your principles is a BIG choice, and courage is Sagittarius’s middle name.

These protagonists have no use for half measures, so no white lies for them. They seek and tell the truth and nothing but the truth, even if it hurts. They can’t help themselves.

An Aventurer of the Mind and Body

Many Sagittarian characters start as professors or armchair explorers and then become adventurers. Those armchair-to-action-adventure freedom-loving characters appeal to all of us readers, and writers love to include them.

Sagittarius is the least extroverted of the three fire signs, because of all that BIG smarts. They can’t talk to that many people. They may be a gregarious comedian in public, but unlike Leo and Aries, they don’t have a long list of close friends in their own sphere.

The ninth house rules culture, foreign travel, philosophy, psychology, religion, higher education teaching, and knowledge. You can’t talk to just anyone about topics you have read everything ever written on. While this house does rule higher education, most Sagittarian characters—being fiercely independent—are self-taught.

In Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins was well known for studying all the time. He pored over his books and maps and avoided everyone but Frodo. He loved the elves and wanted to know all about them.

He was a little guy, so he never seriously considered going to see these things or meet the elves until Gandalf practically pushed him out the door. Once on the road, however, he was quite good at adventuring, showing intelligence and bravery at every turn.

In The Lord of the Rings, he retired to Elrond’s house, probably to have someone he could talk to. For him, Rivendell and Elrond’s 6000 years of knowledge was Bilbo living his best life inside a magnificent library. It’s easy to picture Elrond gently shooing him away or distracting him with food after the hundredth question.

Languages

While Sagittarian Gandalf could speak every language in Middle-earth, including Warg, Elrond could read them all. I chose a Sagittarius rising for Elrond. (I say he’s an Aquarius like Galadriel)

Sagittarius loves to travel and learn languages. It seems at odds with the simple cowboy, but the main character cowhands in stories are often Sagittarius. (Yes, I mean cowboy, but I am trying not to use that male label)

There may be many side cowhand characters with different sun signs, but if a cowhand (I wish cowhand didn’t sound silly) suddenly makes a speech in the advanced and challenging language of Navajo — or any language other than their own, really — you have to suspect this character is a Sagittarius. One language is usually not enough to contain a Sagittarius.

A Hermit and Solo Wanderer

Many Sagittarians are solitary, especially at the beginning of their arc. Being alone gives you time to think without noisier minds around you rattling off opinions and talking about things they know nothing about.

Besides, it’s easier to read books when you are alone.

Courageous, Independent, and Defiant

This starts at “Don’t tell me what to do or where to be and when.” It doesn’t end there. As a Sagittarius character evolves, they find themselves in situations where it is hard for most people to stand up and do the right thing, but it’s the right thing to do, so Sagittarians will do it.

In stories, we want to see characters stand up for themselves and others, be free to say and do whatever they want, and avoid negative consequences for this risk-taking, so they often succeed, giving us hope for ourselves in the real world.

Outside fiction, few of those choices go unpunished, which is why it takes real courage. We know what really happens to most whistleblowers, activists, and freedom fighters.

Sagittarius characters who make speeches about freedom and take steps to protect it help us take those steps when it’s our turn because they are the right thing to do. Do the next right thing. That is a motto an evolved Sagittarius can live by. Or maybe do what you want, but be ready to pay for it.

What is courage?

To spread yourself out in the world, you need freedom and independence, and for Sagittarius, those things must be defended at any cost.

An Aries is brave. Bravery is not the same as courage. Aries is fearless.

Real courage is acting when you are full of fear. It is taking action when you are fully aware of all the consequences and even know for sure that you will pay for the choices you make.

A Sagittarius is knowledgeable, so they think much more deeply about the consequences of their actions. An evolved Sagittarius might lose a leg in the fighting, but never their courage.

However, we can go further than that.

In a famous conversation between two Sagittarians in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Gandalf told Bilbo that true courage is knowing when not to take a life. Bilbo remembered this wisdom, and when he had the chance to kill Gollum, Bilbo felt the truth of that and held back. He was terrified of Gollum, but he held back.

His courage inspired Frodo’s courage later, and it changed them both. It gave the ring (greed, malice & cynicism) less of a hold on them, and it changed the course of the future for the better.

Sagittarius is a role model for courage.

A Soldier, a Fighter, A Hunter

Sagittarius characters include freedom fighters, former soldiers, and cowpokes defending their way of life. An evolved Sagittarius fights for the freedom of others, too. Sagittarius is not quiet about why s/he was fighting either. You will be told, and Sagittarius will have built an entire philosophy about it. Look for a character spouting maxims.

