This Full Moon on January 12th 2017 is setting off a cardinal grand cross in the heavens. Because there are outer planets involved, we know we are in a time of great change. Let’s dig a bit deeper to see what is happening. A Grand Cross occurs when 4 points, each 90 degrees away from each other in the zodiac, are all activated by celestial bodies at one time. Because every 3^rd sign in the zodiac is activated, and there are 3 modalities, Grand Crosses tend to happen in one modality at a time. So right now, all the planets involved are in Cardinal signs. Modalities speak to the part of the season a sign falls in; the cardinal signs initiate seasons. There is great force behind them for this reason. Think of the heat and celebration of July, the grief and transition of October, the stillness and cold of January, and the budding excitement of April. These are Cancer, Libra, Capricorn, Aries respectively; and this is the cardinal cross. A final component to grand crosses, is the 1^st to 10^th house relationship, which is when a planet is 270 degrees forward in the zodiac (also known as 90 degrees behind). This happens when one sign is rising in the east and the other is culminating above in the south. The ancients called this domination, because the sign above could be seen as dominating the sign on the horizon. I prefer to see it as the sign on the horizon looking up to the sign culminating, and learning from this signs teachings. Every planet in a grand cross is teaching another and learning from another, which creates a circuit of exchange, and endless harmony.

So lets look at the planets involved, and how they are learning from each other.

Uranus in Aries is the genius and insanity of individuality. It is the liberation of Spring; it is budding growth and emergence from winter. So it speaks of a time of great coming out. The force of Aries can be quite brutal if what was harbored inside was not tended properly. Uranus will conduct the force, but also break it open and explode it into the universe. So what is emerging now? This placement is not without violence. It speaks of the pain of blooming; and really, forced blooming. We may now be forced to grow in ways that seems impossible, but it is possible, if we can let the lighting of Uranus move through us instead of fighting it. That is why Uranus is liberation. It comes when we stop fighting against our own wisdom as it connects to the collective. It is very much about awakening. That does not mean all that will be awakened will be moral or beautiful. Fundamentally, Uranus in Aries is the liberation of the warrior principal. War is filled with atrocities, but there are those who maintain integrity; who choose which battles they will fight and who serve as defenders. The book The Fourfold Way talks about the Warrior as the ability to show up and be present; and I think we can all feel this calling to us now. Uranus in Aries looks up to Pluto and the Sun in Capricorn.

Pluto in Capricorn is the subterranean power inherent in the elders of any culture. The elders are the keepers of the traditions, the ones who remember the old ways. Capricorn is the stillness of Winter; it starts with the winter solstice, which is the longest night of the year when the Sun stops it descent and begins to ascend. Christian overlay reminds us that it is a time of rebirth for the spiritual principal within humanity. Capricorn is mountain energy; old remembering power. Pluto is the subterranean power at the base of the mountain. The question always becomes how do we use this power? Mountains are respected, honored, venerated places where Spirit is found. But I see the abuse of Pluto when we mine the earth; when we steal power from Her. Pluto in Capricorn asks us to go inside and find the stillness of the sun-stop; find the old traditions and remember the power that is latent in the land. This is the elder wisdom. This is what the young warrior needs to learn; respect. The power inherent in respect. When we stop respecting, Pluto has a nasty way of corrupting Souls through greed and lust for power, and it can happen to any of us. The Sun shining on this now can expose and purify pain and greed held within ourselves, that we may find power beneath it all. What do we do when we learn the power of respect? Pluto in Capricorn looks up to Jupiter in Libra.

Jupiter in Libra is the Spiritual Law of equality and justice. These laws apply to any human, animal, plant, rock and black hole in the universe. It is an abstract idea that equality reigns. It speaks to harmony and balance; that these are inherent in this universe. That for every action there is an equal and opposite action. Even as we discover our power through Pluto, we must always remember we are not better than anyone else, even those who abuse and dismantle the Earth. We are all connected in a web of harmonizing reactions to each other. When it comes to you and me, there is equality; I exist in this way because another exists in this balancing way. Jupiter in Libra asks us not to fall into extreme power struggles, but to climb out of the pit of despair (with your new found respect) and put a hand out to your fellow human, plant, animal, etc. It is about expanding into the other, or at least out to meet the other. If we can’t share, we have got nothing. There is a danger that this idea of equality will become too abstract, and we will find laws that do not serve individuals and people who have become inert because personal meaning has been lost. Here is where Jupiter in Libra can learn from the Moon in Cancer.

This Cancer Full Moon is setting off the cardinal grand cross, and she reminds us that we have personal stories and meaning in our lives. The Cancer Moon speaks to us through memory; personal, ancestral and cultural memory. She is the great pregnant mother who holds the emotions of cultures through story; the same way she holds our personal emotions. This is how we learn to connect with one another, to be empathetic and listen. This is where to learn what our ancestors felt, and feel what the ancestors of another person has felt. This is how we know that these ancestral stories are alive in the individual bodies that exist in this world today. See we need this Moon to remind us of our humanity; she must inform our judgment. Meaning we must listen and empathize with another’s story before we can judge whether they have received fairly from the world. The equality we experience through Jupiter must not forget the individual. And we do we do with this emotional knowledge; this experience? We look forward to the Warrior, and we know how we must be reborn; we must show up and be present.

So we see the warrior learns about the true nature of their power from the elder; who learns the tenants of equality from the diplomat; who learns the stories of the culture from the mother. Now we are ready to begin. And it goes the other way as well: the warriors can teach the mothers how to fight; the mothers can teach the diplomats how to empathize; the diplomats can teach the elders how to share their wisdom; and the elders teach the warriors what to fight for.

And truly all of these things are happening at once and aspecting each other. The warrior who fights for herself and her community, must find balance with the sage who says she is equal to whom she is fighting. The mothers who hold the stories of individual communities must find balance with the elders who say the wisdom is in the land and the traditions. This is a metaphor also for small communities and large communities; for individuality and equality. So how can we hold all of this wisdom at once? How can we bring change and harmony; how can we rise up and sink down; how can we stand at the center of power and live in right relationship with our world and our community?