Tomorrow morning, we reach the New Moon in Scorpio, a mysterious and intense New Moon to open a new month with.
The Sun and Moon, in the first decan of Scorpio, are hungry. At the beginning of this fixed Water sign, we become aware of the depth and complexity of our desires. We long to have those desires satisfied.
Saturn has other ideas. The New Moon trines Saturn in the second decan of Pisces. Saturn in the middle of Pisces stands ready to point out all the reasons we can’t actually have what we want.
Saturn is never about fulfilling desire. At least, not without a lot of hard work first. This Saturn is more about testing us than making us happy. Perhaps our inner and outer lives are not matching up.
Where do we go next? What does the rest of the chart say? A lot, actually. It says a lot.
This New Moon chart contains three oppositions: Mars and Pluto, Mercury and Uranus, Venus and Jupiter.
We have a Grand Trine in Water with Mars in Cancer, Mercury in Scorpio, and Neptune in Pisces.
The planets in Earth and Water all at the very ends of their signs form two Kite patterns and a rectangle sometimes known as the mystic rectangle.
The basic thing to remember about these complex patterns is that Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus are all in a deep conclave. There are side conversations going on in shadowy corners. Those conversations will influence and feed into the overall debate. But they’re all in it together.
The Mars–Pluto opposition is especially strong and important, so let’s start there.
Pluto’s in the final minutes of the final degree of Capricorn. When he leaves this sign to enter Aquarius in a few weeks, the last Pluto in Capricorn we will see in our lifetimes (or our children’s and grandchildren’s lifetimes) comes to an end.
This has also been the Pluto return of the United States, and this transition happens during the current election, so Pluto is getting a lot of attention.
Pluto’s role is to test the foundations of things. Not break them, but test them for their integrity.
This election is a contest between two wildly different visions of what the United States has been and will be in the future. Which vision is the most sound? Which is aligned with our core values?
An easy way to read Pluto’s opposition to Mars in Cancer is to say we have a lot of feels about this. The outcomes of this election will be contested. Honestly, this chart overall points to election results being unclear, followed by contentious speech and possibly rash action. I doubt anyone is shocked to hear this.
On the world stage, this New Moon and the Mars–Pluto opposition will be reflected in a number of events. Still, the US elections are kind of the elephant in the room. What happens with our government will have an outsized impact.
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That said, I don’t want to focus on world events but instead on what we as individuals might experience in our lives.
So, sticking with Mars–Pluto for a moment, it’s important to note this opposition is one of three we will have between now and April 2025. This is because Pluto moves very, very slowly and Mars is preparing to retrograde.
The next two oppositions will feature Mars in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius, so, this first one in Cancer and Capricorn is notable.
We’re already in the Mars retrograde preview. This retrograde will cover the zodiac from mid Cancer to early Leo, specifically from 17º Cancer to 6º10’ Leo.
Traditionally, Mars is in fall in Cancer, hampered by emotions that get the in way of direct action. Mars in Leo is happier, ready to perform, lead the way, and shine.
And yet, the emotions, our body sense, and the family bonds we feel in Cancer are often the driving forces behind the actions Mars takes.
As we, individually, navigate this Mars retrograde, we may find ourselves exploring the commitments, values, and (yes) emotions that drive what we do.
Simon Senik, a well-known writer and speaker about leadership, places the question, Why? at the core of what he teaches. He’s always telling his listeners to “Find your why.” This is a great key phrase for this Mars Rx in Cancer and Leo. Finding our ‘why’ inevitably leads us back to what we feel strongly about and what we’re committed to.
The other Earth–Water opposition is Mercury in Scorpio opposing Uranus in Taurus, again in the final degrees of each sign. Just like Mars–Pluto, a personal planet in Water opposes an outer planet in Earth.
Uranus in Taurus has been facilitating deep changes in how we use and think about money, in what and how we eat, and in issues of using and caring for the land. These are core Taurean interests.
Where Taurus likes to stay firmly planted in the physical world, Scorpio is all about what is hidden, shadowed, and tricky to get a hold of.
We might say, Mercury in Scorpio is asking, what do these changes mean? What does it mean to be a revolutionary in this modern world? What are the most important issues? What does it mean to change?
Mercury receives a trine from Mars and sextile from Pluto who are the ancient and modern rulers of Scorpio, where Mercury is right now. Could our perceptions, processing, and communications be any deeper? More penetrating? More incisive?
