Scorpio New Moon - November 9, 2007

In my part of town, the colors of the leaves are transforming from green to brilliant reds, oranges and yellows. This beautiful display suggests the illumination right before death, like an old light bulb that brightens before it goes out. When you are on the death bed, you may have a sense of clarity that previously eluded you (provided you're not on too much morphine). The urge to forgive and make amends creates an opening in the heart that makes way for a clean departure.

The imminent death of a parent unites siblings who may have accumulated resentments, keeping each other at a distance for years. Bitterness and anger are held tightly, like a toddler refusing to part with a toy. Hopefully, brothers and sisters rise above their differences to care for their parent.

Anger cannot be swept under the rug, though. It is healthy to bring it out into the open, rather than express it indirectly through passive-aggression and sideways maneuvers. When everyone's cards are out on the table, miracles can happen. The blinding white surprise of forgiveness graces all, and love reigns supreme.

Or at least that's how it would go in an ideal world. Maybe the kids just fight over the inheritance after the old fart passes on, everyone feeling shortchanged after all the sacrifices they made. "Surely I deserve more than my sister, after all, I let dad live in my basement! I knew she was his favorite! It's so unfair!"

It's really up to you to decide which direction you want to take. Will you let the death of a loved one transform you, give you the opportunity to rise to the occasion and be selfless, or will you continue to live in scarcity consciousness, fighting over assets that will be meaningless when it's your turn to meet your maker?

The Fine Print: The New Moon occurs at 17 Scorpio, in a Grand Water Trine with Mars in Cancer and Uranus in Pisces. This lunation also squares Neptune in Aquarius. If you have personal planets or angles in the second decan (10-19 degrees) of water signs, this process outlined above may go smoothly for you. If you have personal planets in the same degree areas in Taurus, Leo or Aquarius, not so easy for you.

Now I believe in semi-squares

The past few days, I've been overcome with anger and resentment -- which would make sense, since today is a Scorpio Full Moon -- but it hasn't until now, because I didn't see the Full Moon making any hard aspects to any of my chart points. I play by a hard-and-fast rule that a lunation doesn't have much of an impact unless it's making a conjunction, square or opposition (and maybe a quincunx) to a planet or angle. Trines and sextiles just don't force one to get out of bed in the morning, you know? So I've been confounded all day ... why do I feel so pissy? The Full Moon is making a not-so-tight trine to my Pisces Sun. Big deal.

But now I know. This Full Moon is exactly semi-square my natal Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio. When I was studying astrology with John, I was amazed that he could immediately identify semi-squares and sesquiquadrates, because unless they're identified by those little symbols in the center of a computerized chart, they don't exactly pop out at you. All the Ptolemaic aspects are pretty easy to notice, because they're in the same degree areas, unless you're looking the last degrees of one sign and the first degrees of another. But 45 and 135 degree angles don't share that heuristic. 26 Virgo and 11 Scorpio don't scream out, "Aspect!" You have to do the math in your head. 26 Virgo (my natal Pluto) + 30 degrees = 26 Libra. 26 Libra + 15 degrees = 11 Scorpio (today's Full Moon). Therefore, 26 Virgo + 45 degrees = 11 Scorpio.

The math isn't so easy, but it's worth it, because now everything has fallen into place. The tension, the seething underground rage ... there's a precise astrological corollary to it. All is right in the Universe.

Scorpio Full Moon -- May 2, 2007

One of the most difficult lessons of early childhood is learning how to share. When you discover the concept of "mine," as well as the sensual delights of touching, smelling, tasting, viewing and hearing your toys, the loss of "yours" to someone else brings up all these dark feelings: rage, coveting, jealousy, possessiveness. Mom must intervene at the sandbox, teach you a "life lesson."

After graduating from toys, you move on to other acquisitions, but is sharing any easier? Can you share your spouse? Time on your entertainment system? Your hard-earned money? NO! IT'S MINE! I worked my butt off to get these things -- do you think I'm just going to hand them over to someone else?

Yet, how lonely is it when you keep your possessions to yourself? Why bust your buns, if not to share what you have with your loved ones? It can be easy to do so, when it bridges the gap between yourself and someone else. You give freely when you trust another.

