Welcome to our first spotlight featuring the sun! Which means, of course, that I also must wish a Happy Birthday to our Scorpio sun friends! But let’s not overdo it, as Scorpio suns generally prefer a night of solo dart throwing to any birthday partying.
The sun in Scorpio is appropriate to spotlight right now, I think, because Scorpio season, when the sun transits through the sign of the scorpion, is shaping up to be something of an intense, and potentially difficult, slog. But, I’ll get into all of that fun next week in my November forecast.
For now, let’s turn our attention to the sun, representing the spirit and higher mind, in the fixed water sign of Scorpio. What is fixed water, you ask? Icebergs, bogs, jello. You never know what might be hidden within — hulks of ancient warships, prehistoric bones, coconut and marshmallows.
The point is that you can’t tell what’s under the surface with Scorpio suns (or any Scorpio placements, actually). They play their cards close to the chest, hidden from the rest of us, who cluelessly go about our lives unaware that there’s any game happening. Scorpio sun knows, and is in it for the long game.
And, they have all the time in the world. Like its fellow fixed signs — Taurus, Leo, and Aquarius — Scorpio has tremendous energy once it gets started on something. Fixed signs are sometimes maligned as stubborn (which can definitely be true). But I think it’s more of an inertia situation; it’s hard for them to switch gears, once they’ve started on a path of action/thought process/activity.
Pick an elemental metaphor — let’s use a giant container ship for this water sign: the process of slowing down, turning around, and getting going in the other direction is difficult and an all-hands-on-deck situation.
As a water sign, Scorpio is governed by feelings. But with Scorpio, it’s more of a gut instinct, based on the need to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. And Scorpio has brought its stinger, ready for battle. Scorpio sun is ruled by Mars, one of the “malefic” planets, and harbors no gauzy illusions or sentimental notions, like those of fellow water signs Pisces and Cancer.
For Scorpio sun, life is an existential battle, often waged in the realm of self. And, since this is a peregrine, or neutral, placement for the sun, much depends on the situation of Mars in a natal chart, as is the case with all placements ruled by the malefics.
If Mars is well-placed, in its signs of domicile in Scorpio or Aires, or in its exaltation in Capricorn, Mars is better able to do its thing (world domination, spy craft, sabotage, you know, the usual) and help any planets that it rules (in this case, the sun). Also somewhat helpful is if Mars is able to “see” the sun from a traditional aspect. But this is complicated by the fact that Mars can maltreat other planets, including the sun, particularly by squares and oppositions (and also through conjunctions).
Sect also plays a huge role for Scorpio suns. In the charts of those born by night, where Mars is considered the “malefic of sect,” Mars can be somewhat constructive, marshaling its martial energy in a relatively helpful way. But for those born by day, Mars is the “out of sect malefic,” and thus the most challenging planet in the birth chart, all things being equal. Therefore, Mars can make life more difficult for day chart Scorpio suns, often through setbacks that can seem self-inflicted, since the sun connects so deeply to the self.
Some famous Scorpio suns include: Voltaire, John Keats, Marie Antoinette, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Auguste Rodin, Marie Curie, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Albert Camus, Kurt Vonnegut, Sylvia Plath, Richard Burton, Rock Hudson, Grace Kelly, John Cleese, Martin Scorsese, Bob Ross, Joni Mitchell, Goldie Hawn Jodie Foster, Grace Slick, Anna Wintour, Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Gaiman, Tilda Swinton, RuPaul, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Nadia Comaneci, Demi Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, Matthew McConaughey, Gordon Ramsay, Björk, Lisa Bonet, Owen Wilson, Sean Combs, Ethan Hawke, Tonya Harding, Winona Ryder, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gabrielle Union, Chloe Sevigny, Leonardo DiCaprio, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Penn Badgley, Adam Driver, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Katy Perry, Frank Ocean, Ryan Gosling, Drake, Lorde, Shailene Woodley, and Kiernan Shipka.
[Spoiler Alert: spoilers ahead for the movie No Time to Die]
In the realm of pop culture, James Bond typifies Scorpio themes of spy craft, behind-the-scenes danger, and existential struggles against evil. But, up until the current movie, Bond has represented more of a clear cut Mars in Scorpio archetype: Bond as the supreme spy and master of suave masculinity.
Yet, in the newest movie, which finds Daniel Craig’s Bond trying to chill out in an uneasy retirement (let’s face it: Scorpios don’t really know how to chill out), something massive happens, at least in the hallowed tradition of all things Bond: the 007 moniker has been passed to someone who looks very different than all previous generations of this super spy — Nomi, played by Lashana Lynch, a junior colleagues of Bond’s at M16 who happens to be a woman, and a woman of color, no less.
