For the past few months the planets have been moving into a rare celestial formation known in esoteric astrology as the Cardinal Cross of the Central Spiritual Sun. With so many influential planets involved, I have to remark how this alignment is one I personally have never actually witnessed in thirty years of star-gazing – nor are am I likely to for quite some time to come (to be honest, I can’t find a similar set up in the next century). So we’d best be aware how this marks an intense period of accelerated evolution. This is because all the early degrees of motivated Cardinal signs are now working together to direct us towards our Spiritual centre, to locate our core so that we can rest in Divinity, a place we Buddhist types call 'our Buddha nature'.
Obviously, any kind of meditation practice will help one to remain aligned with our own Buddha nature during this period of potentially immense (global) change; and how this challenging Cross affects each individual, much will depend on the horoscope’s own slice of time. Indeed, while we have three planets in Libra, the sign of balance – and often reversal, we may sense that we are at a turning point, a place of choice where we can either carry on as always, or to move towards liberation.
For those choosing freedom (from attachment and aversion) and to become aware of his or her's own blissful eternity, we have time to stimulate our source, as Spiritual Sun, into the action of light and love, as this is a long drawn out configuration with moments of intense intellectual, psychological, spiritual and physical movement, such as this Lammas day of the 7th August (Lammas is the pagan fire festival of the first harvest – the ripening begins), when we once again witness this Cross in the sky, as the Moon moves into early degrees of Cancer to fully activate this very special Cardinal Cross.
As an aside, from our last Full Moon, on June 26th, to our New Moon on Tuesday August 10th, we are in poignant (solstice) moment when the Sun’s light of consciousness also illuminates the Cross formation – so it’s good to note which concerns are in focus at this time, as well as options available for resolution, because these will be worked on, expanded and transformed throughout the coming months.
The astrological nuts and bolts of this Cross are complicated, however; so bare with it as we explore the celestial dynamics associated with the emotional Cancer Moon in opposition to transformational Pluto in responsible Capricorn (conjunct the galactic centre), as these two lie across the midnight-midday axis; and expansive Jupiter conjunct awakening Uranus in dynamic Aries opposite loving Venus, active Mars and karmic Saturn in Libra, who are all now the sign of balance, and are our sunrise-sunset makers.
This is a lot to consider (even by a seasoned astrologer’s standards!); but when we think of the sky as a great big clock, and how the sun moves around all the major points, from sunrise to midday, to sunset and midnight, we can see how we now have powerful events taking place at all points, directing us to our spiritual centre.
These points in time are further understood when we look at a mandala, which is a multidimensional time machine - a magical circle where time, space, and the cosmic elements depict the eternal cycle of life. Round, like our twenty-four hour clock face, the mandala also has four main gates based upon the cardinal directions: East, South, West and North, these correspond to the sun’s daily path, the planets in their orbits, as well as astrologically to Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Depending upon which mandala we look at, the mandala will also contain the symbolic Sun and the Moon, and in the Kalachakra Mandala we also have the planets and signs of the zodiac (Kala = Time, Chakra = Wheel).
At the centre of the mandala resides an enlightened deity, who is in harmony with the cosmos. As all the gates of our heavenly Mandala (which can be likened to a Native American Medicine Wheel) are now activated, the firmaments reveal, how, all constellated at the same time, there are many ways to our Divine centre, where each of us can align mind and body to spirit, during this supremely powerful time of the Cardinal Cross of the Spiritual Sun.
Throughout this period of opening to our Central Spirit it’s important to note where the planet Uranus is, especially with the relationship it makes to each individual horoscope, as Uranus is the Great Awakener, the planetary agent who brings about major change, often through opportunistic chaos and disruption that shows the way of innovation and universal development. While Uranus is now with expansive Jupiter in warrior Aries, the sign of an individual assertion and collective willpower, the changes we are currently witnessing are manifold – and personal energy, responses and emotions magnified. It is, however, a time of enormous potential, where the spirit of positive progress calls each and every spiritual warrior to raise our vibration and come from the heart centre, and do what is best for ourselves, our fellow beings and our Earth.
Three planets in this cross are currently retrograde: Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto; because the latter are generational, it suggests collective transformation is initially through a process of inner-metamorphosis: outward change being a manifestation of inner-change. Even when Jupiter and Uranus slip back into Pisces, from late August to February/March, they still form a Cross (through the ongoing T-square), which then becomes a mix of revisited mutability and asserting Cardinal. As Jupiter and Uranus both return to initiating Aries, the Cross will once again become solely the monthly Cardinal Cross, lasting until August 2011 (thought the cross finally ends in 2016), when the planets move into another formation, leaving only the square between Uranus – Pluto, which will then lasts for another four years in its’ series of no less than seven exact hits. These planetary alignments are incredibly rare: one can only image the increased awareness our planet will go through during the awakening of our Spiritual Sun.
As we will come up time and time again to this rare junction of many crossroads for the next year, I’m writing up an in-depth sign-by-sign guide (which will get posted up in the next couple of days); there’s not too much intricate Buddhist philosophy or astrology other that what is outlined here (promise!), so most everyone will be able to read his or her Sun sign/Rising sign, to see where Uranus and the other planets in the Cardinal Cross lie in their scopes, and be aware of what to expect and how best to deal with this dramatic period of evolution.
“With good will for the entire cosmos,
cultivate an infinite heart and mind:
Beaming above, below, and all around,
unobstructed, without trace of hostility.”
Sutta Nipata I, 8
