OPTIMISM vs. PESSIMISM

Thanks to a response to my last column from one of my readers, I am now aware that, when I include an illustrative chart with my article, many of my readers think of it as a chart.  When we see an astrological chart we tend to think in terms of the planets in the signs, in aspect to each other, and in houses because we think of the chart as representing some event.  However, the "chart" included with this article (for December 27, the peak date of this grand cross) and the one included with my article in the November edition of Echo* (The Grand Crosses of 2005) were only to illustrate the grand crosses and should not have been construed as charts of an event.  Because these grand crosses last for weeks, the "houses" in these illustrative "charts" were meaningless, irrelevant, and should have been ignored.  The aspects between the planets in a grand cross and the signs occupied by those planets are highly significant.  To avoid any confusion, I have used a format for the "chart" that accompanies this article, which includes the signs of the zodiac and the planets in the grand cross but no houses.

I also want to thank the same reader for drawing my attention to the need to explain why I dwell on what some readers may consider "negative" or pessimistic outcomes of the aspects I describe in a grand cross.  To give some historical perspective, what the great professional astrologers of antiquity had to say about squares and oppositions - the aspects that make up the grand cross - was not very uplifting.  For example, the Medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti said, "the aspect of opposition is called an evil aspect, and it is the aspect of ultimate enmity, ultimate malice, and ultimate discord" (every grand cross has two oppositions).  But a really important point is that we all have a choice - we do not have to respond to the "negative" energies inherent in a grand cross by being fearful, depressed, resentful, frustrated, anxious, stressed, etc.  Instead, we can choose to not let these planetary forces drag us down or make us feel like we are carrying a cross on our back.  We can choose to use the challenges of the cross (represented by the four squares) in constructive ways.  It is not my intention to cause my readers to dread the conflicts and tensions inherent in a cross but to inform and forewarn so that you can be prepared when someone else is responding to the cross in negative fashion.