Scorpio III, The Crow, begins on Tuesday 11 November 2025 at 10:33 pm EST, and lasts nine days, twenty-two hours, and five minutes. It ends when Sagittarius I begins at the ingress of the Sun to Sagittarius on 21 November 2025 at 8:38 pm EST. While the name The Crow comes from Austin Coppock, the association of this decan with the Seven of Cups comes from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’s frameworks; and T. Susan Chang was informed by that framework of study when she named this decan Mortal Beauty. A Patreon supporter may have unconsciously referenced this relationship when they cited Howl’s Moving Castle‘s line: “I give up. I see no point in living if I can’t be beautiful.”

I’ve written about Scorpio III six previous times, in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

The mythological story associated with The Crow that comes to us from ancient Greece, is that the crow was a white bird, and much admired by the Sun god Apollo for his loyalty and willingness to help. Apollo was at a banquet for the gods, and realized that he had forgotten his golden cup at home. He sent the crow to go and fetch the cup. But the crow, upon seeing the gold cup was so surprised and delighted by its beauty, that he resolved to steal it. Imbued with the heat of the Sun god’s hands, though, the cup radiated such heat that it slowly blackened crow’s feathers. When the crow returned to the banquet, and told the Sun god that he could not find the cup, Apollo only laughed at him, pointing to the black and feathers and saying that the crow had revealed his own duplicity. Shamed, crow brought the cup to the Sun God, but was never after trusted with Apollo‘s private business — and remained black ever afterward.

The ancient Greeks honored the Curetes (sometimes called the korybantes) at this time of year. It’s hard to know exactly what or who these spirits were. The Curetes appeared to be wild and masculine spirits of nature: the force of dangerous places like rocky headlands on wild coastline; mountain tops racked by storms; high cliffs in windy places; dark and terrifying force forests where wild beasts prowl.

Ancient Greek soldiers performed dances in honor of these beings at this time of year, naked or in armor, carrying shields and spear of bronze which they would clash together during the dance and make loud noises. This was in the imitation of the spirits that guarded the cave where the infant Zeus was hidden away from his father Kronos. Yet the korybantes are sometimes not described as a band of wilding teenage boys. Instead, they are described as the mature divine twins, the Dioscuri: Castor and Pollux in Sparta; and other beings have similar divine and twin like nature – half divine and half mortal. Mediterranean Christians found that the Dioscuri were so difficult for ordinary folks to give up, that they renamed them Cosmas and Damian, and made them Saints for their skill as healers and physicians.

The Roman historian and social commentator Tacitus went so far as to write “in Germania, they worship the gods that we would recognize as Castor and Pollux, with rites and ceremonies that are performed by a male priest dressed as a woman.“ in this observation, we encounter a peculiarly Greco-Roman idea, that there are a relatively limited number of immortal gods, who appear to all tribes, nations, and peoples worldwide, but in different guises and aspects to each place and people; and in each place, they provide their worshipers with rites appropriate to their environment and cultural needs. Today we would probably call this outrageous cultural appropriation, and find ourselves scandalized. Yet Tacitus and other ancient pagan authors, present us with a different approach: no pagan has a lock on the exclusivity of worship, and there is no one universal custom appropriate to any individual god; express your reverence through local condition and custom.

This third decan of Scorpio is associated with the administratorship of Venus under the rulership of Mars. And, as I have already noted is also associated with the idea of Warrior dancing their masculinity. Accordingly, it is a good time to take up practices associated with both physical strength, such as bodybuilding, but also endurance and beauty such as dance classes, martial arts with particularly fluid forms; or cardio/aerobic exercise that enables you to carry on a little longer with the 4Fs: freezing, fighting, fleeing, and mating.

