The Grand Trine Planetary Pattern

         A grand trine is a planetary pattern composed of three or more planets in a chart located at the vertices of an imaginary equilateral triangle. Usually all three planets are in the same element (fire, earth, air or water). Although a grand trine may be found embedded in a larger pattern such as the tripod, fan, locomotive, splash, hourglass or bucket, it often manifests by itself; or, the larger patterns are so far from their ideal that any underlying grand trine is more interpretively significant.

         The grand trine symbolizes earned, special advantages to be enjoyed in this life in the element common to the three planets. Trines indicate a harmonious flow of energy, the potential for creative self-expression, or blessings, gifts and talents related to the planets and houses involved. If not offset by hard aspects (squares, oppositions, semisquares, or quincunxes), however, the grand trine can symbolize too much stability leading to inertia, passivity or inactivity owing to a lack of obstacles and the compensatory effort in one’s life: spiritual exercise, as it were.

         Therefore a good way to tap a grand trine’s latent energy is to have at least one planet square or opposed to a planet in the grand trine. This planet in hard aspect can often produce enough stimulus to mobilize the grand trine’s otherwise latent energy. If you have such a planet in your chart, get to know it so that you can develop a habit of using its energy to break free of your inertia.

         For these reasons medieval and Renaissance astrologers considered the grand trine an unfortunate aspect, the native doomed to a life of indolence, stagnation and missed opportunities. Modern astrologers do not interpret them so severely, if negatively at all, perhaps due to the relatively greater ease with which one can get by in today’s world. Suffice it to say, some individuals with grand trines do not accomplish as much as they could in life because the easy flow of events does not stimulate achievement and ambition.

         Though it may appear that luck falls into the life of a person with a grand trine, he or she has actually done a great deal to bring it about. It is just accomplished with such relative ease that little or no effort is visible. Just beware of the trap of indolence and inertia where your gifts remain treasures sitting on a shelf in the closet of yourself. Inertia is a helpful way of characterizing trines and particularly the grand trine. When activated by you, your gifts flow easily from you to the world. When not activated by you, you know that you are great but things just don’t seem to happen—because you are not making them happen. An exact grand trine (1° orb or less) is thought to be more dynamic, with a lot of energy available to the planets involved.

Grand Trine in Fire

Aries

Leo

Sagittarius

         The signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius making up your grand trine each manifest different aspects of the element fire: inspiration, intuition, yang energy, joie de vivre, the energy of the spirit and the spiritual side of our nature, ardor, impulsivity, enthusiasm, will, activity, dominance, and the principle of self-starting. These energetic, spirited aspects of human nature are emphasized in your character through the energies of the planets comprising your grand trine.

         A grand fire trine symbolizes therefore great ardor, passion, enthusiasm, and love of life—a certain genius of the spirit. Celebrities with grand trines in fire are/were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1 in water), Louis Armstrong, Sri Aurobindo, Chuck Barris, Ralph Bellamy, Theodore Bikel, Marlon Brando, Beau Bridges, Julie Christie (1 in water), Wally Cox, Davy Crockett (the real one), Tim Curry, Arthur Fiedler, Sally Field, Peggy Fleming, Jackie Gleason, Gil Hodges, Heinrich Himmler, Linda Hunt, Elton John (1 in water), Margaux Hemingway, Burgess Meredith, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1 in earth), Bernadette Peters, Pete Rose, Jane Russell, Beverly Sills, Tina Turner (1 in water), Andy Warhol and Walt Whitman.

Grand Trine in Earth

Taurus

Virgo

Capricorn

         The signs Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn making up your grand trine each manifest different aspects of the element earth: practicality, matter, material things and their substance, possessions in general, stability, common sense, and the direct, sensual experience of what is. Earth also represents the constraints that the physical universe and what being in a mortal body place upon us, as well as fertility manifesting in new forms. These practical, material aspects of human nature are emphasized in your character through the energies of the planets comprising your grand trine. A grand earth trine symbolizes therefore a great practicality and a certain genius with money and material things.

         Celebrities with grand trines in earth are/were Muhammed Ali, Elizabeth Arden, Ed Asner (1 in fire), Mary Astor, Lucille Ball, Lisa Bonet, James Brolin, Lon Chaney, Ty Cobb, Judy Collins, Michael Crawford, Arlene Dahl, Matt Damon, Faye Dunaway, Jose Ferrer, Brendon Fraser (1 in air), William Henry Harrison, Steven Hawking, Yvette Mimieux, Marcel Proust, Marquis de Sade, Sophie Tucker, Frankie Valli and Ron Ziegler.

Grand Trine in Air

Gemini

Libra

Aquarius

         The signs Gemini, Libra and Aquarius making up your grand trine each manifest different aspects of the element air: ideas, abstract thought, logic, relationship to and association with others, intellect, clear, objective vision, and that which is facile and quick. (Individuals with no planets in air may feel stupid even though they are not, and overcompensate for that lack and the imagined lack of societal acceptance they fear that will bring.) These mental, rational aspects of human nature are emphasized in your character through the energies of the planets comprising your grand trine. Therefore a grand air trine symbolizes someone able to form rapid and multitudinous associations, a facile and quick wit, and a certain genius of the mind.

         Celebrities with grand trines in air are/were Claudio Arrau, Dirk Benedict, Edgar Bergen, Pat Boone, George H. W. Bush Sr., Agatha Christie, Angela Davis, Joseph Fiennes, Bobby Fischer, George Gershwin, Rutger Hauer, Woody Herman, Janis Joplin, Kevin Kline (1 in water), Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Groucho Marx, Audie Murphy, Lynn Redgrave (1 in earth), Robert Silverberg, Tom Selleck, Theodor (Dr.) Seuss, Roger Staubach, Sharon Tate, Noah Wylie, and William Butler Yeats.

Grand Trine in Water

Cancer

Scorpio

Pisces

         The signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces making up your grand trine each manifest different aspects of the element water: emotion, feeling, empathy, relatedness, maternity, nurturance, compassion, vulnerability, fertility, change, instability, the unconscious, the soul, the past, the sea, and the non-rational, subjective and personal realms. The most yin of the four elements, water is therefore the most difficult to apprehend in our patriarchal culture. A grand trine in the element of water indicates that you have great ease in the emotional arena of life (water ruling the emotions) and an unusual depth of feeling and empathy for others. These emotional, nurturing, unconscious aspects of human nature are emphasized in your character through the energies of the planets comprising your grand trine.

Celebrities with grand water trines are/were Steve Allen, James Arness, Warren Beatty, Shelley Berman, Chuck Berry, William Bonney (Billy the Kid), Dave Brubeck, Eric Clapton, Glenn Close (1 in fire), Phil Collins, Tom Cruise, Marie Curie, Miles Davis, Tom DeLay (1 fire), Gustave Flaubert (1 in fire), David Frost, Buckminister Fuller, Princess Grace of Monaco, King Hussein of Jordan, Jean Harlow, Judd Hirsch, Ed McMahon, Yves Montand, Tony Randall, Jonas Salk, Charles Schulz, Aaron Spelling, Erich von Stroheim, Jimmy Swaggart, Loretta Swit (1 in fire), Jules Verne, and James Woods (1 in fire).

This Grand-Trine-Planetary-Pattern page and much of this 600-page website are excerpted from the personalized Fine Art Book You and the Universe.

11 Planetary Patterns: