grand crosses

Notes on Grand Crosses

  • The Grand Cross is created with a minimum of four planets involved. There are four squares in total and two oppositions. Squares are 90 degrees while the opposition is 180 degrees.

  • The Grand Cross can also be known as the Grand Square.

  • The Grand Cross can have various appearances depending on the position of the planets - with that in mind, some individuals can have only the four squares or just the two oppositions. It depends on the orb used by the astrologer.

  • Planets involved in the Grand Cross are in the same modality so with that in mind, you can have the following Grand Crosses:

    • Cardinal Grand Cross

    • Fixed Grand Cross

    • Mutable Grand Cross

  • With this in mind, natives with the Grand Cross will often encounter issues with the expression of energy.

    • Those with a Cardinal Grand Cross will face lessons in learning how to initiate their own energy. Those with a Cardinal Grand Cross can often be overly ambitious and they must learn how to harness their energy in a productive, solid direction.

    • Those with a Fixed Grand Cross will face lessons in learning how to stabilize their own energy. Those with a Fixed Grand Cross can often feel stuck, and they must learn how to maintain their energy and power in even the most volatile of situations.

    • Those with a Mutable Grand Cross will face lessons in learning how to be flexible with their own energy. Those with a Mutable Grand Cross can often will lost, and they must learn how to establish boundaries, yet still remain energetically flexible.

  • The Grand Cross is often seen as the “opposite” of the Grand Trine. Unlike the Grand Trine, the Grand Cross is generally seen to be a challenging aspect pattern, since only squares and oppositions, discordant aspects, are involved.

  • However, like the Grand Trine, there are many successful individuals that have the Grand Cross. Those with a Grand Cross are very ambitious, since they are usually always facing some kind of problem. Due to the many obstacles, there is a great potential for fulfillment and growth.

  • Those who have a Grand Cross tend to be very hardworking. However, they can easily feel hopeless or discouraged with their failures, the opposing circumstances sometimes being too overwhelming to handle.

  • There are also Grand Crosses in different houses:

    • Angular Grand Cross (1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th House) - Dealing with with core pieces of the self

    • Succedent Grand Cross (2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th) - Dealing with issues that stabilize the self

    • Cadent Grand Cross (3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th) - Dealing with issues that expand the self

  • The Grand Cross will often bring balance issues. With the Grand Cross, the native will often face volatility when the native expresses too heavily of a certain sign. For example, in a Cardinal Grand Cross, if the native acted too strongly upon their Aries energy, the Capricorn and Cancer energies will block the Aries energy while the Libra energy will provide a way to give balance to the individual.

  • The planets involved in the Grand Cross will all have different elements. If the native successfully utilizes the Grand Cross, they will have mastery in a certain modality in all four elements, meaning that the native has the power to positively express their energies on any medium, whether it be emotionally, intuitively, physically, and mentally.

  • Whether asteroids is involved in the Grand Cross is up to the astrologer. Angles such as the Ascendant and Midheaven can be included in the Grand Cross.