SCORPIO - The Alchemist, The Sorcerer, The Scorpion & The Phoenix

Ceci Stieglitz
Oct 31
7 min read

Updated: Nov 11

Oct 23 - Nov 23

Everyone thinks Scorpio is about sex and revenge.

Wrong.

Scorpio is about POWER—and most people are absolutely terrified of their own power.

Here's why:

Real power isn't control.

Real power isn't domination.

Real power isn't manipulation.

Real power is...

↓

The capacity to face the shadow without flinching...

The courage to feel everything without shutting down...

The willingness to die to who you were so you can become who you're meant to be...

🜄 Alchemy Putrefactio / Nigredov — 🜄 **Alchemy Putrefactio / Nigredov**

Archetypal Energy

As autumn deepens and the veil grows thin, Scorpio arrives to plunge us into mystery of alchemical fusion, intimacy, true power, death – and rebirth.

This is the energy of the Alchemist, the Shaman, the Warrior who knows that transformation requires the destruction of what doesn't serve, that resurrection requires death, that the phoenix must burn to ashes before it can rise.

"I TRANSFORM"

Ruled by Mars in its nocturnal aspect, and modernly Pluto, lord of the underworld, Scorpio governs taboo territories: death, sex, power, and the occult. This sign does not dabble in the shallows but dives straight to the depths, seeking truth in the darkness others fear to explore.

Scorpio understands that the treasure is guarded by dragons, that one man's medicine is another man's poison – and that they come from the same source. That true power emerges from self-mastery — and surrendering control of another. That bending reality to one's convenience, and using perception for manipulation to self-serve the ego's desires and hunger for power is plain sorcery disguised as magic.

The Death card is not about literal death but about endings and beginnings. The transformation that comes from the release of what has completed its cycle. The skeleton rides a pale horse, carrying a black banner emblazoned with the mystic rose—life emerging from death.

The Tower shows Mars as the lightning bolt that destroys illusions, the orgasmic release that shatters the ego's defenses, the crisis that catalyzes evolution. Together these cards reveal Scorpio as the guardian of thresholds, the one who plunges the soul into the dark night.

Scorpio is the sign of deep intimacy —fusion — not just physical–but psychic, emotional, and spiritual merging. This is where boundaries dissolve, where "mine" and "yours" becomes "ours," where we discover that true power comes not from dominating but from surrendering to something greater than ourselves.

Judgment has been linked to Pluto via the archetype of resurrection, awakening, and transformation . The Lord of Death and Rebirth (the Roman Hades) rules the underworld, the realm of shadows, buried treasure, and the soul’s power to regenerate.

Pluto governs death and rebirth (physical, psychological, spiritual) purification through crisis, the unveiling of hidden truth, and transformation.

Pluto destroys in order to reveal the essence — stripping away everything false or dead. Death is initiation, alchemic putrefactio, the necessary descent before resurrection and awakening.

Judgment depicts souls rising from their graves at the archangel's (Gabriel) sound of trumpet — traditionally representing: rebirth after trial, awakening from spiritual sleep, release from the underworld, and redemption.

Judgment (XX) comes right before The World (XXI) — suggesting that to reach wholeness (completion), one must first face and transcend death.

Scorpio - Radical Transformation

🗝️ Light

Transformative • Powerful • Intuitive • Magnetic • Passionate • Resourceful • Determined • Psychic • Healing • Authentic • Devoted • Regenerative • Courageous • Truth-seeking • Alchemical

In its highest expression, Scorpio embodies the capacity for radical transformation and profound healing. It is the part of you that can face the shadow without flinching — that can alchemize poison into elixir, die to who you once were, and be reborn as who you are in a higher octave.

Scorpio energy knows how to merge without losing itself, how to trust the process of dissolution, and how to find power through vulnerability. It is the shaman within you — the one who walks between worlds and returns with medicine for the tribe.

🗝️ Shadow

Manipulative • Obsessive • Vengeful • Possessive • Jealous • Secretive • Controlling • Destructive • Paranoid • Power-hungry • Vindictive • Compulsive • Cruel • Self-destructive • Sabotaging

In shadow, Scorpio becomes the fractured anti-hero who inflicts their pain on others. The desire for intimacy becomes control and possession — obsessive jealousy, hunger that corrodes trust. The capacity for deep transformation becomes destructive rage.

The shadow uses their sharp perception and the knowledge of others’ vulnerabilities as weapons, holds grudges forever, and would rather destroy everything than risk being vulnerable. It manipulates through emotional intensity, controls through crisis, and mistakes power over others for personal power. It can become addicted to intensity, creating drama and chaos, sabotaging everything when life becomes even slightly peaceful.

Shadow Work Theme

Surrendering Control to Access True Power

The evolutionary path of Scorpio is to discover that true power comes from truthfulness and vulnerability — that control is ultimately an illusion, that pushing over the limits is violent and truth without compassion is cruel.

— A wise man once said: The only way out is through.—

The question Scorpio must ask:

What am I afraid will happen if I surrender?

Am I willing to release control? What is it that I truly desire?

