Moon in Scorpio

The Moon dives deep into incisive, shadowy Scorpio today, ready to explore the depths, uncover the mystery, and find gold in the darkness. Right now, she sends bright energy to the Ceres-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, as she will for most of the morning.

Ceres and Pluto have been traveling together for a while now, two "dwarf planets" who share mythic as well as astrological space. Ceres is better known as Demeter, the grain mother who brought growth and abundance to the Earth each Spring, and gave life and her heart to Persephone, her beautiful daughter. Together they celebrated the resurgence of the green Earth.

The story of Demeter's loss told most often in modern times is one of forcible abduction, of rape, and of a mother's frantic grief and deep rage, as Pluto (Hades) sees the lovely Persephone and takes her, imprisoning her underground. In times of traumatic loss, we identify with Demeter's fierce determination to stop at nothing, even the ending of life, to rescue her child.

And yet there is another, older layer to this tale, in which Persephone is the natural, rightful queen of the regions of the dead, the one who brings comfort in loss. The forcible taking by a male god seems to be a patriarchal rewrite, a pattern we see in other myths. The Oracle at Delphi was a goddess until Apollo took over. Many Celtic tales describe the despoiling of magic wells and fairy springs by knights and kings who took the guardian spirits, all female, by force.

And now Ceres and Pluto, Demeter and Hades, Earth Mother and Lord of the Underworld, are together in the sky in Capricorn, Earth sign of hard work, steady effort, responsibility, and consequences. Today's Scorpio Moon hands us Hekate's torch and says, take a look. How are things going these days in the deep places? Are the structures sound? Will they support you in the times to come? What might you find here in the darkness? What is down there that needs to be brought to light?

About 2:15 EDT, the Moon trines Venus in mothering Cancer, Hekate and Demeter now together, sharing energy to grieve and heal our losses, and protect the tender heart. By this evening (7:00 pm EDT), the Moon will oppose Mercury in Taurus, calling the planet of mind and communication to acknowledge that however wonderful things may look on the surface, it's always wise to be aware of what is hidden. Without strong healthy roots holding deep in the earth, plants cannot weather the storms.

The Moon in Scorpio brings the power of transformation when we have the heart courage to look into our own darkness.