April 2014 is the month of the long-anticipated cardinal grand cross—what I have called the peak astrology of the 2012 era. The aspect pattern that's exact on April 23 has been forming for many decades, a hologram swirling in the seemingly random movements of the cosmos awaiting its moment of emergence. That is about to arrive with both deeply personal themes and vast global ones.
They share a common thread, and that is trust.
I know it's not easy for nonastrologers to take too much technical explanation of a chart, but the meaning, beauty and outstanding quality of this alignment would lose much of its impact if you didn't really have a sense of what it actually is. Plus, if you know, you can then explain it to others. I've included a custom illustration and I will do my best to explain it so that anyone can follow. I've placed a chart in the middle of the page and I'll put the instructions for where to look in the chart [in bold and in brackets].
With just a little focus and patience, I think that the chart image will emerge.
A grand cross (sometimes called a grand square) consists of planets at four equidistant points of the zodiac, which locates the Earth at the center as if in a crosshairs. The Earth is not shown in an astrological chart; it's presumed to be in the middle of the wheel. Such patterns lose or gain astrological importance, power or influence (as you prefer), based on what planets are involved, how quickly or slowly they move, where the cross is aligned within the zodiac—plus any unusual factors that might be involved. By all of those measures, this grand cross gets high scores.
The four points of the cross fall close to the cardinal points, those associated with the "four directions." The four points involved all have the bold number 13 next to them, which is their degree location within their respective signs. Planets with the same degree number are said to be "in aspect." This aspect is a giant square. [The square is easy to see by following the red lines in the middle of the chart.]
The cardinal points are associated with peaks and balancing moments of the Sun's energy as the seasons change (the equinoxes and the solstices). Two of the planets involved consist of an aspect I've been writing about here for years, called the Uranus-Pluto square. That is a 90-degree meeting of two very slow-moving planets whose current cycle began with the conjunction of 1965-1966, rippling out for years on either side—the whole business we refer to as The Sixties.
First let's look at the Uranus-Pluto square. Uranus is now in Aries [a blue H-like thing, toward the left, below the horizontal line]. When you think of Uranus in Aries, think of radical individualism that can express itself creatively, or get lost in the glamour of technology. Think revolution that can set people free or get caught up in self-aggrandizement. Think scientific innovation that can serve negative or positive interests for the community. Consider the ways that our culture is becoming the product of its own technology—which means that the technology is out of our control.
The second part of the Uranus-Pluto square is Pluto. Pluto is now in Capricorn [depicted as a red golf tee, to the upper left of the chart]. When you think of Pluto in Cap, think of systems breakdowns and the collapse of overlarge, too-old institutions. Think of the banking crisis. Think of struggles for and obsession with power, doing it "because you can," and the constant sensation that this all may be crashing down.
With Pluto in Capricorn, the evolutionary drive of Pluto is being applied to "the system" itself. This has been a long time coming. "The system" may seem indomitable, but it's much more fragile than you may think. On a really good day, various system collapses could get dysfunctional stuff out of the way, and give us an opportunity to build something new and positive in the cleared space. But those are two very different things—the destruction and the rebuilding. They call upon two very different kinds of commitments.