Astrochat: Scorpio

I was anticipating having this post finished months ago. I was imagining kicking it off with something like, “IT’S FINALLY SCORPIO SEASON!! MY SEASON!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!.” But, life had other plans for me, or I had other plans for myself, namely procrastination and anxiety. I’m a Scorpio. This should have been the easiest one to write, but I’ve been avoiding it at nearly all costs. I have Sun, Moon, Mercury (my communication planet for godssake!) and Pluto all in Scorpio. But I’ve never really felt all that Scorpio. I think part of my initial fascination with astrology was that I didn’t identify with my Sun sign, even though I wore it proudly. I knew Scorpios were supposed to be mysterious and intimidating, two things I’ve often dreamed of being described as, but I am certain will never happen. Scorpio season to me has always glittered with seduction, power, and, depth. Things I’m afraid to fully express. I don’t want to come off as “intense, or dramatic” but I crave people taking me seriously, seeing me as a leader. But a cool leader, a casual one. I want people to see me as someone that’s passionate, but not crazy, intellectual, but not a know it all. With so much Scorpio in my chart, I thought at some point it would come naturally to me, but I’m simply afraid of it. Afraid to step into my most Scorpio self, afraid to embrace the transformation, afraid of killing the perceptions of other people. So I’m writing this post in honor of my braver Scorpio counterparts. The ones who are intensely fierce, who are bold in everything they do, who keep secrets like their lives depend on it. For those who’ve been called “too much”, “too sexy”, “inappropriate”. For all of my Scorpios, that have too many feelings. I see you. I love you. And for those who came here to get a better understanding of what makes a Scorpio tick, all I’m saying is good luck, because I’ve been a Scorpio for 27 years and I’m still figuring it out.

Scorpio is a fixed water sign. They are certainly the most stubborn of all the water signs, and certainly the most compassionate of all the fixed signs. Scorpios are BIG on the truth. Telling the truth, seeking the truth, defending their truth. This is also because they’re ruled by Pluto, but we’ll get there! If a Scorpio feels they’re being deceived, they won’t rest until they’ve gotten to the bottom of it, and often won’t rest once they’ve gotten there. Because once everything is out, no matter how ugly, or how painful, Scorpios know that’s where the work can truly begin. Scorpios aren’t afraid to see the worst in a situation. They’re willing to identify the roots of a problem or disagreement and rebuild from the ground up. They don’t believe in rose-colored glasses, but that doesn’t make them negative. They’re willing to see the worst because they believe so fully in the best. Scorpios won’t turn a blind eye when they know that something is unjust. They will talk, they will listen, they will hear, and they will calculate the best way to solve any problem. They believe that no one deserves to be deceived, and that everyone deserves stability. Scorpios are super solution oriented, and when they feel ethically aligned with a cause will go to bat again and again for it, to keep finding solutions, to keep changing minds, to keep connecting with people who feel as strongly as they do.

Scorpio is traditionally ruled by Mars, planet of war, (same as Aries) but it manifests a little differently since Scorpio is a water sign. Scorpios can be extremely intense. They are sometimes mercilessly passionate about the things they believe in, and on a really base level, about simply getting their way. Scorpio’s like to be in control and they don’t like to be told what to do. When a Scorpio feels undermined or belittled, Mars will make its appearance. When a Scorpio is angry, they don’t come at you guns-a-blazing like an Aries. They do it methodically, slowly, dare I say, vindictively. This is one of the most discussed traits of Scorpio. That they are vengeful and loooooove the feeling that comes from black-mail and payback. To this I say, check your Mars sign (mines cancer, which makes me ultra conflict avoidant), if you’ve got Mars in Scorpio, this may be really true for you. But if not, just know that not all Scorpios are hell bent on revenge. What I will admit to as a Scorpio is that I won’t hold back to spare your feelings. I won’t be outright mean for no reason, but if something is true (hello fixed water + Pluto which I’m getting to!) I’m going to say it. I refuse to yell in arguments, and I won’t hear it if someone is yelling at me. I need a slow, steady dialogue, so while I am rationally pointing out all the reasons someone else is wrong, they will have a harder time doubting it because my composure has been kept in tact. If I feel that a dialogue isn’t going to cut it, or I reach a point where I know I won’t be heard, it’s safe to assume I’ll just cut that person out of my life forever and not really give it a second thought. it’s not my best quality, but we aren’t talking about my best qualities, we’re talking about Scorpio qualities!

