Scorpio: Myth, Meaning, and Depth

...or, Introduction to Advanced Scorpionics

It was the best of signs, it was the worst of signs. On this, the first day of Scorpio season, we’re here to talk about the deeper meanings of the scorpion — and why it’s so much more complex than most people realize. Here’s an introductory crash course on some of the lesser-known aspects of everyone’s favorite horror-bug.

Basics
Scorpius is a zodiacal constellation, appearing in the center of the Milky Way, between Libra and Sagittarius. In modern astrology, Scorpio is a fixed water sign, co-ruled by Pluto and Mars (just Mars in antiquity). If you do a quick search for “scorpio”, you’ll find that they’re said to be deep, inscrutable, private, fussy, passionate, fiery, strange, stubborn, and controlling. It’s true, Scorpio today is considered one of the “difficult” signs, and they get a bad reputation — but why exactly? Doesn’t it seem a little unfair to assume that roughly a twelfth of all people are just born shitty and weird by default?

As a Scorpio, I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that there’s actually quite a bit more to this story—and it’s surprisingly cool!

History and Myth
Most people associate Scorpio with the myth of Orion; in brief, Orion was a great hunter, and in a vain attempt to impress Artemis, he boasted that he could kill every living beast in the world. Horrified at his hubristic bloodlust, Gaia (aka Terra or Mother Earth) sent a monstrous scorpion to shut that right down. Like Jormungandr and Thor, they ultimately met in a battle which resulted in their mutual destruction. Wowed by the spectacle, Zeus brought both Orion and the Scorpion into heaven, giving us the constellations we now know and love.

In another myth, the son of the sun—a youth named Phaeton—engaged in yet another act of hubris (the Greeks loved their hubris), attempting to drive the solar chariot, despite being profoundly unqualified. As he careened around the sky, the Zodiacal animals struck out at him for disturbing their rest, including today’s hero Scorpius.

But Scorpio is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to well before the Greeks, at least to Babylon (and perhaps beyond: new analysis of ancient cave art shows recognizable constellations in paintings dating back 15,000 years or more!) The Babylonians referred to it as “that with the fiery sting,” and it’s worth noting that Gilgamesh encounters a number of human-scorpion hybrids on his many wacky misadventures. In the later cult of Mithraism, we again see a solar warrior doing battle, this time with the bull of heaven. Perhaps an echo of the Gilgamesh story, Mithras is depicted wrestling the bull alongside the scorpion — symbolizing in part the tension between Taurus and Scorpio (see below).

A few sources associate Scorpio with Typhon, the monstrous chthonic shadow of Zeus — which *feels* right, but I’d like to see more examples reflecting this. Reach out if you can point to any! The Egyptian Typhon (better known as the god Set) had a half-scorpion daughter named Serket — a goddess of healing.

Astrology scholar Peter Kruger has made an interesting case associating Scorpio with Fenrir, the great monstrous wolf of Norse myth (and with Garmr and Cerberus by association).

Tarot
Being a water sign, Scorpio plays a part in the Ace of Cups. Some traditions correspond the 5 of Cups to the energy of Mars in Scorpio — likewise with the 6 of Cups, Sun in Scorpio, and the 7 of Cups, Venus. Definitely not helping PR, the Death card is likewise associated with Scorpio — but as any good reader will tell you, “Death” rarely means death. In the Tarot, Death represents transformation, often through dissolution, letting go, or moving on. You might be surprised to hear that Scorpio is also featured on The World card — considered by many to be the “best” of the Tarot. More on that in a minute.

Esotericism
The ancients linked a specific kind of “energy” to each of the Zodiacal symbols. Scorpio represented inner exploration, depth, transformation, and the fine line between poison and healing. You’ll recall that in the myth, Scorpio was sent forth from the underworld to take down a cocky solar hero. This hints at another polarity understood by the ancients — the dichotomy between the “solar” (ego consciousness, reason, logic) and the “underworld” (deep, archetypal, emotional, unconscious). This is quite similar to Nietzsche’s explication of Apollonian vs. Dionysian consciousness, which is in fact especially fitting here: a major part of Dionysus’s symbolism is the sparagmos, the ritual tearing apart of the body in advance of a rebirth — now might be a good time to mention that some species of scorpion rend and devour their mate immediately after sex… The More You Know™️.

In other systems, the sun is seen as both a solar and an underworld figure — after all, the sun spends half of life in the underworld, at least from our point of view. Myths of Ra, Osiris, Set, Typhon, Shamash, Apollo and more dance around this theme — and don’t get me started on Satan.

