The Light Within: New Moon and Total Solar Eclipse

To observe what is happening in the skies overhead during the New Moon in Scorpio and the total eclipse of the Sun on November 13, visit Earthsky’s website. 

Today is the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, a time when we focus on the light within as we move into the darkness of the winter season. The New Moon in Scorpio coincides with a total solar eclipse. The Sun, the Moon, and the Earth line up in direct line with one another, temporarily blocking the Sun’s light. Symbolically, we are reminded by the planetary transits, that  though darkness prevails, our inner light and substance and the Divine Light and Wisdom of Creation, nourish, inspire, and provide clarity through even the darkest times. Our ability to discover the light within ourselves individually and to join our light with that of others, enables us to transcend and transform the world in which we are co-creators. 

This solar eclipse begins at sunrise in northern Australia (20.36 UT) and moves west. The eclipse of the Sun is certain to unleash a great deal of energy, and that coupled with the powerful alignment of planets over the last month or so, trigger and unleash clarity in what is ready to burst into being.  Whatever intentions have been set, whatever plans are being made, and whatever connections are destined to be made, are virtually unstoppable at this point.  What you have set into motion, enables you now to bring forth what is within you and to share with others who are receptive and inspired by your beauty, gifts, and essence. For the next two weeks on the energy of the New Moon, we build our desires and intentions to the point where projects can be launched, dreams can become manifest, promises will be kept, and desires will be fulfilled.This is the time we have been waiting for, and now is the moment to seek what your heart desires. It is time to honor our true desires, and remain open, receptive, and fearless in our quest to begin the new leg our our journeys.

Traditionally, farmers have considered the New Moon  a good time to plant crops. It is also a good time to begin new adventures, to put plans into motion, and to set the groundwork for what needs to be done. Now is a time to launch new projects and develop new ideas, begin new relationships or begin the first stages of a new phase of your existing relationships. New moons allow us to open new doors, renew and deepen existing relationships and commitments, and discern what it is that we truly require to love and be loved.

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The New Moon in Scorpio is in a fixed water sign. Scorpio new moons are about beginning or renewing one’s commitment to self mastery. Whatever is required to root out any self-sabotaging behaviors, patterns, or activities. New moons signal new beginnings, and with archetypal  passion and resourcefulness of Scorpio, we can enter this new moon cycle in search of clarity, vision, and guidance toward achieving our goals. It’s an excellent time to clear out whatever debris is blocking, clogging, or cluttering our lives. Unblocking all types of energy blocks allows us to feel better and to operate more effectively in all areas. 

The Sun is in Scorpio, putting us in touch with what we desire. We seek answers and solutions to problems now, and we are in a good position to transform and heal in a big way now, if we are willing to use our passion, intensity and energy to remove all blocks and release whatever is holding us back.  By spending time strengthening our spiritual connections and allowing ourselves to be transformed  into more loving, compassionate, and giving people, we enhance and raise the overall vibration of ourselves, one another, and the entire planetary system.  Love is reflected in love, and Love dispels sickness, disharmony, conflict, and the sense of death. All is energy, and recognition of the endless supply and eternal nature of Love, empowers us and allows us to act to choose life. 

The Sun and Moon in Scorpio form a Total Solar Eclipse on Tuesday, November 13. Solar eclipses always signal major change, and what type of change often has much to do with our attitudes and perceptions. We now have the opportunity of new beginnings around matters of intimacy, shared resources and relationships, power and authority, and finances.  While change may occur on the surface in all these areas, it is much more likely that the change taking place is occurring at the deep, subconscious and unconscious levels of our being.  We may find ourselves desiring to understand our relationship to intimacy from  the level of our psychological, spiritual, and emotional development.  No longer content to “understand” what is going on, we seek true meaning, purpose, and depth. We attempt to unravel the connections our present life and relationships have with those unhealed, suppressed, or otherwise undeveloped aspects of our nature. Scorpio is all about going beneath the surface to find the truth.

