Scorpio New Moon

The New Moon in Scorpio continues the rather dense and intense atmosphere that abides now, especially with both the Sun and Mars already in Scorpio. Difficult themes — including jealousy, suspicion, insecurity, and vindictiveness — may be super-pronounced at this time. With Mars near the New Moon, intense feelings may be hard to screen out, particularly lust, anger, and hurt. We can literally feel these burning in some way — perhaps through the heat of passion or the height of irritation! Passion may seem less of a problem, unless it leads into inappropriate or unhelpful actions — in which case, it might be a good time to take a deeper look at what is driving this.

In the case of anger or hurt, it is worth remembering that emotions don’t come out of nowhere. There will — most likely — have been an intervening thought process, which led to registering those difficult feelings. In which case, our first remedial action might be to check whether the thoughts were actually true. And upon reflection, we may realize it possibly wasn’t and can decide to focus on a more positive line of thinking.

As the New Moon is closely opposed by Uranus in Taurus, there is the sense of something coming from out of the blue. In this situation, there might be the need for a judgment call about prompt action. Perhaps it truly will be needed to stem a problem or to help a situation develop positively. But note that Uranus continues retrograde, which suggests that a situation could remain unsettled. It could be that we need to take more than one step to manage a set of circumstances — like the Oasis song title goes, we might need to “Roll With It”!

The New Moon–Mars opposition to Uranus forms part of the larger t-square pattern with Saturn in Aquarius. The focal position of this planet basically means it is located at the midpoint of the opposition — a place we might consider useful for mediation between the other planets and the energies, people, or situations they represent.

Frank Clifford, in Getting to the Heart of Your Chart (Flare, 2012), describes t-squares like pressure-cookers — that underneath the lid, “There’s a huge amount of tension needing to be released — stress from parts of ourselves that are at odds with each other … T-Squares demand resolution, action and discharge.” Anyone who has read this column for a while knows that t-squares involving the Moon’s phases are not unusual. Therefore, the need to go through this type of recognition and release process can be a fairly common experience, part of the normal ebb and flow of life. We shouldn’t’t fear that anything insurmountable or world-rocking is the likely outcome, even though our feelings may make it seem that way!

Saturn, in particular, can make situations feel extra heavy and feed the fear factor. If our first response to a new challenge brought along by shock-giver Uranus is to freeze, then that may be the right reaction. Fear can have that kind of power — at least temporarily. For when we pause, we don’t make a serious mistake or launch ourselves headlong into a dangerous scenario.

It seems that Saturn’s emphasis on caution — whether driven from deep-seated terror, a need to do the right thing, or adhere to some rules and regulations — is there to protect us. It might be emphasizing the need to slow down and consider all options before taking action.

This is probably helpful in more ways than one, given that the Moon is disposited by both rash, abrasive Mars and obsessive, paranoid Pluto! We could easily operate from an angry, distrusting place only to realize down the line that the situation was not as grim as we first thought.

There is a wide (almost 8°) trine between the Moon and Neptune, and normally we might dismiss this, preferring a 6° orb. But with so much tension otherwise present in the opposition and squares — including Pluto square to Eris in Aries, emphasizing a great intensity of purpose — the trine to escapist, gentle Neptune seems almost soothing! We may need a little break here and there from the driving and striving bound up in these hard aspects to dress wounds, replenish hunger and thirst, or catch up on revitalizing sleep to help us prepare for the next round!

This article is from the Mountain Astrologer written by Diana McMahon Collis