Stories of Scorpio: Part 2
Stories of Scorpio: Part 2
Scorpio in the Tarot deck, the zodiac archetype and the decans
Photo by Jo Kassis on Pexels.com
Yesterday we touched on the history, natural history, symbolism and astrology of the celestial Scorpion. Now lets take a look at the archetypes as embedded in the Tarot deck. The cards representing the fixed water zodiac sign of Scorpio are The Death card, The King of Cups and the Five, Six and Seven of Cups
The Scorpio Archetype
The zodiac signs represent archetypes, meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing. The zodiac signs paint a ‘poetic’ portrait of a person born at a particular time of year.
Scorpio is The Sorcerer, The Witch, The Investigator, The Hypnotist, The Alchemist and the Necromancer. Scorpio is also the World Serpent, and the Eagle, and the Phoenix, fire-bird of resurrection, as new life rises from the ashes -The Phoenix.
Scorpio is the season of fast dwindling daylight and with this comes the new season of chills and influenza. The medical salt associated with Scorpio, the tissue cell salt Calcium Sulphate, performs a cleansing and cooling function in the body. Injury or infection may produce pus which may form a boil, and then the boil bursts, expelling infection and with it, expelling the dangerous heat of inflammation. But better out than in. Though like a volcanic eruption, the immediate aftermath may be destructive. This can be viewed as an allegory of world events.
What has been festering, must either turn inward, bringing sepsis, rot and death, or must find a way to break out. Scorpio breaks out with heat and violence and/or conceals by means of stealth, wealth, secrecy and intrigue.
New readers will often discuss the water cards in terms of how lovely they are, and healing, and sensitive, beautiful, 'spiritual' and emotional. And they can be. But great emotions will just as readily wreak great turmoil. There are floods. There are storms at sea. Sometimes tsunamis. The fixed water sign that is the Scorpion of the zodiac is ruled by Mars and Antares. It doesn't freeze. It may steam. It may gently simmer. But it may scald. It may boil.
The Death card sits in between The Hanged Man card, twelfth house matters, hidden matter, and a time of inaction, and Temperance, representing the power of right timing and targeted action, as the arrow of Sagittarius flies to its mark. But Temperance is also the card of healing and the mutability of moderation where Scorpio may manifest in extreme ways whether for good or ill.
The Tarot says Death too may be a healing, or rather perhaps, that Death may be healed, and the Dead go forward with the safe escort of the angel of Temperance, thought to be Michael, the angel of Fire,returning home again, to the source whence they came, reascending though the Gate of the Gods in Capricorn, rising through the Milky Way, which is straddled by the constellation of The Archer.
Smith Waite Tarot
As posed yesterday, the major arcana card in the Tarot representing Scorpio is the Death card, one of the most feared cards in the Tarot deck. Note the Biblical ‘pale horse’ of Death and the white rose. The rose signifies beauty and immortality. All that has ever once been, is recorded somewhere, somehow, forever.
The Death card is not usually about the literal death of any person. It may represent the death of something else, like a project, plan, or relationship. But I have learned in my own experience as a reader, the Death card can mean exactly that, like it or not. The cards can mean exactly what it says on the tin and this has more than once hit hard and very close to home in the literal, physical human sense.
I long time ago I saw in a dream the death of a long ago neighbour, a friend of my parent’s. She was still only in her a young woman, the mother of five children. I woke haunted, the dream was so vivid, and it sat with me all day. But what do you do with a dream? Nothing. You just log it. A fortnight later I went to visit my parents and while I was helping my mother in the kitchen, said, “by the way, Mam, how is Lindsay W…have you heard from her at all lately?”
I myself had not met or heard from this lady for some years.
My mother spun round sharply. A face like stone.
“Why do you ask?”
“I had such a strange dream about her.”
“Tell me.”
I described the dream. How I had seen people and cars arriving at Lindsay’s house one street away from where we lived when I was growing up. Some though not all wearing black. But it was my mother who opened the front door to greet them, and not Lindsay or her husband.
