Scorpio Season: the witchiest time of the year
The Sun enters Scorpio on October 23, in the wee early morning on the East Coast, and we enter the witchiest time of the year. Water signs have a special connection to the mysteries of creation: the liminal space before life with Pisces and the full abundance of Cancer. Scorpio’s affinity is with the end. The mystery of death and the transformation of the spirit. Life feels long when we are children, but none of us know how much time we have. Scorpio season reminds us of the preciousness of our existence on Earth.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Scorpio season is peak Autumn, when the greenery begins to wilt. The brilliant colors remind us of the glory of death. The Creator exalts in finales. Fall is when we harvest the remaining crops Gaia so generously produced during Summer, and gather the seeds that will be used for planting next Spring. Imbued in this process is gratitude for the previous season’s bounty and the distillation of hopes for what’s to come.
Scorpio season is when we reflect on what is passing away, and celebrate the next stage of the journey. No one knows what lies the great beyond, but we recognize death as a necessary and natural part of life. The wheel continues to turn, reminding us that time waits for no one. The water of Scorpio contains the energy of mourning, as we learn to carry on without our beloveds who have departed for the underworld. The lungs, which correspond to grief in Chinese medicine, are impacted during Fall with the changing of the season. Sometimes we carry past hurts with us too long. It's not uncommon to find yourself ruminating on lost loves or old wounds during Scorpio season, but this can be healing. Grief is simply the body’s way of cleansing itself of sadness so it doesn’t get stuck in the system. There are always deeper layers, and Scorpio’s power is in getting to the root of things. Scorpio is excellent at holding and retaining, but we need to release in order to renew. Without the fertilization from waste and death, there could be no rebirth.
Mars entered Libra on September 14, and the presence of the warrior in its sign of adversity threw Libra season off balance. Aries and Scorpio folks may have felt less motivation and stamina over the last 6 weeks. Libra really wants to make things nice and for all of us to enjoy Rock-tober, the most wonderful month of the year, but the universe made things complicated with the Mercury retrograde that blissfully ended on October 18. The powerful inception of Mars and Mercury with the Sun in the sign of its fall on October 8-9, highlighted the need for rectification of power and restoration of balance. There was a uniting of our mind and will with our spiritual purpose that we'll carry forward in the coming months. The first week of Scorpio season serves more as a bridge between the lessons of Mercury retrograde and the new terrain we’re beginning to walk.
Mars is still in Libra, and squaring Pluto in Capricorn, as the Sun enters Scorpio on October 23 (Oct 22 on the West Coast). Scorpio season always goes deeper than Libra, and the presence of Pluto ensures that themes of underworld journeys, hidden treasure, and buried secrets are imminently present. The veil is thin as we move towards Samhain, the pagan festival celebrating the dead, on October 31-November 1. Our relationship with the other side is active during our waking life. Now is the time to contemplate the legacy you inherited from those who came before you. Family is complex and grief can emerge when we sit with all we were and weren’t given growing up. Yet we can’t deny how intimately we are connected with people who are long gone. Our bones are literally formed from what previous generations took into their bodies. Their experiences, emotions, challenges, and triumphs have shaped us in millions of invisible ways. Scorpio season creates opportunity to be with this complexity. To honor and despair at all our own family, and the larger human family, has gone through and continues to struggle with. To appreciate and enjoy what they’ve taught us and recognize how much we continue to learn from them. The first week of Scorpio season is the perfect time to create altars to your ancestors, both biological and chosen, if you’re so moved. Allow that sacred space to represent all the wonderful contradictions inherent in your relationships.
Venus in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces on October 26. This transit has the power to bring transcendent mystical experiences and grand romantic gestures. Its perfect for channeling, both creative and witchy powers. If you’ve been wanting to make contact with the other side, get out your ouija board and invite your friends over. Venus and Neptune can bring a blossoming of love but squares hold the energy of confrontation. Disillusionment is also possible as the bubble with fantasy gets popped. If that's the case, it doesn’t look like you’ll stay down for very long. Venus sextiles Jupiter in Aquarius on October 28, giving a sweet boost to partnerships and play. The Moon in Leo will trine Venus in Sagittarius while Mercury in Libra trines Jupiter on Saturday, October 30. These supportive aspects help us navigate what is unfolding with the Sun over Halloween weekend.
Mars enters Scorpio on September 30, just in time for Samhain, and this is when Scorpio season really begins. Mars in its fixed water sign is going to bring us all the passion, intensity, obsession, and magic that we’ve come to expect from Scorpio. Mars in its home sign will empower the Sun to go as deep as it desires towards radical healing and transformation. However, before then, we have a taste of limitation.
The Sun in Scorpio squares Saturn in Aquarius on October 30, just before Mars enters Scorpio bringing us into confrontation with authority or barrier to self-development. The Sun represents our intellect, higher wisdom, and the soul’s impulse towards evolution. Saturn is the limits of our material world and the consequences of past actions. The Sun is the divine spark within us that constantly desires new knowledge and experience. Saturn teaches us maturity through challenges and hardships. This is a fitting end to Mars’ difficult transit through Libra. This is just the first in a series of squares that will mark a milestone in Saturn’s series with Uranus in Taurus this year.
The Sun will oppose Uranus at the Scorpio New Moon on November 4, and Mars follows suit in the following weeks. We’re moving towards eclipse season when life begins to move at a rapid clip. All the delays and decisions of Mercury retrograde will be brought forward. There’ll be surprises and unexpected developments so get things in order as much as you can before the stars start popping off in November.
The New Moon at 12 Scorpio at 5:14PM ET on November 4, in an exact opposition with Uranus in Taurus, is the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for (perhaps following the breakdown you were hoping to avoid). The Moon craves nurturing and security, but receives little of either at this lunation. Scorpio desires radical honesty and will take it to the limit in relationships in order to test people’s devotion. Uranus is a destabilizing influence that does not allow the Moon to rest easy. It craves liberation and freedom, no matter the cost.
The dark of this New Moon is a call into the parts of us that are in need of regeneration and transformation. There is a sacrifice required, in the ancient custom, of letting something die that you held dear. Most likely this thing is already gone, the situation is already over, but the attachment strings remain. Summon the power of the tarot Death card, lucky number 13, to cut the cords with what has been holding you back from moving towards the rebirth stage.
Mercury in Libra and Venus in Sagittarius are at the end of their sign boundaries. Both are about to move into new landscapes, so while this situation may feel quite big and permanent, lots more is about to change. We are about to enter eclipse season when the Taurus area of our life starts seriously getting worked. Uranus has been surveying your land since March 2019, examining cracks in your foundation, and is about to blow things up, but that's because the eclipses of 2022 are going to build you a whole new home. Nobody enjoys being displaced from their home, but it gives you the opportunity to appreciate what you do have, and to consider how you’d like to do things differently once the dust settles.
Use this Scorpio New Moon as an opportunity to admit your secret hopes and desires for this area of your life (the topics of the house ruled by Scorpio in your chart). Set your intentions now so that when the dirt starts flying next year, you know what's being created and can take pride in your part of the project.
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