Grand Trine Activation
Astrological Aspects Influencing Your Unique Blueprint
Let’s discuss the grand trine aspect of astrology. A more specific component of astrology, as not everyone will have this in their chart. Yet it’s a good illustration of how the interpretation of aspects within your chart can bring added language and framing to your life experiences. Using an example from my own chart of having the grand trine aspect, I’ll break down the interpretation and what it means for me.
In astrology, an aspect is additional information you get when looking at a planet's relationship to another planet or placement within your chart. One kind of aspect is called a trine. A trine is a configuration that has synergy. The planets and placements in trine with each other will share an elemental affinity - meaning they fall within signs sharing the same element. Allowing the potential for water-based trines, earth-based trines, air-based trines, and fire-based trines.
Geometrically, a trine is when two planets appear on your chart approximately 120 degrees apart. This shows up as four signs apart. If there’s a third planet or placement that appears another 120 degrees apart, then this makes a grand trine. Occurring when the three planets/placements create the geometry of an equilateral triangle. Having each of the three planets/placements residing within each of the three signs assigned for that element.
What are the trine aspects within your chart? Do you have a grand trine aspect?
Head in the Clouds (+ Feet on the Ground)
For most of my life I didn’t relate much to the earth element in my chart. I felt strongly tied to the air element, as both my Sun and Saturn reside in Gemini. My moon is within a fire sign and my rising, Venus and Mars are within water signs. So, I tended to focus on these elements over the earth element. A reminder of how there’s so much happening in an individual chart that it can be easy to focus on certain things and overlook others.
It always made sense to me that I had Mercury in Taurus, but I didn’t consider the broader earth sign implications. During many interpretations of my chart, I looked at other aspects of how my planets and placements related. What I hadn’t really looked at were the additional aspects beyond planet/sign positioning. So, when I did finally look at a placement like my North Node, I realized it was trine to both Mercury and Pluto. Which creates a grand trine for those three placements within the earth signs.
The story of my earth element grand trine seemed to escape me for a while, in terms of its translation within my chart. As I began to embrace it, I remembered instances of hearing feedback from groups when I’ve done public speaking. I’d receive feedback of how grounded I was when I was sharing. When I heard this, I’d be taken aback as I thought I was so much in my head, and that’s how I’d come across. I was surprised that I conveyed groundedness. I associated “grounded” as being an earth sign quality, and I associated air sign qualities to myself more than earth sign qualities.
What Escapes You Will Come Back Around
So why didn’t I relate to my earth sign placements? For sure, part of the reason was because I hadn’t really looked into my North Node in Capricorn, which rounds out my grand trine. It’s there; I just didn’t put any attention there. There wasn’t a curiosity for me to learn more about my North Node until recently. By not bringing this into awareness, it limited my further understanding of the further nuance of my Mercury and Pluto trine. Adding more context.
Another reason for my lack of awareness of this aspect, was that for a while I considered myself part of the Pluto in Libra cohort. Although I fall within those dates, I had some denial around how Pluto was in retrograde when I was born. Therefore, my chart reads my placement Pluto in Virgo. I had some denial about this, ha. I consciously had more interest in Pluto in Libra as I leaned into my air sign qualities more. Eventually I’d grow more akin to what I brought to the collective by having Pluto in Virgo, especially at the 29th degree.
The one earth sign placement I identified with was my Mercury being in Taurus. I related this to bringing precision to my Gemini sun since Gemini’s ruling planet is Mercury. So, I didn’t really view it as a Taurian earth quality, per se. I viewed it more so in relation to my sun. Then upon further exploration around my grand trine, I was able to see more clearly how Mercury and my communication are heavily influenced by Pluto and my North Node.
What Can This Mean for You?
I like to see all of this as another way to tell a story… my story, your story, and how stories intertwine. How these components of our charts are like blueprints that provide underpinnings for the experiences we’re having. Initially, the terms of astrological jargon may seem like gibberish, but as you familiarize yourself with them, you see connection to other perspectives you have.
When it comes to aspects like trine or a grand trine, here’s a good rule of thumb to follow. Take the perspective of the most personal planet first (that would be the one closest to the sun) and look at the aspect relative to that planet. Like with my example of Mercury, Pluto and North Node - it can shape to look something like this: How is my mind and communication style (Mercury) influenced by what’s hidden and what’s to be transformed (Pluto). Furthermore, how do I see my cognitive and communicative processes unfold as I move through future lessons (North Node).
Hopefully this example makes sense to you in some way. Sometimes it’s easier to get a grasp of it by seeing how someone else experiences it. Mostly, the learning will come from a deeper understanding of your own chart and your individual aspect connections. May you continue to explore how these cosmic forces show up in your daily routines and relationships!
Ask me about how our current Pluto shift from Capricorn to Aquarius affects you and your personal astrology chart! Let’s do a reading together!