The Cardinal Drama peaks tonight

August 6, 2010 By

The Gilchrist Mandala

As I’ve been writing and discussing on the radio show, this is the week that the second wave of the Cardinal Drama peaks (the Cardinal signs are the signs of action and initiation: Libra, Aries, Cancer and Capricorn).  Saturn is now in Libra along with Mars opposite Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, Pluto is in Capricorn.

For a few hours tonight, after the Moon enters Cancer at around 6 pm EDT, the Moon will enter the fray, opposing Pluto (180 degree aspect) and forming a 90 degree angle (a square) to Mars and Saturn on the one end and Jupiter and Uranus on the other.  This makes a big Cross, also called a Grand Cross.

Grand Crosses pack a mighty wallop since there is a lot of tension between the planets that demands resolution.  But planets in Cardinal signs are all about taking action, they tend not to get stuck.  So this is a time of change, but there there is little to be frightened of.  There is a lot of energy building and moving and urging us to break through blockages, so it is mostly our resistance that causes problems during these periods.

The cardinal alignment has been building since May, and really peaked in June and July.  At this point we have already integrated the energy and are ready to move on to the next cycle.

The lunar influence will last just a few  hours and by Saturday morning (EDT) the Moon will be out of range and the Grand Cross will have gone back to a mere T-square (just three sides of the cross, without the fourth).

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Capricorn Full Moon eclipse June 26, complete with Grand Cross

June 24, 2010 By


Photo from National Geographic

Saturday’s Full Moon is also a partial lunar eclipse, and includes a powerful alignment of seven planets in a Grand Cross formation.

Let’s first look at the lunation (lunar event) itself.  The Sun in Cancer is opposed by the Moon in Capricorn, and because the lunar nodes are within 15 degrees of the Moon (in this case the nodes are 8 degrees from the Moon) the lunation becomes an eclipse.

This in itself is significant, because the lunar nodes are connected to the evolutionary journey of the soul, from past (the South Node) to future (North Node).  Here we have the South Node conjoining the Sun, with the North Node conjunct the Moon.  The Sun represents our conscious awareness, and the Moon reflects the inner yearings of the soul, our emotional interior which rarely makes itself known to the outer world.  With the North Node conjunct the Moon, we are being shifted into an inner experience – the lunar experience rather than the solar.

Here the Moon is in Capricorn, an earth sign of supreme practicality.  Achievement, responsibility, structure – these are not qualities that we normally attribute to the Moon.  In fact, the Moon is said to be in its detriment in Capricorn because its qualities of emotion and fluidity have little room in the structured world in which Capricorn excels.  Yet the North Node is urging us to embrace the gravity of our situation with all of the heart that the Moon can muster as a means to our soul’s evolution during this eclipse of the Sun.

During the eclipse of the Sun the Moon becomes more powerful – even more powerful than it is in an ordinary Full Moon.  Eclipses have been feared for thousands of years, but there’s no reason to fear an eclipse.  Yes – sometimes we do have emotional outbursts, and sometimes our lives are changed forever by a single event that occurs during an eclipse.   Eclipses, especially solar eclipses, have a tendency to unmask that which has been hidden, especially anything hidden in the emotional realm.

The Sun in the eclipse chart is conjunct Mercury, and Mercury is also positioned opposite the Moon.  Mercury is the mind – our mental function and the filter through which the experiences of our lives is processed.  The mind is active now but Mercury has a bigger role to play – it also provides us with the means to move more quickly through the emotional realms of the Moon.

Pluto is tightly conjunct the Moon in the eclipse chart – amping up the intensity and suggesting that something must be released in order for transformation to take place.  Pluto is like the vulture of the zodiac, swooping down to destroy the carrion of anything in our lives that is already dead.  As Pluto is aligned with the Moon in this chart, it opposes the Sun and serves to block the efforts of Mercury to rationalize away the depth of our experiences.   Pluto demands that Mercury offer only the Truth as the emotional realignment of this eclipse unfolds.

Forming the Grand Cross is another opposition:  The conjunction of Jupiter to Uranus in Aries which is opposed by Saturn.   The Jupiter/Uranus combination is volatile and disruptive, but also ingenious and creative.  It breaks down barriers and expands our confidence, forcing us to acknowledge situations and feelings that feel stale or confining.  Saturn provides compression and seeks stability, and the tension between that urge to build a solid foundation (Saturn) and the desire for flight and rebellion (Jupiter/Uranus) is embedded in this eclipse chart.

This eclipse will be felt most powerfully by anyone whose natal planets are in the early degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Capricorn, Cancer).  But there is enough planetary energy locked into this eclipse chart that others may also benefit from its power.  This eclipse is probably the peak of the Cardinal Drama that we’ve been watching unfold over the past year because so many planets are so tightly aligned now.

