Scorpio partial south node eclipse
This new moon arrives as a partial solar eclipse 2° Scorpio October 25, 2022 6:48 AM est.
What’s up with eclipses? Eclipses are signified by the north and south nodes of the moon being within 15-18° of a new or full moon. Alignment to the nodes on the New Moon create Solar Eclipses; on the Full Moon create Lunar Eclipses. The eclipses happen along polarities, such as this one along the Scorpio and Taurus axis and typically take about 18 months to move from one pair of signs to the next (in counterclockwise order). In ancient astrology, eclipses mean that the ‘lights went out’ in the sky… which symbolized the figures in power being ‘overshadowed’. That sense of uncertainty carries over into contemporary times, as eclipses are often described as moments where the Sun and Moon no longer hold the guiding light in the skies. They require surrender, and often seem to summon unpredictable turn of events that shake things up in order to realign the collective to the ‘dharma’ (north node) and ‘karma’ (south node) of the times. They act as a kind of charge across the axis they land on in your natal chart, inviting fate to intervene in surprising ways as they progress through the signs over that year and a half (or more) period of time. The current eclipse series along the Scorpio/Taurus axis started with an eclipse in Taurus November of 2021… then kicked off in full force April 30-May 16 2022, and will dip in and out of these signs all the way into October 28, 2023. There is likely a theme playing out in your life during these times if you look back to the eclipse dates along this axis.
light paintings: Pablo Picasso, born (141 years ago!) October 25, 1881… with his Sun at 2° Scorpio, the same degree as this Solar Eclipse (read more here about the light paintings)
The summary of this eclipse:
On the Scorpio/Taurus axis, nourishment from the depths is what contains the nutrients for material growth. South Node eclipses in Scorpio require detox… a clearing out of what is toxic in order access a regenerative influence of what must transform in order to become a resource. This eclipse points towards the ‘karma’ of feeling deserving of claiming those resources. The release hinges on the ability to let go of outdated agendas and strategies around power, love, and the psychological surrender to the depths of needing to withhold one’s own intimate resources in order to sway others.
It seems to call for a surrender of love games and ways we can become entangled with power dynamics in relationship to others, to personal resources that make us feel worthy… tending to how success in the work we do may define our own deservingness. Transformation happens when we let go, and let it flow… teaching how to trust in the powers that can only be harnessed when we are open to something greater than our limited perception of how it will all turn out. Love is a small word for a big feeling, and the power it summons is called into review… requiring an adjustment to what is perceived when the lights go out… and for a moment to see clearly one must learn to navigate the shadows. Although it might be strange to consider the parallels, love and money have a similar energetic. The value they hold is only as great as our desire to attain them. Through this eclipse we may be faced with releasing toxic traits surrounding possessiveness and control.
Karma is translated from Sanskrit meaning ‘action’. In my yoga teacher training program, one of our modules of the training was devoted to focus on ‘karma in action’ to teach the true meaning of the often misappropriated word. In acts of service that lifted others from the depths of their own suffering, the offering of Karma is to surrender to the compassion necessary to be of service regardless of how large or small the influence of the action. As described in Yoga Journal,
Karma Yoga is Yoga by Action, and is clearly defined in the Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna: “Work alone is your privilege, never the fruits thereof. Never let the fruits of action be your motive; and never cease to work…Be not affected by success or failure. This equipoise is called Yoga.” (Bhagavad Gita)
As the South Node moves through Scorpio, the node of one’s ‘Karma’, might we consider the way we do anything is the way we do everything. What comes from karma is the intention to be fully present with each moment. Not focused on the outcome, or the power achieved from accomplishment, instead simply guided back to the equilibrium within the relationship to each moment’s potential of life force energy (prana) that is generated through awareness, presence, and breath. This is the yoga.
“Karma doesn’t hand out rewards or punishments, it’s an energetic exchange that is created, powered, and contained by the Self.” (yoga journal)
So… with the South Node in Scorpio… consider the emotional patterns that influence how you nourish each moment. Consider the secrets, the hidden knowings, the power of what is felt, the intuition that beckons… and with the ruler of this eclipse, Mars in Gemini, about to go retrograde… consider the words you use to shape your reality. How do you speak to yourself, what is the story you tell of your life and how do you communicate that within and then outwards to the world? Mars, representing weapons, in Gemini… words become the weapon of choice. Are you building bridges towards aligned action… or are you burning them? There is a reactiveness to this Mars in Gemini signature as well… notably shifting our focus (through the grand air trine) to ideas and desires that spark passion within the body. Make note of little fires, moments when your bodily intelligence speaks up.