A reluctant warrior isn’t always a Sagittarius, but a Sagittarius is often a reluctant warrior. Why is this hero reluctant? Because Sagittarius doesn’t usually fight for the adrenaline rush like Aries, or the glory, like Leo. There must be a BIGGER reason, too.

The Sagittarius archetype is the last of the fire signs and the most evolved as a warrior. Sagittarius fights for a cause. They may have fun fighting, but they never fight for fun. Like Sagittarian Robin Hood, Sagittarians need a cause to fight for.

Sagittarian characters tend to be former soldiers because they value freedom too much to remain in the military for long. If your character has been in the military for decades, look at fixed signs Leo and Scorpio first. Fiery Aries is the maverick most likely to get kicked out.

Sagittarian Cormoran Strike in the mystery series by Robert Galbraith (Jo Rowling) and Cooper Howard/The Ghoul in the TV show Fallout are both former soldiers and (mostly) independent (private detective, bounty hunter) and hunters (of humans). Many people can be considered hunters. A detective hunts for bad guys, a journalist might hunt for a good story or the whole truth.

Another Sagittarian and reluctant skillful warrior off hunting in the woods— and one with her bow and arrow—is Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Katniss does not want to fight; she does not want to be the face of the resistance, yet she does what is needed.

You Animal, You!

It certainly takes athletic ability to ride a horse, turn, and hit your target while moving. The Centaur is half horse, half human, and Sagittarius has a bit of the agile, wild animal about them.

They love all animals, and in every story with a strong Sagittarius character, look for the animals. When a character is set up with a dog companion or is a horse-whisperer, it awakens my Sagittarius radar.

Wild animals almost always make an appearance in a Sagittarius story. The animal can be the object of a hunt, a danger to the community, or just so big that it could unintentionally kill you. Again, we are back to thinking about the character of Hagrid.

If a character is a hunter, we should also think of Sagittarius. Gods carrying bows and arrows, like Artemis and Diana, were both hunters and protectors of animals.

Sagittarians can also be quite sexually promiscuous in stories. A Sagittarian who does not tell the truth to their partners and uses people for sex is a feature of both its immature characters and villains. Taming themselves can be their biggest challenge.

DARK SAGITTARIUS: THE VILLAINS

The Sagittarian villain is never quite as vicious as a Mars-inspired Aries or Scorpio can be, but that doesn’t mean a Sagittarius villain isn’t angry, violent, and cruel.

A character who is particularly cruel to underdogs and animals, who seeks to destroy the freedom and independence of others while keeping those things for himself or herself, can easily be a Sagittarius gone bad.

The Sagittarius will be sarcastic, sardonic, and clever. S/he will present riddles for you to solve that you can’t possibly solve. S/he is a master of the mind game.

However, this description covers many types of villains, so keep in mind that the distinguishing motivation of the Sagittarius villain will not be ambition, greed, jealousy, revenge, despair, or the desire for attention or perfect order that motivates other villains.

The Sagittarius villain is motivated by cynicism and fiery rage. Characters like Psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris), Anarchist The Joker (DC Comics), Former Teacher Aunt Lydia (The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood), and former actor Cooper Howard/The Ghoul (Fallout Amazon Prime) fit this description.

The Sagittarius villain will often be a former educated idealist who has succumbed to the darkest cynicism imaginable and is now playing an entirely selfish game.

RELATED POST: FALLOUT ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐| The Four ♐Horsemen of the Apocalypse

CHARACTER CASE STUDIES (Eowyn, Gandalf)

I have already mentioned more than half a dozen Sagittarian characters. Among them, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the most complex and probably warrants a longer post of her own. So that will come later.

Meanwhile, I think I will stay with the well-known Eowyn and Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.

EOWYN ♐of Rohan

I was inspired to write more about her, so you can find that case study as a separate post.

Gandalf ♐The BIG Iconic Sagittarian

There is no better character in all of literature to use as the iconic Sagittarius than Gandalf the Grey.

There are other Sagittarians in J.R.R. Tolkien’s adventure stories: Eowyn and Bilbo come to mind, but Gandalf is the Jupiter of the story. He is a big presence in every way, and Ian McKellen was the perfect casting choice in the movies.

Tolkien’s close friend C.S. Lewis was a Sagittarius by birth and deeply interested in medieval astrology. I cannot imagine they did not discuss it.