Scorpio’s other ruling planet is Pluto, named for the god of the underworld. Having Pluto as a ruler makes Scorpio more comfortable with things that make other people really uncomfortable. Trauma, death, tears, and discomfort are important parts of life. As important as anything that’s opposite them. Scorpios feel this in their bones. They explore it, they question it. Scorpios get comfy in intense conversations, they adore hearing all the intimate details, and it’s nearly impossible to scare them away or gross them out. Pluto though, is also where I think things get super sticky for Scorpios. Because while Scorpio’s thrive in uncomfortable conversations around someone else’s issues, they really don’t like divulging details of their own. They adore privacy, they need it. The narrative needs to be of their design. Pluto is a generational planet, so if you’re a millennial, you most likely have Pluto in Scorpio. We want to reveal things on our own terms, with social media, we’re able to some degree to control our narratives. Scorpio Pluto placements are also here to bring about transformation. The real, deep kind that lasts. Transformation is one of Pluto’s key words, and it’s something that Scorpio’s, more than almost any other sign really lean into. Let me completely dig it up, turn the earth over, plant something that didn’t exist before, and care for it tenderly as it grows. It’s not always so breezy and beautiful though. You might be digging through clay under overcast skies, but no matter, Scorpio is determined to come out on the other side having grown something.

The Scorpio symbol you’re most likely familiar with is the scorpion. I like to think of this as “Scorpio: Level 1” this symbology holds in it all of those shadow traits we tend to think of Scorpio’s having. A little desert predator. Defense, poison, and jealousy are wrapped up in the scorpion. I said early on here that I don’t fully identify with my heavy Scorpio placements, but I think it’s hard to own up to my own shadiness sometimes. Scorpio is also symbolized by the eagle, “Scorpio: Level 2” still a bird of prey, but ever so majestic. The eagle is considered a more evolved, mature form of Scorpio. Fiercely protective and self sufficient. Soaring above, seeing the world from multiple perspectives. The final form for Scorpio is the phoenix. The ultimate symbol of transformation and healing. There is a vastness to each of these symbols. The scorpion thriving in the expanse of dry desert, the eagle with its point of view from the skies, the phoenix flying through the underworld. All fearless and ready to teach us something.

The tarot card associated with Scorpio is Death. Death in the tarot offers us a moment of pause to consider what in our lives is ready to be swept away in the never truly ending spiral of life. Death can be as simple as de-cluttering your closets, or doing a full on deep clean of your whole space. Getting rid of anything that isn’t really supporting you. Clothes that don’t fit, things that are broken and can’t be fixed, relationships that refuse to see you in your truest light. It can show itself when it’s time to cut things off, end a toxic cycle, or take responsibility for the power you have in choosing what’s in your orbit. Death asks that we make room for the things that our in our highest and best alignment, and always shows itself when opportunity is waiting in the wings. Death doesn’t have to be harsh. It’s the leaves on the tree after they’ve lost their color and gotten crunchy, gently descending towards the earth in the wind. It can also be swift, which doesn’t mean without pain, but Death reminds us we don’t need to linger in the in-between. Scorpio at its best embodies and holds space for the life, death, rebirth cycle.

One of the most quoted facts about Scorpios is that they are ruled by their sex organs. The reproductive system and sexual organs are Scorpios ruling body parts, but let’s dive deeper into how that manifests. On one hand, it can look like being one track minded. As soon as Scorpio becomes romantically interested, they’re looking for ways to get closer. They aren’t shy when they’re interested, and especially if they can get you alone, they’ll make sure you know you’re wanted. Scorpios aren’t the hit it and quit it kind most of the time, even when they’d like to think of themselves that way. It’s in Scorpios nature to want to connect on a much deeper level, so close you’re intertwining. Scorpios can get really attached, but it’s more likely that whoever is on the receiving end of their affection will start to crave it. Unless you’re really not into someone being borderline obsessed with your pleasure. the tricky thing here is when sex starts to become a power play, a tool for manipulation (a shady Scorpio tendency). Don’t be surprised if you find yourself feeling extra sensual and aroused during Scorpio season. La petite mort - the little death - French for orgasm, a big Scorpio vibe. Being ruled by the reproductive system can also look like an intense and overwhelming desire to create, especially from scratch. You may find yourself inspired to build with raw materials, forage for your ingredients, and bring something into the world that is totally unique to you.