Another aspect of the Mars in Gemini energy that we will be living with through March of 2023… is tending to the nervous system through the way we take action with our breath. Now is a great time to become curious about the accessible power of breath work. Some of my favorite places to turn to for breath work and meditation are https://www.glo.com and https://www.parayoga.com/sanctuary-meditation-app-rod-stryker/.
Scorpio Solar eclipse
…the finer points…
South Node eclipses are all about release, and along the fixed sign axis of Scorpio/Taurus, the change arrives in the relationship we have to security and trust. Namely… releasing the need to control situations or power dynamics as experienced in the Scorpio areas of the chart. As the Sun, Moon, and Venus align for the eclipse, they are situated closely near the asteroid Circe, trine a recently direct station of Juno in pisces, and trine the Lilith point in Cancer. There are quite a lot of aspects in the sky accompanying this moment, including a grand air trine which has been hovering since this weekend and enhances the energy of Saturn in the sky which stationed direct early Sunday morning.
The grand water trine with the goddess/mythical asteroids and Venus still in Cazimi of this new moon moment feels like a heightened awareness around power dynamics surrounding relationship roles. Whether that is the relationship to love, money, values, or power… all of these themes appear through the aspects of water signs. In water signs, we feel deeply. It is about the experience under the surface, the emotional body &intuitive senses, that hold potency.
Eclipses shake things up in order to re-align beyond our scope of what is possible. Juno in Pisces, the goddess of marriage, opens an aspect to what our ideals are around partnership… opening a portal to what fantasies we harbor around commitment and the reality of what shows up in relationships. Lilith in Cancer, the ‘wild feminine’ or untamed female archetype, activates an aspect of needing to nurture the feminine qualities that have been oppressed or condemned by society at large. The Sun/Moon/Venus sitting tightly in Scorpio with Circe, the mythical sorceress (which if you haven’t read Madeline Miller’s book I highly recommend the Audible telling of this mythic tale!!) who is better understood as the mythological mother of herbal healing and kitchen witch rituals and the freedom that comes with living in isolation and the patriarchal rejection of taboo/power that threatens the establishment. Circe, the first herbal healer, has a gift that gets her into some trouble, and gently nods in this eclipse chart to a resource in your own life that you may intuitively know but have fear or uncertainty around how to share your gift without giving away your power. This grand water trine really feels like a need to release certain ideas we have (ruled by Mars about to go retrograde in Gemini) around the expectations of feminine roles in partnership and the power dynamics that sequester feminine intuition and freedom. The creativity of your gift may be limited by the socio-political inheritance we all must come to face as we transform our relationship to personal power and the role we have in the world at large. If Scorpio is about trust, then this moment is asking you to trust yourself, first.
The rising sign for this eclipse is Libra with the Ascendant at 20° and Eros at 17°. Psyche and Mercury tightly conjunct at 22°, making an exact antiscia aspect to Juno in Pisces. Antiscia aspects are a little trick of how much light appears in equal parts across the houses, and this one implies that Juno and Psyche: a powerful and soul driven embodiment of the ‘wife’ or ‘queen’ archetype is one that may arise as a physical manifestation of this eclipse. With both of these mythical stories, the ‘wife’ must defend their position in their marriage… and they are (eventually) both celebrated as equals to their partners.
Do you know the story of Psyche and Eros? They represent the Soul and embodied passionate love. It is through the journey of Psyche, who first lets her sisters plant seeds of doubt in her mind about her invisible lover (and god) Eros, losing the trust of her beloved and being sent to accomplish a series of tasks by Ero’s mother Aphrodite (Venus) as Aphrodite assumes she will fail. With the eclipse happening in the second house of the chart, the chart ruler Venus, is eclipsed. Possibly representing the surrender to an expression of the embodiment of love… possibly a surrender of control that is based in envy, fear, resentment, or unjust expectations.
Psyche and Eros are nearing their union in the sky. There is a foretelling of the final moments of fate… what we must do in order to remember that love and passion are an essential yearning of our soul’s deepest needs... The divine marriage of Psyche and Eros as told through the full myth (listen here) elevates Psyche to become a goddess once she passes the tests of devotion and is reunited with her husband Eros. The union of soul & divine cosmic love is a heightened expression of what makes the journey of life worth it. When Psyche gives birth to their daughter, they name her Pleasure (psyche is pregnant throughout her journey to reunite with Eros). How might trust, intuition, and relational power dynamics be showing up in your life at this time? How might we find pleasure in each moment, regardless of what part of the journey our soul is in now?
