A Stellium in Scorpio, a Grand Trine in Water, & Five Retrograde Planets
The Scorpio New Moon takes place at 28° 11' in a tight conjunction with Mercury retrograde (28° 27') on Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 at 10:46pm PST & on Thursday, November 20th at 1:46am EST.
The great Carl G. Jung said, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” This is indeed the perfect place to begin for the new moon that ends the Samhain season and that which falls in the astrological sign most interested in excavating all that is hidden within the realm of shadow, only to transform it into energy that can be used to empower our journeys forward. With Venus in the sign of the Shaman, as well as Mercury retrograde in an exact conjunction to the New Moon here, the energy is ripe for intense work that takes us into the depths of ourselves in order to recover what has been hiding for longer than we may have imagined, only so we can integrate these facets of who we truly are in order to contribute to the world in the meaningful ways we’re meant to.
Scorpio asks us to feel intensely and instinctively, letting our inner psychic expand, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable so that we may approach the power that is ours to reclaim. It asks us to tap into the secret parts of ourselves that we forgot lived within, tending to them with care and respect so that what was once a wound can be the place from which we draw our power. This power is not one that seeks to hurt others; the work of transformation is meant to completely shift the nature of the wound, turning it into energy for positive expression in our lives. If there is still a need to sting — as shadow Scorpio is known to do — this is an indication that the wound has not been fully tended to, and the process is meant to be initiated again in order to neutralize this hurt, lest we continue a cycle of “drama and trauma” that is likely more than ready to be put down.
I associate Scorpio with both Shiva and with Kali from the yogic tradition, the deities who usher in fierce transformation and inevitably throw us into a process of death and rebirth, yet only so that we can come to know our truest Selves on the other side. Hecate of the Greek tradition is another important Scorpionic figure, she who always has her torches ablaze to light the way in the darkest of places. In so doing, she reminds us not only of our capacity to bring our own lanterns and shine them brightly when embarking upon any journey into the unknown, but also of the infinite support we shall always have on this expedition, especially when fear or overwhelm seek to incapacitate us at any point along the way. Pluto or Hades, the planet and realm that is always associated with this zodiac sign, reminds us that “energy is neither created nor destroyed; it is only transformed,” and when we determinedly choose this path over and again, we become empowered co-creators of our own destinies.
The Cailleach of the Celtic tradition also comes to mind at this time, for she is the Bone Mother who has since taken over the season from Brigid the maiden, guiding us up the path that inevitably leads to her womb-like cave, deep within the craggy mountains that she, herself, created. She doesn’t fear spaces of intensity and unrest; in fact, she invites us to try our hand with them, moving into these rough places in order to know what we are capable of, especially if we didn’t think it possible to begin with. She carries death with her, but not the macabre or gruesome kind, for she invites us to the very real thing that is as intertwined with life as birth. She wants us to stare it down just as she welcomes us into her cave and does the same to us, reminding us that fear is only as scary as we make it out to be, only powerful if we give ours over to it. In sitting with and facing her, we face the mystery of life itself and emerge from her cave more trusting, present, and courageous beings than we were before entering. And she reminds us that it is always this way if we have the wherewithal to say ‘yes’ to facing our deepest shadows, the ones that will keep us from living our fullest lives if we give into them.
