Forgiving Truth: Mars conjunct Mercury in Scorpio
- Jeremy Scott Ballard
- Oct 14
- 9 min read
And Hermes led the old man to Achilles’ shelter,
unseen by all the guards.
He came and stood behind him,
and touched his shoulder lightly, and spoke:
‘Now, old man, I am Hermes, sent by Zeus himself
to be your guide. I will go no further. . .
. . . (Achilles said) Poor man, how much you have suffered.
How many things you’ve dared to come here alone
to the ships of the Achaeans,
to face the man who has killed so many of your brave sons.
But come, sit down, let our sorrows lie quiet now,
no matter how much we hurt —
there is no profit in cold grief.
The gods have woven pain into mortal lives,
while they themselves are free from care. . .
. . . So they slept, one by the other —
Priam and the horseman Achilles,
each resting at last from grief.
And Hermes, the Guide, the Giant-killer,
was not forgetful of them,
but kept watch until Priam woke again.
— The Iliad
On October 13, Venus moved into its home sign of Libra and opposed Neptune as it inches back into Pisces on October 22, the day after the Libra New Moon.
Between now and then, there’s a strong possibility of potent tension to arise — potentially ending with an important pivot — as energies cluster and thread through themes of identity, relating, wounding, revelation, healing, and karmic release.
Here’s a brief overview before getting into more detail on how these energies might move together and show up in our lives:
On October 17, The Sun at 24 Libra will oppose Chiron retrograde at 24 Aries. Both also square Jupiter at 24 Cancer, magnifying the emotional stakes and deepening the need for protection and belonging as Jupiter begins slowing toward its retrograde station on November 11.
All rulerships of this T-square are very dignified: Venus is at home in Libra; Mars is at home in Scorpio; and Jupiter is exalted in Cancer. This eases things considerably and should help whatever challenges arise to end with the most possible positive outcomes overall.
Mars, host to Chiron in Aries, and Mercury are also conjoining in Scorpio, sharpening sensitivity, perception, communication, and channeling deeper truths. They are in orb as of October 14. Both are trine the North Node at 17 Pisces — a reminder that compassion, release and emotional intelligence signal the way forward through this tension.
Inner and outer wounds could surface for possible reconciliation around this time, Healing confrontations are possible now, but they can lead us into deeper relational truth, the re-negotiation of boundaries, restored empathy, and the initiation of new relationship styles or patterns.
This window of time is a preparatory stretch before the Libra New Moon on October 21, which will begin a new relational cycle.
What unfolds during this period helps clear the air before those new intentions take shape in the wake of whatever’s come to light around October 20, when Mercury and Mars conjoin in Scorpio and a knife appears in the water.
Sun in Libra opposite Chiron in Aries
On the most basic level, the Sun’s movement through Libra brings attention to balance and proportion in relationships, while its opposition to Aries exposes friction or open confrontation between keeping the peace and raw self-assertion.
The Sun in Libra, ruled and colored by its ruler Venus, also in Libra, highlights partnerships and the ongoing work of maintaining equilibrium through diplomacy, aesthetic engagement with others, giving and receiving.
Co-present now with Venus in domicile, the Sun operates even more through this lens of relational awareness between Self and Other: how to balance personal identity with the needs of others, how to sustain connection without self-erasure.
This intensifies the Venusian/Libran polarity of the opposition: what and how we love; what and how we negotiate; what and how we seek from others; who and what we bring into relationship and partnership.
With an Aries/Libra opposition, one side seeks harmony, the other insists on authenticity at any cost. The question eventually arises as to whether or not we can be cooperative and supportive without compromising self-respect or personal integrity.
Aries pushes back against Libran accommodation and brings into sharp relief inner wounds around assertion, identity, selfhood, and the courage to be oneself. This opposition suggests relational needs might be tested by the personal wounds we carry.
Chiron in Aries could bring up old memories and feelings about being disallowed, inadequate, not permitted to “be strong,” or fears of aggression and rejection —where we’ve been discouraged from asserting needs or punished for standing alone. Old frustrations about not being allowed to lead, initiate, or claim space may reemerge.