Psyche, the greek word for soul, journeys to reunite with Eros not knowing how she will accomplish each task, and even when she does complete them while accepting help from Eros who appears disguised as animals and messengers to help her along the way, she befalls her own humanness and at the very end of completing all the tasks does the one thing she isn’t meant to do… which nearly kills her. You know what almost kills her? The fear that she is not beautiful enough to be loved by her husband… that she is not worthy of the love of the god Eros because she cannot compare to the beauty of a goddess. In her final moments, the doubt that she felt when her sisters questioned her relationship with Eros reveals itself as something she carries within her as well. That sometimes, the things that people say that effect us are really a reflection of our own inner wounds. As she falls into a deathly slumber, Eros arrives just in time to save her. Maybe it’s divine timing, maybe its a guardian angel or your own intuition or the power and purity of true love, maybe its fate, maybe you already know what it is… but if you don’t, what happens in the next two-six weeks will bring necessary adjustments. In true eclipse fashion, you really don’t have to do anything… fate will deal its hand.
Mercury does play a role in their marriage, and pronounces itself loudly in the eclipse chart conjunct Psyche. It is Mercury who delivers Psyche to Mount Olympus in order to drink the ambrosia to make her immortal, becoming equal to her husband Eros who is already a god. Conversations and messages arrive around partnership, ideal relationships, power dynamics between gender and gender roles, self-worth and the sensation of intuition revealing that there is more to the story than what is being said aloud seem to amplify now. What do we carry into partnership? What are our shared values, financial burdens, & even the deeper struggles around grief and loss and power? How does a union of equals provide a new framework to face those issues? How might rules of engagement need to be broken in order to evolve?
“Plato argues that Eros helps us understand beauty in its truest form. In Plato’s concept of Eros, truest beauty is not that which is immediately visible on the surface.” (1) Messages from the deep, new ideas about how we want to move forward in love, how we value our sense of self in partnership, what makes us come alive with desire, how we project our own ideals onto others, and how we grapple with trust and security vs. a certain quality of life that we have come to understand is the right way to proceed… all arise.
Since Venus rules the North Node of this eclipse series, this eclipse leading into the Taurus Lunar Eclipse on November 8th will likely bring unexpected shifts in the things we share or carry with us in partnership. This could be business partnerships as well. There may be an awakening to the things in committed relationships that you can no longer carry or that you must make peace with in order to move forward. In the next two weeks, (with Uranus sitting near the North Node in Taurus), expect the unexpected!
Back to Juno… who does represent marriage, but also the jealousy and revenge that comes when she is often disrespected in her marriage through her partner Zeus’ infidelity, it goes to say that if their are any skeletons in the closet… the veil is thin (just in time for spooky season)! The release of energy in the Scorpio parts of your natal chart will likely carry with it any secrets that must surface in order to grow into a more balanced expression of love… one where each partner (again… whether this is about love, or business ventures which bring you income, debt, fear, loss… emotional and financial baggage) can feel worthy of the love they desire. To do so, there must be conversations around what those topics hold, transparency and self awareness about what we bring and what our partnerships bring, and how to respect what is shared when two lives come together. Do you clearly know your own needs? Do you understand your relationship with intimacy and how that effects all areas of your life? Are your partnerships also carrying that same intentional clarity around what is needed when we share our time and energy with someone/something?
A few days after the eclipse, Mars will station retrograde, providing some reflection around the choices we have. Mars in Gemini is about multiples, so go back and look at your options. Double check that you have all the information you need to make important decisions. In the eclipse chart, Mars is in the 9th house, (which I also find marriage appears here)… the place in the chart of dogma and organized belief systems that may need another look… this time… staying open to curiosity as a way to reshape and edit the kind of values you wish to organize your life around based on what is true for you. The 9th house is also about foreign ideas and concepts, as well as long distance travel. It presents an opportunity to look beyond your local sphere for inspiration, to open your mind to philosophies which expand your perception of reality… and with a heavy dose of a squaring aspect from Neptune in Pisces… that higher expression of the openness to love and fantasies which transform our dreams will abound… not to mention Jupiter entering the conversation moving back into Pisces on October 28! Jupiter expands, and in Pisces, its wisdom amplifies the ability for compassion and acceptance.
