Darkness and Light: The Scorpionic Conjunction and the Full Moon in Pisces

Sedona Buddha, by Chad Woodward, 2011. 

Full Moon @ 26 Pisces
September 19, 2013

The dance of duality permeates every aspect of third density experience. We are creatures of contradiction. There is no light without the dark. Within each of us there is truth and beauty, and yet there is an equal amount of deception and ugliness to boot. The sign of Pisces, the final stop of the zodiac, brings cohesion to this universal disparity.

Pisces seeks unity. It carries the message that we are all oneness striving to know and love itself--and yet, most of the time, from our earthbound perspective, that remains a lofty ideal. It doesn’t seem to fit with our perception. I am me and you are you. There’s a perceivable difference. That perception has a purpose in that it keeps us alive while we walk around in our fleshy sack of bones. Boundaries are necessary and healthy.

One frightening truth about life is that we are completely vulnerable. There are no ultimate safety nets which will save us from suffering, pain or complete physical annihilation. Another frightening and yet liberating truth: all is impermanent; nothing stays the same. In the moment we are cast into the illusion of separation, but one day we will dissolve again; we will become one with the void.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. The reason I bring up these uncomfortable universal truths is because this Piscean Full Moon carries this message profoundly. While Pisces is often perceived as dreamy, spacy, ethereal, full of awe and wonder, there is a considerable amount of heaviness and seriousness alongside this Full Moon.

For several days leading up to this lunation a powerful and poignant conjunction of Saturn, Venus, and the North Node becomes exact in the sign of Scorpio. This conjunction comes into sharp focus on the days of Sept 16th to 18th—taking us directly into the culmination of the current lunar cycle. This is powerful psychic and emotional terrain. While Pisces may tempt us to “check-out” for a moment, to seek comfort in enticing illusions, this conjunction demands our full focus and awareness of reality as it actually is. Pisces equally helps us to clear the mind of distortions so that we feel this truth as it permeates all of existence.

Saturn in Scorpio (Oct 2012- 2015) is a rather lengthy transit which churns around in the background of consciousness. When highlighted by other transits it comes sharply into our awareness, and lets us know that it means business and what it’s up to. In Scorpio there’s inevitably that sense of concealment and secrecy.

We’re all feeling this in one way or another. There’s some seriously deep and heavy work going on within our lives….somewhere. Pinning it down to some recognizable construct is probably a challenge. While everything in astrology could be recognized as “unconscious”--that is, aspects of our psyche we don’t visibly perceive, the sign of Scorpio truly exemplifies those hidden trenches of the mind and soul.

Scorpio embodies uncomfortable truths and realities: death, impermanence, sexual lusts, unconscious fears, trauma, etc. It is a reservoir of primal rage, vulnerability and desire. While most of us would like to think of ourselves as “good” and socially polite persons—deep down, somewhere, there’s a blood thirsty beast. We’re all capable of doing some terrible and downright nasty things. No one is exempt.

When taken to the edge, past our ability to cope or deal with something painful, this reality gets exposed. It all hangs out. Things get real. That’s what we’re invited to do here—to get totally raw, honest, and real. Cut away all the B.S., and get straight to that bottom line. If we do it willingly and consciously, it needn’t surprise us. Any attempts to avoid what you don’t want to deal with will likely backfire. 

Full Moon @ 26 Pisces--September 19, 2013

With Venus’s involvement, this could bring relationships into the picture. That might mean intimate relationships, or that could mean relationships where we are somehow extremely vulnerable with that person. There’s a strong dependency factor with Scorpio, and a sense of enmeshment where our identity is bound up with someone else. This is some touchy and sensitive terrain.

The core message is this: bring it out into the open, take responsibility and deal with it consciously. Projecting, blaming or backstabbing would be the less desirable route to take. Saturn’s transit through Scorpio has the side effect of causing us to stagnate and bottle up emotions and sexual expression. In times like this, there is a universal breaking point: a collective cathartic moment.

This Full Moon could illuminate certain fears and challenges within our relationships--even deep, dark and uncomfortable secrets; it invites us to deal with and process some unsavory material. Doing the work consciously and intentionally could lead to unexpected emotional or karmic breakthroughs. This is a good time to find acceptance for your fears and vulnerabilities, and to realize that we all have them; it’s all a part of being human.

On the other end, Venus seeks to find balance, peace, rejuvenation, diplomacy and equanimity within the chaos and uncertainty that surrounds us. This Full Moon could symbolize a culminating point where something once in chaos and shambles comes back together again. It could symbolize a point of equilibrium within a long arduous process that required a lot of hard work and commitment. On the higher end, there is the prospect of restoring faith, trust and sanity.

The day proceeding the Full Moon (Sept. 20) Pluto turns stationary direct and makes an exact sextile to Saturn in Scorpio. Saturn and Pluto are currently in mutual reception; they occupy the sign the other rules. This brings commonality and accord between these constructs. This is a sobering connection; it helps us to see things as they really are, and this sextile is even more helpful; it motivates a committed response to transformation and the pursuit of our individual or collective purpose.

Additionally, Chiron makes a trine to this heavy conjunction, and along with Pluto offers a helping hand to pull us out of the sinkhole. Seize any help or support that gets offered, it would be foolish to ignore it. Pluto and Chiron cast a ray of light toward this intense conjunction. There’s a way out if we take the initiative to activate it. If we consciously make changes and deal with situations realistically, we will ignite a powerful and deep healing process.

The dark side of this Full Moon is that it ignites a sense of existential despair or hopelessness, and the perception that one is a helpless victim to the demands or nefarious agendas of those around them. Paralyzed by real or exaggerated fears-- one sinks deeper into stagnation and suffering. The Piscean temptation to numb out is strong, and we are offered rose colored glasses which momentarily blind us to the truth. But those glasses won’t hold the flood gates for very long. Eventually, something gives way and we wake up the hard way.

A square between Jupiter in Cancer and Mercury in Libra also highlights this lunation. There is a potential conflict between nostalgic ideals motivated by subjective feelings--and the ideas, facts and perceptions of alternate points of view. What we hope or long for may differ quite considerably from other people.

We’re all in this together; no one is an island unto themselves. That unifying Piscean vision directs us toward this fact of life. Humans are social creatures.  Compromise and an open mind are necessary to function in harmony with the reality around us, and to survive within social systems. Absolute self-sufficiency is an illusion. Finding that happy medium between independence and mutual dependency requires a lot of hard work. 

Pisces is about consciously surrendering and letting go. Again, we’re not alone. That island is a figment of our imagination. We are all connected, all sentient life forms. Personally and collectively we need to wake up and get real. It’s time.  That “frog-in-the-well” mentality isn’t going to serve us. The well is getting filled with dirt. Seize the opportunity and climb your way out! 

Find peace, silence and acceptance within that still point between light and darkness. Sink deep into that place of stasis that transcends time and space. It is only with a clear mind can we truly perceive the futility of our judgments, assumptions and self-delusions. Light and dark, beauty and macabre; they dance in unity for all eternity. We embody both ends of the spectrum. Embrace the ubiquitous contradictions.