The Slow March Out of Scorpio has Begun...

And thank goodness for that...

Processing of the Scorpionic kind is always quite heavy, sometimes brutal, so it should be a welcome bit of news that Mars left Scorpio for Sagittarius yesterday in the early morning. The Sun will follow suit this Friday (Nov. 21), and Mercury will do the same Sunday (Nov. 23). Pluto (co-ruler of Scorpio) will exit the final degree of Sagittarius for Capricorn November 26.

The processing and regeneration that happens when Scorpio/the 8th house is emphasized (when Pluto is stirring up some action) is deep and emotional and can create experiences of rage, grief, oppression, feeling stuck and trapped, and suicidal depression. Facilitating the process can be exhausting (like giving birth to a real live human), so it's with relief that we accept movement into the buoyancy and optimism of fiery Sagittarius.

But first, this tail-end Scorp stuff.

Pluto triggers in Scorpio the things we need to shed in order to stay vital and continue the unfolding process we undertake by living our lives on Planet Earth.

These things to shed can be triggered/brought to our awareness in a number of different ways, but to successfully complete the process, it involves going to the deep, dark, ancient core of ourselves.

As we bring forward the energetic dynamics, the aspects of self or relationship to lay on the funeral pyre, we go through a process of digging so we get all of it. The dynamics/aspects of self or relationship exist in our individual lives but have collective roots.

So as we dig and scrape and disengage, we get triggered again and again so that we understand the real depth and complexity of that which we're dealing with. We get sucker punched in any area where we need to increase awareness and improve, where we need to fight to get out from under the weight of that which is attempting to suffocate and drain us. We see how cleverly the roots of the poisonous dynamics have worked their way into the system. We see how they attach to every last bit of unresolved fear and weakness and hurt and feed on it.

But we also get right pissed! How dare these things try to suffocate and drain and kill me? How dare they try to keep me down and feed off my energy?

This is the Mars part of the Scorpio equation. Where the collective garbage stirred up by Pluto becomes personal. Where we apply our personal motivation and energy to power through. This is where we learn to love our anger, to honour our rage, and to do what it instructs us to do (only the healthy, productive things, of course!). This is where we use our our never-say-die iron will to battle our way through the hellish aspects of our lives and selves. The only way past it is through it, so we'd best get going.

There is a big aspect of letting go with Scorpio/Pluto, for sure. "Letting go" is a big mantra of the New Age establishment these days. Yes, it is necessary to let go of everything we can. To just disengage. To not allow ourselves to be drawn into the figure eight dynamics with the other person/situation trying to get our goats.

But there are also times when one needs to face down his or her opponent and show it who's boss. To get rid of it once and for all. To "let go" in these instances is actually counter-productive. It just allows the dynamic to circle back and bite you in the ass from another angle. So in these instances, we wield the sword and shield, and we cut our way out of the entrapping garbage. We clear our path. We don't wait for it to clear on its own. We listen to our gut-level intuition (Pluto) and take action (Mars). We use our flickers of anger and rage as a guide. They're telling us we need to do something, and do something we must.

It's not all about surrendering. This is a Piscean concept, and (broken record time) we're heading out of the astrological Piscean era. There is some redundance here that will simply not be successful. With Scorpio energy, we really must DO (Mars) something about our circumstances.

The other aspect of this Scorpionic/Plutonic process is the body processing. Pluto digs up old emotion from our ancient cores. Rage and hurt and grief from all the betrayals, injustices, oppressions, inequalities, wounds and dark, dark, darkness that have been under the surface and left unresolved for all this time, through all our ancestral lines. We then process it through our physical bodies (Mars) to resolve it. The collective stuff is dealt with through each individual processing it.

This body processing is a little like going through menopause (not that I've gone through it, but from what I hear). Aches and pains, muscle stiffness, bone-weary exhaustion, hot and cold flashes, weird electrical sensations, feeling dirty and greasy even after bathing, nausea, sleep disruption, etc.

We purge a whole lot of energetic garbage through our systems, and it can be rough. We're also physically adjusting to changes in our structures, which can be painful.

So we're coming to the end of our yearly Scorpio season, but we're not out of the woods yet. The final degrees are sometimes a big old bitch because we're tired, but we can't let up. We have to maintain awareness of any more garbage dynamics that we need to be cut loose right up until the last minute of the last degree of Scorpio. These Scorpionic things are sneaky. They kick your ass to make you stronger and better and smarter and a more masterful psychic surgeon. They teach you to trust your own intuition and take razor-sharp precise action using its guidance. But they're still a bitch-a-roonie-doonie. So keep staring them down.