Sagittarius and the arrows of perception

The Sun is in Sagittarius. The Seed Thought for this Sign is "I see the goal. I reach the goal and see another." The symbol for Sagittarius is an arrow, and in the stained glass depiction of this Sign from the Zodiac Window in Chartres cathedral, the half-man/half-horse centaur, often associated with this Sign, is holding a bow and a whole handful of arrows.

I enjoy playing around with words. The word "Sagittarius" lends itself beautifully to this activity which offers insights into the qualities and nature of this particular Sign.

For instance (and with reference to my dictionary!):

Sage - a profoundly wise man; any of the ancients traditionally regarded as the wisest of their time; profoundly wise, especially from experience.

Sagittarian qualities are wisdom, the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, usually acquired via experience.

Sagacious - mentally penetrating; gifted with discernment; having practical wisdom.

Sagittarius is a Sign of the mind - using it, developing it, stretching it and being able to put to use what it learns from it's journeys of mental exploration.

Sagittate - shaped like an arrowhead

There's that arrow entering the arena as the one-pointed, focussed arrow (often a mental one), seeking it's target and then having reached it, flying off again towards a new, more distant goal. . . and new interests, new areas of exploration.

Jupiter is the ruling planet of Sagittarius, and if you refer back to the posting I made about this planet, you'll see that Jupiter seeks the big picture and wants to know the whole of things, not just the smaller parts. Jupiter wants knowledge and understanding in big whole mouthfuls, not small nibbles, and ably reflects the far-reaching, wide-ranging qualities of Sagittarius.

Where does perception come into this? Jupiter is the planet associated with sight. The Sagittarian arrows fly far towards distant goals we see, bringing what we aim for closer to us. They bring what we seek on distant horizons into focus and make our perceptions change and grow as we quest for knowledge, wisdom and understanding.