Astrology of Now: Scary Monsters

Amy Winehouse (born with Saturn in Scorpio)

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just gloss over the nastier side of human nature and pretend there's no jealousy, no murderous rage, no stomach churning fear, no madness? We could all live in a happy, smiling Libra world.... but we choose (sometimes) to dive into Scorpio.

What drives us to explore the darker depths of the human soul? Why do we read Patricia Highsmith's horrid tales of Mr Ripley or Patricia Cornwell's graphic descriptions of dissected bodies? Why do so many people love horror movies? Why do we listen to disquieting music such as Khachaturian's hysterical Waltz, Bowie's Aladdin Sane ... or just about anything by Amy Winehouse?

Why do we listen to news of war, torture and violence?

Is it just picking at a scab? Or do we get some benefit from looking into the pit of scorpions?

I'm asking these questions because it is that time of year again. November, the month of mists and fallen leaves, and ghosts stories. In Britain tonight, we light bonfires and burn effigies. We turn our faces to the bright warmth of the fire to keep away the spirits at our backs.



The end of autumn belongs to Scorpio, the sign ruled by Pluto, the god of the underworld, and Mars the god of war. The green earth dies, and we look inward.

Truman Capote (born with Saturn in Scorpio)
published this book in 1966 under a
Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo, the writer's sign.
It's a profound examination of the mind of true crime.

This season, Scorpio's power is especially strong. The sign of depth is hosting Saturn, the reaper, for two years now. And there is an eclipse at 21°57 on November 13th. Mercury will be retrograding back through Scorpio from the 15th. As the Sun leaves Scorpio on the 22nd, Venus will step, warily, into her least favourite sign.

Most years we glance at our monsters and quickly look away. This year, there will be no getting away from them. Saturn will make them manifest.

In this country, we have a new bogeyman, Jimmy Savile, in the ground just one year, has come back to haunt us. He reminds us not only that there are bad people who will stop at nothing to harm us, but also that there is darkness within. Savile was allowed to get away with it by the whole country. There was a conspiracy of silence and silencing around his activities, just as we've seen with the Catholic Church and now with the Boy Scouts of America.

Scorpio is a fixed sign. This is month is often a time of stillness, concentration and focus. Scorpio is also fearless – able to look at the Medusa in the mirror and cut off her head.

And that is the point. You can only take perfect aim, and cut off the Medusa's head, if you look. That is why we choose to examine the darkness. We need to familiarise ourselves with the way wickedness works in order to fight it. If we skip through life with our fingers in our ears, singing la la la, a troll will surely come and trip us up. That is why we read crime novels and Naked Lunch, discuss difficult moral dilemmas, and listen to Lucia di Lammermoor losing her mind.

Saturn in Scorpio will demand that we confront our own monsters – those in our minds and those in the real world – dissect them, and murder them.

Happy hunting.