On the other hand, wounds could resurface in regard to how we’ve harmed ourselves by being too strong, too impulsive, too tough, too quick to anger, too selfish; forcing some to realize the fine line between independence and isolation, and perhaps exposing where identity has been shaped by reactivity rather than our conscious choices.
With the Sun opposite Chiron, these themes play out in visible, interpersonal ways.
Encounters during this time may mirror back the difference between peacekeeping and passivity. What hurts now points directly to where confidence or agency must be rebuilt.
How can we maintain harmony, peace, balance without sacrificing our inner fire? What tends to weigh more: our need to assert and claim, or our need for grace, ease and cooperation?
These themes are relational but not limited to partnerships. They affect any area involving self-definition and cooperation—family, creative collaborations, leadership roles, and the general way we engage with others. This is a time to notice when and where we feel defensive or unseen; to choose when to speak instead of being compelled to react; to be direct and compassionate; to avoid the impulse to score points or undercut others.
Venus is crucial now, yet it makes no aspects until the Moon crosses over it just before the new moon. It mediates how we love, how we seek agreement, how we compromise — yet, around this time, compromise could feel like a betrayal to Chiron’s pain.
Cardinal T-Square: Sun, Chiron Rx, Jupiter
Jupiter in Cancer adds both opportunity and distortion.
Square the Sun in Libra and Chiron in Aries, it magnifies and challenges the Aries/Libra polarity through the lens of our emotional need for safety, security, familiarity, nurturance, belonging, protection, care and deep comfort.
For some, these Cancer themes could be at the root of an Aries’s wound and become triggered by Jupiter’s square. Pain points centered on family or ancestral patterns or abuses; distant, abrasive mother figures; feeling unable to belong or get needs met; neglect or emotional abandonment; or perhaps being forced to take care of ourselves or others as a child before we even knew who we were.
Jupiter expands and amplifies whatever it touches, for better or worse, and challenges Chiron to not overindulge or over-identify with its own pain to the point it harms others or keeps us from fostering connection.
On the other end, Jupiter square Libra challenges the Sun to not over-inflate relationships to unrealistic heights or become self-inflated because of them. We might overextend our generosity at the expense of our own security or smother those we care about on some level.
Positively, Jupiter encourages generosity, emotional openness, and a willingness to understand others’ feelings. Our connections could feel larger than life someway now, filled with joy and purpose. Big love that feels too good to be true is possible. We could simply feel happier, more secure, more at peace.
Negatively, it can lead to over-giving, emotional indulgence, or dramatic displays of co-dependence. The urge to quickly take a relationship to the next level could prove too much too soon. We might try to fix others’ discomfort as a way to avoid our own, or look for reassurance in familiar emotional patterns rather than face what’s new. We could over-idealize or over-spiritualize someone now if not careful.
Are we idealizing others or overextending our emotional generosity? Is our emotional conditioning harming our ability to feel secure or loved?
Jupiter challenges us to expand the heart without losing boundaries. It challenges us to avoid looking to another to save or heal us, and instead expand into the depths of ourselves, find the source of our pain, and then, uproot it for good.
Because Jupiter also rules the North Node in Pisces, its significance extends beyond the T-square. It’s not just a side tension. It’s directly tied to the on-going eclipses across the Pisces/Virgo axis. It describes a longer term learning curve in regard to emotional maturity, universal awareness, compassion, and the ability to let go without fear.
Mars conjunct Mercury in Scorpio
Mars is in Scorpio almost exactly conjunct Mercury. This adds an element depth and precision to Chiron in Aries, powerfully resourced by Mars.
Mars in Scorpio can give Chiron’s process patience, depth, and the ability to face pain with intention instead of reflex. Mars here knows how to seem calm and stay in the room when things get uncomfortable. That endurance allows Chiron’s lessons to take hold. We’re less likely to lash out, and, instead, investigate.
Aries wants resolution, but Scorpio knows that true healing begins only when everything that hides in the dark is exposed — the rage, the fear, the shame, the grief, and any urge toward self-destruction. Confrontation turns inward. We can ask ourselves how much of our own aggression has been misdirected toward the parts of ourselves we might not be able to accept.