In fact, do you really "own" anything? It all turns to dust. Your money, your house, it just gets transferred to someone else when you die, or it decays over time. Your possessions only provide an illusion of security. Don't get me wrong, creature comforts are important, and you need to pay your rent, but what do you really need? The intimacy you share with another human being, the trust you develop by having integrity ... are these intangibles not more valuable than your car?

You can lose all your worldly possessions in the fire, or you can lose yourself in the fire of regeneration. When you merge with another, a part of you dies, but you become larger as a result.

Michael Richards' Racist Rant and Jupiter in Scorpio

The man who played 'Kramer' from Seinfeld raged at a comedy club Monday night, saying some pretty hateful things to some African-American members in his audience. Last night he apologized on Letterman, claiming he is not a racist.

I'm inclined to believe he is being as honest as his self-awareness allows. In the U.S., we grow up learning some pretty hateful messages about people different from ourselves ... it's almost unavoidable. If you grow up in a racist culture, prejudice insinuates itself into your psyche. You can do "personal work" -- as Richards says he will do -- but there's always a part of our culture inside of us.

Richards' explosion occurred when Jupiter, the planet of expansion, was in the last degree of Scorpio. Any time a planet is in the last degree of a sign, something significant happens related to the flavor of that sign. In this case, Jupiter made a big splash in Scorpio's domain, which is about rooting out the darkness in the depths of our psyches.

We don't need to study Richards' natal chart (although a tight Uranus-Mars conjunction obviously relates to impulsivity). Instead we can see this incident as an event in the greater cultural landscape -- Richards just happens to have been "chosen" to play out this drama.

In the Broadway show Avenue Q, the puppets and humans sing, "We're All a Little Bit Racist." I think it's time to own that, so that we can all do some personal work.

Addendum (added 10:14 pm):

This incident is actually an appropriate expression of the recent New Moon in Scorpio squared by Saturn in Leo -- a negative experience (Saturn) performing on-stage (Leo) which leads to a large display (Jupiter) of the hidden, dark and ugly aspects of one's psyche (Scorpio).

New Moon in Scorpio - November 20, 2006

The sign of death is featured prominently in this lunar phase of new beginnings. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, the planet of regeneration. Pluto is Lord of the Underworld, impelling Scorpio to delve deep into life, to unearth secrets and hidden knowlege. This sign also relates to the emotional intimacy and financial resources we share with another person.

Since the New Moon is the start of the lunar cycle, it is a time for new beginnings. In Scorpio, we initiate deep connection. True connection requires a death of individuality. To bond with another human being, we must be willing to transcend boundaries. Scorpio follows Libra, the sign of marriage. In a partnership, sharing a bank account and a bed necessitates a relinquishment of self, a movement from mine to ours.

This New Moon conjoins astrology's two benefic planets, Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter expands Venus' desire to indulge herself. It is a pleasurable combination. However, there is a slight disconnect, with Venus having left deep-sea diving Scorpio for white-water rafting Sagittarius. Venus has gone off on her adventures, seeking sensual delights across the horizon, while Jupiter still celebrates the inner world.

Since Saturn in Leo is squaring the New Moon and Jupiter, there is a feeling of obstruction in our desire to renew ourselves. Leo thrusts himself out into the world, wanting to be the center of attention, while Scorpio puts up a wall, needing to protect her emotions from those she can't trust. Saturn's overcompensating efforts to be validated interfere with our drive to connect on an intimate level, either with a significant other or our own psyches.

The task during this New Moon is to find a way to transform, to shed your snake skin, while another part of you wants to put on your best shoes and dance, thinking that you're missing out on something that will feed your need for affirmation. Snakes spend most of their time in the water while they shed (Scorpio), which precludes basking in the glorious Sun (Leo). When it's time for a part of you to die, you need to withdraw, not seek the spotlight.

This New Moon will most directly impact those people with planets or angles around 28 degrees of fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), as well as those whose birthdays are around February 17, May 19, August 21 or November 20.

View the New Moon chart.