Estrology Newsletter Scorpio 2013:
We collectively have a deep fascination with the holiday of Halloween. It is a particularly special day for me because it is the day my son Aleph was born, at home, in Fairfax CA, thirty seven years ago. As I was contemplating on the theme for the current Scorpio passage, the name Halloween revealed itself to me afresh, as if I had never heard it before.
Picture courtesy of tarot.com
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary “hallow” is: 1. to make holy or set apart as holy. To respect or honor greatly; venerate. Vocabulary.com says “To hallow is to bless, consecrate, or render holy by means of religious rite, especially significant religious places or relics of saints.” Whoa! Powerful words for an occasion we often consider a minor holiday whose purpose is to entertain and parade around in costume!
Then there’s the ween in Halloween….If ween can be seen as an abbreviation of tween, and I am choosing to see it that way, it is most appropriate for a holiday that is at the midpoint of the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Halloween is one of four midpoints that indicate the eight primary natural holidays based on the play of light and dark in our natural journey through the seasons.
In esoteric traditions the ‘tween or “in between” times are considered to be portals of power. Much like the cusp between signs they are times of transition where the energy is potent because the chi is in a shift mode, and if we attune to and harmonize with movement we can tap into creativity and potentiality at a more essential level than we can at other times. ‘Tween times are associated with magic, power, vision, possibility and tapping into the Divine Reservoir with heightened awareness. We could say that ‘tween times are when Nature is in a shapeshifting mode, as the currents shift in synchrony with the energetic turning of the tide or as they change their emphasis. ( What if we were to retrieve the time of life we call teens and view it anew as a time of being between the child and the mature human and met it with empowerment and possibility instead of viewing it only as an awkward or immature necessary passage not significant in itself? I imagine we’re overlooking a great and fertile period of human development by framing it as a time of difficulty and insufficiency rather than a time where the tweens could be considered as precious conscious bridges, no longer forced to leave behind the joy of childhood in the process of becoming a grown-up human.)
I have a bias against the word adult for adulterated usually means something that’s lost its purity and unfortunately that seems to be exactly what has happened to far too may of us “grown-ups” as the most innocent and pure aspects of us are left behind and abandoned to function in an “adult” world where joy is so frequently exiled in the pursuit of success.
Astrological cusps share this potency which is why they are so hard to pin down. The cusps may be the most shamanistic placements, as they are comprised of the ener-”chi” of fusion, and simultaneous endings and beginnings which mirror the shamans passage in and out of dimensions of consciousness to retrieve and re-introduce needed wisdom and perspective.
Typical ‘tween times are dawn and the sunrise and twilight or dusk as the sun appears to set. The eight natural holidays–the Vernal and Fall Equinoxes, Summer and Winter Solstices, and the midpoints of these turnings that we call Halloween, Candlemas, Beltane and Lammas, could all be considered tween times.
‘Tween places are where the elements come together in novel or dramatic ways like here in Santa Cruz where the North American continent meets the Pacific Ocean. On the shore there is an intense concentration of Fire / Sun, Water / sea, Earth / land’s edge, Air / wind and Space, the vast openness revealed as we gaze at the horizon.
Halloween punctuates the time we descend more deeply into dark. Death of the summer is completed with the falling of the leaves and the end of the harvest in zones where winter occurs. The emphasis moves from the outer world into the inner domain. We move from the outer Sun light’s fullness into the possibility to activate our own “inner light” as the outer light lessens and we dwell more fully in the dark.
The pumpkin, with its inner light shining through the carved eyes, nose, mouth and ears, is a beautiful symbol for this opportunity. With the death of so much outer focus we can gift ourselves with the inner realms, letting our awareness be the inner light that reveals to us what we need to know. It reminds us of the need to rest and receive. We can die to the yang demand for so much outer action and be dormant. We are invited to the fallow field of renewal for the restoration needed to insure a vitalized awakening into spring at Candlemas.
