Today we experience the first of a series of events involving Scorpio, which together make up the peak astrology of 2013. It’s fair to say that Scorpio is the most challenging sign for many people, mainly due to the subject matter it covers: a dimension of the emotional/psychological/psychic realm that embraces the themes of sex, death, surrender and exchange of resources (money, feelings, DNA, and others).
To understand Scorpio, then imagine this whole branch of experience thrown under a veil of denial or concealed by a game of pretend, broadly known as taboo.
Taboos tend to cover some of the most obvious facets of life, as well as the ones we’re the most curious about and driven by.
Humans tend to live with taboo like it’s the thing to do, though after a while, if you’re paying attention, you might notice that it starts to seem like we live in a society of people who don’t wash or practice any form of hygiene in the bathroom, and are convinced that nobody else notices. The reek of the lies, secrets and denial becomes totally oppressive, but just about everyone pretends it’s not there.
The series of events we’re about to experience will serve, one after the next, to make the game of pretend harder and harder to maintain. This begins with Mercury stationing retrograde in Scorpio. I know I’ve said that the slower planets tend to be the most potent in their effects. Despite this, Mercury, which usually moves pretty fast, is one of the most influential planets in our lives. We’re immersed in a world of mercurial devices, rapid communication, information, ideas and trivia.
Oh, and lies, secrets and silence.
Today, Mercury will move just one arc minute — relative to the Earth, it’s moving at the same pace as Pluto. (At peak speed, Mercury can move 100 times faster than this.) In Scorpio, a station of Mercury can represent the revelation of secrets, a discovery or the admission of something to yourself. I don’t mean finally accepting that you like Twinkies. I mean the admission of something deep, perhaps something you’ve been concealing from yourself since childhood.
Now, denial is one of the weirdest games of the human mind. It’s a flirtation with awareness and acceptance. There are reasons people have to deny things — mostly as a means of protecting a belief, or the status quo of a relationship. Sometimes this is about not wanting to threaten someone. The equation, “I will lie to myself so that I don’t threaten you” is applied a lot more often than people want to admit.
But these rationales grow weak and tired and eventually the truth breaks through — and that’s what the astrology is presenting us now. There will be opportunities to unburden yourself, and, coupled with an eclipse (that’s conjunct Saturn) opportunities to turn your awareness into real change.
Regardless of the subject area, the retrograde station of Mercury defines one boundary in a region of time that lasts about three weeks and is a self-contained world of its own. Within this world, you will have the opportunity to experience, consider and process what is revealed, or what you reveal to yourself. Though there are invitations to go deep (for example, a solar eclipse in Scorpio coming up soon), I recommend that you start at the edge and work your way in toward the center — gently, slowly and persistently.
It would be helpful if you dedicate yourself to truth, which can start with admitting to yourself the truth about yourself. That’s the most important truth there is; with that, the process of defragmentation has a good start. Think of this all as a process of making peace with yourself; of finding your integrity and living through it, and for it.
Here are some of the main events of the next few weeks.
Mercury stations retrograde in Scorpio at 6:29 am EDT on Monday, Oct. 21. Mercury will station direct (the end of the retrograde) on Sat. Nov. 10, 2013.
Sun enters Scorpio at 2:09 am EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Retrograde Mercury conjunct Saturn in Scorpio (second of three events) at 4:48 pm EDT on Oct. 29. The Moon is conjunct Mars in Virgo for this event.
Annular-total solar eclipse in Scorpio at 8:49 pm EDT on Nov. 3, 2013. This eclipse is conjunct the North Node, Mercury and Saturn. There are also minor planets involved. Here is a reference to the charts, with minor planets, for this past Friday’s eclipse of the Moon, and the solar eclipse on Nov. 3.
Thanks, Eric. A small edit if you can make it, your solar eclipse data “Scorpio at 8:49 pm EDT on Nov. 3, 2013” should read 8:49 am, not pm.
Many of us commenting here seem to have Scorpio 7-15º as a sensitive point. My natal MC is Scorpio 15º, so this Merc retrograde and Saturn/NN/Sun activities are playing with my work situation in a strong way.
Salamander, it sounds like you’ve made a clear choice that works for you, & yes, birthing & raising a child is indeed demanding of all one’s resources. I raised my wonderful daughter mostly as a working single mum, & it wasn’t easy for either of us. But we made it through the tough times. She has chosen not to be a mother, & that is right for her, & I support her choice. She has many planets near the top of her chart & loves being out among people.
I know quite a few people with many planets in 9th, 10th, & other upper hemisphere houses, & they’re people who are out in the world. Everything’s below the horizon in my chart except Uranus & N node (in 12th). I’m a hearth-keeper & creative by nature, & need to remind myself to get “out” more often.
