Scorpio

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Overview & Personality Traits

Scorpio is reputedly the most sexually magnetic, smolderingly charismatic and psychologically penetrating sign of the zodiac. Wonderful! … except this sign has also garnered the most negative collection of derogatory keywords, with its predilection for subtlety and self-preservation never far from the inference of treachery and deceit. Throughout history Scorpio has been subjected to ongoing slanderous assault - considered a dark, defensive sign, with subterranean drives and sublimated energies, it has often been reported as the significator for liars, back-stabbers, traitors, thieves, lechers and all sorts of paranoid users and abusers! In medieval symbolism scorpions were particularly associated with evil and death, taken as a token for Judas because of the deadly treachery implicit in their sting. Fortunately - in the light of such disparaging assertions - Scorpios are also known for their impenetrable defences, and for their ability to beguile opponents into underestimating the depth of power that fuels their purposeful will.

The dark and heavy emphasis of traditional texts has left a very unbalanced, one-sided view of Scorpio's true motivation and expression. Whilst the essence of 'darkness' permeates this feminine, phlegmatic, nocturnal and autumnal sign in every aspect of its symbolism, the value judgements that we place upon astrological motifs are often mis-centred. No sign ever falls on the negative end of a moral trait; it is only bound to representing a theme and bringing both extremes of that theme into focus. With Scorpio the inference of deceit picks out the theme of falsity and truth; and as we might expect, those with the acuity and cunning to be masters of deceit are also the best equipped to recognise it when they see it. In their gift of realising deception, rejecting hollowness and seeing through shallow facades, Scorpios are the emissaries of a level of truth that most of us find 'too real' to look at. And they are not afraid to expose realty for what it is. The paradox of Scorpio is that where it is fooling you, it's not really acknowledging you at all. Real communication with this sign means engaging with honesty, no matter how painful, candid or direct. Cheat you it may - that means nothing; where it does matter it won't be fooled and it won't mess around with mind games.

Traditionally governed by Mars, Scorpio is genuinely capable of being destructive and intimidating - towards noble ends as well as self-centred interests - because where Mars dominates, the impulse is for fight over flight, to 'do or die' rather than to yield. But the direct, active principle of Mars is sublimated in its nocturnal setting and like all water signs Scorpios seldom instigate attacks, preferring to hold their power in reserve. This undercurrent of unexpressed energy is the basis of an almost tangible magnetism, a sense of power embedded in the aura that reveals itself expressly when their acute defensive instinct is stirred. It's worth remembering that, as much as it may seem a contradiction, Scorpios strongest line of attack is always in defence, where their fixidity brings enduring patience and their natural resilience makes them impassable. Look at the role of scorpion gods in ancient symbolism and myth; invariably their function is to act as guardians, custodians and protectors; oblivious to external distraction but ferocious in the cruel retribution unleashed on those who break their sentinel.

When Scorpios do engage in conflict their method of operation is perfectly reflected by the terrestrial creature that defines their celestial motif - all scorpions are venomous and they are all predators, but they never actively hunt or chase down their prey; instead they patiently sit and wait, months if necessary, proceeding to ambush only when their quarry is close enough to stand little chance of escape. In business and battle Scorpios make inestimable adversaries, particularly when they take up positions where they can calculate, control and hold back a concerted effort until its execution will realise maximum impact. Consequently Scorpios excel at military leadership, board room politics and court room disputes; Second World War leaders Patton, Montgomery and Rommel were all Scorpios locked together in a game of cold-hearted planning geared towards maximum damage for minimum effort. No doubt the capacity to hold onto the nerve and strike without hesitation has served Scorpio Bill Gates equally well in the battle ground of the business world.

The ability to penetrate superficial gloss is a trait that Scorpio shares with Virgo, a sign to which it is tied in sympathy, albeit often with the inequitable viewpoint of Scorpio being the perpetrator of worldly-wise experience and Virgo the victim of purity born from naivety. Their affiliation is revealed in the similarities of their glyphs which represent the intestines and illustrate that we're dealing with gut-level energy. 'Gut instinct' acts as the potent motivator in the decision-making processes and emotional reactions of both these signs, yet with Virgo the glyph is closed off and recedes into itself, symbolising barrenness, an urge to remain bound within itself, but a need to receive and allow itself to be drawn out in order to gain completeness. With Scorpio the glyph is outwardly extended, blatantly phallic, illustrating an energy that is not so easily constrained; its instinct is to penetrate and invade, and when it does so its manner is direct and focussed. Yet both of these are feminine signs, so neither is comfortable with an easy, expressive discharge of internal energy; and since Scorpio is of the phlegmatic temperament it is even more driven towards internalisation. In order to penetrate it must first draw towards it: Scorpio doesn't walk into your territory, it doesn't flirt and cajole, it merely let's its own energy attract, and when penetrating your secrets it does so having drawn you to a place where resistance is low. Like Virgo, Scorpio has an analytical gift: it probes the depths, breaks apart, identifies the dross and eliminates the wasteful or insincere. But whereas Virgo draws upon a Mercurial process of analysis and integration, Scorpio relies purely on its gut-reaction, its lack of quick mental assessment more than adequately compensated by heightened emotional/psychic sensitivity and a compulsive fixation upon a problem until its reality is finally exposed.

