OMG Stars is an astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects). Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global). Book an appointment with Amelia here.
New Moon in Scorpio and Mars Stations Direct
Spooky season continues this lunation with a new moon in Scorpio the day after Friday the 13th and coinciding with the Mars station.
I have noticed this Mars retrograde manifesting for my clients with huge variety. Some clients have experienced extreme irritability, some very low energy, some low sex drive, some extra anger. I’ve noticed fights coming out of the woodwork (of the “I thought this was over?” type) and I’ve noticed anger simmering on a backburner. This retrograde has taught me a lot both about Mars and its home sign of Aries, and I feel I’ll be working through these understandings for awhile yet.
Stations are when a planet changes direction in the sky from the perspective of earth. Stationing retrograde is when the planet begins to appear to move backwards, and stationing direct is when it appears to movies the “correct” direction again. On station days, the planet moves particularly slowly as we come to a kind of cosmic stand-still. The US Presidential election showed with starting literalness how a Mercury station day coincides with slow distribution of information. Moments when astrology is just so achingly true.
Mars stationing in Aries, I am hopeful, could be a bit of a pause in arguments. If you’re in the middle of a heated debate, take this weekend off to consider. Mars retrogrades are fairly uncommon, happening only every two years, so think back to June 26th – August 27th of 2018 for personal insight on how you experience Mars retrogrades (with those two dates being the times of the station).
The new moon in Scorpio, meanwhile, feels to me a beautiful lunation given that Mars is the traditional ruling planet of Scorpio (with Pluto being the modern ruler). What do Scorpio and Mars have in common? Mars is all action, all will, all energy, and Scorpio is secretive, passionate, intense. When I think of Mars and Scorpio I think of s e x. This new moon coinciding with a Mars station is, to me, a horny moon. A good time to work with ~sexual energy~.
The new moon also begins new cycles in the part of your chart that Scorpio rules. The horoscopes below, written most specifically for your rising sign, describe which area to look to and how I suggest you take this energy of potential renewal.
And also, of sex.
Find your horoscopes after the jump!
Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, but specific information is calculated for the rising signs. You can also read the horoscope for your moon sign for extra emotional information. You can access your birth chart at www.astro.com or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. If you’re interested in getting a reading, you can book one with Amelia here.
Aries and Aries rising
This Mars station begins the march of Mars out of your sign and into Taurus, which happens (finally!) in January of 2021. So that said, Aries, you might enjoy these last couple months of collective angry toddler energy that feels a little familiar to you. Aries rising readers have this new moon in your 8th house of transformation. I love the 8th house; it’s Scorpio’s ruling house, it has to do with death, with trauma, with debt, with taxes, with sex…a lot lives in the 8th house. In my horoscopes I talk about it as having to do with other peoples’ shit and how it becomes your problem. Debt is someone else’s money that has become your problem to deal with.
Sex is intimacy with someone and the ways they, and whatever is going on with their body, can become your problem (and you know, pleasure). Death is the loss of someone else’s life and the way you experience that loss as grief. So Aries rising, think this new moon of ways that other peoples’ things have been your problem, and take note of any shit of other folks you are taking on right now. This could be a moment where you are unconsciously picking up someone else’s shit; be cautious of this so that you don’t carry it around for six months til the next Full Moon in Scorpio.
Taurus and Taurus rising
Taurus has been getting some side action these recent weeks with lots of aspects to Uranus in the sign of the cozy bull, and I continue with my now very repetitive mantra that Uranus in Taurus has been deeply uncomfortable, which is particularly bad for Taureans. Allow any activated uncertainty in your life to become background noise for a minute this weekend, Taurus, and know that other peoples’ panic doesn’t have to be your problem. Taurus rising readers have this New Moon in your 7th house of partnership.
Seek out to create new bonds of intimacy in your closest relationships. This is a good time to share information with your partner, your best friend, your collaborator, that would create a deeper understanding between the two of you. If it isn’t about sharing information, t can be about an energetic shift. This lunation is big ~taking it to the next level~ energy, so if there’s someone you wanna deepen a one-on-one relationship with, use this weekend’s new moon to commit yourself to the beautiful possibilities that could come from that.
Gemini and Gemini rising
Some astrology of 2020 that has been on the back burner but will move into the foreground shortly has been the North Node in Gemini. The nodal axis in astrology is the point where eclipses will happen – so this year the North and South nodes moved from Cancer-Capricorn where the eclipses had been taking place since 2018, into Gemini-Sagittarius, where they will now take place until 2022. I will speak more specifically about this in the next Full Moon horoscope, taking place in your sign on the 30th, which is *also* the first of the eclipses in Gemini.