Of course (and unfortunately, in my view), the transfer of the 007 title turns out to be temporary, as, towards the end, Nomi asks for permission from M to return the title to Bond as they prepare for the final operation together against the hilariously named villain Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek, exuding an surprising pathos). And, honestly, I knew it was asking too much of this franchise to willingly turn over the 007 pedigree, just like that, to a woman. They appear to have listened to demands to diversify Bond but only given audiences a taste of what a different kind of 007 could be like.
Hence, the connection to themes of the sun in Scorpio. The sun represents the higher self and spirit. So the question of who gets to be Bond, in this day and age, raised by the movie, pushes this archetype into the sun’s territory of self.
The movie’s conclusion, with the apparent death of the current Bond, leaves us with all sorts of tantalizing possibilities for future Bond movies — will Bond’s *daughter* grow up to become 007 and avenge her father? Rumors have it, however, that there will be a new, and probably male Bond in future movies, most likely a man of color, expanding the identity of Bond in the franchise of the future. While the identity remains a mystery (Idris Elba already — this is a hill I’m prepared to die on!), the welcome change in what the international man of mystery looks like will allow many more people to connect with the power of this archetype.
[Spoiler free from here down!]
The sun went into Scorpio on October 23rd, and will stay there until November 21st, when it moves into Jupiter’s territory in Sagittarius. This time of year is always a bit intense, with spooky Halloween pageantry and (in the northern hemisphere) the full onset of autumn in all of its decaying glory.
However, this Scorpio season is shaping up to be a doozy, mostly because, for most of the next month Mars, the ruler of the sun in Scorpio, will also be in Scorpio, where it will activate the tense Uranus-Saturn square, this time from a position of strength and power.
But our focus here is the sun, not its rather despotic current ruler. The sun reveals, shedding light on situations and events that need the natural disinfectant of sunshine. And it seems like there are a few situations that could use some disinfecting, in this time of extremism and polarization.
Look for the narrative to heat up around October 30th, when the sun squares Saturn at 7 degrees, and then on November 4th, when the sun opposes Uranus exactly at 12 degrees — which is also the day of the new moon in Scorpio, also at, guess what? 12 degrees. Fun. Make that potentially destabilizing sudden events.
Also watch for the days that the moon moves through the fixed signs, as the moon will broadcast and amplify the themes of this tense configuration. This starts with the new moon in Scorpio, which is active from November 3rd through the 5th, and continues with the moon in Aquarius from the 9th through the 12th, the full moon in Taurus from the 16th through the 19th (which includes an eclipse [!] in Taurus — the first of the upcoming Taurus-Scorpio series of 2022), and, finally, the moon in Leo from the 24th through the 26th.
It’s not all doom and gloom out there, though, as much as our Scorpio sun friends might prefer it that way (joking! Please don’t kill me, Scorpios. . .). On November 12th the sun trines Neptune, lending emotional vibes and suggesting a psychic communion in a speakeasy.
On November 15th, the sun squares Jupiter in Aquarius, which is doing its best to help out with the tense standoffs this month but is basically overmatched. Nevertheless, a square from the sun to our beneficent friend planet isn’t to be sniffed at, especially this month. There might be a helping hand lent, or at least a moment of uplift.
And, finally, in the semi-good news front (since I know we can all use it), on the 16th, the sun sextiles Pluto in Capricorn, which (good news!) isn’t a harsh aspect, so I’ll take it. This aspect has the feeling of power brokers who like each other’s company counting their illegally gotten gains (there’s a bit of a Sopranos vibe, with everyone hanging out in the deli), but at least it’s not nuclear war, so, like I said, sign me up.
It definitely seems like it might be rough out there, in Scorpio season, so, to lighten things up a bit, here’s a clip from one of my favorite Bollywood movies, Devdas (2002), staring emotive and magnetic Scorpio suns Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. The plot of this movie is labyrinthine, but the gist is that Khan (Devdas) and Rai (Paro) are childhood playmates and star-crossed lovers who can’t marry because Paro’s ancestral lineage is reputed to include (gasp!) courtesans.
So, Paro is hurriedly married off to a boring old widower and Devdas basically becomes an alcoholic who frequents a brothel presided over by a “good-hearted courtesan,” according to the synopsis (aren’t they all?) — played by the magnificent Madhury Dixit, who as a beautiful Taurus sun, provides a lovely counterpoint to our Scorpio stars. This clip is from Paro’s wedding, but you should watch the whole thing, especially this month!
If you do, three hours and five minutes later, you’ll find yourself wiping away tears and contemplating the vicissitudes of fate (an astrological theme), extreme alcoholism as a plot device, and whether they speed up the dance numbers in Bollywood films. So, maybe not exactly a pick-me-up, but, hey, I’m doing my best here.