Scorpio

Scorpio is the eighth sign of the tropical zodiac, the thirty degrees that the Sun crosses in the middle of northern autumn. Astrologers class it as a water sign of fixed modality. It has two rulers in the tradition: Mars, its ruler in classical astrology, and Pluto, which modern astrologers assigned to it after its discovery. Its emblem is the scorpion.

This page is for people born with the Sun in Scorpio and for anyone who has heard more about the sign's reputation than about the sign itself. The astronomy is stated as fact, with times that can be checked against an ephemeris, and the temperament as what astrologers have traditionally said.

The sky

In 2026 the Sun enters Scorpio on 23 October 2026 at 09:38 UTC and leaves on 22 November 2026 at 07:23 UTC. A year earlier the entry came on 23 October 2025 at 03:51 UTC, which in Los Angeles was still the evening of 22 October. The cusp drifts a few hours later each year and jumps back after a leap day, so printed boundary dates are approximations.

As a tropical sign, Scorpio is defined by the seasons, not by the constellation Scorpius. Precession, a slow wobble of Earth's axis, has shifted the constellations about 24 degrees against the seasons since the zodiac was fixed, so the two no longer match. In the tradition, Scorpio has two rulers, Mars and Pluto. Pluto, the slow one, stays in Aquarius from 2025 through 2030 and turns retrograde for a little over five months each year. Mars, much faster, returns to Scorpio for about six weeks in September and October 2027.

Character

Astrologers describe Scorpio as a sign of strong feeling kept mostly out of sight. In this picture you take in a great deal about the people around you and give away much less about yourself. When a train is late, you are unlikely to join the grumbling on the platform. Instead you work out which member of staff actually knows what is happening and ask that person directly.

The tradition credits Scorpio with persistence. As a fixed sign you are said to stay with a problem or a grievance long after others have let it go, which makes you a good ally and a slow forgiver. You tend to receive a compliment politely and then wonder what it was for. Faced with a blank page, you are more likely to begin with the hardest thing you have to say than with a pleasant opening.

Astrologers link Scorpio to the eighth house of the chart, which covers shared money and death, and they read the sign as unafraid of subjects other people avoid. You may be the friend who gets the call when someone has died or a marriage has ended, because you do not flinch and do not gossip. The shadow side, in the tradition's account, is control: broken trust is rarely given back in full, and you may test people before letting them close.

In love

In love the tradition describes Scorpio as all or nothing. You are said to be slow to commit and very hard to shake once you have, and to prefer one person known deeply to a wide circle known slightly. Astrologers also give the sign a frankness about desire, which often shows less as display than as close attention: you remember exactly what a partner said on a bad day three years ago.

The difficulty in this picture is jealousy and the testing that comes with it. A partner who is vague about where they were may find the question asked more than once. Astrologers advise Scorpio to say plainly what is needed rather than waiting to see whether it will be offered, and they expect the strongest relationships to be those in which both people keep few secrets from each other.

At work

At work astrologers picture Scorpio where depth and discretion count for more than speed: research, investigation, finance, psychology, crisis work and any role that involves confidential information. You are said to be at your best when something has gone badly wrong and someone needs to find out why, and you are usually the colleague who reads a contract to the last clause.

The tradition is candid about the risks. You may treat information as leverage and keep your plans to yourself until they are finished, which colleagues can read as secrecy. Power struggles with a manager are the classic Scorpio difficulty in this account, and they tend to be quiet and long rather than loud and brief. Astrologers expect Scorpio to do best under a manager who explains decisions openly, because secrecy from above tends to invite it from below.

The body

Scorpio's traditional body rulership is the reproductive organs. The idea is old: the Roman poet Manilius already wrote that the Scorpion rules the groin, in a scheme that runs from Aries at the head to Pisces at the feet. Astrologers connect the assignment with the sign's themes of intimacy and renewal, and with its link to the eighth house. It is symbolism and says nothing about anyone's health.

With other signs

Scorpio and Taurus. Taurus is Scorpio's opposite sign, and both are fixed, so astrologers expect a strong pull and a long standoff whenever they disagree. Taurus wants comfort and simplicity while Scorpio wants depth, and each can find the other's priority shallow or exhausting. When the pair works, it tends to be steady and very private.

Scorpio and Pisces. Pisces shares Scorpio's element, and the tradition counts it among the easiest matches. Both read feelings before words, and the Piscean readiness to forgive can soften Scorpio's long memory for wrongs. The risk astrologers name is a closed world of two with few outside friends.

Scorpio and Aquarius. Aquarius stands at a square to Scorpio, and both are fixed signs with firm views. Scorpio wants one deep bond, while Aquarius values a wide circle and some distance even from the people it loves. Astrologers see the pairing as hard work, though honest arguments between the two can be unusually productive.

The myth

The constellation's best-known story is the death of Orion, which exists in several versions. In the one handed down under the name of the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, Orion was hunting on Crete with Artemis and her mother Leto when he boasted that he would kill every animal on earth. Earth, angered by the threat to her creatures, sent up a giant scorpion, which stung him to death.

At the request of Artemis and Leto, Zeus set Orion among the stars for his courage, and the scorpion too, as a reminder. The poet Aratus tells it differently: Artemis herself raised the scorpion after Orion laid hands on her. In the real sky the two stand on opposite sides, so Orion sets in the west as Scorpius rises in the east, and the hunter is never high in the sky together with the animal that killed him. Babylonian astronomers already called these stars the Scorpion.

The constellation

Scorpius looks like its name, with a long curved tail of bright stars ending in a pair known as the stinger. Its brightest star, Antares, is a red supergiant that marks the scorpion's heart, and its name means rival of Ares because its color resembles that of Mars. From mid-northern latitudes Scorpius is best seen on July evenings, low in the south, and from northern Europe the tip of the tail barely clears the horizon, if at all.

Questions people ask

What are the Scorpio dates?

They change by about a day with the year and the time zone. In 2026 the Sun is in Scorpio from 23 October 2026 at 09:38 UTC to 22 November 2026 at 07:23 UTC, and in 2027 from 23 October 2027 at 15:33 UTC to 22 November 2027 at 13:16 UTC.

What is the Scorpio ruling planet?

Scorpio has two rulers in the tradition. Classical astrology gives it Mars, which also rules Aries, and many modern astrologers add Pluto as a second, modern ruler. Astrologers who use both read Mars as the sign's drive and Pluto as its interest in what is hidden.

What element is Scorpio?

Scorpio is a water sign, together with Cancer and Pisces. It is also a fixed sign, and the tradition reads fixed water as strong feeling that changes slowly, which is why Scorpio is described as the most private of the water signs.

Which signs are most compatible with Scorpio?

The tradition names the other water signs, Cancer and Pisces, as the easiest matches, and Virgo and Capricorn as good ones because they sit two signs away. Leo and Aquarius, which are square to Scorpio, are read as the more difficult pairings, and Taurus, the opposite sign, as a strong attraction between different priorities.

Am I a Scorpio if I was born on 22 November?

Only if the birth came early enough, and in some years not at all. In 2026 the Sun left Scorpio on 22 November 2026 at 07:23 UTC, so births later that day in UTC belong to Sagittarius, and in 2028 it leaves even earlier, on 21 November 2028 at 18:54 UTC.