A Scorpio New Moon and Two Planets About to Turn Direct

Some new moons feel like a fresh page. This one feels more like turning the lamp down and sitting still for a minute before you write anything. On Monday, November 9, a new moon arrives in Scorpio, at 2:02 a.m. Eastern (1:02 a.m. Central, and 11:02 p.m. Pacific the night before). It comes in the same week that Mercury and Venus both end a retrograde, the stretch when a planet appears to move backward as seen from Earth. That pairing is traditionally read as an invitation to look back before you begin.

A new moon is the moment the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, so it cannot be seen. It is the darkest night of the month and the traditional time for quiet beginnings. A Scorpio new moon asks for the quietest kind. This one also comes with a contrast: the moon is quiet, and the sky around it is loud.

What It Touches for Each Sign

Each sign feels this moon in a different area of life. If you know your rising sign (the sign on the eastern horizon when you were born), read that one. If not, use your Sun sign.

• Aries: Shared money, debts and trust. Be clear about what you owe and are owed.
• Taurus: Your closest partnership, and what each of you keeps private.
• Gemini: Daily routines and work habits. This moon asks for one small change, not an overhaul.
• Cancer: Romance, creativity and play, kept quiet for now.
• Leo: Home and family, and what you carry privately about where you come from.
• Virgo: Conversations and messages. Mercury, the planet linked with Virgo, is retrograde until the 13th, so reread before you send.
• Libra: Money and what you value. Venus, the planet linked with Libra, is retrograde, so the pull is toward what you already have.
• Scorpio: Yourself. The moon is in your own sign, so the intentions are personal and the list is short.
• Sagittarius: Rest and solitude, and what you have been carrying quietly.
• Capricorn: Friends, groups and hopes, and who you trust with a plan.
• Aquarius: Work and reputation. Modest goals in public, honest ones in private.
• Pisces: Beliefs, study and travel, and what you want to learn.

What a Scorpio New Moon Means

A new moon is also a conjunction, which means the Moon and the Sun stand at the same degree of the zodiac. This month that point is almost 17 degrees into Scorpio. Scorpio is a fixed water sign (steady, emotional and private). It is the sign of what is kept out of sight: private feelings, trust, and the things we do not say out loud. Put the Moon, which stands for our feelings, in that sign on the darkest night of the month, and the pull is toward looking inward. The Moon leaves for Sagittarius around 2:30 a.m. Central on the 10th, a little over a day after the new moon.

The two retrogrades matter most this month. Mercury (thinking and messages) is retrograde in Scorpio, and Venus (love and what we value) is retrograde in Libra. Both turn direct, which means moving forward again, on the 13th. A retrograde is read as the past coming back for a second look: old conversations, old feelings, old plans. This new moon comes four days before the turn, a quiet moment to decide what to do with whatever has come back up since early October.

Mercury is also close to a square with Pluto. A square is a tense angle, when two planets sit about 90 degrees apart. Mercury stands for how we think and speak, and Pluto, the planet linked with Scorpio, stands for what lies buried, so the two together point to conversations that drift toward things people usually keep private.

The new moon falls just past the middle of Scorpio season, the month the Sun spends in Scorpio. The Sun reaches the halfway point on November 7, the traditional astrological date for Samhain, the old Celtic festival that marks the turn of the year. Our Scorpio season post covers the first half, and Moon in Scorpio describes what the Moon tends to feel like in this sign on an ordinary day.

The Rest of the Sky Around the New Moon

Mars and Jupiter are drawing together in Leo and meet around November 16, a conjunction like the Sun and Moon at the new moon. Mars stands for drive and Jupiter for growth, so the pair is read as energy and confidence rising together. They are the loud part of the sky around the new moon. Leo is the sign of the heart and of making things where others can see them, so the mood leans toward bold plans, generous gestures and saying yes to more than you planned. At the new moon they are still a couple of degrees apart, but already close enough to feel.

