Clutch Positions

 Hexagon Astrology Magazine being enjoyed in the Canadian grasslands

Photos: Willow's Mama

With the planet of karma and heavy challenges (Saturn) on the inky-potent final degree of Scorpio until September 17, we are in clutch position, friends. Don't underestimate the power or potency of this position, despite its potential difficulty.

If we work diligently and dig deeply enough, we have the ability to set things right on emotional, psychological, financial, sexual, energy exchange, and power-sharing levels in ways that will release us and heal us (and others) in desperately necessary ways.

We're working ourselves out of some very old traps. 

Saturn on this degree of Scorpio really throws it down. This is the power of being utterly honest with ourselves so that we can be honest with others. It's the power of living an authentic life without the life-wrecking disturbances of artifice, manipulation, or deceit. It's the courage to address and solve some major structural problems that have long drained our energy and time.

We are running into multiple instances of structural energy deficit now - people being asked to give too much with too little support or help or money or recognition received in return. This dynamic is built right into hierarchical power structures (particularly involving the money system), and it feeds those structures, allowing them to continue. The structures as they exist have been set up in this way so that some people are asked to give too much and work too hard, while others simply enjoy the spoils of that imbalance.

This is the basic structure of consumer capitalism these days, trickling down to human relationships, family dynamics, and many other aspects of life within a consumer capitalist society. This energy deficit has been built right into "the way of things," and we are forced to confront and change this however we can as Saturn transits the final degree of "merged energy" Scorpio.

With Pluto (poison, hell, impetus for transformation) halfway through the sign of Capricorn (structures, government, business), most of the current structures don't function unless there are people running themselves into the ground with other people benefiting from it.

Saturn at 29 Scorpio challenges us to expose these unsustainable and unfair dynamics, choosing to re-structure things in a way that is more free, just, and energetically righteous. Determining exactly how to accomplish this is easier said than done, but we're feeling it out every step of the way.

This is ancestral stuff, too, the stuff of the soul lineage, and we have the opportunity to release the spirits of all those who have been enmeshed and ensnared in the same traps of the human condition.  As we work our own way out of unsatisfactory and stultifying dynamics, our work benefits others, as well, including in the spirit realms.

We're releasing some old, trapped ghosts, too.

Scorpio is an intuitive sign. It's about feeling things out down to the very last twinge, trusting our own radar, and having the courage to take decisive action on the things we are feeling and sensing.

So we are tasked with waiting and feeling things out and being patient until the natural solution (or the next step toward the natural solution) comes up to the surface and makes itself known.

There is a karmic inevitability to things now. Things have been set in motion in ways that cannot be entirely altered.

To a great extent, our current circumstances have been determined by the decisions made and movements taken by others in the past. We're working with elements of tradition, elders, structure, and long-time protocol.

Now, we have a profound chance to grind out a new course, to progress beyond long-ingrained patterns, to change our lives, relationships, and the world at large in foundational ways. To make things better, less hellish.

Think: a long-time victim of domestic abuse finally collects the strength, energy, will, resources, and courage to leave her/his relationship for good. No going back. No being reeled back in. It's just over. It's just done. There's no more pull, no more attraction to being treated like that. It's simply time to move on with Saturn at 29 Scorpio.

However, we also have the opportunity to carry forward a whole lot of bullshit and emotional/psychological hell for the next 28 years if we'd rather avoid the lessons, challenges, and growth work that Saturn at 29 Scorpio has placed on our laps.

As stated, this is a very decisive moment. It's a clutch position that in many ways determines our emotional, psychological, and perhaps financial comfort (or lack thereof) for almost 30 years, including for loved ones after we are gone. It determines whether things are set on the right energetic foundation or whether we allow our weakness or laziness or fear or just plain fatigue to sabotage things.

Scorpio is a sign of transformation and change brought about by often brutal confrontations with reality. Basically, with Scorpio, the situation as it stands is so detrimental to our emotional, psychological, and/or soul health that we'd rather die than stay where we are. Scorpio is just that hardcore, yes. It's a matter of life or death, even if it is soul death rather than physical death.

With Saturn on 29 Scorpio, we are determining the moves we must make now, despite their difficulty or fearfulness, in order to set things right in our lives for the long-term.

And with love, money, value, and relationship planet Venus stationing direct in Leo (September 6), kicking off a new eight-year relationship cycle, we are looking to set things right in matters of the heart, in particular.

Scorpio and its ruling planet Pluto involve "moth-to-flame" themes with a tendency to attractions and compulsions that just aren't good for us. Something in us is attached to the energy of it, can't let it loose no matter how much we may desire to do so.

With Saturn on the final degree of Scorpio, an area it will not revisit for another 28 years, we are being tested on these moth-to-flame attractions. We are being confronted by some of our deepest fears, along with the knowledge that some of these fears are actual reality. We're also being tested to see whether we will pick an "older and wiser" path this time or whether we go right back into that flame. 

We must take absolute responsibility for our attractions as well as for the ripple effects our actions have in the minds and emotions of others close to us. 

The 29th degree of any sign, also referred to as the anaretic degree, is a very tired degree. It's an "old soul" degree. It can't take much more of this crap.

So be gentle with yourselves and others as we all work our way out of dynamics of structural energy deficit, as we all work our way out of unsatisfactory relationship dynamics, as we all work our way out of the tail-end of the mindfucks brought to us during the Saturn in Scorpio transit (October 2012 to September 2015).

We can change things with Saturn on 29 Scorpio, but there is no energy to waste. In fact, there is barely enough energy to get us through. If we're careful, cunning, and courageous, we can set things on a new and better course this September. We can eliminate the energy-sucking traps and moth-to-flame draws and seal those suckers out of the framework of our lives and relationships for good.

We're too old and tired for that shit anymore, anyway.

We will receive a progress report from late October 2015 through early March 2016, after Saturn has re-entered Sagittarius, as the personal planets transit Scorpio. Remember one of Saturn's laws: diligence now makes for an easier time of it later.

The Fear

 Photos: Willow

Renegade Heifer Photography

Saturn is currently sitting on the end of the sign of Scorpio, stirring up a whole mess of fear. This is "deepest, darkest fears" territory, which is rarely any fun at all.

Saturn is completing the final weeks of its mutual reception with Lord of the Underworld Pluto in Capricorn, so you had to expect a little something nightmarish with this Grand Finale double dose of Scorpio/Capricorn and Saturn/Pluto.

The fears (depression/paranoia/dread) could seem to come out of nowhere, dug up by the relentlessly slow motion of Saturn regaining speed after the August 1 direct station at 28 degrees Scorpio.

Saturn hasn't gained much speed or distance since then (think "relentless crawl"), so we could be feeling quite stuck under the same old challenges that seem to have no easy solutions. The gut-churning emotional and psychological challenges could be quite thick until Saturn breaks into lighter territory in Sagittarius on September 17. When Saturn re-enters Sagittarius at 8:49 p.m. CST that night, the transit of Saturn through Scorpio as well as the mutual reception to Pluto in Capricorn are officially complete.

For now, we're locked in. Dreadful Saturn has us in its grip.

Malefic planet Mars in Leo is closing in on a frictional square to malefic planet Saturn in Scorpio, which will not be exact until September 25 when both planets have (mercifully) ingressed mutable signs (Mars into Virgo and Saturn into Sagittarius). But this slowly-forming square between the two malefic (ie. potentially less pleasant) planets in the fixed signs of Leo and Scorpio could stir fears and frustrations to almost intolerable points over the next month.

Mars square Saturn indicates a feeling of being between a rock and a hard place with nowhere beneficial to turn. One way is hard, the other way even harder. Our movement and personal will can be painfully constricted under the influence of this aspect. Our challenges and "what we have to do in the world" can seem overwhelming. We're just sitting under it all, spinning our wheels.

