Scorpio

Scorpio
The Reaper is The Harvester

Symbol(s): Scorpion, Eagle
Element and Modality: Water, Fixed
Planetary Ruler(s): Mars, Pluto
House: VIII, Sex, Death
Bodily Function(s): Sexual Organs

Tarot Card: Death
Hebrew Letter: Nun

POWER AND CONTROL. As the eighth house of sex and death, we can link Scorpio to the eighth sphere on the tree of life: The Sacral Chakra. Sex leads to life. Life leads to death. And the wheel goes 'round and 'round. But, death, as previously asserted, is illusory. The body may be mortal, but that indwelling essence is immortal. We need only look out our window at the rebirth of vegetation every spring (applicable in certain areas of the world) to know that this is true. Leaves may wither and fall from the tree, but the tree endures.

Here is the fall of the form. Almost as soon as that form reaches maturation, it begins to decline. Here, too, is the fall of spirit into matter. Into incarnation and reincarnation; generation and regeneration. The form is always changing. Change is motion, circulation, rotation. Eternal sparkling motion. Cycles are relative to the influences of Saturn (Ruler of: Capricorn, Aquarius) and Jupiter (Ruler of: Sagittarius, Pisces).

When the personality has been fully individuated, that person is no longer swept up in popular opinion. They have become a being set apart. Set apart but never separate. In this world, but not of it -- as we have so often heard. And while they have a hyper-awareness of collective thought, their eyes begin to open up to the deeper realities underlying the mundane. Here, the stage is set for the infusion of spirit and soul. Solar fusion. The great struggle begins, which is precisely what Scorpio personifies. A struggle for the sake of triumph and liberation.

When we think of Scorpio, what comes to mind? Darkness, intensity, mystery, death, and sexual magnetism. Scorpio ushers in the chilling winds of winter and the harvesting of the summertime crops. The seasonal death of crops means survival and sustenance for animals and humans year-round. Short-term sacrifice for overall longevity. The harvester may reap, but it is that same hand that replants the next season's crops.

We celebrate Halloween in the sign of Scorpio. Children dress up in costumes and go door-to-door asking for tricks or for treats. Shapeshifting tricksters. That's all of us. How many masks do we wear in this one lifetime alone? How many roles do we take on? How many aspects of our own personality do we embody, only to discard (or reabsorb) once we've outgrown them? How much or ourselves do we hide and condemn to the shadows?

Scorpio is a painful position to be in. Life is painful. There's no denying that, no matter how enlightened we become. Life is painful because all circumstances are temporary. Relationships flourish. Relationships fade. People we love pass away. We try to hold onto something, but what is given is later ripped from our hands. Taurus is the house of possessions, finances, and security -- and Scorpio is that counter-influence. Whatever security we believe we have is revealed to be false through Scorpio.

A great purging takes place under the guidance of Scorpio -- as Scorpio, through Pluto, also governs the organs of elimination. Scorpio gives us lessons in detachment and letting go. Whatever is stagnant, obscure, or destructive is concealed, later to be revealed here. During earlier stages in our growth, we sweep so much under the rug. We hide our skeletons in the closet. We convince ourselves that it is for the best, and we try to justify our own self-deception. But the truth always Will out. Dirty laundry creates a stink. Masks must eventually be removed. Buried treasure, unearthed, has a tendency to rot. This is putrefaction.

Before we can ever have any sort of break-through, we must break down the old. Nothing new can grow with waste piling up. But all of our trash, all of our old junk, can be recycled or repurposed. The rest is used as fuel for the fire -- our own funeral pyre. Yet we always resist. We know that the death of the old means the birth of the new, but are begrudged to admit it. We cling to our comfort zone. We dwell in the misery of what we feel is being unfairly taken from us. Forms fall and new forms take their place to compensate. Despite those compensations, we have that tendency to focus on our discontent. Capricorn and Scorpio are not so far apart. One sets the stage for the other.

Our hardest battles are fought within the realms of Scorpio. Scorpio presents to us crises in order to remove distraction. This realigns us in preparation for soul-integration and regeneration. Before that can happen, we are tested. Tested by desire and excess. Tested by fear, pride, thirst for power, and all of the other ugly feelings and hidden wants we try to deny.

We increase our shadow's destructive tendencies by rejecting or ignoring our darkness. It's like trying to ignore a small child that is throwing a temper tantrum. The more we ignore that screaming child, the louder the child will scream. Children know their worth, and they demand to be seen and heard. It is the same with our shadowy alter-ego. So, what happens? We attract someone or some catalyst into our life that'll "triggers" us. When this trigger is tripped, all hell breaks loose. Judgement Day commences. How will we respond? Will we react in a fit of blind rage and sting ourselves with it? Whatever our poison is, it'll be our undoing (12th House and/or Pisces (another water sign)).

In this test is a rich reward if we have the courage of self-reflection. The many heads of the venomous Hydraen can be severed through honest introspection. This frees the eagle of unity to rise up as the fiery phoenix. Are we receptive to the siren song of the soul? If we heed the Clarion Call, the Leviathan sprouts its wings, opens up the flood gates, positively ignites Martian wrath, and ascends to the crystal palace in the sky.

