“In the heavens you can see man, each part for itself; for man is made of heaven. And the matter out of which man was created also shows the pattern after which he was formed”. Paracelsus: Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist and astrologer.

This article explores the symbolism of The Grand Cross of Matter and explains its importance to man, especially in light of the imminent change pertaining to one of its four 'Watchers of Heaven'. The more we learn about our universe and about the connection between all things, the more we realise that nothing is random; understanding this is crucial to our understanding of life itself.

Introduction to Symbolism

Astrology is a symbolic language and could (loosely) be classified, to all intents and purposes, as a semiotic study. Symbolism is an ancient instrument of knowledge and the most ancient and fundamental method of expression, one which reveals aspects of reality which escape other modes of expression. Symbolism is not only international it also stretches over the ages (1). As Coleridge said, “A symbol…..always partakes of the Reality which it renders intelligible; and while it enunciates the whole, abides itself as a living part of that Unity of which it is represented”. Traditional symbolism assumes that the celestial is primordial and that the terrestrial is but a reflection or image of it: the higher contains the meaning of the lower. Symbolism is basic to the human mind; to ignore it is to suffer a serious deficiency; it is fundamental to thinking, and the perfect symbol should satisfy every aspect of man – his spirit, intellect and emotions (1).

Planetary Symbolism

The glyphs of the seven planets are comprised of three symbols: the cross of matter, the circle of life/soul and the crescent which represents the vegetative soul and the spirit. The glyphs are not random designs as can be seen when studying the astrological model and when aligning it with the philosophical and spiritual teachings with which it works in tandem. The positions of the symbols in the planetary glyphs depict the essential nature of the planets; for example the glyph of Saturn is that of the cross of matter placed on top of the crescent: the spirit must go down into the bottom of matter to charge it or give it life or it can be viewed as matter oppressing the spirit. Saturn is the furthest planet which can be seen with the naked eye and is thus symbolically the planet closest to God; it is God who gives us life and thus sends the spirit into matter. Saturn is also the ruler of death which can be seen explicitly in the glyph as matter oppressing the spirit through its incarnation.

From Symbolism to Science

The so-called ‘Enlightenment’ was widely regarded as an attack on the deepest elements in human nature (2). Novalis, in his essay Christendom or Europe, provides a thought-provoking sentence: “The product of the modern way of thinking was called philosophy and included everything opposed to the old. Fantasy and feeling were proclaimed heresies, along with love of art and morality, past and future. Man was reduced to a mere creature of nature, ruled by animal necessity. The eternal creative music of the universe became the monotonous rattling of a giant mill driven by the stream of chance and floating on it – a mill sufficient unto itself, without maker or miller, a real perpetual mobile, with only itself to grind”.

Just because we cannot substantiate something through a scientific experiment, such as the interpretation of symbolism through an ancient symbolic language such as astrology, does not reduce its efficacy nor prove that it isn’t real/true. We must never forget that science is a method for investigating the natural world, naturalism is a philosophy that says the natural world is all there is. Since science only deals with the examination of nature, if something other than, or outside nature existed, would it not by definition be outside the realm of what science investigated? We have to ask exactly how the investigation of the natural world leads to the conclusion that the natural world is all there is; if a motor mechanic said that nothing exists beyond the world of cars, we would think he was deranged (3).

The Cosmic Cross: foundation

A square is the archetype and pattern of order in the universe; it is the symbol of static perfection. A caste (symbolised by a square) is the pattern of the universe and the pairs of opposites; the four cardinal points which are in turn connected with the four seasons, elements and emblematic colours. A cross is the undisputed optimum cosmic symbol as it is a world centre and thus is a point of communication between heaven and earth and is a cosmic axis. The cross represents the Tree of Life and is a symbol of universal archetypal man, capable of infinite and harmonious expansion on both the horizontal and vertical planes. In cosmological symbolism the upwards and downwards are the Zenith and Nadir, the North-South axis is the solstitial axis and the East-West axis is the equinoctial axis.

The zodiac which reflects the three modes of creation: out-going (the cardinal signs), expansive (the fixed signs) and returning (the mutable signs) works through the four elements of hot, cold, moist and dry thus forming, in its combination of 3 x 4, the blueprint for Creation and which commences at zero Aries which is the Spring Equinox; everything in the zodiac is measured from here just as longitude on Earth is measured from Greenwich (4). The opposite of zero Aries is zero Libra and this axis forms the horizontal part of the Cosmic Cross. The Summer Solstice is at zero Leo and its opposition is at zero Aquarius – this axis forming the vertical part of the cross.

