In the fall of 2005, intensifying in DECEMBER 2005, Saturn in FIXED LEO moves into position to create a FIXED GRAND CROSS. A GRAND CROSS is created when 4 planets all square each other. This one occurs in the FIXED signs. Jupiter is in FIXED SCORPIO (Jupiter enters Scorpio on October 25), Neptune is in FIXED AQUARIUS, and Mars spends extra time in FIXED TAURUS, where it will Retrograde this fall (October 1 - December 10). Mars stations Retrograde at 23 degrees Taurus on October 1, 2005 and stations Direct at 8 degrees Taurus on December 10, 2005. The Grand Cross intensifies in mid December as Mars starts to move forward and squares Saturn and Neptune while opposing Jupiter.
[Summer 2005 features a preview of the end-of-the-year events as Mars in Aries opposes Jupiter (June 25) and squares Saturn (July 31). So whatever happens this summer doesn't end with the summer, it spills into the fall and winter ahead and for the next 2 years ahead....]
When there is a FIXED GRAND CROSS, this indicates a build-up of intensity and energy. The Will to achieve important goals can become so absolute and compelling that, you can endure any and all challenges, yet continue to stick exactly to The Plan. As the pressure builds into a FIXED SQUARE, energy stabilizes and becomes congealed or hardened, so whatever does not support the structure will become obviously weak and need to be fixed. Internalizing or personalizing the tension can create inner blocks of frustrated energy, or congestion that will not let go. The tendency is to hold on tight to whatever you own, possess, or control, including people, relationships, things, careers, power, and money. You may know what you want and feel very certain about what to do and how to get it AND keep it. And during the FIXED SQUARE you can be feeling especially certain of your moral correctness or your right to have what you deserve. You can make plans and set goals, yet to get along with others, you may need to adapt, which may not seem possible. If your determination turns into rigidity, all progress will stop and energy become inhibited, crystallized, and congested. And since Mars and Saturn are included in this Grand Square, ego gratification and glorification can turn a grand plan into a rigid demand and there can be intolerance to opposing views and a refusal to make crucial, timely changes. You may become confused between doing what you feel is necessary for the greater plan to succeed and the immediate consequences to individuals. Negative emotions like anger and jealousy can turn inward and become so critical and judgmental they decay into negative attitudes and contaminating diseases that become so ingrained, insidious, and entrenched they cannot be changed or removed. Feelings that are deeply buried may become apparent through disease or emotional crisis, but there is no simple fix for moving out of entrenched and toxic patterns that are not working. Movement beyond this phase is a softening process, and there is no magic pill or bullet that will make everything immediately ideal. Softening can feel like a loss of power and potency to anyone who realizes that power is built slowly and by holding on, not by letting go. You cannot force anyone to be compassionate, yet by focusing only on absolute goals, we can lose our compassion and become emotionally (and possibly physically) rigid.
So what does all this MEAN??? DENIAL is firmly entrenched. We are certain we are right, everyone else is wrong. It will take a major awakening to change this. Don't agree? That's the point. This is a time of being STUBBORN. NO ONE can tell YOU anything! You already know it all, so no progress can be made because you are unwilling to change ANYTHING and if you are not committed to your growth, you and your situation will remain exactly as it is. If you insist on continuing an argument and refuse to listen or take action, you can start to feel MORE frustrated and stuck than ever. If you always HAVE TO be right and automatically dismiss all other ideas, feedback, and information, you are assuring that you will continue to judge and remain stuck and angry, and even try to manipulate others into your trap. How? By projecting blame and guilt onto others while you, of course, remain blameless. And stuck. We spend a lot of time complaining about feeling stuck, blaming others for this feeling--- it's our parents, or our husband, or the kids, society, or that crazy woman, but all of this time is not productive and while it helps us to vent or invent more excuses, it does nothing to get us out of our bind. Why? Because blaming others does not give YOU any space to take responsibility for yourself and your decisions--- regardless of the outcome. But, when you hold onto all resentment, project blame and guilt, and seek to humiliate others into accepting what you (secretly) see as your faults, and the frustration seems overwhelming that you may finally realize you are INVESTED in keeping things exactly as they are. On one hand, you are stuck. On the other, you have a security system that ensures your survival. It is ok to need a security or support system. It is not ok to blame others and assume the responsibility level of a child when you are an adult. This kind of stubborn behavior will make sure you slip whenever you take big, important steps in your life, somehow finding yourself right back at the starting point--- unless you are willing to take responsibility for your self: faults, flaws, and fabulous. If you cannot stand in your dignity, you cannot let others stand in theirs, and you will continually find yourself embroiled in a battle of wills that is taking you and everyone you contact absolutely nowhere. LOVE does NOT mean never saying you are sorry, but it does mean that when you come FROM your love you need to belittle or berate others, you can allow others their dignity because you are willing to stand in your full dignity, and let others stand in theirs. If you really insist that your astrology forecasts be one word or less, you are looking for excuses, not understanding.
So what's the big problem with projecting your negativity onto others? It may seem like they "deserve" it. The problem is that you lose because you dis-empower yourself every time you deny your own responsibility and put it on someone else. You make yourself into "the victim", you attempt to mask or cover up your inner insecurity by rejecting it and putting it onto someone else, and by doing this, you feel dis-empowered because you feel like a fraud, inside, where it really matters. You give your responsibility over to someone else, and you feel like a fraud for not taking responsibility, so you feel guilty and you hold on to negative emotions that turn into resentment, that sits there, increasing in toxicity until you step up and OWN it. The good news is you can do that any time, no guilt, no blame, no humiliation. Just release and empower. Because if you're not working to improve yourself, you're a burden on everyone around you, like a little toxicity bubble trying to drag everyone down a peg, to your perceived lower level. This is a manipulative emotional tactic because you don't really believe you're any lower than anyone else. Realize it, let it go, move on to something more interesting and uplifting. You don't lose when you encourage and elevate others, but you do lose when you let resentment be your guide.
At WINTER SOLSTICE on December 21, 2005, the FIXED GRAND SQUARE is very close to exact, which means that everything said in the last paragraph is greatly intensified and continues through the winter.
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This page was written in the early spring of 2005, several months before Saturn entered Leo.