Autumn in the northern hemisphere ushers in the transition between the light and the dark. Where leaves turn and fall. Where time begins to slow. Where we are reminded of cycles of death and rebirth, letting go and beginnings. Autumn is both powerfully intimidating in uncertainty but poignantly beautiful in its grace.
That is Scorpio.
The god of the underworld doesn’t pull punches. While many signs represent change, Scorpio represents a specific flavor. Like all water signs, the Scorpio part of us carries the gift of intuition. Just not the type that is invited to entertain at parties. Scorpio truth does not wade into the shallow waters of rainbows and butterflies, expressing everything we want to hear. It is the part of us that eagerly excavates all the stuff we bury deep inside. Scorpio is our guide to and through the underworld.
This is why Scorpio types are some of the greatest healers we know. They understand fundamental transformation can only happen when we see the totality of who we are. The most brilliant treasure is often found in the most unknown or yet undiscovered parts.
“You don’t find light by avoiding the darkness.” ~S. Kelley Harrell
Scorpio magic is real, brutally honest, and fabulously freeing if we are brave enough to go deep. Mars stands with this New Moon demanding some daring. The unfiltered truth where shadow and light are equally embraced can be hard to swallow, but it is within it that we find actual empowerment. Ceres also joins this New Moon, asking (demanding?!) that we get honest about how we wield our forces of nurturing, kindness, connection, and cooperation. Do our values match our actions? With Uranus opposing this Scorpio stellium, you can be sure any discrepancy will rise to the surface.
The good news? Any shadow misalignment will be on full display. Scorpio talent is one of uncovering and dishonesty, subterfuge, or personal spin.
The challenging news? Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You will need to take some action forward. Scorpio truth is hard because it challenges the security of what we think we know. It asks us to be gutsy enough to change course when wisdom comes to call.
Wisdom is a loaded word, though, easily romanticized in some circles as a lofty goal of elite “awakening.” In truth, it is much more grounded, authentic, and often raw. It is the force within us that offers us the ability to discern clearly, judge without bias, and be humbly accountable. Wisdom is associated with words like transcendence, compassion, ethics, integrity, and virtue. However, real wisdom is more an experience of “not knowing”, an open mind to learn, rather than having all the answers. Wisdom is also earned, not given.
Sometimes wisdom hits us between the eyes, intense, obvious, and relevant. Life events happen to broaden our grit and resiliency by taking us into the darkness, where we return transformed. Sometimes wisdom sneaks in the back door with repeated, more subtle lessons. Sometimes we go looking for it. Sometimes it comes looking for us. What is true is wisdom asks something hard of us.
It fits the Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is: “Obeying his conscience, a soldier resists orders.” Following his inner compass and conscious, a soldier chooses the path of rightness. What does it mean to make hard choices in the sea of conformity? What does it mean to stand up for integrity and truth even if it risks the consequences of agreements? There is wisdom in those questions.
Perhaps we all need a reminder to stand in those core values rooted in our best selves rather than wounded reactive parts. What would that look like? This New Moon, we are tasked with contemplating those questions. While the world is indeed complex, the simplicity of those grounded values is not. The trick is pausing our reactions long enough to be willing to acknowledge them. It means letting emotions inform but not direct our actions.
Because the co-creative magic of Scorpio is not the pseudo-fantasy-type thinking we often hear in certain self-help circles. It is the gritty work of choosing a new path when the one we are walking is no longer taking us in an authentic direction. It involves making new choices, even when it is especially hard to go against the grain of habit. It is about grounding in accountability by compassionately honoring mistakes and failures for the teaching moments they are. It is about getting really real acknowledging what is, which isn’t always what we want it to be. To respond means we choose to end reaction and thus any re-enaction. The ability to respond is where change really lives. That is wisdom too.
So look for the feathers of wisdom all around you. It is showing up everywhere. It is in uncomfortable conversations. The difficult moments. The joys. The intense feelings. The frustrations. The endings. The beginnings. The love. The loss. The triggers. The connections. The outrage. The forgiveness. The sunsets. The moon rises. The smallest pebble. The bluest ocean. The storms. The stillness. The injustice. The redemption. The revealing. The reckoning. The synchronicities. The pauses. The pushes. The darkness. The light.
At this New Moon, I encourage us all to stop for a moment…or twenty. To rest our gaze. To quiet our reactive biases, habits, and fear so we can really listen. To FEEL into some more finite understanding of what is right in front of us. To look back to look forward. To get to the root of our intentions. To see what we may not want to see. To pare down to what is most of value in our lives. To connect to that soul empathy so it can become the lighthouse of our intention.
“When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.”
― Fred Rogers
~This New Moon occurs at 20° Scorpio.
~If you could use some help figuring out what the current astrology means for you, or would like some coaching around the concepts mentioned, Contact Me.
~ Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
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