Having my moon-Venus in Scorpio, Daniel, I would venture to say you may indeed have seen a mermaid. I’m sure she was lovely!
@Bette Loreen, Patty and Eric Francis
I am not surprised why I am here in this lifetime. Everything I have done in the 1500s has led me to this point in time.
The article regarding the situation of the Japanese youth is interesting. Well, during times of crisis, it is difficult to have faith in bringing a child into this world.
On the one hand, too many people leads to resource conflicts over water, land etc. But on the other hand, environmental contamination increases infertility and health problems for current and future generations, which could lead to disconcerting drops in population.
I lived in Japan in 2001-2002, and it’s important to recognize how lucky women are in places like Tunisia, the United States and especially Norway, where it is easier to have a job and still raise children. I look at my aunts and parents, and they manage to have jobs while raising children.
In my case, I feel like career is a priority in my life (packed 10th house with Sagittarius planets and Neptune in Capricorn), and if I am going to care for humanity (Mars-Chiron-Neptune t-square involving the 1st, 4th and 10th houses respectively), it needs to be in a capacity where I can do something good without feeling emotionally drained.
I look at my parents, and I see the amount of money, energy and emotional energy needed to raise a child. I would not have the energy to do this, and I know the salary I’ll earn will be enough for myself.
My astrology tells me to have a career, and to have distant friendships (Venus trine Moon, Venus trine Mars, and Venus sextile Jupiter) in order to maximize inner peace. Intimate relationships would be too intense (notably with Moon square BML, and Venus square Pluto), and raising a child would take away too much energy from me.
As for me, I find life to be beautiful and ridiculous at the same time, but I have to live.
Despite this challenging era, I do see people falling in love, having relationships, having jobs, getting married, and having children. 🙂 There are people out there who are meant to have relationships, and to bring children into this world. Also, parental guidance is welcome in workplaces because employees would know how to mentor other colleagues.
My Scorpio Sun and my Rx Mercury are conjunct exact at 17.50 degrees – and this merc rx station is well, right on my natal money. I feel like I live in a huge fish tank… Oh look, a mermaid…
Excuse me….
Patty, I share your unease & concerns. I think I’d have enjoyed having grandchildren, but in a way, I am glad I don’t. I have grave concerns about the world the little ones will inherit, though I do agree with those who say that many of the souls currently incarnating are coming in old & wise & choosing to enter at a challenging time. It won’t be easy for them.
Even in the isolated farming area where I live, which is culturally & socially backward in many ways, I see evidence of the damage wrought by “modern” farming practices, the bulldozing of shelterbelts (to accommodate grgantuan farm equipment), the vanishing of many bird species, most bees & butterflies, many of the animals. There is far more illness than there was a generation or more ago, & while people may statistically live longer, they are not living well, active lives. I know virtually no one over the age of sixty who isn’t on a host of medications & in some way unwell.
I don’t see the current society as a very hospitable place for children. Too many of them are exposed to so much “reality” that their innocence is gone before kindergarten, & many of them are so over-programmed with activities (sometimes, I fear to fulfill parental expectations, not the child’s interests), over-stimulated, lacking in true leisure, & suffering the stullifying boredom of dumbed-down school curricula, often without appropriate breaks or even adequate hydration. No wonder so many act out &/or zone out, walking like zombies into door jambs or street signs while texting. I’m a retired substitute teacher, & all of the above paragraph is based upon my observations & experience.
Yes, thankfully, there are exceptions. I remain hopeful. But I do often think that if indeed humans were brought here from elsewhere, & given this beautiful, sufficient planet, there might be someone “out there” saying oh dear, oh dear, that human project is not going very well!
Bette
Thanks Strawberry for noting the Mercury trine Neptune, which is also a double aspect, although in this case one is while Mercury is retro and the other after he stations direct. I was so focused on the Venus factor I completely missed this Mercury stationing conjunction(s) with Neptune.
So now, Neptune kicks it up a notch (being the higher level version of Venus), this pattern of deeply searching our thoughts about love and what we value. In fact, in the days just before Mercury stations direct, Venus will sextile both Neptune and Mercury, making sure all the circuits are intact. It looks like another evolutionary nudge toward thinking with our hearts as well as our brain.
