15 Degrees Of Scorpio On 7th November 2006

15 degrees of the fixed signs (Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus and Leo) are the cross-quarter days of the zodiac, marking the mid-points between the cardinal cross of 0 degrees Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

As the sun reaches 15 degrees of Scorpio, it's astrological Samhain/Halloween - the beginning of the Celtic new year. The Celts divided their year into two halves, and Samhain translates as 'summer's end'. The astrological date changes slightly year to year to fit with the solar movement, but it's always around the beginning of November, and marks the noticeable shift in the Northern Hemisphere into colder days and longer nights.

The traditions and customs associated with this time are all of a Scorpio theme. Scorpio is the sign associated with death and the worlds beyond, or below this one. The underworld, which Scorpio ruler Pluto has dominion over, was known as the place of no return, and it's this perspective of no going back that Scorpio brings an awareness of in relation to all endings. It's the letting go of what was in order to move forward that defines the Scorpio experience, just as the old year must pass to make way for the new, and summer must make way for winter in order to begin the cycle of growth once more.

Samhain was a fire festival, like the other cross-quarter festivals (Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh), and here in the UK the tradition has been kept alive at this time of year through Bonfire Night, held every 5th November. In true Scorpio style the 5th November is to remember the story of Guy Fawkes, who was involved in a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliment in 1605, but was caught red-handed about to light the fuse. He was tortured, then executed, and this execution is symbolically repeated by the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes on bonfires across the nation. Fireworks are also a big part of bonfire night, and like the gunpowder plot itself seems to capture the spirit of Scorpio's traditional ruler, Mars.

Whether it's Samhain, Halloween, All Souls, or Guy Fawkes night, the Scorpio symbols are there; the darkness and the light, the mysteries of death and what lies beyond, and the promise of rebirth and renewal as the cycle of life continues despite our worst fears. There might be no going back in this life, but for Scorpio there's no such thing as a dead end.

Read more about Guy Fawkes here

15 Degrees Of Leo And August Full Moon

As mentioned previously, when the sun reaches 15 degrees of any fixed sign in the zodiac (Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius or Taurus), it's the midway point between a solstice and an equinox, known as a cross-quarter day. The quarter days of two equinoxes and two solstices take place when the sun reaches 0 degrees of Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn, respectively.

Here in the northern hemisphere 15 degrees of Leo marks a seasonal shift in the wheel of the year towards autumn, and Lughnasadh and Lammas are important festivals, long associated with this harvest period in the agricultural year. Kathleen Jenks has a great collection of links to info on these festivals here, at her site Myth*ings Links, and what caught my eye in amongst the collection was by Kym ní Dhoireann, concerning Lughnasadh being wrongly thought of as the time when a grain god dies as a result of the harvesting of crops:

"There is, however, absolutely no evidence to indicate that the Irish Lugh was a Sun or Grain God ----in fact, there is no good evidence for any Sun God worship among the Celtic Irish. In most, if not all, Indo-European languages the word "Sun" is feminine and Goddesses and women associated with the Sun are found but no males. The universality of the Sun God and Moon Goddess seems a rather modern myth and has no bearing on ancient Irish practices". (full article here)

There's a female figure that appears on the Strength tarot card, a card which is associated with the sign of Leo (the sign ruled by the sun), so perhaps there's a connection expressing through the symbolism here. Leo is a sign associated with awareness of creative and personal power, and in this tarot card the power that is subduing the lion is clearly something other than brute force. Goddess power hasn't been a popular notion in centuries gone by; about as popular in general consciousness as the festival of Lughnasadh itself has been, so who knows...

This year there's a full moon building as the sun reaches 15 degrees of Leo. It links to the recent new moon (which I wrote about here), and takes place on the Saturn/Neptune opposition. A full moon is a turning point, just like the 15 degree cross-quarter spot. This full moon in Aquarius symbolises a deep need for freedom and liberation, within the context of the new moon in Leo themes, and Neptune adds spiritual vision, while Saturn demands commitment. There are some strong energies at work in the world just now, so this might also be a good time to meditate on that ancient Goddess power, who has it all so effortlessly in hand.


technorati: astrology, full moon, leo, tarot