Saturn has a way of convincing us that our troubles are always going to be this hard, that life is always going to be this difficult. (Not the case!) But with Mars rubbing up against Saturn in Scorpio in a frictional way over this next month, certain points will seem acutely difficult, if not impossible, to navigate.

This is said not to scare anyone - just that there is nothing "wrong" with you if you experience some difficult or frustrating points between now and late September.

Saturn has the ability to make the things it touches concrete, real, material. And our deepest, darkest fears are sometimes proving more real than we would like under the tail end of this Saturn in Scorpio transit.

These could be fears we may have thought were already confronted, settled, resolved, and accepted but are now circling round to get at us again, and this can be depressing.

(Saturn is back where it was in December 2014.)

It's difficult to see our way out of this glut of fear (though we will work our way out of it). In many ways, we have to accept the things we see and sense. The stone-cold reality on Planet Earth is not much of a comfort these days once you lift all the rocks and look in all the nooks and crannies.

But one comfort we have is this: we're not alone with this terrifying mess. We're all struggling with the icy, suffocating grip of fear at times. We're all existing under the weight and karma of Saturn in tail-end Scorpio. Personal challenges can seem insurmountable now to the vast majority of people on this planet, not just to you and me.

So when it seems there's nowhere to turn to make it feel any better, when Saturn is hell-bent on exposing our terrors, as it is now, we have to endure with the understanding that there are those who shoulder it alongside us. We're all struggling with the sickly grip of personal terror and collective horror at times. How could we not be considering the state of things on this planet? Facades indicating otherwise can easily be cracked by just one more event going awry.

Don't let the fear isolate you. You're never alone with this.

It's not all bad, either:

Benefic love planet Venus Rx forms a conjunction with malefic Mars at 14 degrees Leo on August 31 (11:04 p.m. CST), providing a little boost of love, support, and fire. The Venus-Mars conjunction is often considered a boon for relationships with the feminine and masculine planets coming together.

Lovely Venus goes direct at 14 Leo on September 6 (2:29 a.m.), and the love, money, and relationship planet moving forward again should come as a relief - or at least provide a change of pace. 

Honky Tonk Beer Slingin' and the Detrimental Dating Habits of the Pluto in Scorpios

I recently started working casually at the little honky tonk bar in town.

(It's the only bar in town.)

Beer slingin' is just in my blood, I guess.

I worked off and on as a waitress and cocktail server for 10 years, but those years were many moons ago, and when I got poisoned by Cipro and my tendons started breaking down, I thought my service industry days were over.

But it's all about that Scorpionic regeneration and resurrection, don't you know? Through excruciating focus on my diet and overall health, I was able to recover from the worst of the Cipro effects, so back in the bar I am.

I wondered if I would still be able to do it, but it turns out that slinging beer and cocktails is kind of like riding a bike. It comes back to you pretty quickly.

Being back in the bar has brought me into contact with people a bit younger than I am, and I have to tell you, this has opened my eyes to some of the absolute nastiest aspects of the sign of Scorpio via the heinous mess that is the Pluto in Scorpio dating world. (The members of the Pluto in Scorpio generation were born roughly from November 1983 to November 1995.)

Seriously, mouth agape. Shocked.

Now, the redneck version of the Pluto in Scorpio dating world (which I'm privy to) is quite likely worse than standard - probably much worse. But the word "sociopathic" would not be too strong a descriptor for the dating behaviour of some of this generation, from what I see.

My Libra/Pluto in Libra social sensibilities and consideration for others are in a constant state of wounded shock. 

(Just so I don't piss people off (it's likely impossible not to), I'm not saying all members of the Pluto in Scorpio generation are manipulative messes. Just the majority. Ha. I would say the majority of any generation does not have its Plutonic shit together, but because Scorpio as a sign is so damned extreme, this is extra detrimental.)

I always had a feeling I might have to help straighten this generation out one day. I have a Scorpio stellium in my natal chart with Pluto conjunct the Sun. I grew up through the transiting Pluto in Scorpio years with Pluto forming conjunctions to all my Scorpio placements, which was a little harsh, to say the least.

So I always had a feeling that my hard labour in the Scorpy under-realms would not go to waste. I had a feeling I could help other people whose experiences had them wishing for sweet, sweet death due to the almost impossible difficulty of Scorpio/Pluto themes. I mean, I've been doing it on this blog for the past seven years, right?

But the task at hand with these redneck Pluto in Scorpios seems too big for even your anarchist astro-reporter, I tell you. Too big.

I can honestly say I've never witnessed more using, manipulating, lying, cheating, and lowdown dirty tricks than when coming into contact with these Pluto in Scorpios. Their festering and emotionally-toxic dating scene is your classic Plutonic hell-world. And I'm not exactly dealing with the most mature or emotionally/psychologically-sophisticated people on Earth here, either.

As I say, too big.

As a person who has done my best to be responsible with my own Scorpio stellium and the nasty potential dynamics within it, it disgusts and saddens me to see what's going on. It disgusts and saddens me to see people hurting each other, often intentionally. It disgusts and saddens me to see the wicked lack of regard for others' emotions and inner states. It seems that for many of these young Pluto in Scorpios, as long as they're not left holding the "hot potato" of terrible, roiling emotions, they're happy to pass it on down the road to someone else. Scorpio, in its immature state, is known for being vindictive and cruel.

Now, I'm not blaming this generation for these dynamics. They've been with us for millennia, and they're just concentrated in this particular generation of people. I'm holding this generation responsible for how it's dealing (or not dealing) with these dynamics. I'm holding the members responsible for what they're furthering via their behaviour.

One of the main problems I see with this generation as a whole (and yes, I understand I'm speaking in generalizations and that there are individual exceptions to this) is an almost complete lack of awareness of energetic and emotional responsibility. These are two areas that it really would have behooved everyone, especially the Pluto in Scorpios, to get up to speed on as Saturn transited Scorpio in the first pass (October 2012 - December 2014).

Scorpio/Pluto energy is like a figure 8 dynamic. When you're connected intimately to someone - emotionally, psychologically, sexually, psychically - you're also intimately connected to the energy dynamics that pass back and forth between the two of you. This is the case whether you like it or not. You're affected by the energy passed between you, both pleasant and not-so-pleasant.

Taking full responsibility for your end of the figure 8 energy dynamics (what you pass to the other) is a true act of love toward that person. Even if you come to hate that person at some point (another common Scorpio/Pluto theme), maintaining that responsibility is an act of general human decency, ethics, and integrity.

From what I see, though, taking full responsibility for these energy exchanges is not exactly how it's going down with many in this generation.

What we have is the classic detrimental Scorpio themes, that nasty, nasty shit, being passed along and passed along and passed along in some sort of fucked up game of Hot Potato.

Get screwed over; screw someone else over; get screwed over; screw someone else over. Get stung; sting someone else.

We have people being burned, used, manipulated, and lied to - and then passing that same treatment on down the line, rather than doing the more difficult (and more mature) thing to process, resolve, and ground that nasty charge so it can't be passed along to some other poor sap.

So what are some of these nasty Scorpio dynamics being passed around like a bad case of V.D.?

- obsessions, particularly obsessions with an individual in a love or sexual relationship, which are then used to justify any and all bad behaviour
- dating someone or sleeping with someone just to get back at someone else. This includes the classic "sleeping with all your ex-boyfriend's/girlfriend's friends" thing.
- dating someone or sleeping with someone just to get your mind off someone else
- manipulating someone who has fallen for you, misusing that power and the "upper hand" it gives you
- faking feelings for someone
- using people as a means to your ends
- saying all the right things and pretending to be interested in a real relationship to get someone into bed
- keeping a relationship "unlabeled" so as to keep your options open
- playing games like making plans and then breaking them, getting close and then withdrawing, using your social crowd as a power play over the other person
- lying, deceit, and omission of necessary information
- cheating, emotional or sexual
- taking advantage of the emotional vulnerability created in intimate relationships
- taking no responsibility for how your behaviour or words badly affect another person
- having multiple men/women on the go at once without their knowledge. This is absolutely chronic in the days of constant cell phone and social media usage. The texting games alone are enough to fill entire social psychology textbooks.
- having sex with people just to compete with your friends
- dropping someone out of the blue, discontinuing contact, and ignoring messages from that person ("ghosting")
- refusing to end or resolve a relationship maturely and face-to-face
- leaving someone "hung up" on you
- getting satisfaction, glee, or a sense of personal empowerment from the pain and upset you've caused others

These are just a few of the nasty figure 8 Scorpio dynamics being passed around, and they all create emotional and psychological damage. They create wounds that may not be visible to the naked eye but that are often much more difficult to heal than physical wounds.

And it's all a bunch of crap. It's all a bunch of nasty, disgusting, inconsiderate, uncivilized crap. Yes, Libra speaking there again. The North Node (our successful path) is driving us right through Libra right now, remember?

I predicted this a few years back: the shining stars of the Pluto in Scorpio generation will have their work cut out for them rising above this mess. There will be members of this generation who work hard and move beyond the generational mindfucks, achieving a point of true legitimacy, honesty, and emotional integrity in their lives and in their conduct with others - but these individuals will be in the minority. I wrote about some of these themes in this post from 2011: Don't Believe Your Own Astrological Press. (Pluto in Scorpios, This Especially Relates To You Right Now.)

The thing it would benefit us all to keep firmly in mind is this: Scorpio is a very, very karmic sign. (And we all have Scorpio somewhere in our natal charts.)

In very basic terms, this means, what goes around comes around. Again. And again. And again.

If you burn someone, you'll get burned - until you change your ways and make up for the damage you've done.

There are natural consequences for your actions. And there are basic spiritual principles that govern life on this planet and the human relations here.

The universe doesn't allow people to get away with this bullshit indefinitely. It doesn't allow people to be base and low and damaging to others forever.

The Plutonic karmic comeuppance coming for the irresponsible members of the Pluto in Scorpio generation is mighty, let me tell you.

The hammer will come down. It's a matter of when, not if.

Transiting Saturn has just stationed retrograde in early Sagittarius. The planet of karmic challenges and necessary maturation will dip back into Scorpio from June 14 to September 17, 2015, colouring the new relationship cycle that gets underway during the Venus in Leo retrograde this summer. You can read more about that in this patron article: Saturn Retrograde Sets its Steely Gaze on Late Scorpio: the Final Resolution of Old Heartbreaks, Hurts, and Unfinished Business

Saturn taking one last dip into late Scorpio marks the hammer coming down. Some shit will officially be hitting some fans this summer. And we will all be wise to deal expeditiously with anything Saturn puts on our plates. "Yes, sir. Yes, Saturn, sir. Absolutely, sir. Let me take care of that immediately."

Saturn dipping back into Scorpio from June to September 2015 will be one final chance for anyone living out of honesty and integrity to get his or her act together.

But if people squiggle and squirm out of Saturn's grip, if they avoid their responsibilities, if they knowingly make the wrong decisions, they'll carry the consequences of that forward with them for the next 26 years until Saturn makes its way back to the sign in 2041.

Pretty heavy load of bullshit to carry until then, eh?

Sounds like, if you don't dig in this time, you're pretty well screwed.

And that goes double for anyone playing nasty Scorpio tricks from the Pluto in Scorpio generation. You guys are old enough to know better now.

If you're behaving badly, get to the root of it. Figure out why. Change your ways.

If you're hurting and damaging others with your behaviour, stop doing what you're doing. 

If you have wronged someone, make amends. Apologize honestly and from the heart (if the person wants to hear it). Correct your behaviour. Make it up to that person, if possible. And make sure it never happens again.

That goes for everyone.

If you can't handle that load of Saturn-delivered humility, you'd better just get used to things being a big old headache of a mess in your life. You'd better get used to life out of alignment with what's right and good.

Strong words, but this is not kid's stuff. Scorpio is life-or-death. And Saturn in Scorpio most certainly means business.

As Saturn Rx slides through early Sagittarius and back into the heart of the beast in late Scorpio, I'll just be slinging some beers, mixing some cocktails, listening to some jukebox tunes, and looking for opportunities to help Saturn with his work.

Come in for a cold one if you ever find yourself on this lonely stretch of prairie highway...

Photos: Willow

Reality Checking

 All it would take is a stiff breeze...

Photo: Willow

Just a reminder, pretty babies, that the personal planets are on the march toward conjunctions to Saturn in Scorpio, indicating that we receive waves of "reality check" this month. 

People are over-extended - emotionally, energetically, financially, time-wise - and the conjunctions of the personal planets to Saturn are going to reel things back in. These conjunctions also provide us with a status report on our Saturn in Scorpio progress so far.

Energy is at a premium this month, so be careful what you commit yourself to or how full you fill your schedule. Leave some wiggle room. 

Venus conjunct Saturn - November 12 (7:02 p.m. CST)
Sun conjunct Saturn - November 18 (2:50 a.m.)
Mercury conjunct Saturn - November 25 (8:37 p.m.)

We've been slogging it out in the down-and-dirty subtext for just over two years now, becoming painfully aware of the crumbling emotional and psychological foundations in relationships, businesses, and societal institutions alike.

The underlying emotional and psychological realities we're privy to are not always pretty. Quite often, they're full-on stinky and corrupt, and Saturn has been holding our noses in it, ensuring that the whiff we get is potent enough to motivate us toward change, no matter how difficult.

There are certain secrets, certain suppressed realities, that can no longer be contained - though many will try to keep a lid on this to the point that their own psyches become shredded by it.

We've gone as far as we can with certain structural frameworks and with certain power hierarchies, no matter how dressed up, "successful," or "prestigious" they may appear.

Whether it's the institution of traditional marriage, the nuclear family unit, or the grasping tentacles of the Global Government, we simply cannot uphold the shitshow any longer. Those who attempt it, still striving for the perceived rewards for doing so, face a slow-motion emotional, psychological, and psychic collapse.

People are still clinging to the old structures and to their perceived power within those structures, but make no bones about it:

The businesses and institutions cannot go on as they exist. The positions within those businesses and institutions cannot go on as they exist. Personal relationships set up according to old-era rules cannot be sustained. Change is required almost across the board.

Make this your reality, make this necessary change your goal, and these personal planet conjunctions to Saturn in Scorpio will put you in better, stronger, and wiser position.

New Moon Eclipse in Scorpio Conjunct Saturn: Final Resolution of Via Combusta Themes

The New Moon eclipse falls at 11 degrees Scorpio on November 3 (6:50 a.m. CST), sandwiched in conjunction between Saturn at 13 degrees Scorpio and the North Node and Mercury, conjunct at 7 degrees Scorpio.

This is an important New Moon for a number of reasons.

As stated previously on the blog, Saturn is currently travelling through an area of Scorpio (11 to 16 degrees) to which it will not return in retrograde motion. Saturn is making only one pass through these degrees of the zodiac. This is it. So we have one kick at the cat with the themes of these degrees and one kick at the cat only.

As Saturn shoots through this zone (October 14 to November 26), we have to focus quite intently on keeping the energy in our lives just right. We are cementing a foundation now, halfway through the Saturn in Scorpio transit, that will either support our emotional and psychological health and development for the next 29 years or create hassles, issues, and karmic setbacks at various times over the next 29 years.

As usual with Saturn, we have to be quite serious about things. And in Scorpio, we have to fully understand our lessons - each and every angle - and integrate them into our selves and into our lives. No half-assing it.

If we have doubts, concerns, or intuitive misgivings about anyone or anything in our lives now, we're required to wait before making any further commitments.

From a previous post:

"If all our energetic ducks are in a row and if all the power dynamics have been worked out satisfactorily, this time period (Oct. 14 - Nov. 26) can result in some fairly easy progress with natural next steps occurring with projects and in career.

People will be moving into more structured and solid positions of authority this fall quarter, and this particularly includes positions involving shared power, money, and resources.

Under the ongoing stressors, people who have not fully earned their authority or positions, who have not set the right energetic foundations, will soon be in over their heads, however.

With Saturn conjunct the North Node this fall, be careful not to take on too much, too fast - no matter how promising things seem. The commitments we make or deepen this fall could be life changing and deeply altering for us over the long term. We must be very careful to follow our intuition down to the last twinge regarding decision and commitments made at this time, particularly involving legal contracts or money."

Not only is Saturn crossing the halfway point in the sign of Scorpio in this "single pass zone," but it is also completing its transit of the Via Combusta.

From a previous post:

"The Via Combusta is an area of the zodiac between 15 degrees Libra and 15 degrees Scorpio (except for 23 and 24 degrees Libra) known as the burning path or combustible way. Traditionally, it is associated with "unfortunate and ineffectual events."

My interpretation of the Via Combusta is humanized and comes from the point-of-view of a person experiencing life with key natal placements in this area.

When the Via Combusta is strongly highlighted, there is a feeling of running the gauntlet through sometimes seemingly insurmountable odds, collective karma, booby traps and friction, very often related to relationship dynamics, which are Libra and Scorpio territory.

There's a fire in the Via Combusta and within people with a strong Via Combusta signature that keeps them burning, burning, burning a path through life as you would imagine a shooting star burning an accelerated path through the night's sky. There's a feeling here that one has to keep going, no matter what, through the wreckage of old, crystallized layers that would keep us stultified, constricted, and unsatisfied with old wounds perpetually reopened by a revolving cast of characters.

The basic goal of the Via Combusta is to reach escape velocity. In space travel, this is the point a space shuttle reaches when its speed and momentum allow it to escape the effects of gravity pulling it back down to Earth. In the case of the Via Combusta, it's about reaching the points of awareness and pure momentum where we escape the gravity of the sticky, tricky wreckage trying to draw us back into old territory, especially involving old constructs and dynamics of relating.

New Moon in Leo Squaring the Nodes: Opening Into A New, Alchemically-Charged Creative Cycle

Photos: Willow

The New Moon at 14 degrees Leo on August 6 (4:51 p.m. CST) conjuncts asteroid Vesta and squares the Scorpio North Node and Taurus South Node.

This New Moon indicates a dynamic new creative cycle is opening with a mix of participants that starts to gel around fall equinox. The house where 14 degrees Leo falls in your birth chart is the area where this new creative cycle is getting underway.

The influence of "hearth and home" asteroid Vesta, exactly conjunct the New Moon at 14 degrees Leo, indicates that we're invested in our own creative output and in the power of our personalities. We've kept our creative flames stoked through trial and tribulation. We've put time, effort, and energy into expressing the love, style, and passion in our hearts - even when it was hard, even when it was devalued, even when it seemed pointless. An investment has been made in pure human creativity, joy, and play. We've banked on the power of our personal artistry and creativity. Now we start to see what that investment is going to reap.

With a transiting Scorpio North Node, we are challenged to address energy shortfalls now by coming together with others in creative/working partnership. We are seeking true win-win partnerships where we accomplish more together than we could alone.

But with the Sun and Moon coming together in Leo, the sign of the diva, the celebrity, the star, there is friction possible within these partnerships that must be addressed.

Big personalities, big egos, and big creative power are coming together, with a particular gel point this fall under the Saturn-North Node-Venus conjunction at 8 degrees Scorpio.

This requires a careful understanding and distribution of power. It also requires the careful, proactive honing of our personalities and egos. We have to drop a whole lot in order to achieve the things we need to achieve, in order to fit through the slim doorway to Aquarius. Coming out of this Leo New Moon, square the Scorpio North Node, we're determining the essentials of our personalities from the non-essentials, the benefits of a strong ego versus the pitfalls of an oversized one.

We're purging any potentially detrimental ego bloat coming out of this Leo New Moon with an eye toward long-term gains. The more honest we can be with ourselves, the better, though this will not necessarily be easy. We can expect some ego burns and bruising around this New Moon as we are stripped down, charged up, and positioned for the long term.

We may not get the attention we were expecting, but the attention we do get is meaningful.

Saturn Turns Direct in Scorpio: Watch the Offloading of Dreaded Responsibilities

Saturn is currently stationing in Scorpio and will go direct just after midnight on July 8. As it drags its heels to a stop in the zodiac, it permeates the overall astro scene with its themes - its dreaded, depressing, arduous, isn't-that-a-bummer themes.

Saturn is the planet that (eventually) leads us to position, advancement, success, prestige, and recognition in the public realm. It spurs us to reach our grandest potential in these human forms. But it rides our asses like a rented mule in the process.

Since entering Scorpio in October 2012, Saturn has been doing a slow dredge within the structural set-ups of our lives and of our societies, at large. It has drawn out into our concrete realities certain emotional and psychological truths that have up until now been submerged or semi-submerged. We are now aware of the deep, dark, disturbing subtext in ways we weren't before. Our awareness of underlying energy dynamics has increased. We've honed and utilized our X-Ray vision. Whip-smart, razor-sharp.

And for those who already skillfully traipsed around in the Scorpionic nether-realms, new position, advancement, stability, and validation have come with this transit.

We've had a period of waiting, restructuring, and sober second thought as Saturn went retrograde over the first leg of Scorpio February 18 to July 8, 2013, particularly related to career. This period now draws to a close.

Saturn is now stationing direct, about to move full speed ahead into the ongoing process of structural metamorphosis underway on this planet and in our lives.

Career progress that has been stalled but still percolating beneath the surface can now unfold in earnest. Steps people have been mulling over to cement advancement and position can now start to be taken.

There is a more overt jockeying for position and power underway as of July 8. A new pecking order formulating. Be aware of this.

At the same time, Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception to Pluto in Capricorn indicates that the structures as they exist (Saturn/Capricorn) have become hell (Scorpio/Pluto). People's responsibilities within those structures have become hell - though this is often kept hidden, contained. Obligations within these past-their-prime Pluto in Capricorn-era structures have become enervating traps to the point that people will gnaw their own legs off to get out of them. The more people deny the underlying situations, the more desperate and disturbed they become, until they'll do pretty much anything to hand it off to someone else.

This direct station increases the pressure and makes it difficult for people to pretend. If inherent problems are being ignored, keeping up the shiny, happy public face will be challenging, to say the least. Some will crumble under the pressure. At its extreme, this station will have people wishing for sweet, sweet death rather than face the lack of passion, interest, or integrity in their careers and in the structures in which they participate. Keep an eye on mental and emotional health, and take the pressure off others (if deserving) when you can.

One of the things to watch out for during the entire transit of Saturn through Scorpio (October 2012 to September 2015) is the offloading of responsibilities as the structures continue their slow collapse.

People will be trying with all their stealthy, wily, and crafty might to get out from under energetic obligations that are draining them.

From now into mid-July particularly, as Saturn stations and the drudgery and bullshit become intolerable, people will be attempting to offload their dreaded responsibilities onto you, and they'll be willing to pull some pretty underhanded moves to get you to bite.

These aren't just concrete responsibilities. They're also heavy loads of the emotional, psychological, or psychic variety. A weight people can no longer sustain. Secrets people can no longer contain.

People are going to be pulling some pretty desperate and funky manoeuvres to pass the buck. However, the passing of the buck is the last thing we need. The passing of the buck has gotten us into the mess we're in on this planet today.

There's the lazy way to deal with the Saturn in Scorpio restructuring themes, and there's the right way.

The right way involves confronting the dynamics head-on, treating them as if they are real (they are), addressing them but also getting yourself out of their reach whenever possible.

Responsibly transforming the current structures and power hierarchies into something different, into something that works better for all involved, takes time and effort. Rather than committing that time and effort, people will simply try to plop the whole kit and caboodle onto you. They'll try to slide out from under the weight of their obligations, dropping them on your lap.

Again, these are responsibilities and obligations (Saturn) that have become enervating hell (Scorpio). Unless you want to start a stack of new responsibilities from a point of "enervating hell," it is not advisable to put yourself under this weight. Pluto in Scorpios, this is particularly directed to you right now.

Don't allow people to offload on you, and if you are trying to offload on others, stop. It isn't going to work.

The full psychological, emotional, and energetic weight of the responsibilities being offloaded are unbearable. They cannot by borne. By anyone.

Saturn in Scorpio indicates a time of restricted energy - especially emotional or psychological support energy. The hidden glue that holds everything together. There is not enough energy to continue to prop up and sustain the current structures or the way things are being done. These things are corrupt to the point of inherent dysfunction and toxicity. We've been pushed to a point of multi-level crisis, to the end of the road for the current way of things, and offloading the current situations onto other people will only create breakdowns.

No one can step into the current structures and responsibilities and maintain them. We are living during the Pluto in Capricorn years, and the structures themselves need to change - dramatically and from the inside out.

There is a leveling of hierarchy required here, a sharing of rewards and profits, a redistribution of responsibility, recognition, prestige, power. There are changes required here that must be triggered by people getting down to brass tacks. We have to get down to how we really feel about things, how we've really felt, perhaps, for years or decades now, and we have to allow the accessing of these suppressed feelings to fuel the ongoing process of structural metamorphosis experienced during the Saturn-Pluto mutual reception.

The Pluto in Leos are looking to retire or at the very least, to be unburdened of their heavy loads.

But their structural reality does not translate to other generations.

We don't simply step into the shoes of the Pluto in Leos. We morph the structures, the responsibilities, the power, and the rules so that they're alive, adaptable, and responsive to us and to our needs.

This is one of the primary failures of the structures as they currently exist: the needs of the human beings within those structures have not been taken fully into account.

There is next-to-no emotional or psychological support for people within the current structures, even as those people are eroded terribly by structural dysfunction, corruption, and illegitimacy. There is no allowance for emotional, mental, psychic, or soul health within these rigid, top-down business and governmental set-ups.

And this is where things are breaking down - at the hidden emotional, psychological, psychic, and soul levels. At the energetic level. People can no longer suppress and carry on, as they've been trained to do. We're hitting the brick wall on multiple fronts, on most fronts, and it is going on all over this planet.

It's crucially important during Saturn in Scorpio that you take on only the responsibilities that feel right in your soul to take on. Don't fall for the little tricks of Scorpionic persuasion, attempting to lure you into taking on too much. Don't allow people to unburden themselves on you, unless you know it's the right thing to do.

Take on the burden for another person against your ultimate will, and watch yourself falter and crumble under its weight. Watch yourself fail, as you've been set up to fail.

Alternatively, there are many people scrambling for footing and position during Saturn's transit of Scorpio. Often, these are people who have not been fully responsible with Scorpio energy in the past.

From a previous post:

"Under Saturn's thumb over the next years, misuses and abuses of power will be put in check. The results of underlying dynamics we've been (even unknowingly) furthering will start to surface. Issues falsely believed long-resolved will be stirred, like hot spots after a brush fire re-igniting. We'll be confronted with our misunderstandings of the way energy really works. We'll come into contact with the consequences of the way we've been living our lives - for good or ill."

People are trying to advance themselves using your energy, your talent, your hard work, and your position. Understand this. Keep a wary eye on this. And withdraw your energy and support from these misguided souls wherever possible.

All in all, the Saturn direct station July 8 looks fairly blessed, occurring as it does within Grand Water Trine with Jupiter in Cancer and Neptune in Pisces. All three bodies are in early water, and there is a freshness, an innocence, and an exuberance to this configuration that is lovely, indeed. We are being lovingly assisted by the universe with the very complex challenges with which we are currently faced.

If we keep an eye on the thorny Saturn in Scorpio issues, as well as on an emotionally manipulative/vicious tendency with Black Moon Lilith conjunct Jupiter in early Cancer, this one should be fairly smooth.


All Saturn in Scorpio-related articles: Saturn in Scorpio

A pay-for article from Willow's Web: Saturn in Scorpio

Crisp, Cool, Refreshing Aquarius With a Side of Saturn in Scorpio Dread

The Sun and Mercury are currently conjunct in early Aquarius, and we are officially in Aquarius season. Take a breath of wintry fresh air (in the northern hemisphere) to clear your head.

The Pluto-infused stellium in Capricorn that has been weighing us down in sometimes heinous fashion since the end of December 2012 has shifted, and the hot, tense, pressurized Plutonic energy starts to break up a little.

(Don't forget, however, that Saturn is about to station retrograde in Scorpio February 18, so we can't expect a complete release from the dreadful and the gut-churning.)

Love, money, and relationship planet Venus in Capricorn is still within range of conjunctions to Juno and Pluto in Capricorn, exact January 17. This has kept things tight and serious, but Venus moves out of orb of those conjunctions this week.

Venus enters Aquarius February 1, and this allows us to get even more distance from the pressurized first month of 2013, particularly in relationships and money matters. That ingress is another crisp, cool breath of fresh air moving us beyond compacted Plutonic tensions.

Mercury and the Sun in Aquarius trine Jupiter, stationing direct at 6 degrees Gemini, this week, and this is an airy boost that helps keep our minds on the inspiring aspects of our future. We need that.

Mercury in Aquarius trines Jupiter in Gemini January 22, and the Sun in Aquarius trines Jupiter in Gemini January 25.

There is a very nice social and communicative flow for this week, though, anchored by Saturn in Scorpio, it is perhaps not quite as flowing as we might expect. Things remain conceptual, and maybe more conceptual than Saturn would like. The issues we'd really like to see some movement on may remain stubbornly still. You can't force Saturn, and you can't force Scorpio. It unfolds when it unfolds.

Mercury and the Sun will sextile Uranus in Aries and square Saturn in Scorpio over the next 10 days, activating the Yod formations that are in play into late April.

As nice as the trines and sextiles are, the fresh, future-oriented Aquarian flavour is rubbing up against Saturn in Scorpio in a frictional way, with curmudgeonly Saturn just getting settled for a retrograde station at 11 degrees Scorpio February 18.

All the airy movement and inspiration and excitement and ideas can make for a grumpy stationing Saturn. Don't move too fast, say too much, or project too far into the future if you want to maintain emotional/psychological stability now. We definitely want to stay on the right side of this Saturn, and too much gadding about or talking about so-far unrealized future plans is not the way to go about it.

Saturn in Scorpio is the apex or "finger of God" of the most prominent Yod formation for the next couple months. This indicates that Saturn in Scorpio is the achy, uncomfortable, grumbling body we most need to tend and heed.

Our ultra inspiring, breath-of-fresh-air Aquarian plans for the future get a full meal deal Saturnine reality check now related to how fucked up things really are, how fucked up we are because of it, how damaged and damaging the current structural set-ups are, and how much has to be dealt with and resolved before we can really move beyond the dynamics of the past and into a new era.