Perhaps this period is giving Mercury the opportunity to express himself through his Gemini talents (aspecting Vesta, Venus and Neptune twice) and also through his Virgo talents (Vesta in Virgo squares the degree of Venus’ occultation of the Sun in Gemini) in order to clarify and/or harmonize these two different sides of his nature. He might be speedy by nature but he is being most thorough this retrograde. Scorpio demands nothing less! Thanks again Strawberry.
be
Being celibate doesn’t mean you don’t feel desire, but that report doesn’t really get into those kinds of details. I wonder how many American young people feel this way too? A lot of teens are more interested in technology than face to face conversations. One writer of an article I read this weekend said he asked a young person if they socialized outside of Facebook with anyone, and the answer was, “yes, on chat.” SciFi novel emerges with reality? Another comment I read was demographic suicide, like a political party pissing off all the Hispanics, women, etc. Could fit the Japanese too. Culturally they are very hard on themselves, especially if grades and abilities are not up to a certain standard.. The article even says as much regarding women who start families – the beginning of death. I’ve read in the past that there are towns in Germany and Italy where there are no children at all, but I thought it was a choice not to have children rather than complete abstinence for the sake of a career or money. The Japanese have had to face the possibility of death or deformity many times, and much more so this past year. It would certainly take away my desire to start a family, what with all that’s happened with Fukushima, and the history of nuclear attack. It might even make me feel repulsed by the opposite sex, just the thought of bringing another soul into the world. All in all, I’d say fear is the real enemy. I’ve seen some of the biologists works out of Nova Scotia, and photos of the badly deformed and sick fish. Maybe we are already dead and those young people know it intuitively. Those huge sea monsters coming up from the bottom of the ocean, dead? Scares the shit out of me too and makes me glad I don’t have grandchildren. That’s what I’ve been thinking about this week.
Patty, my friend Tracy sent that — what do you make of it?
Ran across this on FB. Very interesting. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex
Eric, thank you for this brilliant ‘truth’. A time in where we have what appears to be the perfect aspects available and lined up to help further move us to courage the acceptance of this truth in/of ourselves.
Mercury reto is stationing exact conjunct my natal Pallas Athena at 18 and also conjunct natal Juno at 19 degrees Scorpio. For me I believe this passage has to do with cementing new patterns of self worth; my intuition, claiming my personal power, and a commitment in partnership as I move out into the world. I have done the fundamental ground work and I am ready to see how I am led to apply over the next couple weeks.
I am very grateful and excited to receive this moment in this time.
Be, that’s gorgeous. One more thing I was noticing: when Mercury stations direct, it will do so precisely trine Neptune. To me, that suggests this going deep can help us find a way to flow more easily with our own intuitive truth. But then, a lover of the depths, I would say that. 😉 I will sit with your thoughts, they move me.
Mercury came so close to making a trine to Jupiter in Cancer before stationing and, because of this, some of us will feel as if we were getting so close to uncovering a big truth. It will happen of course, but not until Thanksgiving will they exact their water trine. Venus in Capricorn will join them both as she sextiles Mercury and opposes Jupiter during that Thanksgiving time frame. I believe it is helpful to know this right now.
I say that because as Mercury makes his station to go retrograde, Venus will be reaching her opposition to the degree where she occulted the Sun last year. Something Mercury could be contemplating during his retrograde is how has that symbolic moment affected our lives. Did it release any new information about what we value or who/what we love and did it register with us consciously?
Mercury will have over a week of retro motion before he makes his conjunction with Saturn, during which he will make no other major aspects to major planets. Mercury did do something remarkable though during the past week before he stationed retro this morning. He sextiled Vesta in Virgo twice in 5 days. As he slowed down for his station, Vesta caught up with him again and to me that shows determination and likely she gave us something to focus on. In the 1st sextile Mercury made to Vesta she was in the degree that squares the degree in which Venus occulted the Sun last year. If Venus symbolizes what we value and love, then Vesta’s symbol has given us a different perspective on what it’s worth and asks how willing are we to invest ourselves in it.
My guess would be that by Thanksgiving, after the eclipse and Mercury’s retro period, we will have something of true value to us which might not have been exposed were it not for Mercury’s retrograde. It might just be about understanding the truth.
be
By being aware of my past life (to the point where I can actually look up the name of a past historical figure), I am starting to be more honest about my basic nature, which I realize has not changed much for 5 centuries. There are some honorable parts in myself, and there are some shameful parts in myself. This is how I intend to use the Mercury Rx transit in Scorpio. Other than being a better adherent of the golden rule (in order to have lighter karma to deal with), I am not sure what else to do.
Yes, thank you for this, dear Eric.
Eric (and Daniel, also): Many thanks for a powerful statement, both humbling to read and equal to the powerful astrology.
Bless you Eric, for posting this ahead of the station. Sincere thanks for your helping words here.
“I am constant to my purposes; they follow the
king’s pleasure: if his fitness speaks, mine is
ready; now or whensoever, provided I be so
able as now.” (Hamlet)