Scorpio New Moon: Digging for Buried Treasure

You’re swimming along the cold, dark bottom of a river, fingers probing the mud, when suddenly you feel something hard and metallic. After carefully prying it loose, you rise to the surface with the bronze head of an ancient Hindu god, liberated from his watery grave after twelve centuries!

That’s just what’s been happening recently on the Musi River in Indonesia, where nighttime divers have been fishing out fistfuls of gold, gems, and other treasures from what’s likely the site of a fabled kingdom known in the 8th century as the ‘Island of Gold’. Experts suspect the finds, which include a ruby-studded, life-size golden Buddha worth millions, are from a merchant palace city covered in gold decorations which perched on the river like an ornate lily pad on stilts, ruling the trade routes for 400 years.

Reading about this fascinating discovery, I couldn’t help but think of Mars, which just entered its watery, nighttime domain of Scorpio. Mars in Scorpio (Oct. 30 – Dec. 12) is strategic and stealthy, deeply attuned to both literal and emotional depths. In this sign, Mars adores a treasure hunt, a bid for power and a worthy opponent. We’re sure to see all of these this month. as well as discord and breakdown (especially when Mars does battle with the Saturn-Uranus square from Nov. 10 – 17). But certain things we’ve patiently awaited, as long as they’re backed by clarity, focus and determination, could also experience major breakthroughs and new beginnings.

It all begins with the Scorpio New Moon (Nov. 4, 2:14 p.m. PDT). As noted above, this deep water sign taps the submerged treasures within our souls. At this super-charged New Moon, the planetary gods are conspiring to help us create what we truly desire (and release what we don’t). Sudden events or shifts in direction are also apt to occur. The Sun and Moon in Scorpio exactly oppose Uranus in Taurus, which suggests an awakening or a shake-up in some area of life (for clues, look to where 12 Scorpio-Taurus are located in your chart).

This New Moon will be followed in two weeks by an even more powerful lunar eclipse; the first in a series of eclipses in the stubborn fixed signs of Taurus and Scorpio. Whatever intentions you plant now could have powerful results by Nov. 19 (just two days after Mars opposes electric Uranus!). So, let’s stir up the mud of our subconscious minds and see what treasures (or terrors in need of clearing) emerge. The New Moon is just past a square to Saturn in Aquarius (the Sun squared Saturn Oct. 30, revealing limitations and the need for boundaries). Saturn wants us to take measured steps toward our goals and bear in mind the needs of the collective. The New Moon’s dispositor, Mars, at three degrees Scorpio, adds impetus and energy – as long as it’s not being expressed in rash or angry ways.

Let’s use this New Moon, which happens just after the powerful Wiccan New Year and Day of the Dead, to dig up our buried treasure and bring it to the surface. But first we need to get clear on what we want. According to executive coach Donna Bond in her new book, Original Wisdom: Harness the Power of the Authentic You, often we don’t allow ourselves to imagine what we’d really love to do, because we have no idea how it would come about. Therefore we remain stuck, fearful of making the wrong move.

“Are you willing to consider that the how is not up to you?” Bond asks. “The how is actually not your job! Your only job is to be really, really clear on what you want and why you want it. Leave the how up to the Universe.”

And the ancestors, I might add. This is the perfect time to ask your dearly departed for guidance; they are super-close now, and want to help make your dreams come true. I lit a candle to my sister Linda on Samhain (you can do the same for a favorite ancestor anytime during this powerful portal that peaks on Nov. 4). I wrote down the details of what I want and made a very specific vision board, then asked for Linda’s help from the other side. I’m trusting that my dream will unfold in perfect ways – even though I have no idea how. And I wish the same for you and your dreams!