Mercury in Aquarius squares Saturn in Scorpio January 25, and the Sun in Aquarius squares Saturn in Scorpio January 30. These themes are kicked up, sometimes miserably, around those dates. Don't become overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible conditions. There's wiggle room if you just keep at it.

The beautiful thing about the Scorpio-Aquarius square, highlighted throughout 2013 during a Juno retrograde in Aquarius, is that we are all pretty much damaged by the way things are. We've been damaged by it, and we continue to be damaged by it. The Scorpio-Aquarius square democratizes the damage. We're egalitarian comrades, like it or not, in our inability to remain fully unscathed - physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, psychically, spiritually - by the current ways of doing things on this planet.

Since early October 2012, Saturn has been making a pass over the first decan (10 degrees) of Scorpio. In order to cement our Saturnine progress in early Scorpio, and in order to learn our lessons here well, Saturn will be going back over these degrees in a retrograde period (February 18 - July 7). Saturn will station direct at 4 degrees Scorpio on July 7. People with planets, bodies, or important points in the early degrees of the fixed signs will particularly be feeling this retrograde. There's the potential for major, long-term progress here, but it's challenging, pressurized, and slow-going, to say the least.

If you've been having trouble with the first leg of Saturn in Scorpio, understand that the station in mid-February could kick up some anxiety, some dread, and a feeling of being buried under responsibilities and obligations. An acute and dreadful awareness of the seeming impossibility of what we're being asked to do, especially as it relates to emotional/psychological state and career/finances.

With all this going on, and Venus in Aquarius re-activating the aspects in February, our guiding, future-oriented vision is helpful, energizing, refreshing, interesting, and inspiring. It keeps us interested and keeps us going. 

 

However, with the square to stationing Saturn in Scorpio, it also stirs some pit-of-stomach dread about the things we have to do, and how we have to make things right, before we get there.

The Saturn station in mid-February could bring a temporary increase in angsty Saturn characteristics: anxiety, dread, depression, listlessness, heaviness, a sense that all is bleak. Just remember that it's temporary. Effects from the station could last from about February 10 into the last week of the month.

To pull yourself out of the bleak, black Saturn in Scorpio hole, focus on your movement into the weird and wild Aquarian future. Don't look back. Don't wallow in problems. (We're post-Piscean era now. Our problems are a bottomless pit.) Keep moving. Keep making concrete steps forward. Count your blessings. Every single seemingly minuscule one.

 

And keep connecting, keep talking, keep interacting, keep moving around your neighbourhood and local area. Stationing Jupiter in Gemini is laden with blessings it's just itching to bestow...

The Official Hand-Off of Saturn's Dispositors: Venus Conjunct Saturn, Mars Conjunct Pluto

Photos: Willow

Scorpio's co-ruling planets Mars and Pluto form a conjunction at 8 degrees Capricorn on November 27, hot on the heels of a Venus-Saturn conjunction at 6 degrees Scorpio November 26. The bodies in Scorpio are in supportive sextile to the bodies in Capricorn, and, for the most part, this provides a productive outlet for the charge.

This is the first conjunction of Venus and Saturn post-Saturn in Libra transit. While Saturn was in Venus-ruled Libra, transiting Venus was its dispositor, meaning it held a crucial layer of influence over the proceedings. It was the primary planet to look to (by sign and aspects) as far as making Saturnine progress in the sign of the scales. Love, relationship, partnership, the social realms, balance, justice, beauty, money, and values were all key themes.

This is their first meeting in the zodiac over the past three years when benefic Venus is not acting as Saturn's dispositor, and this has a bittersweet tenor.

Venus gave up its duties as dispositor of Saturn when Saturn entered Scorpio October 5, but we can consider this Venus-Saturn conjunction, followed by Mars and Pluto coming together, as the official ceremony handing the reins over to new co-dispositors Mars and Pluto.

War/action planet Mars and Lord of the Underworld Pluto now become the planets to watch and to work with in order to meet Saturn in Scorpio's considerable challenges and to capitalize on its powerful opportunities for advancement.

This is also where the carryover of Saturn in Libra energy, that exalted energy that has kept us buffered in certain ways, officially drops away.

Saturn entered its retrograde shadow - the degrees to which it will return during its next retrograde period - on November 14, just after the Alpha Snake Scorpio New Moon solar eclipse. We're no longer coasting on the progress we made during Saturn's transit of the sign of its exaltation, Libra. Now, we start to dig into the real meat of the Saturn in Scorpio transit.

Our challenges are officially going from love (Venus) to war (Mars), and we can expect a certain drop off into more serious themes here. ("Fiscal cliff," anyone? World War Three, anyone?) Give yourself time to adjust, but try not to resist the serious tone.

 

With heavy hitters Mars and Pluto as dispositors, our Saturnine progress hinges on our ability to successfully direct ourselves through some tough and intricate territory. Survival, including emotional and psychological survival, become stronger imperatives. We have to require more of people now - in some cases, much more - eliminating elements that strike discordant notes in our lives. It's going to require more grit and more skill as we dig deeper for strength, for context, and for guidance over the next three years.

Mars and Pluto form their conjunction on a degree of Capricorn associated with the Sabian Symbol "An Angel Comes Carrying a Harp." I'm not a fan of carrying symbolism too far, but we know what HAARPs we're dealing with these days, as well as their effects. The dark angels of the symbolic End Times play a hellish tune, indeed.

Mars is the planet related to personal direction and goals. Pluto relates to broader imperatives for grand-scale collective change and soul-deep (sometimes hellish) growth. With the Mars conjunction to Pluto, in effect for the next two weeks, our personal directions and goals are deepening and strengthening as we're made aware, in no uncertain terms, of the situations we find ourselves in on this planet.

These two last formed a conjunction at 4 degrees Capricorn on December 13, 2010, also conjunct Mercury Rx and the Capricorn North Node.

As Mars and Pluto now move into their full influence as dispositors, this initial conjunction acts as a potent directional point, and in some cases, a re-directional point, especially related to career moves, public image and identity, and the orienting of ourselves toward reaching our full potentials as determined by Pluto.

Just remember: not everyone will be using this conjunction to reach deeper levels of honesty, integrity, and authenticity.

From a previous post:

"Understand that with Pluto, there's a trajectory toward maintaining corrupt power structures that is often much more popular and lucrative than the trajectory toward legitimacy, transparency, and necessary change."

We'll be able to see who is choosing which path quite clearly now, as long as we work for that awareness. 

This Mars-Pluto conjunction holds the possibility for stab-yo-Mama-in-the-back ambition and vicious self-advancement, literally drawing on the power of hell (Pluto) and the worst elements of human nature to reach personal objectives (Mars). There is a drive toward dominance and saturation by the corporate brand/identity involved with this one, trickling down to the smallest of businesses. Underhanded and ruthless manoeuvres can be expected as people position themselves and their businesses accordingly. Corporate interests and those furthering them will be using this energy to drive to the net, gobbling up competitors and dumping anyone or anything that might slow them down (including loyal employees, salaried positions, pension funds, benefits...).

For those not choosing to reinforce corruption and abomination for personal gain...

Personal goals that don't have the depth, the maturity, or the long-term legs will be unceremoniously dropped on the Plutonic funeral pyre. Say goodbye, but don't spend too long in mourning. We don't have time to waste.

Old desires are burning out, being Plutonically purged from our systems. We start to see how some of the prior orientations were weak, naive, and off-the-mark while simultaneously carving out a truer and more vital path.

The greatest progress and achievements now come from the soul out.

The more awareness we have of the broader context on this planet and our places within it, the more effective our personal directions will be.

