As the Archer shoots and arrow into the air, so does Sagittarius harvest Scorpio's raw energy and direct it toward a goal. Sagittarians are the zodiac's explorers and teachers, its zealous advocates fighting to expand and preserve culture. Half man, half horse, the Sagittarian Centaur symbolizes the potential for unifying the animal and the spiritual components of humanity. Sagittarians try to create unity from duality. On the wheel of the zodiac, Sagittarius is directed opposite Gemini, and the restless archer shares certain characteristics with the Twins. Both are curious, fascinated by ideas, and enchanted by information. Both are adventurers, hating all things routine or methodical. Both want to break parochial confines and be citizens of the world. But as the astrologer Dane Rudhyar once observed, "Gemini has tolerance but no real understanding; whereas Sagittarius can have understanding even when most intolerant." ARchers crave variety, whether in people, countries, or cultures. But even as they quest fro experience, they are seldom satisfied with what they find. For Sagittarians, the point in life is the voyage rather than the discovery. The outcome never seems to match the richness of the process.

Still, Archers love to travel and explore, mentally as well as literally. Geminis are the flitting mental prestidigitators of the zodiac, but Sagittarians are the true philosophers. They are fascinated by systems of thought and ways of organizing information. They delight in the diversity of different cultures and disciplines--even when they view them, as they usually do, with a skeptical eye. They are also the collage artists of the intellect; they can encompass many unrelated interests and neglect none of them. They are tireless in pursuing knowledge to its outermost boundaries and sometimes beyond. Sagittarians are apt to be workaholics. They are the scientists who never leave the lab, the composers and writers who labor late into the night. They burn to know and communicate what they know. But their work cannot be regimented by the artificial constraints of time clocks or bureaucratic routines. The Centaur's gait has its own unfettered rhythm.

Learning is Sagittarians' passion; teaching is their gift. The curious Archers are researchers and investigators--amassing all sorts of information, sorting it, and reprocessing t to make it accessible to those less mentally gifted than themselves. Best of all, they are able to pass on, not only their knowledge, but their love of learning.

Denied travel, Sagittarians can take deep inner journeys and transform them into art. The mental travelel emerges as storyteller in the work of such independant, if reclusive, nineteenth-century writers as Sagittarians Emily Dickenson, JAne Austen, and Louisa May Alcott. Less-strictured Sagittarian men of the same and earlier eras turned their actual journeys into great literature. Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, Jonathan Swift, and Gustav Flaubert were all born under the Archer's aegis. Perhaps the avatar of Sagittarius was poet-artist William Blake. Indulging the Sagittarian love for working in more than one medium, Blake used words and paint in his assaut against all that would confine or limit the human mind.

But despite their questing spirits, Sagittarians lack the vast energy and untamed force of Scorpios. Archers are innovative, but not revolutionary. For all their restlessness, they have a deep-rooted regard for conventions and customs. They value respectability, prestige, security, and comfortable surroundings. They may travel far and wide, but they want a pleasant home awaiting their return. Evolved Sagittarians are serious, but jovial--even madcap at times. They are honest, and reliable. Exuberant but seldom compulsive, Sagittarians are interesting and amiable companions and lovers. When they are able to overcome their tendency toward intolerance, Sagittarians represent humankind's greatest potential for harmony and balance.