On Thursday, the Sun enters the optimistic, philosophical, larger-than-life sign of Sagittarius, just in time for the start of the holiday season. Indeed, the 22nd is Thanksgiving Day in America this year – a time when families gather around a table laden with goodies and give thanks for their many blessings. It’s also the kick-off to a riotous season of consumer spending with Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday three days later.The tradition of American Thanksgiving is said to date back to the arrival of the Mayflower with its cargo of Pilgrims on American soil and the celebration of the abundant harvest the following year, 1621.

However, there are other candidates for the first Thanksgiving. Almost a century earlier the explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilé held a celebratory dinner to thank God for his crew’s safe landing on Floridian soil, and in early December 1619 thirty-eight British settlers celebrated with a great feast their arrival on the banks of Virginia’s James River.Thanksgiving is not just an American tradition, however.

The Ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians feasted and paid tribute to their gods after the harvest. So, when you dig into your turkey with all the trimmings, the green bean casserole, the sweet potato mash and the cranberry sauce, and follow up with pumpkin or pecan pie, liberally laced with cream, spare a thought for those brave souls who made it all possible. Which is a long-winded way of wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!.