I’m beginning the Moon Sign Series with the Moon in Scorpio for a reason. It’s considered a bad placement for the Moon, and I wanted to begin with the problematic Moon placements and work myself up to the generally good Moon Sign placements. The Moon in Scorpio is considered in a Fall position, meaning that the Moon does not find adequate expression in the sign of Scorpio, and to a lesser degree in the 8th House.
To understand why the Moon placed in the sign of Scorpio or the 8th House is considered its FALL [negative placement] position you need to really be up on the sign of Scorpio.
Scorpio represents some of the most intense desires we humans can experience but often times it is not a responsive mode of expression. Most emotions are in response to something, and since the Moon is the residence of emotional energy, where it is placed would be seen as the mode of response in life. Read that again please. The Moon is the indicator of how an individual will respond to life. The Moon is not aggressive, it is the response mechanism for everyone.
But not so with the Moon in Scorpio. It is aggressive. Why? Because the emotions are regarding what one DESIRES to acquire. [Yes, you read that right. ACQUIRE] It is not in response mode, it is taking action to acquire what it desires. In short, it acts more like Mars, instead of the Moon. Thus the Moon is not finding much expression at all, and is therefore weakened or in FALL position.
A quick word about planet dignity. Understanding that all planets seek to express their energy makes it easier to explain that some sign placements facilitate expression [the Ruler or Exalted positions], and other sign placements constrict expression [the Detriment and Fall positions]. What sign a planet falls in will tell you whether or not the planet will find expression easily or not. A quick note that the Moon is ruled by Cancer, is Exalted in Taurus, is in Detriment in Capricorn, and in Fall in Scorpio.
With the Moon in a Fall position in the Sign of Scorpio, people often become very aggressive to insure the fulfillment of their desires. Scorpio is secretive, and the Moon placed here becomes suspicious. Scorpio rules the masculine regenerative organs as well as the lower spine (Sacrum) in which the Kundalini energy is coiled. The Moon rules the female reproductive organs. Generally speaking, in this position, the responsive nature of the Moon is unable to do what it does best. RESPOND.
The Moon placed here is generally Controlled and unresponsive (at least outwardly) thus denying the Moon her purpose. The Moon’s purpose is to learn and feel through experiences, to develop habit patterns, and to create a time line of memories from those experiences. The Sign of Scorpio is Fixed by nature and controlled. Though in the passive polarity, it is aggressive by nature.
AND most of this is occurring on the sub-conscious levels of our existence, so the individual is unable to learn from these experiences and remember. The emotions become, not a signal of past events, but an intensely felt present day experience.
Jung said “Very often the conscious mind denies or refuses what the unconscious mind holds; often it seeks to compensate for what is inwardly lacking. Unhappiness and neuroses result in perpetual denial and perpetual lack of compensation continue.”
If we consider the Moon the “Native” him/herself then look at it this way; Scorpio is not the environment where the moon (the Native) can easily experience his/her responsive nature. There is no facility for learning about one’s instinctive behavior. There is too much resistance to this in the sign of Scorpio. More often than not when the Moon is placed in this sign the native will continue to behave in ways that are no longer beneficial to the native’s survival. This is why Pluto has been assigned to this sign. Pluto tears down old outworn behavior patterns that are no longer of benefit, and the native is reborn or transformed. But the Moon seeks to build habits and patterns based on past experiences. The Moon in this sign places the emotions in a constant conflict between moving forward and hanging on to the past and more importantly the native’s time line.
However, I would not ever say that this would be a signal of an unbalanced native emotionally. You would look to the 12th house for that. All things being equal and taken alone the Moon in Scorpio is just what the books say– In its Fall position. Nothing more nothing less. It speaks to these instinctive habit patterns, not to the natives’ mental or emotional capabilities. Additionally, The Moon placed in Scorpio is not the same thing as the Sun in Scorpio. Each planet has a specific role to play in the drama of a natal chart, and these roles will all react differently in signs—for good or not