With Uranus in the mix, we get a push for authenticity and radical change. The potential for deep personal work and insight is right there.
Note that Uranus and Pluto are trine, Mars and Mercury are trine, while Mars and Uranus are sextile, as are Mercury and Pluto. Here we are in the conclave, which is the mystic rectangle. This is a pattern Dane Rudyhar viewed as a source of practical mysticism.
Do dive into deep topics and personal exploration. Be careful of getting into debates with others, as anyone and everyone in that conversation might say things they later regret.
This complex configuration will have a strong effect on birth charts with any planets or points in the late degrees of Earth and Water signs. There will also be an effect from Mars–Pluto on planets and points in the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), and from Mercury–Uranus on the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius).
If your chart has planets and points in the mutable signs, you have the golden ticket. This is the Venus–Jupiter opposition in Sagittarius and Gemini.
When the rest of this New Moon feels too heavy, turn to Venus–Jupiter. We can all think about ways to leverage this lovely connection between the two good luck planets. Think of it as a cheat code, an escape hatch, or a side quest.
Venus in Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius is out of bounds. Her creativity is off the charts. Her curiosity about relationships is very expansive. She’s ready to travel and looking for adventure.
Jupiter in Gemini has added depth since Mercury, ruler of Gemini, is in Scorpio. This Jupiter is ready to sign on for the on journey, unafraid and open to new ideas.
If Venus and Jupiter aspect parts of your birth chart, you will feel a brightness and a lightness that is likely to be more of a struggle for the rest of us. Yet these two are part of the New Moon and something we can all reach for.
Sometimes the side quests turn out to be the most interesting.
A New Moon in Scorpio is a time of depth, insight, and the intrigue of shadowy places. Emotions will be intense and focused. Scorpio is deeply intuitive, especially about power dynamics. Scorpio is wary but unafraid, prepared, watchful, and driven.
We’re entering the darkest time of the year in the ancient Celtic calendar, a time when both magical beings and ancestors are close. This is a time for telling stories around a fire, of celebrating the successes of the year while marking its losses. We’re taking stock with an eye to preparing for winter.
So it’s intriguing that this year’s New Moon in Scorpio calls us to deep reflection at a time when important events have yet to be decided.
In the world today, facing huge issues, we can feel small and powerless. Yet the relationships and events that form our individual lives are the foundations on which greater patterns form.
I’m linking back to what I said earlier about Mars in Cancer being a placement that shows us what desires, commitments, and emotions frame and fuel our actions.
Mars as a force in astrology can signify aggression, uncontrolled violence, and grabbing what we want no matter what the costs are to others. So there’s one more aspect to this chart that I find fascinating and want to point out to you.
Mars and the Moon are in mutual reception. Mars in Cancer is sitting in the Moon’s homeplace. the Moon in Scorpio finds herself in Mars’ ancient abode.
This means these two are supporting each other, making their time in each other’s homes more comfortable, or at least more tolerable.
I’m going to stray into some esoteric territory here. In preparing for the Mars retrograde, I’ve been reading, carefully, the Orphic hymn to Mars (known as Ares to the Greeks) as translated and studied by Kristin Mathis.
I first learned of Kristin’s work when she appeared on Chris Brennan’s Astrology Podcast with Drew Levanti (Episode 443, Orphism and Astrology). The Orphic tradition is mystic path of illumination that I cannot possibly do justice to in a paragraph. Orphism links to the Greek gods, to enlightenment, and has implications for astrological magic.
In Kristin’s exploration of Mars (Ares) and his Orphic hymn, she notes that the hymn references various ways to calm the aggressive heat of Mars, or at least to direct Mars energy toward valuable goals. (https://www.kristinmathis.com/)
The Moon, in various guises and goddesses, plays a vital role in this calm redirection. This makes the mutual reception between the Moon and Mars in this intense New Moon chart especially intriguing and important.
So, do dive into the Scorpionic depths. Explore. Learn. Heal. Find your why. And if you or others or a situation becomes too heated, too angry, too activated, turn to the Moon.
Reconnect with your body. Eat something, Drink something calming. Gentle movement is good. Find your way back to those values, places, and beings who are most important to you. Remember what you care most about. Hold on to that.
