The New Moon in Scorpio onSunday, November 3rd, comes with a total solar eclipse, as well as an annular eclipse (rings of fire around the Sun). What a dramatic opportunity for us to both see and shed aspects of our lives that no longer serve our deeper needs. 

This New Moon's Scorpio energy promotes our ability to see beneath the surface with penetrating insight. Pluto, Scorpio's ruler, rules the underworld, and is associated with death and sex. More than any planet, Scorpio is interested in transformational growth and healing. 

Any eclipse involving the Sun and Moon has the effect of blocking the Sun's light and energy. The momentary dark offers us a door that can take us out of one place and into new possibilities, a time of potential death and rebirth within ourselves. It could feel like a change of heart or mind based on a new perception of what feels real or true. To get the most from this opportunity you might want to look at your natal chart and see where 11 degrees of Scorpio falls by House. This may direct your focus to issues associated with that House. I often find this helpful.

In the art for this post there is a statue in the foreground, a female warrior with a severed head. Behind her is a Huichol shaman. This is the Queen of Swords in my Soul Speak Oracle Cards. Here there is an association between the Air Element and the role of "mask cutter," one with the gift of mental clarity, possibly a shaman. For me the severed head represents the cutting away of mental or egoic stories that don't serve our deepest truth. 

The affirmation for this card: "I look beyond the mask for deeper insight." 

It can also be helpful to look at the chart for this New Moon. The planet Saturn is conjunct the Sun/Moon on one side and our currently retrograde Mercury is on the other side. Saturn always carries a no-nonsense attitude toward anything that is not necessary to our true self and purpose. The Mercury brings in skills to analyze and re-frame ideas that have crystalized. Saturn says "you will be OK without this (money, job, partner, friend, new car, recognition, desired achievement). And who knows, you may be better off, contrary to how if feels right now?

On November 1st our familiar Pluto/Uranus square will be in perfect alignment for the fourth time (and not the last I believe). The theme here is that those who have been abusing personal power for satisfying personal desires at the expense of the less powerful will be caught with their hands in the cookie jar and ousted or outed. This could be heads of big banks, politicians, or petty tyrants at any level of social importance. Could be the abusive person, male or female, in the home, the office, the sports field, the classroom, anywhere there are potential victims, smaller, younger or less powerful. This is one way to see the unfolding pressure of the times we are living in. 

On a more personal level we can work quietly on our own psychological purification process. Have we been the victim, perhaps in childhood, of some form of abuse? How can we transform ourselves into the self-loving, self-honoring individual we know on an inner level we are? Define real power. Is it the freedom to be our authentic selves, to live without fear? Do our fears for survival marginalize this freedom? Is there a tyrant in our story? Can we find the courage to ask for what we need or want or become more self-reliant? Best of all can we work with Chiron though our wounds and become able to help others find their strengths?

The increase of cold and darkness in our daily lives will support looking inward. This is a great time of year to start a journal, take a class that stimulates creativity or personal growth. As an artist I find I do my best work in Fall and Winter when spending time in my studio feels attractive.