As SCORPIO FIXES us in FALL we descend into the UNDERWORLD, and the days turn to shadows and holidays like Halloween remind us of our darker nature, as we finally accept the DEATH of SUMMER.
SCORPIO is perhaps the most intriguing sign in the zodiac. A sign that deals with death and rebirth, endings and new beginnings, and spiritual growth. It is considered by many astrologers as one of the “most difficult signs to wear”. But along with that difficulty there is a tremendous range as it rules from the PRIVATES to the PINEAL GLAND, and is co-ruled by Mars, the planet of war and Pluto the God of the Underworld. Scorpio is unique. Through merging with life’s work, or in love, Scorpio goes to the extremes and is transformed.
SCORPIO has tremendous personal magnetism, which plays out like a tractor beam, pulling those it wants to influence into it. And certainly, let us not forget that SCORPIO is the sign of sex. They are sexual and they know it. It is part of the air they breath. And with that sexual power comes the predator. They are the FEMININE WARRIOR who sneaks up on you while your not looking or uses SECRECY, PLANNING or SEDUCTION to achieve its goals. And whereas ARIES (THE MASCULINE WARRIOR) is direct and in your face, SCORPIO works in the darkness where you will not see it coming.
SCORPIO is a dominant sign that has a touch of CRUELTY, even in their sexuality. They can achieve a great deal, as they are the most OBSESSIVE sign. It is this that is their best and worst quality as they almost need to be obsessed with something, to achieve anything. But if the thing they get obsessed with is negative, it can be quite damaging. This side of SCORPIO is played often in Hollywood movies.
In film, SCORPIO is one of the most prolific archetypes; more often the BROODING, JEALOUS, POSSESSIVE and OBSESSIVE villain, MANIPULATIVE, and CLANDESTINE, who is so preoccupied that he or she will go to any EXTREME to overcome his or her perceived enemy, or to seek REVENGE.
SCORPIO is the EVIL MASTERMIND, THE WARDEN, and the one working behind the scenes with a secret agenda. The person whose JEALOUSY and OBSESSIVENESS is driving them to the lowest depths of human expression. The sting of the spider.
Perhaps one of the best lines ever filmed to explain the negative side of SCORPIO was uttered by SCORPIO/Wallace Shawn, the EVIL PLANNER/STRATEGIST Vizzini in the classic THE PRINCESS BRIDE — “Never mess with a Sicilian when death is on the line!”, but perhaps the line should have been “Never mess with a SCORPIO when death is on the line”, because the essence is don’t mess with SCORPIO. They won’t forget and they will get their revenge when you’re not looking.
Am I saying that all Scorpios are like this or even the actors who are playing them? No. We’re talking about the capacity to understand the negative aspects of their sign, as we all should. And SCORPIO, at those extreme edges, is dangerous. But as stated SCORPIO can rise to be one if not the most spiritual sign, as Pluto is the farthest out planet and the farther out the more spiritual capacity.
Unfortunately Hollywood makes very few movies that have anything with enlightenment. So we are left with the darker side.
Here are some blinding clear examples
In GLADIATOR, SCORPIO/Joaquin Phoenix as Commondus is so consumed with JEALOUSY that he kills his own father, after being sidestepped for the throne. His LUST for power sets into motion a series of hideous, CLANDESTINE events that put him in direct conflict with MASCULINE leader (Maximus) ARIES/Russell Crowe, or the FEMININE WARRIOR battles the MASCULINE WARRIOR — a dialectical archetype that we will many many times.
In a great deal of Joaquin Phoenix films, he is practically a poster child for SCORPIO. As the Joker we find him as the DARK, inappropriate STALKER, who comes across as A NICE GUY, but UNDERNEATH he lives with a BUILDING RAGE and INTENSITY that eventually BOILS OVER until he becomes something of a VIGILANTE in a SUBWAY that is akin to SCORPIO/Charles Bronson’s DEATHWISH. And when he emerges he has found his true self. He is TRANSFORMED. As Batmen was co-created by SCORPIO/Bob Kane, we find this essence in fabric of the stories and villains that pervades the BATMAN SERIES. The franchise is clearly represented the BLACK AND RED, colors of SCORPIO, which we also find in Spider-Man which was originally penned by CAPRICORN/Stan Lee and SCORPIO/Steve Ditko and also in DEADPOOL that starred SCORPIO/Ryan Reynolds, just to name a few.
We find the same GLADIATOR astro-conflict in A KNIGHTS TALE between between ARIES/Heath Ledger and SCORPIO/Rufus Sewell where both sets of characters assume their archetypes. The directness and heroism of ARIES and the WARRIOR of the night, SCORPIO who SCHEMES, TRICKS and PLANS his way to try to achieve victory. SCORPIO is a dangerous adversary.
In THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Warden Norton is played by SCORPIO/Bob Gunton. This is the OVERLORD OF THE UNDERWORLD, who rules with an IRON fist. “I’ll cast you down with the sodomites!” This is another archetype that we see over and over in SCORPIO…The OBSESSIVE CONTROLLER who smiles while he stings you with his blade, knife or POISONS you. Norton is a SADIST who when he throws Andy into solitary (THE UNDERWORLD), he is throwing him into hell. Here, Gunton as the devil, has tried to lure Andy and pushed him into the dessert of darkness where he must confront himself. And when he emerges he has changed and found redempion. He is about to be RESURRECTED as SCORPIO is the sign of REGENERATION, even when it’s persuasive methods seem cruel on the outside, they push us toward the light.
