It is commonly considered that the Scorpio man is a sexual mastermind. This is probably not far from the truth. Sex is an integral part of the Scorpio man's psychology. It is a way of looking at the world and himself that determines many of his choices and creates a lot of his problems as well.
    Scorpio men have a magnetism that frequently has an arresting effect on the opposite sex. It centers in the eyes. They are riveting and intense, and linger for a provocative extra beat. In that one second a Scorpio man can see a great deal. He has a perceptual ability that is both penetrating and intuitive. He knows instinctively how to go about getting what he thinks he wants.
    The Scorpio man is smooth and calculating, seemingly nonchalant and usually more than a trifle manipulative. With great deliberation, he thinks things out to their successful consummation and never leaves anything to chance. It is an interesting fact that many monarchs have been born under this sign. Likewise, we see, even in the average person, the desire to rule, the tendency to covet power and the need to impose control. Many scorpios are politicians. They tend to make excellent world leaders. However, when it comes to love, their need to control and their inability to compromise create a great deal of problems.
    The Scorpio man is a very complex individual with a great deal of intense feeling and passion - so much that he doesn't know what to do with it. Add to that his extraordinarily consuming drives - egotistical, emotional and sexual - and you have a person who needs control to function effectively.
    The Scorpio man is so intense that he cannot live spontaneously. He is so complicated that he can't believe that things can actually be simple. Therefore, he feels compelled to organize every aspect of his life in terms of a master plan. An important part of these calculations is the Scorpio's wife or lover. Because he has a deep-seated fear of abandonment, death, and ultimate aloneness, he always marries. While there are Scorpio men who remain faithful, most treat their marriage like an office out of which they manage their affairs. All it takes is one long look back over the crowded room from a beautiful body to put the motor in motion. Once the power is on, there is usually no turning back.
    Each time the Scorpio man is possessed by passion he feels reborn. Passion is the fuel of his nature. When any person or involvement rekindles it, his response is profound. An illustrious Scorpio lover was Richard Burton, who flamboyantly expressed his passion both on and off the stage.
    In general, Scorpio men tend to be much more subtle, indirect and enigmatic in their emotional expression. When merely sexually attracted and not emotionally consumed, they can be aloof and downright cold. This man is motivated by intense attractions. While the superficially erotic will most definitely appeal to him, he can be bound by deeply psychological ties.
    Sex must have a powerful psychological effect for the Scorpio man to become deeply involved emotionally. What determines this is usually a psychological projection in which he experiences a quality in the woman which is, in fact, his own hitherto unexpressed female rising to the surface. Such was the "soul" contact between Richard Burton and the wife he referred to as his mistress, Elizabeth Taylor. Interestingly enough, Elizabeth's moon (psyche, soul, deep emotional nature) is in Scorpio, which envoked Burton's soul.
    This was, by no means, harmonious contact. Fraught with the extremes of passion and brutality, it was a steamy, obsessive and often savage attraction. Caught in the depths of it, Burton found himself vacillating between extremes of utter possession and psychological repulsion.
    There is within the Scorpio man a deep ambivalence regarding the issue of surrender. While one aspect of the psyche relishes the ability to experience his emotional and sexual nature, to relinquish control demands that one pay a price. In this case, with such a consuming emotional nature, the price can be quite high. Loss of concentration, the ability to focus, the ability to function - all can come to pass when a full-blown Scorpionic obsession takes hold. The mind is possessed and it may be a divine madness, but it is still a madness nonetheless.
    That is why a great many Scorpionic men never venture this far, into the dark, swirling waters of Aphrodite. Instead, they satisfy their security needs by marrying someone steady and reliable. From there, they satisfy their erotic fantasies by engaging in shallow yet highly secretive liaisons.
    Power is a profound drive in the Scorpio personality. Power satisfies the primal desire for control, security and self-importance. Underlying this power drive is the desire to feel autonomous, a desire which contradicts the demands of any relationship. Therefore, Scorpio men are deeply torn, but are nevertheless determined to have it all. Perhaps that is why they can appear so enigmatic and ambivalent when engaged in a relationship. they need a relationship. They also need to not teed a relationship. But with time they usually find a relationship in which they can experience autonomy and control.
    Scorpio men are highly self-centered in a unique way. Somewhere in their psyche is a warrior, a lone wolf who doesn't believe that anyone could understand the often troublesome complications of his intense, introverted nature. The typical Scorpio man doesn't even look for someone he can talk to. Should he encounter that profound connection in a woman, it is likely that he would be truly startled and on his way to becoming obsessed, especially if he finds himself strongly sexually attracted.
    It is unlikely that such a situation would occur. However, in the event that it did, it would consume him and cause him to rise up and then sink down into the depths of himself, perceiving and then losing his soul.
    When deeply attached, the Scorpio man will hold on to a situation until the smoldering ashes slowly recede. Despite their strong controls, Scorpio men can be ruled by their emotions to the extreme of great misery. The Scorpionic poet John Keats dramatically expressed this in his well known poem, "La Belle Dame sans Merci," which means "The Lovely Lady without Pity." In the poem he refers to himself as "alone and palely loitering," yearning painfully for the woman who makes kings, princes and warriors "pale."
    These images link deep, passionate Scorpionic love with death. To reach the extreme of surrendering such reason to the love projection is a deathlike experience which can be simultaneously pleasureful and painful, psychologically disintegrating and spiritually transformative. Along the way, to be caught, controlled and propelled through the entanglement is to be like Dante crossing the rivers of Hell. It is in fact a voyage through the shadows and the light spaces of self into the deep, dark, murky waters of the primordial unconscious. By being submerged and resurrected, it is possible to become reborn into a new state of consciousness where a higher, purer, more conscious love is possible.
    Suffering is a significant theme in the Scorpio experience. The Scorpio man who has suffered through life and love has a greater capacity to be enlarged by love. It is a combination of this dearly won compassion and largesse which allows him to extend himself spiritually and psychologically. He no longer has to be bound by love or by the fear of it. At this level in his evolution he can be affirmed by the loving experience and can share his own affirmation like a blazing light that profoundly radiates through and enriches another person. This is the potential of a Scorpio man - to become a very powerful heart that is heard in many, many ways.