Sagittarius (22 November - 21 December)

Symbolized by the “departures” sign at this week’s international airport, the Sagittarius Writer is ruled by Jupiter, or as ancient Greeks knew him, Zeus, god of thunderous epiphanies, all-father of electric satire, and king of the bildungsroman. These writers are prone to pains in the liver and legs, most likely from constantly galloping away from those pesky intrusive thoughts.

 As one of three mutable signs, these writers easily bound any Cavaletti in their path. At the same time, Sagittarius refuses to conform to the conventions of their day. In Gustave Flaubert’s (December 12, 1821) Madame Bovary, Emma escapes the doldrums of her provincial farm-life by cosplaying as a rich socialite. And in Joseph Conrad’s (December 3, 1857) Heart of Darkness, Captain Marlow struggles to see the difference between so-called civilized world of his countrymen and the “savages” he befriends along the way.

Associated with the Ninth House of the zodiac, Sagittarius writers are marked by worldview, especially one earned through travel. We see this in Mark Twain’s (November 30, 1835) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where Finn and Jim escape on a raft from the constrictive Antebellum South to the enlightened Northern states. Or, in Joan Didion’s (December 5, 1934) Play it As it Lays, where grief-stricken Maria practices escapism on a perpetual roadtrip through California freeways and motels. And again, in Jonathan Swift’s (November 30, 1667) Gulliver’s Travels, where Gulliver sails across the unmapped world to be revered by the miniature peoples of Liliput and humbled by the giants of Brobdingnag.

This equestrian impulse to keep moving gives Sagittarius writers a natural advantage for Coming-of-Age stories. Whether in Louisa May Alcott’s (November 29, 1832) Little Women, with its modern-American March sisters, in Jane Austen’s (December 16, 1775) Sense and Sensibility, with its Dashwood sisters’ many loves and losses, or Betty Smith’s (December 15, 1896) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, where young Francie aspires to transcend bigotry and poverty—these wayward, impetuous characters strive for maturity, independence and perspective, with plots centering less on action and more on emotional journey.

Because wanderlust is so core to these writers, Sagittarius’s biggest fears tend towards immobility and stagnation. We see these fears take shape in Percival Everett’s (December 22, 1956) Erasure, when “Monk” Ellison is boxed-into racist stereotypes after his satirical novel becomes an overnight hit. In Shirley Jackson’s (December 14, 1916) We Have Always Lived in the Castle, “Merricat” cares for her agoraphobic sister, and ailing uncle Julian, resigned to their large but isolated estate. And in C.S. Lewis’s (November 29, 1898) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as the White Witch traps Narnia in endless winter.

Ultimately, these writers seek to expand their minds through crossing off their bucket list, and once they’ve set their minds on a something, not even the confines of reality can stop them. In John Milton’s (November 30, 1667) Paradise Lost, Satan falls from the heights of grace to the depths of Hell for his beliefs. Or in Madeline L’ Engle’s (November 29, 1918) A Wrinkle in Time sees young Meg Murray negotiating quantum theory and relativity to rescue her father. Or again, in George Saunders (December 2, 1958) Lincoln in the Bardo, which imagines Abraham Lincoln traversing the Tibetan death-realm for just another chance to hold his son.

Sagittarius has all the potential to become a great writer, they just need to temper the horseplay, stop romanticizing the sea, and make sure it’s not actually themselves they’re running from. Once they embrace that innate, endless summer inside, they can finally transcribe all those overflowing passport stamps into a proper novel.

Notable Mentions
William Blake, November 28, 1757
George Eliot, November 22, 1819
Emily Dickinson, December 10, 1830
Rainer Maria Rilke, December 4, 1875
James Thurber, December 8, 1894
Margaret Mead, December 16, 1901
Nagulb Mahfouz, December 11, 1911
Arthur C. Clarke, December 16, 1917
Grace Paley, December 11, 1922
Noam Chomsky, December 7, 1928
Philip K. Dick, December 16, 1928
John Kennedy Toole, December 17, 1937
David Mamet, November 30, 1947
Amy Hempel, December 14, 1951
Nalo Hopkinson, December 20, 1960
Ann Patchett, December 2, 1963
Brandon Sanderson, December 19, 1975

 - Forest Oliver