Thankfully shadow work comes in a myriad of forms these days, and we have access to so many of them because we need all the help we can get right about now! These tools give us the ability to reshape old experiences and beliefs, reclaiming our energy for ourselves in order to co-create the reality we know we’re here to live. Some examples come in the practices of psychotherapy and shadow work journaling, Shamanism and Evolutionary Astrology, EMDR and ART, parts work and re-parenting, Theta Healing and even writing burn letters. This last one I learned from a guide when I was in my mid-twenties named Wanda Boone, and it’s something I still practice from time to time twenty years later. You can write a letter to someone who’s hurt you, something in reality that is causing you strife, or really anything you’re carrying around that you’d like to shift. The key is to be as intense and ugly as you need to be while writing the letter, for you are purging these toxic emotions so you don’t have to carry them with you anymore, inevitably projecting them onto reality in a way that could harm all involved. There is no need to reread the letter, to keep it, to share it, or to do anything of the sort — that would completely defeat the purpose! Instead, after you’ve purged your uncomfortable emotions, burn the words immediately, perhaps singing, chanting, praying, or holding silence as they literally turn to ash. When I lived in a townhouse many years ago, I used a metal pail so I could easily do this on my patio. Once this process has been completed, write a gratitude list numbering twenty-five in a journal or notebook that you are keeping around. These things can be as random as they need to be, so long as you truly feel gratitude in your heart for them. As always, rinse and repeat ad nauseam; you’ll know when it’s time to put it down; your inner experience will clarify this if it’s in question. And if you’re unsure, give it a few days, then think of the person, event, or thing you’ve been working to shift the energy around. If there’s still a charge, repeat. Otherwise, you’re likely good to move on.
Mercury, aka Hermes, is the messenger of communication and god of perception, and as such, he has access to all parts of the Cosmos — even those no one else dare enter, like the Underworld. One of Mercury’s key roles is that of psychopomp in which he guides souls who’ve recently departed from the earthly realm into the domain of Hades. Especially when he’s retrograding in the sign of Scorpio and conjunct the New Moon, he’s super appropriate to play this role, giving us access to greater awareness through helping us form a connection between the different levels of our perceptual experience, from the conscious to the unconscious and back again. He guides us into places within our psyches we may have put away without giving a moment’s notice to, only to show us, often loudly and clearly, how fundamental these pieces of our lives truly are regarding what we’re integrating right now.
In his retrograde status, Mercury encourages us to pause. He invites us into deep introspection, especially in the realms that we’ve been focusing on here. Because he’s associated with insights and epiphanies, simply giving ourselves the space to be quiet and turn inside can create the conditions necessary to welcome these discoveries, ones in which we’re able to make connections that may not have been clear before, but that cannot be overlooked now. Reflection is key during times of Mercury retrograde, but now more than ever. What is revealed may be the key to unlock a part of our potential we’re just coming to know.
This leaves us to the other retrograde planets. There is Jupiter in Cancer, as well as Saturn and Neptune in Pisces, all forming a grand trine in the water signs to help enhance Scorpio’s already potent capacity to alchemize the deep emotions we carry within us. Then there’s Uranus in Taurus, forming a tight opposition to the New Moon, welcoming us into our bodies in order to ground and anchor the insights we’re receiving and the deep work we’re doing into our tissue and bones, as well as to encourage us to remember the vital roles our bodies play in the transformative process.
Jupiter in Cancer expands our capacity to truly, deeply feel the emotions that have been stored in our bodies, allowing them to move through us so that we may honor the totality of our inner journeys and the rich landscape within. Neptune in Pisces invites us to fully let ourselves go into the processes that are underway, trusting that we were made for this, we have the tools that we need, and our deepest, most innate selves know beyond a shadow of a doubt how to transform, integrate, and release as often as is necessary to actually be the people we came here to be. Saturn in Pisces reminds us that we must uphold the healthy boundaries that keep us embodying our most clear and true selves through choosing the practices and pursuits that encourage just this. It also checks us when we’re participating in habits we’ve perhaps long outgrown, those that keep us locked in old patterns and paradigms that we must leave behind if we’re serious about being the wise humans we know we must become.
Uranus in Taurus wants us to integrate all of this work in our bodies, remembering that not only are they an integral part of the alchemical experience, but that they have been loyally carrying not only our own stories and experiences, but those of our ancestors and from our karmic past as well. In order for the truest transformation to take place, it must be done through the tissues that constitute us, for it is here that everything making up the mythology of the self is held. When we make ourselves available to the deep work that is taking place in this way, we no longer carry what we once believed to be true but has been holding us back from our potential.
During this Scorpio New Moon, may you transform all you are meant to, facing what you must to reclaim your wisest, truest self, and may you know a bit more of the mystery that lies at the core of your innate nature.
