DECAN DELINEATIONS
The Sun Through the 2nd Decan of Scorpio
From November 2nd to the 12th—the sun will be moving through the second decan of Scorpio, a decan associated with the 6 of Cups in the tarot… a card commonly referred to as the Card of Pleasures.
The 6 of Cups is a card that conjures happiness past, as well as happiness being savored presently… this card suggests simplicities within symbolisms—those that catch you off guard and surge you immediately back to a time when you last remember whatever it was: a tone, a fragrance, a hue, or a lyric…
Scorpio energies—through whatever decan—tend to be more reserved, guarded, private, even preferring anonymity over recognition… and so these memories and nostalgic emotionalities that come through this decan—these may be a bit protected, for whatever reason. Particularly as Venus moves through Scorpio, the SN, and then Mercury—with the sun highlighting this acknowledgement, too, as this is a lot of planetary influence tunneled through this zodiacal energy—you may find yourself keeping something within… be it a secret, a feeling, a longing, a regret, a desire, or a resentment… and these nostalgic likelihoods may very well provoke you.
The word ‘nostalgia’ comes from the Greek word ‘nostos’, translating, literally, to ‘the return of pain’ or the ‘pain of return’… despite the strange emotional landscaping describing anything nostalgic, these days, to be presumed of happier overtones and very personal undertones… in Scorpio—particularly with so many personal planets transiting Scorpio—nostalgia may feel a bit more acute, in combination with the pleasures and the pains within the real reality of the memory.
It is within the 6 of Cups is the only card that features fresh cut flowers within a vase… however, flowers are featured in The Sun card and in The Death card… tarot writer T Susan Chang writes, “the 6 of Cups is the Lord of Pleasure, and that is the purpose of a cut flower: to give pleasure at the cost of its own life…”
This decan of Scorpio falls in line with the midpoint between the equinox and the solstice—meaning: that, as astrologer Austin Coppock tells it, is “most stubbornly fixed…” but it may also allude to the idea of transition—however fixedly—between the withering and the death of a process; therefore, the nostalgic remembrance of things past, while thoroughly enjoying that which is presently occurring, while simultaneously, however subconsciously, humbly awaiting for what is to come, particularly when you know it is a foreboding darkness and ultimate unknowing.
Through the second decan of Scorpio—we are humbled.
Through the second decan of Scorpio—we may begin to sleep a bit more than usual, for a bit longer than usual…
As tarot writer T Susan Chang writes of this card, that it is segmented between the Sun and the Death card—which is to say, essentially: Life and Death… and so thereby we are humbled, and we exchange a loss of consciousness (sleep) nightly in exchange for the actual Underworld.
Chang adds, “with every act of kindness, we defy the darkness ahead…”
Coppock writes, “this face looks upon more than just passionate embraces… the choice to open oneself up, to strip naked and walk into the ocean of another must be carefully made, for trust without wisdom is a sure recipe for pain.”
In Scorpio, these energies invite us—hell, these energies practically seduce us!—into opportunities for much greater and deeper depths… into transitions between where we once were and where we will arrive; between who we once were, and who we will become—all to be experienced, most rightly and unapologetically, completely nude and ultimately vulnerable… open to receive and to be honestly receptive—it’s the only way to know, and trust, if it’s really real—it’s the only way to really trust.
It is the sun that governs this second decan of Scorpio, and it is through the sun that we strengthen our character and our motivations, and our relationship to our inner selves and psyche. Through the sun, this decans most powerful gifts are embellished…Coppock informs that this decan is intrinsically interlaced between pairs, and that “fixity of relationship is a key characteristic…” through concentrations, and passions… it is through the “Samhain sun a doorway opens onto a vision of the ultimate tantra—that of death and life.”
Another perspective of this card is that the nostalgia inherently laced within its essence could, potentially, entice one to dwell within the past—or, at the very minimum, prefer to live only within familiar environments rather than reaching out into the unknowns… which is to say: rather than experiencing the vulnerabilities of the darkness and unknown.
As Scorpio-tinged energies can attest—sometimes the world can be a very dark and scary place… and sometimes we get hurt. And the hurt can bring us back, again, to that which we know—especially when it’s when we were playing with that which we didn’t fully understand when the hurt began, or was a result.
