The Scorpio New Moon: What Are We Finally Ready to Acknowledge?

Monday 9 November 2026 | New Moon at approximately 17° Scorpio

Is it better to feel something, even if it's incredibly intense, than to feel nothing at all?

It's an interesting question to contemplate as we approach Monday's New Moon in Scorpio, because there is something about the Scorpio archetype that would often rather experience the full intensity of an emotion, even when it's uncomfortable, than feel that life has somehow become flat, predictable or devoid of meaning.

Scorpio has a profound need to experience life deeply. It wants authenticity, passion, emotional honesty and meaningful connection, and it's rarely satisfied with simply accepting things at face value. It wants to understand what lies beneath the surface, what motivates us, what we're afraid of, what we desire and, perhaps most importantly, what we might be avoiding acknowledging about ourselves. This is one of Scorpio's greatest gifts, because genuine self-awareness requires a willingness to look at the parts of ourselves that aren't always particularly comfortable or flattering. But like every astrological archetype, Scorpio has its shadow. Sometimes that need to feel something deeply can become a need to feel something intensely, and there's an important difference between the two.

We might find ourselves becoming preoccupied with a relationship that isn't particularly healthy, searching for hidden meanings in somebody else's behaviour, or creating emotional drama when things begin to feel a little too settled or predictable. We may even confuse emotional intensity with intimacy, believing that because something feels powerful, consuming or difficult to let go of, it must somehow be meaningful. Perhaps one of Scorpio's greatest lessons is discovering that genuine emotional depth doesn't always have to involve struggle, drama or pain.

Sometimes the deepest connections are the ones in which we feel safe enough to simply be ourselves, without constantly needing to test the relationship, protect ourselves from vulnerability or question whether the other person genuinely cares. This is one of the themes I think is particularly relevant to this New Moon, especially when we consider the extraordinary amount of retrograde activity we've been experiencing.

Looking backwards before we can move forwards

With Mercury and Venus both retrograde, alongside Saturn, Neptune and Chiron, there's been a strong invitation to turn our attention inward, reconsider the past and perhaps revisit some of the choices, relationships and experiences that have shaped our lives. With this New Moon taking place in Scorpio, a sign already associated with introspection, psychological investigation and the desire to uncover hidden truths, that invitation becomes even more compelling.

Some of us may have found ourselves thinking about people we haven't thought about for years, revisiting conversations that never quite felt resolved, or recognising familiar emotional patterns that we had assumed we'd already moved beyond. Others may simply have experienced a growing sense that something in their lives isn't quite right, without necessarily being able to articulate exactly what needs to change.

Of course, retrogrades don't automatically mean that everybody will experience these things, but symbolically they provide a wonderful opportunity to pause and reconsider the direction we've been travelling. Sometimes that process can be uncomfortable, particularly when we begin recognising something about ourselves that challenges the story we've been telling ourselves for a very long time.There can be quite a difference between what we genuinely know about ourselves and what we would prefer to believe. We might think we're someone who values independence, for example, while repeatedly finding ourselves in relationships where we're afraid to be alone. We may believe we're very good at communicating our needs, yet discover that we've actually become accustomed to keeping the peace, avoiding difficult conversations or expecting other people to somehow know what we want without us having to say it. Or perhaps we've convinced ourselves that we're simply passionate people, when in reality we've become so accustomed to emotional highs and lows that a calm, secure relationship feels strangely unfamiliar.

The point is, none of these realisations needs to become another reason to criticise ourselves.The purpose of looking within is to develop a more honest and compassionate understanding of why we make the choices we do.

Mercury retrograde in Scorpio

Mercury has been travelling retrograde through Scorpio since late October, inviting us to reconsider how we think, communicate and interpret our experiences. And Scorpio, of course, is rarely content with a superficial explanation. It wants to understand the story beneath the story. We may have been replaying an old conversation, questioning somebody's motives or wondering why a particular experience affected us so deeply. Sometimes that process of investigation can lead to a genuinely important realisation, particularly when we begin recognising that our emotional response to a situation may have as much to do with an older experience or fear as it does with what's happening in the present. But there's also a point at which reflection can become rumination.