The four dodeks, or twelfth-parts, of Scorpio III are Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Libra. One way that these can be visualized is as a shy person getting over their shyness and deciding to call an acquaintance for a first date. Cancer represents the emotional turmoil of wondering whether or not they should try to ask the other person on a date. Leo represents the actual call to the other person, while Virgo represents the reflection and acknowledgement that they accepted (or rejected) the invitation. Libra represents the re-balancing of the person’s hopes and dreams after they’ve learned something about themselves and how they could do this better next time. In other years, I’ve compared these four dodeks to the journey a performer goes through when preparing to go on stage and then coming off the stage (or passing the hat to their audience),

Dates To Watch

Just as the Sun will be passing through the dodeks of Cancer, Leo, and Virgo and Libra during these first few days of Scorpio III, the Moon will also be passing through the actual signs of Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Libra. Accordingly, it’s worth recognizing the ways in which you’ll actually be negotiating the emotional path suggested by the two provided examples: calling up a potential first date, or getting ready to go on stage. You may not actually do that, but the emotional journey will be similar.

Mercury is the big player in this coming week. Their retrograde in Sagittarius has already begun (9 November 2025 at 2:01 pm EST), occurring in the 10th house and thus setting public reputation and career goals as the part of our lives more likely to be affected by delays and revisions. On 12 November 2025 at 6:11 pm EST, Mercury’s conjunction with Mars will go exact in the seventh house, promising horny memes and hot talk but maybe no action. Still, this Mercury retrograde is likely to highlight relationships and the responsibilities that come with them. On 19 November, Mercury will re-enter Scorpio, while the cazimi (a close conjunction with the Sun) occurs on 20 November at 5:45 am EST — just as the Moon passes by both Mercury and the Sun on her way to the first new crescent on the evening of 19 or 20 November. The cazimi is likely to bring greater clarity to the financial relationships and obligations you and your partner share with each other. Try to remember you’ve been learning to navigate three Mercury retrogrades a year for your entire life, though, and you can manage the lessons that this one has to teach too.

On November 11 at 11:41 am, Jupiter will station retrograde at 25° Cancer (in a single degree managed by Mars, and the dodek Taurus of Cancer). As with Mercury retrogrades, you’ve dealt with one Jupiter retrograde a year for most of your life, each of which requires you to revisit matters that you thought had been settled six months ago. The retrograde begins in the seventh house, highlighting peer-to-peer interactions as a core focus, both in the workplace and in romantic relationships and rivalries. Much of the dialogue will be subtextual, and may be focused around issues of household management and food, initially; but questions about breaking down gender roles and managing household gardens may arise in time. Be prepared. This retrograde continues until March 10-11 of 2026.

Saturn has reached its stationing degree at 25° Pisces, but won’t reach the relevant minutes for his retrograde to start until until 27-28 November. It’s a very Mars-y part of Pisces, with Jupiter ruling the overall sign, but the decan, term, and single degree all ruled by Mars; the dodek is Capricorn of Pisces, lending a little bottled-up feelings to an argumentative set of forces. Whatever part of your chart is in Pisces, you can expect some sublimated frustrations to bubble over into angry productivity in this part of your life for the next several months.

The First House of self and self-presentation is Leo, ruled by the squaring Sun in Scorpio in the fourth house. The Moon is present. Triplicity rulers Saturn and Jupiter are both inconjunct. The privacy of home, and family secrets, are good to collect and keep under one roof. Both long-term planning and current debts are creating challenges. You may want to shine in new ways, but it’s time to think about how to fly under the radar and not attract too much notice.

The Second House of money and possessions is Virgo, with the South Node present; ruling Mercury is square and retrograde. Triplicity rulers are either inconjunct (Moon), sextile (Venus) or square (Mars). Financial issues will continue to pile up and cause difficulties; some of these problems can be hammered out or analyzed for better solutions, but you’ll still find you need to take on new debts to cover future planning. Be wary of how the costs of pleasures and entertainments can burn you, even though there’s obvious justifications for them.

The Third House of extended family, intimate friends, and letters and packages is Libra, ruled by inconjunct Venus in Scorpio in the fourth house. Triplicity rulers are either inconjunct (Saturn), sextile (Mercury) or square (Jupiter). It’s easy to make plans with friends or with family, but be wary of how the costs of those plans accumulate — especially when you or they have to cancel due to sudden chores or obligations. Schedule low-cost meetings such as a coffee date or a drop-in at a pastry shop for a dessert, rather than elaborate travel plans.

