Second face of Scorpio

Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

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Bottle by Kati Horna

Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

The first week of May marks a turning in the seasons as the Sun reaches fifteen degrees of Taurus, placing the Sun midway between the Aries equinox and the Cancer solstice. In the northern hemisphere the corresponding blossoms of Spring herald the transition toward Summer and the seasonal festival of Beltane. Just like Beltane is a pivotal point in the year, so will the Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio on 5 May signify leaving one phase of life behind for another. Though the Lunar Eclipse at 14º58’ Scorpio is penumbral and so will not result in the face of the Moon turning blood red, shadows will nonetheless obscure the light of the Scorpio Moon. With the watery nature of the eclipse accentuated by Mars, Saturn, and Neptune also occupying water signs, emotional purging may be necessary as unsettling emotions and memories emerge to be released and washed away.

The shadowy cloaking of the Moon’s light in the watery depth of Scorpio will have a dissolving effect upon the places where we have held onto fixed perspectives that have perpetuated problems. Since the Moon will be eclipsed on the side of the South Node while being overcome by shadows emitted from the Sun on the side of the North Node, the inner processes of disintegration and decomposition passing through can ultimately lead to the arising of regenerated forms of growth that can become sources of support and stability in the season ahead. Yet the penetrating absorption of the Scorpio Moon may soak up toxic, painful, or confusing feelings that will need to be dissolved as part of the process. James Hillman in Alchemical Psychology wrote that it is our “weeping, bleeding, sweating, urinating” that brings our alchemical Salt “out of its underground mines. It appears in our moistures, which are the flow of salt to the surface . . . Moments of dissolution are not mere collapses; they release a sense of personal human value from the encrustations of habit.”

The eclipsed Moon in Scorpio will be separating from a square with Pluto in Aquarius, a trine with Saturn in Pisces and an opposition with Mercury retrograde in Taurus while applying toward an opposition with Uranus in Taurus and flowing trine aspects with Mars in Cancer and Neptune in Pisces. The opposition between the Lunar Eclipse with Mercury retrograde and Uranus in Taurus is chaotic and could involve sudden plot twists to negotiate. Yet the tension with Uranus also means that some of the dredged-up material could lead to valuable insight and creative breakthroughs that dislodge us from stagnant and stuck patterns in need of letting go. Some of us may need extra time for rest and recovery, while others may need to engage in vigorous activity to help move the energy; one way or another we will need to have remedies and coping strategies ready in case we must attend to anxieties or disruptions to our nervous systems.

The nodes of the Moon are intersections between the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun that forms the zodiac belt) with the arc of the Moon’s orbit. The nodes of the Moon indicate the places where eclipses happen whenever a New Moon or Full Moon forms in close proximity, but they also mark dynamic points of change in lunar orbit. When the Moon passes through her own south node, it means she has descended from northern latitude to cross the ecliptic en route to traveling as far south as possible within her orbit. The descent of the Moon’s orbit during the eclipse is further mirrored by the Moon occupying her fall in Scorpio where she is brought into low lying places of subterranean depth. The Moon in her fall of Scorpio feels things intensely, necessitating a descent into buried, previously hidden material. Remarkably, the wayward path of Mercury retrograde will also be taking the star of Hermes from north to south across the ecliptic in the days surrounding the eclipse. Altogether there is clear symbolism of descent into inner depths where we will encounter material in need of releasing, emptying, detoxifying, purging, or decomposing.

Personjae by Remedios Varo

The Scorpio Lunar Eclipse is the final eclipse to occur in the sign of Scorpio within the series of eclipses that have been forming dynamic tension with Uranus in Taurus since 2021. Each eclipse has occurred in either the same sign as Uranus or the opposite sign, increasing the volatile nature of Uranus within collective and personal events. The first eclipse to occur in the same sign as Uranus was the Taurus Lunar Eclipse in November 2021, followed by a Taurus Solar Eclipse in April 2022, a Scorpio Lunar Eclipse in May 2022, a Scorpio Solar Eclipse in October 2022, and a Taurus Lunar Eclipse in November 2022. Whereas the Taurus Lunar Eclipse on 8 November 2022 formed a close conjunction with Uranus, the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse will be forming a close opposition with Uranus. The years since 2020 have coincided with accelerated collective changes, with the Uranus eclipse series amplifying disruptions to old orders of security and stability. Following the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse, there will be one final Lunar Eclipse in Taurus on 28 October 2023 and so the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse will initiate us into the final installment of the story. The personal changes that have erupted in correspondence with these eclipses have been disorienting and exhausting for many, yet in keeping with the nature of Uranus they have also unlocked new sources of creative vitality and direction. As collective systems and structures continue to shape-shift, be curious about your own metamorphosis and explore the ways in which new pathways and opportunities are opening up.

