Astrology of Now: Scary Monsters
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| Amy Winehouse (born with Saturn in Scorpio) |
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just gloss over the nastier side of human nature and pretend there’s no jealousy, no murderous rage, no stomach churning fear, no madness? We could all live in a happy, smiling Libra world…. but we choose (sometimes) to dive into Scorpio.
What drives us to explore the darker depths of the human soul? Why do we read Patricia Highsmith’s horrid tales of Mr Ripley or Patricia Cornwell’s graphic descriptions of dissected bodies or Stephen King? Why do so many people love horror movies? Why do we listen to disquieting music such as Khachaturian’s hysterical Waltz, Bowie’s Aladdin Sane … or just about anything by Amy Winehouse?
Why do we listen to news of war, torture and violence?
Is it just picking at a scab? Or do we get some benefit from looking into the pit of scorpions?
I’m asking these questions because it is that time of year again. November, the month of mists and fallen leaves, and ghosts stories. In Britain tonight, we light bonfires and burn effigies. We turn our faces to the bright warmth of the fire to keep away the spirits at our backs.
The end of autumn belongs to Scorpio, the sign ruled by Pluto, the god of the underworld, and Mars the god of war. The green earth dies, and we look inward.
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| Truman Capote (born with Saturn in Scorpio) published this book in 1966 under a Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo, the writer’s sign. It’s a profound examination of the mind of true crime. |
This season, Scorpio’s power is especially strong. The sign of depth is hosting Saturn, the reaper, for two years now. And there is an eclipse at 21°57 on November 13th. Mercury will be retrograding back through Scorpio from the 15th. As the Sun leaves Scorpio on the 22nd, Venus will step, warily, into her least favourite sign.
Most years we glance at our monsters and quickly look away. This year, there will be no getting away from them. Saturn will make them manifest.
In this country, we have a new bogeyman, Jimmy Savile, in the ground just one year, has come back to haunt us. He reminds us not only that there are bad people who will stop at nothing to harm us, but also that there is darkness within. Savile was allowed to get away with it by the whole country. There was a conspiracy of silence and silencing around his activities, just as we’ve seen with the Catholic Church and now with the Boy Scouts of America.
Scorpio is a fixed sign. This is month is often a time of stillness, concentration and focus. Scorpio is also fearless – able to look at the Medusa in the mirror and cut off her head.
And that is the point. You can only take perfect aim, and cut off the Medusa’s head, if you look. That is why we choose to examine the darkness. We need to familiarise ourselves with the way wickedness works in order to fight it. If we skip through life with our fingers in our ears, singing la la la, a troll will surely come and trip us up. That is why we read crime novels and Naked Lunch, discuss difficult moral dilemmas, and listen to Lucia di Lammermoor losing her mind.
Saturn in Scorpio will demand that we confront our own monsters – those in our minds and those in the real world – dissect them, and murder them.
Happy hunting.
Jungians argue that some of our greatest potentials are hidden in our shadow. . . . mind you, I’ve yet to find anything particular marvelous or out of the ordinary in mine . . . so yes, still looking, looking, looking. I’m looking forward to Neptune moving on. . .
Yes, the problem is that some of the stuff in the shadow needs to stay there, of course. The job now is to analyse what can be used, what needs to stay buried and what needs to be put down….
May I recommend A Little Book on the Human Shadow by my fellow Capricorn Robert Bly? I first read the book and listened to the audio of his lectures on the subject several years ago, just before the birth of my daughter(who has moon in Scorpio, Sun conjunct Pluto). A small picture of Kali sits next to my computer as I type this; I consider her the Fairy Godmother of my shadow.
Mary – I love that. We are also very keen on Kali in this household.
Indeed, my daughter was conceived after I met a pretty sinister priest with a hand burnt into a claw, whom I quite casually bought a cup of tea. It turned out he had just been on a Kali pilgrimage and that his own temple was dedicated to her. He told me it was time I had my daughter and he would ask the goddess for me. I was rather nonchalant about the whole thing, but my sweetie certainly arrived to order, a gift from the goddess with a close and fiery Pluto-Venus trine.
Dear Christina,
thank you for choosing Maria Callas singing this scene from Lucia di Lammermoor. So appropriate, i really enjoyed it very much, the best operasinger ever ! thank you very much. I love every line of it. To me it describes the feeling of Saturn in Scorpio so well. Thank you.
Was Jimmy Savile allowed to get away with it by ‘the whole country’? Or was it a boys club at the BBC? Would Britain’s mothers have allowed that parasite to prey on their daughters? Methinks they would’ve invoked Kali in a trice, if they’d only known. He wasn’t the only one… they will be found out. As will those who chose to turn a blind eye. Saturn in Scorpio exposes the rot… bring it on!
This is my second Saturn return. So far, it’s been gruesome but cleansing. Remember when nurses used maggots to clean pustulant wounds? Repulsive yet effective – so very Saturn in Scorpio… love it.
Mimi – I so agree about Callas. Still the deepest emotion..
Prospera – I don’t mean to suggest that we are all guilty at all….I should have put it more finely than I did. It’s more that the Savile case represents more than perhaps it first appears. It touches on something deeper in the collective …
I also agree with you about bringing it on. I find my main feeling about this whole thing is satisfaction. I am so glad it’s all coming out. Justice for the victims means being believed and having their stories listened to. This surely will change the way we treat child abuse in the future.
[…] we are looking at here is the action of Saturn through Scorpio. Last time Saturn transited through Scorpio was in the mid-1980s. This was when much of the abuse […]
I like the way you are bringing all this victim assault with Lilith as well as Saturn. I have not investigated Lilith properly until now. We need Lilith in our ephemeris more easily.
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