two points on the Zodiac are on either side of a
horizontal line. These are the two times of the
year when day and night are equal, falling on the
seasonal transitions of Spring and Fall.
story of the Zodiac is told as an allegorical tale of
the symbolic creatures associated with each of the
12 signs. The progression of the Zodiac is an
allegory representing the evolution of consciousness, for an individual and the planet at large.
THE MINOR AND GRAND CROSSES
OF THE ZODIAC
Image Source - podcast #149
When the Sun reaches the highest or lowest point
in the sky, these are known as the solstices of
Winter or Summer, marked on the Zodiac by either
end of a vertical line. The lowest position of the
Sun, from a northerly perspective represented by
the lowest point in the Zodiac, is between Sagittarius and Capricorn. The highest position of the Sun
is represented by the highest point in the Zodiac,
between Gemini and Cancer.
On a standard globe used
in geography, one can find
the lines marked the Tropic
of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn. These represent
the maximum southern and
northern points of the Sun as
it moves in the sky throughout the year. When the Sun
reaches the angle of 23.5ºN
with respect to the equator,
the Summer Solstice begins,
entering the sign of Cancer.
When the sun reaches the
Image Source angle of 23.5ºS with respect
podcast #149
to the equator, the Winter
Solstice begins, entering the house of Capricorn.
The year can be further broken down into the
Season of Life, marked by the Sun’s emergence from
the Southern hemisphere on the Spring Equinox,
and the Season of Death, marked by the Sun’s
recession into the Southern hemisphere on the Fall
Equinox. Within these two seasons, the archetypal
The Minor Zodiacal Cross is four quadrants of
the Zodiac marked by the beginning of the four
seasons, forming four cross sections:
•
•
•
•
March 21st (Spring);
June 21st (Summer);
September 21st (Autumn); and
December 21st (Winter).
The Grand, or Galactic, Cross is four quadrants of
the Zodiac marked by the midpoints of the seasons.
These times were each marked by Sabbats or the
time for performing sacred rites:
• May 1st (Walpurgisnacht – representing
fertility, the emergence of life, and an
offering of sacrifice of some kind to ensure
a bountiful harvest);
• August 1st (Lammas – representing a time
of gratitude, pre-harvest thankfulness, and
a celebration of bounty and life);
• October 31st (Samhain – representing a time
of reflection and self-respect, honoring the
dead, contemplation of impermanence and
death, and a time of preparation for winter);
and
• February 2nd (Candlemas – representing
prediction, a time of looking forward, planning for the future, making resolutions,
and the time when the darkest and coldest
period of the winter is about to end).
By connecting the Minor Cross point of March
19th to the Grand Cross point of May 1st, a 40-day
period is demarcated, defining a window of time
known as the Season of Sacrifice.
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