This dwelling, too, can resemble more of a habit. We dwell within routines and habits nearly daily—particularly within ones that are not healthy… and we call this ‘soothing’, or ‘safety’, or ‘security’… especially if it feels good.
Tarot writer Jessica Dore writes of the 6 of Cups that ritual is a huge component of its energies… she quotes benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast, that “the intellect sifts out what is true; the will reaches out for what is good… but there is a third dimension to reality: beauty. Our whole being resonates with what is beautiful… when we experience beauty, we start to speak about emotions, and the more we are touched on an emotional level, the more we seek to celebrate the experience, and it’s there that we begin to create ritual… all rituals have to do with, and celebrate, belong.”
We very emotionally attach the dates of our calendars with First Meetings with an/Other—our calendars commemorate yearly with the date in which we first began to see the Other as: In A Relationship, and Moving In Together, with The Proposal, and The Wedding… and, of course, with the First Anniversary, through however many one can manage. We do the same with holidays. And our own birthdays, and the birthdays of everyone we know—though this card, specifically, is more about one and an/Other. We commemorate these calendrical events to celebrate the emotions these events provoked within… and when Scorpio-singed emotions are provoked within—these are the kinds of emotions that remind us quite painfully that we are alive.
Apparently, Steindl-Rast refers to these as a ‘personal holy place’. Indeed.
However, here again, we see the duality within another layer of this card—the pleasures between feeling good and belonging, either of which are historically linked to ritual, commemoration, celebration, and, ultimately, justification… which are either remembered fondly, with love—or tend to dwell within the depths of the psyche, creating emotional/behavioral-programming loops through which to endlessly jump through, daily or monthly or yearly.
As the sun moves through the second decan of Scorpio—on highlight, un-ironically, will be the eclipse on November 8th at 16*01’ Taurus, and Mercury will catch up to the sun on that day, as well, in superior conjunction, at 16*13’ Scorpio, nearly opposite Uranus Rx at 16*56’ Taurus… I will publish the superior conjunction separately—and you can read the eclipse post here on that day, as early as 5:55am PDT… as the Talking Heads so eloquently wrote, “say something once, why say it again?!” (Psycho Killer; 1977)
A few days later, however, on November 10th—the sun will square Saturn at 18*54’ through a degree that describes ‘the need to integrate things into consciousness…’
Perhaps a ritual?
This degree “speaks to the learning process, and to the effect of mind-set on perception and behavior… the emphasis here is on developing a sensitivity to sources of information and the credibility and motivations of those who are doing the speaking and writing.”
Further still, “individuals create and project their own reality out of experience, and the suggestion here is to refuse to accept another’s reality as your own, or let others do your thinking for you.”
It sounds as though there will be a need to interpret…
Interpretation requires two or more versions, or dialects, experiential versions, or individual inferences to be occurring, to be experienced—though, it also feels as though you will need to determine your own interpretation toward whatever it is…
Because this is a sun/Saturn square, any astrological cookbook will tell you that this may pinpoint toward a challenge, or disappointment, or maybe a burden of sorts that you must push through, struggle through, learn through, or grow through… though, I wonder if maybe, as the sun is in Scorpio and Saturn is in Aquarius, if the elephant in the room, then, resembles more of positional power dynamic within the collective?—occurring just after elections—and the personal opinions and beliefs surrounding.
On a more personal level—this could be a test or challenge highlighting your own sense of integrity, either within yourself, or with an/Other… and maybe you’ll then need to create your own version of what it means to you upon a deeper level, or further, how it feels to you within a much more inwardly—and thereby—privately protected and guarded place within yourself.. and then, of course, knowing that eventually, ultimately, you’ll need to open this place up—to either an/Other, or to a cause, or ideal—to really know its real… even if it feels as though it may kill you.
Chang, T. ‘36 Secrets.’ Anima Mundi Press; 2021.
Coppock, A. ‘36 Faces.’ Three Hands Press; 2014.
Dore, J. ‘Tarot for Change.’ VIKING; 2021.
Hill, L. ‘360 Degrees of Wisdom.’ A Plume Book; 2004.
Goldsmith, M. ‘The Zodiac by Degrees.’ Weiser Books; 2004.
Reed, T. ‘Tarot: No Questions Asked.’ Desire Books; 2020.
Roche, D. ‘Sabian Symbols.’ Astrology Classics; 1998, 2010.