Monthly Archives: November 2021

Dad had a Grand Cross

The grand cross is known as a tough pattern, with challenges throughout life. The standard descriptions I’ve heard characterize it as scattering the energies and presenting repeated crises. I’d instead suggest it as a strong motivating force, demanding compromise and bringing notable developments in life from time to time. All of course depends on the planets, their essential dignity and placement in the horoscope.

My dad passed ten years ago and is never far from my mind. He was centered, stable, good-humored and yes, he had a grand cross. Don Christino was born at home in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I believe his time of birth is essentially correct. Uranus in Pisces in his 10th house fell in a T-square with his Gemini Ascendant and Jupiter in Sagittarius conjunct the Descendant. All of his positions in life were relatively independent. He had a restlessness about him and was multi-talented: a handyman, driver, gardener, mechanic, bird watcher and personal accountant.

The grand cross in cardinal signs includes the Sun in Aries, Moon in Libra, Mars in Capricorn and Pluto in Cancer. I believe Mars and Pluto work for the 2nd-8th houses. He prioritized job security and benefits, and when he died at the age of 87, his affairs were in perfect order. Don grew up during the Great Depression, worked a paper route as a boy, and made money from football pools at school (which the principal shut down as they were starting to do really well). He loved telling the story of how he earned more than his father one Christmas holiday.

The full Moon squaring Mars and Pluto suggests contention in the home. His father was a Libra who apparently left all household tasks to his wife, creating conflict. Don ended up doing much of the heavier work at a young age, including getting up early to shovel coal in the winter. But he liked the responsibility and doing things for himself and others. His Ascendant ruler Mercury in Pisces is drawn into the grand cross, and gave him charm, compassion and understanding. (A Viet Nam vet told us at his funeral that he’d helped him get over the war. No idea what he did, but it made sense.)

Aquarius on the MC and a prominent Uranus drew him to engineering (often associated with square aspects) and he began a college course. But World War II intervened, a disruption of his life path nicely symbolized by Uranus in the 10th house. With the Sun in Aries and Mars in Capricorn (out-of-bounds in declination), he led a tank unit. Hard Pluto aspects may also point toward a strong survival instinct or the experience of traumatic events like these. After the war he joined the police force in Brooklyn and was a motorcycle cop on the block where I later lived for over 25 years. He subsequently became a credit card detective and finally a Court Officer. He notably guarded mass-murderer Joel Rifkin at his sentencing in 1996 (as Jupiter conjoined his Mars and Uranus into Aquarius sextiled his Sun from the cusp of the 9th house). The video was featured on the evening news and his picture was on the front page of the daily papers.

(The photo of us is probably from the late ’80s.)
I feel the strong essential dignity in my father’s chart helped him overcome the challenges his early life presented. The Sun exalted in Aries and Mercury in its detriment both fall in the fortunate 11th house. He was gregarious and popular, but had no ambition for any great achievements. Venus is dignified in Taurus, Mars exalted in Capricorn and Jupiter angular (conjunct the 7th cusp) in its ruling sign of Sagittarius. As he could be generous to a fault, there similarly always seemed to be someone on hand to help when needed.

He was happiest lifting a glass with friends and family, and was a part-time bartender at his club for much of his life (Gemini rising with Mercury in Pisces). He loved tending to his backyard “farm,” battled squirrels every year, and avidly followed the Three Tenors (Venus in Taurus in the 12th). Straightforward and direct, he believed that serving on a jury was a wonderful experience, yet typically Southern Italian, he trusted few authorities and felt politicians were “all a bunch of thieves.” (Uranus in the 10th square Jupiter in Sagittarius, and traditional MC ruler Saturn in Scorpio). He enjoyed reading Michener, Mark Twain and James Herriot, was a wonderful storyteller himself, and had a deep and hearty laugh (Jupiter trine Neptune).

Does a grand cross signal a frustrated, sad or wasted life? Indeed not. Planetary placement and dignity are often more important to consider than aspects. This horoscope clearly shows why we shouldn’t too quickly judge a prominent pattern without a thorough study of all facets of the chart.

Neptune and Transcendentalism

The Transcendentalist literary and philosophical movement from mid-19th century New England stressed intuition, self-reliance and human godliness. Since the unseen and eternal were valued, Transcendentalists supported metaphysical thinking, which underlies an astrological world view. I believe that Evangeline Adams’ teacher, Dr. J. Heber Smith (1842-1898) and Adams herself were influenced by this movement, which was often allied with Unitarianism and reform.

Expect Great Things, Kevin Dann’s biography of Henry David Thoreau, explores his connections with the transcendent world. Thoreau captured personal insights and ecstatic experiences in his poetry and journals, many of which are shared in this book. He revered the power of nature and learned about Indigenous cultures.

We don’t have a definitive birth time for Thoreau, but his Sun and Mercury closely contraparallel Uranus and Neptune show his insightful and intuitive focus. He wrote, “Every mortal sent into this world has a star in the heavens appointed to guide him. It has sent its beam to him, either through clouds and mists faintly or through a serene heaven.” And he believed that, “in eternity there is indeed something true and sublime.”

Thoreau read widely on classical hermeticism, the daimon, the ether and the immortality of the soul. He was a student of mythology, and while Thoreau was not an astrologer himself, his biographer considers seven-year cycles, Martian energies and the long-term influence of Neptune. Dann places the Transcendentalist movement near the planet’s discovery, word of which came to U.S. shores on October 20, 1846, nearly a month after its announcement (before transcontinental telegraph communications).

Before the name Neptune was settled on, Atlas was preferred for the planet (referencing the Titan obliged to hold up the heavens after their revolt against the Olympian gods). The first use of ether for anesthesia in the U.S. was on October 19 of that year, and it replaced mesmeric anesthesia (without the side effect of clairvoyance!). Dann sees this time as representing a turning point from a spiritual understanding of myth to its study as a purely academic subject, and the subsequent embrace of a mechanistic and materialistic view, when, in Thoreau’s words, “shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths.” The cycle of Neptune in Pisces from 1848-1862 spanned much of Thoreau’s career.

In addition to tracing Thoreau’s life of ideals and later support of John Brown, Dann also looks at Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller’s interest in mesmerism and spiritualism, and Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott’s efforts to convey Transcendental ideas to a wider audience.

A wonderful book for students of U.S. history, philosophy and metaphysical thinking. Kevin Dann has done a tremendous amount of research to capture not only the history, but also the soul and spirit of a man and his times.

Expect Great Things on Amazon.com

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