Alchemy of Change - New Moon in Scorpio

This November 1, 2024, the Scorpio New Moon occurs at 9°35' of Scorpio. It offers us a new beginning infused with the Martial intensity and raw force of Scorpio’s fixed energy. New Moons symbolise fresh starts, a time to plant seeds for the future.

This New Moon in Scorpio is ruled by Mars, which is currently moving through Cancer meaning it is in Mutual Reception with the Scorpio Moon. It is in the bound of Venus. The New Moon falls in Scorpio's first decan, a place where desire is ferocious, and the will to attain is unyielding. Scorpio is fixed, feminine, meaning more internal and receptive and is the water element, making this New Moon an ideal time to address long standing desires and passions that run beneath the surface.

Mars, the ruler of this Scorpio New Moon is currently in its fall in Cancer. Mars is typically assertive, action-oriented, bold, and direct, but in Moon ruled Cancer, its energy can become more protective, emotionally driven, and indirect. Mars in Cancer can express itself through defense of home, family, and personal security, rather than through outward assertion or aggression.

We also find Mars moving through its pre-retrograde shadow, and forming a tense opposition to Pluto in Capricorn. This will be the first pass in a series of connections that will continue as both planets shift into Leo and Aquarius in the coming months. This opposition may reveal or highlight tension, power struggles, hidden motives, and deep emotional confrontations, it can also bring a slower, karmic understanding of previously hidden dynamics in your life.

The Moon, and particularly a New Moon can act as a trigger, or translator, for bringing the information from the planetary aspects directly to us on Earth. Mars' relatively weakened, or fall, state in Cancer suggests a struggle to assert oneself directly, or a need to assert and protect in a different (Lunar) style. Pluto's final direct travels in Capricorn complete themes of societal control, authority, and the structures that bind us that we have been working to transform since 2008 and are now concluding before Pluto moves to Aquarius for the next 20 years. This is the last New Moon with Pluto in Capricorn that we will experience in our lifetimes.

The Cycles of the New Moon

Every New Moon signals the beginning of a new lunar cycle, offering a clean slate for new intentions and fresh starts. We are familiar with the feeling, as we experience one every month. The monthly cycle lasts about 28 days, from one New Moon to the next. For the New Moon in Scorpio on November 1, 2024, the monthly cycle will culminate with the Full Moon in Taurus on November 15, 2024, and will have completed by the New Moon in Sagittarius on 1 December 2024.

The longer emotional and transformational journey tied to this New Moon can be worked with until you see a culmination at the Full Moon in Scorpio on May 12, 2025. Over this six-month period, the seeds of emotional intensity, regeneration, and personal power that are planted or initiated during this New Moon can reach their full potential.

The Moon Family Cycle: A Longer Journey

This New Moon also marks the beginning of a Moon Family cycle, as described by Dietrich Pessin in Lunar Shadows III. This cycle extends over 28 months, progressing through four key lunar phases at roughly nine-month intervals, offering a broader arc of development.

* The First Quarter Moon in this cycle will occur on August 1, 2025, at 9° Scorpio, when the seeds planted at this New Moon will first face challenges or demand some correcting action. It will be a time of adjusting your path and making decisions that will further your goals.

* The Full Moon arrives on May 1, 2026, at 11° Scorpio, bringing clarity and culmination to the themes initiated at the New Moon in November 2024. At this time, you will begin to see the full manifestation of the desires and intentions set now. You might expect heightened emotions, deep revelations, and transformation.

* The Last Quarter Moon will occur on January 29, 2027, at 9° Scorpio. This offers a time to assess what has been achieved, make adjustments, and let go of what has been outgrown. The cycle will come to a close, but its lessons and transformations will continue to resonate in your life.

Working with the Moon Family cycle means setting intentions now with the knowledge that they will unfold in stages over the next two years. This longer timeline offers you the opportunity to approach your desires and goals with patience, allowing time for growth, reflection, and integration. This work is particularly effective if you have planets or angles in the fixed signs between 7-14 degrees.

