How have we arrived at the tail end of 2023 already?
With the national and international news and personal challenges that unfolded with the recent eclipses, Scorpio season has felt fast, fierce and relentless. Today, I would like nothing better than to be writing about how the entry of Venus into her home sign of Libra tomorrow promises a new horizon of harmony and fellowship for all. It will help, but Venus would have to get more of an assist from other planets and their connections with each other than are currently on offer for her to pull off that trick.
I think however, that one of the lessons of this time is to grab the moments of pleasure, ease and whatever harmony one can find and really enjoy them. Venus will be making some smooth and easy aspects with both Mercury and Pluto for a few days early this week. We can use these for entertaining profound ideas, exploring deep relationship issues with both insight and grace or even sinking into a dark mystery novel.
The probing psychological insights of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca come to mind. It was originally published in 1938 with Venus in sextile to Pluto just before she went into Libra—like now.
“He had the face of one who walks in his sleep, and for a wild moment the idea came to me that perhaps he was not normal, not altogether sane. There were people who had trances, I had surely heard of them, and they followed strange laws of which we could know nothing, they obeyed the tangled orders of their own sub-conscious minds. Perhaps he was one of them, and here we were within six feet of death.”[1]
On Thursday November 9, Mercury moves into Sagittarius, leading the exodus from Scorpio. Sagittarius is the sign most associated with optimism, adventure, and freedom. It heralds the season of holiday celebrations of all kinds. From intensively plumbing the depths of the unconscious, uncovering long hidden secrets and purging toxicity, we open the windows and doors of our being to what lies beyond. The centaur’s arrow points into the distance. Mercury in Sagittarius is wild and unfettered, free to take risks and entertain big ideas. He’s philosophical, but can be overzealous and dogmatic. He’s not a detail guy either, so we’re better off to wait for the more grounded energy of Capricorn to deal with the particulars.
Before I get too excited about Sagittarius season however, we must finish with Scorpio. Speedy Mercury, running ahead of the pack, will be the only one to bust free from the claws of the Scorpion this week, but given that Mercury represents our minds and our communication processes, and that he’ll be in a happy dynamic with a happy Venus, it could lighten things up a bit—after he clears the first hurdle.
On November 10, as Mercury’s winged sandals touch down in Sagittarius he’ll be the one to get grounded—like a kid who’s gotten a little too footloose and free for Dad’s comfort. Saturn, freshly off his retrograde, is waiting at 0° Pisces, square to where Mercury will land at 0° Sagittarius. Saturn can’t hold onto Mercury’s sandals for long, but we’ll feel it. There’s a weightiness to Saturn’s hand and it will likely feel discouraging or bring some worry, pessimism or a sense of being stuck into our thinking.
The big news later this week however is a period of intensity from about November 11-14 when Mars, Sun, and Moon all oppose Uranus. The New Moon in Scorpio happens on November 13 as a part of this tangle, bringing with it Scorpio’s signature emotional intensity. As we’ve discussed in the last couple Mercurial Musings, Mars in Scorpio isn’t to be trifled with. He’s laser-focused, tenacious, determined, knows what he wants and will ruthlessly cut away or separate from what he doesn’t. Uranus is associated with change and liberation, with breakdowns and breakthroughs. It has a rebellious and revolutionary vibe. The energy is quick and explosive—like lightening. It’s electric. Uranian energy is akin to eclipse energy. It’s unpredictable and anything can happen. Neither Mars nor Uranus wants to be told what to do. When these two freedom-loving primal energies oppose each other, things can get out of control in a flash. The urgency and speed create a bit of a minefield. Accidents and eruptions of an aggressive nature are likely and natural disasters such as earthquakes aren’t uncommon. When we add in the fact that Mercury in Sagittarius can be preachy and self-righteous, we raise the stakes.
The New Moon brings us to the close of eclipse season, but with Uranus involved in this lunation, the wildness we associate with eclipses will be embedded in the upcoming lunar cycle and carry into December. Additionally, Mars and the Sun will have their biennial cazimi (exact conjunction) on November 17. Arm in arm, they will have moved past the tight opposition to Uranus. It will still be throwing off sparks, but a little less effective at causing a ruckus. The Mars-Sun cazimi, like all cazimis, ends an old cycle and starts a new one. The “old Mars” is going through a death and rebirth process. I imagine Mars bowing before the Sun while the heat and light burn off the worn out, rusty old ways of pursuing the objects of his desire, then emerging purified, renewed, and strengthened, ready to help us achieve our goals and protect and defend the passions of our hearts.
With all this dynamism encoded in the sky, we will have to make an effort to tame or channel our own reactive emotions such that we don’t add to the havoc in the collective. In our personal lives, flexibility is key. If we stay loose and don’t attach to things being a certain way, we’ll manage better. Spending time in the natural world is helpful, rain or no rain. Grounding and physical movement are important. Make it aggressive if anger comes up. Throwing rocks or breaking things can help, but trying to contain the powerful and electric energy of Mars-Uranus in the body can leave us jittery and restless, sleepless and feeling fried.
We can, however, use the energy of these oppositions constructively. We can access more courage than usual to liberate ourselves from whatever is holding us back in our lives. Enthusiasm, excitement and audaciousness can be our allies. We could finally throw ourselves into pursuing something we want with a carefree “damn the torpedoes” attitude. We might be willing to work at a sticky problem until we break through to the other side or do whatever it takes to break free from limiting patterns of behavior or fears that have kept us captive in smaller lives than we want.
Sometimes things happen “out of the blue”, and we have no control over them, but we do have control over how we react or respond. At every New Moon, we have the opportunity to set a new intention for the next four weeks of our lives. When the energy in the heavens is like it is now, it seems to me that how we interact with it is of utmost importance. If we want the world to be more peaceful, we will need to find more peace with ourselves and in our relationships. If we passively let life happen and react emotionally to whatever crosses our path, we will find ourselves wrapped up in dramas. Sometimes I read the comment section following news articles. I know, it’s a little bonkers, but it's my way of taking the temperature of the collective—and as I’m sure we’re all aware, it’s more than a little bonkers out there. If we can remember to pause instead of reacting when things happen and choose how we want to respond, we may have to work a little harder, but we’ll end up feeling better about ourselves and our choices in the long run.
Over the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and consulting with several new readers. Thank you! It’s such a treat to put names and faces to the email addresses this goes out to. If you’d like some help understanding how the current astrology relates to you personally, you’d like to better understand yourself, or how to better navigate the tides of change, I love doing private consultations. If interested, please email me: camelliablossoms@gmail.com
[1] Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. 2001.
Cami! Thank you as ever for your update. I’m in Liberia this week, next week (Tuesday) they will have a presidential runoff election. Very curious to see how it goes. This nation is still living with the aftershocks of a long civil war so peaceful elections for them are a great source of pride and greatly needed. We’ll see what the stars have in store...