Enough election talk. Let’s get back to astrology.
The Sun, the brightest and most significant luminary in our solar system, is still in Scorpio, which means it still deserves our attention.
We often associate the fixed water sign with infernal chthonic deities: Hades, Nyx, Hecate, Kore, etc. because these underworldly figures align with the concept of dying to make way for the new. In other words, they are mythic archetypes of transformation.
A common thread woven into the tapestry of fixed water sign Scorpio is that of emotional transformation. After all, water is the astrological element of the emotions. It symbolizes our ability to feel, imagine, intuit, and also to cleanse, purify, heal, and change. Each of the three water signs expresses these instincts differently, depending on their mode and ruling planet.
Scorpio, a fixed water sign, is ruled by Pluto.
Fixed signs operate from a centrifugal force of energy within themselves, simultaneously generating and attracting energy. As a fixed water sign, Scorpio acts and attracts from their emotional core.
But why do they do this? What purpose does this serve Scorpio?
To answer those questions, we must look at Pluto.
Seemingly small though Pluto may be, it is an astrological leviathan. The outer planet-turned-dwarf-planet-turned-outer-planet rules over death, destruction, decay, decimation, and power struggles. Frightening though these terms may be, they are largely emblematic of an internal alchemical process that occurs in each and every one of us.
From Pluto we get the word plutocrat, which is a person whose power derives from their wealth. Though material wealth is usually associated with earth signs, and is the aspect of daily life that gives them a sense of power, this isn’t the type of wealth Pluto aspires towards; rather, it is metaphysical wealth, the inner riches of the soul, which Pluto demands each of us to mine.
Mysterious outer planet Pluto also rules over the astrological 8th House of Death, Sex, Rebirth, and the Taboo. Tricky as this House sometimes is to decipher, it is the domicile of our secrets, shames, curses, legacies, and hidden assets. More to the point, it’s the place of our creative depths. As planetary and House rulers of the fixed water sign, Pluto & the 8th House put a lot of emotional weight on Scorpio’s shoulders, infusing the sign with the desire to dig deep emotionally — to really shovel into the chaotic and seemingly ugly and dangerous sides of ourselves, so as to destroy what no longer serves us in our journey towards transformation.
Collectively, Scorpio season compels us to dig deep into our psychological underworld — the creative depths of the Self — and examine what needs to be destroyed to make way for the new. This process calls to mind the Hindu goddess Durga, who aimed to eliminate sin and purify the soul from the physical body. Durga and Scorpio show us that whatever lies in the dark parts of ourselves– secrets, shames, curses — can help bring us into the light and give us more personal power.
Transformation takes years. It also takes courage to look inward and ask ourselves if and how we are oppressing ourselves with negative emotions (think: envy, resentment, jealousy, fury, hatred, etc.). Beyond the veil of these feelings is redemption and spiritual purification. But we can only be redeemed from our resentments and purify ourselves if we take an honest look at what’s going on behind the scenes.
This is ultimately the goal of Pluto-ruled Scorpio season. For when the Sun shines in and on one of the darkest and most emotionally intense signs, an opportunity is presented to bring to light our shadowy selves. If Scorpio and Pluto teach us anything, it’s that growth happens during and through intense emotional experiences and self-examination. We just need to be courageous enough to do the shadow work.
[…] Scorpio Season + Transformation […]