I give you Geminis advance warning of this because it allows me to speak about your role in the astrology fo 2020 which has felt so very potent to me this past week, and it is to remind us that multiple things can be true. Gemini rising readers have this new moon in your 6th house of day to day live. The 6th house rules our habits, our service, our jobs, but it also speaks to our health, and as Scorpio is a sign whose embodiment I find particularly powerful, I invite you to use this new moon to renew commitment to your health.
Maybe there’s a workout you want to do from home, or a recipe you want to try, or a doctor’s appointment you need to make. Whatever is is, use this weekend’s lunation to start something personal, for you and your health, that will be transformative in the best way possible.
Cancer and Cancer rising
As we prepare for December when Saturn and Jupiter move into Aquarius, we finally prepare for the time when you Cardinal signs will be less aggressively devastated by malefic transits and Jupiter spotlighting. Cancer, I look forward to this for you so that you can have a bit of a cozy rest to care for yourself. These last few weeks of what @charmastrology as termed “Late Cardinal Mordor”, those of you with Cancer placement, particularly between 20 and 29 degrees, have to withstand the last little bit of the fire. Show us all how to take care with your natal capacity at being baby, and parent your own inner child. Cancer rising readers have this Scorpio New Moon in your 5th house.
Cancer rising people have this fun secret intense side with Scorpio on the part of your chart that has to do with creativity, dating, and falling in love. Not only do you have Cancer vulnerability in your wheelhouse, when it comes to dating, you are the song “No Chill” by Abra: “Everyone’s talking bout their fallback game/I’ve got no fucking chill cuz love is like a drug to me”. This new moon in Scorpio occupies your 5th house, so this weekend, Cancer, I invite you to invite love in. Open up space in your heart (which may be a little withered, sitting there in Scorpio territory), and really make new space for the feels.
The full moon in Scorpio that took place in your 5th house in May represented a cumulation of some kinda love shit, that has likely been truly dissipating since that time. Now is not the time to mourn that loss: now is the time to celebrate the emergence of new and cultivate new passions in your life.
Leo and Leo rising
Leo readers, I have some tough news, which is that 2021 is gonna have some hard astrology for you. I prepare you in advance because despite all of Leo’s archetypal showboating, Leo is a Fixed sign who likes things to ultimately be a certain way, and I find that advance warning of change for Fixed signs can be a useful tactic for helping you adapt. That said, this new moon has the potential to be a bit grating to you anyways being as Scorpio and Leo are both fixed signs who stress each other out. It’s just a brief glimmer, Leo, so look to your rising sign for more specific information. Leo rising readers have this lunation in your 4th house of home and family.
Scorpio here means you have a pretty passionate relationship to home, and with Leo rising you might be pretty creative about whatever you do, so I would suggest this weekend as being a time to get real fuckin intimate with your home, given that we need to lock down into it for the next little while anyways. It’s making me think of this poem by Bridget Moser that she put on a drawing I have in my studio: “When I’m this lonely I start getting intimate with all the furniture in the house. It’s just a feeling I’d like to have.”
I recommend taking this to heart and engaging with intimacy with your very own house to start the kind of relating to it that will feel good over the coming six months.
Virgo and Virgo rising
While Neptune in Pisces, your opposite sign, has been reminding us of our dreams since 2012, I feel like Virgos have had a VERY long term transit of having to be the annoying reality guy even more often than usual. Lots of well-actually and you-know-if and did-you-think-of. God bless you, Virgos, for your endless puttery labour.
For Virgo rising readers, this new moon takes place in your third house of communication. To be Virgo with a secret Scorpio communication style: how wonderful. A hidden passion for speech filtered through your exacting rising sign lens. This weekend lunation is a good time to promise yourself that moving forward, you will speak your mind. That you will not be afraid to share your communication style which may be at times deemed “too much”. That speaking your mind is a way to grow and an act of care for those around you.
Commit to your very own way of speaking and thinking, Virgo risers, this weekend and always. We need everything about you!
Libra and Libra rising
Venus at home in your sign these past few weeks has been to my eye a kind of romantic cuffing season energy, with the real fun sidebar that dating right now is kind of de facto cuffing season. First dates are like job interviews when you can’t touch. But people need to connect, and Venus in Libra gives off an energy of of reallyreallywantingto. Libra, find ways to create deep connection that are Covid-safe right now. At the start of the pandemic about 80% of my clients were Libras, and I believe this is because the kind of one-on-one vibe that happens in an astrology reading is very Libran in nature. Whatever you can do to make that bond is going to help you.
Libra rising readers have this new moon in your 2nd house of resources. The 2nd house is about your very literal resources – your money, your food, your stuff – and your more figurative resources – your energy and your values. A new moon in the 2nd house can be a time to make a new budget and it can also be a time to start a meditation program. Think about what aspect of your resources needs renewal, Libra rising, and attend to it with passion this weekend.