There’s an invitation to understand anger not as an eruptive and dangerous force, but as information about our inner state. It’s possible we begin to trace our threads of reactivity back to their origin, perhaps the first time our actions felt dangerous, or desire felt punishable.
With the help of Mercury, inner investigations can gain vocabulary. Our awareness should sharpen. It could become much easier to name the emotion now.
Until Mercury conjoins Mars in Scorpio on October 20, the mind is trying to integrate what the body already knows.
This conjunction is the inevitable conversation, the knife in the water. Not everyone will use this clarity kindly. Mercury in Scorpio guides the hidden out of darkness and into awareness.
On that day, something will be said, texted, done, or presented, and then acutely understood. Yet . . .
Mars/Mercury trine the North Node in Pisces provides an easily accessible torrent of compassion and understanding that helps soften the Mars/Mercury blade and relates the events leading up the Libra New Moon to the recent eclipses.
This trine suggests no matter what was said, done, revealed, or overheard, there is still space left for forgiveness, even if the future has been changed forever by what is now crystal clear.
Mars and Mercury in Scorpio are in alignment with the Piscean impulse to heal and release. New insight and clarity about the nature of our vulnerabilities can transform pain from the past into awareness and the courage to forgive each other, and especially ourselves.
*
This entire configuration acts as a prelude to the Libra New Moon on October 21.
What unfolds between the 13th and 21st brings the relational and emotional themes that will define the next lunar cycle into focus. Libra’s New Moon always asks for a recalibration between self and other, but this year’s setup ensures that the negotiation runs deep.
The Sun opposite Chiron ensures the awareness of wounds is clear. Jupiter ensures we feel them fully. Mars and Mercury ensure we speak them truly. The North Node ensures the experience contributes to our personal evolution rather than becoming another repetition of the same pain.
We can think of this period as a clearing process—one that may involve heightened emotion, challenging conversations, or the surfacing of truths long postponed.
By the New Moon, the emotional field is more transparent, even if raw. The air is clearing.
The week leading up to it could feel emotionally saturated or psychologically dense, but the tension serves a purpose. The new moon invites renewal—new terms of engagement, clearer boundaries, and more conscious definitions of fairness.
If the preceding days were spent acknowledging hurt and addressing imbalance, the Libra New Moon can mark the beginning of more sustainable relational dynamics. It’s a point where awareness can help rebuild trust.
This transit is not only about healing relationships but about strengthening the individual identities within them as well.
By holding these threads together, this configuration becomes a lesson on how balance truly works in works in our lives. It doesn’t have to be perfect symmetry, or even agreement. It’s a living, ongoing call and response. And, sooner or later, it’s always restored.
The manifestations are endless, but here are a few things to be aware and avoid if possible:
Seeking peace through avoidance, suppressing individuality to maintain image or approval. Reacting impulsively, defining identity solely through opposition or defiance. Over-nurturing, emotional dependency, or using care and attention as control. Manipulative speech, withholding information, or fixating on past grievances. Using our wounding as a weapon.
Instead, we can redirect energy toward awareness rather than reaction. The goal isn’t perfection, but consciousness—seeing the pattern as it emerges and choosing differently.
With Neptune moving back into Pisces the day after the Libra New Moon, we have a few months to reflect and hopefully realize that the lessons we could learn now about balance, grace, generosity, self-assertion, and our most raw vulnerabilities, can help prepare us for early 2026.
This is when Aries energy becomes very prominent and our inner awareness and ability to recognize where our anger or pain truly springs from will be extremely valuable when we need navigate conflict. It could mean the difference between complete destruction and conscious construction.
Where have we suppressed or compromised our own strength to keep harmony or be loved? Where have we overextended, idealized, or expected emotional safety from flawed human beings? What is the deeper story behind our fear to claim space or say no? What deeper truths are we hiding out of shame, guilt, or denial? How can we use our insights and words to heal, rather than fuel more strife?
*
This is a general forecast. If you'd like to learn how upcoming transits might affect you, please consider booking a reading.
I want to acknowledge astrologer Christopher Renstrom because we seemingly, and uncannily, had the same idea to use the scene I quote from Homer's Iliad. In his October forecast on YouTube, however, he uses the scene instead to help describe the Mars, Jupiter, Saturn grand water trine in late October.
