Dear Readers,
I began writing this about the time of the exact Mars cazimi on Friday evening, hoping to bring you razor sharp Scorpionic insight this week. Mars has been hidden “under the beams” of the Sun for several weeks now, going through his own personal transformational process. In the sky, he’ll remain too close to the Sun to be visible until the latter part of January 2024. When he reemerges however, he’ll be energized—and like the phoenix, reborn from the ashes of his old self. I like to imagine an ember glowing dull red as it traverses the night sky. Then, when engulfed in the Sun’s fire, all that is used up, dead, dying or no longer necessary is burned away. Afterwards, Mars will be glowing—fiery, red hot and purified. If we are connected and tuned in to our authentic desires, we’ll have energy and motivation to go for it regardless of the effort required.
Yesterday, I put a small black steel pan on the stove to dry after washing and made the mistake of walking away. When I finally came back to the kitchen and noticed it, a layer of patina had burned off. Once cooled, I wiped it with an oiled paper towel, removing the black ash pan that resulted from burning whatever impurities were clinging to its surface. It’s cleaner now than it’s been for a long time. I don’t recommend this method for discovering what it means to burn off the dross, but it served its purpose. Often astrology is quite literal.
Earlier this week, I was busting up an old trellis (remember my idea of channeling anger or frustration into breaking things?), when the end of one of the pieces of wood flipped up and hit me in the eye. Fortunately, I closed my eye before it made contact, but next time I won’t be so flippant about breaking things while Mars and Uranus are going at it in the sky.
In my last post, I quoted Virginia Woolf via Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark, in which she evoked what can only be described as hopefulness in the face of not knowing what the future might hold. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how we get through tough times, and where we find guidance through collective and individual dark nights of the soul—the underworld journeys that periodically punctuate our lives, giving it depth and meaning.
Our psychopomp Mercury, currently in Sagittarius, is also under the beams of the Sun—as he often is. From Earth’s perspective he only ever gets 28° away, so he rises and sets in the sky close to when the Sun does. Perhaps this astronomical detail is where the “guide of souls” part of his mythology originates. When the sun sets, Mercury is there to usher us into the darkness, into the underworld of sleep and dreams. When it rises, Mercury is there to bring us up from the depths into the light of day. In Sagittarius, Mercury is considered to be in “detriment” or “exile”. Sagittarius is a Jupiter ruled sign, concerned with the big picture, expansive ideas, and deeper truths. Mercury is typically a detail guy, so here we get a Mercury who might be able to lead us, but we can’t count on him for the accuracy of information he’s offering. Indeed, Mercury in Sagittarius is known for telling great stories that may or may not be “true”.
Beginning around Thanksgiving, Mercury will square Neptune—another Jupiter ruled sign. Between now and mid-January, this will happen three times. Neptune in Pisces is not interested in earthly reality. His function of dissolving the edges of things does a number on “the truth”. Imagination, romance, fantasy, and idealism thrive under Neptune’s umbrella, along with illusions, escapism, and confusion. In general, Mercury-Neptune in a square can be a recipe for fake news, scandals, and deliberate deception. It’s very hard to know the truth. If, however, we’re not looking for the truth of the news but refuge from the storm, we’re in luck; the storyteller archetype has provided this throughout time. I can think of nothing more Sagittarian than sitting around a feast or a hearth with people we love telling stories—or tall tales. As we move through this dark time, both literally and metaphorically, perhaps our Sagittarian psychopomp is just the guide we need.
In the ancient Sumerian poem, The Descent of Inanna, about Inanna and her sister Erishkigel, Inanna is queen of heaven and earth, and Erishkigel is queen of the underworld. When her brother-in-law dies, she decides to go to the underworld to be with her sister for the funeral. As it turns out, her journey is one of extreme disempowerment followed by a rebirth and reempowerment. Melanie Reinhardt writes:
“Inanna’s descent represents the supreme wisdom of the feminine journey – she goes down to the place of grief, accepting the mourning that inevitably goes with the loss of our illusions about someone, or indeed about ourselves.”[1]
I keep coming back to the refrain that Inanna repeatedly hears during her descent,
“Hush, Inanna, the ways of the Underworld are perfect and must not be questioned.”[2]
This seems to be a mantra for our time.
The Sun and Mars are still in Scorpio, a sign traditionally ruled by Mars and more recently claimed for Pluto. As such it’s the sign most associated with transformational underworld passages. There, the Sun is illuminating the secrets Mars is dredging up, and we can expect this to continue through the Full Moon next week. Additionally, the Sun is highlighting martial themes like anger, conflict, cutting and burning everywhere we turn. As Mars and the Sun travel together through the final degrees of Scorpio, we can imagine their fiery emergence from the underworld into the light and into Sagittarius on November 22 and 24, straddling our Jupiterian Thanksgiving holiday.
Jupiter is the god of hospitality and abundance. He’s the sky god, and Sagittarius is the sign of the archer. It’s a sign that loves freedom and independence more than any other. On the dark side, it’s associated with self-righteousness, dogmatism, fanaticism, and religiosity. The Sagittarian ego really needs to be right. When the Sun moves into Sagittarius, we are inclined to look to the horizon for the bigger picture and new possibilities—however realistic or unrealistic they might be. This year however, when the Sun and Mars cross into Sagittarius, they will be met by the big heavy, Saturn. The Sun speaks to light and vitality and Mars to will and drive. The Sun and Mars in the mutable fire sign of Sagittarius are ready to go—to shoot the arrow of desire and follow where it leads. But Saturn says, “not so fast”. This is likely to feel like a wet blanket on our enthusiasms and a tether on our capacity for action. We might feel the weight of self-doubt, lack energy or feel frustrated and inhibited—or any combination of these, which can lead us into dark side Sagittarian energy. With all the fire in the sky (and on the earth), this is a really good time to count to ten before reacting.
On November 27 at 1:16am PST we have a Full Moon at 4°51’ Gemini ruled by our spunky but unreliable narrator, Mercury in Sagittarius. As usual with Full Moons, the Moon opposes the Sun and emotions run high. Our subjective experience—emotions, memories, instincts, and subconscious motivations—is highlighted and in tension with our objective experience of life. We don’t necessarily want to see or feel what we’ve suppressed. This Full Moon is dicey. Mars and the Sun won’t yet have cleared their squares with Saturn so that frustrating energy will still be in play. Given that the Moon is in Gemini, it will likely bring to light more hidden information. It also could play out in the collective as crack downs on information and freedoms of all kinds, particularly those involving language and communications. On the personal level, it seems wise to be mindful of our words around the time of the Full Moon. Maybe save emotionally charged conversations for another occasion and take the Neptunian ride into imaginative storytelling with family or friends. Our confusing reality will be waiting on the other side regardless.
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 on my list. If you’d like some help understanding how the current astrology relates to you personally, to better understand yourself, or how to navigate the tides of change, I love doing private consultations. If interested, please email me: camelliablossoms@gmail.com
[1] VenusRXScorpio. www.melaniereinhart.com/melanie/VenusRXScorpio.htm.
[2] VenusRXScorpio. www.melaniereinhart.com/melanie/VenusRXScorpio.htm.