“To live in this world
you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.”
(Mary Oliver)
“How can I ever breathe…normally again
After having been cradled by the kind of sorrow
So silent…that it nourishes
After having been swept
By the kind of joy…
So absolute… that it wounds.”
(Sanober Khan)
Scorpio and Taurus speak of our capacities to sense and feel the intricate melody hummed by Love&Loss; the experiences that crack our hardened skins and wash away our souls, like the glowing, warm, orange light of pumpkins gushing out of the darkness, reminding us of our wild humanness and mortality.
Since entering Scorpio time, marked by a powerful New Moon (10/28) and Mercury retrograde (10/31), the time has called us to embark on a descent in the unfathomable and soul-shaking land below, where all that is mortal begins the journey of decay and regeneration. We are asked to gently notice our shadows, to confront life and death, which in ancient times were inseparable and represented by the Goddesses. To honor the continuous regenerative power of nature, sexual encounters were sacred acts that celebrated the continuation of life. This vital energy is associated with Scorpio, one of the most ancient creatures to live on our planet dating back 400 million years ago, which was at times depicted as a companion of the Goddesses, and that is the symbol of sexuality as a life-affirming act.
Mercury retrograde in Scorpio (10/31 until 11/20) takes us through shaded forgotten trails in our inner forests. As a psychopomp, a traveler between the realms of the dead, the living, and the Gods, Mercury draws our attention to these secrets corners of our lives. We are called to embrace our losses, our failures, our obsessions, our wilderness, our being of this Earth, and all that is shunned by our largely hyper-rational, controlling culture. I often also think of these cycles as those that awaken implicit memories, that are deeply rooted and held in the body, that we can only access through body awareness and heart&mind-fulness. Suddenly an upsurge is felt in our limbs, or in our chest, coming from a past long gone we have no recollection of, but that makes itself felt in the loud knocks of our hearts beats. Holding space and noticing what comes may help integrate what's being unearthed.
Especially for those with planets in Scorpio, Taurus, Leo, and Aquarius between 10 and 28 degrees, this cycle also allows repairing misunderstanding happened this past October, or buried in the long-forgotten past. The time is apt to return on our steps and review, revise and reorganize incomplete or old projects, particularly financial aspects of our lives, or what you deemed to be of value. It might also be a time for delving into your own past intentions, journal writing, reflections, or clean up those forgotten places in your home. You might have the opportunity to reflect and learn from poignant memories, perhaps releasing and grieving one last time that which is ready to go.
Scorpio and Taurus, where the Full Moon will bloom on November 12th, are both associated with the feminine principle, and invite us to nourishing our capacity to be receptive, to be attuned to our senses, and genuinely engage with the felt-responses of our bodies, perhaps feeling the softness of the wind that speaks to us in the colder nights of fall.
The time is right to dive into our own depths, as we might encounter experiences that constellate powerful inner responses, capable of stimulating our life force, transform us, discard old habits, and commit to what sprout from our most resourceful inner landscape. Perhaps we might feel thrown off from our carefully planned pedestals, made of priorities that might no longer hold much traction. In going along with this journey, we allow ourselves to listen to our guts and instinctual wisdom, finding our place as members of the more than human world again. Shunned from the patriarchy that cut us off from the very roots of animal selves, our language still retains the wisdom of this experiential knowledge when we say "trust your gut" or "follow your instincts." As we cultivate the wisdom of our guts, we may notice the contrast with our “should do," that control, restrain, our vital source of life. Scorpio, deeply connected with instinct, holds such passion and power because moved by this primal force. As the word “instinct” suggests, coming directly from Latin “instinctus,” it means "instigation, impulse, inspiration," and "to stick, to pierce."
So you may follow your impulses and inspirations, as the week leading to the Full Moon in Taurus on November 11/l2 gives support and act as a stabilizing force. Moon is in domicile in the fertile sign of the Null, as she will get help by Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, and sextile Neptune. This fluid configuration emphasizes the element of Earth, allowing for days of recognition of the nourishment we gather when we feel deeply into our liveliness. Taurus Full Moon will shine a light on the path that feels most rewarding, valuable, and worth pursuing. This sign constellates stability and patience, and as the other side of Scorpio, invites us to slow down amid our hectic lives, and enjoy the pure pleasure of our senses, experiencing the calming beauty of nature, and taking pleasure in the face of a season of endings. Perhaps it's pausing to feel the drops of rains, wrapping ourselves in a soft hug, tasting the pulse of the setting sun, the pleasure of touch, and all that can be perceived by the senses that reconnect us to our bodies.
It invites us to appreciate the simplicity of what's really necessary and discard the unnecessary. The Taurus Full Moon might ask: "how do you want to spend your time and what is really worth?"
The revolutionary transit of Uranus in Taurus might challenge us to rediscover what is valuable and remind us to take time for self-care, for slowing down and paying attention to ourselves in relationship to all the beings around us. Maybe, for some, it` just time to let things die and to enjoy the empty space of being or for taking the time to taste the raindrops falling with the tears of forever ago. Or perhaps, it's time to die from filling our senses, as Sanobher Khan beautifully invites us to:
“then let me die
from having being drunk on
indigo skies, my liver
overflowing with stars
from having a sudden moonstroke,
right there….
…
from breathing in the seascent
in illegal high dosages
…from the merciless, violent assault
of all this beauty
that my heart just could not take.”
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Gaia Somasca is a professional astrologer in private practice and therapist-in-training with a deep interest in psychological and humanistic astrology.