Happy Birthday Scorpio!

Congratulations, you were born under the influence of the most fascinating (and misunderstood) of all the signs. Scorpios are said to be passionate yet controlled, sexy, secretive, vengeful and strong-willed. I once heard a Scorpio woman say, “I don’t hold a grudge once I get even!”

Is Scorpio’s reputation justified?

Well, yes and no. In astrology, the sun sign is never the whole story. The other planets and Rising Sign or Ascendant (the sign ruling the first house of your individual chart) will modify the influence of your sun sign. I used to say that for an Aries, I was a pretty typical Scorpio. Then I found out that I had Scorpio Rising!

Scorpio is the eighth sign of the Zodiac and is represented by the Scorpion, a creature whose sting can paralyze its victims. Astrologers also list the eagle and the gray lizard as symbols of Scorpio. The eagle represents the noble side of this complex sign.

Originally Scorpio was ruled by Mars, the planet named for the Roman god of war. Though modern astrologers now say Pluto rules Scorpio, it’s true that a number of famous warriors were born under the sign, including General George Patton and his chief rival in North Africa, Feld Marshal Erwin Rommel, not to mention Churchill’s nemesis, General (later president of France) Charles de Gaulle. (Of course, astronomers now say Pluto isn’t really a planet, but astrologers disagree.)

The eighth house of the chart rules sex, among other things, and there’s no denying the sexual aura of some Scorpios. Welsh actor Richard Burton was a Scorpio with a mesmerizing screen presence. It was partly his marvelous speaking voice, but there was something about his eyes that drew your attention. My mother was crazy about him, despite his personal problems with womanizing and alcoholism. She called him “a fascinating devil” and I havd to agree.

Scorpio is a fixed water sign, and as my maternal grandmother used to say, “Still waters run deep and the devil’s at the bottom”. Fixed water can mean a calm pool or an iceberg. Scorpio Grace Kelly always seemed cool and composed, regardless of circumstances. And speaking of sexual aura, Grace had it in spades. Other self-contained Scorpios, like Senator Hillary Clinton, are sometimes accused of being cold when they don’t open up easily to strangers. Marie Antionette, of “let them eat cake” fame, was a Scorpio.

Did I mention that Scorpios don’t trust easily, and once their trust is betrayed, they find it hard to forgive? Scorpio’s prayer is: Forgive our trespassers, even if the bastards don’t deserve it.

I grew up with two Scorpios, my dad and his mother, who occupied the lower floor of our duplex. Their birth dates were a week apart, and being Scorpio, they both wanted to be in charge. Living in the same house meant a constant power struggle between them, with my poor Taurus mom caught in the middle, playing peacemaker. Not that Grandma was overt in her attempts to control my dad. That wasn’t her style. My mother often described her as “the iron fist in the velvet glove”. An Aries like me may go at things full tilt and damn the torpedoes, but Scorpio usually takes a more subtle approach.

When I was little, my dad decided to make wine in the basement, which horrified my grandmother, who was a member of the WCTU. “What will my friends say?” she asked my mother. “Can’t you do something?” My mother just shrugged and said, “Have you ever been able to stop him when he’s made up his mind to do something?” LOL, Grandma said no, but that wasn’t exactly true. There were times when she was able to exert control. Like I said, a constant power struggle. It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other. They were just too much alike to live together comfortably.

When it comes to compatibility, conventional astrological wisdom says that the best choices for Scorpio are the other water signs, Cancer and Pisces, and the earth signs of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. It’s interesting the Scorpio Prince Charles married two women born under the sign of Cancer. (Yes, believe it or not, Princess Diana and Camilla Parker-Bowles shared the same sun sign.) Fire and air signs are considered astrologically incompatible with water signs, which may help to explain a little about the marriage between Scorpio Hillary Clinton and her Leo husband. In addition, Leo and Scorpio are in a natural “square” (90 degree) aspect, a classic sign of conflict. But we romance authors believe love conquers all, and their marriage has certainly endured more tests than most.

Famous Scorpios include Prince Charles of England, Christopher Columbus, US President Theodore Roosevelt, Newsman Dan Rather, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, writer Shere Hite, scientist Marie Curie, actresses Sally Field, Katherine Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, Vivien Leigh, Bo Derek and Demi Moore, authors Sylvia Plath and Voltaire, director Martin Scorcese, Bill Gates, Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Robert Kennedy. Celebrity Scorpios include Drake, Emma Stone, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, chef Gordon Ramsay, Owen Wilson, Mark Ruffalo, Jimmy Kimmel, San Waterston, Ryan Gosling, Shailene Woodley, and two of my favorite sexy actors, Eric Dane and Gerard Butler. Wow, that’s a long list!

For more on the sign, go to http://zodiac-signs-astrology.com/zodiac-signs/scorpio.htm.

So what’s your sun sign? Any Scorpios out there?

Linda