Grand Cross

Who is Alexandria Ocasio Cortez? The astrological profile

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This was originally posted in January 2019 but has been updated to reflect the availability of her birth time.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was recently elected to the US House of Representatives from the 14th District of New York – the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress.  Not only that, she is in the middle of her first Saturn Return.

The Saturn Return happens to each of us every 28-30 years when Saturn, traveling through its orbit around the Sun, returns to the degree of the sign that it holds in our natal astrological chart.  Because Saturn represents the virtues of hard work and achievement as well as the distress of tests and challenges, the Saturn Return is an important time and one in which we are often tested with experiences that may feel outside of our control.  But the Saturn Return can also be a time of great achievement and growth.  This is the period during which we realize that we have to grow up and start adulting, and this process is more comfortable for some than for others.  Some individuals find this too difficult, flaming out in their careers and shifting to another path, while some begin to achieve success during this time.

Recently I wrote about this crop of Saturn Return people who were born during the early 1990s when Uranus, Saturn and Neptune were all conjunct in Capricorn.  Here is an important takeaway from that article:

These periods can be very difficult, but for Saturn/Capricorn people they have the potential to be life changing in highly beneficial ways.  Many of the Capricorn stellium people, with the dreamy genius of Uranus/Neptune in their charts, have had difficulty coming to terms with the duality in their personalities between the creative inspiration of […]

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By |2019-04-10T16:17:52-04:00April 8th, 2019|People, Politics|8 Comments

The astrology of the Las Vegas shooter

Las Vegas shooter astrologyAfter the worst mass shooting in modern US history (we can save the massacre of the native Americans for another discussion but let’s not forget it entirely), and that is really saying something since we have had more than 1,500 shootings since the Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012, there appears to be nearly no information about the shooter, now deceased, who masterminded the plot to kill as many people as possible from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel.  With the recent news that Stephen Paddock was prescribed Valium, some are speculating that it was the Valium that motivated this quiet man to this horrific act.  But one look at his astrological birthchart and you can see that this was a very complicated man.

Paddock’s astrological Sun was in the sign of Aries, the sign of the Warrior, but it was part of a very challenging Grand Cross.  There was a part of him that craved connection with others and wanted to get along (Sun conjunct Venus)  but he had trouble establishing those connections (Venus retrograde) and was shy and insecure, especially where women were concerned (Venus opposed by Saturn).  He was very hard on himself and felt he had a great deal to prove (Saturn retrograde and opposite Sun) and he often felt misunderstood by others (Neptune opposite Sun).

Las Vegas shooter astrology Click to Enlarge

A challenging relationship with his father is evident by the stressful aspects from three intense planets to his Sun – the father often appears in the chart as the Sun.  He was likely criticized and failed to meet his father’s approval (Saturn retrograde opposite his Sun) and there is evidence of the chart of a separation from […]

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By |2019-11-10T19:13:14-05:00October 4th, 2017|Crime|9 Comments

Journeys with Mars and the Uranus/Pluto square

Art by Kathleen Farago Art by Kathleen Farago

I’m finishing up the Planetary Illuminations report, but I wanted to give you a heads up on this important cycle.

You can read in the sidebar about the square aspect between Uranus and Pluto that has been creating intensity, drama and change since the two planets first came together back in 2011 (their first meeting was just a degree from exactitude, but close enough to pack a punch).  The sixth exact square is in mid-December, but during November they will be moving closer and closer to the exact alignment that will likely foster even more breakdown (Pluto) and realignment (Uranus).

As Mars travels through Capricorn it will align with Pluto and form a challenging square to Uranus.  By November 5th Mars will be close enough to Pluto that we will start to feel it in earnest, and the exact conjunction will take place November 10th. Mars represents the anger and passion of the individual, where Pluto represents a transformational force that destroys and rebuilds.  These two planets together are a formidable force that will energize but also inspire us to purge and eliminate anything from our life that no longer works.

At the same time, Mars will be in a square to Uranus.  Uranus is the radical – the innovator and the one which shatters paradigms.  It will be difficult to resist realignment and change under this combination of influences.  The exact square from Mars to Uranus occurs November 12th.  The Moon moves through Cancer during this same period, and when a Grand Cross forms on November 10th we are likely to see a climax of intensity and passion that breaks apart anything in our lives that is brittle and dying, and […]

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By |2019-11-10T18:59:07-05:00October 30th, 2014|Planetary cycles|2 Comments

Astrology today: Grand Cross update, April 21 2014

april grand cross  

In April, a big lineup of planets in cardinal signs of action have created stress and tension with opportunities for release and transformation.  Transformation is not always easy, and the tension of the grand cross can bring conflict and crisis.  Sometimes the intensity is more than certain individuals can bear, and we see this play out in the news.

Mars, planet of aggression, has been traveling retrograde where it is dredging up old resentments and because it is traveling so slowly, its influence is stronger and lasts for a longer period of time.

Jupiter, planet of expansion and opportunity, is in Cancer where it is opening the heart and revealing our emotional sensitivity.

We are also dealing with Pluto, planet of death and rebirth, in Capricorn, an earth sign.  I have long predicted that when Pluto entered Capricorn we would see an abundance of earthquakes and earth changes, especially when Pluto aligned in a square (90 degree) aspect to Uranus.  Uranus is the planet that causes disruption and awakens change.

Yesterday the Moon entered the already tense Grand Cross, making a total of five planets and luminaries locked in this tight alignment.  Yet one day later, the world is still turning on its axis and not much has changed.

We have had difficult planetary alignments since 2008, and most intensively since 2011.  Many of us are becoming accustomed to this new degree of intensity, so a few days of heightened magnetism does not cause great distress.  It is generally at the beginning of these periods, when the new energies are just beginning to enter our consciousness, that we find them most difficult to manage.

I am not inclined to jump on the bandwagon of doom and […]

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By |2022-12-02T08:15:05-05:00April 21st, 2014|Planetary cycles|13 Comments

The Cardinal Drama peaks tonight

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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By |2010-08-06T14:49:33-04:00August 6th, 2010|Planetary cycles|4 Comments