Scorpio, the planet where not only the Sun and Moon are transiting, but also Saturn and the North Node are located in Scorpio for long term transits. Our greatest lessons are going to come within the confines of more monogamous and stable relationships. To explore, heal, and grow,  commitment and single-focused marriages and relationships allow us to delve to the depths of our own development in relationship. Emphasis is and will continue to be throughout Saturn’s transit in Scorpio, on developing the quality of our lives within relationships where you and your partner are receptive, authentic, and clear when communicating about needs. Seek to find purpose and meaning within a committed relationship. You will find this more fulfilling and meaningful than you might have ever imagined. Uniting on a soul level with a partner affords us the best opportunity of learning about who we are.  The Scorpio planets now highlight this area of our lives, and depending where Scorpio falls in your chart, these transits will affect you in different ways.

Scorpio in the first house: Scorpio transiting your Ascendant/1st house transforms your sense of self and the way you appear in the world.You may appear more serious, as you work to break patterns that have defined and shaped you in the past. Masks, roles, and the worn out facades fall away to make room for freer self expression. Saturn in particular will make you aware of any aspect of your life and being that is no longer energetically alive. You either release the old, or the old is stripped away like the snake sheds its skin.  Unless you attempt to rationalize or cling to old mental patterns and images of yourself, this process will be liberating, and you will find yourself much more animated and relieved. Release all self-defeating, illusory, and co-dependent behaviors and attitudes. This may be a time when you become more serious about setting your own goals, guiding your own career, and blazing the trail to meet your soul purpose. Time to take care of your appearance, paying attention to health, nutrition, exercise, and hygiene.  Coming face to face with the reality of who you are, and needing to confront any areas that require attention or care. Transformation takes place around your self image.

Scorpio in the second house: Transformation takes place around how you value yourself. If you have allowed yourself to be defined by others, your work, or anything external to your own being, you will be experiencing a grand awakening. How does your life reflect your authentic self? What is keeping you from feeling a sense of worthiness and value?  Whether or not you go through a personal crisis that forces you to change and to value yourself and your worthiness more, depends upon whether or not you are willing to accept your good. If we feel unworthy, we expect little or nothing. Examine how you have come to value yourself, and this will be much easier now, though not necessarily pleasant, as Scorpio brings up all the issues, memories, and subconscious business that has gone into shaping you sense of personal value.  With Saturn’s transit, and the new moon and total solar eclipse in Scorpio, along with the North Node, now is the time when you will be at the start of a major reshaping of how you value yourself. Since much of how we see our value comes through the work and relationships we are involved in, you may see a great deal of transformation and change in these areas. 

Scorpio in the third house. Third house issues and gifts relate to our style of communication, our immediate surroundings and environment, and the area and people in our community. Social and intellectual matters feel the full force of Scorpio at this time. Any aspect of the 3rd house areas of your life will go through whatever has become dysfunctional, dry, lifeless, routine (in an unhealthy, failure-to-thrive manner).  You may find yourself dissatisfied with a variety of areas of your life where communication has become too routine, too banal, and too lifeless.  Scorpio stirs up your desire to express yourself with more authenticity, greater freedom. You seek greater connection and mutuality in all forms of communication. You let go of anything and anyone that keeps you from communicating clearly and fully. You take charge of your life, your work, and your voice, and begin living from the center out; much happier and open to greater fulfillment.

Scorpio in the fourth house. Home and feeling at home receive the brunt of Scorpio’s transits. Now more than ever you fine yourself needing to establish a home. Doing so is necessary for your psychological and emotional well being. Some loss around your home, often whatever connects you to childhood (for good or bad), pushes you into the transformation ahead.  The Scorpio transits bring great transformation through dreams, memories, and reflections of whatever has been suppressed, unhealed, or otherwise not integrated into how you define home as an adult.  Whatever is stirred up psychologically, emotionally, or spiritually, needs to be examined in order for you to grow and transform more fully. What we don’t know or face, can hurt us.  Facing our fears, our memories, our past can, with Scorpio transits in the fourth house, force us to regain or discover for the first time, our personal sovereignty. While we are still trapped in the stories of our past, we cannot build our home in the present.  The gift of these transits is that we are now pushed to claim our own power and define for ourselves a personal sense of safety and home. Being comfortable in our own skin is the gift of these transits; being somewhat uncomfortable with the process is the price we pay.  