The Scorpio Moon will be eclipsed in the inwardly directed, watery home of Mars while the Moon will be applying toward a flowing trine aspect with Mars. There is mutual reception between the eclipse and the red planet, as the Moon is in the domicile of Mars and Mars is in the domicile of the Moon. Combined with the Moon and Mars additionally forming trine aspects with Neptune in Pisces, there will be a watery triangle formed between the eclipse, Mars, and Neptune. Mars in Cancer can be both creative and protective, yet prone to emotional overwhelm that can make its aggressive expression unhinged and erratic. With the ruler of Mars becoming eclipsed, it will be important to calm nerves and refrain from escalating stress and conflict as much as possible. The influence of Neptune can allow imagination to run wild, which can be positive when focalized on creative expression. However, the distortions of Neptune can make us imagine present dynamics in ways that needlessly magnify difficulties or inaccurately project our own issues upon others. It can be an opportune time for noticing the ways in which your own internal issues are being projected outward through your relationships.

Mars is applying toward a collaborative sextile aspect with Ceres retrograde in Virgo at the same time that Ceres is stationing direct. Ceres will station direct one day after the eclipse while forming a sextile with Mars and a tense opposition with Neptune in Pisces. Ceres stationing at the same time as the eclipse amplifies the presence of Ceres and her multivalent meaning. Issues of food, food shortages, labor strikes and unrest are all topics we can expect to continue surfacing in the news. Due to stationing, Ceres will not form her final opposition with Neptune until 10 June 2023, and so an extended period of Ceres and Neptune holding a tension that could amplify themes of illusion and idealism will follow the eclipse. Ceres in her Greek form of Demeter brought both agriculture as well as the Mysteries to humanity, and so themes of underworld descent and inner revelation will also be amplified by the stationing of Ceres.

Mars applying to sextile Ceres could coincide with actions taken to protect or advocate on behalf of people suffering from food or economic crises as well as issues over mothers, children, land and labor. On personal levels, we can also imagine how Mars passing through a sextile with Ceres can be likened to an initiation of Mars by the Goddess. Ceres in her retrograde journey often brings up issues of grief and trauma and how they intersect with our attachment issues within relationship. Ceres stationed retrograde on 3 February 2023 in Libra while forming an opposition with Jupiter in Aries, and so it’s worth considering where the torch of Ceres has guided you through your own internal darkness since then. Ceres stationing indicates a shift of forward momentum is on the way, yet during the eclipse Ceres will be more in a place of recovery and collecting herself to begin moving forward again in the week ahead. Whatever inner wisdom and awareness of past wounding that Ceres has gathered can be passed along to inform the journey of Mars.

Naruto Whirlpool, Awa Province by Utagawa Hiroshige (ca. 1853)

Venus in Gemini will be separating from a disorienting square aspect with Neptune in Pisces during the eclipse, having formed the exact square with Neptune on the day before the eclipse. The tension between Venus and Neptune can boost imaginal exploration and creative expression in some ways, but can also distort issues in ways that amplify the confusing obscuration of the eclipse. There may be realizations that bring about difficult feelings of disillusionment, yet the dissolving nature of the eclipse can be helpful in washing away false projections in order to realign with the deeper truth of circumstances. Venus will enter the watery sign of Cancer a few days after the eclipse on 7 May, offering a period of increased opportunities for sweetness and pleasure within relationship.

Since the eclipse is forming a watery triangle with Neptune in Pisces and Mars in Cancer, its worth considering the larger scope of how the eclipse is situated within the trajectory of Saturn and Neptune in Pisces drawing closer to one another in the years ahead. We are only at the beginning of acclimating to Saturn and Neptune sharing the waters of Pisces, yet numerous collective events that have occurred since Saturn entered Pisces indicate ways in which their shared influence is already being felt. Saturn is not at home in water signs, and the excessive coldness of Saturn is increased by the cold, internal nature of water in ways that can lead into states of depression and emotional overwhelm. Yet at the same time, the dryness of Saturn is tempered by the moistness of Pisces in ways that can accentuate creativity and the synthesis of ideas, influences, and inspiration together. However, since the dryness of Saturn that helps establish restrictions and limits is also being lessened, we will need to make sure we are tending to our own containment and maintaining the necessary boundaries and limits in our lives.

Marsilio Ficino wrote that the reason Saturn excels at discovering and retaining things is that it pulls us down to the center of individual subjects, from the external to the internal, from the circumference to the center; yet while forcing investigations to the center of individual subjects, at the same time Saturn leads us to contemplate the highest realm, because Saturn is the highest planet. As the nocturnal, inwardly directed moistness of Saturn will pull us down into imaginative depths, we will need to be careful to not sink too low into the melancholia of a downward spiral that makes it difficult to stay afloat. The contraction and consolidation of Saturn within the imaginal water of Pisces will call for preservation of our dreams and ideals while we navigate the dissolving and disillusioning influence of Neptune occupying the same sign. Some cherished ideals of the past may need to be washed away, yet underneath the waves new vibrant visions will also be discovered.

In many ways we can associate the extended period of Saturn and Neptune in Pisces with the solutio alchemical phase, with the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse and Mars in Cancer accelerating and deepening our initiation into their dissolution. The solutio phase involves the dissolution of solid, differentiated matter into its original undifferentiated state, known as the prima materia. One of the reasons water is associated with spiritual regeneration is due to the alchemical concept that substances cannot be transformed until reduced to prima materia. Old forms of security and stability will be dissolving, yet within the stirring of Saturn in Pisces new forms will also begin coagulating and emerging with time and attention. As we are only at the beginning of adjusting to Saturn and Neptune it can feel especially confusing, but the more we can begin adjusting now the better we will be able to flow with the tides of change they will be bringing in the years ahead.

