Eclipse season is here! A shocking Scorpio New Moon and liberating Taurus Lunar Eclipse strip away all pretence... It all starts here. Put out feelers for future echoes!
A new round of eclipses is starting this month to take us all the way to 2023 so hold onto your hats, scarves, breeches! The peaks and troughs of this rollercoaster ride are about to get steeper.
November is Scorpio’s month, the most intense sign of all. Words like “passion” and “intensity” pale by comparison to the visceral, adrenaline-ridden thing they mean to describe. With Mars in Scorpio till December 13th and Mercury in Scorpio November 5th to 24th, with a Scorpio New Moon opposite Uranus on the 4th and the first Lunar Eclipse in Taurus on the 19th in a series to take us into 2023, November is a knock-you-sideways-and-leave-you-scrambling kind of month!
Moments of truth, clean breaks and revelations abound this month. If you can feel change coming - that prickly feeling on the back of your neck - you’re right!
Taurus and Scorpio don’t much like change. Taurus likes permanence and Scorpio likes to be in control (if change is happening, Scorpio had better be the one making it!) - and nor do any of us like change where we have Scorpio and Taurus in our charts. Taurus digs its heels in and tries to ignore things whilst Scorpio tries to play puppet-master. To no avail. Not now that the eclipses are in Taurus and Scorpio. Change is here and it’s happening fast so try to keep up.
So here’s the skinny.
Early November Astrology
Mercury Exits Retrograde Shadow: Fresh Plans
On November 3rd, Mercury steps out of his retrograde shadow and begins covering new ground. Whatever had your mind stuck in a loop, not letting you move forward with fresh ideas for the past two months, is finally letting off. Time for new thoughts to enter that grey matter! And with Mercury in Scorpio from the 5th, these new thoughts are gonna be pretty juicy and spicy.
New Moon in Scorpio, November 4th: Eureka!
No sooner has your mind hit reset and here comes a curveball in the shape of a most unruly Scorpio New Moon opposite Uranus on November 4th, 21:14 GMT at 12:40 Scorpio. This could be a eureka moment!
With the electrifying Uranus opposition happening right on the November Scorpio New Moon, ask yourself: How much excitement can I bear?
Uranus is the planet of clean breaks, shocking surprises and sudden revelations.
Things go “snap”, ideas “click”, and change can happen in the blink of an eye. Couple that volatility with a Scorpio New Moon, and we have a winning combination:
November 4th has Carte Blanche to come up with the most devious and Machiavellian way to disrupt you! But so what?
This month is hell-bent on fast-tracking changes that are urgently needed to awaken us, to move us forward, to help us reinvent ourselves and get unshackled. And that’s no bad thing. It’s just coming in so fast and furious that you’ll need to be a contortionist to keep up with things. Get practicing.
Invention is a Uranian act and the Sabian Symbol for this Scorpio New Moon is very apt: "An inventor performs a lab experiment" (Dane Rudhyar, Astrological Mandala, NY 1974: p.199) This highlights our ability as humans to connect seemingly unrelated dots and come up with totally new and inventive ideas - the very foundation of our progress and civilisation! So let the lightning of inspiration strike at this New Moon and fret not that it might burn...
Mercury in Scorpio, Venus in Capricorn: Get Serious!
Immediately after the New Moon, on November 5th Mercury enters Scorpio till November 24th, and conversations take a darker turn. Where Mercury in Libra was concerned with politeness and diplomacy, the only objective now is to speak and uncover the truth. The mental gloves are off…
Venus enters Capricorn on the very same day, where she will turn retrograde on December 19th, staying in Capricorn till March 2022. And so the countdown begins! The countdown to what? To important developments in the US; to earth-shattering re-evaluations in your own life.
It’s hard to say what form all these changes will take but the next five months, November 2021 to March 2022 are going to be utterly lava-meltingly transformative for us all.
Watch for clues as to what’s coming for you personally as soon as November 5th. That's also when Mercury and Venus sextile, striking a note of much needed harmony amid this racket. This is a good opportunity to set important relationships and associations on an honest foundation.
Mid-November Astrology
Mercury-Mars in Scorpio: Nothing's Off Limits...
The middle of the month builds up a great crescendo. On the 10th, Mars and Mercury meet again, as they did on October 9th, stirring the pot. Only this time they're in Scorpio, Mars' territory, and talks are about to get dirty. Words are fired like heat-seeking missiles and you may need to install a radar plus a seventh and eighth gear to stay ahead of the game.
What’s more, Mars and Mercury square Saturn in Aquarius, adding cruelty to the mix. Well, it’s to be expected. When anger is suppressed in turns to cruelty. Saturn puts the lid on things that have been rotting for a while (like Mars-Mercury here), and the rot could well become virulently poisonous… When the lid eventually blows off - and it will - the stench that is revealed is downright toxic! Uranus has the last word, opposing Mercury on the 13th of November and Mars on the 18th.
Avoid serious conversations around the 13th: you won’t know what hit you! As for the 18th, here we have a potentially explosive aspect. Avoid operating heavy machinery, if you can.
Stay cool and expect things to reach breaking point again, and again, and again this month.
Scorpio Season in Full Swing: Go Undercover
We’re full swing in Scorpio season (past the cross-quarter point on November 7th) so what do you expect? Things are never boring where Scorpio's dangerous sting is lurking about. The Scorpio Sun trines Neptune on the 12th - a great day for lurid daydreaming - and it squares Jupiter and sextiles Pluto on the 15th and 16th. Expect things to feel ominous, intense, larger than life. Exaggerate much? Jupiter-Sun sure will. Delve under the surface and find out the truth for yourself!
November 2021 Lunar Eclipse!
Taurus Lunar Eclipse November 19th: Break Free!