I’ve been lucky enough to have a few absolutely remarkable Scorpio relationships in my lifetime. I can say with a whole lot of certainty, Scorpios are real ones. They may be intense, overbearing, obsessive, and moody, but I can’t even imagine how boring the world would be without people like that in it. They are my people to share things with that I’d worry would make someone else afraid. They don’t judge your darkness. They see in it something to be held, transmuted and made exquisite. My Scorpio friends are the ones I don’t have to hold back with. There’s nothing too weird, too wrong, or too raunchy. It doesn’t need to be polite, but it does have to be authentic. Scorpio can smell bullshit from ten miles away, and they won’t stand for it. They won’t make a whole scene about it, you just may never hear from them again if you try to pull some shit over on them. They know when things are off, and of all the zodiac, are most likely to actually read your mind. My closest Scorpio friends have never required an explanation of me. If a Scorpio ever asks you to explain something, I promise it’s so hopefully you can hear, from your own mouth, exactly why you are wrong! But when you’re real and direct with a Scorpio, you get to experience the most beautifully profound love there is, and they won’t hold back making sure you feel it.

Scorpio can teach us to trust our intuition. To honor and listen to the inner voice of knowing that’s been quieted within us. To do the thing that feels scary. To stop judging ourselves and others when we are deep in our feelings. To let things go when they’re ready. Scorpio may have some sparking psychic abilities, but they remind us all that those abilities exist within all of us. The ability to see and observe, to hear and to listen, to take in and taste, and then to share those experiences. It just takes a little extra care, a little extra curiosity to know more. Scorpio season invites you to give fully of yourself to exploration. To find answers and seek truth. It asks of all of us, to drudge up what’s buried, and bring it to the surface. To lean into taboo and come out of hiding.

Maybe I’m not at all as un-Scorpio as I thought I was. This shoot was all the Scorpio I wish I could be, and I think I’m stepping more and more into her every day. Scorpio energy is all about embracing the unsavory, the misfit, the twisted, and holding space for messiness. It’s a really fascinating moment to look at all the things you think are flaws and see they ways they’ve shaped you. In true Scorpio nature, I put this whole project on pause and isolated, hard. That’s why this didn’t come out over Scorpio season. Writing this piece started to unravel me. I wondered how I could say anything about my sign when I felt so wholly disconnected from myself. In true Scorpio nature, I let things get dark. I sat with it for months. Wrestling with every way I had embarrassed myself thinking this project could be anything at all. Acknowledging ways I felt like a fraud and a failure. When people asked if I was okay, I stopped saying yes. I’m not saying this approach works for everyone, or even that it’s fully worked for me yet. But as I write this now, from nearly peak Taurus season, I see how very Scorpio the whole of me is. I am holding my Scorpio self from six months ago, and saying to her, “You can come out now.” Holding her hand as we laugh at how dramatic and self involved we can be sometimes, and also saying, it’s okay to be dramatic and self involved sometimes. You’re a Scorpio! Drama is in your blood.

This would usually be the part where I tell you Happy Scorpio Season, my little demons!! If you have as much Scorpio in your chart as I do, it probably always feels a little like Scorpio Season, no matter what time of year it actually is. May this season, and every season fill you up with over flowing passion. This is your moment to cry it out, write an exposé under a pen name, have the kinkiest consensual sex you could ever imagine! Whatever you do, may it be true to you. I hope this time emboldens you to step into your most authentic self without any shame, guilt, or fear attached. Talk to ghosts, perform elaborate blood rituals, re-enact a scene from your high school diary. Maybe skip the blood, it’s messy, and Scorpios definitely aren’t known for their cleaning abilities. I hope this season brings you the best of everything magical and mystical. I hope you feel empowered in your sensitivity and your sensuality. And I hope you know, I love you. Because I’m a Scorpio, and despite my occasional standoffishness, I deeply crave intimacy and connection, and I know I can get more of that by giving it.

Finally, thank you to everyone who read all the way here! I didn’t know if this post was ever actually going to come out, but I am so glad I finally finished it. BIGGEST thank you goes to Victoria, my stunning goddess of a photographer, and Jamie, my gorgeous queen of a hair and makeup artist. I truly could not have done a single bit of this without the two of you, and I will never forget the kooky, spooky, but ultimately glorious vibes the journey of this shoot had. For the rest of you, I know it was ages ago, but please share any and all Scorpio related things with me. Until next time…loving you all beyond obsessively, spending every minute together and then vanishing into thin air (JK, I’m totally staying! Unless you hurt my feelings), like a Scorpio would.

xx

T