So now my mother told me, she had just heard from Lindsay’s husband who was a close colleague of my mother’s, that Lindsay, only fifty at the time, the mother of five children, a fun, brave and vivacious person, a real fighter always, a local politician, an educator and something of a social justice warrior, had just been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. She had been in a minor road traffic accident, hit another car, no great damage done. But she didn’t see the other car. So she went to the opticians who saw something he did not like the look of, and referred her to a specialist and then they found the tumour. How long did Lindsay have, my mother now asked.
Of course I do not know the answer to such questions. Nor do I want to. But I told my mother what I felt, that she had maybe two years, and sadly, it was not even quite that. Lindsay died at home aged 52, sitting up suddenly in the night, in the bed she still shared with her husband, and with her mother who had come to stay to help with the children, there beside her when she died. God bless and keep Lindsay and her mother, now also long gone.
But unpopular Pluto, Hades, lord of the Underworld has a compassion all his own. It is not Death itself that is our enemy, or the enemy of Life itself, but despair. Like the song says, after all, the 'Seasons Don't Fear The Reaper'.
Scorpio is not about any kind of a death wish but about Life’s own longing for itself.
Many years later, when I started to work with the cards, I was trying to understand more about this, and many other such experiences. Where did such dreams come from. And what was the pint of them? What good did they do anyone? I did not like it. But it is what it is. And I have seen death in the cards although I will never predict it. But I will “go there” and at least discuss it if someone asks in all seriousness. The entirety of human experience is encapsulated past present and the future unknown in a deck of only 78 cards. It is of no use for the reader to seek to work with any oracle only to shirk or duck the difficult questions, while adhering to strictest ethics. Readers are fallible and must on the one hand remember this at all times, while on the other, trusting themselves sufficiently for any prospect of fluency in their divination and interpretations, while never losing sight of ethics.
Old age is not our natural birthright. Few animals reach old age living in the wild. It is this sharp focus of such an awareness that gives Scorpio its drive, intensity, its passion, or its preoccupation with the “darker” side of life, and with the occult and the mysterious, but also its power of regeneration, and the drive to procreate new life.
The court card of Scorpio is the King of Cups. We may for reading purposes treat this card as representing a Cancer native or a Pisces native, or as either male or female. Just as we may also read the Queen of Cups for a female Scorpio native, though astrologically, the Queen of this suit corresponds with midsummer, the solstice and the cardinal water sign of Cancer.
Smith Waite Tarot
Meanings: Water, the sea, a sailor, fisherman, mature male, husband, friend, husband, grandpa, advisor, priest, doctor, counsellor, teacher, academic, artist, poet, musician, deep wisdom, calm, considerate, sensitive, supportive, protective, disciplined, intuitive, psychic, reserved, devoted, aloof, secretive
Scorpio is a magnetic personality, often good in an emergency but in everyday dealings they may be not be straightforward. They can be downright elusive and secretive, and while courteous, generous, sympathetic and loyal, they can have a hot temper, or may exhibit controlling behaviours. Scorpio craves a challenge. They like to unlock puzzles and mysteries and will often be found in high pressure situations, handling serious, intense, traumatic, life or death issues. In the emergency services perhaps, or in the police, detection, crime & prisons, psychotherapy, bereavement counselling or financial management, with an aptitude for research and the power production industries
But you are a unique individual. Your natal sun sign is a major keynote, theme and touchstone in your astrological portrait, but it is nothing like the full picture. Nor are the decans. But if you don’t feel like a ‘typical’ Scorpio, perhaps you are a second or third decan Scorpio, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Scorpio.
The Decans of Scorpio
“If you’ve ever wondered why people born in the same sign seem different, the decans can help answer this puzzle,” – astrologer Rachel Lang.
The decans or decanates, known to be in use by astrologers in Egypt 2100 BCE, as evidenced carved on coffin lids, may be far older in astrological usage, and have been described as ‘the thirty-six faces of astrology.’ Each of the 12 signs of the zodiac (Wheel of Life) represents 30 degrees of the 360 degree wheel of the zodiac, tracking the course of the Sun over a year. Each sign is subdivided into three parts of ten degrees each. These are the decan from the Greek word “deka” meaning ten, supplying extra clues and nuance in respect of character and potential destiny.