Ritual by Norman Lewis

Mercury will continue to slowly move backwards in retrograde motion during the week following the eclipse, ultimately stationing direct on 15 May. Make intentional effort to be mindful in the days surrounding Mercury’s stationing, as Mercury’s return to visibility in the sky before dawn will correspond with meaningful messages arising into awareness. The second half of May hosts astrological transits that can activate significant developments and new opportunities, and so utilizing the final period of Mercury retrograde for adjusting routines and personal structures will help prepare for an influx of growth. Mercury will station direct while forming harmonious sextile aspects with Venus in Cancer and Saturn in Pisces, initiating a period of forward momentum that will support dynamic creativity combined with focused, practical application.

The most significant astrological event of May occurs the day after Mercury stations direct, when Jupiter enters Taurus on 16 May. Jupiter has quickly moved through Aries after entering the fiery home of Mars on 20 December 2022, following an additional stint from 11 May to 28 October 2022. While Jupiter in Aries supported accelerated growth and courageous risk taking, the pace of Jupiter will considerably slow down within the fertile, earthy terrain of Taurus. Jupiter in Taurus patiently tends to long-term goals that will foster increased stability and security over time. Jupiter in Taurus loves being surrounded by beauty and favors the tangible and sensual over ungrounded ideas. With both Mercury and Jupiter visible as morning stars heralding sunrise each day in Taurus, it will be an ideal time to construct a garden to contain and nurture the fruits and flowers of your imagination.

6 of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Scorpio 2 Decan

The Scorpio Moon will become eclipsed in the second decan of Scorpio associated with the Six of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image reveals the virtuous innocence of receiving through giving, which connects with the Sun and Jupiter being the rulers of the second face of Scorpio. With the Moon becoming eclipsed within the second decan of Scorpio, on one hand it will be important to tend and contain inner processes to avoid adversely impacting  relationships with our own emotional purging and purification. On the other hand, we may need to reach out for support or be willing to offer our support and presence to relationships in need of care and nurturance. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets brilliantly broadened the scope of the personal relationship within the Six of Cups to the “alchemy of sacrifice” between generations and lineages. Chang wrote that “each of us shall pass, but our lineage shall live forever . . . the only prize is the love we bear for one another from one generation to the next.” As the eclipse within the second decan of Scorpio is occurring during a period of accelerated collective change, be mindful of the larger implications of personal choices and the importance of making caring decisions and nurturing actions that keep the livelihoods of future generations in  mind. 

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces ascribed the image of “An Apparatus for Mutual Distillation” to the second decan of Scorpio, describing it as a face in which mutual distillation within relationship allows for matters to be passed back and forth as in an alembic, “growing increasingly rarefied and potent.” Coppock wrote that while “it is easy to imagine these dynamics between romantic partners, all relationships which rely on trust and continuous exchange generate such circuits.” Coppock’s description of ideal relational exchanges rooted in trust also brings to mind the antithesis of broken trust and toxic relational dynamics that can also be found in the second decan of Scorpio. Indeed, Coppock warned that we need to be careful to whom we bare ourselves to, because the “virtuous circuit of exchange can become vicious in this face . . . the process of dual cultivation becomes one of mutual degradation, each destroying the quality of the other with each pass.” Coppock noted that “fixity of relationship is a key characteristic of this decan,” as the second decan of Scorpio “concentrates and fixes the passions generally” and establishes “fixed relationships with people, places, and areas of study.” An eclipse in the second decan of Scorpio may bring disruption to previously fixated dynamics, but by working through the deeper issues at play the necessary renegotiation and renewal will result.

The Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed the Titaness Leto to the second decan of Scorpio. Sister to the starry, divinatory goddess Asteria and mother to the twin lights of Artemis and Apollo, Leto’s presence in the decan where shadows will obscure the light of the Moon reveals the need to protectively nurture whatever we wish to bring into the world. Leto had to flee and take refuge on an isolated island unattached to the ocean floor in order to escape the wrath of Hera, who had made all lands exclude Leto from entry due to her anger over the affair between Leto and Zeus.  It was said that the twin offspring of Leto would stabilize the new order of Olympian deities, and so her persistence in nurturing the birth of Apollo and Artemis additionally supported the birth of a new collective age. In this time of great global shifts and collective thresholds, Leto is a fitting symbol for taking the necessary steps to give birth to the world you wish yourself and the generations to follow to inhabit.

