The Grand Cross: Invitation to Integration

A Grand Cross occurs when four planets are located 90 degrees apart from one another. Picture a cross within a circle, as seen in the Celtic cross, above. We will experience two Grand Crosses this summer--on June 26 and August 7. The energetic dynamics of this kind of alignment can provoke a feeling of inner tension, as we feel pulled in four directions at once. Yet, the upcoming Grand Crosses also hold great promise for evolutionary progress, if we work consciously with the diverse energies and learn to integrate them more fully. We can either get stuck at the crossroads, or we can set the cross into motion, like a windmill that generates energy. Over the next two months, we’re being presented with a cosmic invitation, and plenty of fuel, to take a leap forward with our collective evolutionary growth.

The Grand Cross of June 26 has the added potency of a Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse. On August 7, the Grand Cross is a Cardinal Cross, with planets positioned at each of the four cardinal points of the Zodiac: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Let’s take a deeper look at the astrology of these Grand Crosses and the opportunities being presented.

The foundation for these Grand Crosses is a T-square that is already in place. This T-square is formed by the opposition between Uranus/Jupiter (in Aries) and Saturn (now in late Virgo, but moving into Libra on 7/21/10) with Pluto (in Capricorn) forming the perpendicular leg of the “T”. On June 26, the Sun and Mercury, in Cancer, will fill out the missing piece of the Grand Cross. At the same time, we’ll be experiencing a Capricorn Full Moon (with the Moon conjunct Pluto) and a Lunar Eclipse! This is an opportunity to make big breakthroughs and initiate radical changes in the status quo, both personally and collectively.

Jupiter/Uranus in Aries is a bold and courageous force that can also be wild, rebellious, and unpredictable. Saturn in Virgo provides some grounding and restraint, so that the revolutionary energies initiated by Jupiter/Uranus can be worked with in practical ways to improve our lives. Pluto in Capricorn assists this process of tremendous change by dredging up what needs to be reformed and breaking down what needs to be restructured. Add to all of that the emotional intelligence of Sun/Mercury in Cancer, to bring in a strong dose of love and compassion to temper the spirit of riotous upheaval. The Lunar Eclipse in Cancer/ Capricorn urges us to drop old, defensive strategies that we’ve used to mask feelings of insecurity. Instead, we are prompted to become more rooted in our hearts as we begin to build more authentic and sustainable ways of ensuring our stability and security, in our inner lives, our work in the world, and our socio-economic systems.

On August 7, the Grand Cross becomes a Cardinal Grand Cross with Saturn now in Libra, rather than Virgo. The planets involved in this Cardinal Cross are: Jupiter/Uranus (in Aries) opposite Venus/Saturn/ Mars (in Libra); and Moon (in Cancer) opposite Pluto (in Capricorn). The Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) are about initiating new things. Aries initiates our sense of being an individual who can assert him/herself. Cancer initiates us into experiences of the heart and emotional bonding. Libra initiates us into ways of relating with others that are fair and balanced, and Capricorn initiates the building of strong inner and outer foundations.

The Cardinal Grand Cross brings together all four types of initiation at the same time! Thus, it is a major opportunity to move into new ways of being. This fourfold initiation process calls for the integration of diverse energies and aspects of our selves. We are being called upon to stand strong and assert ourselves (Jupiter/Uranus in Aries) while also bringing our relationships into more balance and harmony (Venus/Saturn/Mars in Libra). This initiation requires us to stop abdicating our needs, yet be willing to negotiate and cooperate, and engage in relationships based on true equality. It’s also an initiation of the heart--becoming more attuned to the emotional needs of self and others and offering nurturance where it is needed (Moon in Cancer) while the world around us, including the Earth itself, is going through the initiation of a massive restructuring (Pluto in Capricorn).

The Cardinal Cross asks us to embrace passion and tenderness, rebellion and peace-making, sensitivity and strength. Our focus is drawn to the polarities of self/other, home/career, and inner life/outer life. It can feel very exciting with so many aspects of our lives transforming, rebalancing, and moving into greater alignment. Yet it may also feel overwhelming or confusing. Perhaps the best way to move through this kind of initiation is with willingness to let go of what no longer serves us and cultivate awareness of the deep, abiding peace in the center of one’s being.

Sajit Greene, M.A., L.P.C.

Elements & Evolution: The Spiritual Landscape of Astrology

Eric is planning to release his next book, Elements & Evolution: The Spiritual Landscape of Astrology, on July 8th. This work is filled with many fresh ideas, an integrative philosophy, and a meaningful way to understand spiritual growth. It is for those who seek a "big picture" understanding of astrology and want insight into the evolutionary purposes of the facets of the system. You are invited to take a sneak peak at this exciting new book, by reading the Introduction, below:

Evolutionary astrology is rapidly growing in popularity as an increasing number of people are becoming interested in a spiritual understanding of astrology. There is a variety of approaches currently being presented, each with different areas of emphasis. This book offers another voice to this growing chorus. My intention is to contribute to the building of a philosophical consensus that would help this exciting field be as engaging and useful as possible. Astrology is an incredibly powerful tool that can expand our self-awareness, help us have compassion for others, and reliably guide us through the most challenging arenas of our lives. Making the spiritual component more explicit can make it even more powerful.

