Decan: 20°-29° Scorpio

Dates: 12-21 November 2024

Ruling planet/luminary: Venus

Zodiac sign: Scorpio ~ Fixed Water 🜄

Tarot card: 7 of Cups

Golden Dawn Title: Lord of Illusory Success

Associated Major Arcana:

The Empress (Venus) & Death (Scorpio)

Where your focus goes…

The 7 of Cups can represent an ‘overwhelm’ of choices. And you really can’t have it all. Choices must be made and sometimes there are objects, dreams, fantasies, obsessions or patterns that must be ‘let go’ – allowed to ‘die’ – so that other, more sustainable, options may be allowed to survive and thrive.

We all know the phrase ‘where your focus goes, energy flows…’ so Venus in Scorpio, as seen in the 7 of Cups, is a warning to be very aware of where you place your attention and intention in the moment.

The Venus ruled Empress represents fertile ground, creativity and also a love of earthly pleasures. However, this can play into her darker side where she might over-indulge in the pleasures of the physical world to the detriment of her inner world.

And so Death rides in to remind her, and all of us, that ‘you can’t take it with you when you go’. There’s nothing like a brush with Death to focus the mind on what really matters.

As with previous Decans, I have found it useful to look at some keywords to see what ideas they may spark about the current Decan of Scorpio III.

The Empress, Birth & Death

The Empress in Tarot is said to represent the great earth mother, childbirth and creation. To put her side-by-side with Death reminds us of the inevitable circle of life and how that plays for a woman in particular.

From the female point of view, we go through so many transformations throughout our incredible lives and with each stage we experience a mini-death and a rebirth: from physical birth and babyhood, from childhood to the teenage years, menstruation and sexual maturity, sexual exploration and the ‘death of maidenhood’, ‘marriage’, motherhood, middle age and menopause, grandmotherhood and finally physical death.

Once we are transformed from one thing to another there is no turning back. And there are often dreams to be sacrificed along the way as we face the responsibilities of the stage of life that we are in, whether they be to our husband/partner, our children or the expectations of a still patriarchal society. We put our focus where our focus is needed. And it can indeed be overwhelming.

Interestingly, the ‘death and the maiden’ is a common theme in art, where we may see a young woman being taken by Death, often depicted as a skeleton, inspired by the ancient myth of Hades, the bachelor god of the underworld who abducted Persephone.

Death and the Maiden: PJ Lynch and Marianne Stokes. Hades Abducting Persephone: Simone Pignoni

Prompts for 7 of Cups ~ Venus in Scorpio

When considering your myriad choices, and where you choose to focus your energy…

Ask yourself:

• Are you lacking focus and direction right now?
• How can you turn your attention to the people and things that matter to you?
• Are you struggling to keep your eye on the real prize?
• Are you feeling tempted to go down a route or indulge in behaviours that you know in your heart are not good for you and those around you?
• How do your decisions affect others?
• What can you do to ensure you make healthier choices going forward?

Observations and synchronicities ~ on Scorpio III

I’m making space here to return to over the coming days of Scorpio III to add any thoughts, ideas and synchronicities as they arise…

For me, this is the first card in the Minor Arcana that points to excess and addiction.

It reminds me of indulging in self-destructive, escapist behaviours in the hope of filling some void. Though fun in the moment, these behaviours ultimately only served to highlight what was missing and inevitably led to ‘fear and loathing’.

This interpretation comes through more strongly depending on the deck, but I think you can get a real sense of the debauched nature and toxic energy that the 7 of Cups can bring when you look at the Thoth and Urban Tarot renditions of the card.

Notes on the Decan Walk 2024/25

For more information on Decans, Astrology and Tarot and how they all synchronise please read this Substack article by Rebeka Kulcsar-Kurdi and T. Susan Chang’s 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

And, if you care to join me for this continuing solar return, you’ll find me on Facebook and Instagram hanging out on the corner of #decanwalk2024 and #decanastrology And I will be following @astroco_op and @tsusanchang

Here’s to another trip around the Sun!