The Precession of the Equinoxes

According to tradition the movements which astrology measures and by which it works began only with the Fall - before that there was perpetual Spring as seasons did not exist. Milton, working from a sound knowledge of both astrology and theological tradition, describes this process in Paradise Lost. Man did not fall alone and took the whole cosmos with him, and so seasons commenced – all the unpleasantness missing from Eden was now made manifest. The Sun was pushed into its elliptical motion and this movement away from the perfectly spherical gives us the precession of the equinoxes (4). It is important to note here however that as always in traditional astrology we are concerned with the essence and not the accident (the mechanics).

The precession of the equinoxes is a phenomenon that causes all stars to appear to advance in longitude in a body at the rate of 50’’ per annum, due to the retrograde motion of the Vernal Equinox, or the first point of Aries, through the constellations. The cause of this phenomenon is not absolutely certain; it is usually said to be due to a slight annual change in the inclination of the earth’s axis. This precession does not affect the relative positions of the stars among themselves (5).

The Cosmic Cross: the building blocks of life

Rudolf Hauschka conducted various experiments which depict that plants come into physical manifestation as a direct result of cosmic interaction and that changes in the physiological make up of plants varies according to the Moon’s cycles and according to the Sun’s movement through the zodiac (the seasons). The height of summer is when the Sun is in the zodiacal section of Leo; mid-winter is when the Sun is in the zodiacal section of Aquarius; the middle of spring is when the Sun is in the zodiacal section of Taurus and when the Sun is in Scorpio it is the middle of autumn.

“When nature’s being re-manifests in spring, there is already a seed of death in all its germinating sprouting growth, for without this seed there can be no such thing as shape or form. Involution and evolution, being and manifestation, death and resurrection: all these polarities, which are in turn but a single unity, belong to the nature of the Scorpion-Eagle, the cosmic home of the forces from which carbon issues.” Rudolf Hauschka.

The Cosmic Cross with all four points posited in fixed signs can be called the atmospheric cross (all the elements in the atmosphere) or the cross of the organic cosmos (all the elements manifested in physical form) and thus the Cross of Matter; this is the ladder of manifestation from the macrocosm to the microcosm and man is therefore the most complete representation of all the elements and forces of the universe. Oxygen (order) is the element that carries life into physical manifestation and is ruled by the Moon; nitrogen (light) is the force that permeates life with motion and is ruled by Jupiter; hydrogen (warmth) is the strongest power of ascent from the material to the spiritual and is ruled by the Sun and carbon (form) is the crystallizing agent or giver-of-form that brings things into physical manifestation and is ruled by Saturn.

The Sun (hydrogen) is in opposition to the Moon (oxygen) and Saturn (carbon) is in opposition to Jupiter (nitrogen); this is known as the atmospheric cross. These four substances in various combinations and permutations enable the creative cosmos to become effective for the earth and to continue reproducing miniature likenesses of the universe in earthly matter. This capacity is most apparent in the seed; its protein provides the material that brings the prototypal image of the plant into physical manifestation (2).

This table is of interest:

The Cosmic Cross: fixed stars

There are four fixed stars engaged with the Cosmic Cross all marking the equinoxes and solstices, three of them royal, one not. What makes a star royal is that it is very bright and on the ecliptic, the path of the Sun around the earth, the Sun of course being the symbol of royalty. At the winter solstice, where the star is not royal, the Sun has, as it were, no light and therefore no royalty to bestow. Alderbaran in the constellation of Taurus marks the Bull’s left or south eye and is the Watcher of the East or the Spring Equinox; Antares in the constellation of the Scorpion, situated in the body and also known as the Scorpion’s Heart, is the watcher of the West or the Autumnal Equinox; Regulus in the constellation of the Lion and situated in its heart is the Watcher of the North or the Summer Solstice and Fomalhaut in the constellation of Piscis Australis (in Aquarius) in the mouth of the southern fish is the Watcher of the South or the Winter Solstice and is not a royal star.

It is important to note that the zodiacal belt, named from Aries through to Pisces and which are regular divisions of the ecliptic, is not the same as the zodiacal constellations that bear the same names. The constellations are irregular star groups lying along the ecliptic and the arrangement of any star group bears no resemblance to its traditional form or namesake. The sphere of the fixed stars is a different sphere to the zodiac and these can be viewed somewhat simplistically as two overlaying structures.

In relation to this symbolic model it is also of interest to note that a healthy person takes 18 breaths per minute which equates to 1080 breaths per hour and 25 920 breaths per day. It takes 25 920 years for the vernal point to go around the zodiac; our breathing thus keeps pace with the great rhythm of the Sun and one human breath mirrors a solar year and one day’s breaths reflect the number of solar years in a cosmic year.

The Cosmic Cross: time

History is written by the great astrological cycles that unfold over great periods of time. What is important to remember however, in the words of Christopher Hill, is that “History has to be rewritten in every generation, because although the past does not change the present does; each generation asks new questions of the past, and finds new areas of sympathy as it re-lives different aspects of the experiences of its predecessors”.