The Fourth House of home, household, and parents is Scorpio, ruled by inconjunct Mars in Sagittarius in the fifth house. Triplicity ruler Venus is present, but the Moon is square. The Sun is present, as is the Lunar Apogee and Imum Coeli. It’s tempting to schedule fun little adventures for you and your housemates, or to try to keep Halloween’s spooky season going. But feel your way into the winter nesting impulses nonetheless. A rational, clear-eyed look at what you own is advised; remember the 19th century interior designer William Morris’ advice: “have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

The Fifth House of pleasures and pastimes is Sagittarius, ruled by inconjunct Jupiter. Triplicity rulers are either trine (Saturn) or inconjunct (Sun). Mercury and Mars are present and about to conjunct. Providing yourself with a lot of small delights and cheap entertainments will serve you better than investing in grand projects or elaborate plans. Monitor the health of your children with a greater degree of attention than usual, and keep alert to health matters at their schools or workplaces.

The Sixth House of daily routines, pets, and injuries is Capricorn, ruled by sextile Saturn in Pisces in the 8th house. Triplicity rulers are inconjunct (Mars and Moon) or sextile (Venus). Daily labors are punctuated by odious and annoying efforts such as data entry, scrubbing or screening information, and managing or qualifying inventory. Building up a stock of small gifts for the holiday season should probably begin, but working through your stores of mathoms may be worthwhile.

The Seventh House of spouse, peer partners, and rivals is Aquarius, ruled by inconjunct Saturn in Pisces in the eighth house. Triplicity rulers are either sextile (Mercury retrograde) or inconjunct (Saturn and Jupiter). Pluto is present. There’s a subtext of criticism running through your primary romantic or economic relationships where (both of your) unexamined money-habits are leading to difficulties in the current economic climate. Conversations about hobbies, or about the kids, may have an unpleasant undertow that will pull you into argument. This doesn’t mean don’t talk about hobbies; it does mean talk about your concerns and accept valid critiques with humility.

The Eighth House of obligation, duty and legacy is Pisces, ruled by trining Jupiter exalted in Cancer. Triplicity rulers are square (Mars), trine (Venus) or inconjunct (Moon). Saturn and Neptune are both present and retrograde, along with the North Node. It will be hard to muster enthusiasm to deal with your current obligations, indebtedness, and chores. They must be done, and done soon — but it’s going to feel like every new item on your to-do list is a trap, and it will be hard to see a future when the past is dragging on you on a daily basis.

The Ninth House of higher learning and long-distance travel is Aries, ruled by trining Mars in Sagittarius. Triplicity rulers are inconjunct (Sun and Saturn) or square (Jupiter). It’s easy to identify yourself (e.g., “I am a tourist,” “I am a pilgrim,” or “I am a student”) but harder to deliver on that identity due to a range of delightful distractions, or highly emotional conversations in the middle of the night. It may be worth focusing on what you’re learning or where you’re going — especially, put the phone down during your long drives this week; the sultry chatting via text will have to wait… or it will have to be a hands-free phone call.

The Tenth House of career and professional reputation is Taurus, ruled by opposing Venus in Scorpio. Triplicity rulers are either inconjunct (Mars) or square (Moon). Uranus is present and retrograde, along with the Midheaven and the Lunar Perigee. It’s a good time to help your employer and co-employees or team lay out a six-month roadmap that everyone is willing to follow to get to a mission-driven destination. Recognize that there are likely to be challenging hurdles to overcome, and that you may have to plan for more than one furlough or reduced operations. At the same time, do what you can to secure your own family’s needs in that plan, but acknowledge that helping everyone will help raise your future reputation and honor; you may need that goodwill sooner than you think.

The Eleventh House of friends, associates, and allies is Gemini, ruled by opposing Mercury. Triplicity rulers are either square (Saturn) or inconjunct (Jupiter). Pleasing yourself these days is easy; pleasing others is a lot harder. Still, it’s good to focus on what is genuinely observable rather than what is possible. Pick up some of your old projects and try to put them on the front burner, each in its turn, until they’re done — hand off what can’t or won’t be completed to someone who will be glad of the chance to put their hands to work.