This is not a time to be afraid – doors are opening now and it’s time to walk through them.  Our world is in a state of terrible dysfunction and a rebalancing is necessary. Any fears and areas of discomfort that arise now are emerging so that they can be seen for the shadows that they are rather than the experiences of reality that we believe them to be.

The planetary events in June will teach us, if we allow them to, what is real and true in our lives and what is illusion. In order to achieve this we need to accelerate our spiritual practice and learn to maintain presence and breathe through any situation that we encounter. The flow of breath through our bodies is the anchor that links us to our higher self and assists in the transition into the higher realms.
In my opinion, this month is the peak of the intensity. Let’s approach it as an opportunity to break through barriers of mind and body, and to allow our higher selves and guides to facilitate real transformation now.
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The astrology of the healthcare bill

March 26, 2009 By

This issue is so emotionally charged that it’s difficult to take a rational and reasoned stance in doing any kind of astrological analysis, but I think Jamie Funk has done just that in his analysis of the signing of the healthcare bill.

The bill was signed into law at the moment that the Moon hit the 5 degree point of Cancer, opposing Pluto in Capricorn exactly and setting off the square from Saturn which is nearing its opposition point to Uranus.  So with the Moon, Pluto, Saturn and Uranus we have a very tight Grand Cross, the most challenging aspect possible.  Uranus is still what we call “out of sign” because since it is in Pisces, which is a mutable sign rather than the cardinal signs that make up the Grand Cross, the effect of that GC is weakened somewhat.

Jamie points out that the Moon in the chart conjoins the ascendant, with Pluto on the descendant.  Both planets are angular (on the ascendant) and therefore have a more powerful effect.  There is a sense of life and death as the planet of the Underworld (Pluto) threatens the Moon’s security which, in its own sign of Cancer, is even more important to both sides of the debate.

Jamie also brings he fixed stars into the discussion, making this a very interesting read although for astrological newbies it may be a bit complex.

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Hillary Clinton and the Moon’s Nodes

April 8, 2008 By

Hillary Clinton’s chart shows that she has the planet Saturn making a very tight square to the nodes of the Moon. The lunar nodes are not planets in the chart and don’t carry any energy of the personality; they are like signposts that point us in the direction from our evolutionary past to our future.

Tight aspects from a planet to the nodes of the Moon often indicate a karmic issue that an individual brings with them from a previous lifetime. Saturn, being the planet of order and governance, is an indicator that Clinton came into this existence with a predisposition to fear that she will never achieve her goals. This is exacerbated by the fact that she has four planets in intense and power-driven Scorpio which keep her locked into the past of her Scorpio South Node, and no planets in peace-loving and stable Taurus which is her destiny as shown by the North Node.

It’s interesting that just as transiting Neptune forms a square to Clinton’s lunar nodes, forming a Grand Cross with Saturn, she loses her chief strategist due to deceptive behavior. (Mark Penn was fired from the Clinton campaign for secretly negotiating with the Columbian government as Clinton was herself opposing the agreement for which Penn was offering advice.) The challenging Neptune transits create confusion and cause us to feel that we have lost our way and our direction. We are more prone to deception and our energy is scattered.

Clinton has weathered many difficult transits over the past few years and kept trudging along. But transits to the nodes of the Moon challenge us to evaluate our life’s path and see whether we are in need of a course correction.

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A Powerhouse of an Equinox

March 19, 2008 By

The Vernal Equinox occurs tomorrow, March 20, at 2 am EST as the Sun enters Aries, marking the re-entry of the fire element into our planetary cycles. The opposition of Mars in Cancer to Pluto in Capricorn has certainly been fiery, but the fire element has been notably missing.

The chart for the Vernal Equinox point features the Equinox Sun nearly exactly square to Pluto and still within orb of a square to Mars which is moving away from that pesky opposition point. Pluto, which is stationing (slowing down) in preparation for its retrograde turn, is amplified in intensity. We also find an opposition between Mercury (mental functions) and Saturn (disillusionment) that is likely to create some negative thinking and difficulty in communication processes.

One day later, the Libra Full Moon will move into position to square Mars and Pluto as it opposes the Sun, forming a Grand Cross. The next few days will be a powerful time, and the energy of this time will spill over into the next few weeks and possibly months. It’s very important now, in this time of great power, to be aware of the energy that we are sending into the world. Everything is amplified now, and each small event ripples into a greater event that has far-reaching consequences.

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Big Full Moon on Friday. I mean, really big!

March 10, 2008 By

solstice_moon_illusion_1The full Moon of Dec. 12th is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.