And so we come to the November 19th partial Lunar Eclipse Full Moon at 08:57 GMT at 27:14 Taurus. This is the first of its kind, moving on from Gemini and Sagittarius (except for one final Sag eclipse this December) and kicking off new themes that will take us all the way to 2023.
This eclipse is a Micromoon, far from the earth, much like a needlepoint pricking the skin of physical reality and showing us what lies beneath.
This is a liberating Eclipse! Whilst things may feel challenging right now, this could be the decision that brings extremely positive results down the line.
With Venus, ruler of Taurus, trine Uranus, this could be when you finally see something for what it truly is and break free! With Mars opposite Uranus, things could happen very abruptly. Mercury also connects with Jupiter and Pluto at this time and news are sure to be big, shocking, cutting straight to the bone.
It's worth taking a moment to talk about Saros cycles at this point. A Saros cycle is a period lasting well over a thousand years grouping eclipses in little families that show up on our earth roughly every 18-19 years. And each family or cycle has its own dynamics.
This November 19th eclipse is part of a family of eclipses that is joyful and positive!
So no matter what pressure you’re under right now, know that this is a happy family of eclipses. It can bring a peak experience that could be the portent of very happy outcomes longer term. So chin up!
The last time this particular Saros cycle was active was in the autumn-winter of 2003. What happened for you back then? (You can find out more about Saros cycles in Bernadette Brady’s Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark).
The Sabian Symbol for this Lunar Eclipse is equally hopeful: “A woman past her 'chance of life' experiences a new love” (Dane Rudhyar, Astrological Mandala, NY 1974: p.87). This symbolises mankind’s capacity to raise its consciousness above its biological limitations and experience a new beginning - a fitting symbol for a kind of rebirth following a peak experience, don't you think?
The Taurus-Scorpio Eclipses Begin: 2021-2023
The biggest news? The eclipses are entering Taurus and Scorpio this November and the Lunar Nodes or "Great Dragon" follows in January 2022.
With the Great Dragon entering Scorpio and Taurus in January 2022, expect money, food and energy - all our earthly resources - to be the hottest topics moving forward. That and our values, or lack thereof.
Also expect great revelations of corruption! The Dragon’s Tail will be moving through Scorpio throughout 2022, revealing such a horrible stench wafting out from deep within the halls of power that we'll all need nose-pegs.
Taurus will host the Dragon’s Head, meanwhile, i.e. the antidote to it all. Which is? Simplicity. Wholesomeness. Core Value. And with Uranus there too, that will go hand in hand with re-inventing our natural place on this earth, our values and our human community. Returning to simplicity and reconnecting with what’s of real value to us individually and as a human race is the only medicine to get us out of the mire.
The eclipses were last in Taurus and Scorpio in 2012-2014 (though the Nodes were then reversed). Where these significant times for you? Similar themes return now but the pendulum of emphasis has done a flip-turn. Meaning?
If you gave too much emphasis on one side of your life back in 2012-14 - say your relationship at the cost of your own goals, or your career at the cost of your family - prepare to flip the scales over the next couple of years.
Look back further to 2002-2004, when the same family of eclipses were here (with the Dragon's Tail or South Node again in Scorpio), to understand exactly how this current round of eclipses picks up where it left off 19 years ago.
Late November 2021 Astrology
Venus enters Retrograde Shadow November 19th: Disengage...
Right at the same time, at the lunar eclipse in Taurus on the 19th, Venus in Capricorn, enters her shadow retrograde period. Yes, Venus will turn retrograde before the year is out, on December 19th!
Get ready to feel the glue that holds civil society together begin to thin from the last ten days of November onwards - and especially in the realm of politics, corporations and the various power-structures that hold us together - all the purview of Capricorn.
The last time we had Venus retrograde in the sign of Capricorn was December 2013-January 2014. What was going on for you back then? See if you can find echoes of the same themes - especially internally, in your thoughts and feelings, as things are never quite the same externally - this Christmas. There is something there that is working itself out in your own psyche, bit by bit, little by little, every eight years or so. Watch for clues of that all month, especially from November 19th.
Where do you feel vulnerable? Chiron sextiles Saturn
As poet Rumi is famed to have said, the wound is the place where the light enters, and that is the best short-hand description of Chiron’s contribution to your chart. This November sees Chiron strongly emphasised by semi square to Jupiter in Aquarius (on the 18th) and by sextile to Saturn in Aquarius (on the 27th).
Chiron brings you the wisdom to accept what you cannot change, improve where you can and know the difference, as the famous prayer goes. Chiron gets to work on that score this month and that, alone, can be reassuring and liberating.
Embrace your wounds and vulnerabilities and let the light you seek - your very own authenticity - shine through them.
November brings another opportunity to accept who you are and even put in place the structures to allow more of who you are to flow through.
Sun-Mercury Superior Conjunction: Shed Light on the Past!
Sagittarius season kicks off on the 22nd - happy birthday Sag! - and Mercury quickly follows the Sun into Sagittarius, on the 24th, where both the Sun and Mercury meet with the Dragon’s Tail.
The end of the month brings karmic events, with the Sun-Mercury superior conjunction on the 29th shedding the light of truth on crucial matters!
This is the culmination of notions that quietly began back on October 6th, during Mercury retrograde in Libra at its inferior conjunction with the Sun. November ends with major revelations of truth, the fruit of two months of intellectual workings.
With the Dragon’s Tail settling past scores, this is a liberating enlightening moment, helping you understand the past and move forward.
With Neptune in Pisces also stationary as we head to December, there is a whole world of hopes and wishes riding on that tail... But this is still the beginning, So, fasten your seatbelts. November is a rollercoaster ride!
Check out your November 2021 star sign horoscope!
Image (presumably taken on a rollercoaster)
by Jr Korpa from Unsplash
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