Like all water signs, Scorpio finds a natural habitat in the world of feelings and instincts. Its emotional reservoir is incredibly strong since its fixed nature is resistant to easy movement, allowing the watery element to seep into inaccessible depths where it is not easily stirred or cleansed. In practical symbolism the fixed element of water is used to represent long-accumulated sediment, water trapped by the coldness of ice or the heaviness of mud. It is moved only by tremendous effort and force, bringing the signification of torrents, flooded land and destructive mud-slides. In drawing the analogy between water and the realm of human emotions, we see why this sign has a natural attachment to depth-psychology; Scorpio has a very rich and fertile insight into the underbelly of life, and even in the definition of the sign as 'autumnal' we are reminded that the emphasis is taken away from that which exposes itself on the surface to the need to withdraw back to the root. Here destruction and creativity meet together bringing a tremendous alchemical reaction between attraction and repulsion, a transmutative force which deserves the highest respect since a negative or uncontrolled release is capable of destruction, just as a positive, controlled discharge is imbibed with the power to sweep away all boundaries of resistance. The Egyptians, who honoured scorpions and beetles, recognised the spiritual alliance between the creatures that dwelt beneath the earth and the magical, alchemical processes of life, death and regeneration. The most blessed state was to be born in a 'rich compost' of power, and the black, fertile mud of the Nile delta was their Prima Materia, the bubbling melting pot of creativity where decomposing elements underwent an attractive reaction that allowed the emergence of new life. Their word for this black, muddy earth was Kemit, adopted as khemia by the Greeks, and eventually forming the basis of alchemy which has dropped its spiritual dimension - but not its power to transmute and create - in the modern word chemistry. So whilst all the water signs are known for their fertile potential, it is with dark, still, muddy Scorpio that we encounter the truly powerful creative potential.

Similar analogies are reflected by the relationship between the signs of the zodiac and the parts of the body they rule. These are never 'ad hoc' connections, and provide us with another route to explore the deeper motives of each sign. Scorpio governs the groin area: the 'private parts' which contain the reproductive and excretory organs. Reproduction expresses the drive towards continuance, 'seed' being symbolic of latent life force and reserves of power as yet unexploited. Excretion demonstrates the need to eliminate that which has served its purpose; thus in the bodily processes of procreation and elimination we see the metaphysical reflection of the Scorpionic dance through attraction, creation, destruction and regeneration. For Scorpios that lack conscious direction this can seem an exhaustive ongoing process, a life full of highs and lows, passion and pain, with the zenith and nadir of experience expanding with each successive turn. There is no doubt that this full exposure to experience incorporates involvement with pain, suffering, hardship, distress and agonised emotions. The 'private parts' relate symbolically to the depths of the dark, hidden realms; where the raw, gritty and disquieting realities of all that is unpleasant and socially unacceptable take place. Most Scorpios have seen a world that is hard to look at without squirming, and being fixed in disposition they retain their experiences - even the most in-depth, transpersonal counselling techniques can only help to bring acceptance and understanding, they never erase the memory. Through Scorpio we are drawn to confronting and conquering such demons, and generally that requires an honest acceptance of how we contribute towards, as well as suffer from, the issues that lie beneath the surface of corrupted patterns of behaviour. It has been said that no one has a true understanding of any brutal, distressing event until they've experienced it in full. Who can claim to understand or even try to break the pattern of abuse except those that have acknowledged their part as abuser and abused, and then, having risen outside of the circle, brought the wisdom of experience to the needs of those still suffering within it? Scorpios that are in or have worked through this cycle naturally find it hard to be lightly chatty about it. Any attempt to skirt around issues, whatever form they take, smacks of insincerity and avoidance, and Scorpios have generally worked too hard to deal honestly with the darker sides of reality to engage in a world of pretence. Even in their sarcastic sense of humour Scorpios have a way of reminding us that we may laugh at life, but we should never be too flippant about it.

If, as the Egyptians thought, scorpions represent initiation into the sacred mysteries, we can consider the sign's other related creature, the eagle, as a higher expression of Scorpio power. Many ancient astrologers, including Ibn Ezra, recognised eagle symbolism as valid to this sign, since the biblical prophet Ezekiel described a vision, believed to be drawn from Babylonian astrology and representative of the 'fixed cross of matter':

 

Saint John's book of the Apocalypse (Revelation 4, v7) also alludes to the vision, of which Fred Gettings, in The Secret Zodiac, writes:

 

Transcendence from the crawling scorpion to the soaring eagle, still predatory, still conveying the essence of patience and penetration, but capable of flight and height, brings together the theme of destruction and renewal as a story of evolution. The argument that the constellation Aquila the Eagle took its name from the time it coincided with the summer solstice - the bird of greatest elevation assuming the symbolism of the summit of the Sun - adds strength to the view that in this respect the eagle is representing the myth of the phoenix, which self-immolates after turning its nest into a funeral pyre and, according to Pliny's report, rises again, initially as a small worm that grows from the bones and marrow of the carcass.

The psychological influences of this purposeful journey are that Scorpios can be too intense for some people, intensely secretive regarding private matters, unforgiving, jealous and instinctively destructive to those who stand in their way. Yet they are immensely loyal to those they give their allegiance to and responsive to trust placed in them. Their emotions are strong and passionate, but they run deep and are not easily expressed. Their intensity draws many towards them and if they choose to take up a position of leadership their motivating will bears strong influence upon others. Ultimately they follow their own path; sentiments of 'consideration to others' don't really apply to their level of insight. With subtle, delicate fingers attached to a iron first of power, we have to accept that, brilliant or loathsome, Scorpios are always a force to be reckoned with. Top