New Moon Eclipse in Scorpio / Uranus square Pluto

I didn't get a chance to write anything for the full moon eclipse in Aries a fortnight ago (18^th October). I was in transit, Venus in Sagittarius style—and the exact Mars in Virgo to Neptune in Pisces opposition was sending me out on some beer-fuelled adventures. It was a lot of fun, but a little too hectic for writing about at the time!

Anyway, for a quick synopsis of that fiery, dreamy, drunken, free-wheelin' full moon eclipse: it was all about relationships, a culmination of the themes of last month's new moon in Libra.

The moon was in headstrong, headlong, impatient Aries, disposited by Mars in the early degrees of Virgo—not a very aggressive placement for Mars. Mars in Virgo is a stickler for detail and a bit of a nag. He is driven to perfect things; he wants to be useful. In this case he was opposing Neptune in Pisces: this is like a man transfixed to hypnosis by his smartphone. Or a watchmaker getting drunk in a bar by the water. Or a drugged-out classical musician. Or a lovelorn dude nagging, nagging, nagging at the object of his affections out of a sense of utter uselessness. (Well those were some of the themes I encountered anyway!)

The sun was in lovely Libra, sign of relationships, disposited by easy-breezy Venus in Sagittarius. Venus in Sagittarius is your basic good time girl. She's just passing through—she doesn't feel like committing to anything real heavy. In the case of last fortnight's full moon, Venus was harmoniously aspecting Uranus in Aries and squaring Neptune—basically this was a firecracker of a lady looking to get drunk, dance on a table, meet some foreigners & have some exciting adventures before moving halfway across the country. Venus in Sagittarius doesn't want to be fenced in or guilt-tripped or coerced in any way—she likes her freedom.

So we had this wild-horse, commitement-phobe Venus and this OCD Mars facing off symbolically during that full moon eclipse, both of them drinking a shit ton of liquor. Well I dunno about anyone else...but I thought it was really fun! What I can remember of it.

I guess the most interesting thing about it was that despite all the superficial excitement, there was this inescapable heaviness and darkness underlying interactions. A poignancy; a sense of fatedness or loss. So much Scorpio in the sky—there's no way it could've been a shallow kind of party. It was more like this:

or this.

Anyway, here we are almost two weeks later, headed for Halloween 2013 & a new moon eclipse in Scorpio. Deep Scorpionic skies now: Saturn, Mercury, the sun, the north node, all conjunct in Scorpio. And the moon will join them for the new moon eclipse on the 3^rd November.

This story is about depth, death, absolute trust, transformation, regeneration, hardcore insight. All the deep lessons you've been learning this whole hard year about who and what you can trust; who and what you can't; what saps your energy and depletes you; what nourishes and drives you at the most basic core level... Well it's time to process all that. The harvest is in and the days are getting short. Time to sit by your hearth and watch the sky out the window darken, and (silently, methodically, intuitively) process what you've learned. That is—if you are lucky enough to have some silence and solitude. If you are lucky enough not to be in crisis. A lot of the people I meet these days are undergoing crisis of one sort or another—par for the course as the Uranus squares in toward Pluto. More on that in a minute.

Anyway, this Scorpio season, the places inside yourself that scare you most: that's where you have to go. Why? To perform surgery, to cut away the rot, to bring light and air to what is stagnant and stuck. Ultimately to heal.

This is a time of epic endings and you are well advised to start learning how to let things go...especially the things you hold onto the most tightly. It is a time of shattering revelation, and you are well advised to start learning to look fearlessly into the dark and the depths. There's no easy way to gloss things over, and trying to do so will not serve you well.

The Scorpio stellium sextiles Mars in Virgo and trines Chiron in Pisces: this deep internal processing really is all about healing. Bringing the rotten stuff to consciousness, doing the necessary work. Mars in Virgo is all about creating healthy physical routines: eating right, exercising, getting enough rest, clearing out physical and mental clutter. It's a good time to start new health routines or commit to cleaning out your living space. Mars will be in Virgo until the first week of December, and he is currently trining Pluto in Capricorn: if you're willing to put the work in, it's a very good time for making the necessary deep structural changes.

But what we are looking at here are also problems that are not just personal but collective. The Scorpio stuff sextiles Pluto in Capricorn (rotten structures) and Chiron in Pisces (collective wounding). And in the case of the collective wounds, the problems go so deep and are so systemic that the only healing response possible would appear to be a radical acceptance of mortality. Yesterday I read this:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/25/us-fukushima-workers-specialreport-idUSBRE99O04320131025?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71&google_editors_picks=true

and this

http://rt.com/news/fukushima-operation-spent-fuel-618/

Diligent worker drone Mars in Virgo is staring down Chiron in Pisces: a poisoning that has no boundaries; a sacrifice that defies logic. What better metaphor for the abused and coerced sacrificial cleanup workers at Fukushima? Do you think those poor guys in their thin little suits are gonna be able to get those fuel rods out of Reactor 4 without bringing down (as the somewhat breathless article puts it) “a true apocalypse”?

(So what is it now, then: a middling one? A low-level apocalypse?)

Further: do you think your personal health and well-being is something you can safeguard against this kind of threat? What is your personal well-being even worth, in the midst of so much loss?

Doubtless we will all be finding out in the months ahead.

“Apocalypse” comes from the Greek for “uncovering”, “revelation”. Expect all kinds of revelations to begin to come to light in the next few weeks. They are likely to be traumatic because of the nature of the cosmic weather at this time. The 4^th square (of 7) between Pluto (the lord of death, the rapist) and Uranus (sudden shock) hits exactitude on the 1^st of November, 2 days before the new moon eclipse at 11 degrees Scorpio.

This is some very dark and spooky Halloween weather, and potentially stressful as all hell. I don't want to get all dire about it...I'd like to be positive and chirpy. Like, “you can work with this to effect beneficial change in your life!!” etc. And you very likely can, given the way Mars in Virgo is aspecting Pluto and the Scorpio stellium. But these are outer planets we're talking about, and they don't operate in predictable, controllable ways.

Try to stay healthy and focused on the details. Avoid toxic people and situations. Mind yourself. Watch what you say. Go deep.

Happy Halloween.