the new moon in scorpio is exact on sunday october 30th 2016 at 10:38am PDT. this new moon is also lunar samhain- that magical and mystical High Holy Day where the veil between the worlds is thin. the 8 Holy days consist of the winter solstice, imbolc, spring equinox, beltane, summer solstice, lammas, autumn equinox and samhain. they each correlate with the 8 phases of the moon- with winter solstice correlating with the new moon and samhain correlating with the dark moon. right now as i write this blog we are deep in the dark moon energies and we are heading into what i call the dark sun time of the solar year which commences with samhain.
the dark moon and dark sun are both symbolic of endings, letting go, releasing the past and preparing for the new cycle that will be incoming. it’s a time best spent in deep reflection, introspection and inner/spiritual focus as well as a time to take out the garbage and let go of whatever we are holding onto physical, emotionally, psychically and otherwise that we cannot or should not take into the next cycle with us. ironically we are heading into one of the busiest seasons of partying, shopping and external focus in the entire year- a time where we tend to accumulate even more! if we are following the natural cycles of the earth we would be more like a bear going into the cave- and giving yourself time to do this in the coming months will definitely benefit you spiritually, emotionally and physically.
this new moon in scorpio is a good time to focus on renewal, regeneration, transformation and willingly choosing to midwife the death processes in our lives (metaphorically and symbolically speaking) so that we can navigate the path to rebirth and new life. this new moon is well aspected- the nicest new moon i have seen in months! we have the new moon in deep, passionate and magical scorpio conjunct mercury- the psychopomp who guides us between the worlds and helps us navigate liminal space (space that is neither here nor there, black nor white). the sun/moon/mercury conjunction is trine to the neptune/south node conjunction- helping us to access the psychic, intuitive, magical energies that reside in that alignment.
we are making our way to the exact neptune/south node conjunction (exact in early to mid november- around election day in the US)- and we have been seeing a lot of the negative manifestations of it: denial, delusion, deception (mass, interpersonal and individual), avoidance of reality, playing the victim or the martyr, spiritual bypassing, and turning to addictions to people/places/things to avoid sitting with the feelings arising from deep within. with this new moon harmoniously aspecting this intense configuration we are supported in delving into the personal and collective Unconscious. doing things that assist us in this- be it therapy, shamanic journeys, dreamwork, meditation, artistic expression etc…- is highly recommended right now. the scorpio energy can help us to go into the depths that scare us while the pisces/neptune energy can help us see the potential that lies inherent within the shadow (also known as the Golden Shadow).
the ruler of this new moon is pluto- the Lord of the Underworld himself. he was just conjunct mars 2 weeks ago and he is making his way to square jupiter later in november. he is undergoing some pretty intense activations- forcing us all to see what is dead and gone in our lives that we need to fully let go of to make space for the new. pluto makes some lovely aspects to the venus/saturn conjunction which is just separating (it was exact saturday evening the day before the new moon). venus/saturn starts a brand new cycle in regards to mastery, responsibility and growth in relationships, finances, self worth and living aligned with our values. saturn is the Lord of Karma and when he sets new cycles into motion we can do so with awareness of the past and the lessons we learned from it so as not to repeat those same karmic patterns OR we can do so from a place of Unconsciousness and continue the same old karmic patterns in the next cycle. with pluto aspecting both venus and saturn the potential to really step up in mastery and accountability for our past and present which informs our future trajectories is there. pluto knows that we cannot be all Love and Light and ignore our shadows- as that which are Unconscious of or in denial of actually has control over us. if we have left our past incomplete or worse denied our responsibility for it- the new cycles we seed will be more of the same. but if we are standing in our power, owning our shadow and working to integrate it (which is the path to wholeness) brand new cycles can be birthed right now that are really amazing and positive!
