English version - Promenade à deux

A bonfire ignites the valley.                                                  Pass suddenly along the hillsides

A dance shakes all the earth.                                                 To lose themselves in darkness.

Shadows vague and shapeless                                             Whose is the dance the night has

Roaming the valley in black flashes                                                                 filled with terror?

                                                                                                                          (FernandoPessoa,       

                                                                                                                    English version available )

The scorpion promises transformation. In ancient Egypt, Selkhet is the lady of the underworld and rebirth of the soul. Her symbol is the scorpion, being represented as a woman with a scorpion on her head or as a scorpion with a woman’s head. For the ancient Egyptians, Selkhet was a goddess invoked for protection against bites of venomous animals, usually lethal. Scorpion stings lead to paralysis and Serket’s name describes this, as it means (she who) tightens the throat, however, Serket’s name also can be read as meaning (she who) causes the throat to breathe, because in some species the poison itself is the antidote to its spur. Already, in Greek mythology death of Orion (son of Zeus) was caused by a scorpion. According to legend, Orion was an excellent hunter, with rare beauty and had the predilection of the goddess Artemis, but was beloved by the goddess Aurora. For jealousy, Artemis send a giant scorpion out of the earth and he sting to death the heel of the hunter, who at that time is taken into heaven along with the animal, forming the constellations Orion and Scorpio, which are kept separate to avoid further disputes. Scorpio, with its main red star Antares, appears in the eighth house of the zodiac, and translates, for astrologers, the sign that is associated with the mystical force in the critical processing steps such as reproduction, death and rebirth.

So, the learning path of this powerful animal is not for the faint of heart, because the change that the scorpion promises must be preceded by the death of something: an idea, a relationship or a way of life, for that rebirth can occur.

Thus, Scorpio requires that a person becomes a disciple, or someone who is consciously willing to provide help for the evolution of humanity. And to do that, he has to try his hand: to go as far as possible within yourself, look all their miseries in order to die and be reborn as a Phoenix, fully aware of who he is and what it’s worth. The motto of Scorpio is transpersonal “Warrior I am and from the battle I emerge triumphant.” It is the struggle that will bring results even if the person dies.

Scorpio brings intensity, strength, intelligence and sexuality. He invites us to go deeply and passionately in everything, by accessing our survival instinct. People with the power of scorpions are strong and have the ability to inspire. Scorpio them confers the powers of charisma, rejuvenation, transformation, death and rebirth,  magnetism, passion, intensity, boldness and healing at the all level.

A strong message that the Scorpion has for us is the protection. Their main physical characteristics are natural systems protection. For example, consider the hard exoskeleton of a scorpion as a line of defense. Also consider chelicerae and pedipalps are potentially harmful – not to mention its poisonous sting. Thus, the appearance of the Scorpion seems to say “Do not mess with me.”

Scorpions are almost always solitary, although some species may develop some degree of social behavior. The interaction intraspecific best studied and most complex of the scorpion is the courtship behavior, which was first described in the early nineteenth century and only in the 1950s it was discovered the indirect transfer of sperm. (Sexual needs are very strong in people attuned to the scorpion. However, they usually have period of solitude interspersed with intense and passionate relationships, again the symbol of reproduction, death and rebirth.)

The courtship behavior of scorpions^1,2 can be basically divided into three phases: initiation, promenade à deux (walking to two) and  sperm transfer. In the first, relatively fast, the couple meets, and occurs intraspecific recognition and sexual , only proceeding if the female usually larger than the male, is receptive.

The second part of the process of reproduction can be summarized by the classical ‘promenade deux’2 (Fig. 1) in which the male first approaches the female and then grasps her pedipalp chelae with his own chelae fingers. A form of dance then takes place. During the dance, the male stimulates the female and reduces her aggressiveness leading it in various directions, holding her pedipalps, exploring the environment in search of suitable surface to effect the deposition of the spermatophore. The duration of this phase is directly influenced by the time of search of the deposition site (5 minutes or 48 hours). In the next phase, the male deposits the spermatophore on the substrate chosen and pulls the female, positioning her properly on it. The female genital operculum opens as she stoops over the spermatophore, allowing sperm to enter her reproductive tract and fertilization occurs. In addition to these three phases has been reported post-transfer behavior in some species, such as consumption of the spermatophore and cannibalism. Cannibalism is the post-mating behavior that draws the most attention from researchers and occurs when the female sees the male as prey rather than as a partner. Here, the Scorpio is a clear warning:  control your passions so that they do not consume you.

Therefore, as a power animal, the Scorpion represents protection, passion, control, intensity. When the Scorpion makes an appearance in our lives he calls us for his mystical dance of passion, death and rebirth. We are ready for his walk for two?

Reference

Promenade à deux – Scorpion Tales (2012) for Two Harps. Composed by Robert Paterson, and Duo Scorpio performed by Kathryn Andrews and Kristi Shade

Inserir legenda de vídeo aqui

1. BRASIL, T. K. & PORTO, T. J. 2010. Os escorpiões. Salvador: EDUFBA, 2010.
84 p.

2. LOURENÇO, W. R. 2000. Reproduction in scorpions, with special reference to parthenogenesis. European Arachnology 2000, pp. 71-85.

3. Algumas das informações desse post sobre o totem Escorpião foram derivadas das seguintes fontes: Some of the information on this post about scorpion-totem was derived from the following sources:

Scorpion – A Symbol Meaning of Stinging Importance

Scorpion

Scorpion Totem, Scorpion Medicine

4. All images are Chris Ryan’s Strike Back is a six-part British television series based on the novel of the same name written by best-selling author and former soldier of the Special Air Service, Chris Ryan. It was produced by Left Bank Pictures for Sky1. The cast of Strike Back is led by Richard Armitage, who plays series protagonist John Porter. Porter served with the SAS until he was discharged after he saved a boy who was believed to have murdered two soldiers in his unit following a rescue operation the night before the Iraq invasion.

About these ads