Planetary Context: Venus, Mars, and the Fall of the Moon

* Venus, the ruler of the Scorpio New Moon bound, is not easily available to assist the New Moon with her resources as she is said to be Averse in Sagittarius. This could speak to a longing for beauty, harmony, and connection that is hard to grasp during this time. Venus’ typically softening and relational energy may be overshadowed by Scorpio’s raw intensity, urging us to look beneath the surface and question the cost of our desires, seeking the beauty and connection that we may be missing.

* Mars, the double ruler (in both Chaldean and Triplicity methods) of the first decan of Scorpio, emphasises action, strength, movement and the pursuit of our passions. Scorpio is fixed water, a sign with the ability to sustain intensity, focusing on long-term goals or emotional transformation. Mars is in its fall in Cancer, in its pre-retrograde shadow so our actions have some restriction and also foreshadowing at this time. Mars is also in Mutual reception with the New Moon, showing shared goals and direction, a willingness to assist one another through their difficulties.

* The Moon is in its fall in Scorpio, where it struggles to find the nurturing, comfort, and safety it thrives on in other signs. Scorpio’s emotional landscape is more like deep, still or contained waters, where the Moon must confront hidden fears, primal emotions, and the need to regenerate. While this can feel unsettling, it’s a helpful time to release old emotional patterns and initiate new ways we can tap into our resilience. Although the emotionally intelligent Moon does not easily relate to Mars’ propensity to favour action over reading the room, the two are working well together here in Mutual Reception, finding ways to support one another and learning new skills and facets of their being, which we can also understand about ourselves when we take time for reflection, journalling or meditation.

Aspects to the New Moon

* Co-Present Mercury (Peregrine): Mercury in Scorpio at this New Moon lacks essential dignity, wandering without clear direction or stable grounding. This placement could amplify penetrating thoughts and sharp communication, but with a lack of grounding, it can also point to challenging thoughts that lead us nowhere. Be wary of overthinking or getting lost in the details.

* Whole-Sign Opposition to Uranus in Taurus: Uranus brings unexpected disruptions or awakenings. The tension between the New Moon and Uranus suggests there is potential for sudden, disruptive shifts in areas tied to our senses, our attitudes to or appreciation of pleasure, security, abundance and luxury. This aspect calls for flexibility and openness to change, even if it feels destabilising at first. Be open to insights and breakthroughs, especially when it comes to releasing old attachments.

* Trine to Saturn in Pisces: The applying superior trine to Saturn in Pisces offers the potential of a stabilising influence amidst the intensity. Saturn’s presence can lend structure and discipline to the New Moon. While Scorpio wants transformation and deep emotional engagement, Saturn in Pisces may help ground these desires in practical wisdom, offering a bigger picture. There is also the potential to become lost in the endless, ethereal waters of Pisces.

* Whole-Sign Trine to Neptune and Mars: Mercury is creating a degree based Grand Trine with Neptune and Mars. Neptune in Pisces brings an element of compassion, spirituality, and dissolution, merging with Scorpio’s emotional depth. It could also bring some confusion or sense of unreality to challenging situations. The trine to Mars, ruler of Scorpio, enhances the New Moon’s intensity, and supports taking decisive action toward deep emotional or creative transformation. There’s a need to channel this energy constructively to avoid confusion or misdirected passion, together with a pull to communicate, or process intellectually, our new understandings.

* Whole-Sign Sextile to Pluto in Capricorn: Pluto, (also thought to be the modern co-ruler of Scorpio), enhances the transformative power of this lunation. The sextile indicates that the process of deep emotional regeneration and personal empowerment is supported. Pluto offers an invitation and the strength to dive into your shadow side, emerging stronger, more resilient and integrated.

Decan 1 of Scorpio: Mars and Mars

The first decan of Scorpio, ruled by Mars in both Chaldean and triplicity systems, represents pure, focused intensity. Astrologer Kira Ryberg describes it as Hunger, while Austin Coppock calls it the Jawbone, underscoring the relentless determination of this decan and the never satisfied hunger of the jawbone without a full stomach to signal when to stop, its only purpose is to consume.

Astrologer Nicola Allan designed the Wild Way Oracle Deck which illustrates the decans. The Wild Way card for the Decan of Scorpio I is titled Intensity.

* Keywords: Forceful Desire, Ferocious Hunger, Potential for Disappointment.

