New Moon & Solar Eclipse in Scorpio: Lifting the Veils

Yearling in the Garden                                                                                                                             Catherine Al-Meten

When I was a young girl, my Mother would read us books and poetry, and would play music for us. One tiny, leather-bound book she read from was the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Here are some lines written by Omar Khayyam that remind me of this month's astrological events:

"There was  door to which I found no key: there was a veil through which I might not see."  

And much of our lives, we seem to be in search of keys to unlock the mysteries of life, death, the great Unknown and ourselves. We seek to open new doors, or close old ones, often not able to do either for we too often stand between the past and the future, unable to move fully forward. This week's New Moon and Eclipse provide us with a key to open a door, and if we are smart, we will at the very least, take a peek to see what life could be if we only let it. 

Today, the Moon in the Leo makes a conjunction with Uranus in Aries.   We have blinding flashes of intuitive and visionary truth. The fiery nature of the Moon in Leo coupled with the fiery energy of Uranus in Aries, fuel our desires, awaken our deepest interests and dreams, and shake us out of any sense of complacency we may have felt. Our emotional responses may feel deeper than usual as we move closer to the time of the New Moon. Energetically, we may feel even a bit edgy. Use the energy and any surprising or sudden flashes or experiences, news or encounters to fuel your fires for  creative and artistic endeavors.  Release the need to follow or comply with expectations that do not serve the direction your life is pulling your towards.  Time to reflect, given the emotional and spiritual energy streaming into us at this time, how best to use our time, energy, creativity, love, and compassion.  

Mercury, in the last degree of Scorpio, is busily stirring things up in areas of our subconscious and life where we are struggling to release, let go of, or otherwise reach some resolution with areas of our life where we have hung on far too long or where we struggle to release and move into directions in our lives with more mindfulness and concern for our health and well being. When any planet is in the final degrees, anaretic, endings and completions are happening.  

The Sun in 4/31 Scorpio, is just beginning its month long journey into Scorpio. The North Node (gateway to the future; farewell to the past) at 7/46 Scorpio is likely to coincide with a major change of heart, mind, spirit, and direction in when the Sun reaches 7 degrees in just 3 more days. 

Venus is in 21/25 degrees Sagittarius, Mars is in 7/17 degrees of Virgo, Jupiter is at 20/19 degrees of Cancer, Uranus is in 9/35 degrees of Aries, Neptune, in 2/20 Pisces, Chiron also in Pisces at 9/22 degrees, and Pluto at 9/20 Capricorn. 

The following planets Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, North Node, and Chiron are all in retrograde phases. Covering old territory, rethinking ideas and choices we may have already made. These planets indicate a slow down and reprocessing of ideas, issues, and decisions that may be in the process of being made.  Mercury in retrograde reminds us that we might want to use our critical thinking processes when making choices, taking action, or beginning new phases of life.  

Uranus in Aries in retrograde may take us back over territory where recent changes have taken place.  Second guessing, rethinking, or changing our minds may be some of the effects of Uranus’ retro motion.  Or we may notice that aspects of what seemed like a great idea, now reveal the deeper and more complex aspects of changes that have taken place recently. 

Neptune and Chiron, both in Pisces, are retrograde, and consequently bring up issues from the past that now need tending to. The North Node in Scorpio also takes us back to decisions and changes that were made last year.  

On Saturday, the Third Quarter Square of the Moon in Leo to the Sun in Scorpio, on Saturday bringing us to a point where we need to reassess our lives a bit. The Sun just entered Scorpio on Wednesday, October 24.  Where in  your life have you been acting unconsciously or according to outmoded patterns and needs. Also a time to bring to completion, whatever has been started earlier in this lunar cycle, or earlier. Before jumping into something new, be sure you have cleaned up, reorganized, and completed what was already underway. 

New Moon in Scorpio/Eclipse. 

