Transformation isn’t always slick, quick, or tidy. It’s important to keep that in mind during this season as we feel the pull and push of Pluto, the harsh planet that rules the sign Scorpio. Pluto dishes out huge changes and challenges, yet also encourages forgiveness, release, and reinvention. Thanks to the cold splashes of truth and flinches of honest insight that come with Scorpio season, we’re being confronted with our own harmful traits, ones we’d prefer to deny, disown, or project onto others. Exhausted yet? Keep up the tough yet crucial work and remember that you are not your old worst habits or your defensive reflexes. You are capable of practicing better behaviors. Scorpio exposes what’s not working only to catalyze change.
In addition to its association with the constellation Scorpius, the sign is also symbolized by other creatures that speak to its Plutonian themes of transformation and rebirth. The lizard and the snake, for example, are two mascots that express Scorpio’s ability to shed old metaphorical skin and grow new armor. Another animal avatar of Scorpio is the mythical phoenix, which is burned to death but then resurrected. As the moon continues to wane this week, keep acknowledging the parts of yourself that you wish to evolve and letting go of what you don’t want to carry into November. Then this Sunday you’ll get a chance to boldly transform with a downright magical new moon in Scorpio.
A FRESH START
A new moon is like a seed of potential that we can plant and nurture as the moon increases in light and eventually blossoms into a full moon. While a full moon accompanies an emotional climax or culmination of a goal, a new moon represents a fresh beginning in some part of your life. And this Sunday’s mystical new moon in Scorpio is occurring just one day before Halloween and Samhain, the Pagan sabbat (a nature-based holiday) that marks the cycle of death and rebirth. Spooky!
Every year around October 31 the veil separating the world of the living and the dead is said to become gauzy and thin—a time that spirits can more easily contact us and we can clearly receive messages from beyond. It’s a ripe time to learn about the occult and practice Tarot or other divination methods (though I don’t recommend toying with Ouija boards). Scorpio season is a time already charged with psychic senses, so we’ll feel those intuitive powers crackle near this new moon. Don’t try to hide anything big, as the truth will come wriggling out anyway. Because dreamy planet Neptune is heavily involved in Sunday’s new moon, we may experience extra-vivid dreams or be visited in our dreamscape by loved ones who have passed on. The dead might even communicate to us through small yet unmistakable signs and coincidences during waking hours.
Halloween’s morbid imagery reminds us mortals of our limited time in this world. No one’s getting out of here alive. It’s up to us to leave our mark—in other people and in our creations—while we’re here. So what are we going to make? This Scorpio new moon is an opportunity to envision our future and then speak it into existence.
RITUALS AND WORDS
In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Professor Dumbledore says, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.” This view is especially true this week, when our words vibrate with extra power. Use the opportunity wisely.
On Sunday or a few days later, you can perform a private ritual focused on Scorpio themes of letting go and starting anew. The exercise doesn’t need to be elaborate to be effective. Find sheets of paper in two colors, then cut them into circles. On one set of circles, write down character traits you intend to release and surrender; on the others, write down traits you’d like to grow and strengthen as the moon gains light into November. Say the words out loud, then rip up or destroy the negative ones and bury the positive traits like seeds.
Believe that you can, like the fiery phoenix, soar above the ashes of the old you and flap reinvented wings. Believe that the unbelievable can happen. I mean, the Cubs made it to the World Series. Anything is possible.
DATES TO WATCH
Expect to wrestle with self-doubt and wade through ongoing partnership squabbles this week. Remember there’s a difference between telling the truth and telling someone off. While the 26th and 27th are good days for healing old wounds or communicating what’s on your mind, the 28th and 29th are tense days that call for extra patience and maybe a little meditation to calm your internal waters. On the 28th there’s even danger of an accident or an angry flare-up, while the 29th demands a very adult reality check. Don’t push for answers or force an issue this week. Give people breathing room. The 30th and 31st are great days for imagination and creativity.
spacewitch@seattleweekly.com
