Brad Kronen  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 10/27/2009 2:49 AM UTC

  The Shearing of the Soul: The Scorpionic Symbolism of Halloween
  

  The Shearing of the Soul:

  The Scorpionic Symbolism of Halloween
  

  
  

  One need not be a chamber to be haunted;

  One need not be a house;

  The brain has corridors surpassing material place.

  - Emily Dickinson

   

  I wander through your sadness.

  Gazing at you through Scorpion eyes,

  Halloween!  Halloween!

  - Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Halloween”
  
  

  Deep into the darkness peering,

  Long I stood there, wondering, fearing,

  Doubting,

  Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

  -Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

   

  Anything regarding Halloween fascinates me. The time of year, the imagery, the universal rituals….the fact that in this modern technological age, we as human beings behave with an almost instinctual reverence to that which has died, that which is unknown, and to that which cannot be seen but felt to exist. 

  A reverence that is truly ancient and is a part of our genetic composition as living persons on this planet, no matter what era of time.

   

  I was recently criticized by a relative that most people would not be as “into” Halloween as myself and that may very well be the case.  After giving it some thought, I determined the cause for this perpetual wonder within me that springs anew come every October: my astrological naivete.  I was not born a Scorpio.

   

  The astrological season for the sign of Scorpio occurs from October 23^rd through November 21^st and just as ancient man from his onset devised the zodiac and its ancient categorization of its 12 signs, so too does our ancient holiday of reverence to the dead occur within the time period assigned to the sign concerned with death and transformative rebirth.  October 31^st is Scorpionic in every way.

   

  Let’s face it, there may be a lot of “fun” assigned to Halloween with gag costumes and activities centered around young kiddies, but just like the Scorpios we know and love, this holiday is INTENSE and HARDCORE.  It is a holiday that deals with:

   

  -       Nighttime (The Sun MUST set first before the revelries begin)

  -       Ransom (How else would you categorize a command like “Trick or Treat!”)

  -       Terror or Fright (“Whoever has the scariest costume wins the Halloween Grand Prize!!”)

  -       The Recognition of Death Itself (or in other words, The Horror Film)

  -       The Recognition of Those who have Died (The predominant imagery of Halloween are gravestones, skeletons, and ghosts)

  -       The Recognition of Forces of Power usually unseen by Mortals (Witches and Witchcraft, Demonic Forces and The Devil himself

  -       The Recognition of Our Own Mortality (The Jack-o-Lantern)

   

  All of these bullet points can also be likened to the various layers that shroud the intensely bright glow of the Scorpio’s soul.

   

  Stephen Arroyo in his brilliant book, “Astrology, Karma, and Transformation” sums up Halloween in a purely Scorpionic light:

   

  “The Scorpio period of the year (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) is the time when the life force withdraws from all outer forms in nature and is concentrated in the seed….It is significant that children are allowed at this time to wander out at night, past their usual bed time, and that they are not supposed to go from house to house begging for food until the Sun (the symbol of physical life) has completely set!  Indeed, Scorpionic and Plutonian people seem to have an affinity for the dark areas of experience, whether in a constructive way or through fear mingled with fascination.”

   

  
  Let’s take that same bullet list and now apply it to the Scorpionic personality:

   

  Nighttime: This is the sign that truly loves the night in every way.  Many Scorpios will attest to the fact that they do their best work/thinking/creating in the dark hours.  The typical Scorpio loves also being covered in the night or in other words, they love being seen or perceived as MYSTERIOUS!  One of the worst things you can do with a Scorpio you do not know well is to get too personal with them too fast!  Any shards of light (personal insight or knowledge about them) that pierce their sense of night will be a guarantee that you will now NEVER get to know that Scorpio for good!

   

  Ransom: The polar opposite sign of Scorpio is Taurus, an earthy sign that gets security from whatever material possessions they own.  Scorpio is a watery or emotionally based sign, so even though they “feel” first before anything else and feel quite intensely, they borrow their Taurean opposition of having a tendency to treat those who they have emotional investments with almost as if they were their property or material assets.  Add to that fact, the planet that rules Scorpio is Pluto, the planet of power and control, this sign is very very well versed in playing power games and using emotional weapons such as guilt, desire, and security as their ransom to gain overall victory and control!

   

  Terror or Fright: Scorpios have an INNATE awareness of the darkest depths of human behavior, and here is where my self description of being “astrologically naïve” should make complete sense.  There have been too many occasions, whether it be from watching a psychological thriller film or “cold case” or CSI documentary with a Scorpio where on one side there will be me, utterly HORRIFIED because I had NEVER considered such gruesome acts that one human being can inflict on another…..On the other side there will be the Scorpio, mildly annoyed and surprised that I had never considered such things.  The same Scorpio who then, off the top of their head, will ADD to the situation things even MORE twisted and disturbing, leaving me twitching and lying fetal in a silent scream.

   

  The Recognition of Death Itself:  People, if you have a death, whether it be of a loved one or of a cherished pet – call a Scorpio.  This sign’s natural sector of life, or house, is the 8^th house of death making every Scorpio aware of death from birth, so they naturally can face, handle, and deal with the force that removes Life; whether it be escorting you to identify a body or helping you bury your beloved Mrs. Meow Meow.

   

  The Recognition of Those Who Have Died:  The water signs at large (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) are adept at being naturally intuitive or psychic. Oddly enough, most Scorpios wouldn’t necessarily consider or call themselves psychic.  From my observation, the natural intuitiveness of the Scorpio comes to surface for the most part with issues dealing with the dead; from simply “knowing” the exact moment that a loved one has just passed to having detailed dreams of those same loved ones after their passing which many times is direct communication from the dead to them.

   

  The Recognition of Forces of Power usually unseen by Mortals: Here again, I must refer to my “astrological naivete” for during the course of my discoveries on this earth in this current life cycle, I have been made aware of forces ranging from those of the dead who either cling to this plane with a powerful fury or of those who are not aware they have passed on, to the forces of higher beings ranging from the powerful purity of angels and seraphim, to the soul annihilating anti-power of the demonic, and with each awesome discovery I am left dumbfounded, the Scorpios that I know and love are moved, but from a place that is inherently aware of these terrible and terrific things!

   

  The Recognition of Our Own Mortality: I’ll leave you ghosts and ghouls with another quote from the great Stephen Arroyo along with an image that began this tale of deepest intrigue:

   

  “It is striking that the cultural symbol for this time of year in the United States is the Halloween pumpkin with its insides removed, leaving only an empty shell with a blankly staring face.  In fact, the jack-o-lantern is a symbol of death, a symbolic skull with the glimmering remains of the departed life force represented by the candle within it.”

   

  MAY ALL OUR LIFE FORCES SHINE THEIR BRIGHTEST THIS

  MAGICAL TIME OF YEAR &

  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

   

  Dedicated to my dear Scorpios and Scorpio Risings that are of the living and the dead:  Rick, Eva, and Douglas

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  • brad kronen
  • halloween
  • scorpio
  • jack-o-lantern
  • stephen arroyo
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