First Decan Scorpio
Scorpio-Scorpio
Birth Dates: 23 -31 October (0-10 degrees)
Planetary rulers: Traditional Mars Modern Pluto
Tarot card: Five of Cups
Smith Waite Tarot
Card Meanings: Grief, disappointment, a failed relationship, recovery from loss. Taking stock. What is lost? What still remains?
Mars, the original ruling planet of Scorpio (Pluto is the modern ruler) is doubly powerful in this first decan. This is an active, determined, dominant individual, impulsive, high-spirited, and charismatic. They may have intensely deep feelings but keep them well hidden. When the going gets tough, so do they, showing fortitude and a huge amount of willpower- for good or bad. They may exert a creative or destructive influence on their surroundings. Usually, it will be creative. But they need to learn patience, and to exercise self-restraint in order not to self -sabotage their own best chances of success and happiness in their dealings with others.
Scorpio/Scorpio individuals are incredibly driven. They can be more prone than other people to extreme or obsessive behaviours, but show the courage, tenacity, and willpower to overcome odds against them, with the resilience to bounce back after a setback and start afresh.
Famous first decan Scorpio subjects
Hillary Clinton, politician, born 26 Oct 1947, Dylan Thomas, poet, born 27 Oct 1914
Second Decan Scorpio
Scorpio-Pisces
Dates: 1 -11 November (10-20 degrees)
Planetary rulers: Traditional Jupiter Modern Neptune
Tarot card: Six of Cups
Smith Waite Tarot
Card Meanings: happy memories, nostalgia, home, childhood, children, childhood, old friends, old haunts, reunions
This Scorpio decan, moderated by Pisces and its rulers, Jupiter (traditional) and Neptune (Modern) suggests a less fixed, more changeable and unpredictable nature, sometimes energetic, at other times slow or even sluggish. Here is an innate element of contradiction. Jupiter is the planetary symbol of expansion and changes in fortune, a planetary benefic, but above all, Jupiter is outward facing, while Neptune ‘The Dreamer’ is deeply introverted. This individual’s greatest battles in life may be with themselves, starting at an early age. The influence of Neptune may be an inspiration, or it may become their downfall, if indulging in escapism via any form of addictive behaviours, drugs, alcohol, gambling or other compulsive behaviours. This Scorpio decan often has great natural charisma, with an instinct for medicine and the healing arts. They are happiest with a stable, grounded, loyal, loving home life which will reinforce their self-esteem in healthy ways, and then they can achieve great things.
Famous Second Decan Scorpio subjects:
Billy Graham, evangelist, born 7 Nov 1918, Carl Sagan, astronomer, born 9 Nov 1934
Third Decan Scorpio
Scorpio-Cancer
Dates: 12-21 November
Planetary rulers: Traditional Moon Modern Venus
Tarot card- Seven of Cups
Smith Waite Tarot
Card Meanings: visions, inspiration, possibilities, options, choices, daydreams, escapism, indecision, delusion
This decan is proud, creative and dramatic. The Moon and Venus cool and soften the energy of Mars, indicating a magnetic personality, a natural artist or performer. The influence of the Moon lends these natives the ability to become exceptional nurturers and financial wizards though this Scorpio decan is defensive, and will sting if cornered. They need to get it right, and need to be seen to be right, and they may go to some trouble to make sure of this. Decan 3 Scorpio may have a particularly close relationship with his or her mother, a good thing unless it is allowed to take on too much importance in their relationships with their chosen life partner. These Scorpios are the ones most likely to want to leave a legacy to loved ones and favourite causes. Money, privacy, loyalty and property are of supreme importance. Scorpio/Cancer may be an activist, or a social justice warrior, advocating with force and eloquence, and with a charm that can makes them very effective when they are working with a group for a common cause.
Famous Decan 3 Scorpio subjects
Joe Biden, 20 Nov 1942, Robert Kennedy, born 20 Nov 1925, King Charles 111, born 14 Nov 1948
The Cusps of Scorpio
Oct 23-Oct 25: This is Scorpio with Libra tendencies ruled by Mars and Venus
Nov 19-Nov 21: This is Scorpio with Sagittarius tendencies ruled by Mars and Jupiter
"The man, who has seen the rising moon break out of the clouds at midnight, has been present like an archangel at the creation of light and of the world."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thank you for reading.
Till next time.