It’s no illusion. Some full Moons are genuinely larger than others and this Friday’s is a whopper. Why? The Moon’s orbit is an ellipse with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other: diagram. In the language of astronomy, the two extremes are called “apogee” (far away) and “perigee” (nearby). On Dec. 12th, the Moon becomes full a scant 4 hours after reaching perigee, making it 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons we’ve seen earlier in 2008….

This is both the brightest and (in the northern hemisphere) the highest-riding full Moon of the year. If you go outside around midnight it will be close to overhead and act like a cosmic floodlamp making the landscape absolutely brilliant, especially if there’s snow. Full moons are always high during winter and, indeed, the solstice is right around the corner on Dec. 21st.

I was awakened early this morning by a bright yellow sky at around 3 am and the effect of this Full Moon can already be felt (we generally consider the effect of a lunation to last for a few days before and after the actual lunar event).  It ought to be interesting, because this Gemini Full Moon sits right on my ascendant.  Astrologer Richard Nolle calls these Full Moons at perigee Supermoons and it is thought that their astrological effect is more powerful, just as the Moon exerts a more powerful pull on the tides at this time.

The opposition of Saturn to Uranus which you have been reading about here and on other astrology sites forms a Grand Cross to the Sun and Moon, which will add to the power of the Full Moon. The Grand Cross is a spectacularly stressful planetary dynamic in which conflict between the planets builds up into a crisis which forces a release and ultimately, a transformative change.

This Full Moon is packed with energy, both mental and physical. Everything within our heart, soul and psyche is moving faster than usual during this Full Moon, and becoming conscious of the need for balance between the internal process and the external drives will help us to get the most out of this lunation. The planetary dynamics here create a powerhouse of dynamic alteration and adjustment that can create some real distress if not focused in a conscious manner.

Fortunately, a Neptune forms an exact harmonious aspect to both the Sun and the Moon which helps us to delve across the physical realm into the subconscious in order to find that internal balance in a more intuitive and sensitive way. The potential for verbal conflict during this Full Moon period, which lasts for a few days before and a few days after the actual event, can be softened by balancing the dynamic energy that wants to push out into aggression with a sensitivity and softness in the heart that helps us to maintain the inner connection to Spirit that creates more balance in the world around us.

During a powerful Full Moon, when the conscious Solar principle faces off with the instinctive Lunar principle, it is useful to increase our conscious awareness (Sun) and attention to our lives and how we are reacting (Moon) to situations rather than acting with intention.  In any case, the next few days are sure to be exciting!

solstice_moon_illusion_1The full moon rising over Manchester, Maryland. Credit: Edmund E. Kasaitis.

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Powerful Full Moon Coming Up!

January 12, 2006 By


And all the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush. And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush.
– Van Morrison, “Moondance”

Full Moons occur when the solar conscious principle of the Sun opposes the instinctive lunar principle of the Moon. For thousands of years, humans have been mystified by full moons, attributing to them great power. Although there are studies on both sides of the aisle, there are several scientific studies demonstrating an increased murder rate at the full moon. Hospital workers tell us that more babies are born during the full moon. Police say that they get more family violence calls.

The tension of the Grand Cross of December is moving away, but several of the planets involved are still caught in the dance. Mars (aggression, warfare) is moving away from a square to Saturn (discipline, leadership) and into an opposition with Jupiter (philosophy, overconfidence). (for more information on this powerful configuration you may want to read some of these articles). Difficult Mars/Jupiter aspects tend to create an atmosphere of arrogance and self-righteousness as Jupiter’s confidence creates a tension with the aggressive Mars energies. Watch for bombastic talk from people in the news, and in our personal lives we may find ourselves drawn into arguments over philosophy and religion as Mars approaches the exact opposition with Jupiter on January 14th.

Misty Neptune is drawn into this game as well and begins to confuse the issues. Neptune encourages self-sacrifice and martyrdom, and this could be a time where suicide attacks increase as the urge for martyrdom collides with religious arrogance, culminating on January 16 when Mars squares Neptune exactly and Jupiter is within one degree. In the middle of this falls the Full Moon in Cancer on January 14 at 4:47 am EST, personalizing the tension of the Mars/Neptune/Jupiter configuration. With the Moon in nurturing Cancer opposing the Capricorn Sun, there may be some tension between home life (Cancer) and career motivations (Capricorn). Cancer longs to stay close to home, and Capricorn works hard for public recognition.

This Full Moon makes no aspect to the other planets, showing that it will have a powerful effect this month, unhampered by other influences. Because Cancer is ruled by the Moon itself, this is likely to be a time of emotional flux, moodiness, and challenging dynamics in the home. Taking extra care to nourish and nurture family members during this time will help to bring out the best of this time.