there are a few asteroids to take note off that have an interesting relationship with each other. the new moon is conjunct hebe and the venus/saturn conjunction is aligned with bacchus. martha lang westcott, an astrologer who has done a lot of research and writing on the asteroids, has this to say about these two archetypes and the relationship between them: “Hebe rules occupation where “waiting on” others is the job: waitresses, bartenders, sales persons, and domestic workers. It comes into play in situations where service attitudes are required. Hebe is the Handmaid, the person who serves others. Hebe also carries other implications. In ‘serving others’ Hebe as Cupbearer to the little god of egocentricity-caters to the self centered or immature demands of others – and she becomes an Enabler or co-dependant. This part of her nature is reflected in her glyph (looks like a Martini glass) the wineglass of Bacchus becomes a triangle; Hebe is the missing link that supports the behaviors of the dependent (sometimes addicted) personality. In aspect to Bacchus, one finds the classic co-dependency triangle, the addiction, the addicted person, and the enabler. but even in the absence of substance abuse there is support for helping to maintain addictive syndrome behavior patterns.”
so i am seeing in this new moon chart a deeper meaning of looking at our own tendencies to over focus on helping, healing or saving others. often when we do this we are either avoiding helping and healing ourselves or we prefer the imbalance in the dynamic where one is the savior and the other is the one who needs to be saved. where are we enabling others or co-dependent in our relationships? where are we supporting other’s addictions? OR we could be on the other side of the coin- where are we looking to be saved? where are we seeking others who enable and facilitate our own egocentricity and immaturity? where are we addicted and instead of owning that, facing it and dealing with it- we look for others who won’t hold our feet to the fire and ask us to deal with our shit? this is what the mars/pluto and venus/saturn energies are about. there’s a pluto death and rebirth experience playing out in the expression of the masculine- both within ourselves and collectively- and there’s also a new sense of saturn mastery being called of the feminine (again within and without) to have healthy boundaries and to see from a place of reality rather than idealization and fantasy (this is not about gender- it’s about our own internal masculine/feminine dynamic that then gets expressed externally in our relationships and even collectively). venus/saturn/bacchus asks us to wake up from our drunken stupor and really SEE what is- so we are then empowered to create what can be. this new moon is well aspected and the potential to do this work is very much present if we so choose to navigate the path.
i leave you with ellias lonsdale’s star sparks meditation for 8 scorpio. to me this degree speaks to the mystical, otherworldly, watery energies present right now. we are all being asked to carry this frequency individually so that we can do it collectively. the veil between the worlds is thin so that we can bring more of the other world into this world- something all ancient cultures did with much ease but something that our contemporary western culture needs to work on re-connecting to. we need to learn how to see the depth first rather than get stuck on the surface. if you just see the ‘retarded man’ and stop there- you miss the angel hiding inside ;)
new moon and dark sun blessings sent your way!
~divine harmony
STAR SPARKS
Scorpio 8 A retarded man with white hair, he has an angelic countenance.
He doesn’t get it. He hasn’t been allowed to see what everybody else sees. This creates so many problems. There are gaps everywhere. He doesn’t know what anybody’s talking about really. Yet he must somehow.
He doesn’t assume what everybody does around here. He acts like he just came from the place of all beginnings. And he never does wipe that smile off his face.
The Holy Fool doesn’t like to be one. It seems like a very old simplistic place to hang out. Yet inside that multiple disguise, what is cooking here? What is working so deeply, so utterly?
It’s like he threw in the towel on the whole modern experiment somewhere along the line, and now he inherits from himself this peculiar legacy of being such an outsider that he’s a true insider.
What can he do with himself really? How can he even conceive of what is happening to him? Does it all feel overwhelmingly intense, or hardly intense at all?
Well, it’s like being thrown open to every state anybody could ever be in, but you are just visiting it, just seeing it, not quite tangled up there, yet somehow more involved, more passionately committed than anybody would be able to take if they knew. Let’s throw them off and keep it moving light and free all around us, and see how long we can stay anonymous, floating free, watery.
There are no options really. There are no easy ways out. When you get in this deep, you really have to swim, and it’s a new kind of swimming. For you’re in with everybody, and you can feel the same edge in all of us. And you know you gotta carry it awhile. And you know it’s beautiful, it’s strange, and it’s needed.