There are several astrological systems by which to measure cycles of time and this belongs to the realm of mundane astrology, the pinnacle of all traditional studies. One of the systems that are most useful is the precessional movement into the signs of the four Watchers of the Heavens: Aldebaran (Left eye of the Bull), Antares (Heart of the Scorpion), Fomalhaut (Mouth of the Fish) and Regulus (Heart of the Lion).

The Cosmic Cross as the Grand Cross of Matter is symbolic in relation to life on earth and when the four fixed stars marking the four points ‘change sign’, signs being the adjectives in astrological language, this symbolises terrestrial change within grand scales of time. Fixed stars are planets but compared to the ‘wandering planets’, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, they move very slowly in relation to earth, approximately one degree every 72 years. Antares, Alderbaran and Fomalhaut are currently in mutable signs with the last of the four fixed stars Regulus, about to move from Leo into Virgo which is mutable earth.

When this occurs, which will be sometime later this year, all fixity will be lost; prior to this all four stars were in fixed signs, with Regulus being the only remaining one. Life as we know it, over the next couple of hundred years, will change. Here is an example of the periods that manifested when the other fixed stars changed sign: the Renaissance occurred when Aldebaran and Antares moved into mutable Gemini and Sagittarius respectively and the Enlightenment occurred when Fomalhaut moved into Pisces.

The Cosmic Cross: other factors

One of the most important systems in mundane astrology is that of the Grand (or Great) Conjunctions when the great malefic Saturn, Lord of Time and the great benefic Jupiter, Lord of Space, meet. This Grand Conjunction occurs every 20 years and remains in signs of one element for roughly 200 years before it changes into the next element, thereby taking roughly 800 years to cover the four elements. This is one layer of the mystery of the Grand Conjunction and when this occurs in a new element, a new period begins relating to politics, philosophy, culture (the arts) and global super powers.

The next elemental change will occur in 2020 when the Grand Conjunction (re) enters the element of air, to remain there for approximately 200 years. The Grand Conjunction entered the air element in 1980, but is enjoying a brief 20 year respite in Taurus currently. Looking back in history we see that Grand Conjunctions occurring in air signs (most) often denoted mass migration, new (advanced) knowledge and information, some form of globalisation and as always with an elemental change, the emergence of a new super power.

Examples are the 13th and 14th Centuries. The 13th century, known as the High Middle Ages, saw the domination of the Mongol Empire and extensive expansion of territory through the Crusades. This period was notable in the realm of education (an air quality) with University evolution taking place in Salerno, Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Italian, French and Spanish Universities. It was the origin of preparatory schools and Cathedral colleges and the Decree of the Council of Lateran stated that every cathedral was to have a school and metropolitan churches were to have colleges.

The System of instruction was birthed where apprentice, journeyman and master became the order of the day. In a nutshell, rapid expansion occurred in the 13th century. This period also produced many remarkable minds such as Robert Grosseteste, Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon. The 14th century saw the beginning of the Ottoman Empire, the Black Death which killed around a third of Europe’s population, manifestation of the Little Ice Age, the rise of Islam and the invention of knitting and of the first handgun. The aftermath of the events in the 14th century was devastating and the resultant events and actions lead to the Renaissance period in the 15th century. 

The change pertaining to the Grand Cross of Matter this year which will unfold within its own grand cycle of time, stretching into the next decades where all fixity (earth) will now be lost, must be viewed against this background of history and extrapolated into the potential for the future.

The Cosmic Cross: current symbolism

While no one of sound mind would venture to label a period of history before it has occurred (these great periods are so-called after the fact, not prior to it), utilising the methodology of mundane astrology within the traditional framework and applying common sense based on what has gone before, we are able to make an educated forecast pertaining to what is most likely to unfold. We also don’t require anyone to tell us that life as we know it is (already) changing; taking cognisance of what has transpired globally over the past few years in relation to economic and political hierarchies, we already know that the ‘times they are a changing’.

All nativities, be they of individuals or of countries, play out against these bigger movements of time, and it is therefore important to take cognisance of what is happening in the big scheme of things. In a general sense, in so far as I can see, it is safe to say that structure, rules and regulations and traditional values and mind-sets, as we know them, will change. Casting an eye on what is happening globally: the current situation affecting the longevity of the EU and the inability of countries such as the USA to bounce back after having the carpet swept from under their feet in recent years, are of paramount importance. It appears that in all likelihood the dominant role the USA has played is diminishing - a new super power is emerging. Due to mass unemployment and political uprising in many countries and combined with the global economic picture, the migration of many to greener pastures has already begun.    

