Scorpio
November 1, 2008
Isn’t it perfect that Halloween is celebrated now, under the sign of the Scorpion (Oct 22 – Nov 22)? The veil between the worlds is at its thinnest and ghosts and skeletons and vampires are at home now, wandering the streets. This is appropriate under the eighth sign, Scorpio, the sign of death, sex, transformations and all mysteries. Contact with the other side can happen easier now for seekers.
Scorpio brings us face to face with life’s harsher and deeper realities, giving its natives a power that the more superficial signs lack. Their eagle-eyes have penetrating insight. Most astrologers consider Scorpio to be one of the two most powerful signs (the other being Leo).
Falling leaves and a browning earth are Scorpio metaphors, visual reminders from Mother Nature that nothing that comes to Earth comes to stay. Now is the process of decay evident. This is a time of increasing dark and cold, a reminder that warm summer days and sunflowers are just half of the picture here.
The sign of the Scorpion is the second water sign, plunging us into the passionate depths of feeling arising from our personal relationships. This is the intense area of intimacy and sex where joining happens, or not. We can find ourselves in the arena of deep emotional pain, where regeneration or bitterness is the outcome. We must release old habits and attitudes that no longer work for us, and this happens either voluntarily or by force in this powerful eighth sign of death and regeneration.
The saying “still waters run deep” describes our Scorpio brothers. These are not the people who skate along the surface of life. These are not the superficial glad-handers. These are the researchers. These are the secret-holders and the secret discovers. And because of the emotional depth of this sign, the wounded Scorpion finds it hard to forgive. The unevolved Scorpions will sting themselves to death rather than give in or let go, such is their holding power.
As Taurus (my money) follows Aries (me) and supports me, so Scorpio (our money, our sexual relationship) follows Libra (us) and supports our union. All shared money—insurance funds, taxes—as well as inheritances are under Scorpio rulership. All shared emotional responses—cheers in a stadium filled with sports fans, mourning in a funeral procession—are Scorpionic. Morticians, grave diggers, surgeons, healers, taxmen, garbage men, recyclers, deep-sea divers, sex-therapists, and prostitutes and pimps are all working under the sign of the Scorpion.
Since the Scorpion is so easily wounded and is armed with a powerful stinging tail, he is known for his cruelty. Ruthlessness, sadism, and torture, all the darkest of human behaviors, live in Scorpio. Here is the region beyond safe and civilized boundaries. Here is the area of the forbidden and taboo.
Here is also the area of healing and regeneration, the higher aspect of the Scorpio nature. When the Scorpion becomes a healer, he transforms into an Eagle. When he burns away his last vestiges of selfishness, he turns into the Phoenix and rises on wings from his own ashes. Since healing lives in this sign of shared resources and feeling, we can know that a person cannot heal himself. It takes the energy of another to join with you in transforming sickness into health.
A famous ruthless Scorpio: killer Charles Manson. A famous transforming Scorpio: Billy Graham (notice his eagle nose), transforming souls. Another famous transforming Scorpio: Billy Jean King who raised women to a new dignity and power in the world of sports. A famous ruthless (perhaps) and transforming Scorpio: Dr. Kevorkian, also known as Dr. Death.
It is appropriate that elections are held in early November because, being all about power, they are Scorpio struggles: “conflicts of interest, deep divisions, the supremacy of winning and the ignominy of losing. ” (Astrologer Ricki Corcilius.)
Being the sign of regeneration, Scorpio rules the reproductive organs in the body. Any dysfunction in our sexual organs, glands, or body parts is a clue that we aren’t embracing our sexuality with love.
Two major celestial events are coming our way this month. On election day, Saturn and Uranus, the planets of form and reform, the conservative and the rebel, the past and the future, make their first of five oppositions that will occur over the next two years. As I mentioned last month, the last time this happened was 1965 – 1967 when chaos hit the American scene in a violent and unexpected way. New respect for Mother Earth, Mother Nature, and women was a positive outcome. Also a new spirituality—infused with Eastern religion—opened many to higher paths. This was a time of unheard of independence (Uranus) as people were refusing to be drafted. “Hell no, we won’t go, ” was their mantra. And young men and women began living together without benefit of clergy or state. Many “tuned in, turned on, and dropped out, ” moving into communes and more natural environments. Now, this first opposition occurs during the 5th night in the Mayan Galactic Underworld—the time of the predicted breakdown of the materialistic paradigm—so financial collapse is a likely part of the picture this time.
The second major event: Pluto, ruler of Scorpio, leaves Sagittarius, not to return for 240 years. The planet of death and regeneration moves into Capricorn November 26. Look for major upheavals and changes in the Capricorn stuff: government, corporations, business, and what it means to be successful. The real changes will begin to be fully evident by 2010 when Uranus and Saturn enter the dynamic signs of Aries and Libra, and both harshly aspect Pluto. The God of the Underworld will have 17 years to complete his transformational work before moving into the brotherhood sign of Aquarius, where he will usher in the promise of a thousand years of peace.
November 2nd, 3rd, and 6th are the best days this month for new beginnings and major purchases. November 1st is favorable for starting a make-over or a re-model. No surgeries November 11th – 14th during the days of the Full Moon. The best getting-rid-of and cleaning-out days are the 24th and 25th. Any bumps or lumps removed from the body now will not return.
An extreme Full Moon is approaching, as Luna comes close to Earth. On November 12th, the Full Taurus Moon will oppose the Scorpio Sun. This lunation has multiple aspects involving Mars, Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus so look for lots of activity now. Mayan scholars say Nov. 12th is the beginning of the Sixth Night, representing the dawning of a new direction. The Fifth Night, which began last Nov. 18th, marked the beginning of the breakdown of materialistic values and hierarchical structures.
The New Moon on November 27th, continues the theme of radical upheaval. The Sabian symbol for this lunation is this: a game of cricket; the development of skills in group situations testing collective goals. Looks like we’re going to have to work together to survive. Pluto, now at one degree Capricorn, says let go of old structures. Change or be changed. Let go of your fears, take your own power, and let go of what is dying. As astrologer Stephanie Austin reminds us: “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master call the butterfly. ” (Chuang Tse)
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