When examining the anatomy of a scorpion, where are our eyes drawn? To its menacingly long tail and crustacean-like pincers. Although belonging to the arachnid family, scorpions obviously share a common ancestor with crabs and lobsters. This reminds us of the other water signs. With its long tail, w're reminded of a spinal column. Where else do we see long tails? In "The Devil" (Capricorn) tarot card. The serpentine (generative/regenerative) force can be dangerously fatal. But the death doesn't necessarily have to be a physical one. We've already covered the many ways that death can be useful to us. The serpentine force also contains the universal pan-acea. Wherever we have weakness, we have potential.

Complementary/Opposing Sign

Taurus has dominion over the throat. As a fixed earth sign, Taurus exoterically represents the physical form (and personality). Taurus "values" security and material comforts. But, esoterically, Taurus serves as a conduit between heaven and earth. In Taurus, we are connected to heavenly thought-forms, while in form. So, there is still a form aspect being deployed here, but at an elevated level. Taurus can therefore represent the outer temple of god (churches, our physical senses) or the inner temple (body/personality as divine channel, the subtle bodies, the spinal column, and the inner sensorium).

With sex leading to physical embodiment, we can see how Scorpio positively complements exoteric Taurus. The negative (but still exoteric) side being the eventual death (Scorpio) of the form (Taurus). But these exoteric perspectives are meant to yield to the higher, detached, perspective. The physical, then, being a garment for the immortal indwelling essences. The goal of incarnation is for the soul and the spirit to be united in the physical body. Only then is the human expression able to reach completion. But I am using the word "completion" tentatively -- divine fulfillment might be more appropriate.

You can think of this "completion" as more of a graduation into the next stage of development. From mineral to plant. Death and rebirth. From plant to animal. Death and rebirth. From animal to human. Death and rebirth. And from human to divine. There are many degrees of fulfillment and completion. There are always new levels of ascension. The spiritual sun never sets.

As the consciousness progresses, the physical form becomes less dense, and the mind less mechanistic. Mechanic linearity. It's like a video game. The coders program it to move along a set path. The player has no choice but to adhere to the parameters (Saturn's skeleton) the developers have set. While the player has some level of control, they cannot go out of bounds. Not without breaking down the coding and altering it themselves. Only then can game-play become more fluid. What is impossible for the regular player becomes possible for a hacker. Most players don't even think to hack the system. Most players have no interest in popping the hood to examine how it operates. They just play. By learning how the system works, the hacker is then able to work with the code to alter the script.

Through imagination (Venus), the hacker can bypass many of the old rules (Saturn and Uranus), and even invent a whole new world (Aries). While there are still some laws (coding) that need to be followed, a truly crafty mind can build (or destroy) almost anything. Through will and imagination, any obstacles can be overcome. The body-soul-spirit as oracle and architect. Embodiment of a Master Builder.

Taurus (or Daath) is the Magic Mirror to Scorpio's (or Yesod) Mirror Mirror.

Mars and Pluto

Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Pluto. Although Scorpio is a water sign, we cannot help but think of the dry, tense, redness of Mars. And with Pluto: Pits of hellfire and brimstone. Scorpio is the nocturnal house of Mars, while Aries is the diurnal house. Aries is connected with the crown, or the Alpha, of our anatomy. And Scorpio is closely connected with our inner Omega.

Once we become too rigid or set in our ways (Saturn), death steps in to abolish these limitations. That hardening is initially necessary for growth (Uranus). Without it, the soul could not survive incarnation. The processes of solidification form the personality, a protective mask we present to the world (the "me" that believes itself it to be set apart from the "we"). But there comes a point where that mask needs to be obliterated to allow for the eventual birth into Super-consciousness. Through Martian stimulation (desire), Pluto enters the scene. A massacre ensues. Pluto (phoenix) incinerates (Sagittarius) everything in its path, disrupts the "status quo" (Mars and Uranus), and takes no prisoners. That's actually the point: Annihilation for the sake of liberation.

Anything terrible that ever happens is designed to liberate and to reveal. All evil is working toward good, even if that fact is concealed from itself. And that "good" is freedom. Liberation really means detachment. Detachment from desire, from form, and from illusion. Whatever is temporal is illusory. The form and the personality are temporary expressions. Attachment leads to suffering, because, whether we like it or not, we're going to have to eventually let go. But, we can learn to harmoniously live with death, since all death really means is metamorphosis.

When we were little and we would get hurt during play, we would run to our Mother for comfort. She would kiss our wounds but then tell us, "It's okay. You'll live." In life, you'll get hurt. You may even be mortally wounded. Turn inward and remember your Mother. Hear her words, "It's okay. You're going to live." Yes. Even if your case is terminal. Think of it like boarding an airplane. Terminal is that connective point of transition from one locale to the next. Terminal becomes germinal: And you are airborne. You emerge from the cocoon (womb). Old King (old mask) dies, new Sun takes the throne.

Exaltation: Uranus
Detriment: Venus
Other Water Signs: Cancer, Pisces
Other Fixed Signs: Taurus, Leo, Aquarius