Scorpio can become so determined to uncover the truth that it finds itself going around in circles, analysing every detail, searching for certainty or trying to understand something that may never have a completely satisfactory explanation. This might be where we need to ask ourselves whether our thinking is actually helping us move towards greater understanding, or whether we've become caught in a pattern that is keeping us emotionally attached to something we're struggling to release.

Are we discovering something genuinely important, or are we simply revisiting the same emotional territory because we haven't yet found a way to move beyond it?

Sometimes the most courageous thing we can do is acknowledge that we may never have all the answers, and that we don't necessarily need them in order to move forward.

Venus retrograde: What have our relationships been teaching us?

Venus has been on a particularly interesting journey, beginning her retrograde in Scorpio before returning to Libra, where she's now approaching her direct station. I think this movement between the two signs tells a fascinating story about our relationships, our values and the sometimes complicated relationship we have with ourselves.

Scorpio asks questions about intimacy, trust, desire, vulnerability and emotional attachment, while Libra brings our attention back to fairness, reciprocity, compromise and the balance between our own needs and those of another person.

Together, they invite us to consider not only what we want from our relationships, but why we may have been making certain choices in the first place. I've been exploring relationship patterns quite a lot recently, particularly the ways we can unconsciously repeat familiar experiences even when we recognise that they're not particularly good for us.

From a psychological astrology perspective, our relationships can become powerful mirrors, reflecting qualities, fears and desires that we haven't yet fully recognised or integrated within ourselves. Sometimes we're attracted to people who seem to possess something we feel is missing within us, while at other times we may find ourselves recreating familiar emotional circumstances because, on some level, they feel more comfortable than the unknown.

Scorpio's need for intensity can make these patterns particularly compelling. We may confuse being needed with being loved, possessiveness with passion, or the desire to control a relationship with the security we're actually seeking. But genuine intimacy requires something quite different. It asks us to be vulnerable, to allow ourselves to be seen, and to recognise that we cannot control another person's feelings or behaviour, no matter how deeply we care about them.

Perhaps this is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves during this Venus retrograde:

What have my relationships been teaching me about my relationship with myself?

Of course, not every difficult experience is somehow our own responsibility, but understanding our own patterns gives us the opportunity to make more conscious choices about what we want to create in the future.

The tension between fear and courage

And this brings us to another particularly important feature of this New Moon, because Mars, Scorpio's traditional ruler, is travelling through Leo, moving towards Jupiter and forming a challenging square to the Sun and Moon in Scorpio.

Mars in Leo wants to act with courage, confidence and conviction, to express itself, reclaim its personal power and feel that it has some control over the direction of its life.

But Scorpio is asking us to look beneath the surface, to acknowledge our emotional attachments and fears, and to understand what may have been influencing our choices without us necessarily realising it. So we have this interesting tension between the part of us that wants to move forward and the part that may still be holding on. Perhaps we're beginning to recognise that something in our lives needs to change, but we're frightened of what that change might mean.

Maybe we know that a particular relationship dynamic isn't healthy, that we've outgrown a situation or that we've been compromising ourselves in ways that are no longer sustainable.

And while one part of us may feel ready to do something about it, another part may be desperately trying to preserve what feels familiar. This is where the difference between acting from fear and acting from courage becomes particularly important. Courage doesn't necessarily mean that we're no longer afraid. but it can mean that we're prepared to acknowledge our fears without allowing them to make all our decisions.

With Mars involved, there's also a temptation to react impulsively, particularly if we've been carrying anger, resentment or frustration that hasn't yet found a constructive outlet. We may feel an enormous urge to confront somebody, make a dramatic declaration or finally put an end to something we've been contemplating for quite some time. While taking action may ultimately be necessary, I think this New Moon invites us to consider whether we're acting from genuine self-awareness or simply reacting to an emotion that we want to escape.

There's a significant difference between making an inner commitment to change and immediately taking an outer action. Sometimes the inner commitment is where the most profound transformation begins.

The fixed signs: What are we so determined to hold on to?

