Crosses We Carry (Transformation & Resurrection via the T-Cross), PT One

Southern Cross, Wikipedia

When astrologers first told me I had a Mutable T-Cross in my chart, I just shrugged it off.  At that time, (I was in my early 20s), I had no idea about the purpose of a T-Cross in a natal chart and I certainly knew little, if anything about the planets involved with my T-Cross.  Ignorance is bliss, right? Wrong.  While a T-Cross isn't as challenging as a Yod, which gives a person little direction or the wherewithal to accomplish their strange missions in life, T-Crosses do take people with them through a process of self-understanding and transformation.

First, let's look at the definition of a T-Cross that I'm working with.  Two or more planets oppose each other and another planet (or planets) square both of the opposing planets.  For anyone who has seen their natal chart printed out in color, the oppositions and squares are represented by red lines.  And similar to the red markings of an editor's pen on a manuscript, these red lines draw our attention and yes, they are a bit frightening when Pluto, Mars, Uranus or Saturn are involved.  In this case, ignorance is not bliss.  So let's break this down so we can further understand the dialogue of the planets and we will use my chart as an example.

In my chart, Saturn and Moon in Pisces (4 and 5 degrees) oppose Uranus and Pluto in Virgo (6 & 11 degrees) and Mars forms the final leg in the cross squaring both pairs of planets (Gemini 8 degrees).  Saturn and Moon fall in the 2nd House, Uranus and Pluto in 8/9th houses and Mars falls on the cusps of the 5th/6th houses when using an Equal House System (which I use).  As a reminder, the 2nd House represents talents, skills, resources and in traditional astrology, moveable resources.  The house's natural ruler is Taurus and this house has a lot to do with money earned by the individual as opposed to resources of another source which is represented by the 8th House, ruled by Scorpio.  The 5th House ruled by Leo is the entertainment, recreation, children, and affairs house while the 6th House represents daily routine, job, work place, health (in traditional astrology, ill health), small pets and service.

Wikipedia

Saturn's conversation leans towards conservative, responsibility, karma, discipline, learning life lessons, and building structure.  The Moon's conversation is about nurturing, emotions, mothering, shadows we project on others, and our inner workings as well as, the occult.  Pluto rules the underworld or more of what is hidden such as the unconscious, past lives (along with the 12th House), sex, death, rebirth, transformation, taxes, secrets, undercover journalism, and the list goes on (most of which we find unpleasant).  Uranus brings us the unexpected and shocking revelations, as well as, getting us out of a rut, and helping us to think and act differently.  And finally Mars represents aggression, assertiveness, ambition, war, violence, sports, competition and our male side.  In my chart, these planets form a cross in mutable signs which causes restlessness, but also flexibility.  They want to communicate and they must communicate with Mars in Gemini squaring the planets of transformation (Pluto and Uranus) and the emotional planets (Saturn and Moon).  Saturn is also the Ruler of my natal chart with my AC in Capricorn.

So how has this played out in my life? In my earlier years, I dealt with critical adults or authority figures (Pluto and Uranus in Virgo) which I rebelled against in a childish and sometimes aggressive manner (usually verbally) Mars in Gemini to cover up my emotions and feelings of inadequacy (Saturn and Moon in Pisces).  As an artist (a writer and musician), I lacked the confidence to earn a real living doing what I love so I relied on the resources of others to survive, sometimes boyfriends who I fought with (Mars in Gemini), but depended upon in no-win situations.  All of these themes were heightened when Uranus was in Pisces and Pluto in Sagittarius and when any of the personal planets fell into a mutable sign, except for Sagittarius which brought relief to the tension in the cross.

Wikipedia

Raised as a Christian for 8 years, when I hear the word cross, I'm not thinking crosswalk or cross streets, I'm thinking pain, suffering and resurrection, which is highlighted by Saturn and Pluto in my T-Cross.  And now, in my late 40s, I have finally harnessed the energies in this cross through positive action or to say that I'm now proactive with the energies.  Is this resurrection or transformation? Perhaps it's a little of both, but as I matured and gave up the victim game as well as, the martyr routine through self-evaluation and assessment and willingness to transform, I see what these planets are telling me.

Oppositions are always, always, always about balancing polarities.  Unfortunately, the polarity of Virgo-Pisces carries some valuable if not insufferable spiritual lessons about service, humility, compassion (for self and others), deep healing and transcendence.  With Pluto and Uranus holding the Virgo end and Saturn and Moon holding the Pisces end of the see-saw, my life hardly resembled a Pisces dance recital and felt more like a Virgo nagging festival.  Then here comes Mars with his aggressive and witty mouth and knock them down competitive spirit.  No wonder I had such a hard time getting along with bosses, co-workers, and colleagues and yes, I left a trail of frustration and tears in my wake.

The other thing I have learned is that anyone who has outer planets in their T-Cross, is here to clean up huge psychic messes caused from previous lives or this one.  The planets don't care if we were abused as children, if we didn't have our basic needs met, or that our bosses don't like us.  The planets provide us with energy and power that we transform into self-empowerment tools.  The outer planets represent transformation, the breaking down of structure and building new foundations.  They are heavy as real wood crosses and they weigh us down, leaving us with little energy to get on with our lives, when the crosses are activated via transits. However, when the planets are retrograde, we do get some relief.  Saturn is at least retrograde in my natal chart.

Thankfully, my T-Cross plugs into a Grand Water Trine and some flowing sextiles between Uranus and Pluto with the Sun, Mecury, MC, and Neptune.  Uranus and Pluto form a trine with Jupiter in Taurus and the AC and the overall configuration in my natal chart is a kite.  This isn't the case for some people with T-Crosses, at least one person who contacted me recently when I requested information from astrologers with T-Crosses, has a Grand Cross and a T-Cross in his chart, but he at least found the grace and beauty in his natal chart situation.

I suffered from the challenges from my T-Cross for several decades despite the flowing aspects in my chart and the gamut runs from illness to financial situations, but mainly bouts of negative feelings that left me at odds with other people.  Eventually, I just isolated myself from others and decided to live alone and work from home.  That was until recent transits with Neptune, Uranus and Pluto which have brought me strength and gave me tools to work with my sensitivities (Saturn and Moon in Pisces in a Grand Water Trine).  I also began pursuing a spiritual path over 20 years ago and this has never been something I've taken lightly.  I get that I'm here to serve the planet in some way (Pluto and Uranus in Virgo).  I also get now that I'm not powerless and I had better watch how I use my power since it has repercussions in the world.

As I'm looking around now I have noticed other people around my age growing into their T-Crosses and truly finding the beauty in them.  Knowing what I know about this arduous journey, I applaud these folks and I'll write about three of them (astrologers) in Part 2 of this article.  In the meantime, if you have a T-Cross in your chart and you're under 28 and even under 40, take heart. This does not have to feel like a crucifixion and you don't have to walk the path of a victim or martyr.  My advice is to seek a transformational astrologer or life coach astrologer to help you navigate the cross in your chart and to hear the dialogue between the planets.  It does require maturity, grace, and wisdom to hear the teachings of the cross and we're just talking T-Cross (not Grand Crosses which is a whole other story).

Hopefully, the examples in the follow-up article, will inspire you to obtain mastership which is available to anyone with hard angles in their charts (yods, crosses, and squares).  If you have any of those configurations in your chart, you are here to obtain mastership and most likely, spiritual mastership. At least that's what my own T-Cross tells me.