Scorpio

The magic of Samhain and the journey to Hallowe’en

Art by Wendy Andrews

I just returned from a trip to Ireland, where the holiday of Hallowe’en is said to have originated with the ancient Celts who called this holiday Samhain, or “summer’s end”.  Traditionally the holiday was celebrated on November 1st, but some sources say that the festival lasted seven days, or even nine days.  In Ireland there was a huge assembly at Tara where the kings met to craft their laws and the common people held celebration.

In medieval Europe the pagan (country) people celebrated the the midpoint of the fixed signs as periods of power.  These times correspond to the fixed signs of Aquarius (Brigid in February), Taurus (Beltane in May), Leo (Lugh in July) and Samhain (pronounced Sow’en) in October for Scorpio.  These times exactly between the solstices and equinoxes, and are called the “cross-quarter” days.  Early Catholic leaders adopted the festival of Samhain as All Saints Day and christianized the holiday to encourage praying for the souls of the departed.

While Samhain has been adopted by Wiccans and other followers of witchcraft, I think we have finally come past the equating of ancient holy holidays with witches and demons.  These are nature festivals of spirituality which we can use to honor the holy cycles of nature and the ebb and flow of life.

At Samhain it is said that the veils between the worlds grow thin, and it becomes easier to communicate with the souls of loved ones who have passed on.  They are also more easily able to offer advice, and divination is a key part of Samhain festivals even today.  Samhain marks the beginning of the dark half of the year, after the balance of light and dark at […]

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By |2019-10-31T08:15:45-04:00October 30th, 2019|Holidays|0 Comments

The astrology of Megyn Kelly

Embed from Getty Images

All politically-related posts on this blog seem to generate controversy. Please note that I attempt to be as impartial as possible and focus on the astrology of the situation, although at times my own personal bias may bleed through.  

Megyn Kelly is no stranger to controversy, but where controversy served her well during her thirteen years at Fox News, it has not been as well received during her tenure at NBC’s morning show “Megyn Kelly Today.”  Her recent comments about white children dressing in blackface for Halloween resulted in NBC’s pulling the plug on her show.  These comments follow a long pattern of what has been described as “racial insensitivity” and should have been no surprise to the NBC execs who put her on the air.  Ms. Kelly’s particular combination of blonde beauty and biting intelligence is the very thing which catapulted her to fame on Fox News whose audience is primarily white and older, but was less appealing to NBC’s morning viewers who are accustomed to a different kind of content, and the younger audience left the show in even higher numbers.

Megyn Kelly astrology Click to expand

It will not surprise astrology buffs to know that Megyn Kelly (born November 18, 1970 time unknown) was born with the Sun in the sign of Scorpio.  Scorpio a powerful sign which is known for its penchant for passion and intensity, and driven by an urge towards transformation and the embrace of the dark side of human experience as part of the process of personal evolution.  Scorpio people are often intense and amoral, living in an embrace of their own personal Truth that will not necessarily be the same as the truths espoused by […]

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By |2018-10-26T13:24:42-04:00October 26th, 2018|People|1 Comment

Scorpio Full Moon: May 5, 2012

Full Moon ScorpioIn the Full Moon is in Scorpio nothing is superficial – this Full Moon is all about delving deep into the Mysteries where the Truth lies unexposed in its raw and most real form.  The astrological Moon represents our emotions and feelings – it shows where we retreat to when we are under stress and our instinctive reactions that are unencumbered by any sense of what others expect.

Scorpio is a water sign and therefore involved with the emotional realm.  But Scorpio’s traditional ruler is Mars – a fire planet.  The emotion of Scorpio is nothing like the “go with the flow” emotional adaptability of Pisces, or the deeply sensitive and easily wounded nature of Cancer.  Scorpio is passionate and intense and can be aggressive in its need to defend and protect.  Scorpio’s modern ruler is Pluto, the planet of transformation and the ultimate Truth of Life and Death, which drives that need for intensity into a powerhouse of release and reconstruction.

