There’s a reason Halloween occurs in Scorpio season: it is time to face what lurks in the shadows, and Scorpio is the sign most in touch with the “dark side.” This refers not only to the supernatural realm, but also to secrets and scandals. October 31, 2020, will be extra mysterious thanks to the full moon, which only coincides with Halloween every 18–20 years. In addition, the season sees the last mercury retrograde of the year, a phenomenon that often unveils hidden information from the past. We can expect the United States presidential election race to get uglier, with more scandals coming out before the retrograde ends exactly on Election Day, November 3. 

Among all the zodiac signs, Scorpio does not enjoy a good reputation. People born under this sign are often criticized for being demanding, stubborn, manipulative, and vengeful. While they may be all of these at their worst, they are the most powerful sign at their best, for they are born with willpower and tenacity, and they are unstoppable when they set clear intentions. Many revolutionary figures in the art world were born under this sign, including Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Roy Lichtenstein, and René Magritte. 

Scorpios have the emotional capacity to endure and evolve from intense experiences. Park Seo-bo’s early Primordialis (1962) series of double-layered abstract black canvases were a way for the artist to process his feelings of anger and loss following the Korean War (1950–53). In 1966, he resigned from his position as an art professor at Hongik University and locked himself in with books on Eastern philosophy, realizing his need to achieve a state of transcendence and purification. This inspired his iconic Ecriture pencil works, created through the repeated act of drawing strokes on white- or off-white canvases and later on Korean hanji paper. Park compared this process to “the ascetic exercises of a Buddhist priest in reaching the state of nirvana.” This transformative power is at the core of Scorpio energy, which can be likened to that of the phoenix rising from the ashes.

Meanwhile, Wong Ping’s darkly humorous animations—which have helped the Hong Kong artist combat his depression—express Scorpio intensity through bold geometric shapes and fluorescent colors. The motifs of Scorpio’s representative planet, Pluto (named for the Roman god of the underworld), are also highlighted: death, violence, revenge, rebirth, and, of course, sex. Famous for their sexuality, Scorpios are not simply driven by primitive desires; they are more concerned with the intangible experience of soul union during sex. Wong’s seven-minute video Jungle of Desire (2015) illustrates the jealousy of a man whose wife supports the family by prostituting herself to a corrupt policeman. Through this Scorpio-style revenge fantasy, Wong challenges sexual norms and questions the possibility of separating love from sex.

Scorpio’s connection to resolution makes this mercury retrograde especially helpful for ending any careless spending habits and settling your debts. Also be aware that this period calls for the courage to confront and accept the darkness within ourselves and others, before we are revived by the next energy shift when Mars goes direct mid-November.

This article is written for entertainment purposes only.

Pamela Wong is ArtAsiaPacific’s assistant editor.

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