SCORPIO SEASON 2024!
Spooky season is officially upon us, astrologically speaking! The Sun will enter the zodiac sign of Scorpio on Tuesday, October 22nd 2024 at 3:14pm Pacific Time, and will be there until November 21st this year. Now is a time of intense psychological introspection, of deep honesty with ourselves and others, and of quality over quantity in our relationships.
This is a special Scorpio season, because Pluto - one of this sign’s ruling planets - will finally be moving into Aquarius on November 19th. It’s dipped its toes into this sign several times already, but will now remain in Aquarius for the next 20 years, marking an enormous astrological shift. (I’ve mentioned this in a previous post and will discuss it more when the time comes!)
Ruled by Pluto - the planet of death, rebirth & transformation, pain, potential & power - Scorpio is a famously intense sign. Its other ruling planet is Mars, hinting at the passionate nature of this sign and the bravery required for Scorpionic undertakings. Unlike Aries, the other Mars-ruled sign, this courage is not about outward adventure but about internal exploration, deep introspection and self-inquiry.
Scorpio is the fixed water sign. It moves through life based on emotion and intuition, determined to feel everything without repressing anything, especially its strongest and scariest emotions. Like all fixed signs, it can be stubborn but is generally excellent at holding down the fort. That’s the focus it takes to seek wholeness by diving down into the deep, dark well of feelings in our unconscious minds. Many of us are taught to fear strong emotions beginning in childhood, but Scorpio reminds us of their natural necessity and of the great power that they hold.
The scorpion is a perfect symbol for this process: heavily armored for protection, armed with a venomous stinger for self-defense, lying silently in wait, ready to strike when the opportunity arises. Arguably the most frightening of the zodiacal symbols, the scorpion is a constant reminder of our mortality. With death as its counselor, Scorpio is an essentialist, living every minute like it’s the last. It’s urgently focused on its priorities in the present moment. Evolving in reaction to the diplomatic but sometimes shallow sign of Libra, Scorpio confronts fears and hidden truths, refusing to hide behind pretence or polite conventions. It deals with trauma from the past we don’t remember, whether that’s intergenerational or ancestral, past-life material, or repressed memories from our own life experiences.
Scorpio is the 8th zodiac sign, and so corresponds to the 8th house in astrology. This represents an interesting collection of fields of experience: sex, death, occult magick, and “other people’s money” (taxes, inheritance, investments, etc). At first glance these topics may seem unrelated, but they all center on a certain vulnerability and surrender to forces beyond ourselves - hence Scorpio’s fascination with struggles for power and control and its obsessive-compulsive tendencies. This is also the sign of secrets; Scorpionic archetypes include the suspicious detective along with the hypnotic sorcerex.
Like any sign, Scorpio has its risks as well as its rewards. Sometimes its investigation into repressed material can be too much, leaving us paralyzed, as by a scorpion’s stinger. We can lose perspective, getting tunnel vision in the dark well. This is where we get the Scorpionic stereotypes of moodiness, bitterness, heaviness, cynicism and despair. On the other hand, Scorpio doesn’t always summon the bravery for deep introspection, and then becomes confused by its intense but seemingly sourceless feelings of anxiety, doom, and unfulfilled desire. There’s also a risk that it may project these difficult emotions onto others. No other sign is capable of back-stabbing so viciously, and with their deep insight, Scorpios know exactly where to twist the knife to hurt you the most; it’s happened to me, and probably to most of us at some point.
As Steven Forrest teaches, there are three main ways to deal with Scorpionic and Plutonian material. We can deal with it consciously to work through it; learn our lessons the hard way; or not learn them at all - and repeat harmful patterns throughout our life, and in future incarnations and/or generations. The first option is undoubtedly the best one, making Scorpio season the perfect time for an astrology reading. Whether or not you’ve gotten a reading before, astrology can help you continue to peel back the layers leading to true knowledge, discovery and understanding of yourself and your soul’s journey. If you’re interested in this form of personal growth and spiritual evolution, you can book a reading with me here, or with the astrologer of your choice.
As the Sun’s light wanes and autumn continues descending into the darkness of winter, I hope we all take the chance to look deeply and bravely inside ourselves. Just remember not to isolate yourself or get too stuck in the darkness. Make sure you have some helpful regulation tools on hand if it all gets to be too much. Don’t hesitate to reach out to close, trustworthy people in your life to help each other carry your emotional burdens. And never underestimate the healing power of humor; sometimes you just need to laugh in the face of the devil.