Consensus is best found by building on what is already most agreed upon. The main contributions of this work stem from two universally recognized ideas—one from science and the other from religion.

Science informs us that there are two distinct ways in which we approach the world. The left brain analyzes bits of information through rationality. It logically dissects with its objective razor, cutting through any sentiment to get to facts. Realms of language, mathematics, and reason appeal to its precision.

In contrast, the right brain understands in ways that aren’t so linear. Intuition, inspiration, artistry, and emotion all color its subjectivity. It naturally flows with a sense of timelessness and engages with the ethereal and the transcendent. These realms, which also include dreams and expansive contemplation, evade the meticulous clockwork of left brain sensibilities.

This is the fundamental duality of our world: content and process, science and art, structure and essence, objective and subjective. Most anything can be split up using this left/right dichotomy—business and pleasure, technical merit and aesthetic presentation, the masculine and the feminine. Though these pairings seem obvious to the modern mind, the tradition of astrology we’ve inherited has not included this division, and rightly so. Astrology is far older than our understanding of brain hemispheres and their respective functions. In the West the world was approached more subjectively before the so-called Enlightenment; the objectivity of left brain perspectives wasn’t yet part of the picture. In the last few hundred years, science has aggressively pushed the pendulum toward the rational/objective end of the continuum. As a result, we have advanced technologically, but we have marginalized and discounted the validity of right brain functions. Collectively, we are currently finding a greater balance between these two necessary and complementary approaches.

We are at a time when many are learning to honor and skillfully employ both left and right brain functions. Now is the time to incorporate this basic division into the field of astrology. The left/right dichotomy adds layers of nuance, in some ways profoundly impacting our ideas about the components of the astrological system. By classifying earth and air with the left brain as neutral elements and water and fire with the right brain as charged elements, new perspectives emerge that can impact and vitalize the entire system of astrology.

The second universal idea that this book is rooted in comes from religion and the world’s wisdom traditions. Though there has been a plethora of divergent spiritual views expressed throughout history, there has in fact been some significant agreement. There is a central idea held in common that God or Spirit (call it what you will) divides from oneness into separateness and then gradually learns to reconnect the separateness back into oneness. Furthermore, this process of division and subsequent re-unification involves movement through the distinct levels of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Spirit descends through progressively denser levels and then ascends and evolves back through increasingly lighter levels on its journey back to unity. This idea is found in all of the major religions and within many other spiritual paradigms. It has been termed the “Perennial Philosophy” and has been commented upon by numerous philosophers and religious authorities for centuries.

Correlating the physical with earth, the emotional with water, the mental with air, and the spiritual with fire is a framework that’s well-known by most astrology students. However, conceptualizing each of the elements as a level of reality is not a part of the usual discourse. Astrology has been widely understood as a symbolic system, which is within the mental (air) domain. This book expands on this traditional understanding and offers a multi-leveled philosophy which addresses these four levels of reality.

The neutral/charged division can be thought of as adding to the breadth of our philosophical understanding of astrology; and the levels of reality can be seen as adding to the depth. Both of these new ideas feature the elements as the central players. Earth, water, air, and fire interact in dynamic and fascinating ways. We will examine how they structure and catalyze both cyclical and progressive evolution.

The first half of the book addresses cyclical evolution. There is a procession from Aries to Pisces (thematically consistent with the motion through the twelve houses), which conveys an evolutionary path for each of us to travel. The various aspects (opposition, trine, etc.) connect the twelve stages and thereby provide specific evolutionary lessons.

The second half of the book concerns progressive evolution—the development of consciousness through the elemental levels. From the inspiration of fire (soul), to the understanding of air (mind), to the embodiment of water (emotion), to the materialization of earth (physical), Spirit manifests in our everyday world. And as part of evolution, we develop from matter (earth), to life (water), to advanced cognition (air), to spiritual realization (fire), as we liberate Spirit from separateness and realize oneness. These manifesting and liberating channels inhale and exhale in a continual rhythm of evolution.

The elements are everywhere—all around us as well as within us. They are the building blocks of life. They dance with each other, support, challenge, synthesize, and transform—never leaving us for an instant. The four elements similarly permeate the astrological system, giving articulation and meaning to all of the planets, signs, and houses. The elements encompass all facets of our experience by creating, and partaking in, our evolutionary circumstance. Together, they combine to illuminate the spiritual landscape of astrology.

Eric Meyers, M.A.