Scorpio

Great indeed is the power of the dragon as the sun,
Yet humbly and slowly it meanders its way shy,
Minuscule indeed is the power of the tiny scorpion,
Yet it swaggers its tail and boasts to the sky.--Old Thai verse   

It is late autumn, and the leaves are falling. Weʼve passed the Equinox point of balance, and the air is turning crisp and cool.  The Earth is beginning to shut down as She prepares for the long sleep of winter.  Many animals, plants and insects are either dying; some are going into dormancy or hibernation. This is the season in which the Goddess journeys into the Underworld. We are entering the time of Scorpio, the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac.  Also known as the Sign of the Mystic, it is considered a "feminine" or "fertile" sign. It is a water sign as well as one of the four fixed signs. Water must flow in order to stay vital, but here it has a fixed quality with a need to stand still.  When the pressure is high enough, the resistance will break and the water will flow once again.  

Traditionally, the planet Mars, the god of war, has been considered to be the ruler of Scorpio. Mars symbolizes that part of the psyche which impels us to act, to press forward and be courageous.  The However, since its discovery, Pluto, the god of the underworld, has been considered a modern ruler of this sign. It is the remains the domicile of Mars as its co-ruler.Pluto rules upheaval; it is the universal life force which impels evolution and transformation.  It rules breakdown and decay, but also regeneration and rebirth.  ...the archetypal Underworld...dark and mysterious which lurks beneath the surface of things.

This is the time of Samhain, the ancient festival which today has become our Halloween. This is the day that the doors between the worlds of the living and the dead stand open, and the ancestors come to visit.  Families picnic in graveyards and set places at their tables for their departed loved ones.  Hence, it is no wonder then, that Scorpio is associated with the descent into the Underworld, a connection which goes back to the very beginnings of astrology where we find Scorpio as the dark guardian of the threshold of the Otherworld in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh.  In the tale, we are told that one had to pass through the gates of darkness in order to reach the world of light.

Scorpio is the archetype of transformation through deep, intense experience of emotional surrender...through meeting and working with our shadow.  Choices made here will determine whether or not the soul will grow.  Scorpio is that watery feeling which flows inward, and concealed within its depths, we find the secrets behind sex, death, and rebirth as vehicles of change and release, and it is through this inner transformation that we discover wisdom.  The Scorpio archetype is about the investigation of eternal mystery of life through probing the taboo depths to reach a realization of the spiritual power of water as the element of soul and imagination. 

The symbol...or glyph...of Scorpio is generally considered to be a representation of the legs and tail of the Scorpion, signifying the power of this Sign to suddenly and fatally...often with a hint of willful cruelty or vindictiveness...sting whatever and whomever may have hurt its feelings or denied its strong-willed desires. The glyph for Pluto is made up of the circle of spirit, half-in and half-out of an upward facing crescent of receptivity cross of matter. Combined, these elements represent the containment of the individual who is receptive to life’s mysteries and able to ground them into reality.

Scorpius, the constellation, lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way. In Greek mythology, it is usually associated with Orion, the Greek hunter and reputedly, the most handsome man in the world. According to some myths, the scorpion stung Orion in response to his boast that he could defeat any beast, while another tale says that it was it was sent by Apollo, who was concerned for his sister Diana's continued chastity.  Some reports say that the scorpion succeeded, while others maintain that Orion tried to escape by swimming out into the sea where he was then shot and killed by Artemis. In either case, Scorpius was placed in the opposite side of the sky from Orion so as to avoid any further conflict.

We find various references to the scorpion in Egyptian mythology. The Egyptian goddess of transformation, Isis, was liberated by the god of wisdom, Thoth, from the room in which Seth had Her at work weaving a shroud. She was given a company of seven scorpions to serve as her bodyguard, which forms a circle around her.Depicted as a beautiful woman with a scorpion on her head, Selket is the Egyptian scorpion-goddess who eases childbirth.  Her scorpion minions could strike down the wicked but, like Isis, she could intervene to save the lives of those who were innocent.

Scorpio rules that part of ourselves and the world that is still unredeemed. It represents the work that remains to be done in order to achieve perfection. It is a cosmic issue and not just a personal or human one. The psychologist Carl Jung and others increasingly addressed this challenging side of the human condition and how to work to transform it. It relates to the human soul and the depths of the subconscious mind. We are spiritual beings based in freedom. For there to be freedom there must be choice. If there was only good with no evil then it would be a weak goodness. We are destined to be masters. This means that the light and good that we embody is invincible and cannot be defeated. It is a strong goodness. It must be confronted by a powerful adversary to test and challenge the good until it is mastered. This is the process of growth and evolution that Scorpio rules.