The Sun enters the fixed water sign Scorpio on Monday just past 8 pm EDT. The fixed signs are the ones that come at the peak of the season. In Northern Hemisphere spring we have Taurus, in summer, Leo and in winter, Aquarius. These are the signs that host the cross-quarter days — the high Sabbaths of the Pagan calendar.
For those in the United States, you’re about to have a presidential election, one that looks like it’s going to be packed with mystery and intrigue. As I suggested in my recent article about Mercury going retrograde on Election Day, it will help all of us if you pay attention, save documentation of anything strange that you see, and make a conscious point of taking part in the political process any way you can.
Read alternative sources of news, rather than just paying attention to the big money points of view. If you have a question, pay attention and check the facts yourself. It’s not as dangerous as you may think — except to any point of view you may have that is not based in reality. Go beyond what you think is expected of you, stretch your mind and invest some energy. If you are learning something, you are ‘doing it right’.
Scorpio time is also a reminder that Halloween is near, which is our contemporary version of Days of the Dead. Costumes and parties are fun. I suggest that you plan to make a trip to a cemetery and visit the graves of your ancestors. Dust off their pictures and remember who they were, and who they are to you today. Call on their support — they may prove to be helpful and will be grateful that you’re paying attention to them.
When the Sun ingresses Scorpio, it will join Saturn, which arrived earlier this month. This will be the first of just three Sun-Saturn conjunctions in Scorpio, before Saturn moves on to Sagittarius in 2015. So these are rare and special events, which will help us better understand the nature of this transit.
To my thinking, Saturn in Scorpio means getting real about the three things that Scorpio represents most prominently. One is sex. Another is death. Last is the exchange of resources and karma between people. These conversations happen in layers, which tend to be layers of increasing honesty, with the intent to heal what you encounter as you go deeper into yourself.
These three topics are among the most important to humanity, and the most taboo. The combination does not go well. When we ignore it, we end up with situations like the suicide of Canadian teenager Amanda Todd, who killed herself the week before last after being stalked and blackmailed on the Internet. It’s not enough to be ‘against bullying’, or ‘against slut shaming’, both of which led to her death.
When the Sun ingresses Scorpio later today, it also makes a conjunction to a minor planet called Arachne, an asteroid. This is a point that carries what you might think of as Spider medicine. There is something here about the stories and myths that we tell ourselves about our lives, and with that, a need to check them against some objective factor.
There’s also the aura of conspiracy. For most people sex and relationships have many properties of a covert operation; secrets must be kept, yarns woven, connections kept under the table. Arachne calls attention to the spy-novel quality of our erotic lives, and the Sun conjunct Arachne calls attention to the truth behind the tale, the myth or the cover story.
In all these aspects of life, there must be a creative and healing angle, and this is what the charts are describing. With Sun + Saturn in Scorpio, there’s a reminder that this is not a luxury; it is a necessity. As you move through these aspects, remember that existence is not a criminal conspiracy, and you are not a criminal. Therefore you don’t need to feel like one. Yet to get out of the emotional sink of shame and victimhood, it’s necessary to speak out about your truth. Mercury in Scorpio is making that option available. No matter how heavy the topic may seem at first, it will be a lot lighter once you get it out into the open air and daylight.
Thank you Sarah for your thoughtfulness and questions. 🙂
HS – Would that feel to you what this is about? (Yeah, I know. I’m a therapist!)
Two questions I might ask are: Where do you cut yourself off? Where do you ride roughshod over yourself?
Sarah, thanks so much. I so agree. And so what I think you’re saying is twofold: that the mirror aspect is her reflecting my own pushiness onto others intimately (I admit that), and then allowing myself to be assertive in saying “no” when I feel my boundaries are not respected. And that these two are linked as an expression of a past experience that is surfacing in me to address and work with. What that be accurate?
HS – If you see relationship as being able to show up a particular aspect of yourself that is asking for your attention, then it does seem like you are being directed towards something to do with boundaries. We attract the right partners at the right time — and maybe more partnerships than not are, indeed, short-term encounters that can assist us in looking into that mirror. If you are getting a group of similar experiences, then the message — and the projection — is more marked. In which case, the invitation might be to do something different.
Eric, when I read your posts I have to wonder if you have tapped my phone and are reading my journal. Eeek. And…there is an odd reassurance in knowing that the planets, stars & asteroids are supporting my intention for a kind & conscious presence to what is showing up in the moment. Thanks.
