Scorpio Full Moon: The Reunion of Sex & Spirit.

In the aftermath of the full moon, something has been revealed- a new perspective, a reengagement with something lost or banished in the unconscious, and a willingness to reconnect with the pulse of life. This is not lightly won; it requires, enquiry into the depths to meet what is ready to surface… it may have been lost for a long time.

These processes of awakening have been happening for many of us for much longer than the last full moon, they span back in time to the recent eclipse season, and the season before that, back through a series of conjunctions between Uranus and fixed star Algol beginning last summer, and through other slower, transpersonal cycles, that interconnect with the faster, personal shifts of our daily lives. Like Russian dolls, the cosmic events that affect us are cycles contained within cycles winding back through time.

My personal relationship to these cycles tells the story of aspects of the eternal feminine that have long been held captive in the repository of the unconscious and are now coming back to life. It the story of a feminine rebirth, a renaissance- not lofty or remote but rooted right in the earthiness, fecundity, and sexual nature of human women.

This shift has to do with eros, and the sensual, enlivening, transformative elements of feminine nature that has been maligned and exiled. In the full moon chart, there was a Yod between the deep Scorpio Moon on the apex; Chiron (the wound and the medicine); and the expansive, bright light of Jupiter. Both Jupiter and Chiron were inconjunct to the Moon, meaning that the Moon was challenged in being able to fully engage with either of these energies, however, Chiron and Jupiter, in a sextile aspect, were working in harmony to connect with the Moon and facilitate a release. A Yod holds great potential if the apex point can be released.

Close to Jupiter- by less 3 degrees- was asteroid Magdalena, symbolising Mary Magdalene, a figure who has been deeply misunderstood, her powers divested, her nature corrupted, and her name synonymous with sin. In her book, “The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspects of the Feminine”, Nancy Qualls-Corbett tells us that

“The archetypal dimension of the erotic feminine elects a figure to carry its projection”, and that “[…] human beings in their spiritual search, must find an image of the feminine which relates to the erotic aspect of the goddess. But the Christian fathers’ repression of sexuality manipulated the image so that Mary Magdalene was seen as penitent, renouncing her sexuality.”

Implicit in this statement is the fundamental human need for an image of the goddess- and therefore human women, which not only permits but celebrates erotic, sensual, feminine nature. This element of the feminine is equated with the life giving, transformative aspect of the feminine as opposed to the static, fixed, maternal matrix of the feminine. It is essential, says Qualls- Corbett, that both aspects of the feminine are present, and that without the transformative, sexual feminine, or the archetype of the sacred prostitute, life becomes, arid, joyless, and overrun by logos. An overly rigid mindset, bereft of the moistening and fertile powers of the moon, gives way to an over-militarised, over-politicised society in which material growth, control, and authoritarian laws become the mainstay.

In the full moon chart, then, Chiron, the wound but also redemptive possibility, is working in tandem with the light, and higher perspectives offered by Jupiter to illuminate the depths of the Scorpio moon. In the alchemical mix, brought to light by the power of Jupiter is asteroid Magdalena, adding potency and meaning to the moment. Both Magdalena and Jupiter placed in Gemini point to the potential for the released material to become conscious, and transmittable.

In the Sabian Symbols, 23° Scorpio tells of the possibility of the elevation of the instinctual urge and speaks to the process of transubstantiation.

A RABBIT METAMORPHOSES INTO A NATURE SPIRIT.

KEYNOTE: The raising of animal drives to a higher level.

The rabbit is traditionally a symbol of an overabundance of progeny, thus of a great stress on procreative and sexual processes. “Nature spirits,” on the other hand, represent the higher aspect of life energies, as they are said to guide those normally invisible forces controlling the growth of all living organisms, particularly in the vegetable kingdom. Thus the symbol refers to the transmutation of the generative power into a more ethereal and subtle form of potency.

This is the third symbol in the forty-seventh sequence. It brings a new dimension to the preceding two. Whether it is the sexual desire for a progeny, or aggressiveness, the instinctual urge can be raised to a new level. The course can become subtle through a process of TRANSUBSTANTIATION.

In The Pulse of Life: New Dynamics in Astrology, Dane Rudhyar says:

Scorpio, “the accursed Sign”, has paralleled the identification of sex and sin. Which has conditioned so much of our Christianised Western civilization.