Scorpio in the 5th house.  The Fifth house rules our sense of pleasure, creativity, productivity, and life force.  Our desire to be happy and loved rests in this house and is nourished by all the experiences and people who affirm, approve, and cherish us.Fifth house matters pertain to how you answer the question, “What would make me truly happy?” When we find ourselves not enjoying life, we know that our fifth house  matters have become stagnant or a burden. Transits of this house indicate heavy responsibilities or the pull to make this area of our life more significant. What brings us peace and saves us, is finding meaningful ways to live our lives.  Seeking meaning in whatever we do, helps us meet the challenges of Saturn’s transit through the 5th house. The Solar eclipse and New Moon in Scorpio highlight, in a big way, whatever it is that we need to change. We get a clearer sense of direction, and can see the doorway to deepening our ability to create, live from love, and find true happiness.

Scorpio in the 6th house. Sixth house matters are the day to day matters including where you spend your time and your physical body and health. Often read as the workplace, the sixth house is about how we spend our time and the effect our work has on our well being and health. Feeling edgy or anxious may signal the need to rearrange the way you are using time. When we over-program ourselves, we suffer the consequences. Transits through a 6th house of Scorpio signal a need to  reconsider your priorities. Transformation and growth come about through having to redefine and restructure the way we do things. Time do do what is nourishing us and what serves our best interests. Now may be the time when you get serious about a new or intensified health regime (yoga, walking, swimming, developing better eating habits).  We tend to feel compelled during this transit, to take better care of ourselves. We can trust our intuitive sense about what needs to be done for improving our health and for making better choices for ourselves. Taking responsibility for our own health means acknowledging that our health is affected by everything we do, and we do have control over both.  Learn to listen to your intuitive senses, your dreams, and your hunches.  Trust that you have the innate capacity to know what you and your body need, and to act for your own best interests.

Scorpio in the 7th house. The Sun, New Moon, Saturn, and the North Node all transiting the 7th house brings change, change, and more change to partnerships and marriages. You are freed, released, or relieved of whatever relationships are already over on the energetic level. For relationships that are based on trust, openness and authenticity, this will be a difficult time, but not impossible. For relationships that are faltering or where feelings have been suppressed and issues have not been resolved, this will be a rocky time. The New Moon and Solar Eclipse should give you some indication or clarity about what relationships are in need of repair and which ones are on a dead end road. Whether or not you choose to work on the issues of a relationship or let go of it altogether, the need for growth, change, and transformation will come from within; listen to your intuition and that inner sense of truth that only you can know, watch your dreams, and pay attention to your instincts and hunches.  

Scorpio in the 8th house. The ruler of the underworld, our subconscious, psyche, and the unconscious dimensions within and around us, experiences the transits in very significant ways.  Transformation, rooted deep in the depths of the psyche, feels the pull particularly around issues related to authority: matters related to taxes, inheritance, legal issues, or other financial matters. This area of our lives is also where we establish our social identity and worth . Notice on this New Moon and Solar eclipse, what areas of your life are indicated for the long term Saturn transit. Eighth house matters have to do with the goods of the dead, so you might find yourself having to deal with such matters either on the subconscious level,  the physical level, or both. Some aspect of life is dying to the old so that a new stage of life can be born. Since Scorpio rules the underworld, pay attention to any subtle agreements, on the energetic level, you may have that need to either be honored, brokered, or simply acknowledged. Look within to know the truth of situations. Trust that you know what is beneath the surface. It won’t change what must be done or what happens, but it will make the way clear and will settle your mind about what is really going on.

Scorpio in the 9th house. Ninth house matters pertain travel, foreign cultures, higher education and higher thought. Whatever you do in any of these areas, what matters most at this time is connecting your personal intentions to your  personal purpose. Without  a clear vision, whatever you do will seem pointless. If your soul purpose is tied to anything requiring 9th house issues, you will spend an amazing amount of time and energy learning about how important a vision is to making your plans connect to your purpose in life. Vision alone is not enough. You will be learning to read the signs that life is setting forth. Transformation and growth come through expanding your world view, learning the basics required for real growth and understanding. Begin a new journey even though you may not know where you are headed.  Now is the time to trust that the lessons are awaiting you, and what is needed is a receptive heart and mind. 

