Scorpio

Scorpio at a glance

Scorpio, the eighth sign, falls in the middle of autumn in the northern hemisphere, when the year turns toward darkness. It is a water sign, with Cancer and Pisces, and a fixed sign, the most intense of the four fixed signs in most readings. Modern astrology gives it Pluto, and tradition Mars, and many astrologers read the two together. Its symbol is the Scorpion, though some traditions add the eagle and the phoenix for the heights the sign can reach. Its polarity is the receptive one, and the tradition gives it the reproductive organs. Its opposite is Taurus, and the two form the axis of what is ours alone and what we share with others, from money to intimacy.

The Scorpio character

The tradition reads Scorpio as the sign of depth. Water gives it strong feeling, the fixed mode makes that feeling last, and Pluto and Mars add willpower and a taste for what lies beneath the surface. A Scorpio is described as intense, perceptive, private and fiercely loyal, someone who sees through pretense, keeps secrets well and commits completely or not at all. Crisis and change are said to bring out its strength: the sign is read as the one that can lose everything and rebuild. Its difficulties are the same force turned the wrong way: jealousy, suspicion, a long memory for hurts and a need for control. Astrologers often give Scorpio the lesson of trust, and of letting go of what is already over.

Scorpio in love

In love Scorpio is read as all or nothing. It is described as passionate, devoted and deeply private, slow to open up and, once it does, looking for a bond that goes to the bottom. The water signs Cancer and Pisces share its emotional depth, and the earth signs Virgo and Capricorn are its friendliest, giving it steadiness and trust. Taurus, the opposite sign, is the famously intense pairing: two fixed signs, both loyal, both unwilling to back down. Leo and Aquarius square Scorpio, which the tradition reads as a meeting of strong wills. Two whole charts, compared, say far more than two Sun signs.

Scorpio at work

The tradition points Scorpio toward work that goes deep: research and investigation, psychology and therapy, medicine and surgery, finance, crisis and emergency work, and anything that deals with what others avoid. It is read as a formidable colleague, focused, strategic and hard to deceive, who works best with a mission and a degree of control over how it is done. Shallow work and office politics are said to bore or anger it. Many astrologers note that a Scorpio often does its best work behind the scenes, where its intensity has room to operate.

Scorpio beyond the Sun sign

A planet in Scorpio is read as working with intensity and depth. Scorpio rising gives a magnetic, guarded presence that others find hard to read; the Moon in Scorpio deep, private feelings that run strong; Venus in Scorpio passionate, all-or-nothing love; and Mars in Scorpio, Mars in one of its traditional signs, strategic and relentless drive. The birth chart calculator shows your whole chart. The sections below give the Scorpio dates for the coming years, its relation to every sign, its three decans and the slow planets' stays in it.