In contrast, twelfth century astrologer Ibn Ezra in The Beginning of Wisdom wrote that within the second face of Scorpio there “ascends a woman who has left her house; she is naked and has nothing on and she is entering the sea.” Perhaps this image is most fitting of all for the powerful purging, purification, and dissolution present in the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse. Although the image presents a solitary human figure, she is also immersed in deep relationship with the potent regeneration of the Sea. As the power found in the second face of Scorpio involves distillation and cultivation from intimate exchanges, the mutual support of relationship will be the vessel to tend and drink from in the coming weeks. Though the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse may dredge up difficult material to process and release, the deep cleansing that may ultimately result can help in drawing us closer within mutually supportive dynamics and enduring bonds of support.

If you enjoy my writing please consider supporting my work through a monthly subscription on my Patreon page. Take a look to see the benefits you will receive as a patron!

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References

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

Hillman, James. (2014). Alchemical Psychology. Spring publications.

Scorpio New Moon

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City Beyond the Tree by Margo Hoff

Scorpio New Moon

Ancient astrology texts give the fixed, watery sign of Scorpio a special status due to being the place where the Moon experiences her fall. Being the place where Fortune has her fall, Scorpio is considered zodiacal terrain where nothing can be exalted. When planets are considered to be exalted, they are elevated into the highest strata of fame and status within the dominant culture. Considering the current state of those in hierarchical positions of power and the value to be found by playing into the games of present political and popular power structures, the fallen quality of the Moon in Scorpio deserves honoring and embrace. Scorpio penetrates through the false gloss of superficial interactions, cuts through appearances, demands the honesty of the depths and the desire to go there. During a period in which people all around the world are simultaneously poised on the precipice of an enormous threshold, when the structures of civilization are being challenged and torn asunder when incapable of enduring, we need to drink deeply from the dark well of Scorpio.

The New Moon at 12º40′ Scorpio is exactly opposite Uranus retrograde at 12º47′ Taurus. The Sun in opposition with Uranus is the heart of the Uranus retrograde passage, when Uranus is as close to Earth in orbit as possible within its cycle and can be more intensely felt than normal. Uranus stationed retrograde on August 19 at 14º48′ Taurus and will eventually station direct on January 18, 2022 at 10º49′ Taurus, demarcating the lunation as dead center on whatever internal journey Uranus has been calling you to fully commit to. The tension between the Scorpio New Moon with Uranus in Taurus can be released suddenly, striking with revelatory force into a moment in which a completely new understanding or path forward becomes revealed. Uranus electrifies the fallen quality of the Scorpio New Moon, like an otherworldly vision of healing and mystery received while laying low, incubating.

In addition to activating Uranus, in the bigger picture the Scorpio New Moon is triggering whatever tension has been building up between the ongoing square aspect between Saturn and Uranus. The Scorpio Sun recently formed a square aspect with Saturn in Aquarius on October 30, and in the week following the lunation both Mercury and Mars in Scorpio will form a clashing square aspect with Saturn on November 10. The speed of change and dismantling within collective events has been feeling overwhelming and anxiety provoking to many, yet in keeping with the mythic connection many astrologers make between Uranus and Prometheus, within the suffering can also be found the seeds of liberation. Prometheus brought the creative potency of fire, the arts, and sciences to humanity, yet his story also necessitates a confrontation with hubris and questioning of what kind of civilization has been constructed by humanity with the gifts of Prometheus.

Indeed, Tim Addey in Seven Myths of the Soul wrote that Prometheus requires the soul to ask, “what am I not?” Addey stated that “the mystic’s initiation into the mysteries of Prometheus is the voluntary acceptance of the limitations of matter, not its rejection.” Like Prometheus, integrating and embodying the radical awakening of Uranus necessitates a voluntary sacrifice to bring its emancipatory vision into the incarnated world of limitation, suffering, and death. Within the shattering to collective systems wrought by Uranus in Taurus, by going within and finding our center amidst the chaotic tumult we may liberate our authentic values from their concealment within cultural conditioning. To follow one’s true path in the face of consensus conditioning necessitates the risk of abandonment and fears of experiencing shame and betrayal.

With Mars ruling the New Moon while at full strength within its watery home of Scorpio, there is enduring courage waiting to be seized like an ancestral sword long bound by stone, awaiting release. Make the space and time needed, no matter how painstakingly slow it seems to be taking, to allow the decomposition and putrefaction of Scorpio to work its magic on the ways in which the conditioning of consensus culture has led you to believe you need to live your life. Ask yourself what you wish to awaken in yourself and others, and what you want to bring to civilization from the soulfulness of your own inner depths. We are in a crucial time full of crucial choices that deserve the thought and contemplation needed to align our actions with our essential integrity.

Egyptian Scarab inscribed with hieroglyphs (ca. 1479–1458 B.C.)

Mars is as strong as possible at the degree he is inhabiting during the Scorpio New Moon, as he is in his own domicile, bounds, decan, and triplicity. Meanwhile, Saturn is also especially strong due to being in his own domicile and triplicity. The fact that both Mars and Saturn are so powerfully positioned amplifies the tidal force of the tension building between them as they prepare to clash on November 10. Mars and Saturn are the planets most associated with being tested and learning how to traverse periods of difficulty and strife. While Mars can incite pushing forward with passion and making things happen with direct action, Saturn can push back through restraint, slowing things down with contemplative containment, and erecting boundaries and defensives to keep the red hot heat of Mars at bay. Yet Mars in Scorpio is in the dominant position by being in the tenth place from Saturn, the first time all year that Mars has been engaged with Saturn through being in a superior square. Thus while Saturn may attempt to clamp down on Mars, the propulsive force of Mars will topple the towers of Saturn, especially those systemic structures which lack a strong foundation and capacity for flexibly adjusting to changing conditions.

