New Moon in Scorpio

The Scorpio New Moon is here, and I thought I would share a bit of astrology and witchy suggestions that you can think about or play with.

It has long been a practice in many astrologically influenced traditions to set intentions or begin things on the New Moon. If we organise our intentions or projects to align with the energy that sign is in, it's like setting our sails to have the wind at our backs. And if you want to test the efficacy of such practices, then why not just try it with a sincere and open heart and mind and make a note to assess your intention or project when the Moon is Full in that same sign next.

So Scorpio is a water sign in the fixed mode. Water in all the energetic traditions i have come across deals with emotions. Fixed energies are the stable ones - so they often run very deep. In just this you can see why Scorpio is considered an intense energy. It rules the underbelly, the hidden places, things we avoid and things we hide. It is often where we are our most vulnerable and as plain ol' good sense tells us : it is when we learn to work with our vulnerabilities we often learn to tap into our own power. Which is just the thing most highlighted on Scorpio's agenda. For Scorpio energy wants emotional truth so that it can move from a place of power. Don't mistake me, this is not about finding your happy place. This energy in its fullness can bring you to your knees, but it never has to leave you there. Care must be taken with strong Scorpio energy. Like any energy it has high and low expressions. Yes low expressions of strong Scorpio energy cut deep and leave you feeling vulnerable and alone, but high expressions of Scorpio they are the healing lance that opens up and exposes what is rotting us. It shows the real work needed and gives us stamina for it. It can help bring us to a place of deep healing that gives us a powerful understanding of our own strength, depth and possibility.

So good things to do on a Scorpio New Moon? Clean out your closets or garage! Literal or metaphorical. Scorpio energy encourages us to clean up those places we've been avoiding, get rid of what does not serve us, what we no longer need.  At my first Zen retreat i was confronted by having to say precepts at the start of each morning ('thou shalt nots'). Being younger and much feistier and still in recovery from my fundamentalist christian upbringing, i took great offence and confronted the teacher over them and she asked "which ones do you have a problem with?" and i grabbed the first one that came to mind 'thou shalt not steal', thinking of Les Miserables and all the hungry folks on the planet. And she responded by saying that there was a nun born in the 11th century who said that stealing was keeping anything that you had no need of while others around you did. (well, that shut me up real quick). I am not with this suggesting that you give all you own away, but i do offer this story as a challenge to you to honor Scorpio by digging a little deeper than what feels comfortable or safe. Scorpio is definitely not about abstinence or stoic lack, but again, it wants us to rid ourselves of our protective ignorance that allows rot to fester. So i would suggest instead to contemplate that which has emotional significance for you and see what you are ready to let go of. That would really work the energy of this New Moon. Your closets are in perfect order? Well similarly this is a great time to have that hard conversation that you've been avoiding. Or doing some other thing that makes you feel a bit vulnerable or exposed.

As for intentions, the same rule applies. This is not the best New Moon to give up ice cream or start a new fad diet, but consider some habit or way of being that tends to be 'reactionary' or covering up some hurt or ugliness that you haven't felt willing or able to look at. A great Scorpio intention could simply be to offer to become more curious about that place, those topics. Scorpio is not only the cosmic plumber, but also the cosmic detective. If there is something hidden, Scorpio will find it and bring it to light.

As for witchy practice? That's easy, write something down that you wish to let go of and go offer it to a body of water. And ask for healing. Remember that all magic is powered by the strength of our own heart. Any good doctor will tell you that your belief in your own ability to heal is easily more than half the cure. If you have cleaned out your closets, by all means give it away! One person's trash is another's treasure. You can imagine it all flowing (like water) out and away from you. Send it on its way with a little prayer of thanks for your own abundance and for the room that you now have for something really nourishing and needed to enter.

Happy digging!