The Sun enters Scorpio III on 12 November 2022 at 5:16 am EST (note time change), administered by Venus under Mars. Austin Coppock called this decan The Crow, and the ancient Alexandrians associated it with the god Kairos, the personification of opportunity. The name references a myth about the sun-god Apollo, who forgot to bring his golden cup to the gods’ banquet, and sent a white crow to fetch it for him. The crow found the cup, but thought it was so beautiful that he took the cup to his own home. When Apollo searched for and found the crow and the stolen cup, he took back his property and made the crow turn black for his crime.

It’s hard to know to what degree Kairos was truly worshipped as a god, and to what degree he was simply a metaphor or figure of speech — a spirit of the age and era but not a deity. You and I, we use the metaphor “Opportunity only knocks once,” to signal that a chance may not come again; for the Greeks and Romans, Kairos (whose name means something like “the right time”) is a running boy, smooth all over except for a long queue of hair falling over his face like an emo-punk: catch him by the hair, their metaphor went, or he’s gone forever. This aligns nicely with the story of the crow, who saw his chance and took it without thinking through all the consequences of his action.

Normally, we think of Venus as being in detriment in Scorpio, too — but her presence in her own decan gives her a degree of protection despite being under the beams of the Sun. A decan often represents a skill or a capacity, and Venus’s capacity here is to be able to single out the shiny and beautiful things and keep them secret for herself. Something of that particular attitude of selection and protection may manifest itself in the ten days ahead of us.

Scorpio III is also the first decan after the Via Combusta, or “fiery road”, which extends from 15° Libra to 15° Scorpio. While not hugely important in personal charts, the Sun’s presence in the Via Combusta signals a period of unusual intensity and heightened risk — which has certainly been true in the US during these past two weeks between the October 25 Solar Eclipse and the November 8 Lunar Eclipse. We can expect to see something of a slow return to normalcy over the next ten days. We may not like ‘normal’, but in some ways it’s preferable to feeling like a crisis could be around any corner.

Planetary Positions

The Ascendant is in Scorpio I, The Jawbone, making this a night chart in which the Moon and Mars hold pride of place. Normally, Mars in Gemini would be in aversion, or out of alignment, with Scorpio. However, the condition of mutual reception applies here: Mars is in Mercury’s sign, and Mercury is in Mars’s sign; accordingly, the two planets behave as if they were in their own sign. In a recent client consultation, I described it as being a bit like lovers preparing their homes for the visit of the other — Mars has made up some secret love-notes written in code for Mercury, to engage their intellect… and Mercury has put out some workout gear, battle maps, and war-games that they know Mars likes because he wins. This needn’t be a sexual relationship, but Mercury in Scorpio strongly suggests at the least a queerness and homoerotic tension at work, while retrograde Mars in Gemini indicates a reframing or rethinking of old strategies and tactics— it may be helpful to think of the as the old high school bully and his victim meeting up on fetish night at a gay bar; clearly a reassessment of old monstrosities is in order.

The Moon is also in a place of great significance, being in the Eighth Mansion. Twitter user Shuly (@itztagninut) suggested to me that a better name for the Lunar Mansions would be “Lunar Stations” or “Lunar Caravanserai”, suggesting that she stops at a new inn or hostel each night. I’ve found that helpful in my own thinking. Here, The Moon is stopping at a favorite watering-hole called The Gap, whose sign is in the shape of an eagle with the head of a man. A bar that welcomes politicians, lawyers, merchants and lovers, it’s a place of celebration and joy, the sort of high-end restaurant people go to celebrate victories and triumphs. And it’s also in a great neighborhood — people travel easily round these parts which are less crime-ridden and dangerous than other neighborhoods, and it’s common to meet up with friends and allies by chance and then go fora cup of coffee together. Shared power, calm, and peace help maintain order in these parts, rather than the hard and heavy hand of the tyrant.

The Fixed Signs (Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus, Leo) are the Angular Houses in this chart, bringing solidity and steadyness to the next ten days. The Sun, Mercury and Venus are all in Scorpio as the first house, bringing about the aforementioned mutual reception between Mercury and Mars — lending creativity and expertise to the keeping of secrets and the revelation of sensuality. In the fourth, Saturn has gone direct in Aquarius, providing some new stability to family situations (though some of you with older parents may want to check in more regularly on dad’s state of being these next ten days). Uranus is still retrograde in Taurus, putting forward some slow-moving surprises and unexpected results as though the earth shakes.

The Mutable Signs (Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini, Virgo) are the Succedent Houses in this chart, bringing change in the form of both challenges putting us at risk and opportunities where our actions bring potent successes. Mars in Gemini in the eighth house sets out some tasks and duties that cannot be put off any longer, but still leaves open a time for strategizing about the priorities and order in which they are done. Jupiter and Neptune, both retrograde in Pisces III The Cup of Blood, indicate an era in which contending with the consequences of deliberate misinformation may finally be at hand.

The Cardinal Signs (Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, Libra) are in Cadent Houses, indicating that numerous things are beginning that may be wholly outside our control. Pluto in the third house in Capricorn III The Throne continues to signal high prices and challenges to communication. The Moon promises the beginning of a more normal time in academia and in travel and tourism. This may be the last open hurrah before a larger storm, though. Get where you’re going, then plan to stay there a while.

Horoscopes by Rising Sign

Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21s of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.

Scorpio:

Sagittarius

Capricorn:

Aquarius:

Pisces:

Aries:

Taurus:

Gemini:

Cancer:

Leo:

Virgo:

Libra:

Colophon

Colophon

I have a Patreon account for those who want to support this column as it continues its third year. Those funds support artists, artisans and thinkers that I regard as contributing to the well-being of the world. You can also buy me a Ko-fi in $3 increments; any column I write after receiving a Ko-Fi donation will be open to the public).  You can also schedule an appointment with me using Accuity Scheduling, for a natal or solar return consultation.

If you want to read some of my astrologically-oriented poetry, the largest collection is called A Full Volume of Splendor and Starlight, available through my Etsy shop, and containing poems and hymns to the planets, constellations, decan deities, and Moon Mansion angels. While not astrological, Festae contains hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits from the calendar created by Numa Pompilius, the second ancient King of Rome.

I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts. I also use Hugh Tran‘s Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.

I use Christopher Warnock‘s The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock‘s 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.