When personal goals are aligned with the broader goals Pluto has for collective change and transformation, we're allowed to make real, concrete progress with otherwordly assistance. When we're working as full-on Plutonic change agents within our personal lives, we're in the sweet spot. What we want is also what is wanted for and from and through us.

When we aren't, we can expect distortion.

Dig deeper than you have. Let Pluto inform your actions, guide your directions. Go gracefully and bravely. And kick some butt.

Saturn in Scorpio: Grounding the Charge and Avoiding the Wrong Astrological Mixes

From a previous post:

"Scorpio is a sign, co-ruled by Mars and Pluto, that involves complex attractions. Mars is the planet of personal desire, attraction, and sexuality, while Pluto involves attractions of the soul, designed to draw us into deep (and sometimes hellish horrifying) processes of change and metamorphosis. Plutonic attractions catalyze a process that leaves us in an altered, yet ultimately stronger and more powerful, state, not the same as we once were. In Scorpio, we experience the interplay between personal will and transpersonal will, personal desire and transpersonal desire, what we want and what is wanted for and from and through us.

Plutonic attractions are often both magnetic, drawing us like moth to flame, and repulsive. One side of the magnet attracts; the other repels. With Pluto involved, we experience both. There is an intricate interplay, and it doesn't take much to turn passionate love into passionate hate and vice versa.

There is a theme with Scorpio and Pluto of being attracted to those we secretly (or not-so-secretly) hate. This attraction brings us into contact, again and again, with people and situations that disgust, horrify, and enrage...but also fascinate, titillate, and compel. We hate ourselves for being attracted, but it's difficult (though not impossible) to break away."

One of the great things about Saturn's almost three-year transit of Scorpio is: people are going to be able to break away.

Saturn in Scorpio grounds the charge of the sign, and as a result, the cyclical, moth-to-flame attractions have less control. Those who are used to having that sexy, seductive, highly-charged pull at their disposal are going to find their drawing power limited.

People are going to be able to extricate themselves. They just aren't going to be as attracted or transfixed. The old dramatic draws will no longer draw. The sticking points will no longer stick.

People fascinated by "the charge" will willingly stay stuck, but most are going to be looking for more substance (Saturn) than that type of attraction (Scorpio) has to offer. Extrication will take patience and effort, but people are going to be able to get out of orbits that have drawn them in against their wills previously.

This includes astrologers' orbits. The re-jigging of mental pathways indicated by the current Mercury retrograde through Scorpio (November 6 - 26) is a boon for people who need to change their "astrological orbits," especially related to Mercurial paths through the world of internet astrology.

The Sun and Mercury Rx are currently coming together in interior conjunction on the Scorpio North Node (exact November 17). This conjunction acts as a laser pointing the way to more fruitful and satisfying tracks in all areas of life, particularly mental/communicative/informational. To get there, we first have to break the charge and the pattern of the ingrained past, and Saturn is here to assist on that front.  

During the transit of Saturn through Scorpio, we're going to be confronted by the lesson that certain people just don't mix. We have to respect the friction and resistance apparent in interactions now and address this in the way we structure things. People at cross-purposes coming into unstructured contact with each other will be sending up sparks. 

It's sort of common sense. If you notice friction and resistance between two of your friends, don't make them co-Maids of Honour at your wedding unless you want the possibility of a hair-pulling slap fight looming over you on your blessed day.

But with Scorpio, it's also more complex than straight-up, overt dislike.

We're working with underlying, often hidden friction, charge, and anger coming up from the depths, which tell us in no uncertain terms that strong boundaries and limited contact are required in certain cases if we are to avoid the "powder keg" dynamics.

Even those who are compatible will require solid boundaries and containment over the next couple years, or things can become combustible. Saturn is transiting an area of the zodiac referred to as the Via Combusta. This area between 15 degrees Libra and 15 degrees Scorpio, excluding 23 and 24 degrees Libra, is known as the burning path or combustible way.

From a previous post:

"When the Via Combusta is strongly highlighted, there is a feeling of running the gauntlet through sometimes seemingly insurmountable odds, collective karma, booby traps, and friction, very often related to relationship dynamics, which are Libra and Scorpio territory.

There's a fire in the Via Combusta and within people with a strong Via Combusta signature that keeps them burning, burning, burning a path through life as you would imagine a shooting star burning an accelerated path through the night's sky. There's a feeling here that one has to keep going no matter what, through the wreckage of old, crystallized layers that would keep us stultified, constricted, and unsatisfied with old wounds perpetually reopened by a revolving cast of characters.

The basic goal of the Via Combusta is to reach escape velocity. In space travel, this is the point a space shuttle reaches when its speed and momentum allow it to escape the effects of gravity pulling it back down to Earth. In the case of the Via Combusta, it's about reaching the points of awareness and pure momentum where we escape the gravity of the sticky, tricky wreckage trying to draw us back into old territory, especially involving old constructs and dynamics of relating."

With Saturn transiting Via Combusta Scorpio, the weight of collective karmic charge is great, and it's going to take sustained effort to reach the desired escape velocity.

Saturn will be transiting the Via Combusta until November 21, 2013. The North Node enters the Via Combusta at 15 Scorpio on June 23, 2013, leaving it at 15 Libra on January 4, 2015. The potentially frictional and incendiary relational themes are with us for a while.

Over the next year, the strong Scorpio energy in the zodiac is drawing together certain people, situations, skills, talents, and elements in an attempt to create a new alchemy that will really get things done during these crisis times on the planet. It's the "last ditch," if you will. The Scorpio energy is attempting to bring about fusion, creating alchemical combinations that have never before existed, and this process can be particularly combustible. New allies and allegiances will be both forming and melting down in spectacular fashion.

This Scorpionic fusion effect will be apparent across many different disciplines, and we all hold some personal responsibility for what elements are brought together and in what ways.

As Scorpio is a sign related to divination and the "alchemical arts" like astrology and tarot, this is a time period when potentially discordant astrological traditions will be making contact.

In this Google era, astrological knowledge, traditions, and techniques are accessible to people in ways they never have been before. Different traditions and different astrologers are coming into contact with each other in ways they never have in recorded history. And we have to understand that mixing the wrong elements can create some very nasty reactions.

There are belief systems, allegiances, motivations, and traditions underlying anyone's practise of astrology, and Saturn in Scorpio is a time to be very clear on that. Certain astrologers, as well as certain astrological traditions, don't mix well. The level of astrological cross-pollination going on today has never been seen before in recorded history, and we have to be careful to what and to whom we expose ourselves. Readers of astrology should be aware of this, careful of the elements and of the astrologers they bring together.

Astrology is not necessarily a case of "more is better."

Scorpio relates to what we're connected to ancestrally - themes, dynamics, and carryover from generations past - as well as to what we're furthering within our own lifetimes. With Saturn in the sign, there are challenges related to the ancestral lines, and there are grudge matches waiting to play out if we are not careful to maintain boundaries.

We have to feel out what we're connected to (what runs through our blood), what they're connected to (what runs through their blood), whether there is compatibility there, and how to maintain proper boundaries even when there is compatibility.

Saturn in Scorpio is a time period of restrained and restricted energy. There just isn't time or energy for the same old dramas. Because of this, it's in the best interests of most to responsibly avoid the powder keg dynamics.

Starting to work with these themes now, shoring yourself up and creating solid boundaries, is a great way to proactively use the Saturn in Scorpio energy to your long-term benefit.

Venus is currently in Via Combusta Libra, making relationships, money, and values particularly charged territory. Conjunctions to fixed stars Spica and Arcturus on November 16 and 17 will hopefully provide some temporary respite from the heat of the relational burning path.

Venus enters Scorpio late on November 21, leaving the Via Combusta December 4.

