The Sun enters Scorpio III on November 12, 2023 at 11:01 am EST. We’ve passed the gate of Daylight Saving Time (falling back one hour), and we’re now in the season of darkness pretty definitively. Austin Coppock called this decan The Crow, relating it both to the constellation Corvus and a myth of how Crow stole the feasting-goblet of the sun-god Apollo and was burned black for his trouble. Noting its associations with the Seven of Cups, T. Susan Chang called it Mortal Beauty, recalling its name from Golden Dawn teachings on Tarot, The Lord of Debauch.

Both the card and the decan have something of that feel of debauchery. Apollo was at a feast when he sent the white crow to fetch his cup, so that he could more luxuriously give himself over to lusty desire. The crow himself experienced greed, having the cup in his beak — and never noticed how it turned his own feathers black. The Seven of Cups shows a range mortal desires — fame and riches, worldly power, control of beauty, access to spiritual and occult initiation, eternal life and abundance. Yet all such desires are shown in fleeting, ephemeral ways — things to be tasted, perhaps, but unlikely to be fully possessed. It’s no wonder that this decan is administered by Venus, who in Scorpio is willing to offer a vast array of her treasures to mortals… as long as they accept the price attached to them; desire is never without consequence in Scorpio III.

Our Hellenistic-era sources inform us that Kairos is the administrator of this decan, and yet — there’s something broken in that, given that Opportunity never knocks twice. As I noted this year in Libra II, my modern scholarly sources suggest that maybe this decan is more aptly assigned to the Kouroi, or Korybantes, the ‘masculine’ spirits of the land — more rowdy and less well-behaved than the ‘feminine’ spirits of glade and spring, these are the lords of cliff-face and waterfall, of drowning mire and thunder-struck forest, of mountain-top and glacial moraine.

I found that this relationship immediately resonated, though — Scorpio I is dedicated to the ‘feminine’ coded nymphs of glade and spring; Scorpio II is dedicated to Leto the tutor of boys and girls and others so that they become competent adults; and if Scorpio III is dedicated to the Kouroi or ‘masculine’ spirits of cliff and waterfall… then it means that Leto stands in a position of ‘teacher’ surrounded by the gaggle of land-spirits learning from her tutelage how to grow up to be ‘adult’ deities. It makes a remarkable kind of sense in the framework of the decans overall, and leaves me with a certain glowing happiness that some kind of logic exists in the whole system of decanic myths…

The dodeks of Scorpio III are reiterations of the Zodiac signs Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Libra, reframing a story much like that of the crow with Apollo’s feasting-goblet: first the emotional desire for a thing washes over the ordinary person. Then comes the egotist’s mindset that such a marvel should belong to me, as envy turns to a kind of greed. Next comes the analytic process by which a thing may be possessed. Finally, it becomes the careful balancing of risk and reward — is it better to buy the desired object, or to steal it? Is the risk worth the reward? Both the merchant and the kleptomaniac go through the same process, whether it be a pearl of great price or a pack of gum.

Planetary Placements

We’re looking at a day sect chart for the next ten days, implying that mostly “what you see is what you get” and there are few hidden or secret processes at work. The Ascendant is in Capricorn with the Lot of Fortune and the Sun above the horizon along with the Moon. All the planets of the night sect are above the horizon, while most of the planets of the day-sect are below. However, all three of the Upstarts — Uranus, Jupiter, and Pluto — are below the horizon, suggesting that surprises, visions, and economic decisions are largely taking place in households and in communities, with their overall effects on the world remaining obscure or hidden to the political and social establishments of the present moment. We’re also less than 24 hours from the dark of the Moon in Scorpio, implying a moment of particular weakness in the stomach, and for the breaking of ties among close friends over even minor details.

Mars still dominates the chart as the final dispositor of the Sun and Moon… but Venus leads the other planets all together, as the diplomat and gracious hostess of the solar system. Pluto answers to Saturn; Saturn and Neptune and Mercury answer to Jupiter; and Jupiter and Uranus answer to Venus. However, the Sun and Moon both answer to Mars in Scorpio. Among the members of the celestial parliament, the big players are trying to legislate a new order among friends and associates in secret — but Venus is making peace in the marketplace, in plain view working for justice and overall fairness. It’s a useful arrangement that should remind us that even in militant times, a diplomatic solution is eventually required — sooner or later all the parties to a conflict must accept a cessation of outright war, if only for breathing room.

Additionally, there’s considerable weakness in the skies above and in the world below. The Lot of Fortune is in the first house, suggesting that we have a considerable measure of personal responsibility and autonomy — but we’re largely in a mode of self-care and self-management; we’re unlikely to be able to take care of anyone else to the degree they would wish or desire. Put on your own oxygen mask this week, before taking care of others. Meanwhile, the South Node in Libra and the North Node in Aries closes out a number of efforts in the workplace and opens up opportunity for passion projects at home as the year draws to its end — start writing up your holiday gift-giving lists and budgets, and plan to stay inside your fiscal guardrails… there may be a number of layoffs as the end of the vulgar calendar year approaches on December 31, and you might be on the list.

Saturn and Pluto‘s retrograde periods are over, bringing in negative news of tremors under the earth, and roundabout reports of climate shifts that are harder to read than tea-leaves… but we’re still crossing and re-crossing the red cord of Ariadne’s thread, and there’s a minotaur bellowing somewhere in this maze of information and propaganda. Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus all remain retrograde, promising dug-in positions at US Thanksgiving tables around the country, and substantial skirmishes in the war of ideas and the conflict of concepts between now and then.

The Midheaven and the Imum Coeli indicate that you’ll be known by the company you keep this week… but there’s far greater contentment and happiness to be found in how you choose to use your leisure time. Don’t expect to be able to give all your time to pleasure, either… but know that small acts and deliberate effort will move you toward greater coherence and personal peace.

	Sign	Triplicity	Term	Face	Detriment	Fall
Sun	♂︎	♀︎	♃	♀︎	♀︎	☾
Moon	♂︎	♀︎	☿	☉	♄	♂︎
Mercury	♃	♀︎	♃	♀︎	☿
Venus	♀︎	♄	♄	☾	♃	♀︎
Mars	♂︎	♀︎	♃	♀︎	♀︎	☾
Jupiter	♀︎	☾	☿	♀︎	♂︎	–
Saturn	♃	♂︎	♀︎	♄	☿	☿

Horoscopes by rising sign

Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st 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.

Capricorn:

Aquarius:

Pisces:

Aries:

Taurus:

Gemini:

Cancer:

Leo:

Virgo:

Libra:

Scorpio:

Sagittarius:

Colophon

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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.