Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Grand Cross, Gran Cruz, Großkreuz, di Gran Croce, Μεγαλόσταυρος, Grand-Croix,.... &c

The internet is awash with astrologers' articles about the Grand Cross formation due to become exact on 23 April. Most say the same thing in slightly different ways....well, they would, wouldn't they? The fact that this particular Grand Cross (it's not a once-in-a-lifetime event, they are not uncommon) is a wee bit special is because it occurs in Cardinal signs, with especially tight square aspects, between Uranus, Pluto, Mars and Jupiter at 13 degrees of Cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

Cardinal = dynamic, a get-it-done, let's get the show on the road, feel. So, with these particular planets involved: Uranus, Pluto and Mars - a trio of planets well-attuned to "getting it done" - with Jupiter, a planet known for widespread excesses, the developing scene sounds like something from one of those modern smash-bang Iron Man movies! To add to the drama there's also a Grand Trine in emotional Water signs going on at the same time, this involving Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (2 of the Grand Cross planets on double duty). I shall skim over the fact that there are eclipses before and after the event, over-egging the pud, that would be!
I like Eric Francis's clearly explained article at Chronogram.
Matthew Currie at Oh My Stars! has a very good 2-part piece on the topic too.
As for my own view, for what it's worth as a mere dabbler in astrological matters: while astrologers proper are seeing this astro-event in primary colours, I'm seeing it, in respect of likely "impact", and despite its cardinality, in more subtle, yet well-defined pastels. I'm probably alone in this (as in most else). I believe that an aggregate of events last year and this year, when looking back from a vantage point 10 years hence or more, will indicate a convergence of sorts, which, at the time felt as though things were trundling, stumbling, bumbling along in much the same way as we'd gradually become used to expect. Perhaps an apex or crisis point will show up around April 2014, or maybe this will prove to have been just a part of the overture to something else, something even more dramatic.

I've been searching for a "handy list" of Grand Cross formations experienced historically, Cardinal or otherwise. There doesn't seem to be any ready-made list. The coming Grand Cross is, I think, one of a set which has been forming for a while at varying intensities, so any "effects" in mundane terms, as well as personal, will have been noticed already and simply are likely to intensify for a while, then very slowly subside.

I found note of a Grand Cross in Fixed signs on 18 August 1999, cross checked with a list of events for August that year. There was an earthquake, bombings, plane crash, usual stuff that goes on, Grand Cross or no Grand Cross. It was 2001 when a truly unexpected and shattering event took place, wasn't it?

On a personal level, my natal Saturn is at 12.55 Aries, so it's part of the show, I guess. I stopped trying to predict stuff for myself long ago; I choose to do what comes naturally, then, maybe after 5 or so years look back with astrological hindsight. Only thing I can loosely relate so far is my change from using computer operating system WindowsXP, after almost 10 years, to using Windows 7; I did so on 1 April, in preparation for Microsoft's ceasing their support for WinXP on 8 April -today. I've fumbled through that change.

On a mundane level, as always, there are any number of world events up for Operation Intensify. Off top of my head: Ukraine; climate change; Lost Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 MH370; in the USA 99% v 1%; in the UK, Scotland's bid for independence....and on and on.

6 comments:

Sonny G said...


As I have said before, I am not knowledgeable about all this:)
so may I ask You and anyone else willing to answer, what their take is on someone who is::all cardinal::
sun =capricorn 7 degrees
moon=cancer 13 degrees
ascendent= libra 8 degrees
I dont know if degrees matter lol.
what might this grand trine mean for me.. thanks so much in advance.
Sonny

Twilight said...

Sonny ~ I'm no expert, Sonny, amateur dabbler at best. Mike can probably respond in more detail than I but.....a couple of things do come to mind:

What you describe isn't a Grand Trine - for that all signs have to be in the same element (Earth, Fire, Water, Air). I'm not sure there's a Grand Trine "effect" in Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable qualities - maybe so but I've not come across this before.

Anyway...your Moon will be part of the coming Grand Cross formation (as will my own Saturn), and as the other two planets in Cardinal signs you mention are close, but nowhere near exact at 13 degrees, I don't think they're close enough to 13 degrees to be a proper part of this coming GC formation.

I don't know whether we'll feel or experience anything vastly different at all Sonny either this month or in coming months. I think the formation is just a culmination of stuff that has been going on around us for some time, rather than something new and dramatic that will suddenly pop up.

