Summary
Full Moon Total Eclipse in Aries November 8
Venus Transits Scorpio November 11 - December 5
Mercury Transits Scorpio November 13 - December 3
Mars Returns to Taurus November 13 - March 13
Sun Transits Scorpio November 16 - December 16
New Moon in Scorpio November 23
Jupiter Direct in Pisces November 23

Summary

For an in-depth analysis of specific planetary placements, please continue with the full planetary forecast.

Full Moon Total Eclipse in Aries November 8

The first milestone of November will be the second eclipse in a pairing that began with a partial solar eclipse on October 25, with Sun, Moon, Venus, and Ketu joining in Libra. The theme of solving problems caused by an imbalance between individual needs and the needs of other parties was sharply outlined by that grouping and eclipse event. The need to mentally and possibly physically retreat from a certain situation could have been plainly revealed during that time.

As the Moon begins to wax after this new Moon solar eclipse, it runs through a series of challenging situations, coming to oppose the grouping in Libra and joining with Rahu in Aries for a total eclipse of the Moon visible in the Americas, Australia and Asia. This full Moon eclipse happens on November 7 - 8, depending where in the world you are.

The moment of full eclipse comes when the Moon and Sun exactly oppose, which allows the Earth’s shadow to block the light of the Sun from hitting the Moon. The Moon will be at 22 degrees Aries in Bharani nakshatra, also in a pushkara navamsa, which is positive and auspicious. The Sun will be sitting at 22 degrees Libra, past his point of debilitation and in Vishaka nakshatra.

This point in time could mark the culmination of a series of painful and destabilizing events that lead toward eventual clarity about how to move forward with courage on a path that is dictated by your own desires. With the Sun getting eclipsed by Ketu on October 25, we may have faced the difficulty of detaching our ego from a situation in order to surrender to practical reality and irrefutable evidence. With the Moon getting eclipsed by Rahu during the November 7-8 eclipse, we may be faced with managing the emotional fallout that comes after a decision is made, a problem is confronted, or an ego is recovering from injury.

People with significant placements in personal horoscopes that fall under the degrees where eclipses happen may be a bit more affected in the domains of life indicated in the chart. 22 degrees Aries could be a sensitive point in this regard, especially through the next eclipse pairing which comes in April-May 2023. The sensitive point created by the previous eclipse on October 25 is 8 degrees Libra.

Venus Transits Scorpio November 11 - December 5

As the eclipse energy clears, we see a series of planets shift signs in mid-November. Venus moves from her own air sign of Libra to Mars’ water sign, Scorpio, on Friday, November 11. With Mars returning to Taurus on November 13, this puts Venus and Mars into an opposition and also a parivartana, exchange of signs. This creates a strong bond, sambandha, between both planets, giving them both an improvement in status and strength as if they are both seated in their own signs.

With Venus having just participated in the eclipse pairing, and in a sense conducting the whole act by occupying her own sign of Libra while these events happened, she may be carrying with her some heavy lessons, newly integrated. The sign of Scorpio is the natural 8th sign of the zodiac, co-ruled by Mars and Ketu, the South Node of the Moon.

This combined rulership with Mars and one of the nodes gives Scorpio its enigmatic, powerful, and transformational reputation. Even the fact that both of the rulers are fiery in nature but the sign itself falls to the water element brings attention to the paradoxical situations that Scorpio can offer.

Between the water sign of Scorpio and the fire sign of Sagittarius which is adjacent lies the second gandanta point of the zodiac. At each of the three junctures between water and fire signs lie this sensitive point, gandanta. These points are considered difficult if a planet occupies them in a natal chart, but let’s consider the difficulty. Most of the difficulty of life lies in balancing our individual agendas (fire element) with collective well being (water element.) These points offer an opportunity to leap from one level of understanding to another, allowing us to integrate life lessons that lead us toward a more empowered life. The difficulty lies in that there nearly always has to be a sacrifice or deep surrender in order to make this leap.

As we regard this deep philosophical concept, let’s recall the dance of Mars and Venus at the beginning of the 2022 calendar year. Mars makes a pretty good representative of the fire element and Venus does a fine job at representing the water element. These two planets also stand up as symbolizing male (Mars/fire) and female (Venus/water). When Mars returns to Taurus on November 13, he will be in a position to aspect Venus as she transits through Scorpio, the gandanta point on December 5, and then through Venus in Sagittarius, taking us to year’s end.