C.S. Lewis would make his students laugh by saying, "Those born under Jupiter are apt to be loud-voiced and red-faced. It is obvious under which planet I was born!"

In the books, Gandalf was a Maiar, a larger-than-life demigod or archangel. He was sent as an Ishtar — a leader sent by the gods to inspire the “free peoples of Middle-earth” to fight for their freedom.

Mutable Fire

“I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you.”

-Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

We know Gandalf loves his fireworks, but if you look closely at that story, you will see that Gandalf has more than a passing relationship with the element of fire.

In the world of Tolkien, the “flame of Anor” is the power of creation and inspiration. Gandalf was also given Narya, the elven ring of fire, first carried by the elf lord Cirdan, to amplify Gandalf’s powers.

Read More About It

Secret Fire: The Spiritual Vision of J.R.R.Tolkien. I could only find a collectible

paperback version of this. Try your local used bookstore!

The Arrow & The Staff

Saittarius is said to be “one-pointed” and direct. Gandalf’s staff takes the place of the bow and arrow. Gandalf himself is usually straightforward — like an arrow — and men, elves, trees, horses, and hobbits are both afraid of his tongue and yet, also trust him.

He is physically bigger than all of them. He has a great booming voice when he wishes to snap someone out of an illusion that has them in its grip, and he loves to laugh. He tells Frodo and Bilbo the truth and lets them make their own decisions, and he doesn’t mince words when he thinks someone has been foolish or is wrong.

Never Suffer Fools Gladly

“Fool of a Took! Next time, throw yourself in!”

Have I mentioned people are exhausting? Sometimes Galdalf can’t take any more foolishness. He tells whoever it is his blunt truth and marches away to be alone for a while until he can master himself and come back, and in true mutable fashion, he never holds a grudge against his friends.

One of my favorite movie moments in The Lord of the Rings trilogy comes after Pippin looks into the Palantir. Gandalf starts hollering at him, turns and sees his fixed eyes, and immediately drops the loud lecture to run to cradle him in his arms and break the spell on him. Every time he yells at Pippin, he demonstrates his faith in him by assigning him a task or explaining something to him. This is the evolved Sagittarian character: truthful, blunt, perceptive, and kind.

The Wizard/Philosopher/Scholar

Gandalf also keeps running off on his own, going to research this or that, or talk to someone who might know what is going on.

He is also constantly spouting different languages, philosophy, or poetry when people need encouragement. He always knows the right thing to say and isn’t afraid to discuss the most significant topics, including death.

The Centaur

To complete the Sagittarian archetype, Gandalf rides—but does not own— the king of all horses, Shadowfax. No saddle for Shadowfax. He is a free animal of Middle-earth. To ride Shadowfax, the Wizard and horse must be as one.

Subscribe now

PART 2: ♐Archetype Building Blocks

Jupiter, Gods, and Centaurs

Sagittarius has been associated with several gods and other figures in mythology, representing both the constellation’s dark, beast-like, warlike nature and its scholarly, enlightened side. Here is a selection . . .

• The Babylonian Centaur Pa Bil Sag. This figure had two heads, and one was turned with an arrow pointed at the scorpion behind him, signifying the soul’s journey through Scorpio and into Sagittarius.

• The Babylonian god Nergal, the god of war (also sometimes associated with Scorpio)

• An aspect of the Babylonian god Marduk, specifically called ”the diviner of the divine decision” ruled the region of the sky known as Sagittarius. I like this title because Sagittarius rules the intellect.

• Crotus, the Greek Centaur, invented archery. He was a musician, had a keen mind, and was a lover of the arts (His mother was a Muse)

• The teacher Chiron, the enlightened and kind centaur who valued reason and knowledge

And, of course, of all the gods, Sagittarius is most associated with The Sky God, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the greatest and best.

I have already covered Jupiter thoroughly in the personality traits and Gandalf case study, but here I note that this planet is observed by every culture, and all of them assigned gods to it.

Because of its size and steady light, the planet is usually associated with wisdom, optimism, intellect, insight, clarity of thought, and good fortune. So, too, by extension, is Sagittarius.

Big Picture: Values, Lessons, and Themes

Q. How hard is it to have the personal freedom we all desire and still be responsive to others we love, while standing up for the freedom of all of us?

Q. How hard is it to consistently apply critical thinking to our knowledge and opinions so that we stand up for truth and not mislead ourselves or others with what we desire to be true, but is not, in fact, true? What is truth, and how can we honor it?