As we head towards the element of air, fixed earthly structures such as borders (boundaries and restraints), anchors and grounding should diminish, with the world becoming even more of a global village than it already is. However the backlash to this will manifest in time to come in a longing for Saturnine structure and for traditional values, especially for ethnic demarcation. This is compounded by the entrance of Regulus into Virgo, placing all four corners of the Cosmic Cross in mutable signs. Mutable signs depict the mode of returning (to the source); something must die in order for the new (cardinality) to commence. It is not too far-fetched to say that after this period of modernity where it is each man for himself, based on his individual world-view, that mankind may yet return to sound traditional values and beliefs in time to come. 

Air is the opposite of earth and we can expect grandiose intellectual ideas, architecture that sweeps skywards, scientific breakthroughs in many realms especially those related to the mind and communication (such as cures for mental illness such as Alzheimer’s, etc.) and very possibly expansion in space travel. It is also quite possible that a more spiritual era is set to commence with man longing for the ethereal spirit as opposed to earthly gratification – in time to come this could possibly change the concept that science is a religion (which it most certainly is not).

It is likely that governments may change more rapidly than they have in present times and that the masses may dispose of regimes and dictators who no longer serve them well; we have already seen examples of this in recent months in countries such as Egypt. Deeper consideration will need to be applied before casting one’s ballot, but the risk exists that those who have the gift of the gab and who are able to brandish their lofty ideals as weapons may replace existing rulers, to the detriment of the people as solidity and structure will be lacking; an example of this is South Africa’s Julius Malema who is able to incite the uneducated  (and impoverished) masses providing an echo (another air quality), of another dangerous political leader during WWII. 

The Cosmic Cross of Matter: individual symbolism

Flexibility and the ability to think on one’s feet will be the order of the day; those who are unable to ‘think out of the box’ and who refuse to relinquish ideas, patterns and habits that are redundant will suffer the most. This has nothing to do with chronological age; it pertains to the world-view and mind set of individuals. If a more spiritual age is looming, and there is enough evidence in history to warrant this statement, then those who thrive in the world of modernism for example are going to find it extremely difficult to adapt. It will be best to embrace change as and when it happens and to endeavour to find solutions to assist the transition rather than to cling to what has gone before, using all of the air faculties (the mind and communication) to their full advantage whilst doing so.

The desire (and opportunity) to become more nomadic will arise as globalisation escalates. This does not mean that property will not remain a sound investment – matters could very likely manifest as ‘mind-travel’ - but a cautious eye should be kept on property markets prior to investing in that sector, if that is the primary investment strategy. The acquisition of knowledge is going to be of paramount importance and everyone should be striving towards higher education on some level. Whilst there will be great demand for a technologically-savvy workforce, earth skills in the form of artisans, crucial in any era, will be in great demand due to the waning of interest in that sector as a career path over the past few decades.

Investment portfolios should be spread across a broad spectrum and be of the nature where they can be moved expediently as and when the need arises; this also applies to individual skills and abilities which will need to be diverse, depict a strong multi-tasking nature and be variable. More and more people will hold down multiple jobs (at the same time) and the age of the ‘contractor’ is imminent; companies will slowly phase out their fixed work forces with the 'golden handshake' becoming redundant and diverse skills will be accessed as and when required.

Individuals should look for opportunities where they haven’t existed before and be receptive to making quick decisions in order to maximise them and it must be understood that we are dealing with two levels of mundane astrology: the air element of the Grand Conjunction and the mutability of the Cosmic Cross. While they are different, they both point in the same direction; both of them allude to lack of fixity, solidity and structure and both of them symbolise the sacrifice/movement of matter in order for new birth to occur in the future.

The time for the individual to take responsibility is now, the blame game has passed, and it is up to each and every one of us to understand that the parts equal the whole. New ideas that are embraced will need to be congruent with old ideas that are retained, and everyone has a moral obligation to ensure that this is managed responsibly. Ignorance (as an excuse) is not going to cut it as we advance into an even more technologically astute age where world events are conveyed to all four corners of the globe instantaneously.

Times will be uncertain and challenging and vacillation will abound. Those who are able to roll with the punches will be the most adept at maximising prospects because they will view these events as exciting opportunities and not as things to be feared. Celestial symbolism marks the route, it is the cosmic GPS system, and each one of us is able to apply our free will to choose the path we wish to take.  

The following quotation by Edmund Burke concludes this article succinctly: “But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.” The air element denotes freedom and unshackled thought, yet it also symbolises justice, wisdom and intelligent thought; the mutable element symbolises a ‘breaking-down’ of the old, but an object without boundaries, foundations or corner stones is unstable.  
 

References:

1. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols: J.C Cooper; Thames and Hudson 1978
2. The Nature of Substance: Spirit and Matter: Rudolf Hauschka; Sophia Books 2002
3. The Godless Delusion: Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley; Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division 2010
4. The Real Astrology: John Frawley; Apprentice Books 2001
5. The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology: Vivian Robson; Astrology Classics 1923