november begins with a sharp clawed, depth bending, abyss kissing new moon in scorpio

and then it gets weird.

“there is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.”

― Martha Graham via the brilliant Sarah Campbell of Tiny Revolutions

the stars above us:

artist: Lena Macka

november is here, making a big shadowy entrance on the tail of the 11/1 scorpio new moon. the month begins on its lowest note, a mars ruled new moon with mars opposing pluto? with mercury the magician in scorpio trining pluto at the same time? 

that’s pressure, something fixed water scorpio knows a little too much about.  power plays, obsessive behavior (internal or external), shadow standoffs, deep buried fears + blocks being brought from the depths to the surface, refusing to be ignored any more. it’s been an intense build up to this point but we are HERE, and november…november is a different story entirely.

there are not one but FIVE planets changing signs in november and two planetary stations (saturn in pisces direct on the full moon and mercury in sagittarius retrograde at the end of the month).  there are few things in the sky more significant to me than a planet crossing a zodiacal threshold or changing course. when planets move into new realities, on some level, so do we.  

even without consciously attuning to them, a planet’s ingress is a literal, natural shift. the kind our Minds so often try to manufacture for themselves without success.  how many substacks are devoted entirely to the arcane arts of conscious transformation? not superficial alterations to diet, or a half hearted yoga practice, not the daily chasing of that morning’s whims + fancies, SOUL SURGERY. the people yearn for transformation, for evolution, to see the acorns finally grows into a mighty oaks. 

the kind of change that doesn’t respond well to force. quite the opposite, the closer you consciously get to something that has the power to truly change you the more resistance you meet on the way in.  the guardians of those thresholds so not play, you have to win their favor + trust before you are allowed into the next sacred mystery. 

but if you time those moves with the planets getting ready to make moves of their own? that is not force my friends, that is how we flow. the currents in question:

• 11/1 - new moon in scorpio (see above)

• 11/2 - mercury moves into sagittarius (joining venus as she opposes jupiter rx in gemini, we’ll be circling back to this) 

• 11/3 - mars moves into leo (after completing opposition to pluto in capricorn, a powerful release of whatever fears scorpio season has been stirring up with a bright fiery burst of Lion Shit. we are all kings now baby, defenders of the realm, benevolent mercenaries. enjoy it but don’t abuse it, mars is about to reverse course practically guaranteeing a reversal in might)

• 11/11 - venus moves into capricorn (initially she shares capricorn with pluto just as she has for the last 38,000 years but once pluto moves into aquarius she transits cap BY HERSELF with no threats of plutonian death/rebirth. a chance to relearn the art of connecting and collaborating to build without the pressure of constant transformation. trauma/trigger pairings, Out. enduring, committed partnerships built around shared purpose, In.

• 11/15 - saturn stations direct (still at a standstill at 12 deg pisces until december tho. a heavy anchor in choppy water which i don’t personally hate because right after we have…)

• 11/16 - full moon in taurus conjunct uranus (with mercury in sag opposing jupiter in gemini, information OVERLOAD with one or two truly divine insights hidden in the onslaught)

• 11/19 - pluto moves into aquarius. (pluto making its final move into aquarius just as the sun enters sagittarius and mercury prepares to retrograde - it’s not just your consciousness expanding, the entire collective is about to get that awareness stretched tf out. big day for disclosures , the global sort that can’t be unseen or undone)

• 11/21 - sun moves into sagittarius sagittarius season begins, let’s goooooo

• 11/25 mercury stations retrograde in sagittarius…and everything flips inside out once more and we MADE IT

gemini vs sagittarius aka a crack in consciousness:

artist: Lena Macka

this month is not going to be lacking in vibes, musery, or meaningful coincidences, it is going to be SWIMMING in them.  jupiter in gemini has already been a frenetic transit with an overabundance of media + memes flooding the aether. as venus, mercury + the sun move thru sagittarius, jupiter will be opposed by them all, delivering some of the tensest and most dynamic expression we’ll get during this transit.

from A Crack The Cosmic Egg comes one of the greatest (unintentional) breakdowns of the tension between gemini + sagittarius i have ever read: 

“The English scientist, Edward de Bono, writes of “lateral (gemini) and vertical (sagittarius) thinking.” Since Aristotle, he points out, vertical thinking, which I have called reality-adjusted thinking, or logic, has been given the place of supremacy. In actuality, de Bono writes, all truly new ideas, by which new eras of reality have come into play, have been products of lateral thinking. Following on one great lateral opening of mind (jupiter), the vertical thinkers (mercurials) can busy themselves for generations.”

poetry aside, jupiter & mercury are antagonists tho, and this is exactly the kind of transit to show you why. the states of expanded consciousness favored in sagittarius buckle under the weight of gemini’s labeling and categorization. the tao that can be spoken is not the tao and all that.

and that’s the problem, the jupiterian tao that can’t be spoken, can’t be spoken. it can’t be shared, it can’t guide anyone else. and frankly, without at least some mercury mind in the equation, it can’t really be integrated into earthly embodiment either. welcome to the eternal struggle of sagittarius, home of so many of the world’s true (irrationally optimistic) visionaries.

“james r. newman spoke of einstein’s (a sagittarius moon) 30-page paper “on the electrodynamics of moving bodies,” as embodying a “vision.” he observed that poets and prophets are not the only ones to have visions, but that scientists do so as well. they glimpse a peak perhaps never again seen, but the landscape is “forever changed.” their life is then spent describing what was seen, elaborating on the vision that others might follow.”

-The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Joseph Pearce 

that jupiterian eureka moment needs mercurial analysis, repetition + implementation to become a thing here in the mortal realm. jupiter needs mercury’s help in getting the message out, there can be no transmission without it. and what happens to sacred sagittarian fire that is left unexpressed? martha said it in the start…

future lore:

want to see what all this means for you? i got you. :)

november’s astrology practically guarantees an onslaught of emotionally charged stimuli (the US election might have something to do with that) and most of it needs to be held very, very lightly in your mind (if you hold onto it at all). remember, mercury retrogrades at the end of the month, reversals and revisions to follow, the data we see/hear now is not the end of the story. 

and jupiter’s signal is suffering distortion as well, not every burst of irrational exuberance needs to concretized this month. we all know the line between mysticism and mania is so thin it might as well be invisible, as always, discernment and regulation are the guardians of the soul here.

november is about holding the tension between the two, so that the Egg may be well and truly Cracked, paradigms can be transcended and new vision can spill forth. that’s my last egg metaphor, i promise.

if november has an assignment it’s this: keep the energy up and explore whatever calls for exploration (both the good and the objectively bad) with genuine openness and have some fun while you’re at it. but wherever you go and whatever you do remember rule #1.

the signal is NOT the noise.

see you on the other side psychonauts,

emilie