One of the larger astrological themes of 2026 has been the emphasis on the fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. This is particularly relevant to the current New Moon because fixed energy, while incredibly resilient, loyal and determined, can also struggle with the uncertainty that comes with change. Taurus seeks security and stability, Leo seeks recognition and authentic self-expression, Scorpio seeks emotional depth and connection, while Aquarius seeks independence, perspective and the freedom to live according to its own understanding of the world.

These are all important human needs, but sometimes they can become so deeply embedded in our sense of identity that we find ourselves holding on to something long after it has stopped serving us.

We might remain in a familiar situation because it feels safe, continue fighting for a relationship because we've invested so much of ourselves in it, or cling to an old belief about who we are because we're frightened of what might happen if we allowed ourselves to become someone different.

With Pluto, Scorpio's modern ruler, continuing its long journey through Aquarius, and Mars in Leo challenging this New Moon, there is a broader invitation to examine our relationship with power, autonomy, attachment and change and to question why we've found it so difficult to release in the first place.What we describe as loyalty, determination or commitment may also contain an element of fear. Fear of losing what we've built, of being alone, of uncertainty, or even fear of discovering that the identity we've spent years constructing no longer reflects who we're becoming.

And this is where Scorpio's evolutionary journey becomes so important.

Transformation doesn't necessarily mean abandoning everything we've known or loved.

Sometimes it means recognising that something has completed its purpose in our lives, and allowing ourselves to evolve beyond it.

When awareness becomes change

Mercury and Venus both station direct around 14 November here in Melbourne, only a few days after this New Moon, and this creates an interesting turning point in the larger story we've been experiencing. We may begin to feel that something is shifting, that we're finally ready to move forward or that a situation we've been reconsidering is beginning to make more sense.

But I think it's important to remember that a planet turning direct doesn't suddenly resolve everything we've been working through. Venus, for example, will continue retracing the territory of her retrograde journey into December, suggesting that some of the themes we've been exploring may take further time to integrate.

Recognising a pattern is one thing, but actually changing it is quite another.

We can understand intellectually why we make certain choices, recognise the ways we've been influenced by old experiences and even become very clear about what we want to do differently.

But that doesn't necessarily mean we'll find it easy to change our behaviour when we encounter a familiar situation again.That's because genuine psychological transformation isn't simply about acquiring information. It's about integrating what we've learned into the way we live, the choices we make and the relationships we create.

Working with this Scorpio New Moon

Rather than feeling that we need to rush into setting ambitious intentions or making significant changes, I would encourage us to use this New Moon as an opportunity to spend some quiet time with ourselves and consider what the past few weeks may have been revealing.

Perhaps there's something we've been thinking about for quite some time that we're finally ready to acknowledge. We may be recognising a relationship pattern, an old fear or a belief about ourselves that no longer feels particularly helpful, or we've simply become aware that we've been expending an enormous amount of emotional energy trying to understand or control something that is ultimately beyond our control.

Whatever is emerging, I think it's important to approach it with curiosity rather than judgement.

We don't have to analyse every emotion, resolve every difficult experience or understand every aspect of our psychological history in order to begin making different choices.

If we find ourselves becoming overwhelmed by the intensity of our thoughts or emotions, it may be particularly helpful to step away from the situation, spend time in nature, speak with somebody we trust or engage in something that brings us back into the present moment.

Scorpio's gift is its willingness to go deep, but sometimes its greatest challenge is knowing when to come back to the surface.

For those with significant natal planets or angles around the middle degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius, this New Moon may feel particularly relevant, although the house in which approximately 17 degrees of Scorpio falls in your natal chart will provide further insight into the area of life where these themes may be unfolding.

What are we finally ready to acknowledge?

As we approach this New Moon, I keep returning to the idea that perhaps this isn't simply about deciding what we want to begin, but about recognising what we're finally ready to understand. And if you want to understand these themes more deeply, I only have a limited number of appointments available up until the end of the year. I would love to work with you to dive deeper into these, or any other themes that may be coming up for you right now. Head to www.aspectasgtrology.com.au