Adding to the intense, explosive quality of the conflict brewing between Mars and Saturn will be Mercury, as the star of Hermes will enter Scorpio on November 5, the day after the Scorpio New Moon. Mercury will form a conjunction with Mars in Scorpio on November 10, with both Mars and Mercury simultaneously forming an intensifying square aspect with Saturn in Aquarius. As a result the days leading up to November 10 may feel especially charged, with an extended release in the following week. Mercury will form a tense opposition with Uranus in Taurus on November 13, followed by Mars forming an opposition with Uranus on November 17.

The union of Mercury and Mars can weaponize language as well as increase the capacity of Mars for being cunning and tricky when implementing strategy. It will be wise to avoid unnecessary conflicts and walk away when possible to avoid escalation. Yet when brought to bear on one’s inner depths, the penetrative force of Mercury and Mars in Scorpio can dislodge potent desires to express through creativity as well as through protective support of one another within community.

While Saturn in Aquarius will be extremely activated with all of its defenses by the charge from Mercury and Mars in Scorpio, the star of Cronus will also be applying toward a potentially integrative sextile aspect with Chiron, who is retrograde in Aries and mutually applying with Saturn. Saturn will not complete his sextile aspect with Chiron until November 26, allowing for an extended period of time to explore what sort of dialogue and relationship can be bridged between Chiron and Saturn. Adding to the complexity, Ceres retrograde in Gemini is also involved in the dynamic between Saturn and Chiron, as Ceres is applying toward a trine with Saturn and a sextile with Chiron (Ceres will sextile Chiron on November 8 and trine Saturn on November 14).

Thus both Chiron and Ceres are available for tending to whatever wounds and burdens we have been experiencing related to Saturn. We may need to make space for grief related to loss, issues of identity, and feelings of alienation or dislocation that we have been experiencing. Yet the harmonious aspects between Ceres and Chiron with Saturn can also help retrieve a deep sense of the inner treasure we may find within ourselves, buried underneath the accumulation of so much stress circulating within collective crises and personal difficulties. Relationships we may turn to involving secure bonds of attachment can be particularly helpful in exploring whatever medicine can be alchemized between Ceres, Saturn, and Chiron.

Doorways by Margo Hoff

We can expect the unexpected in the weeks following the Scorpio New Moon not only because of the activation of both Uranus and Saturn by transit, but also because we will be entering an eclipse season. Indeed, the lunar cycle beginning with the Scorpio New Moon will reach peak light with a Lunar Eclipse on November 19 at 27º14′ Taurus. Since this will be the first eclipse to occur in the fixed signs of Taurus or Scorpio, there will likely be important endings and beginnings in storylines taking shape in correspondence as we get closer to the eclipse. Pay attention for signs of what new stories may emerge in correspondence with eclipses in Taurus and Scorpio.

Another sign of changing narratives will be the entrance of Venus into Capricorn on November 5, the day after the Scorpio New Moon. Venus in Capricorn will begin activating a storyline that will have a long arc, extending across the threshold between 2021 and 2022. Venus will remain in Capricorn from November 5, 2021 until March 5, 2022 due to stationing retrograde in Capricorn on December 19, 2021. Tellingly, the first major aspect that Venus in Capricorn will complete with a planet besides the Moon will be a harmonious sextile aspect with Uranus in Taurus on November 18. Since Venus will be receiving Uranus into her earthy home of Taurus, their contact on the day before the Lunar Eclipse can help us find ways to relate and be more creative with the more explosive tension that will be released by the opposition between Mars in Scorpio with Uranus in Taurus on November 17. Venus in Capricorn knows how to play the long game, and while Venus can enjoy the lust of earthly delights in Capricorn she can also utilize boundaries to create the space needed for whatever she desires to gestate and birth.

6 of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Scorpio 2 Decan

The New Moon in Scorpio is in the second decan of Scorpio associated with the Six of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image reveals the virtuous innocence of receiving through giving, which connects with the Sun and Jupiter being the rulers of the second face of Scorpio. Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “An Apparatus for Mutual Distillation” to the second decan of Scorpio, describing it as a face in which mutual distillation within relationship allows for matters to be passed back and forth as in an alembic, “growing increasingly rarefied and potent.” Coppock wrote that while “it is easy to imagine these dynamics between romantic partners, all relationships which rely on trust and continuous exchange generate such circuits.”

Coppock’s description of ideal relational exchanges rooted in trust also brings to mind its antithesis of broken trust that unleashes overwhelming emotions and catalyzes separations and letting go. Twelfth century astrologer Ibn Ezra in The Beginning of Wisdom wrote that within the second face of Scorpio there “ascends a woman who has left her house; she is naked and has nothing on and she is entering the sea.” Austin Coppock described the second decan of Scorpio as warning that we need to be careful to whom we bare ourselves to, because the “virtuous circuit of exchange can become vicious in this face . . . the process of dual cultivation becomes one of mutual degradation, each destroying the quality of the other with each pass.”