With Mars in Gemini, Mercury/Psyche/Eros/Ascendant of the Eclipse in Libra, and Saturn recently stationed direct in Aquarius … the grand air trine seems to move any stagnant energy… realigning the message to suit the needs. Adjusting the information and possibly creating an outline of how to move through this moment with more clarity and open minded intentions. Be aware, that adjustments will be a theme to revisit with anything created in this moment. The framework of the Air trine seems to allow for change and adaptation with the intention for whatever is involved to be able to evolve over time. It is a notable signature for responsibility to change itself… and how to take mature action even when it means letting go of our own desire to control a situation for personal gain.
Venus of the Rags Michaelangelo Pistoletta 1967
Scorpio tactics
Scorpio is notorious in the zodiac for brooding mysterious depths and magical sensory capabilities. Scorpio, fixed water, feels through the abyss beneath the surface of all things, and is able to know where energy is held and wield that as their influential power. This translates sometimes as being able to navigate dynamic situations, surfacing with the upper hand… as one thing Scorpio excels in is strategy. The stinger of the scorpion is a deadly weapon… not because of size, but because of the intensity of that precise strike that does not waste its energy beyond what it knows it needs to do to survive.
In Scorpio, Venus is known to be in its fall. This means Venusian topics are subject to the ruling planet of Scorpio, Venus’ ‘opposing’ planet, Mars. Venus in Scorpio is intense, sequestered, desiring to transcend the depths of love with uncompromising devotion and the risk that accompanies all passionate endeavors… the promise that you will be deeply changed through this kind of carnal love. que Alice Sparkly Kat on Scorpio in Venus lovers.
Transformation is key, as the deep waters of Scorpionic desire require the kind of emotional awareness that demands heightened engagement with the subtleties situation. This is why Scorpio presents as mysterious and powerful… they are able to transform murky waters as a weapon to access their own aura of agency. Scorpio can be selfish, but it is simply because they have sleuthed the depths to figure out what the best way to do anything is, already. Passionate, intuitive, seemingly psychic, don’t underestimate their intelligent choiceness! Through transformation, Scorpio knows that alchemy requires metaphorical death… the rebirth of what comes from the ashes… the rich compost of nutrient rich soil that fuels the bloom of the seasons. If you have planets in Scorpio, look to see where your Mars is in your natal chart… that will tell you the style of how Scorpio energy moves through your life!
current & upcoming transits to note:
October 22: Venus/Sun Cazimi 29° Libra : love what you love and don’t look back
October 23: Saturn stations direct 18° Aquarius : boundaries & structures redefining your status as/to an outlaw
October 23: Sun moves into Scorpio : the veil is thin just in time for spooky season, let mystery be the fit
October 25: Solar Eclipse 2° Scorpio (6:48 AM est) : lights go out (partially). release control of security and trust, sometimes you’ve just gotta let go and flow
October 28: Jupiter ingress into Pisces : bliss out on the waves of wisdom within infinite feels, and enjoy some reprieve of the intensity present in the current sky.
October 29: Mercury ingress into Scorpio : say what you mean… but double check the facts first. Investigate the depths before jumping to conclusions.
October 30: Mars stations Retrograde! 25° Gemini : energy management… distractions divert direct/decisive moves, revisit options and strategy, stay open to curiosity and change, cultivate a breath work practice.
October 11- November 22: Mars RX in Gemini square Neptune RX in Pisces : it’s okay if you can’t see an exact way forward for the moment. All things that sparkle aren’t gold… but sometimes the haze heightens sensation even when you’re lost… write down your dreams, don’t hold on to any one thing too tightly, and let the vision transform showing new possibilities without needing to know exactly what it all means.
November 1-November 9: Psyche and Eros, the astroids, will meet in the sky symbolizing the union of soul and holy desire. They will be conjunct at 24° of Libra and move through the final degrees of Libra within a 2° orb, making their separation at the same 29° mark that the Venus Cazimi star point initiated on October 22, and moving beyond a 3° orb at the same place the Scorpio Eclipse is happening at 2°… : as Catherin Svhela describes, “cosmic manifestation of desir (eros), and the mortal energy of imagination and feeling (psyche) come together to make a new life”… a life which gives birth to pleasure.
November 8: North Node Lunar Eclipse at 16° Taurus! Tune in two weeks from now for an eclipse season update on the themes of dharma and the north node.
♡ ♡ ♡
one little tip to leave you with on the eve of this eclipse… you don’t have to be perfect. you don’t have to pass every test. you don’t have to know how to be the best… you simply have to listen for the signs, lean in to trusting your own power, even if that means admitting you don’t understand it. you are always being guided towards growth. When in doubt, lean towards the devotion to karma… the action of doing all things with love and compassionate surrender to the present moment.