To whit: “…visit the graves of your ancestors. Dust off their pictures and remember who they were, and who they are to you today. Call on their support — they may prove to be helpful and will be grateful that you’re paying attention to them.” Seriously. A package of photographs of my ancestors. Today. The only person I can call on from that bunch is – me. Gotta say – there is a light around that kid. But again – Universe? enough without some help.
So, arrived, especially for today, it would seem, by a first cousin who I call, “Evil cousin ____” with whom there is no more contact, is a package containing photographs of the family. She writes that she was cleaning out more of her mother’s belongings, my dearly beloved, recently-departed, non-blood-related aunt – -chose not to throw them out but send them. (Boy, was a a charming, happy-looking kid). As with all family photographs, the stories behind each one are profound.
But what is crystal-clear is that this is, without question, my time to emerge from the chrysallis. Attn: Universe. I don’t need more signs. But i can sure use some support. PS Universe: Please allow the time to emerge, without any of this “final transformation/death” business – you know – don’t want to get my wings without having a chance to see the territory. (“territory – must not be “terror” tory).
Eric, Sarah, Huffy – yes, really on the nail, thanks!
Eric, I’m thinking you’ll have more to talk about in your Scorp edition soon but I share this and see if you’d like to go into it.
I’m having this sensation of the transition between Saturn in my solar 12th to my 1st that feels like I have addressed many shadowy aspects of myself, my past, and those relationships that have continued to be attracted to my old bad patterns. I’ve done good healing work there and feel really amazing in how my self confidence and self awareness has gained a significant boost now. I’m not up for bullshit or bullshitting people even if the opportunity seems like something not to pass up. The image I’ve been getting and drawing repeatedly is The Chariot.
Here is my dilemma: This 12th/1st house transition has given me the sensation of self authority – or rather, I have taken the reigns of authority before I was asked if I wanted them. I find myself thinking ahead and reaching for MY answer and projecting that energy. But I’m getting the odd sensation of being cut off, of being unrelenting, of having created boundaries so impenetrable against lies and deceit that I question if I am capable of being vulnerable.
At work, I do have an awareness of others contributions and I am flexible so that I can allow teamwork to occur. But personal relationships, I get to a point where I question if I can ever trust again. “You really like me? You have a connection to me? I don’t believe you!” – that is what I’m saying inside. And so I don’t know if it’s me or that I haven’t met the right gal who doesn’t run me over with a Mac truck ’cause I’m the best thing in the whole universe. Guys have boundaries too. We have emotions and are sensitive to being in a process too. I was on a date last week and I swear, Lenny Kravitz was doing a live stream of “I want to get away!” in my head!
Help!
HS
“I am learning about the experience of limitation while I am simultaneously expanding. Such a weird sensation, but not entirely a negative one. What sits at its centre is a mystery for now. Okay with that.”
Spot on, Sarah, and Eric…
😀
Sarah…I just received hexagram 20, contemplation and self-correction. We’re both getting validation today!!!
Eric, this is lovely and speaks to the core of nagging issues some dear friends have been grappling with. I’m bucking for that opening from Mercury.
Lyd, I love that – thank you! It is a most excellent validation, and one echoed by the card I just drew for today: The Wheel of Fortune.
Oh, how delightful: “There is something here about the stories and myths that we tell ourselves about our lives, and with that, a need to check them against some objective factor.” I’m chuckling, as in, didn’t I already resolve some of that old shit? Saturn is always bearing gifts, yes … providing more light on the limitation, then providing the expansion to view from a different contour line, without a knee jerk reaction. Well, bring it on. Thanks Eric.
Sarah, if I may, re “not one of them is taking me up on my offer”… you’ve taken the step, you’re on the wheel…they will catch up and perhaps your truth will have expanded…
“Saturn. I am learning about the experience of limitation while I am simultaneously expanding”. Yes, Sarah. I’m feeling contracted and small and scared by my present life situation (huge limitation), while on another level I feel incredibly alive and excited, as if I am coming into my own at last – and my dreams are showing this too (expansion).
I am in an interesting position in that I have truth to speak of and to discuss, and I have invited others to share in the discussion, and so far not one of them is taking me up on my offer. Saturn. I am learning about the experience of limitation while I am simultaneously expanding. Such a weird sensation, but not entirely a negative one. What sits at its centre is a mystery for now. Okay with that.
Great piece, Eric. Thank you. xx