Further showing the importance of separating from degrading relationships in the second decan of Scorpio, the Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed the Titan goddess Leto to the second face of Scorpio. Sister to the starry, divinatory goddess Asteria and mother to the twin lights of Artemis and Apollo, Leto’s presence in the face where the Scorpio New Moon will darken reveals the need to protectively nurture and cultivate whatever we hold most dear and wish to bring into the world. Leto had to flee and take refuge on an isolated island unattached to the ocean floor in order to escape the wrath of Hera, who had made all lands exclude Leto from entry due to her anger over the affair between Leto and Zeus.  It was said that the twin offspring of Leto would stabilize the new order of Olympian deities, and so her persistence in nurturing the birth of Apollo and Artemis was additionally a birth of a new collective age. In this time of great global shifts and collective thresholds, Leto is a fitting symbol for taking the necessary steps to give birth to the world you wish yourself and the generations to follow to inhabit.

As the power found in the second face of Scorpio involves distillation and cultivation from intimate exchanges, the closeness of our relationships and the mutual support and love found within them will be the vessel to tend and drink from in the coming weeks. Let the darkness of the Scorpio New Moon bring you closer to the community and relationships needed to help bring forth the blessings and beauty of your lineages more brightly into the world.

If you enjoy my writing please consider supporting my work through a monthly subscription on my Patreon page. Take a look to see the benefits you will receive as a patron!

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References

Addey, Tim. (2000). The Seven Myths of the Soul. The Prometheus Trust.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

Full Moon in Scorpio

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Moon_Bat_Vortex

Image by Micelle Doucette (2020) whose work can be found at The Dreaming Canvas

Full Moon in Scorpio

The Full Moon in Scorpio on May 7, 2020 will illuminate the most inward depths of feelings and memories, penetrating underneath the surface of whatever emotional material has been gathered since the Taurus New Moon on April 22. Like laying down within a pastoral landscape of bees pollinating flowers, swallows diving and rising in flight, and the flowering of orchards, we may drink from the deep well of our psyche made from the ancient stores of our ancestry. Scorpio can be relentless in penetrating to the bottom line of surrounding emotional dynamics, exposing toxicity in a process that can bring about purification and the fertilization of growth from the decomposition. Immense emotional reactions and responses can be set off by the dynamics of the Scorpio Full Moon, bringing the opportunity for profound awareness as the courageous nature of the Scorpio Moon confronts whatever has been hidden in shadowy darkness.

The Scorpio Full Moon is applying closely to an opposition with Mercury in Taurus and a flowing trine with Neptune in Pisces, as Mercury and Neptune simultaneously are forming a harmonizing sextile aspect. Mercury was recently reseeded in a new cycle with the Sun and is still invisible, incubating the new meaning of its cycle while hidden in darkness. Altogether, there may be a lack of clarity regarding the large emotions passing through and so it will be best to let the feelings pass without believing that you understand things completely. It’s a good mixture for imaginative, artistic, and creative work and letting yourself be carried away to wherever the inspiration of the muses direct you. If you are in difficult circumstances caused by repercussions from the pandemic, the more you can mediate anxieties and fears the better you will be able to flow with the emotive impact of the Full Moon and utilize it to help re-dream the next phase of life to come.

The flowing charge of the Scorpio Full Moon may dislodge inner blocks of all shapes and sizes, opening potential for becoming aware of inner parts that have been lost or locked away. At the same time that the Full Moon is forming a trine with Neptune in Pisces, Venus is simultaneously beginning to station retrograde while forming a catalyzing square aspect with Neptune. Since both Mercury and the Sun are in the fixed, earthy, and inwardly directed home of Venus, it will be beneficial to make time to nurture your body and sensuality, sensing desires and other messages that have been accumulating within your bones and tissues. We are on the threshold of entering the strange quality of time brought about by Venus retrograde, when old material will emerge to be purged while new desires and relationships erupt viscerally into awareness.

While the Sun in Taurus facilitates centering and patiently cultivating security, the Full Moon in Scorpio reveals the shadow of yearnings in its light, unearthing the deeper source of what we need to feel secure. Rage can erupt over feelings of being wronged, anger and grief unleashed over the multitudinous forms of injustice being exposed by the impact of the pandemic. Combined with Venus stationing retrograde, the Scorpio Full Moon will penetrate with its light into the underlying dynamics of relationships and material concerns, especially wherever we have been stubbornly trying to control or manipulate in order to guard against the threat of loss. The polarity between Taurus and Scorpio has strong capacity for commitment and resiliently completing work, yet there may be aspects of life we simply must let go of during this period. In the wake of its catharsis, the Scorpio Full Moon can help in refocusing on what will best grow and flourish in the current climate, so that we can complete all the necessary work to prepare our fields for the harvest we wish to reap in the year ahead.