Scorpio in the 10th house. The tenth house is the house of your soul calling. Transits here right now are indicating what is diverting you from your destiny and what you need to learn to transform and grow.  Watch for doors to close, and spend time establishing yourself in the areas where you excel and wish to claim your rightful place and authority. Watch to have your prayers answered or wishes come true in ways beyond your vision and through acts and events you cannot foresee. What is needed is inner 

clarity and vision, and then patience to learn the lessons and experience the transformation that leads you on paths that seem to diverge away from what you want. All roads lead to Rome; all roads are not the same. Let go of expectations doesn’t mean you have no expectations; it means you can expect that they won’t necessarily happen as you think they will Allow for the flow of the the unconscious to guide you now. Where are you being called to serve, lead, claim your sovereignty, excel, or create? Claim your rightful place through a process of discernment, reflection, and understanding.

Scorpio in the 11th house. Eleventh house matters relate to collaborative efforts. Whatever you have claimed as your rightful place or purpose requires the skill, support, and guidance of others. Transits through Scorpio in the 11th house indicates disruption, change, movement, and a reshuffling of allies and associates. It is crucial that you choose wisely during this time, and whatever happens around this New Moon and Solar Eclipse will give you some indication about where you are likely to be seeing major changes as Saturn works its way through this area of your life. You may see alliances fall apart or old associations disappear. Whatever is released now will make room for better and more reliable, growth-promoting relationships and support.

Scorpio in the 12 house. Home of the great mysteries and subconscious and unconscious connections and entanglements of our soul. Whatever we brought into this life with us, has been traveling with us for a very long time. The New Moon and the Solar Eclipse in the 12th house may awaken long-forgotten memories or arouse deep-seated feelings, emotions, or unconscious needs. Saturn’s transit through the 12th house releases the shadow that now rises up to the surface of our lives through our awareness, feelings, memories, and in the context of life in general. We are experiencing a change from one life to the next; a complete transformation is taking place. We are challenged to connect to the Universal through studies of metaphysics, spiritual traditions, and mysticism. We are awakened deeply through this transit, and it is a very personal, private focus for it reveals to us whatever we have been unable or unwilling to face within ourselves, and demands that we meet ourselves at the deepest most authentic level possible. 

Mercury Sagittarius is retrograde during November and December when it reenters Scorpio.During this time, we have the opportunity to review, reconsider, and test out ideas for changes we have been moved to make recently.  We may find that we are capable of seeing old situations in a new light. Communication takes on new forms with the full intention of sustaining sound and solid principles and ideas.  In areas where we have needed to seek solutions for existing problems or where we still do not see our way clear to discover answers to outstanding dilemmas or solutions to problems confronting us,  Mercury retrograde may find us retracing our steps or reconsidering decisions we have recently made. When Mercury reenters Scorpio after November 17, we will find that our intuitive hunches and subconscious stirrings will remind us what it was that made our new path so clear in the first. place.  Sagittarius, the problem solver, prefers action to discernment, so Mercury’s retrograde motion back into Scorpio can actually serve us well as we find ourselves reassured of our path forward.

Venus in Libra until November 21, provides an period of harmony and celebration.  Venus refines and enhances whatever area of our lives she falls in.  At home in Libra, Venus shines her light on whatever aspects of life lend themselves to creating beauty, encouraging the delicate balance between the masculine and feminine energies.  

Neptune is in Pisces for the first time in 160 years. Unconditional love, transpersonal expressions of love. Neptune has been retrograde since June 4, and begins to move forward in early November. This long transit has just begun, and will have a long-term influence in whatever area of your life it is moving.  By now, you should already be able to determine that Neptune is striking a more emotional and creative chord in whatever house it is transiting.  In trine aspect to the Solar eclipse, the New Moon in Scorpio, Saturn and the North Node in Sagittarius, your dreams and intuition should be highly charged making you more keenly aware of what is connecting you to the path you have chosen to follow, and what your are destined to manifest, based on what you have transformed in your life thus far.  Having released and cleared away old patterns, relationships, and emotional and physical clutter, you have a clear path that is allowing a full release and clearing of channels of energy both in the subtle bodies and within the manifested expression of your life. A deeply transpersonal transformation is well under way, and the sense of time and space are dissolving as we operate on a more fluid and mystical level than we ever have before. There is a magnificent collective energy alive and activated, and within each one of our lives, an awakening has occurred. Any pockets of resistance that are blocking, challenging, or causing us pain, require release so that we do not store up any residual energy, karmic patterns of behavior and belief, or unhealthy emotional, mental, psychological, or spiritual manifestations.