The Twelfth House of both obstacles and opportunities is Cancer, ruled by the inconjunct Moon. Jupiter is present and exalted but stationing. The triplicity rulers are inconjunct (Mars) and trine (Venus). It’s easy to look back at the recent past and assume that the situation is dire (and maybe it is) — but there are places and times in the last six months where you almost stepped in to help, but didn’t. Now it’s time to review what actions you could have taken, and make amends for those decisions. It may require setting aside some of your pleasures in order to make room for the work; it may require adopting a bigger idea of ‘family’ or household’ than you’re used to. You can do it, though.

Horoscopes

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.

I recommend reading your Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising sign for best results. I write them with rising sign in mind, but several people have told me they find that they do better with all three.

Leo: look around your home with care and attention in order to identify what is ugly, or useless, and be prepared to chuck it or donate it or give it away. If you find yourself, justifying ugliness, try the Marie condo trick of admiring and honoring what it used to be, but still be prepared to send it packing. If you could magically go back in time and fix something from the last six months, what would it be? You can still make course corrections and remediate your failure to act in the next 10 days by making some small change that is designed to fulfill an unacknowledged debt.

Virgo: financial trouble may still be lingering in your life, and it is likely time to review your previously justified and justifiable “happiness expenses” like art and craft supplies, comfort meals at your favorite restaurants, and little entertainments. If you have kids, you cannot cut back on their needs, so personal pleasures may be next on the chopping block. However, there are still ways to create delight in your life; consider inviting a friend into your home for conversation, and be prepared to break your own rules about who’s allowed over the threshold. It’s hard to see long-term solutions to the current problems, but generous friends can give you their time and their advice in ways that may make all the difference.

Libra: it’s family members, and your inner circle of friendships, that are most likely to feed you these days; but bringing together a large group to talk out your problems, may involve a whole lot more violent language than you’re prepared to welcome into your home. Consider putting such appointments into your workday, as a break between projects, either by phone or text, but keep your home, a relatively secure vault to recover from the pressures of the day. Past work projects are likely to be re-opened, no matter how ‘finished’ they may have been. Start preparing to name files finished_4, or final-final-3.4 to help your supervisors understand just how far out of scope you are. On the other hand, parts of what you’re doing now are likely to be your bread-and-butter for most of the next decade or more — keep private notes to make sure you’re learning from what’s on your work-surfaces.

Scorpio: you may feel strongly confined to quarters by financial setbacks and promises not kept — whether fraudulent or genuinely uncontrollable outside circumstances isn’t clear, but you can expect that the check probably isn’t in the mail. On the other hand, contentment is likely to be found in demonstrating your attachment to the small wins, both in your workplace and in your personal brand-awareness: show off what you’re doing on social media platforms and ask your boss or supervisor for compliments as well as critique: “you don’t like this bit here.. what do you like about this, overall?” Don’t take “I don’t like any of it” as an answer. Old tumults may publicly rock an otherwise steady partnership; a renegotiation of limits and expectations in your romance and extracurriculars may be in order.

Sagittarius: Your words may get you into some trouble over the next few days; remember to pause before rushing in to bring up old conversations. Some non-obvious debts and obligations are dragging on your life; you may be able to resolve them over the next few weeks, but it will require endeavors that you haven’t quite managed to arrange yet. Some long-term issues need to be addressed, but before they can be resolved some household boundaries and expectations may need re-negotiation. It’s clear that (although you’re handling all the big stuff) that career difficulties continue to expend your personal resources, and that there are a great many minor issues that you simply can’t see — much less put right — until a bit more time has passed. Keep doing what you’re doing and wait for the tensions to appear; then you’ll know what to unknot.

Capricorn: You’ll benefit from calling some of your friends or family members into a few of your daily endeavors and secret projects. It’s not to say they can help right away, but if they understand what you’re working on now, especially your secret projects, you will be able to draw upon them in other expertises for your home life. Additionally, it’s worth discussing with your spouse or significant other what you can afford to make available to others who may be in worse shape than you. Right now, it’s easy to say “we have so little, how can we share?” But in reality, you can share, it just requires a shift in mindset to know how you can help. You may be hit with some long-term problems related to your kids or your pastimes: a review of your upcoming calendar of events, and a circle through your professional contacts, may be valuable. Always make time for your spouse or partner’s projects this week, but recognize that you may need to use your prestige or reputation to find them help rather than doing it yourself.