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Yoshitoshi (1885) One Hundred Aspects of the Moon

Mars in Aquarius rules the Full Moon while in the final four degrees of Aquarius, on the verge of finally climbing out of its long co-presence of being in the same sign as Saturn. Mars first entered the same sign as Saturn on February 16 when they were both in Capricorn, and they have remained in the same sign for close to the entirety of the time that has passed since then, corresponding with the grim reality of quarantines needing to be instituted and economies shut down around the world. Crucially, their union in Aquarius also involved a square aspect with Uranus in Taurus, jarring loose discord as the pandemic brought a collapse of numerous societal structures. Just as the previous Taurus New Moon reactivated the harsh aspects between Saturn, Uranus, and Mars, so does the Scorpio Full Moon make a sequence of hard aspects with each, amplifying the emotional wattage of the lunation.

Furthermore, Mercury in Taurus is applying toward a contentious square aspect with Mars in Aquarius which will become exact on May 11. Within current events the square between Mercury and Mars can be witnessed through the combative disagreements over how to proceed through the next phase of the pandemic, with those on the side of opening up the economy and those on the side of protecting public health both stubbornly resistant to compromise. Mars in Aquarius is driven to take action over humanitarian concerns and intellectual ideas, and so both sides of conflicts will likely dig in due to believing they have the interest of the greater good in mind. Mars in the airy sign of Saturn, with Saturn also co-present in Aquarius, does have capacity for cooly detaching from heated conflict and so when possible it will be best to claim space for grounding and gaining a calmer perspective for which direction to take next.

Though the Full Moon is in the deep waters of Scorpio and the Sun is in the fertile soil of Taurus, both of their rulers Mars and Venus are occupying air signs. Mars and Venus in air signs lack grounding and can get caught in a spiral driven by stress and anxiety, but as long as we can stay centered we can draw upon the strength of the air element for listening, analyzing, and devising creative solutions. Mars and Venus have been in range of a flowing trine aspect during the past month and a half that has never completed due to Venus slowing down to station retrograde. The Scorpio Full Moon illuminates the final separation between Mars and Venus, with Mars charging ahead to enter Pisces on May 12 at the same time Venus stands still to shift retrograde.

Mars and Venus are the closest planets to us in orbit, nocturnal planets that connect us with primal passions we discover within inner darkness away from the rationalism and judgment of daylight. While Venus relates to what unites us and what we find pleasurable and valuable, Mars represents our ability to pursue our desires, fight for our values, and separate ourselves from threats. The closeness of their trine aspect that never completed correlates with yearnings that will need to be purged during the next month of Venus shifting retrograde, as the next aspect completed between Mars and Venus will be an intensifying square aspect on June 2 as Venus is simultaneously being regenerated by its conjunction with the Sun. The Scorpio Full Moon can open a sense of what will need to be released in order to make space for the new desires that will be emerging during the upcoming Venus retrograde period that will last until the end of June.

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Image by Michelle Doucette whose work can be found at The Dreaming Canvas

There is a charged atmosphere around the Scorpio Full Moon due to not only Venus stationing within a week of the lunation, but also Saturn and Jupiter stationing and further saturating the astrological climate with their significations. Saturn will station retrograde on May 10, 2020 at 1°57′ Aquarius and will remain retrograde until stationing direct on September 29. Jupiter will station retrograde on May 14 at 27°14′ Capricorn and will remain retrograde until stationing direct on September 13. As a result, the week following the Scorpio Full Moon will bring a major change in storylines in personal and current events that will mark a dramatic initiation into the final period of the second quarter of 2020. The intensification of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn simultaneously will involve an inward pull toward reorienting values in relation to the immense societal changes taking shape. Rather than clinging to what brought security in the past, it will be vital to be open to following a new direction forward as the world will not be returning to the way it began 2020.

The Full Moon in Scorpio is especially attuned toward the stationing of Jupiter in Capricorn, as it is applying toward a harmonious sextile aspect with Jupiter and Pluto retrograde in Capricorn. Moreover, Mercury in Taurus will be forming shadowy  contra-antiscia aspects with Saturn stationing on May 10 and 11, with Jupiter stationing on May 12, and then finally with Pluto retrograde on May 13 and 14. Once the catharsis of the Scorpio Full Moon passes, make time and space in the week following the lunation to monitor inner feelings closely and find ways to get a sense of what wants to emerge from you through journaling, art, or any type of meditative or spiritual practice that clears channels of reception. There is no doubt that outrageous corruption will continue to occur as global powers try to hold onto their disproportionate share of resources, yet these same astrological aspects on inner levels can correspond with profound moments of discovering the integrity and ethics you will be willing to embody and courageously stand up for in the tumultuous year ahead.

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Silver coin from Knossis (400 B.C.)

Another major astrological shift illuminated by the Scorpio Full Moon is the transition of the transiting lunar nodes from Cancer and Capricorn into Gemini and Sagittarius on May 5, 2020. The true calculation of the lunar nodes have been in Cancer and Capricorn since November 6, 2018 and so you may notice that themes in your life that became activated at the end of 2018 related to the lunar nurturance of Cancer and the Saturnine contraction of Capricorn are in a state of resolution or dissolution. The waning Moon in Sagittarius will make its first contact with its South Node in Sagittarius on May 10, which will bring a more palpable sense of how the shift of the South Node into Sagittarius is unveiling old issues in need of digesting, decomposing, harvesting, and release.