Venus began 2022 in retrograde phase in the sign of Sagittarius, while Mars occupied his own sign of Scorpio with his co-lord, Ketu. By the end of January, Venus had regained direct motion and was joined by Mars in Sagittarius. Through February and March 2022, Mars and Venus traveled in tandem through the signs of Sagittarius and Capricorn. By April, faster-moving Venus pulled ahead, putting space between these two agents of the gandanta.

When assessing 2022 in this light, we may look back and see that the first quarter of 2022 could have been intensely passionate in some way due to this Mars-Venus conjunction. As the year rolled on, Venus continued to make space away from Mars and now, as the year is coming to a close in the final quarter, Mars will be opposing and aspecting Venus, which could have us all seeing our contracts and relationships in a completely different light. As Venus moves through the gandanta during the first week of December, we may find ourselves faced with overcoming obstacles that stand in the way of keeping our connections afloat.

Mercury Transits Scorpio November 13 - December 3

Ever the cheerful companion to Venus, Mercury follows her into Scorpio on November 13, which will put this pairing rather close through the month of November. This could signal a need for some quiet time to reflect and analyze on the cost to benefit ratio that our current activities are outputting.

With Mars entering Taurus the same day and putting the intense sambandha into place between Venus and Mars through December 5, Mercury’s presence by Venus’ side through the murky waters of Scorpio could be quite helpful. Remember, the eclipse pairing and current station of the nodal axis also brings us into the dramatic attraction between Mars and Venus, as Rahu currently occupies Mars’ fire sign of Aries and Ketu currently occupies Venus’ air sign of Libra.

These Venus-Mars interactions turn out to bookend 2022, with the Mars+Venus conjunction in the first quarter and a Mars-Venus opposition/aspect in the last quarter. Now is the time to gain perspective on relationships, account for serious expenditures on assets, and reorganize strategic life planning. The perspective comes from analytical Mercury. He was closely with Venus and Mars in March 2022 and now will be tightly placed with Venus as things have come full circle.

Mercury doesn’t make emotional decisions, which comes in handy when things get dramatic. Do the math, run the numbers, and use the unemotional terrain of Scorpio to make difficult decisions that are designed to support future growth without costing you the essential roots.

Mars Returns to Taurus November 13 - March 13

As discussed in the last two sections, when retrograde Mars returns to Venus’ earth sign, Taurus, on November 13, this puts Venus and Mars into a deep sambandha (connection) where they exchange signs, give mutual aspect, and are in the full aspect of opposition while Venus is in Scorpio through December 5. There will still be some connective energy even after Venus moves to Sagittarius, as Mars from Taurus will throw his gaze there, as well. By the end of December, Venus will move out of Mars’ range of vision, which could signal the end of a cycle begun during the first quarter 2022. Either we move apart and move on or we take our connections and projects to the next level as we sail into 2023.

The other thing to consider is that we are now going to experience Mars in Taurus for the next four months due to this retrograde phase. This is a long stretch and with Mars being chief strategist amongst the planets, we should have a good plan, or at least outline, about how we are to leverage this particular station. Mars will most strongly affect Taurus by transiting there, but also aspects Leo, Scorpio, and Sagittarius during the next four months.

The retrograde status of Mars remains in place until January 13, 2023, when he regains direct motion at 14 degrees Taurus in the nakshatra Rohini. From there, Mars advances through the latter half of Taurus, entering again into Gemini on March 12, 2023.

The name of the game for Mars is defense and protection, consolidation and channeling of power, and the alchemy that transforms power into even more power. Sitting in Venus’ sign for such a stretch is somewhat of a challenge, as he is further taxed with being socially acceptable while sculpting his powerful products.

November and December sees this retrograde Mars powerfully plowing through the earthy territory of Venus. Rather than spending energy on regret or frustration about how things *aren’t* progressing as you planned, surrender to the changes, find pleasure in the opportunity at a re-do, and put your best logic to the problems you face, while also finding a way to marry the magic powers of courage and unconditional love.

