The Scorpio New Moon takes place at 16° 53’ on Monday, November 9th at 12:02 am PDT (BC time), and 2:02 am EST.
Scorpio Season has arrived with a whirlwind of color and a plethora of moody, bruised skies, all the right shade and hue and at just the right times. Last week’s turn of the wheel at Samhain welcomed the dark season here in the North, and we descend into the shadows to stir our cauldrons, tend our inner flames, and alchemize what we know we must. Meanwhile, five retrograde planets—two close up and three further out—invite us more deeply into our transformative process. This is where the true magic happens. This is where the real stories are told. This is where all of life begins and ends. And we are welcomed into its swirling waters for a time, if only so we can know who we are and who we are not, learning to trust ourselves and life’s alchemy in our infinite becoming.
Scorpio, the second water sign, knows how to hold its own—especially when things get real. Not one to sugar coat or mince words, the Alchemist is here to tell it like it is, and in so doing, to remind us that when we’re willing to look at the full picture, we’re better for it. Even—and especially—if it’s uncomfortable. Not that the Detective always wants us to remain in the unpleasant; but it does want us to see reality as it is. When we’re willing to take off our rose-colored lenses (or yellow, green, etc., but please, not the blue blockers!), we’re given the chance to see and understand a clear picture, and can thereby make decisions from this place, perhaps saving us a lot of time and energy in the meanwhile.
I consider Scorpio to be the Midwife, the Death Doula, and the Witch. The usual taboos don’t offend these archetypes, for they barely bat an eye at what might cause others to run for the hills. In this, Scorpio teaches us to trust the edges of our own consciousness and to use these as entry points into ourselves. It asks that we descend into the fertile dark, for this is the rich and fecund soil that holds us in the transformative process, that nurtures us in remembering ourselves, that allows the inner alchemy that unfolds when we agree to all that’s possible.
Many facets of our culture have taught us to avoid the things that make us even the slightest bit uncomfortable. In this, we are robbed of our power, for we never get a chance to know things as they are. Death is avoided at all costs. People hide behind their egoic structures by talking about the weather, other people, their schedules, you name it—and circumvent the most obvious truth that ultimately comes for us all. But not Scorpio. This sign wants to get in between the frames of life, underneath the polite conversation, inside of the misperceptions and misunderstandings that keep us from ourselves.
This sign wants to know what is actually there, hiding in plain sight, catching a glimpse (or many) of the unspoken reality that silently governs so much of our lives. And without us even knowing it! But Scorpio can sense this deeper reality, and it beckons us into its churning, murky waters. Not so we can get pulled forever into the whirlpool of consciousness, but so we can transform within it. What lies on the other side of this process is what we were meant to uncover all along—all that’s been hiding in the midst of our own psyches, wearing our own clothes, moving our own emotions. Because of our acquiescence within this process, we remember who we are. Whom we came here to be. We become aware of the thoughts and ideas that we’ve given our power away to, only to realize that these can never keep us confined—unless we allow it.
Scorpio invites us to alchemize at all costs—because it sees, feels, understands, and knows the complexity of reality and all that’s hiding within it. And it has no way of stopping what it knows. Rather than push it aside as so many do, the Hypnotist is here to transform all the things that keep it from knowing the truth, seeing them as they are—plays of energy within the human experience. Not to be pushed aside, but to be engaged, understood, seen, felt, held, known, alchemized, and integrated, from start to finish. Without this process in some way, shape, or form, Scorpio is lost.
The Scorpio New Moon forms a loose square with Mars and Jupiter in Leo, inviting us to go into the depths, in part so we can fiercely claim our creativity, allowing our self-expression to expand in ourselves and into the world with powerful, enlivening energy. Vesta in Aries forms an inconjunct (quincunx) with the New Moon, reminding us that ferocity is required when it comes to tending our sacred flame, especially when we are moved into a powerful transformative process that asks for it.
And now, for the retrogrades! When planets appear to go backwards in the sky, they invite us to slow down, do some introspection, and revisit places they’ve already been in our birth charts and lives.
Mercury, retrograde in Scorpio from October 24th-November 13th, 2026, encourages our inner alchemy so that we might shift our perception of reality to see things as they are, having the conversations that invite us to insight—and back to our own sense of empowerment.
Venus, retrograde in Scorpio and Libra from October 3rd-November 13th, 2026, beckons us into deep, transformative waters with those we hold dear, confronting what is necessary to get real together. She asks that we revisit places that have not yet been healed or integrated, and welcomes us into a space in which this can happen.
Saturn, retrograde in Aries from July 26th-December 10th, 2026, always wants us to get real, becoming the wise beings we came here to be by doing the hard work that is required for this to be the case. He asks that we bravely leave behind parts of our lives that we’ve outgrown, and to courageously face the music when it’s no longer a tune we enjoy. He invites us to be fierce in becoming the wise versions of ourselves.
Uranus, retrograde in Gemini from September 10th, 2026, to February 8th, 2027, continues to shake things up, welcoming new ideas and possibilities into our lives, even if they’re a shock initially. He asks that we wake up and that we be willing to embody our most authentic selves, opening to novel and innovative ways of doing so.
Neptune, retrograde in Aries from July 7th, 2026-December 12th, 2026, beckons us into the place of dreaming and envisioning, of releasing what no longer is and can never be in order to open to the visions and downloads that are ready to shape our lives. It encourages us to take pause and space in, as I like to call it, so that we can boldly take action on what we’ve discovered in the between space, bringing it to life in the world of shape and form.
As we move through Scorpio’s New Moon portal, how will you descend into the dark to tend your inner flame? How will you welcome the transformative process that beckons you? What tools will you call to you in the swirling of consciousness?
May your New Moon be blessed and your month beautiful!
