It's Not Selfish, It's Scorpio Season: Tips to Help You Through this Season of Darkness & Death

Do you feel off? Does the air appear to have a heaviness with no clear source?

I've always struggled in the fall. But through astrology, I'm learning to see this season for what it is; a time of necessary darkness—the incubation before rebirth. 

So if you, too, cyclically slip into the depths of despair, the Universe is here to help. All it takes is a little understanding. 

Scorpio season is with us until November 21. Keep these thoughts in mind as you navigate the next few weeks. 

Scorpio is ruled by the God of the Underworld. 

Every sign is ruled by a planet, and Scorpio is ruled by Pluto (or Hades in Greek mythology). Pluto ushers in transformation, asking us to go to the roots of our shadows in order to grow.

Scorpio energy is incredibly introspective, and if unacknowledged can be interpreted as superficial or selfish. 

But wouldn’t you be intensely self-reflective if the God of death was your ruler? There’s a reason confessions, self-realizations and proclamations are spoken from the deathbed. There’s no hiding from your true self when death is at the door. 

While you’re probably not walking around consciously contemplating death every day, its energy is all around us. And if you are, I hope the falling leaves give you solace—knowing life will emerge again.

Find a dance partner in the dark. 

Phew. Who knew Scorpio energy was so heavy? “US!” every Scorpio screams. 

This season can take a toll, which leaves us with a choice: Succumb to it, spiraling into a pit of darkness, or find a way to work with it. 

If you chose the ladder, look at your birth chart (Cafe Astrology is a great free resource). The planets are constantly shifting, and your birth chart is an energetic picture of the stars when you were born.

Then find where Scorpio falls in your chart. Its placement will reveal what life areas will be in your focus this season. 

My moon is in Scorpio. So, for me, my personal needs, instinctual reactions, habits and subconscious are all illuminated right now. 

I recently read through the journal I kept after a suicide attempt during a Scorpio season over a decade ago. While flipping through the pages, I noticed a common theme: it wasn’t about me. I kept lamenting how unliked I felt and how much of a failure I was. How persecuted I felt. I repeated over and over that I could never show my face at school again, and I was disgusted that my parents wouldn’t send me to another school.

Paranoid. Intense. Obsessive. Selfish. That's the energy I was stuck in. 

But a quarter of the way through, there was a shift in my writing. I started reflecting on my actions and reactions, eventually realizing that I’d spent too much time blaming others. I recognized my constant need for validation and approval. I began to understand the need to shift my focus inward, showing myself the love and attention I kept seeking from others.  

For so many years, I thought Scorpio season was out to get me. But in reality, it was calling out to me. 

I’ve spent more time in focused, contemplative reflection this week and a half than during any previous Scorpio season. My journaling practice, this blog, freelance writing and the videos I create are my dance partners through the darkness of Scorpio. 

I’ve never experienced a fall like this before, and I’m thankful that, at 28, I uncovered this integral aspect of my psyche. 

And that insight is directly tied to deepening my understanding of astrology. So, if you choose to study your birth chart, I hope it brings you closer to yourself. 

Accept that darkness is a part of life.

There is no life without death. And although that truth fills some of us with terror (me included), death comes for us all. Its name is whispered in the ticks of each clock. Its footprints, the lines on our faces. 

But just as our fates are sealed by death, our days are closed by nights - a darkness we accept. The insight from my Sacred Earth Oracle card reading for the week, “Absence,” encapsulates Scorpio season. 

“Darkness is the absence of light, the absence of creation. Darkness is inevitable, and it is necessary. Without darkness, plants cannot survive. They need the night so they can breathe and process food properly. We all need the darkness. In the absence of light, we create spaces of rest, healing and intimacy. It is impossible to fight the dark. Do not wrestle with it; embrace it. You knew it in the womb as a place of safety, formation and growth. When you are ready, rested and healed, you can emerge and be present in the light once more.”

Accept the darkness, and it won't consume you. 

Honor your ancestors. Their lives are encoded in your DNA.

With Scorpio ruled by the God of the underworld, it’s not surprising celebrations of the dead take place under the banner of Scorpio. 

El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday originally celebrated thousands of years ago by the Aztecs.

Today, families invite the souls of their deceased relatives back to Earth for a brief union between October 31 and November 2. The celebratory communion incorporates food, drinks and celebration. 

My Mom is a semi-retired Spanish teacher, and her love for El Dia de los Muertos has grown over the years. The holiday is now a permanent fixture in our family. 

But also on October 31, thousands of miles across the globe, the Celtic Pagans of Ireland, Scotland and the UK observed Samhain. The Celtic New Year marks the darker half of the year, and the practice was first documented in the 9th century. 

Samhain (sow-ihn) means “summer’s end,” and during this time, the veil between the living and dead is thin, allowing spirits to interact with the living. 

Although my ancestral heritage is mostly of Celtic descent, I had never heard of Samhain. But the more I learned about the holiday, the more it resonated with me, and I understood its significance and purpose. 

Winters were brutal to the Celts, and the celebration was an acknowledgment of life's natural balance. The Plutonian push and pull between light and dark, prosperity and hardship. 

Scorpio season reminds us to honor our ancestors. The ones you personally knew, and the ones known only as legends. Their physical bodies may not be here, but their spirit lives within you. 

Scorpio season requires your whole self.

Yes, Scorpio season demands intense self-reflection. But in a few weeks, the cloak of darkness gets ripped off, revealing the light of Sagittarius.

So, think of Scorpio season as an incubation period. Use this time to learn the deep and dark aspects of yourself, finding ways to work with them instead of against them. 

And if you have people in your life with strong Scorpio placements, hug them and tell them they’re pretty. Even though external love isn’t the goal of this season, it sure helps!