The fixed cross (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, or the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th houses) is given much importance in esoteric astrology. It represents a system, a method, a sequence of making an individual entity a vehicle of the divine. It is considered sacred. A path of the deepest mystery. We ordinary Western astrologers don’t think of it that way, usually. Or do we? I wonder.
We tend not to think in terms of crosses but in terms of polarity. Leo/Aquarius is the battle between the heart and the higher mind. Taurus/Scorpio pits ownership against what we are willing to fight for, and die for. Leo/Aquarius pits individual urges against the greater good. Taurus/Scorpio challenges our conflict between staying with the known or relinquishing it for dangerous territory, to face the deepest darkness, the untested, the taboo. The goal of the Leo/Aquarius test lies in Pisces, for the one to become the all. The goal of Taurus/Scorpio test lies in Sag–to transcend singular values for universal ones, for universal law. (The secret lies in the two inconjuncts between Leo/Pisces and Taurus/Sag.)
Polarities are fine for chart interpretation. But each of the modalities (cardinal, fixed, mutable) are telling an important story about our spiritual self-development. They cover the three main paths of spiritual discovery. The mutable story tells us how information becomes knowledge, becomes wisdom. The cardinal story teaches us about interaction with ‘other’ and the transformation of the inner world to the outer, the way we interact with and perceive reality. The fixed story is the story of the way the individual ego merges with the collective and becomes the servant of something greater than itself.
The fixed signs are noted for their, well, fixity. We think of them as trenchant, stubborn, willfull, unwilling to change. (Those of you who think Aquarius shouldn’t belong in this pattern, think again. Try and get an Aquarian to alter something it believes is true. Scratch the surface of Aquarius and you can discover a dictator.) Squares between fixed signs are especially problematic, bouncing back and forth between the two points and driving the person who has them a bit mad. Squares between two charts often indicate the very things a couple will fight over, and how. Our word ‘fix’ comes from the Latin figo, which means to fasten, to transfix. But in an odd quirk of linguistics, (and with a little bending of the lexicon, forgive me, Latin scholars) it’s also a variable of the Latin fugo, to put to flight.
Like all the modality stories, it takes us on a journey from the lesser to the greater, from the individual “I” to gradual interaction with others. We begin with the instinctive, infantile grabbing of Taurus and end with the humanitarianism and ‘equality for all’ impulses of Aquarius. There is something highly dramatic about this. Something intensely transformational. The mutable story is about the gaining of wisdom and the cardinal story is about how the development of conscious awareness and how we use it. But the story of the fixed signs is about sacrificing the individual to a greater, divine intent. In terms of the outer planets, the conflict is between the ego and desire focused Venus/Sun (Taurus, Leo) and the greater impetus of Uranus/Pluto (Aquarius/Scorpio). Uranus asks us to work in collective, rather than individual, terms; Pluto is all about the death of what is unserviceable in the ego. The conflict can often be brutal.
Planets that make aspects with their polar counterpoints are often the most powerful, both within and between charts. This is particularly true of the fixed signs. Ask anyone with a conjunction of Sun/Uranus, who may feel abandoned in the early years and then hijacked by an energy that impels them to live a lonely life of difficult choices, always an outsider, always going against the grain. Ask anyone with Venus/Pluto, who may have suffered the early deaths of those they loved deeply, or who have had their self-worth stomped into the mud time and time again; love can become a test of power and survival, rather than an expression of feeling.
There were a lot of good entries in the 8/5 Birthday competition. Thanks to you all for taking the time to enter. The winner is Brian Middleton, who showed a real understanding of the way the fifth and eighth house are interconnected, both sexually and psychologically.
In Part Two we will look at the sequence of the fixed cross and explore how difficulties in any of the fixed houses affect our relationships.
Thanks–this is very interesting–it touches on so many themes in my life being governed by the peculiarities of my chart. The synastry is super helpful too. (i wish you could see my chart and that of my exhusband! You might think you were writing my life up there…)
Your work on this log is much appreciated!
I just discovered your blog, this is the first article I’ve read – you are an amazing writer! thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us…. many blessings
Dear Dawn,
Do old rulers matter more than new rulers in synastry connections? i read you said they are the planets we access in everyday life?
Thanks in advance.
The old rulers don’t matter more, but I do use them in interpreting a chart. Often, the new ruler will give you the ‘big picture’ problem where the old ruler will provide the detail. Sometimes it’s good to consult Jupiter if Neptune really confuses you, or Saturn when Uranus seem inaccessible. Mars and Pluto are definitely buddies; Pluto calls the shots and Mars does his bidding in the here and now.
Dear Dawn,
Thank you so much for the reply. just one more doubt if you don,t mind. You said about a double jupiter, double mercury emphasis in a mutable angle position chart?
If the chart has unequal house positions (Placibus i think) then wouldn’t the above arrangement not apply? Because i have seen charts in astrotheme where a sagittarius rising has aries IC.
And relating to my earlier query ( thanks again), with a scorpio rising, would a synastric conjunction with the mid-point of mars and pluto be interpreted as a conjunction with the ruler of the chart? (same with oppositions?)
Thanking You,
Arun
Yes, if the houses are not all mutable, then obviously you don’t have a double Jupiter, double Mercury influence.
A conjunction with a mid-point is not the same as a conjunction with a planet, no matter how influential the midpoint is. Although midpoints are powerful conduits, these are two different things entirely. The midpoint of Mars and Pluto is influential if Scorpio is on one of the angles. But it doesn’t carry the same gravitas as a conjunction to a planet.
Dear Dawn,
I know this is a very old article and I dont even know if this website is still active but, I have aquarius sun in the 5th square my taurus moon in the 8th, I think even an exact square aswell..
I wonder if it will bring only negative things or if it brings some qualities that I can strenghten and use. Because I still have a whole life ahead and I’m already sick and tired of the directions I’m going…
I hope you’re still out there,
Thankyou
Xenia
So we’ll put…
I have sun-Uranus exact conjunction (1st house Scorpio) and Pluto/Venus exact conjunction (12th libra) with Scorpio ascendant and Leo/Aquarius nodal axis almost exactly conjunction the Mc/IC axis…. My ascendant is nearly exactly the midpoint between the Pluto Venus and sun Uranus conjunctions…. And is square my nodes along with mercury which is on my ascendant from the 12th house scorp.
I’ve always been fascinated instead with the fixed cross for this reason, and Chiron sits almost exact square nodes from the 7ths house . Intense energies.