Nature

Like many of the astrology signs, scorpio alludes to the natural world. As with real scorpions, the zodiac symbol suggests the possibility of death but it is not a foregone conclusion. Instead, scorpio has come to represent struggle and resistance, dynamic change, and sometimes also endurance and the triumph of life. The brightest star in the constellation of Scorpio is Antares, a binary star system whose main component is a red supergiant. If fact, Antares is originally from the Greek meaning 'simulating Mars' for its red color. Likewise, the planetary ruler of this sign is the red planet itself, named after the Roman god of war, Mars, who the Greeks called Ares. Ironically, the positive symbolism of the scorpion is likely derived from the negative. Leave it to the ancient Egyptians to mold symbolic meaning in a unique way.

Along the Nile

A magical papyrus in the Turin Museum reads "It is not I who utter it, it is not I who repeat it; it is Selket who utters it, it is she who repeats it." Although most people are familiar with the Egyptian goddess Isis, few are aware of Selket. Not only did she give magicians and physicians their healing powers but she also offered protection during childbirth and nursing. In fact, one of her best known manifestations is as one of the four protecting goddesses who surrounded the shrine that contained Tutankhamun's sarcophagus. Which of the four statues is she? She is the one wearing the scorpion on her head. She was believed to command the scorpions poison, using it in reverse for good therapeutic effect. As suggested by her presence in the tomb, her divine role also included funerary duties. "These four goddesses shall be with you, accompanying you, driving out every evil that is in your flesh, exterminating those who come against you and setting their magic spells against them."

It's All Greek

However, our modern western tradition of seeing a scorpion in the night sky as a constellation built around Antares comes from the ancient Greeks and their myths of Orion. Big and handsome, according to one version, and the son of the god Poseidon, Orion was a skilled hunter. When he journeyed to Crete and joined up with the goddess Artemis, the ultimate maiden of the hunt, and her mother Leto, their combined hunting prowess threatened to wipe out all the animals on earth. It was thus left to Gaia, the earth goddess, to stop them. She sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion and it eventually did just that, stinging him as he tried to escape.

Heavenly

Even today, as the constellation of Orion travels across the night sky, Scorpio chases him. As Scorpio rises in the east, Orion dutifully yields and sets in the west. A symbol of danger and also of strength, scorpio is fundamentally the sign of change, whether that change is in the seasons, the struggle of life and death, or the rotation of the stars.