Later in the week, on November 3, the New Moon in Scorpio occurs (7:50 AM EST; 4:50 AM PST=also the day we move to Standard Time from Daylight Savings Time). Coinciding with the the New Moon is a Solar Eclipse.This potent New Moon and Eclipse occurs in the fixed sign of Scorpio. This New Moon focuses our attention on our unconscious desires and needs, and on those aspects of our lives where we may have suppressed or ignored. Paying closer attention to our intuitive knowledge, and trusting that it is valid, we now are moved to make changes, alter our habits and patterns of behavior and thinking, and generally, improve the ways we are living.  Having knowledge, and not paying attention to how it figures into the way we think, behave, or express ourselves, is like having food we need, and not eating it. On this New Moon in Scorpio, the call is for us to make the changes we need to improve our lives and to grow emotionally, spiritually, and intuitively.  

Since Scorpio is active in all our charts (Saturn, North Node, Sun), matters  related to our unconscious desires, intimate relationships, spirituality, psychological issues of control, especially on our deepest levels of communication.  We are deeply processing how we view, feel, experience, and live out our unconscious desires and needs.  Making intentional and deeply thoughtful choices, now helps create congruency between our inner and outer lives. 

Also affecting this New Moon  and the Eclipse are conjunctions of the Moon with Saturn and Mercury as well as Sexitles to both Mars and Pluto. Conjunctions emphasize and bring things to light while sextiles encourage and provide energy for making changes. Look at whatever areas of your chart/life the New Moon and eclipse occurs and where in your life the energy of this Moon is aspected, and you will see what it is that is being called into play. Whatever happens on this eclipse, sets off waves that will create movement, direction, and changes for the next six months or so. Pay close attention to your intuition, trusting that you are getting the information, support, and guidance you need for whatever choices you are considering or making. 

The New Moon in Scorpio reminds us, as a good friend just mentioned to me, that when we don’t pay attention and trust our intuitive hunches, guidance, or warnings, “it can come back to bite us in the behind.” Those of us who think assurance, security, and real knowledge come from some source outside ourselves, fail to understand that the Divine gifts are what infuses each of us. We are given the Divine gifts to use as tools for guidance, actions, choice, and clarity. We all have different gifts and different tools with which to decipher how to use those gifts. We meet our teachers and guides in human form, right where we are, and we always have access to Divine guidance. What we fail to see sometimes, is that we need to ask for guidance, and then discern what that guidance is calling us to recognize within ourselves, our relationships, or  our behavior within a relationship, or within a broader life journey stage of development. We get Divine guidance, knowledge, and direction through both inner and outer channels, however, no one outside of ourselves can incorporate or answer our deepest questions for us. We have to tackle those subconscious and unconscious desires, needs, conflicts, and challenges through our life work and choices. When Scorpio is at work on our subconsciousness, our unconsciousness, and through the Collective Consciousness, we feel the stirrings on all levels of our being. We may feel physical movement, tingling, pain, or fluttering, as unconscious material works its way up through our being into our awareness.  Pay particular attention to what is stirring within you, and channel your physical and emotional energy into movement and healthy purging, clearing, and releasing. 

Mercury’s Retrograde phase, which began on October 21, lasts until November 27. Use this time also for sorting, clearing, clarifying, and getting in touch what is begging for your attention.  Stirred and supported by the depth of work being done in water signs right now, coupled with Pluto’s ongoing transformative and grounding activity in our lives, we are fully capable of paying attention to those inner stirrings, those intuitive glimpses that we may normally ignore or discount.  Dreams, visions, hunches, synchronistic occurrences, not to mention the general direction your life and relationships are taking, provide you with all you need to make life-affirming, love-directed choices and actions.  

Mercury works on different levels of our being, and can sometimes feel like a battle raging within us or raging around us.  When we have conflicting patterns of belief, behavior, habit, or ways of perceiving and understanding, we need to unravel and make peace with ourselves within. It’s a bit like getting yarn tangled up or getting a rat’s nest in your hair. Unless we simply cut our the tangle, as we do when we move from one job to another, one relationship to another, one place to another, or one way of thinking to another, we need to systematically, gently, and calmly work at taking the knot apart. This period of Mercury’s retrograde phase may feel a bit like that in some areas where we are moving to make healthy changes, and where we have to undo a mess that has been made of some area of our life. Use this time constructively, to systematically and patiently allowing yourself to work through whatever tangles you have in your thinking, behavior, relationships, or work that need attention. Reconsider not only what you say but also how you communicate your ideas. Avoid being spurred to reactions of anger, holding back long enough to find constructive ways to express irritation, anger, frustration, and to avoid creating more trouble for yourself and others. 

As Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio, the real turmoil and growth is going on within us, and consequently, those who remain unaware, unconscious, or unwilling to listen to what that turnoil signals, are apt to act irrationally, impulsively, or with little control.  Be aware and maintain a level of awareness and protective alertness around those who may be lashing out from unhealed and unconscious places within themselves.  

Before the New Moon on Sunday, November 3, the week is full of interesting aspects, aspects we can use to prepare ourselves for using the energy of the New Moon to heal old wounds, prepare for new journeys, and solve old mysteries (of the inner and outer kind). 

Monday, October 28 Neptune sexitles Chiron. We seem to discover new ways for dealing with old problems or issues.  Empowering ourselves to employ our skills, knowledge, perceptions, and personal gifts to uncover, discern, and identify what needs to be altered, changed, or discarded, now seems more easily grasped.

Mercury conjoins Saturn in Scorpio on Tuesday, finding many of us seeking a place of solitude, retreat, or inner sanctum to quietly and privately discern our deepest and most hallowed thoughts, feelings, and desires. We have at our disposal now, the information that had been lacking in the past, and all the knowledge and skills we need for discerning and deciding what is best for us. Feeling the need for tangible action and results, we now are infused with or presented with what we need to help us make the best choices for ourselves. We may now find valuable counsel or sound advice from trusted sources. Conversations mark strategic and important turning points, leading us into more solid, constructive, and grounded actions, for now our actions are rooted in the depths and soundness of our own consciousness and in alignment with the Divine Consciousness. 

Mars opposes Chiron. On Thursday, October 31, Mars comes into opposition with Chiron. Someone or something may force us to confront old issues and may, if we’re not careful, open old wounds.  The energy of Mars in Virgo, may nit pick us to death with its constant and critical examination of past experiences and aspects of our being that have yet to heal completely.  Whenever Mars triggers things, it feels relentless in nature. As Mars is in the earth sign Virgo, whatever arises may have to do with our expectations and views of our intimate relationships as well as whatever house Virgo rules in your chart/life.  Just notice what feels more upsetting than usual, and apply the rule of discretion in tending to old wounds, sorrows, and losses in a safe and comforting way. Avoid feeling you have to respond or react to Mars energy overtly or publicly.  Take note, and carry the wound to a safe place for reflection, guidance, and patience where you can sort out what and how you wish to heal whatever ways you need to deal with disruptions and loss. 

Mars trine Pluto.  With Mars in Virgo trine Pluto in Capricorn, the energy of Mars (our active engagement and the energetic impulses alive in and around us), is more practically applied than with the opposition to Chiron. The earlier opposition may tear off the scab of a wound that needs healing, but Mars trine Pluto, softens the effect of Mars, and ground us in very pragmatic and constructive ways...we tend to feel we have our hands on ways to actually make progress and improve attitudes, situations, conditions or relationships that have been hurt or are in need of repair. 

Lunar Aspects Leading up to New Moon/Eclipse.

The Lunar aspects in the wee small hours of November 1, include:

Moon square Pluto, Moon opposes Uranus, and later in the day/evening, Moon seisquadrites Neptune, and Moon square Jupiter.  The Lunar aspects are just part of the parade of aspects on November 1. Uranus squares Pluto, Mercury sextiles Mars, the Sun makes aspects to Chiron, Uranus and Pluto before forming a conjunction to Mercury. Rather than trying to understand what each of these aspects means, consider the major players.

The Moon, our emotional make up, that body which causes our emotional and physical tides to rise and fall, starts us off. Notice your dreams and emotional state early in the day, and see what is rising up and around you, and what is ebbing and falling away. 