Scorpio learns that intimacy without trust is lust, that transformation cannot be under control, and that the death of the ego is not the end of one's identity but the beginning of knowing oneself —one's self. Surrendering to the mystery — allowing the old skin to shed — to burn completely, trusting that what emerges from the ashes will be more authentic than what was incinerated through the fires of initiation.

When Scorpio's shadow dares to feel the wound beneath the cool demeanor and contained rage, allows vulnerability to surface raw — it becomes the alchemist — turning poison into healing power, destruction into regeneration, manipulation into collaboration.

No longer striking at its own shadow, the scorpion transmutes into the phoenix, rising from the ashes not by force and conquest, but through the warrior in action that protects what is most tender and sacred, and who cultivates the courage of radical vulnerability through self-mastery.

"It's better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war."

—Unknown

Essential Oils

The Kingdom of Flora: The Link Between Heaven and Earth

🌿 Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin)

Planetary correspondence: Pluto/Saturn

Grounding, transformative, sensual, shadow-work supporting

The oil of the underworld journey. A deep, earthy aroma that grounds during intense moments of transformation, creating a safe container for shadow work. Patchouli reminds us that compost creates the richest soil — fertile ground for new seeds to grow.

✨ Patchouli is an ally for deep healing, shadow integration, and learning to be comfortable with uncertainty, intensity, and moving through challenging changes.

🪵 Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)

Planetary correspondence: Saturn/Pluto

Protective, transformative, grief-supporting, spiritually opening

Myrrh has been used in burial rites and sacred ceremonies for millennia. It helps release what has died —relationships, identities, dreams—and helps to honor the grief that comes with natural endings. Myrrh creates sacred space for the dissolution process, it's a subtle protector for navigating the void.

✨ Use Myrrh during grief or major life transitions, when releasing the past that is necessary to welcome the future.

🪵 Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica)

Planetary correspondence: Saturn/Pluto

Grounding, protective, wisdom-accessing, ancestral-connecting

Cedarwood connects to ancient wisdom and ancestral strength. Its woody aroma helps to feel rooted even as everything transforms. Cedarwood is particularly helpful when undergoing spiritual initiation or shamanic experiences. It reminds us that we come from an unbroken lineage, and that we have the strength to endure the passage.

✨ Use Cedarwood when you need to feel held during initiatory transitions.

⚫️ Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)

Planetary correspondence: Mars

Protective, courage-building, truth-revealing, energy-moving

Black Pepper helps to face what you've been avoiding and speak truths that have been suppressed. It cuts through denial and brings hidden material to consciousness. This oil is particularly helpful for those who have difficulty accessing or expressing anger—a common issue when Mars energy is suppressed.

✨ Use Black Pepper when you need courage to face your shadow, when you're ready to speak hard truths, or to remove blocked energy.

🌼 Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum)

Planetary correspondence: Moon/Pluto

Intimacy-enhancing, sexually healing, emotionally opening, sacred

Jasmine is the night-blooming flower of sacred sex and divine union. It helps heal sexual wounds and shame, opening up to the power of fusion and deep intimacy. Jasmine reminds us that sexuality is not separate from spirituality, that the body is a temple, that ecstasy is a window into divine realms.

✨ Use Jasmine for healing sexual trauma, deepening intimate connection, or connecting with raw desire.

🌿 Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Planetary Correspondence: Sun/Mars

Gives clarity and courage, washes sorrow, releases grief.

Rosemary supports mental focus, emotional processing, and brings out the courage to face what must be faced and released.

✨ Use Rosemary when going through loss and times of grief, navigating difficult emotions, and to clear the fog during times of uncertainty.

Bonus Blends [doTerra]

🔹 Deep Blue® (Soothing Blend)

While typically for physical pain, this blend of Wintergreen, Camphor, Peppermint, Blue Tansy, Blue Chamomile, Helichrysum, and Osmanthus works on multiple levels. It soothes the deep aches of growing, the pain of loss, and the soreness that comes from shedding old skins.

☂️ Serenity® (Calming Blend)

Calms intensity, supports emotional integration. Serenity anchors the self in the midst of emotional storms and intense fires. Emotionally stabilizing, helps process fear and anxiety.

💆🏻‍♀️ PastTense® (Integrating Blend)

Tension release, emotional processing, soothing for headaches and overwhelm. Good for processing and releasing accumulated emotional intensity.

– SHOP ESSENTIAL OILS –

Simple Practice: The Lodge Ritual

Best during Scorpio season (Oct 23-Nov 21), Tuesday (Mars day), Dark Moon, or during major transitions

You'll need: Patchouli and Myrrh oils, candle, paper, fire-safe bowl

Steps:

Create sacred space. Light the black candle. Diffuse Patchouli and Myrrh.
Write on paper what you're ready to release—habits, patterns, relationships, identities. Be specific.
Read aloud what you've written: "I release _____ with love and gratitude for how it served me."
Burn the paper in the bowl, watching it transform to ash. As it burns, feel the release in your body.
Sit with the emptiness. Don't rush to fill the void. The void is fertile.
When ready, blow out the candle and scatter the ashes on earth, returning them to the cycle.
Take a ritual bath with 3 drops each of Patchouli and Myrrh. Let the water wash away what has been released.
Sleep. Dreams often bring visions of what wants to emerge from this death.