This decan embodies a raw, primal hunger for something essential—whether that’s emotional connection, power, or transformation. There is an urgency to attain, to strike at the core of one’s desire. However, with that hunger comes the question: What if the desire is not satisfied?

The Scorpio I Seal, illustrated in the Oracle card, confidently poised on its rock among the stormy, dark waters, holding the spear which provides, symbolises the energy of this decan. The Seal knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to achieve it. With spear in hand, she is always prepared to take action, yet her intense focus on desire asks us to consider all possible outcomes. What happens if the goal is achieved but the hunger remains unsatisfied? This decan asks us to contemplate not only how we will achieve our desires, but also what happens after the attainment. Will we be left fulfilled or facing the deeper existential void of insatiable hunger? What does failure look like? What other eventualities do we need to contemplate?

Tarot Correspondence: Five of Cups

The Tarot card associated with this decan is the Five of Cups, known as the Lord of Worry, reflecting disappointment, emotional loss, or regret. The Five of Cups reminds us that intense longing and the drive to achieve can lead to emotional loss or disappointment if expectations aren’t met or if the desired outcome doesn’t fulfil us as imagined.

This card is a reminder that, during this New Moon, we must be prepared for the possibility that what we are striving for may not yield the results we hope for. However, it also teaches us to focus on what remains, rather than what has been lost. This is a time for emotional resilience, transformation through grief, and learning to release attachments to outcomes.

T. Susan Chang's Verse for Scorpio I: "We Shall Endure"

T. Susan Chang beautifully captures the essence of Scorpio I with her evocative verse, This is an excerpt:

…"These waters run into the past:Let go of that which cannot last.Toll your bells; Mourn your dead;Slake the hungry river bed..."

This passage speaks to Scorpio's deep connection with the past, its emotional currents flowing through memories, loss, and grief. The New Moon in Scorpio asks us to release, to mourn what must end, and to allow the emotional waters of the past to flow freely. Scorpio’s energy doesn’t shy away from the shadows or from pain; instead, it embraces these forces as part of the transformative journey. If you are setting intentions under this New Moon, consider what you need to release—whether it’s an old emotional pattern, a relationship, or an outdated belief system—so you can move forward unburdened. What new action could you take to support this?

"In spite of brooding’s dark allure,I know my spirit shall endure.Endure the iron grip of pain.We shall survive. We shall remain."

This reminds us that, despite Scorpio’s intense emotional landscape, we possess the strength to endure. The Scorpio spirit is one of survival and regeneration, rising from the depths stronger and more resilient.

Scorpio’s energy reminds us that, through the process of facing our shadows and shedding what we have outgrown, we become empowered and renewed.

Conclusion: A Time for Deep Emotional Reckoning

This New Moon in Scorpio invites us into an emotional journey. It is a time for confronting the intensity of your desires and taking decisive action towards transformation. With Venus’ softening influence hidden, the raw power of Scorpio and Mars comes to the forefront, demanding that we face what we truly desire, and assess the price we’re willing to pay to achieve it.

This is a time to dig deep, release what we must, and embrace the profound regenerative power that Scorpio offers. The lessons of the Five of Cups remind us to manage our expectations and be prepared for the emotional aftermath of intense striving, whether we succeed or not.

The New Moon offers a profound journey that unfolds over both the next month, 6 months or the next 28 months. This is a time to be honest with yourself and name your deepest desires and fears, to release, and to trust in the process of regeneration.

The opposition to Uranus may bring unexpected changes, while the trines to Saturn, Mars, and Neptune offer support and guidance for navigating these transformative waters. As you work through the cycles of this New Moon, whether you’re focusing on the shorter six-month arc or the longer Moon Family cycle, trust in your ability to endure and emerge stronger. The Chinese see Water as the strongest element over time. Like the river that carves its path through rock, the intensity of Scorpio will shape and reshape you, leaving you more empowered and self-aware as you move forward.

Travel well, friends.

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References:

AustinCoppock.com The Decans: Images and Applications

Bernadette Brady, Predictive Astrology The Eagle and the Lark

Dietrich Pessin Lunar Families III

KiraRyberg.com The 36 Decans

T Susan Chang Dreaming the Decans

The Wild Way Oracle deck by Astro Artistry @nicola_allan on Instagram & Twitter

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