Venus forms a conjunction to the Scorpio North Node December 12, and at that time, we should be well aware of which relationships are moving forward, which have run their course, and which are better left alone altogether.

Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio Conjunct the North Node: Catalytic Conversations, Shedding Mental Habits, and Honing Scorpy Insights

Photo: Willow

Mercury Retrograde: November 6 through November 26, 2012
4 degrees Sagittarius to 18 degrees Scorpio

Mercury enters its retrograde shadow - the degrees of the zodiac it will be moving back over during its upcoming retrograde - on October 18 at 18 degrees Scorpio. This entryway into the retrograde zone marks a concentrated and potentially influential point, one we will be returning to in late November when Mercury stations direct.

In basic terms, conversations, ideas, and connections made (or almost made) from October 18 through November 6 are all potential fodder for the retrograde process.

During the retrograde, Mercury will move back and forth over a conjunction to the Scorpio North Node, and we experience a mental re-wiring of the deep, dark Scorpionic variety. This mental re-wiring coincides with the Sun and Saturn coming together in Scorpio for the first time since November 1984, settling us into a more serious, reality-based tone.

The North Node relates to our successful, soul-driven path forward - a major navigational system. This Mercury retrograde will be drawing to our attention points related to power, allegiance, energy exchange, motivation, intuition, honesty, and trust that could be the make or break of our North Node journey through the sign of sex, death, regenerative healing, and hardcore soul drive.

Themes are coming up that will require our attention and action over the next years, and everything we can clear or resolve now frees up time and energy later on.

Mercury conjuncts the North Node at 26 degrees Scorpio for the first time October 25, the same day the Sun makes its first conjunction to Saturn in Scorpio in 28 years. Consider that one for a moment…

Mercury Rx backs into the second conjunction to the Scorpio North Node, also at 26 degrees, on November 17. Mercury Rx will also be conjunct the Sun at this time, as the two bodies come together in interior conjunction smack dab on the North Node. Like a laser beam showing us the way...

Mercury makes its final pass over the North Node December 7 at 25 degrees Scorpio.

Thinking like Scorpio and talking like Scorpio are keys to our successful advancement here. If we fail to pick up on the underlying tone or message during Mercury's first pass over the North Node, it will make sure we figure it out during the second pass and are ready to apply it during the third.

During the Mercury retrograde period, we will be drawing on the forward-thinking optimism, inspiration, and faith of Sagittarius while wrapping our minds around both the challenges of the Saturn in Scorpio transit and its considerable opportunities for advancement.

Our intuition and Scorpionic insight will be honed via this retrograde, whip-smart, razor-sharp, through what we are hearing, reading, thinking, and talking about.

Conversations and exchanges of information during Mercury's transit of Scorpio will catalyze both collaborations and the severing of ties.

Drawing on the strengths of the Taurus South Node, mental and verbal boundaries will be re-formulated and reinforced. Respect them. No dumping information or secrets on someone just to get them off your mind.

People may want to spill their guts, but that doesn't mean you have to be the receptacle.

Mercury in Scorpio can be a fairly incendiary placement, and the reactions we receive from the things we say now show us how we may need to adjust our courses. We're sharpening our tongues here in Mars and Pluto-ruled Scorpio, no doubt about it. But with Saturn in Scorpio, we're also finding the right levels of verbal restraint. Scorpio is the sign of secrets - kept or blabbed - and there is an intricate withholding of information and personal perspective required.

How we feel in our guts after conversations we've had tells us whether we're hitting the mark or whether the alchemical mix has to be adjusted. From this point on, people ignore their Scorpionic spidey sense at their own peril. Every twinge, every unsettled moment, every whisper of ill-at-ease is speaking to us now. It is in our best interests, as we take on both a Scorpio-flavoured path forward and the challenges we will find along that path, to listen carefully.

At the same time, there is a "worst case scenario" type of thinking associated with Mercury in Scorpio that must be carefully mitigated.

During this retrograde, with weighty Saturn holding down the early degrees of the sign, it's helpful to remind ourselves that it's never as bad as Mercury in Scorpio thinks it is.

(Except when it's worse.)

Mercury in Scorpio involves dense information. With Saturn sitting at one end of Scorpio like a bowling ball, an anvil, and a boulder combined, the insights we're having during this retrograde can prove to be too much. The layers of the situation too complex, too heavy, too mind-twisting. Again, the strength of the Taurus South Node needs to be channeled here so that we don't overstep our own mental boundaries or the boundaries of others.

We have to be careful not to go too deep, too dark, too fast with this one. Inject some levity wherever possible, and disengage from conversations, exchanges, or thoughts that leave a bad aftertaste.

Verbal (Mercury) power struggles (Scorpio) can be expected. Watch for them as they start to dig in and disengage wherever possible.

We can take a real load off our minds during this Mercury retrograde if we cut away everything we need to cut away.

Scorpio is a sign of alchemical streamlining, unceremoniously shedding what no longer cuts the mustard. In this case, the shedding/streamlining/re-wiring process involves old communication habits and patterns, crystallized neural pathways that no longer get us anywhere, mental and conversational ruts, and detrimental thinking.

With Mercury retrograde traversing the North Node, we're honing in on the mental acuity and depth that will assist us over the next years while also getting a handle on the detrimental aspects of the sign of Scorpio as filtered through our minds and mouths.

Mercury in Scorpio is known for a deeply researching brain as well as tremendous powers of focus and concentration.

But the challenges of the Scorp brain - dug up during this retrograde - involve the mitigating of mental and verbal extremes. Mercury in Scorpio is often a triggered brain. Ideas or conversations can set it off, stirring inky, all-encompassing emotional or psychological reactions that can cloud the logical, intellectual functions of Mercury. Small triggers can flood the synapses with emotional and psychological detritus, paranoia, and fear. And Scorpio is a fixed sign, so once something disturbing is on our minds, it can be difficult to dislodge and clear it.  

Mercury in Scorpio penetrates, with the mind, to the roots of the situation. But as it digs in, it kicks up all kinds of nasties.

Concentration can turn to fixation, focus to obsession.

Again, during this transit and retrograde, make sure you are not delving too deeply or allowing the detrimental effects of the Scorpio brain to run the show.

Determining reality from over-the-top fear, paranoia, or "worst case scenario" thinking is not an easy task, but luckily, we have a very supportive sextile (60-degree aspect) from practical, discerning Venus in Virgo to assist us in paring away excess crud. This paring of the crud is how Venus in Virgo shows its love!

This "cut the crap" Venus in Virgo - Mercury in Scorpio sextile is in effect for most of October. It was exact October 16 and becomes exact a second time October 25 - the same day as the Mercury-North Node conjunction and the Sun-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio. Very influential.

Mercury will form squares from zero Sagittarius to Neptune in Pisces October 29, November 13, and December 11, creating the possibility of mental fogginess, forgetfulness, and problems related to inattention. It's probable that our minds will be on other things, in other worlds. Don't zone out while driving, and watch for inattention in others.

Pay careful attention to details, particularly during the retrograde square November 13, or things could slip by and create problems later on. Not a good day to sign or solidify contracts. People could easily be taken to the cleaners while under the Neptunian delusion that they're getting a hell of a deal!

Misperceptions and false assumptions are probable in the days surrounding these squares. This aspect has the feel of yelling to make yourself understood while underwater. People may grasp bits of what you're saying, but the full point could be lost.

Mercury will be in the sign of its detriment (Sagittarius), it will be retrograde, and it will be forming a frictional aspect to Neptune, a planet often allergic to details, logic, and clarity. These squares are potentially tricky and will require our conscious mental and verbal navigation.

Mercury enters Sagittarius late on October 28.
It retrogrades back into Scorpio November 14.
It re-enters Sagittarius December 10.


What is Mercury Retrograde?