Aquarius: Partnership — whether of the marriage, romantic, or business kind — are a great source of aid and help this week, but you may still have trouble avoiding criticism from them; you may be dishing out quite a bit yourself. You face a temptation to understand friendly banter as actual insult, though; and comments about your miserliness or spendthrift ways are likely to sting particularly hard. It may be time to come clean about some of the upheavals your household is experiencing at the moment, and to be a little less generous with your time working on long-term projects at work — it’s time to turn your attention back to the day-to-day for a while. If you work from home, you should review what private resources your business is using, and take stock — is this a financial draw that you should expect reimbursement for?

Pisces: The pressures of chores, debts, and obligations may feel particularly heavy right now, and you feel more is being piled on you at the moment, with both greater enthusiasms by the creditors/assigners, and with greater limitations or restrictions accruing to you as a result. Engaging a group of friends or colleagues from your hobbyist circles may help resolve some of these to-do list items; even complaining about it in your knitting circle or SCA fighting practice might provide you with a way to blow off steam. Professional matters require you to bring bad news to someone famously bad at honoring the message and messenger; do your best to deliver the information quickly and cleanly and factually, without losing your nerve or courage. Be prepared to fight back, too — you’re more likely to win, and to earn recognition as someone worth following. You’ll need a crew at your back in the future, too — start earning their trust now.

Aries: There’s that allegedly African proverb (as though a whole continent used the same aphorisms), “if you want to go far, go alone; if you want to go well, go together.” This week, we can add in another layer of that, which is that if you want to get ahead, consider going with a rival, or if you’re already scheduled to study with a friend, then make a competitive game out of it. Turning your journey (through inner or outer landscapes) into some sort of contest with a stake is likely to result in better outcomes for you both. You probably believe that there are significant limits to trying to plan ahead; and you feel like family responsibilities prevent you from discovering or designing a better future for yourself. Just remember “current crossed conditions” will eventually dissipate. Start going toward what you want, even if you can only take a tiny step a day.

Taurus: You’re going to have to be a by-the-book responsible employee at work for the next few weeks, even as the job site goes through upheavals that will make it seem like you need to stop for daily prayer a few times a day. Ask your friends and professional associates to be a little more serious, and to hold to a more formal kind of conduct in the work place. It won’t be easy, especially if you’ve got a more rough-and-tumbe sort of professional peer who delights in practical jokes. Can you avoid the problem that the reaction-hitter is usually the one who gets caught? Probably not. It’s in the romantic department that you get to break out of this restrictive pattern, although even there you may find that breaking free of norms requires more communication and analysis of feedback than usual. It will be worth it, though: keep talking.

Gemini: It’s easy for you to take the lead right now in many social situations; you have money (or at least access to resources), and you have lots of good ideas. The trouble is that people are starting to notice the ways that your professional duties are being encroached on by others, and you also have a great plan for maintaining the status quo, but no vision for how things should be done in the future. New leaders often assume that “we have to undo everything that’s already been done before to make it better,” while old hands recognize that delivering quality requires doing the same old things with reliability and decent results. Sometimes the best possible imagined result is the enemy; teaching your boss the value of good enough may help you more than let’s start over.

Cancer: A lot of your big plans have been set in motion and you’ve made significant progress on them. People like you enough that no one is going to oppose you directly or forcefully, but subtle delays may settle into your schedule and extension of your mission objectives is likely to creep in. Notice the way that your life fills up with more of the same over the next few weeks, and then develop a plan to set boundaries around the parts of your life where other people’s plans for you are starting to intrude in unacceptable ways. You get to be a hero in your own life, but even heroes need time for rest and relaxation… and sometimes that requires being your own scary witch or wizard shouting, “you shall not pass.” Finance questions in your life include emotional issues that may not be directly connected to what you have or what you earn, but you would still benefit from having a fun night in with friends rather than going out partying. Be wary of overloading your professional schedule with more travel time.

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.