As as result, Saturn is releasing its rulership of the South Node of the Moon and handing rulership over to the wise counsel of Jupiter in Capricorn. The transiting South Node of the Moon in Sagittarius will be calling for an examination of the underlying philosophies we live and make choices from, shedding old beliefs that no longer align with our experience. There is an obvious need to reckon with numerous old beliefs that have been at the center of societal structures due to the pandemic and its cataclysmic impact on economic and health care systems around the planet. On a personal level we may notice new seeds of vision emerging through letting go of beliefs that had been filtering our perception, while in other cases we may receive a rich harvest of meaning from systems of knowledge we have been extensively exploring.

In contrast, the fluidly mediating Mercury has taken over rulership of the North Node of the Moon in Gemini, guiding us in discovering new desires and ambitions as well as in the absorption of new material.  The transiting North Node of the Moon in Gemini will not be a straight path forward but rather a wildly divergent one requiring digressive changes in direction. Suiting the chaotic climate of the pandemic, Mercury will necessarily lead us away from preconceived plans and require a constant readiness to change directions, question beliefs, and remain open to new perspectives. The transiting North Node of the Moon in Gemini will incite insatiable drives of curiosity that can become overwhelmed by more pursuits of interest than can be adequately processed and integrated. Thus balance can be found through the South Node of Sagittarius using its fire to burn off whatever has been distracting or dissipating our full engagement, honing our sense of what pursuits we want to focus our full energy on developing.

While the ingress of the North Node of the Moon into Gemini will primarily amplify the significance of Venus stationing retrograde in Gemini, there is important additional meaning to be found in the fact that the asteroid Vesta is applying toward a conjunction with Venus that it will complete on May 15. Vesta is a goddess who sustains the sacred fire of the hearth and so will bring the devotional strength and enduring focus of the high priestess into relationship with Venus stationing retrograde. Vesta in Gemini will first form a square aspect with Neptune on May 12 before meeting Venus, mediating the meaning of the building tension in between Neptune and Venus.

Vesta’s role in sustaining the sacred fire requires maintaining the kind of cleansing, purifying, and grounding that we will need to avoid becoming lost in illusions constellated between Neptune and Venus stationing retrograde. Vesta in Gemini can also help in finding common ground with others even when isolated at home, as the tending of individual hearths and altars creates interconnection with others around the world doing the same. The intense focusing prowess of Vesta can help us orient toward the heart of the matter that needs our undivided attention as Venus stations retrograde, using the imaginal strength and dissolving capacities of Neptune to wash away blockages and barriers.

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Six of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Scorpio 2 Decan

The Full Moon in Scorpio arises in the second decan of Scorpio associated with the Six of Cups illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image reveals the innocence of receiving through giving, which connects with the Sun and Jupiter being the rulers of the second face of Scorpio. Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “An Apparatus for Mutual Distillation” to the second decan of Scorpio, describing it as a face in which mutual distillation within relationship allows for matters to be passed back and forth as in an alembic, “growing increasingly rarefied and potent.” Coppock wrote that while “it is easy to imagine these dynamics between romantic partners, all relationships which rely on trust and continuous exchange generate such circuits.”

Coppock’s description of ideal relational exchanges rooted in trust also brings to mind its antithesis of broken trust that unleashes overwhelming emotions and catalyzes separations and letting go. 12th century astrologer Ibn Ezra in The Beginning of Wisdom wrote that within the second face of Scorpio there “ascends a woman who has left her house; she is naked and has nothing on and she is entering the sea.” Austin Coppock described the second decan of Scorpio as warning that we need to be careful to whom we bare ourselves to, because the “virtuous circuit of exchange can become vicious in this face . . . the process of dual cultivation becomes one of mutual degradation, each destroying the quality of the other with each pass.”

Further showing the importance of separating from degrading relationships in the second decan of Scorpio, the Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed the Titan goddess Leto to the second face of Scorpio. Sister to the starry, divinatory goddess Asteria and mother to the twin lights of Artemis and Apollo, Leto’s presence in the face where the Scorpio Full Moon arises reveals the need to protectively nurture and cultivate whatever we hold most dear and wish to bring into the world. Leto had to flee and take refuge on an isolated island unattached to the ocean floor in order to escape the wrath of Hera, who had made all lands exclude Leto from entry due to her anger over the affair between Leto and Zeus.  It was said that the twin offspring of Leto would stabilize the new order of Olympian deities, and so her persistence in nurturing the birth of Apollo and Artemis was additionally a birth of a new collective age.  As the astrology of 2020 portends a new collective era emerging at the end of the year, Leto is a fitting symbol for taking whatever steps are necessary to give birth to the world you wish yourself and the generations to follow to inhabit.

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References

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: the history, astrology, and magic of the decans. Three Hands Press.