Over the course of the next week, there is going to be a sizeable influx of activity into Scorpio.

Scorpio stellium

While Mercury and Jupiter are already in this sign, they will be joined by the Moon a little before 4 AM Sunday (22nd). Then on Monday, both the Sun and Mars enter Scorpio at about 9:30 AM and 12:30 PM. On Tuesday, at about 6 AM Venus will join the foray, bringing the planetary total to a planetary high of six.

  Whenever planets group together in a sign, it increases the power and magnitude of how these celestal vibrations impact us, for better or worse. Possibly more than any other, Scorpio is a sign of extremes. This is perhaps best seen in the parts of the body said to be ruled by Scorpio, diplomatically called the 'organs of elimination'. In a curious concentration of forces, these are the parts of the body that are concerned with the waste and by-products of our system. All the things we eat which the body cannot use are jettisoned here.

Sensuality

Yet these organs are also employed as the portals of creation, where body and soul enter the Earth plane through both conception and birth. Life and death are manifested here at the gates of creation in dramatic fashion.

  But while we discuss what seems to be opposite ends of creation's spectrum, know that the power with which these forces impact us go far beyond this sanitized labeling. Scorpio is a fixed water sign, which is to say it represents focused and sustained emotions. On the high side, it can represent great riches and resources, or it can be sensuality, passion and orgasm. On the flip side (does anything plumb lower than the low side of Scorpio?), Scorpio can represent rape, murder and grief, actions and emotions which can take lifetimes to heal.

  Last week, we took at look at Pluto squaring the US Midheaven, an alignment which will be exact at the end of this month. Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio and the Lord of this realm. It represents the concentrated heart of Scorpio. When Pluto triggers a chart like this, hidden elements of our personality, normally kept from public view, can be exposed. As a result in Congress now there are a number of representatives who are or recently have been accused of various crimes and ethics violations. This is as we would expect under this alignment.

Pluto, Lord of the Underworld

  When the progressed US Midheaven conjuncted natal Pluto at the end of the 19th century, one of the darkest episodes in our history occurred as we massacred much of the Philippine indigenous population, in one of the last chapters of overt colonial conquest. You won't find much written about it in the history books, but after winning over the territories from the Spanish, the modern engine of technological warfare butchered an indigenous population whose desire to remain independent left thousands of native Philippines slaughtered in piles across the islands.

  Because of the secretive side of Scorpio's nature, many of the crimes committed while under the influence of the dark light never become known. But hidden in the seed of this sign is also the transformative power to rise from the ashes, to transmute the powers of darkness in the realization of life's continuity, unity and spiritual core. Like the Phoenix, it holds the potential for a life reborn.

  Passing the trial is simple. All one has to do is overcome the fear of death itself.