Scorpio and Scorpio rising
Did you know, Scorpio, that in medical and anatomical astrology, Scorpio rules both the reproductive organs and the final part of the digestive system? Scorpio rules sex and shit. Deep transformation and expulsion. This new moon we need to celebrate all parts of Scorpio, the depths and the passion and the too-much of it all. Scorpio readers, sun and rising, can take this new moon to love every part of yourself and commit to it.
I always tell my clients with Scorpio placement that wherever we have Scorpio is a part of ourselves that we simply must learn to love because even if it can transform, it can’t necessarily change. My friend @vicsannointedfavourites – who makes music under the moniker New Chance – and who is a Scorpio herself, released a beautiful track and video on Instagram recently that is one of the most Scorpionic things I’ve seen in awhile. Scorpio, watch this video, rub your hands on your body, and promise to love yourself even if others find your intensity off-putting.
We all need the depths and you can lead us both in and out of them.
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising
The end of the Mars retrograde in your sister fire sign of Aries brings an end to the unpredictable and confusing expressions of anger these past couple months, and I think this could be good news for Sagittarians whose tendency to speak their mind at all costs can definitely be a source of trouble. During the Mars station, while the hot spicy boy planet moves very slowly, practice what is certainly a challenge for you and exercise p a t i e n c e as best you can.
Sagittarius rising readers have this new moon in your 12th house. This house of dreams, solitude, altered states, the inexpressible – muddy territory, Sagittarius, and you get to spend this weekend really *in it*. This weekend I invite Sagittarius rising readers to spend time alone and go deep with yourself. Use the new moon to bridge the gap between Scorpio passion and Sagittarius enthusiasm.
Use this new moon to see the side of yourself that you keep hidden from yourself but not from others.
Capricorn and Capricorn rising
The US election this month began to feel to me a little like writing the Capricorn horoscopes. With the election, I looked to news sources every day to find out what was going on elsewhere in the world. International news coverage was about international reaction to the election. I’d be desperate for a shred of other news but the election was top and front page every source I turned to. Every lunation of this year, I’ve wanted to talk to you about something that isn’t the Capricorn shit show of 2020, but every time I look at the astrology, all I can think for you is gosh I hope you’re still holding up.
So Capricorn, take this last month of being the center of attention in this there’s-no-bad-press kind of energy and do with it what you can. Capricorn rising readers have this lunation in your 11th house, having to do with groups and communities. A new moon in your 11th, bringing out your passionate side when it comes to this part of your life, makes possible the invitation into the world for new social connections.
If new friends are coming into your life right now, grab hold and don’t be afraid to show them your enthusiasm for it. You are a loyal and deep friend, Capricorn rising, and anyone coming into your life is going to be lucky to have you around.
Aquarius and Aquarius rising
You know the song from the musical “Hair”, “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius”? There’s some disagreement but lots of Astrologers are talking about that being the coming years when Pluto moves into your sign in 2024. I personally feel like Jupiter and Saturn in your sign, starting in December, will be a bit of a dress rehearsal for this time. So if the dress rehearsal is due to start in a month, Aquarius, the next few weeks are your time for final preparations. Revolution, innovation, rebellion: these will come as slow-moving planets transit your sign.
These weeks are for you to prepare yourself for that energy, since it is a natal side of you that I hope you can share with us when society needs some guidance in chaos. Aquarius rising readers have this lunation in your 10th house. This house is of career, of public profile, and I often think of it as having to do with your professional practice if you’re an artist. I would highly recommend this weekend to start a new project that you have maybe been keeping under wraps.
People are going to receive it well after this lunation and throughout the rest of Scorpio season, so take this weekend to do what you need to do in order to get it out there.
Pisces and Pisces rising
A dear Pisces friend of mine recently complained to me about pisces always coming last. I suppose there’s nothing to be done of it – it’s a bit like having a last name at the end of the alphabet. I want to assure you, though, Pisces, that the placement of your sign in the Zodiac never means I think of you last. The complexity of your sign often brings me to write about you first, so take to heart your place in the transition from the end to the beginning.
Pisces rising readers have this lunation in your 9th house, all about expansion. Scorpio here means that you bring Scorpionic intensity to the process of learning. Higher learning, travel, religion, encounters with difference – you bring to these activities a depth of passion and of questioning. This new moon, Pisces, allow yourself to go deep in curiosity and to expand your understanding of the world, and allow that depth to transform you.
Well,the moon is in the 7th house and Jupiter is aligned with Mars ,and from what I’ve gathered I need to tell people to stfu and pet a cat named Star and give a dog named Baffles to a neighbor,after that I have to go to the beach where it’s cold and dank and drink a fifth of Old Grandad while eating a tuna sandwich made by a gypsy named Lady Talula.