Your Cancer Moon in its own sign is related to your inner self, emotions etc., and to your home environment. I think, if I recall correctly, you've moved home fairly recently - that could be an early indication of where to look for a culmination of things, maybe some extension of that?

Mike?????? Help please.

mike said...

Not much time here today. Twilight, I see this grand cross in a more pollyanna-ish fashion. Oppositions are typically irreconcilable differences and stalemate. Squares are frictional, but resolvable. The concurrent trine in water will help soften the potential inflammations and perhaps allow for reflection prior to accepting or inflicting the insults...LOL. This is not the time to be an aggressor.

Jupiter in square or opposition is a bit like having too much cake to eat and getting sick from over-eating, and requiring insulin if diabetic. If one recognizes limits and boundaries, things can be mutually beneficial...grievances aired and acknowledged.

Retrograde Mars in Libra is weakened and not at all full-force or speed. Provocation resulting in a gauntlet smack...more of a humiliation than physical pain. Bears watching when Mars again makes angles in direct motion, though, particularly if the offended party is manic.

I see the greatest harm may simply be the increased stress levels as people try to remain corked and not explode, particularly over-reacting to minor issues as a consequence of anger over larger "subdued" issues...transference of anger. Much good can be derived from this grand cross if we acknowledge, examine, and create change to over-come perceived irritations, whether internal or external. It's a positive time for making needed changes, if we are mature enough to recognize the stale and dusty obsolescence.

I do believe that the USA will have some specific difficulties with natal Sun at 13 Cancer and Saturn at 16 Libra. Perhaps with monetary issues and strategic alliances. Potential for earth changes (earthquakes and fires) is global under this grand cross, but more so in the USA.

Sonny, I would think that the past three or four years have been difficult for your ego...maybe feeling like you've had to accept something that diminished the "you" inside of you. Pluto on your natal Sun, plus transiting Saturn was on your ascendant and square your Sun and Moon a couple of years ago. Transiting Uranus in the mix, too. Your major changes have already occurred, but you still have the current grand cross affecting your Moon...the finishing touch to some major, transformations already in place. I would suspect that you are encountering sudden, out-of-the-blue, rather electrical challenges to your "selfness" via relationships of all kinds...some good, some not so good, many with unexplainable ins-and-outs, sudden starts and endings. Go with the flow.

I'm not sure where 13 Cancer is in your natal chart, but it's elevated in your 9th or 10th house. Expansive and positive recognition in your professional sphere or outer world, if 10th...the same for the 9th, but in the higher-ed, travel, philosophical arena.

Over-all, an extremely unsettled feeling at the core of your foundation for the past three or four years, but you are on top of it now, and recognizing the benefits of your "losses" now as "gains". Just a bit more queasiness and you'll feel in-the-driver's-seat again (you already do, but you may have a couple of back-seat-drivers that you haven't tuned-out yet...LOL).

Twilight said...

mike ~ Many thanks for your excellent input and for helping out in responding to Sonny!
:-)

All that remains is to see how things develop, watch for patterns, and to note whether these do indeed match expectations, at least for some involved individuals and for some nations.

It'll be interesting!

Sonny G said...



wow.. thank yall so much..

Mike I understood exactly what you said and usually such talk goes over my head:) this I GOT..

Saturday, I was offered a job I wanted 20 years ago and didnt get.
the offer was OUT OF THE BLUE- in act I was not even supposed to be there at all. I basically got drawn into the situation because there was a lady applying for the job and couldnt get the computer to work like she needed it to in order to complete her application, so I saw that and just went over and fixed it and then went back and to my own section to wait for my neighbors doctor appointment to be finished so I could drive her home.
a man came out , introduced himself, ask me a few computer design program questions- I answered- he offered me a position in his company as a virtual worker..
He is for REAL lol, I checked:)
so in mid may my job starts..
I am gobsmacked by this event and so very grateful and humbled.. add THRILLED to that giggle.
so thats why when I read about all the cardinal signs being effected by this Grand Cross, I had to ask..
thank you so much again.

oh yes, since 2011 its been a high on the mountain- wayyyyyy down in the valley time.
yes Annie in late nov. I moved into a new home.. it took me 6 weeks to get used to it but I do love it and am busy about making the design changes it needs.. so excited about that too~! its just a great time all the way around.
I must have been standing under a Lucky star...

Twilight said...

Sonny ~ Oh my! I'm so pleased for you, Sonny, and pleased to know that this was such a positive manifestation of astro placements. Very, very good news!
:-)