Q. How incredibly difficult is it to USE freedom of speech for the betterment of everyone, including yourself? How difficult is it to always speak the truth, with full awareness of what the actual truth is, and still be kind and responsible? Can anyone do all that at the highest level?

It would probably help to have learned the lessons of Gemini. Now we know what manipulative speech is. We know what misleading speech is. We know what a persuasive speech for the best reasons should sound like.

Characters in stories everywhere struggle with these Sagittarius lessons.

In the first section of this article, I discussed Sagittarian story themes that emphasize mental self-mastery and the struggle against cynicism, tyranny, dishonesty, and dishonor. I am confident you can develop questions like mine that address all those themes.

The Philosophical Big Picture of Astrology

The first six signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo) emphasize humanity's childhood and our individual development. The lessons address ♈Self, ♉Values, ♊Communication, ♋Private Life, ♌Personal Performance, and ♍Service. It’s easy to see how Virgo lessons about service take the “soul” or character into the last six lessons that involve others.

The last six signs (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces) emphasize the development of the individual in interaction with the world at large. The lessons address ♎Partnership/Justice, ♏Power, ♐Mind/Thinking, ♑Public Life, ♒Community, and ♓Spirituality, and Sacrifice.

Theoretically, a Sagittarius has already visited the depths of Scorpio’s examination of power and control and come up the other side into the light. Now they look around them at the world and see how people misuse that power as a selfish weapon that crushes freedom and truth. They conclude that knowledge is, in fact, power and decide to collect it. What will we be able to learn and do once we have mastered our own minds?

All of these are the questions we address in stories, from the largest epic sagas such as The Hunger Games, Fallout, and The Lord of the Rings to smaller personal struggles with truth and freedom.

Hercules & The Killing of the Stymphalian Birds

Now, let us end with a story that addresses the Sagittarius central theme of mental self-mastery.

This isn’t necessarily a building block of the popular Sagittarius archetype; this is a building block of the Sagittarius philosophical and psychological 9th House stage of the Soul’s Journey.

There is a famous story about the Twelve Labors, or tasks, of the Greek demigod Hercules. This story, among others, strongly influenced all the archetypes as they evolved from the Babylonians through the cultures of the Middle East, India, and Hellenistic Greece to the Romans.

Backstory

Jupiter’s counterpart in Greece was Zeus. Hera was Zeus’s wife. At one point, Zeus pretended to be the husband of a mortal princess he fancied, named Alcmene so that he could have sex with her. Hercules was the result.

Hera wasn’t thrilled. She put a spell on Hercules that made him kill his own wife and children.

I mean, the murders were Hera’s fault, of course. Everybody knew that. You know how women are, I mean, what could poor Hercules do? Everyone knows it’s bad when women have power.

ANYWAY, poor, powerless, the strongest man alive, son of the top god, Hercules wasn’t killed or imprisoned. He went to Apollo, asked to be punished, and was given a to-do list.

His cousin, King Eurystheus, was appointed. He assigned Hercules (Heracles) 12 impossible tasks to atone for his crimes.

Bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West!

Thus begins the hero's journey in video games everywhere.

The influential metaphysical writer Alice Bailey aligned each of Hercules’ tasks with the lessons represented by the zodiac signs. There are, after all, twelve tasks and twelve signs, and each sign represents a stage in the soul’s journey.

We do not know how the signs aligned at the time this myth was shared, and I don’t necessarily agree that Bailey got all the alignments 100% correct.

Still, part of the beauty of using symbols in stories is that they mean different things to different people at different times while still addressing the underlying truth of human nature.

The Mission

This time, Hercules was tasked with driving off predatory birds that lived in a dark marsh on a high plateau in Greece. IN the version I like, that colossal asshole Ares raised the birds, so they were terrorizing travelers and eating people.

According to Alice Bailey, the Stymphalian Birds symbolize the nasty, cynical, chaotic thoughts in your mind.

Since Sagittarius is a fire sign, we are usually referring to out-of-control, angry thoughts aimed in all directions.

It’s you aggressively ruminating at 3 AM about some conflict with a co-worker, your boss, your spouse, or a random person who smashed into your car and isn’t sorry.

It’s you thinking your worst, poisonous thoughts about other people (and yourself) are true, and the only truth about them and you.

Those birds are the ungodly, out-of-control noise in your head.