Venus and Mars are also in a sextile, an easy angle where two planets sit about 60 degrees apart and neither works against the other. It reaches its closest point in the early hours of the 10th, about a day after the new moon, and it is read as affection and action working together. Because Venus (love and what we value) is still retrograde, that ease tends to point toward old relationships and old commitments more than new ones.

People traditionally set intentions at a new moon, naming what they want to begin. Even with Mars and Jupiter pushing toward big promises, a Scorpio new moon asks for fewer than most. One or two sentences about a boundary you want to keep, a trust you want to rebuild, or something you want to stop carrying will often do more than a list of ten goals.

What to Begin Now, and What to Wait On

Because Mercury and Venus are still retrograde, this new moon sits between looking back and moving forward. Astrologers usually sort the choices like this.

Begin now: small, private things you can do alone, such as a journal page, a boundary, a budget you want to tidy, or notes for a conversation you have been rehearsing.

Wait until after the 13th: anything that needs other people to agree or is hard to undo, such as signing a contract, sending an important message, launching something public or making a large purchase. Mercury (messages and agreements) turns direct on the 13th, and Venus (money and relationships) turns direct that evening in US time. Many astrologers also wait a few days after the turn before treating a planet as fully back to speed.

Plan for the 16th: Mars and Jupiter meet, so the pull toward big plans and announcements is at its strongest, and by then both retrogrades have ended.

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A Quiet Ritual for the Dark

Scorpio keeps its own counsel, so this is a ritual to do alone and tell no one about. You need one candle (black or deep red both suit this sign), a pen, a small piece of paper and about ten minutes. The evening of the 8th or any time on the 9th works, since astrologers treat the day or two around a new moon as the time to set intentions.

Dim the lights, light the candle and sit for a minute with nothing to do. Then, on one side of the paper, write a single sentence that begins “I am ready to stop carrying…” and on the other side write one that begins “I would like to build…” Fold the paper and keep it somewhere private, such as inside a book, until the full moon on November 24. On that night, read it again, notice what has changed, and tear it up or burn it safely in a fireproof dish. If you would rather keep it shorter, the New Moon Ritual Guide has a thirty-second version.

A Stone and a Card for the Night

The stone traditionally paired with Scorpio is obsidian, a black volcanic glass said to help with seeing a situation clearly and setting boundaries. You can read more in the crystal guide. Keep a piece beside the candle, or hold it while you write the first sentence.

In tarot, Scorpio is traditionally matched with the Death card, number 13 (XIII). The name sounds heavier than the card is. Death is almost always read as an ending and a clearing, the close of one chapter that makes room for the next. If it turns up around this new moon, it points at the question the ritual asks: what is finished, and what comes after it.

Quick Answers

When is the new moon in Scorpio in November 2026? Monday, November 9, at 2:02 a.m. Eastern (1:02 a.m. Central, and 11:02 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, November 8), at almost 17 degrees of Scorpio.

What does a new moon in Scorpio mean? A new moon is the traditional time to begin something. In Scorpio, the sign of what is private, it points toward quiet, honest beginnings: trust, boundaries and what you want to stop carrying.

What should I do on a Scorpio new moon? Choose one or two small intentions, write them down and keep them private. A short candle ritual, like the one above, takes about ten minutes.

Does Mercury retrograde affect this new moon? Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio and turns direct four days later, on the 13th. Astrologers read that as a reason to review before committing, so keep the intentions small and reread any message or agreement before sending it.

After the New Moon

The next two weeks move quickly. Mercury and Venus turn direct on the 13th, the Sun moves into Sagittarius on November 22, and the full moon follows on the 24th in Gemini. The Moon Phase Today page keeps the dates for every night. The sky around the moon stays loud for about another week, and the moon asks for a quiet answer: light the candle, write the two sentences, and let the rest of the month unfold.

Curious where the Moon sits in your own chart? Pull up your birth chart, or see where it is tonight on the Moon Phase Today page.