In the early hours of Monday, 9 November 2026, at 04:02 Brasília time (BRT), the Moon meets the Sun in Scorpio. This New Moon is the third anchor of the Samhain season, after 31 October and 7 November, and it arrives with Mercury and Venus still retrograde, just a few days before they station direct. This article explains what the lunation is and proposes a two-stage rite: sow now and speak later.
The article Samhain 2026: Three Dates, Double Retrograde (Venus + Mercury) and the Southern Hemisphere Criterion already includes a mini-rite for this same New Moon, the “quiet seed”, in which the intention for the “witch’s new year” is kept in silence. The rite proposed here can be done after it, using the same intention.
What is the New Moon in Scorpio?
The New Moon is the moment when the Sun and the Moon occupy the same degree of the zodiac, as seen from Earth. The Moon is on the same side as the Sun and does not appear in the night sky. In Esbath tradition, the New Moon is a time of beginnings, of seeds and of intention.
In 2026 the conjunction takes place at 16°53′ Scorpio. In astrology, the sign is associated with what lies beneath the surface: desire, trust, loss, shared resources and transformation. This New Moon is not an eclipse, because the Moon is about 4.9° south of the ecliptic, too far from the Sun’s path. The next eclipses arrive in February 2027.
The astrologer Dane Rudhyar, in The Lunation Cycle, describes the New Moon as the opening of a cycle of relationship between the Sun and the Moon that unfolds until the following New Moon. Demetra George, in Mysteries of the Dark Moon, devotes a book to the dark phase that precedes the waxing moon, treated as a time of withdrawal and renewal.
At the moment of the conjunction, the Sun and the Moon form no major aspect (conjunction, sextile, square, trine or opposition) with any other planet within a 5° orb. The only exact contact is a minor aspect, a sesquiquadrate to Neptune, which is at 1°55′ Aries.
Dates in Brasília time (BRT)
On Saturday, 7 November, at 06:52, the Sun reaches 15° Scorpio. In the Northern Hemisphere, some people mark Samhain by this astronomical point; in the South, the same point corresponds to Beltane. On Monday, 9 November, at 04:02, the New Moon takes place at 16°53′ Scorpio. On Friday, 13 November, Mercury stations direct at 12:54, at 5°02′ Scorpio, and Venus stations direct at 21:27, at 22°52′ Libra. On Tuesday, 24 November, at 11:54, the Full Moon at 2°20′ Gemini marks a good day to check on what was sown. Until around 30 November, Mercury moves through its post-retrograde shadow, retracing the degrees of its backward motion.
Why sow now and launch after 13 November
The New Moon calls for a beginning. In the astrological tradition, Mercury retrograde calls for review before speaking, signing contracts and making announcements. The two fit together when the beginning is kept back for a few days. On the 9th you plant the intention. From Saturday the 14th, with Mercury and Venus already direct, you review it, adjust it and say it out loud.
The wait has a practical function. The articles on Mercury retrograde in Scorpio and Venus retrograde in Scorpio show what these cycles review: speech, agreements, value and bonds. Five days between writing and announcing give you time to check whether the intention still makes sense once the rush has passed.
Scorpio in the Southern spring
In the Southern Hemisphere, November is spring. By the local season, the Wheel of the Year has just passed through Beltane, a festival of fertility and of growing life. Scorpio, for its part, carries images of death and rebirth. One way to bring the two themes together is the image of compost, in which what has rotted becomes fertiliser for what sprouts. That is why the rite uses soil and seed, and it works both for those who celebrate Samhain on 31 October and for those who follow the Southern seasons.
A calendar note: the Sabbats adapt to the local seasons, but planetary retrogrades are the same in both hemispheres; only the time changes according to the time zone.
Ritual tips
You will need a small pot with soil, fast-germinating seeds (basil, rocket or beans), a white or dark red candle, paper, a pen, a small envelope and a glass of water.
Set up the altar with the pot in the centre, the candle behind it and the water beside it. If you kept the paper from the Samhain rite, place it there too.
As for ethics, the intention is about your own life. Do not make requests to bend another person’s will, uncover someone else’s secret or bind anyone. Always keep the candle in sight and away from curtains.
As for timing, the conjunction falls at 04:02 Brasília time (BRT) on Monday, 9 November, but there is no need to wake up in the middle of the night. The rite can be done at any point on the 9th, preferably after 04:02, or on the night of the 9th into the 10th. In many practices, the New Moon is worked in the days close to the phase. Scott Cunningham, in Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, treats lunar rites as part of solitary practice.
Step by step
First stage: sowing (9 November, 15 to 20 minutes)
- Silence your phone, take three breaths and light the candle.
- Say quietly:
“On this New Moon in Scorpio, I plant in the dark what will grow in the light.”
- Write a single intention for a fresh start, in the present tense and in the first person. If you already wrote one at Samhain, reread it and copy out the version that still makes sense.
- Fold the paper, seal it in the envelope and do not reread it until the 14th.
- Bury the seeds in the pot and leave the envelope at its base, outside the pot, where the water cannot reach it.
- Water slowly, without wetting the envelope, and say:
“What was buried feeds what is born. I wait for the right time to speak.”
- Give thanks, put out the candle and note the date in your Book of Shadows.
Second stage: launching (from 14 November, 10 to 15 minutes)
- Light the same candle in front of the pot.
- Open the envelope and read the intention. If a word is vague, swap it for a more precise one.
- Say out loud:
“Mercury moves forward, and I move with it. My word goes out now.”
- Take the first concrete action, visible to someone other than you: a message, an application, a request, a scheduled conversation.
- Keep the paper beside the pot until the Full Moon of 24 November and, on that day, check what has sprouted in the soil and in your life.
Simple version
On the 9th, write one sentence of intention and keep it sealed. On the 14th, read it out loud and take one small action that puts it into the world.
Questions answered
I have already done the Samhain rite. Do I need to do this one too?
You do not need to. The two complement each other: the Samhain rite keeps the intention, and this one gives it a release date and a first action. You can use the same paper.
Can I launch on the 13th itself?
Mercury stations direct at 12:54 and Venus at 21:27. Starting on the 14th leaves both stations behind. If the matter is urgent, such as health or safety, do not wait because of the sky.
What if the seed does not sprout?
Germination depends on the seed, the weather and watering. Replant and keep watering; the rite goes hand in hand with caring for the pot over the weeks.
Is this New Moon an eclipse?
No. The Moon is about 4.9° south of the ecliptic, too far to form an eclipse.
Does the rite change according to each person’s sign?
No. The rite follows the sky of the moment and works for anyone, with no need to calculate a birth chart.
May this New Moon in Scorpio keep your seed in the dark and bring it into the light at the right time. Blessed be.
Mini-glossary
- New Moon: conjunction between the Sun and the Moon; the start of the lunar cycle.
- Conjunction: two celestial bodies at the same degree of the zodiac, as seen from Earth.
- Retrograde (℞): a planet’s apparent backward motion as seen from Earth.
- Direct station: the moment when the planet stops moving backwards and starts moving forward again.
- Post-retrograde shadow: the stretch of degrees the planet travels through again after the direct station.
Bibliography
CUNNINGHAM, Scott. Guia essencial da bruxa solitária. Translated by Cláudio Quintino. 4th ed. São Paulo: Gaia, 2001. (Original: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1988.)
GEORGE, Demetra. Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess. [San Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.
RUDHYAR, Dane. The Lunation Cycle: A Key to the Understanding of Personality. 2nd ed. Santa Fe: Aurora Press, [1986].