♏ | Scorpio

♏ (Scorpio) is the eighth astrological sign in the Western zodiac. Just like the Cancer and Pisces, it is a water sign. Traditionally ruled by (the real planet) Mars, its modern ruler is (the dwarf planet) Pluto. The Sun is in this sign between 23 October and 22 November.

The symbol ♏ looks very much like that of Virgo, ♍, but its origin is much more obscure. The only thing we can be reasonably sure of is that the arrow attached to the “letter m” is related to a scorpion’s stinger. Juan Eduardo Cirlot wrote in his Dictionary of Symbols:

It corresponds to that period of the span of man’s life which lies under the threat of death (that is, the ‘fall’). It is also related with the sexual function. <...> In the symbolism of megaliths it is the antithesis of the bee whose honey succours Man. Finally, its symbolism is equivalent to that of the hangman.

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♇ | Pluto

♇ and ⯓ are the astronomical and astrological symbols representing Pluto. This celestial body was named after Pluto (Πλούτων), the Greek and Roman god of the underworld, whose earlier Greek name was Hades (ᾍδης).

Pluto is not a classical planet and was unknown to alchemists. It was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh after almost a year of systematic search for trans-Neptunian “Planet X” predicted by Percival Lowell and William Pickering. Pluto was enjoying the status of planet until 2006 when it was reclassified (or “plutoed”) as a dwarf planet by International Astronomical Union (IAU).

The astronomical symbol for Pluto, ♇, which looks like a flipped and flopped Cyrillic letter Б, is a monogram of the letters “P” and “L” which could be interpreted as the initials of Percival Lowell or “Pickering—Lowell”.

The astrological symbol for Pluto, ⯓, is more in line with other planetary symbols. According to Wikipedia, the circle represents Pluto’s Cap of Invisibility and the arc under the circle represents bident (not to be confused with bidet). Also, it could be thought of as a symbol of Mercury, ☿, with circle and arc swapped. I like this latter symbol more because it looks like a flower.

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