The Moon is making aspects to Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and then Jupiter.

Pluto, the Great Transformer in Capricorn, a long-term aspect. , is that area of your life where major transformation has been taking place for the last year or so. 

Uranus, which is in the early stages of her 14-year journey through Aries, the fiery ram, represents sudden and unexpected changes and events. Whatever has blindsided or come about unexpectedly, may stir our emotions up a bit.  

Neptune, ruler of the deep unconscious and Collective Consiousness, rules the  realm of the imagination, intuition, illusion and fantasy, and subconscious desires and needs.  In the depths of Pisces, Neptune can have an effect on and be affected by unhealthy or unbalanced practices (diet, drugs, poor health habits), and our ability to fantasize, deny, or live under unhealthy delusions, can be affected if we have been ignoring some aspect of our health or well being that is putting us in dire straits.

Jupiter, is the planet that represents Abundance and in its negative form, the ‘too much of a good thing’ aspect if we’re living in a fog of denial or delusion.  We can have some pretty good rationales for not taking good care of ourselves; they all break down when under stressful aspects to any of the planets or other heavenly bodies. 

Best advice:  Notice the energies that are prevalent, and notice how you are stirred, stressed, or knocked off base emotionally during this transit. It will serve as a good model for how the Moon can trigger our emotional responses and interpretations to other events and conditions.

Solar Aspects leading up to New Moon.

Other Aspects leading up to the New Moon, all occur Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

The Sun’s aspects to Chiron, the Wounded Healer (trine in water signs) can provide some deep and healing energy if we allow it. We can always block our good by using faulty reasoning, illusionary beliefs, or fanciful denials of hard and empirical realities. Pay attention, and face the facts that are necessary for healing to take place in your life. 

The Sun sextiles Pluto, the Great Transformer, shining light and encouraging some aspect of action related to changes taking place in this ongoing process in your life.

Mercury’s conjunction with the Sun. Communication is enhanced.  We are directly aligned, body, mind, and spirit, and our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and understanding are congruent. It’s a fortuitous time, and a time when conversations, reception of energy, and profound and deep understanding can take place.  We connect on deeper levels than we might ordinarily, and this could be a time when we sense the veils have lifted in many areas of our lives. Coincidently, this alignment coincides with All Hallow’s Eve and All Saint’s Day, and the start of November when it is believed in many cultures and spiritual traditions, when the veil between the Divine and the physical world is lifted.  A time when we are more attuned to the spiritual truths and our connection and infusion with all that is. 

Mercury trines Chiron.  Healing conversations and all forms of communication are favored when Mercury forms a trine with Chiron. We respond more intuitively, and our dreams and conversations may take on a much more spiritual nature. We hear with new ears, see with new eyes, and feel and understand with compassionate hearts.  Our energetic levels are infused with expressions of loving kindness, forgiveness, and passion. 

Whatever way you celebrate or observe the New Moon, and the time leading up to and following it and the eclipse, include some act of forgiveness in your experience, and remove your own veils, patterns of behavior, and whatever beliefs you cling to instead of learning, loving, and growing toward a more whole, loving, compassionate, and kind person, meant to live in a way to love and serve others, to express the Divine through each action and word, and to be fulfilled and able to carry out your life purpose for the good of all in the way only you can do. 

Sit for a time in meditation, prayer, and contemplation, considering Loving Kindness. What can you do more of to be more kind and loving to yourself? What can you do less of? What can you do more of to be more kind and loving to others? What can you do less of?  Notice your responses to sitting with such thoughts, and ask yourself why it is difficult to sit still in contemplation of that which would unlock the door to greater joy for yourself and others? How can we use our lives to be more contemplative, forgiving, calm, quiet, and present?  Enjoy the energy and all the powerful and beautiful transits, alignments, and opportunities for feeling more infused with Divine Spirit as we observe the changing of the tides, seasons, and lunar month.  

And in your contemplation, consider the words of theologian, 
Meister Eckart,  

"The eye through which I see God is the same eye thorugh which God sees me.  My eye and God's eye are one eye; one seeing, one knowing one loving."