Speaking of, there is much symbolic overlap between the scorpion and the serpent; some say the serpent also reflects a step on the Scorpio journey: still low to the ground, but relying less on venom, and more on charm and cleverness to get what they want. After all, both work with poison; both have the potential to be good or evil; both are chthonic (close to the earth, perceived as particularly ancient, associated with the underworld). Remember that in antiquity, it was believed that the cure for the poison was found in the poison. The constellation Ophiuchus — the snake-wrangler, often interpreted as the god Asclepius getting medicine from a serpent — encroaches on Scorpio’s astrological turf. You may remember the ill-fated trend from a couple years back trying to make Ophiuchus, aka Serpentarius, a proper “13th zodiac sign.” There are tons of great reasons why that was a dumb idea, but my favorite is this — we’ve already taken enough from Scorpio! Libra, the constellation of the scales, is a much younger constellation and was once part of Scorpio: the pinchers. When the Greeks standardized the system, they split the two — but I must concede, I do find something poetic about the principle of balance taking the claws from the scorpion.

The key star in the constellation of Scorpio is Antares — the red star, Cor scorpii, the heart of the scorpion. Antares is a fitting name for the heart of the Scorpion: meaning “opposing Ares,” the god of war. As you might know, Ares is the Greek equivalent of the Roman Mars, the ruler of Scorpio. In other words, inner conflict lies in the heart of every Scorpio — delightful. Not only that, Antares is considered quite powerful: it’s one of the Behenian Fixed Stars, and was considered the King of the Skies by the Maori.

Now, back to the Tarot: why did I say that Scorpio is associated with The World card? The World is about attainment, success, completion, wisdom, elevation, and harmony. Framing the card are the “Four Living Creatures” from Judeo-Christian tradition: the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle. These are the beasts comprising the strange angels known as Cherubim. These four symbols all feature in Revelation, and came to represent each of the evangelists by symbolizing different flavors of awakened wisdom. But well before all of that, those same symbols represented the fixed signs of the Zodiac: Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, and Scorpio. The first three make sense — but why the hell is Scorpio an Eagle?

Far back in antiquity, it was understood that the energy Scorpio represented was indeed a dangerous one. The unconscious inner depths were symbolized by the underworld — and in myth, almost nobody visits the underworld and returns to tell the tale. The scary stinging arachnid represents this: not properly handled, Scorpio energy can be destructive to one’s self and those around them. Yet that same energy holds the key to change, ascension, personal growth, healing, and rebirth. If one can learn to take a higher perspective and pull away from creeping low across the earth, a sovereignty over this power can be attained — represented by the eagle.

Fun fact: if you look at popular depictions of Satan, he is often given the face of a lion, the horns of a bull, the shape of a man, and the tail of a scorpion — or occasionally, a badass pair of wings.

In line with all of this, Scorpio is the ruler of the Eighth House in Astrology — affectionately called “The House of Sex and Death”. That about covers it, but it’s worth noting it’s also the house of transformation, occult power, and that which we must leave behind. Likewise, in Alchemy, Scorpio represents the process of separatio, and in Jungian psychology, it can be taken to represent the introverted feeling function.

Polarity
We can’t fully understand everything symbolized by Scorpio without looking at its opposite — Taurus! The best of all the Fixed Earth signs. If we take Taurus to represent worldly sensation, material concern, and the impulse to seek comfort and pleasure, the opposition between the two signs becomes clear. Scorpios are considered secretive and unpredictable because their motivations are toward things deeper, and they tend to eschew the material in favor of keeping their heads in the clouds — or in the depths of the underworld, symbolizing deep personal exploration. As we’ll discuss more in a future piece, it’s helpful to look at the Zodiac not as twelve separate sign but as six polarities; we might then speak of the Scorpio-Taurus axis, which would perhaps reflect the tension between finding internal vs. external meaning.

So if we visualize the axis, the scorpion would represent the section as you’re just leaving Taurus and entering Scorpio, followed by the Serpent, the Eagle, and finally the Phoenix.

And hey, what’s the middle point on this axis — what’s the thing central to both Tauruses and Scorpios? Sex! Sex was seen as both the culmination of worldly sensation and a gateway toward inner transformation. Neat!

Fun fact: Did you know that each of the Zodiac signs represents an area of the body? Guess where Scorpio lives…