Could it be that this restrictive and life crushing paradigm is finally breaking down? The danger of course, is that as the spell of profanity begins to wane, powers that have benefitted from its reign may up the ante in a bid to further debase human, and in particular female, sexuality.

It is not difficult to see this debasement in action as we witness a pandemic of degrading and humiliating sexual content in the form of widespread pornography, or in the attempted erasure of the feminine through the transgender movement. But the goddess will not be silenced, nor will she be reduced indefinitely. She is alive and well in the psyche of modern men and women, guiding us to connect with Her, and offering the healing chalice of renewal. She is the salvation for the restoration of the human soul.

On the day of the full moon, we had the third and final conjunction between Uranus and fixed star Algol. Algol, also known as the “Demon Star” in the constellation of Perseus, is an asterism representing the slain head of Medusa. The star’s variable brightness is associated with the blinking of eye of Medusa, notorious for turning men to stone. The myth of Medusa belies an old patriarchal tactic of demonising the feminine through myth and lore; that which is considered the dark, or lunar feminine, or the overtly sexual feminine, in other words the feminine who is not easily brought under patriarchal control, is the target of abuse.

Uranus, progressive, and liberating compels us to transcend the confines of Saturnian structures of patriarchal order, freeing us from limiting attitudes and laws, and forcing us to confront our fears. The myth of Medusa is alive and vital, morphing and meeting us anew as our consciousness shifts in relation to feminine power and sexuality. Perhaps it is time to alleviate Medusa from her role as victim and transform her into an image of the sacred sexual priestess who willingly and consciously unites with Neptune, Lord of the deep waters and oneness of spirit- He who connects us to the primal matrix while spiritualising our physical existence.

These thoughts and revelations speak directly to my own life as I reflect on my experiences as a woman who is all too aware of the degradation, humiliation, rejection, projection and scapegoating that can happen when the sexual nature of the feminine is feared, rejected, or corrupted. With this full moon though, I am blessed to be in a place where the goddess is tangibly present and unrobed. A truth reignites in me, a reclamation, and a reframing of my own Medusa/Magdalene story.

A Scorpio moon invites us into the underworld to meet the split off shadow parts of ourselves that have been stuffed into the unconscious. Through self-compassion and a willingness to reignite the sacred flame within, we come to see that the shadow is not the scary monster we have believed it to be, and in fact holds the key to our salvation and rejuvenation. Like the serpent whose venom has the power to kill or cure, we come to see that our shadow, or that which we have hidden due to shame, pain, or dissociation, is in fact the vehicle to our redemption.

Our incompleteness, our fragmentation, is not only individual, it exists collectively, engineered through a fissure in the collective psyche. It is not our madness, and we do not need drugs to cure it, nor do we need machines to erase the messiness of human life; we simply need to remember, and to own that which has been denied and exiled in us. To restore our suffering soul, reuniting it with body and spirit is the possibility of our time. Denial of aspects of the feminine, perpetuated and sanctioned by the Christian fathers, and benefiting the architects (archons) of culture ever since, is a trope that has worn thin.

To step out of our victim stance and embrace the aspects of ourselves that we were wronged or rejected for, to allow the goddess to speak through us, is the invitation of our time whether male or female. For men, the internalised image of the feminine wields power in the unconscious through the anima: in what ways has the splitting of feminine into mother/whore taken root in your psyche? Can you surrender to receive the full power of the transformative feminine into your life, placing her on an equal footing, or do you deny her by reducing and debasing her?

For women who have suffered through being punished for embodying her, or who have betrayed their essential nature to be accepted, how might you now reclaim her essence now?

There is deeper stratum to the mysteries of female sexuality, that hint at dark interference, and deliberate attempts to corrupt and debase this naturally potent and sacred energy. According to Freud, the sexual life of an adult woman is a “dark continent” for psychology. I believe this is still the case; as we collectively begin to unravel the mysteries of sexuality and spirit, we may reveal yet more disturbing truths. In the meantime, as the Sabian symbol for the full moon assures us, we have the capacity to elevate and spiritualise animal drives that have been split off, and deliberately or otherwise, kept in the darkness of unconsciousness.