The Cosmic Story: Scorpio New Moon, October 30, 2016
Entering the Cauldron of Regeneration
The Sun entered the sign of Scorpio on Saturday, October 22, 2016. Leaving behind the airy social realm of Libra, we now plunge into the dark watery realms of the Unconscious. As we worked to balance our inner and outer lives in Libra, now we come to the point where we have to let go of what no longer serves us. This requires that we turn within and look at those emotions which keep us imprisoned in our pasts.
As we face our inner darkness, the world outside is also growing dark. The Sun moves lower into the southern hemisphere, bringing them the warmth of Spring and coming Summer, while leaving us in the North with fading light, shorter days and colder weather. Nature is letting go of its life as the year dies.
Samhain Ritual/Sekhmet
Just after this intense New Moon we'll be celebrating Samhain, the last Gate of the Wheel of the Year. At Samhain, the old year dies so the new year can be born. The veils between the world are very thin, and the spirits of the dead are very close to us. We celebrate Samhain, Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, the Day of the Dead, All Saints Day and All Souls Day to honor our ancestors at this transitional time.
The great goddess who embodies the energies of Samhain is Hecate, most ancient Goddess of the Triple Crossroads, Queen of the Witches and Guide and Protector on the road to the Underworld. She stands at the Crossroads with her two torches and her black dog at her side. She can see the past, the present and the future and while we each have to choose our path, she lends us one of her torches and sends her faithful companion to guide our steps into the mystery of our future selves. For more about Hecate: http://ladywisdomchronicles.blogspot.com/
Scorpio New Moon
Scorpio is often considered the most powerful sign in the Zodiac, and those who incarnate as Scorpios, some of the most powerful souls. For Scorpio's initiation is pivotal to our soul's growth, which is to die to be reborn again. For anyone living under patriarchy, where we have been disconnected from our feminine, soulful consciousness, death is the ultimate test to our unconscious Ego. We have been taught to fear death as a punishment or an end, rather than as a transition, a change that will give us back eternal life. And so FEAR is the Gatekeeper we have to face as we sink into the dark, murky emotions from past lives which keep us stuck in old patterns of disconnection, betrayal, horror and hurt.
It's interesting that the American elections are always held during the Sun's transit through Scorpio, signaling a transition of power, a transformation of our collective lives. Indeed, that's also what Scorpio is about. Power. The ruling planets of Scorpio are Mars and Pluto. Pluto, or Hades, is the Lord of the Underworld, ruling the unconscious depths within us. These depths can lie quiet when we live by ourselves, but they get stirred up when we relate to others. And that's why Scorpio also rules intimacy, the emotional sharing that's necessary for a deep, rich life. And Mars the Warrior is what is needed to give us the courage to face those emotions.
Scorpio is concentrated emotional power which propels the energy of evolution, and so it is the repository of unconscious instinctual drives, old emotional patterns and attachments and the compulsive tendencies that we bring with us personally and collectively from other lifetimes as well as from our early childhood. These old emotional wounds keep us stuck in fear and suspicion. Jung called them the Shadow. They are the parts of us that we can't see about ourselves and which we tend to project onto others instead of taking responsibility for ourselves. The Shadow is alive and well in our culture at the moment. Perhaps the very obvious examples we see in the news will help us deal with our personal Shadows.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).