Sounding notes of challenge, confusion and situational impasses, this November is a testing ground which warns of what will unfold come December and the beginning of 2010. Where we haven’t dealt with our motivations, with the continuing need to grow and evolve as people, life now asks what our =motivations and values really are through a continuing montage of situations which test how honest we are—with ourselves most of all. Do we respect who we’re being?
With Sun united with Mercury in early Scorpio squaring Mars in early Leo, everything in life seems to require balancing the YIPPEE! against the not-so-hot (aka UGH!), the what-we-want against what we need to get there. Or do first, before we can do what we want. Our days are filled with dichotomies, considerations, responsibilities and sprinkles of various whatnots to the point that things we’d ordinarily take in stride may seem disruptive. At least frustrating. Everything feels so…complicated. Can’t anything just be easy?
Actually, yes—it can. But getting there depends on how clearly you know what you’re about… and how well you know how to fly your own jet-powered psyche. Tests and trials now have less to do with others (or the situation) than with your reactions—and those come from the state of your individual self worth. The universe wants you to be a better and more complete You—so it has to toss things at you which will get you to dust off that determination (at least) and maybe even wax more polished when it comes to being a human work of art.
Here’s the kicker and the clue: what you attract is really a version of you—one which emphasizes the parts of your personality you haven’t done well with as yet. That means running away is ultra-unproductive. As is trying to control them. THEY aren’t the issue—your ability to tolerate your feelings in the situation or about them are. All things Scorpio (and 8th house) always test all things Taurus (and 2nd house)—which is to say, our personal basics: self worth, values and abilities. And whether you’ve developed them sufficiently—or even correctly, which is where money issues come in.
Scorpio is about where we invest ourselves—and yes, our money. But more vitally it’s about the feelings we risk through investment, which makes this the house that’s also about a betrayal of any kind, whether it comes from your lover or you broker. The feeling is hurt. Anger. Shame, even. But that all comes from your not having chosen correctly, which is the Scorpio/8th referendum on internal development. Are you insightful? Do you buy into lies because you always want to think the best? Are you honest and honorable when it comes to emotional responsibilities? Do you take responsibility for who you are? How do you handle trust and the widespread ramifications and responsibilities involved in being trustworthy?
That’s what’s testing us big-time at the moment. And seeing that Mars (the “assertive choice”) part of this equation is already in the shadow of its upcoming December retrograde—we can all count on some situations being rocky. Uncomfortably so. Just to review, retrogrades symbolize energies turned “within”—a period when we end up having to get from ourselves what we would rather get from others. This past spring, Venus (symbol of appreciation, reward, affection) went retrograde as economic hard times hit home. As it went retrograde in early March, the “making real” Venusian specialty became real in our lives as the idea of being provided for became the whole thing. That this happened in the “I” sign of Aries made the question whether I am responsible for others, what can I do to survive, what can I do about the problem, what can I do which will succeed. Being that Venus rules Taurus (I have) and Libra (cause/effect), the whole system of what we do for what we get went out of whack. Remember that?
So now the retrograde player is Mars—the “can do” or “make happen” energetic. In its role as primary ruler of Scorpio, Mars is the what I do or who I go into the relationship being which generates reactions and results: admiration or being suckered. Being honorably cherished versus being stolen from and abused. As secondary ruler of the 8th and Scorpio, Pluto is only (yeah right…only!) the transformational energy we experience because we made the choices we made. Because we chose that love partner, that adviser, that approach. But the whole thing is a test of our ability to tolerate our feelings about how well we’re doing on the inside as emotional beings.
Primary ruler of Scorpio, Mars entered the shadow of its upcoming December retrograde on October 16. So while the beginning emphasis on Scorpio comes from the Sun and Mercury’s transiting that sign and activating Scorpio issues in daily life, that gets tied up with Mars because Mars is the “what I choose” Scorpio force.
Mars is in Leo, a sign about creativity and personal enjoyment. So with Mars in Leo, we want things to be fun—and we want to be involved in things we think are fun or which will give us pleasure in the short or long run, which is where the creative part comes in. Mars in Leo is often a highly productive period and one when the right dynamic attitude can attract new opportunities. The down side of Mars in Leo is where this dynamism rises to arrogance or aggression, with or without a common (if screwball) Mars-in-Leo reluctance to take things on—even things you like doing or want to get done. Good or bad, there’s an emphasis on the “me/my” part of life with less than optimal reconciliation of the Leo/Aquarian. In other words, am I being selfish? Does what I want/like work for everyone else? Society? Aquarius is the society, the network, the marketplace, the system. Leo is the backyard, the safety of one’s own pleasureful pursuits, the security of private choice.
Bottom line, to have Mars ringing a bell about its upcoming retrograde from Leo…? That tells us we’re in a period when whether we know it (or like it) or not, we’re setting ourselves up to rise or fall, succeed or undermine our cherished interests during the retrograde which begins December 20. This happens within a dynamic which rewards neither doing nothing, nor throwing caution to the winds. It’s time to grow, people. But that growth must have purpose—one beyond mere personal preference.
That all this occurs as Saturn conjuncts Black Hole M87 adds a note all about moving from the personal into the public world. Wherever Saturn is, there is our emphasis. And Saturn’s been in “personal spaces” (Aries through Virgo) since 1996, emphasizing the building of our inner and more personal world. Now all we’re all going through a reorientation as we realize our personal world/life depends on what we do and build in a public arena—which would be the cosmic reason for such potent worldly events: to get us into a more public, participatory mood.
With Pluto squaring Saturn from 1 Capricorn, the big, big things in life are still hard to manage. But for those willing to put in the effort and (again) act not in terms of preconceive notions but in terms of challenges which well may be uncomfortable, things are changing. Despite the “negative” reputation squares tend to have, they’re all about building that which is intrinsically lasting (think of how important a 90 degree/square angle is in architecture and engineering).
The question is: are you presenting yourself with enough strength and willingness (Saturn) while being willing to take on big efforts, big challenges (Pluto)—probably things you never would have dreamed of doing but which can have and lasting impact on those things most near and dear to your heart (Mars in Leo, ruling Scorpio)?
Come November 2, a Full Moon at 10 Taurus illuminates things even further by shedding a “full and evocative” light on issues to occur on December 31. This Full Moon is in exact sextile (opportunity to act) to the Lunar Eclipse which will occur on that date. In Taurus, this moon is about….READ MORE! Get the entire Monthly Overview, available only with a Premium Subscription, now!
Boots Hart is an ISAR-certified astrologer of 30 years’ experience, with some 20 years as a magazine and online columnist.
Writer by habit and philosopher by bent (some say very bent…), Boots is a metaphysical science geek spiritualist—a person as inspired by the workings of time/space as touched by the often painful adventures of mankind. Through writings public and private, her aim is to use astrology as cipher, helping us understand. Can we learn how to live a happier life? What does that take? Why are the times as they are? These are the questions. And that answers can be gleaned from cosmic cycles and the reflections of those in our lives? That would seem to be part of our journey—the one path we all take and walk together.
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