the scorpio eclipse for writers

Some quick housekeeping: 

Registration for How to Write a Book Proposal closes tomorrow. Class starts this Sunday. This is the last time I will teach this course this year. Hope to see you there.

I have (finally!) sectioned off all of the Author Interviews for easier browsing and re-reading! The archive is so rich — great reading for creative input and R&R during an eclipse weekend. 

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If these last two weeks have been hard, a casual reminder that we’ve been in eclipse season, with Mercury Retrograde on top of it. AKA: a prime opportunity for life to go sideways and otherwise.

Today’s penumbral lunar eclipse is at 15* of Scorpio at 1:34pm Eastern. A south node eclipse, this energy is all about what we are releasing, what we are purging. In the fixed sign of watery Scorpio, we are quite literally draining the well, rinsing out all the muck that has collected at the bottom. 

As anyone who has ever had to drain a well, or been involved in lake cleanup, knows, draining or even caretaking purportedly “still” bodies of water requires a lot of preparation, gear and equipment, and patience. It takes time. But eclipses are anything but patient: they are a sudden vortex that will get the job done with little regard for the structures that have gone into the planning. 

And this is a story everyone wants a piece of. Rebellious, disruptive Uranus is involved in the eclipse, too, butting their way into story, insisting on dare deviling and making a scene. Mercury is also still retrograde during this time, so we aren’t necessarily communicating or thinking about what is being released clearly. Are we giving, or being given, the right directions to the right well? 

It’s easy to feel panicked on days like today — about money, about strikes and exploitative industries, about lives being lost, about an ongoing pandemic, about what’s happening to marginalized people in this country, about so very many things. But that makes it even more important to slow down. To remember that very little, probably, is going to immediately change in our surrounding environment by the end of business day on a Friday. That focusing on creative and self-care inputs, rather than holding ourselves to stringent and exacting standards of output is the far more kind and generous thing to do. 

Now is not the time to focus on high word counts and knocking out deadlines. Now is the time to remember that many things count as writing, and that it’s all grist for the mill.

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Writing Prompts for the Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

• How are you feeling in your body today? Sit with yourself for a moment. Notice any tension. Any frustration. Anxiety. Pain. Heaviness. Or even gratitude. Joy. Peace. Fullness from a meal. Tingling taste buds from your favorite morning beverages. The moon, at the end of the day, is the body. In these last few eclipse weeks, what has your relationship with your body been like? 

• This is the last eclipse in Scorpio — others came on May 15 and October 25th (the day Heretic came out). What happened for you on/around those days? Are there themes, events, birthdays/anniversaries, travel, project deadlines, or other such things that you notice when you look at your calendar? 

• Your rising sign will tell you more about what area of life this eclipse is impacting. How are you feeling about this area of life lately? Are you writing about it, thinking about it, doing work (personal, professional, or otherwise) related to it? How does this land for you?

  • Scorpio rising: self-expression, identity, appearance, persona, your style of showing up in the world

  • Sagittarius rising: the subconscious & our personal connection with the unseen world; what we are slowly integrating into our consciousness; ancestral legacy

  • Capricorn rising: friendships; community commitments; professional networks; the internet; hopes and dreams

  • Aquarius rising: career & legacy; professional and public roles

  • Pisces rising: teaching & learning within the wisdom pathways (philosophy, religion, spirituality, and astrology); beliefs; long-term plans and ideas; publishing; travel

  • Aries rising: collaborations with others; debts, taxes, inheritance, alimony, child support, and other such arrangements; grief and loss; mental health

  • Taurus rising: committed partnerships (whether romantic or business; also, agents, long-time editors, and co-writers)

  • Gemini rising: daily work life; health & wellness; how work impacts the body; pets

  • Cancer rising: your creative and erotic energy; important children in your life

  • Leo rising: home; relationships with caregivers, parents, and grandparents; roots and cultural heritage

  • Virgo rising: your daily rituals and routines; communication; K-12 education; siblings and close friends; local neighborhoods

  • Libra rising: your budget and personal finances; how you spend and how you save

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