In the Scorpio Full Moon the lunar instinct turns towards the fire of emotion in order to find our inner passions and face our emotions with courage and awareness. However, the Sun is opposite the Moon in Taurus, seeking peace and serenity in the midst of that Scorpionic emotional fire.  The Full Moon, like any opposition, requires balance.  The Scorpio Moon is in its ascendancy and is the stronger of the two during this lunar event, but the Taurus Sun is whispering to us, encouraging us to stay rooted into the Earth while we allow the fire of our passions and enthusiasm to engulf us in the flames of transcendence.

Scorpio as a rule demands our complete attention, and that will be emphasized as an […]

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By |2012-05-04T07:02:52-04:00May 4th, 2012|Moon|2 Comments

Scorpio Full Moon, May 17 2011: Becoming whole

Scorpio Full Moon May 17The Moon is full in Scorpio on May 17th at 7:09 am EDT, 11:09 am GMT, meaning that the Scorpio Moon will be exactly opposite the Sun in Taurus at that time.  The Full Moon is the peak of the lunar cycle: the point at which the Moon reaches its fullness and prepares for the waning phase of the cycle.  That point of fullness shows the Moon at the peak of her power.

The astrological Moon represents our emotions and describes the way we feel about things, but it is so much more complex than this.  The Moon is the inner child; it describes our fear of the unknown and tells where we retreat to safety.  The Moon is feminine in nature: changeable, powerful in its mystery, and comforting in its brilliance.  The waxing Moon represents the maiden in the first flush of beauty; the waning Moon represents the aging crone in her wisdom and power.  The Full Moon represents the comfort of the mother, and when we observe the Full Moon in the sky we often feel more connected to the essence of the Moon than at other times of the cycle.  We call her “Luna” – we acknowledge her power.

Scorpio is a fixed water sign – it is emotional but it is also powerful.  The fixed signs stand firm and unyielding, persistent and often stubborn and resistant to change.  Scorpio’s traditional ruler is Mars, so it is a fiery water sign which requires the courage (Mars) to face the demons of the darkness below.  Scorpio’s modern ruler is Pluto, Lord of the Underworld.  You can see how in Scorpio we must take the courage of Mars so that we can follow […]

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By |2011-05-16T06:42:05-04:00May 16th, 2011|Moon|3 Comments

Into the underworld, and Venus ascending

Halloween truly is a pagan practice, and most people now recognize that this so-called holiday is actually rooted in the old Celtic festival of Samhain. Although Halloween is commonly celebrated on October 31, the festival of Samhain is a cross-quarter holiday that occurs at the midpoint between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice on November 7.

Astrologically, Samhain (along with the other cross-quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasad) is celebrated at the midpoint of the fixed signs of Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius and Leo. Fixed signs are the signs of power – like the square, their stability and fixed nature leads to a buildup of energy that opens up a doorway to an explosion of raw power. In Scorpio, that power is directed within, fearlessly exploring the invisible dimensions of life and reaching across dimensions to discover what awaits there.

Samhain was celebrated as the New Year in pre-Christian Celtic lands, and it was thought that during this time the veil between the worlds was at its thinnest. Communication with the dead was widely practiced during Samhain rituals, not surprising because of the association with Scorpio and the underworld of darkness that it rules.

When Christianity attempted to subsume the pagan Celtic festivals into Christian holidays, All Saints or All Hallows Day was established on November 2 with the night before being the Eve of All Hallows which has come down to us as Halloween. Participants still celebrate the souls of the dead during Hallows Eve, but now the creatures from the other side were reviled as evil. Wise women became the evil witches; offerings of food and drink were left out for the dead souls to placate their evil spirits.

Sig Lonegren from Glastonbury writes about Samhain and […]

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By |2010-10-30T12:27:53-04:00October 30th, 2010|Holidays, Planetary cycles|1 Comment