Scorpio is so often misunderstood, especially when it sits on the Ascendant. Others are just naturally afraid of someone who’s dark, deep, powerful, mysterious, and who feels inaccessible, no matter how open and transparent they try to be. When others receive you with vague suspicion, no matter your behavior or motivations, you’re bound to get involved in a feedback loop that more often ends up supporting observers assessments (from their point of view) than refuting them, under the same principle wherein even sane utterings from a sane person sound crazy once you’re labeled that way. This is the burden Scorpio bears—along with a reputation for vindictiveness—but is that deserved?

Not at all; I think what happens is that Scorpio is so deeply, almost violently, emotionally perceptive and receptive, and yet prone to bury those feelings, that when they do let them show they have an overwhelming power of expression that impresses onlookers—and imprints these tempestuous feelings on observers as ‘the way Scorpio is’. Others feel and behave with the same ideas of passion, revenge, love, remorse, and so on that Scorpio does, but they do it sneakily or unconsciously or passive-aggressively or manage to manipulate others to do it for them, and so avoid the kind of reputation Scorpio has—so their reputation is much more about appearances than reality, in this regard.

Scorpio is also known for wanting to destroy or change what they encounter—but this is simply a mechanism for getting to the Truth, which is the Scorpion’s Holy Grail. Scorpio on the Ascendant suggests the individual is on a quest of sorts, something that compels them to restlessly research and dig and uncover until they reach what they’re longing for (and this is often described by what aspects to personal energies Pluto makes in the natal chart: Sun, who they truly are or what they’re here for, Moon, how they feel or developing trust in their own intuition, Merc, connection or communication or the feeling of ‘brotherhood’, Venus, love or reward as determined by their own values, Mars, a leader or protector or a role as leader themselves, Jupiter, knowledge or a philosophy of life that has ‘the answers’). The intensity of their quest and the laser-like focus that just comes naturally to the Scorpion can give others the impression that they are withdrawn, not interested in human contact, or angry all the time—but they’re not—it’s just Scorpionic concentration!

From the inside looking out, Scorpio may be overly responsive to the environment, but learned to hide it—it just didn’t feel safe having others know how Scorpio felt. In early life, Scorpio was probably in a highly reactive, threatening, or even dangerous milieu and/ or around such persons—but we must remember, from the viewpoint of a child, there’s much that we take for granted or even find amusing as adults that could be traumatizing for the inexperienced. This is why it’s important to remember that the Ascendant viewpoint is a reaction that feels to the individual like it’s a necessity; it doesn’t reflect reality so much as the individual’s idea of reality. What we can state with certainty is that Scorpio found the environs intense (and for Scorpio on the Ascendant this could be doubly so, and is also true for any individual no matter the Moon or Ascendant’s sign, who is also born with a Void-of-Course Moon). Just keep in mind that with Scorpio on the Ascendant you’re dealing with someone who just wants the Truth—and though there’s no guarantee that you and Scorpio will see the truth in exactly the same way, it will establish trust—and once this Ascendant trusts you, you have an ally for life.

See a little on the atmosphere created by Merc’s direction, and take a peek at the recent New Moon. See more of my work here, donate to your favorite astrologers, and chin up! The retro of Saturn this evening (the 17th Pacific time) happens at 9 Capricorn 08, with first contact (other than Lunar contact) a race between Merc and Ceres moving toward the retrograding Saturn, with Ceres winning by a nose, forming a quincunx that requires real-world adjustment to our ideas of what constitutes our territory, to our personal authority expression and sense of empowerment, within negotiations, or in any maternal or nurturing roles we fulfill. See, we just have to be more realistic in our interactions–and really, that’s a good thing, as we can’t get ‘there’ without knowing where we’re coming from ‘here’. And have a great week!