Last days of Sun in Scorpio: Meeting intrigue

What is ultimately more satisfying: maintaining a pervasive sense of intrigue and the unknown, or diving into the mystery with your curiosity and facing what you meet there head-on? Are the two states necessarily mutually exclusive?

Wednesday at 4:50 pm EST the Sun moves into Sagittarius, handing Venus the keys to the Scorpio vault on its way out. Venus, the receptive planet of attraction and love, enters Scorpio at 8:20 pm EST on Wednesday. Where the Sun has been shining its light into the shadows, Venus prepares to receive the secrets about our erotic energy that we’ve unearthed.

Before we get there, these last hours of the Sun in Scorpio are likely to be thick with a sense of intrigue, or a generally ‘odd’ sensation describing this very interesting place and time.

Adding to that sense of intrigue is the conjunction of Mars and Pluto in Capricorn. The subterranean is heating up like a pressure cooker, thanks to the drive of Mars and the deep rumblings of Pluto. In a less-encouraging manifestation, consider the conflict between Israel and Palestine to see what ‘intrigue’ can look like: a powder keg sitting in a roomful of pyromaniacs. Only one of them has a lighter that works — and no one is sure when (or necessarily if) he’ll use it.

But Mars in Capricorn on its own can equal hard work for work’s sake (rather than for personal ambition). And the energy of Saturn (ruler of Capricorn) provides some much-needed balance for Mars’ drive in the form of a little restraint, structure, and a check on the animal energy.

On a more personal level, the potential messiness of Mars and the Uranus-Pluto square could be useful. Mars and Pluto are the traditional and modern rulers of Scorpio, respectively. So their conjunction is vibrating through Scorpio, adding a deeper, hotter layer to the activity of planets in that sign.

As the Sun slips out the back, Venus arrives with an extra dose of style and grace (thanks to a trine to Neptune in Pisces) — but lands in the sign of her so-called detriment (since Scorpio is ruled by Mars). It kind of puts her on alert, and there’s plenty going on in the shadows for her to be aware of.

As Venus moves into a conjunction with Saturn, there are at least a couple ways this might feel. One is a constriction of emotional expression, or excessive cautiousness. Since this is happening in a sign ruled by Mars, watch out for this turning into a feeling of selfish defensiveness. With all the rich, fecund material surfacing via Scorpio these days, however, you’ll want to ask yourself what exactly it is you’re putting the brakes on.

If it’s an inquiry into your own darkness — that is, any shadow emerging within yourself around the taboo areas of death, money and especially sex — consider using any sense of limits to focus yourself even deeper into these issues. Remember that Mercury is currently still retrograde in Scorpio, making any deep self-inquiry into your past thoughts about sex, or the roots of those thoughts, very fertile territory.

Another way Venus-Saturn in Scorpio could be interpreted is as an unusual meeting in an unusual place, giving rise (pun intended) to some very unusual exchanges. Kind of like a socialite and a biker meeting up in a gothic cathedral for a date.

Sound rather S&M? Actually, playing consciously with the exchange of power in a safe container can be incredibly liberating: you agree to certain boundaries at the outset, and then one of you hands over the reins to the other. Just make your safe word something you’ll never forget; that retrograde Mercury gets tricky with communication.

In fact, keep retrograde Mercury in mind as you keep exploring whatever shadow material is coming up for you these days. There is a fine line between ‘living with mystery’ and ‘paranoia’. If you feel your imagination starting to run away with you, do a reality check out loud with a friend. All this Scorpio energy is nothing to be afraid of; ultimately, neither is that question you’ve been avoiding. It’s just another intriguing opportunity to go deep.