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Mars Square Saturn

December 30, 2005 By

Although this aspect didn’t culminate until yesterday, it’s been in effect for some time as part of the Grand Cross so it hasn’t received the attention from me that it deserved. Mars square Saturn is often described as “driving with the brakes on” – Mars wants to go, to take action, and Saturn is the brakes that doesn’t allow motion to happen. Mars often represents willful behavior, arrogance, aggression, and Saturn is the paternal scolding voice. We can see this at play in the escalation of tension in Iraq, in the increased outrage over the National Security Agency spying scandal, the pending Tube strike in London and the standoff between Russia and the Ukraine over gas supplies.

The Mars/Saturn combination can offer a productive flow of energy if properly utilized: Saturn requires hard work and discipline, and if the energy of Mars can be harnessed and put to work great things can happen even in the challenging aspects between these planets.

As discussed in other posts below, the tension of the Grand Cross builds until there is a release of energy that is a catalyst for change. Although all four planets are no longer in tight formation, they continue to dance around each other and we are likely to see a continuation of this tension over the next two weeks as Mars moves towards a stressful aspect with Jupiter and the ideological (Jupiter) battles (Mars) become louder and more strident, with Neptune entering the picture to mystify and confuse the issues. Neptune rules martyrdom and self-sacrifice, and we may see an increased number of suicide bombings in mid-month when Mars, Jupiter and Neptune are in tight formation.

The Sun is approaching a conjunction with Venus in Capricorn over the next few days, usually a beneficial time (Sun/Venus) for getting things done (Capricorn). Hopefully the negotiation (Venus/Capricorn) possibilities of this time will help us to see the more positive results of the Mars/Saturn square!

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Update on the Grand Cross

December 28, 2005 By

(For more information, see these past articles discussing the Grand Cross of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune in effect for the next few weeks.)

For the past month or so, four planets have been dancing in a “Grand Cross” formation, with two sets of two planets opposite each other and square to their neighbors. Since early November, we have seen a face-off with Mars (god of war and aggression) in a square (90 degree angle, within 5 degrees) to Saturn (restriction and limitation). Saturn has been opposite Neptune (the hidden or mysterious, confusion and illusion). Jupiter (god of philosophy, religion, theology and meaning) joined the party in early December, and the so-called War on Christmas became the focal point for some of the tension evident in American culture. In other parts of the world, the Iranian president denied that that the Holocaust ever took place, and in Iraq the historic election demonstrated the obvious fact that the Iraqi people self-identified along cultural lines.

These planets will continue their dance through the end of January, culminating in the middle of the month when the formation between Mars, Jupiter and Neptune is exact at 15-16 degrees. Saturn will have retrograded backwards to the point where its influence falls out of the picture, which will soften the effect somewhat. Saturn is rigid and creates tension which often results in an explosion that instigates change, where Neptune is soft and fuzzy and creates mostly confusion. With Mars and Jupiter there is a lot of spiritual ego and self-righteousness, with little possibility of compromise. However, the fiery drama we’ve seen over the past month is likely to subside.

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Bush Update and This Month’s Grand Cross

December 21, 2005 By

Thanks to Jill for posting an article by Peter Daou from Salon about the dynamics of a Bush scandal. This corresponds very precisely with the Grand Cross occurring right now between Mars (aggression), Saturn (law/rules/restriction), Neptune (confusion and illusion) and Jupiter (philosophy, expansion):

1. POTUS circumvents the law – an impeachable offense.

Mars/Jupiter brings a sense of disregard (Mars) for established law (Jupiter), or being too self-important (Mars) to follow them.

2. The story breaks (in this case after having been concealed by a news organization until well after Election 2004).

Hidden stories (Neptune) erupting (Mars) into public consciousness (Jupiter) after being blocked by the media (Saturn).

3. The Bush crew floats a number of pushback strategies, settling on one that becomes the mantra of virtually every Republican surrogate. These Republicans face down poorly prepped Dem surrogates and shred them on cable news shows.

At least this part of the process is breaking down under the Grand Cross standoff. Aggressive Republican talking points (Mars) are being challenged by a strengthening opposition (Saturn) and the delusions imposed by the White House (Neptune) are being revealed.

10. The story starts blending into a long string of administration scandals, and through skillful use of scandal fatigue, Bush weathers the storm and moves on, further demoralizing his opponents and cementing the press narrative about his ‘resolve’ and toughness.

Unfortunately the planets are saying that Bush may in fact weather this storm. Although he has a string of difficult Saturn transits earlier in the year, he is currently affected by Jupiter influences that are causing him to be more arrogant (Jupiter/Mars in his chart) than usual, and to care even less for established power structures (Jupiter square to his natal Pluto through next August). More importantly, Pluto (transformation) is making a harmonious aspect to the cusp of his career house, showing that he is likely to achieve success during this period.

We can only hope that through this process he begins to learn from his errors and begin to become a more productive president.

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