Sagittarius season, stretching from about November 21 to December 21, unfolds during one of the most liminal times of the year. The landscape sits at the edge of change: autumn has nearly exhausted itself, winter is knocking, and the Winter Solstice approaches with its promise of the sun’s eventual return. Many cultures have treated this period as a time for reflection, festivity, and preparation—both spiritually and practically. Even today, this is one of the busiest seasons, filled with end-of-year tasks and the flurry of Christmas preparations. The shortening daylight hours and the emotional pressure of the season can make this period feel especially charged.
Sagittarius Season Spiritual Meaning
Sagittarius as a sign is often misunderstood, sandwiched between mysterious Scorpio and Saturn ruled Capricorn, both serious zodiac signs. Sagittarius however, is supposed to be jovial, and it coincides with the Christmas party season. So although Sagittarius is often associated with joviality and celebration, the natural world around us tells a more complex story.
A Meeting of Winter Traditions
As the days grow darker, many people begin to think about life’s deeper meanings. It is a time when we tend to pull back and look at the larger picture rather than getting caught up in the details. This blend of heaviness and hope is not new; ancient and medieval traditions also recognized that the weeks before the solstice hold a unique emotional and spiritual intensity.
Saturnalia: The Pagan Festival of Reversal
One of the most important pagan celebrations during this time was the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which began on December 17 and ran up to the Sun’s entrance into Capricorn. Saturnalia honored the god Saturn, who was associated not only with boundaries and time but also with agriculture, wealth, and prosperity. Although Saturn can be seen as strict or severe, the Romans viewed him as a complex deity capable of generosity and abundance.
During Saturnalia, normal social rules were intentionally overturned. Masters served their slaves, and slaves were allowed a degree of freedom they didn’t experience at any other point in the year. Gambling, usually forbidden, was openly practiced. Feasts filled the streets, gifts were exchanged, and the atmosphere felt more like a carnival than a religious ceremony. This temporary reversal of roles acted as a symbolic reminder that the world is constantly in flux, and that every hierarchy or hardship is ultimately impermanent.
This theme of inversion made Saturnalia especially powerful during the darkest time of the year. When the sun was at its weakest, and the world felt suspended between death and rebirth, the festival allowed people to shake loose the usual order of things and create a sense of communal release.
Christian Traditions: Advent and Christmas
When Christianity spread through Europe, it encountered these existing pagan traditions and seasonal observances. Rather than eliminating them entirely, the early Church often reinterpreted them, layering new symbolism onto familiar customs.
In the Christian calendar, the weeks before Christmas are known as Advent. While Saturnalia focused on freedom, misrule, and festive excess, Advent took on a quieter tone. It became a period of waiting, spiritual preparation, and reflection. The lighting of Advent candles echoes older pagan practices of lighting torches or fires to call the sun back during the solstice season. In Christianity, however, the flame symbolizes the coming of Christ as the Light of the World—a spiritual rather than a physical renewal.
Christmas itself, celebrated on December 25, eventually absorbed many elements of European midwinter festivals. Feasting, generosity, and decoration became central to the holiday. Gift-giving, which had been a feature of Saturnalia, found new Christian meaning in the story of the Magi bringing gifts to the infant Jesus. Even the joyful chaos and social looseness associated with Saturnalia continued into medieval Christian celebrations. In France and Switzerland, for example, a young boy might be appointed “bishop for a day,” turning church hierarchy on its head in a way that echoed the ancient role reversals of Rome.
Although the Church eventually discouraged some of the more unruly customs, echoes of Saturnalian mischief survived for centuries within Christian culture.
Traditions Intertwined
When we look closely at the customs surrounding Sagittarius season, the connections between pagan and Christian practices become clear. Both traditions recognize the emotional heaviness of the darkening days and the need for symbolic light. Both encourage generosity, celebration, and communal bonding during a season when people might otherwise retreat inward. And both understand midwinter as a time when the veil between the everyday world and the deeper mysteries of life feels thinner.
Yet the two traditions diverge in their spiritual emphasis. Pagan observances like Saturnalia highlight the cyclical nature of time, the turning of the seasons, and the temporary suspension of social order. Christian celebrations shift the focus toward divine intervention, spiritual hope, and the arrival of sacred light into a darkened world.
Despite their differences, the two traditions coexist beautifully within the cultural fabric of late December. The festive spirit of Saturnalia and the contemplative hope of Advent remind us that this season has always been a blend of revelry and reflection. Whether we lean into the social energy of the holidays or seek the deeper stillness that the dark invites, this time of year encourages us to step back, review the landscape of our lives, and reconnect with both community and spirit.
Sagittarius Season by Marina Marchione at Heavenly & Holy
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