by Eric Francis
Today we experience the first of a series of events involving Scorpio, which together make up the peak astrology of 2013. It’s fair to say that Scorpio is the most challenging sign for many people, mainly due to the subject matter it covers: a dimension of the emotional/psychological/psychic realm that embraces the themes of sex, death, surrender and exchange of resources (money, feelings, DNA, and others).
Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio, New York.
To understand Scorpio, then imagine this whole branch of experience thrown under a veil of denial or concealed by a game of pretend, broadly known as taboo.
Taboos tend to cover some of the most obvious facets of life, as well as the ones we’re the most curious about and driven by.
Humans tend to live with taboo like it’s the thing to do, though after a while, if you’re paying attention, you might notice that it starts to seem like we live in a society of people who don’t wash or practice any form of hygiene in the bathroom, and are convinced that nobody else notices. The reek of the lies, secrets and denial becomes totally oppressive, but just about everyone pretends it’s not there.
The series of events we’re about to experience will serve, one after the next, to make the game of pretend harder and harder to maintain. This begins with Mercury stationing retrograde in Scorpio. I know I’ve said that the slower planets tend to be the most potent in their effects. Despite this, Mercury, which usually moves pretty fast, is one of the most influential planets in our lives. We’re immersed in a world of mercurial devices, rapid communication, information, ideas and trivia.
Oh, and lies, secrets and silence.
Today, Mercury will move just one arc minute — relative to the Earth, it’s moving at the same pace as Pluto. (At peak speed, Mercury can move 100 times faster than this.) In Scorpio, a station of Mercury can represent the revelation of secrets, a discovery or the admission of something to yourself. I don’t mean finally accepting that you like Twinkies. I mean the admission of something deep, perhaps something you’ve been concealing from yourself since childhood.
Now, denial is one of the weirdest games of the human mind. It’s a flirtation with awareness and acceptance. There are reasons people have to deny things — mostly as a means of protecting a belief, or the status quo of a relationship. Sometimes this is about not wanting to threaten someone. The equation, “I will lie to myself so that I don’t threaten you” is applied a lot more often than people want to admit.
But these rationales grow weak and tired and eventually the truth breaks through — and that’s what the astrology is presenting us now. There will be opportunities to unburden yourself, and, coupled with an eclipse (that’s conjunct Saturn) opportunities to turn your awareness into real change.
Regardless of the subject area, the retrograde station of Mercury defines one boundary in a region of time that lasts about three weeks and is a self-contained world of its own. Within this world, you will have the opportunity to experience, consider and process what is revealed, or what you reveal to yourself. Though there are invitations to go deep (for example, a solar eclipse in Scorpio coming up soon), I recommend that you start at the edge and work your way in toward the center — gently, slowly and persistently.
It would be helpful if you dedicate yourself to truth, which can start with admitting to yourself the truth about yourself. That’s the most important truth there is; with that, the process of defragmentation has a good start. Think of this all as a process of making peace with yourself; of finding your integrity and living through it, and for it.
Here are some of the main events of the next few weeks.
Mercury stations retrograde in Scorpio at 6:29 am EDT on Monday, Oct. 21. Mercury will station direct (the end of the retrograde) on Sat. Nov. 10, 2013.
Sun enters Scorpio at 2:09 am EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Retrograde Mercury conjunct Saturn in Scorpio (second of three events) at 4:48 pm EDT on Oct. 29. The Moon is conjunct Mars in Virgo for this event.
Annular-total solar eclipse in Scorpio at 8:49 pm EDT on Nov. 3, 2013. This eclipse is conjunct the North Node, Mercury and Saturn. There are also minor planets involved. Here is a reference to the charts, with minor planets, for this past Friday’s eclipse of the Moon, and the solar eclipse on Nov. 3.
