The Sun moved into Scorpio on October 22(until November 21) – the season of deepening darkness when (in the Northern Hemisphere) the days grow noticeably shorter, the leaves change color and fall off the trees, and our animal bodies tune into the many images of dying around us and the reality of our own inevitable death.

Darkness has been vilified and banished from our modern world, in which death is the ultimate failure and the enemy of life, but to the ancients death was simply a precursor to rebirth. The dark times – whether the monthly dark of the Moon or the annual diminishing of the Sun’s light – were used for rest, regeneration, healing, magic, and accessing information that can only be obtained when we turn away from the distractions of the external world and drop into a deeper level of feeling and listening. Traditionally, during this time of year the veil between worlds is especially porous, we have greater access to our ancestors, to our invisible friends and allies, to the deep wisdom of our souls.

The darkness is especially intense right now, more than during your average Scorpio season. In addition to Sunday’s Solar Eclipse in Scorpio, Uranus and Pluto will form anexact square on Friday – their fourth of seven between 2012-2015 – signifying a culmination point in this ongoing process of death and rebirth. Pluto, God/Goddess of the Underworld, is the modern ruler of Scorpio, whose function is to reveal what’s been denied, repressed or hidden and what’s now stagnant, corrupt, diseased and robbing us of vitality and power. Uranus the Great Awakener, agent of revolutionary change, sparks awareness of these dark and hidden realms and calls for radical, creative action to free ourselves from the core patterns and paradigms that are killing us.

Ultimately, the Uranus-Pluto square signifies the transformation of our understanding and use of ENERGY and POWER. While there are many, many fine examples of how industrial civilization is destroying life on Earth through its misuse and abuse of energy and power, nuclear energy is to me the most explicit. The separation of Spirit and Matter – the underlying, ecocidal paradigm of industrial civilization – was literalized in the splitting of the atom, which first occurred just after the discovery of Pluto (plutonium).

We suffer the consequences of that action through the ongoing damage of nuclear radiation to our bodies and home planet, as well as the psychological trauma of knowing our world could be instantly destroyed by just one intentional or accidental detonation of nuclear weapons (see Eric Schlosser’s chilling new book,Command and Control) or a major nuclear power plant incident. Although shocking, it’s not surprising that the explosion at Fukushima occurred just as Uranus entered Aries and triggered the Uranus-Pluto square. And now, as the square again heats up, nuclear power is back in the news.

On November 7, CNN is scheduled to air a propaganda piece called “Pandora’s Promise,” which presents a one-sided argument that environmentalists should embrace nuclear power. (One of the film’s funders is invested in nuclear power, hence “propaganda” rather than “documentary.”) I know Americans have a short attention span and all, but… what the Fukushima?? The timing is especially interesting since, just as CNN is telling the world how safe nuclear power is, TEPCO will begin removing spent fuel rods from Fukushima’s Reactor 4, described as “an operation with potentially ‘apocalyptic’ consequences,” as  radiation from the rods “matches the fallout of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs.” (Fuel Removal From Fukushima’s Reactor 4 Threatens “Apocalyptic” Scenario)

Astrologically, these events not only closely coincide with the Uranus-Pluto square and Scorpio Eclipse, but also with Samhain – the cross-quarter holy day that marks the midpoint of the Scorpio season (when the Sun is at 15 degrees Scorpio) and the halfway mark between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. Although commonly celebrated on November 1 (and manifesting in various forms such as Day of the Dead and All Saint’s Day – and Halloween), Samhain or Hallowmas technically occurs this year on November 6 (10:30 pm Pacific, for my fellow Virgos).

Samhain is the most powerful time of the year to honor the dead and commune with our ancestors. Because modern western culture denies death – worshipping youth, banishing signs of aging, segregating elders in “nursing homes” apart from the rest of society, etc. – we have lost connection with those on the other side. Malidoma Somé writes:

“In many non-Western cultures, the ancestors have an intimate and absolutely vital connection with the world of the living. They are always available to guide, to teach, and to nurture. They represent one of the pathways between the knowledge of this world and the next. Most importantly – and paradoxically – they embody the guidelines for successful living – all that is most valuable about life. Unless the relationship between the living and the dead is in balance, chaos results.” (Of Water and the Spirit)

We are living that chaos. Instead of facing death and relating to the dead consciously, the culture enacts its underlying death urge by creating technologies that destroy the planet, along with relentless acts of violence in various other forms. Because Matter has been divested of Spirit, because Spirit has been relocated to some ethereal realm “out there” rather than inherently infused in physical form, what was once related to and expressed energetically – through ritual, magic, ceremony, intention, prayer, meditation, art – must be literalized.

As the signs of death and destruction multiply and amplify in the external world, let us remember and reanimate the tremendous power we hold within ourselves. Instead of buying into – funding and fueling with our mental, emotional and spiritual energy – either stories about the end of the world, or fairy tales of denial, let the deepening darkness pull us thoroughly into our true source of power, our own spiritual authority and our connection with the invisible, infinite realm of pure consciousness.

I recently watched genius physicist Nassim Haramein’s The Black Whole, which gave me a new understanding of these Uranian-Plutonian themes around energy and power. Haramein makes the point that since 99.9999 (etc.) percent of the universe is made up of “empty space,” maybe we should be paying more attention to it! Instead of following the lead of generations of physicists who fudged their equations and failed to account for what they named “dark matter” (hmmm…), Haramein’s work has focused on uncovering the structure of “space” and he discovered that, instead of being “empty,” this space actually contains infinite energy. He’s working on developing free energy technologies, liberating us from the ridiculous “choice” of whether to destroy the planet by burning oil or splitting atoms. (And of course free energy technology has existed, and has been suppressed, since Tesla.)

Applying these insights in our own lives means that, if you’re exclusively tracking the external-world story, you’re going to lose the plot. What’s happening at the level of consciousness, at the level of our feelings and intuition, and through our connections with the invisible – this is where the real action is taking place, and this is where we can access our power to transform. Let’s embrace this remarkable opportunity for some serious MAGIC. As Haramein says, “This is the ride we’re on, and I invite you to be a full participant.”

– Emily Trinkaus

p.s. I gave a talk about the Eclipses last week in Portland, and you can listen to it here.