As we don the “cos-tombs” we allow for the crew of our inner selves to emerge. The conscious persona, so associated with work and fixed “me-ness” is given a chance to die as we defer to the ghosts and inner Spirits that have been restrained while we have been paying our dues to the solar realm. We invite the cast of characters, our cosmic archetypal ensemble, to come forth and remind us of our inner diversity. How many sub-personalities have been contained in the land of taboo that arise with loud cries of boo to scare and haunt the tightly held ego?
It would be great to consciously have a coming out party, dressing as our nemesis, the exiled part of our self that we most resist admitting is part of our entirety. The town philanthropist might show us as a miser, the compassionate mama as a shrew, the beauty as the beast!
Halloween is also the eve of the “Say of the Dead.” It is often said that Halloween is a time when the boundaries between the world of the dead and living is most thin. We can honor the fact that the mortality of all the lives in the world of form is a sure thing even as we celebrate the immortality of the Spirit, the Soul, the inner light that leaves the body at its demise and no longer lights up the eyes with presence.
Today, Friday October 18th we have a lunar eclipse highlighting the 26th degrees of Aries and Scorpio. After the recent New Moon at 12 degrees Libra, across from Uranus in Aries and square Pluto in Capricorn, we are still very much exploring the territory of relationships and interdependence. Many folks were astonished to discover how the government shutdown influenced their lives, far away from D.C. as parks closed and whole towns had their economies eclipsed by the governmental decision. Interdependence was revealed as many people began new strategies and new actions.
I imagine a continuation of new action arising with this Aries Moon eclipse. We are needing to look at myth of individualism and the disconnect between the declared U.S.A. persona and the contradictory experiences arising. More than one friend had their almost negligible food stamp allotments cut down to $5 a month! It is a joke that is tragic. The implications of the governmental policies are now being revealed.
Mercury goes retrograde October the 21st at 19 degrees of Scorpio. It will team up with Saturn on October 29th, cross the Scorpio North Node and go direct again on November 11th at 3 degrees Scorpio. So what does this indicate?
We are in a time of transformation. Intense birthing is taking place as the old forms that no longer serve us adequately are dying. We feel this personally and collectively. No one is spared yet those of us with strong Scorpio placements or placements activated by the Uranus / Pluto square are feeling this profoundly!
This is prime time for us to take the retrograde journey and take that inner light lantern that we all are equipped with and go deeply into the cave of our own being. We are asked not only to shine the light on the parts of us we’d rather not see, that we’ve disowned or abandoned, but also to bring forth all that we care about and treasure.
Now is the time to bring forth your passion for life, to willingly become the grail by allowing what is ailing you and us to be transformed by the awareness of the inner fire. We are the alchemists and what is required is our yes to the willingness to let go, forgive, release and accept the breakdown so that we can embrace the breakthrough.
It takes courage. Yes, and it takes each other. Now is the time to share, collaborate, commiserate, celebrate and co-create. Shine your light into your darkness and discover that there are treasures to be found there.
To be whole is to be “w-hole-ly.” The light and dark are lovers. We have turned them into enemies. It is not their nature to fight with each other. We act as if light is good and dark is bad. This is silly and dysfunctional. We are the dark as we are the light.
As you gaze into the pumpkin’s face this year let it remind you to be the light that you are, embracing the darkness, knowing that you are the hallowed ‘tween bringing the magic that you are into the world that you live in. You are the Hallow ‘Tween!
© Esther Frances, October 18, 2013
I am long-winded and can’t squeeze what wants to be said through me into commercial sound bites. If you u’d like to be taken off my newsletter just let me know.
Also, if you’d like to know how this all personally interacts with you, please schedule a session. For my Halloween treat I offer you the usual singleton session for the reduced cost of $100, a full $50 savings. The trick is that this offer is only good if you book it before November 1st, although the actual appointment can be in November.
Blessings & Beauty,
Esther