Another interesting thing about SCORPIO here, is that both the Warden (Bob Gunton) and the man who got Andy there in the first place are both SCORPIO. The one who really killed his wife, the SADISTIC Elmo Blatch is also played by a SCORPIO/Bill Bolender who was born on November 14th while Gunton was born on the 15th. So they were born in the order that they affect Andy’s life.
In THE TERMINAL, SCORPIO/Stanley Tucci plays the veritable WARDEN to Tom Hanks, and brings him the TRICKS, DECEPTIONS, and MANIPULATIONS of the negative side of the sign.
In THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK SCORPIO/Leonardo DiCaprio plays both sides of SCORPIO — The virtual WARDEN that is so OBSESSED and CRUEL that he imprisons his own twin brother for life to satiate his own DESIRES and the ENLIGHTENED nice guy side of SCORPIO. Note also that is is an IRON mask. The metal of MARS.
Other examples of the SCORPIO OVERLORD are OBSESSED SCORPIO/Manuel Ojeda Zolo and SCORPIO/Danny DeVito in ROMANCING THE STONE, veritable OPPRESSIVE WARDEN /SCORPIO/Richard Burton in 1984.
It took a while for Adam Driver to come around the his dark side, as he previously played the nice guy side of SCORPIO, but in STAR WARS: EPISODE – THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE LAST JEDI, he plays Kylo Ren. Here, he is VENGEFUL, DESTRUCTIVE, CRUEL. RUTHLESS, OBSESSED man who DELIGHTS IN DEATH, KLLING and TORTURE. “What about the villagers?” “Kill them all”. On the other side, the one difference between him as the reboot of Vader in the original STAR WARS (played by CAPRICORN/James Earl Jones), is that Ren clearly has EMOTIONS, and has a strong pull toward LOVE and ROMANCE, where Vader is all business as CAPRICORN would be. Ren still feels the pull of the (Grey Lizard) light side of SCORPIO and has VISIONS, (WATER). So we have the CONTROL SIGN of SATURN (SATAN) being replaced by the CONTROL SIGN of SCORPIO (THE UNDERWORLD), and both have crossed into the BLACK HEMUT of the villain. And in Driver’s case, he even dawns a RED FLAMED SWORD, completing the RED AND BLACK color scheme of SCORPIO.
The Salieri character in AMADEUS is also perfect portrayal of SCORPIO and one of the best ever filmed. Here, we find a man who is so CONSUMED by JEALOUSY, that he becomes OBSESSED with destroying God’s creation in the form of the genius, Mozart. He blasphemes against the creator and goes into a MANIPULATIVE, CLANDESTINE WAR in which he kills the voice of sublime musical artistry in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
No one knows REVENGE like SCORPIO, and SCORPIO/Gerald Butler plays this card like no other sign can. In LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, he becomes a one man wrecking crew who reaps his VENGEANCE on those who destroyed his family, which is very similar to SCORPIO/Charles Bronson in the DEATHWISH series, and both of them them rule the modern UNDERWORLD, with Butler in SUBTERRANEAN passages and Bronson in SUBWAYS. His commitment to REVENGE is a force of great power. We also see this motif PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with his attendant OBSESSIVENESS and DESIRE, as Butler plays the Phantom.
In DOCTOR STRANGE it’s SCORPIO/Mads Michelson who plays the OBSESSED maniac who’s trying to destroy humanity and bring it into the UNDERWORLD. He also portrays the EXTREMES of SCORPIO as he was once on the path to ENLIGHTENMENT, only to fall prey to his DESIRES.
LUCY is also a very good example of playing both sides of SCORPIO as SCORPIO/Scarlet Johannson bridges the gap between the VIGILANTE and and the ENLIGHTENED, as she seemingly starts out on on a VENGEFUL bloodbath of REVENGE, but by the end of the film, she reaches the pinnacle of oneness.
In AVENGERS: ENDGAME, she plays Natasha Romanoff /Black Widow. In other words she’s a SPIDER/ASSASSIN, who as part of the UNDERWORLD, learns her craft in the RED ROOM, or the BLACK WIDOW program, which was a SECRET SPY operation, where she deals with DISGUISE, MANIPULATION, EVASION, HACKING, AND ASSASSINATION.
DEADPOOL isn’t so much an overlord, but as SCORPIO he starts out as VIGILANTE (SCORPIO) of sorts, who doesn’t’t mind HURTING and KILLING PEOPLE, (SCORPIO). In fact he kinds of likes it.
Then after his transition, the film becomes about VENGEANCE and OBSESSION, the hallmarks of SCORPIO. Even his RED and BLACK outfit are the colors of that SCORPIO, and the name of the film suggests SCORPIO…DEAD–POOL. SCORPIO rules DEATH and is a WATER sign. It also rules UNDERWORLD criminals, and ASSASSINS.
I’ve been saying for years that the character Cruella De Ville was a SCORPIO character and finally we have SCORPIO/Emma Stone playing it. I mean look at the name. Here like SCORPIO/Jaoquin Phoenix, she finds her true nature in the middle of the film and her DARK side and an attraction toward REVENGE.
We have just scratched the surface here. Hopefully a list this long could be made on the positive side of SCORPIO. Maybe some day the films will reflect this.
© Ian Boyd 2021 (All Rights Reserved)