In Sagittarius, the lesson is to calm the worst, marshy, soul-sucking thoughts and drive off the remaining ugly thoughts and dangerous birds, and leave some space for songbirds, silence, and self-acceptance.

What Happened?

Hercules didn’t understand what these birds were or how to drive them off. They were huge, hideous, and terrifying. They had iron beaks like swords and feathers like spears.

As if that wasn’t enough, they had poisonous poop that spread everywhere in the mind, I mean, marsh.

What really drove everyone mad, however, were the loud, hideous sounds those big birds made. They were chaos incarnate. And they never shut up, ever.

Hercules’ half-sister Athena (Hera wasn’t her mother either—she didn’t have a mother) gave him some giant bronze clackers made by the immortal god and blacksmith Hephaistos.

From the top of a nearby mountain, Hercules used his new tools to make a godly racket, and the birds freaked out and took to the air. As the birds came flying up to attack him, Hercules killed some of them with poison-tipped arrows. The rest flew off screaming and were never heard from again.

Ah, the blessed silence of wide open spaces where a person can breathe.

Read more about this Greek myth here.

I do not think they are mathematically scientific, but I think they have psychological and philosophical truth. They are based on thousands of years of poetic observation of human nature. That is a different kind of science.

Has your sign been part of shaping your identity?

The math here might blow your mind, and you may not like it. Mathematical and birthdate-based astrology is about IDENTITY and challenges to that can really set off emotional repercussions. Remember, I DO believe it is valuable as a well-constructed compass or magnifying glass for an inner journey.

Signs of the Times & Divine Math Theory

Since 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, let’s look at the calendar for Sagittarius as an example.

Sagittarius (Dhanus, Kheshet).

• November 22-December 21 — Traditional Western Astrology

• December 18- January 19 — Astronomy

• December 15- January 13 — Vedic Astrology (Indian)

• December to January — Judeo-Christian Astrology (new moon to new moon)

You will notice from the Vedic and Hebrew dates above that they align much better with the current math or astronomy. That’s because they have always been based on the actual and current movement of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and constellations rather than the Roman calendar.

“Astrological signs are determined by the position of the sun relative to certain constellations on a person’s day of birth. The problem is, the positions were determined more than 2,000 years ago. Nowadays, the stars have shifted in the night sky so much that [Roman] horoscope signs are nearly a month off.” — Live Science

Are you still a Sagittarius?

If your birthday is November 22nd to the 24th, you are now a Libra! If your birthday is November 25 to December 17, you are now a Scorpio. Congratulations??!!??

You might be thinking, Nah! I AM a Sagittarius.

Okay by me.

Why not decide which signs suit you best and give yourself The Big Three: Sun, Moon, and Rising signs?

Find out if your sign has changed.

I made images that include all the calendar dates for each sign, like the one for Sagittarius above, OR use a Jewish calendar converter to determine which month you were born in for the Hebrew zodiac.

You can also use a Vedic astrology calculator site to determine your entire birth chart there.

Judeo-Christian Astrology Comes with Warnings

If you use the Hebrew calendar, remember that the Judeo-Christian bible (Deuteronomy 18) says you may not use this knowledge for divination, spells, or decision-making. (Just sayin’)

Apparently, it’s totally okay to use it for self-knowledge or to apply it to fictional characters, which is what I do here at In Our Stars!

I was raised with astrology and had my full chart drawn and read when I was 14, and those ideas had a profound impact on who I thought I was. For example, my sun and moon—in the chart—are conjunct within 1 degree. So I felt special—like I had some superpower—even though I never resonated with the sign they were in, no matter how hard I tried.

About 15 years later, I majored in Behavioral Science in college, and my view of astrology shifted to seeing it as psychology based on archetypes rather than physics and math.

It wasn’t easy to give up my special identity, but I came to that conclusion myself. No one confronted me with it. You may not want to change your ideas about yourself because of this article. If that is the case, you be you! I am just offering some math facts. Do with them what you will. Maybe some of you will find your new sign fits better and be happy. I hope so.

Get the Dates for ALL the Signs

More Anon,

Kate

If you believe in the Divine Math Theory of Astrology or in birthdate astrology, you may find these dates pretty mind-blowing. The Earth has shifted since ancient times.

That has changed the alignments of the constellations and the sun, probably making you a different sign than you thought!

Read more about that in the Calendar Shenanigans explainer.

Or you can join me in thinking about which sign best fits you, regardless of your birthday. I am a Sagittarius, despite being born in the summer. 😎