Sun Transits Scorpio November 16 - December 16

When the Sun moves out of Venus’ Libra and into Mars’ Scorpio on November 16, he puts his stamp on the advice to dig deep to the roots, carefully cleaning the debris away without damaging the delicate connections to the source of what feeds you.

This brings back the concept of combustion, which is when the Sun’s great brilliance engulfs the smaller light of another planet. This happens frequently with the planets that lie within Earth’s orbit: Mercury and Venus. For much of October and November, both of these friendly helpers will be in that state, making it difficult for us to discern their qualities from that of the Sun.

With both Mercury and Venus traveling ahead of the Sun in the zodiac path, moving slightly faster, this sense of combustion will wane and dissipate toward the end of November. What this means is that we may collectively feel the ability to analyze, negotiate, and have our voices heard more readily than has been possible in the past couple months. This also puts Sun into the equation with powerful Mars, opposite Scorpio in the sign of Taurus. These two planets have a friendly relationship and the Sun’s opposition may empower Mars to make individual assertions in the midst of negotiating collective peace. This may or may not be helpful, depending on the situation!

The Sun suffered debility while in Libra and can act more strongly in Mars’ sign of Scorpio. Second, the nodal axis always threatens the luminaries, so moving forward out of that axis should also provide clarity, as Rahu’s aspect will also disappear from the Sun’s view. Third, Saturn is currently pressing hard and strong on Libra, further compounding the Sun’s attempts to shine there. Sun moving out of Libra could bring a sense of liberation on a few fronts, and the overwhelm that comes with spacious freedom will be the next issue to address.

New Moon in Scorpio November 23

After the total lunar eclipse on November 7 - 8, the Moon wanes through the quiet signs that mark the first half of the natural zodiac. This carries us through the several shifts mentioned above, so that when the Moon reaches the eclipse axis once again, the scene has become relatively calm.

On November 23, the Moon settles into the arms of the Sun for the monthly act of new Moon at 8 degrees Scorpio, in the second pada of Anuradha nakshatra. We see a dark and debilitated Moon here, aspected by Mars and by Jupiter, accompanied by Mercury and Venus. This shows a vulnerable Moon with very good support; reach out when you’re feeling low, as the helping hands should be close by.

The several days leading up to this November 23 new Moon could feel draining and marks the time just prior to the popular US holiday of Thanksgiving. Maybe good to plan now for not overdoing or overblowing the expectations to create a lavish spread. Remember the theme is gratitude for what is. Try to sink into that humble, grounded state and rest through this dark half of the Moon.

One positive light is that the Sun and Moon will both occupy a Pushkara navamsa nakshatra pada, pushing them to navamsa Virgo position. This is a signal to allow the emotions to break down and make way while keeping the intellect sharp in order to track what will nourish those roots and what will detract from plans for future growth.

Jupiter Direct in Pisces November 23

Within a few minutes of the new Moon, great Guru Brihaspati, Jupiter, will regain his direct motion at 5 degrees Pisces on November 23. This could mark a notable turnabout for many. The combined retrograde status of both Jupiter and Saturn while they occupied their own signs, with Saturn affecting Jupiter but not vice versa, made things rather unpredictable, stunted, and difficult from late July when Jupiter assumed retrograde motion.

As Jupiter begins to move forward in his own water sign of Pisces, the final sign of the zodiac where we gain universal perspective that allows us to first dissolve and then to prepare for reformatting, we may at last begin to see our way forward again after a difficult few months.

What has changed from the August to October time is that both Saturn and Jupiter will be in direct motion, still placed strongly in their own signs, with Saturn aspecting Jupiter, but not vice versa. This setup continues until January 12, 2023, when Saturn moves to Aquarius, providing a solid framework for growth. Jupiter tends to quickly expand into rapid growth and Saturn diligently creates boundaries so that the work doesn’t grow too big, too fast, which could threaten long-term integrity. Pay attention to both time and space, as well as the trajectories of both, as you slip into the future.

From mid-January until April 21, 2023, when Jupiter runs aground into Aries, joining an active grouping of planets including Rahu, Mercury, Sun and Moon, and once again slipping under Saturn’s gaze from Aquarius, we will enjoy this positive and auspicious energy of Jupiter in Pisces. Mid-January, 2023 continues to stand as a mark in time when we may feel some shifts that allow us to make progress after a period of stagnation.