01.11.24: New Moon in Scorpio
"...the more unlived your life, the greater your death anxiety. The more you fail to experience your life fully, the more you will fear death."
– Irvin D. Yalom
Dear One,
I'm writing this love letter for the upcoming New Moon in Scorpio.
Scorpio is not only one of my favorite archetypes (and deeply tied to my mission in this lifetime) but also a season celebrated powerfully here in Mexico, where I live.
As I get ready for a Mayan Ceremony honoring death, I'm thinking about what to share with you about this season, one that's so layered in complexity that a single love letter barely scratches the surface. But I'll try to keep it short.
SCORPIO: WHERE DEPTH IS BORN (AND DIES)
Scorpio marks a pivotal point in the zodiac.
It's here, in the social half of the archetypes, that we bring depth to our connections. After learning to relate in Libra, meeting the “Other”, Scorpio dives us into the depths—into the subconscious bed of the sea.
Yet, Scorpio doesn't just want to dive. It wants to uncover the shadowy, hidden layers within us. Bare naked and with a bleeding heart. Asking the question of “Will you meet me as deeply as I meet you when I show you my naked heart?”.
It dares us to unlock the cellar of our subconscious and to face the aspects of ourselves we may have neglected for years (or even lifetimes).
It's here that we meet our buried secrets and latent power at the same time.
SCORPIO: S**, MONEY, DEATH, AND POWER
Scorpio is often associated with themes like sexuality, other people's money, death, and mystery. So how do all these themes connect?
Each of these Scorpio-ruled areas ultimately ties back to power and transformation.
Money, for example, is neutral—it's what we do with it that shapes its effect. The same goes for our sexuality. As the purest expression of life force, sexuality can be a tool for profound connection and self-awareness, or it can be misused for power dynamics. Scorpio knows that deeply.
There's something to reflect on here: Why are all these intense themes housed in one archetype? And what does our own relationship with these topics reveal about our relation to it and our lives?
Have a look into your birth chart and in which house(s) the archetype of Scorpio falls into, that's the transformational area in your life.
A DEEP KNOWING THAT DEATH IS LIFE
One of my favorite existential psychotherapists, Irvin D. Yalom, once wrote:
“The more unlived your life, the greater your death anxiety. The more you fail to experience your life fully, the more you will fear death.”
Yalom connects much human suffering to our fear of death, a fear that sits quietly in all of us. And yet, in many parts of the world, especially in Western cultures, we seem distanced from death's reality.
In Germany, for instance, the elderly and sick are often secluded in hospitals, out of sight. Talking about death isn't fashionable, even at funerals there seems to be a shame around it.
And just like that we also cut ourselves off from grief which is an essential part of death. The more we cut those areas out, the less we feel in general – also the joy and ecstasy of life.
Scorpio knows that the formula goes:
Feeling more grief & sadness = feeling more joy and bliss.
In the US, a culture of forced positivity sometimes blurs over anything “negative” or “unpleasant" – especially death. The epidemic of suicide and “autoimmune diseases” are striking. Do we see a relation here?
Yalom suggests that this avoidance of death dulls life's sharp edges, making it harder for us to fully experience its richness.
HOW DO YOU RELATE TO DEATH?
Here in Mexico, October 31st to November 2nd brings “Días de los Muertos.”
This is a time to honor ancestors, dress as the dead, build altars, and celebrate the cycle of life and death. It's a powerful reminder that death, like life, is meant to be acknowledged and honored. It's meant to be considered regularly.
Yalom suggests that the more we connect with death, the more alive we become. The more we feel our own limitations, the more we're able to live deeply.
So I'd like to ask you:
How do you relate to death?
How do you relate to your own inner darkness?
What do endings mean to you?
How often do you connect with the energy of letting go?
MARS AND PLUTO IN OPPOSITION
Right now, we also have Mars in Cancer opposing Pluto in Capricorn at the famous anaretic degree of 29°—a powerful aspect that speaks to the tension between our emotional needs (Mars in Cancer) and the integrity of the soul's deeper desires (Pluto in Capricorn).
Mars in Cancer draws us inward, toward our feelings, out sense of family and inner experience, and the safety we crave. But Pluto, representing the soul's backpack so to speak, calls us to stand in integrity, even if it feels uncomfortable.
This opposition brings a chance to see where our emotional reactions may be holding us back from our soul's deeper evolution. It can be a time of built-up emotions and chaos.
We're being asked to align our desires with a level of truth and to honor both our need for security and the call to transform. In this moment, we're called to be honest about what we truly want and whether our actions are in alignment with that truth.
SATURN IN TOUCH WITH THE NEW MOON
Adding a layer of grounding, Saturn in Pisces forms a harmonic trine with this New Moon in Scorpio.
Saturn's energy here asks us to accept endings, to draw our energy back from what no longer serves us, and to take responsibility for these natural closures.
With Saturn's influence, we're reminded that boundaries are not only protective but necessary for us to focus on what truly matters.
In Scorpio season, boundaries may feel even more essential as we're called to release with clarity and to transform with intention.
QUESTIONS THE MOON WOULD ASK
What parts of myself am I ready to confront, release, or transform?
Where am I holding onto old patterns or relationships out of fear, and how can I let them go?
What fears or insecurities still control me, and what would it look like to bring them into the light of intimacy?
How can I invite more authenticity and depth into my relationships?
What is my relationship to power, both within myself and with others? When do I manipulate to feel powerful?
How can I honor the cycles of death and rebirth in my own life, embracing both loss and renewal?
A FINAL SCORPIO THOUGHT
As we move through this Scorpio season and the power of the New Moon, remember: this is a time to honor death, transformation, endings and the life that blooms in their wake. It's a time of deep knowing that after the darkness comes light. That the lotus blooms in the mud for a reason.
Scorpio invites us to let go of what no longer serves us, to make peace with our shadows, and to live with integrity.
I'll leave you with one more Yalom quote to hold onto through this season:
“Though the physicality of death destroys us, the idea of death saves us.”
With love,
Karina
