New Moon in Scorpio: Deep Wells

This magical and mysterious New Moon in Scorpio arrives tonight in the early hours. It seems right that this deepest of New Moons arrives when the world is dark and we are dreaming. (Of course somewhere in the world the Sun will shine, but for many time zones, this New Moon arrives in deep dark.)

The Sun and Moon meet at the end of Scorpio. A place where we may well experience loss, and yet we’re left with a new sense of our own self, our own place, our own goals and desires.

This new sense of who we are and what we need likely comes at a cost, and yet, to feel a sense of who we truly are, in our deep heart’s core, feels worth it.

The introspective nature of this New Moon in reinforced by Mercury, conjunct the New Moon. Three hours after the exact New Moon, Mercury will reach their exact cazimi, the conjunction with the Sun. It’s as if we have a New Moon and a New Mercury at the same time.

This Mercury is retrograde. Having stationed in early Sagittarius, getting a taste of new adventures, Mercury realized there was more work to be done before the quest begins. They’re back in Scorpio to retrieve a few more items from the caves and drink once more from the well.

This is Mercury’s last retrograde for this year. It counts as a Fire retrograde, since it begins in Sagittarius, yet the core pattern is one of reaching the bright, outward-facing energy of Sag, and then finding there’s more to be excavated before we can go on.

The quest is still important. Notice that Mars in Sagittarius is moving in to square both Nodes of the Moon. This places Mars “at the bendings” and moving toward the North Node, the place of what we desire. Mars in Sag is not particularly patient, but he must wait until after this New Moon to proceed.

Venus in mid Scorpio also aspects the Nodes of the Moon. She trines the North Node in Scorpio and sextiles the South Node in Virgo. She does not aspect the New Moon or anything else in this particular chart, yet her presence is felt. Her deep insight and intuition add to the New Moon mysteries.

One corner of the Grand Trine is Jupiter in Cancer, now retrograde. This is a deeply caring Jupiter, more introspective than usual (because, retrograde), and more interested in looking within. Jupiter squares the asteroid Chiron, the wounded healer. In this way, too, dealing with our personal healing, we’re meant to look within.

There’s a sense here of Jupiter reminding us that our generosity to others is important, yet there are times when we need to be generous to ourselves. This is an “inward” time. What do we need? Where are we less than generous to ourselves? If all of our focus is outward, we will become depleted.

Saturn and Neptune, both retrograde at the end of Pisces, are the other corner of the triangle. Neptune and Saturn is not the easiest pairing on the menu, yet the incongruence of these two leads to a creative list and a wide variety of interpretations:

If Saturn is structure and Neptune is dreams and visions, what are the structures of our imaginative life? Our spiritual life? Structure is important in all things. The “formless” doesn’t get us too far.

If Neptune is misinformation, and Saturn is responsibility, Saturn can insist on checking sources, verifying facts, and not jumping to conclusions.

If Saturn is too pessimistic, too stuck in the past, Neptune brings hope. Neptune is where we dream what has never been. Saturn can then help create the map to get there.

Pluto forms an out-of-sign sextile to the New Moon, as well as trining Uranus and sextiling Saturn and Neptune. Pluto is not the strongest influence on this New Moon, but he is present. His gravitas is not lost.

Uranus has a key role to play, opposing the New Moon. Uranus’ retrograde has taken him out of Gemini and back into Taurus. This is Uranus’ last visit to Taurus before committing to Gemini.

Taurus is about what we invest in, where we place value. Uranus reminds us of the connection between the intense inner worlds of Scorpionic insight and the outer worlds of physical manifestation. Two sides of our experience. Both valid. Both needed.

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The Grand Water Trine is a deep well. All over the world, throughout history, wells have been symbols of inspiration, creativity, dreams, and prayers––as well as sources of water, without which, there is no life.

In Greek myth, wells on Mount Helicon are sacred to the Muses. These wells inspired poets like Hesiod, Callimachus, and Ovid. Poetry so often links to prophecy, and indeed, Mount Helicon is part of the story of Tiresias, the blind prophet of ancient Greece who plays a role in so many mythic tales.

The etymology of the word “well” is obscure but goes right back to Proto-Indo-European. The roots of the word have two connected meanings with different connotations.

“Well” as a noun is a natural spring of water, source and sustainer of life. Wells are associated with abundance. In Ireland, wells are sacred to saints as well as mythic figures, places of healing and leaving offerings.

“Well” as a verb means to gush forth, to spring out of the ground, and while still abundant, carries meanings of too much, of boiling, bubbling up. This sort of thing can get out of control. There are mythic tales in Ireland and other places about what happens when protective practices are not maintained, and a well overflows, causing floods.

Of course, these meanings associated with water have psychological resonances. Our emotions support our lives, and yet at times can flood and overwhelm us.

Irish poet Seamus Heaney wrote about his fascination with wells.

His poem, Personal Helicon, begins with the line “As a child, they could not keep me from wells.” He writes of how they fascinated him, and acknowledges the darker edge of these deep places.

He says in the poem, “… one [well] was scaresome, for there, out of ferns and tall foxgloves, a rat slapped across my reflection.” Wells are places where images from the subconscious dwell and can well up at times.

At this New Moon, we are invited––possibly compelled––to look into the well. What will we see? Whether entrancing magic or frightening confrontation, it will be something we need to know about. Something we’ll need for our upcoming quests.

Heaney wrote another poem called At the Wellhead, about an older lady who was blind, and sat in her home, playing the piano and singing. He says, “Her notes can out to us like hoisted water, raveling off a bucket at the wellhead, where next thing, we’d be listening, hushed and awkward.

We might hear singing, or poetry, at this New Moon. Any and all of our senses might be engaged as we explore what this deep well brings to us.

I’ll close with another line from the poem, At the Wellhead:

“Sing yourself to where the singing comes from.”