The Big Guy Comes Home:
Jupiter in Sagittarius
The overall tone of the five outer, slow- moving planets these days is serious and deliberate. Both Pluto and Saturn are travelling in the goal-oriented, determined sign of Capricorn, and Uranus entered security-minded, change-reluctant Taurus earlier this year. These are common-sense, practical earth signs. Neptune continues its fourteen-year journey through Pisces, its own “home-base” sign. The inward-turned, sensitive planet wrapped in clouds is swimming languidly in its own waters, slowing the pace and making things not as clear and well-defined as they could be. And even expansive, outgoing, enthusiastic Jupiter has been navigating the mysterious, dark, and powerful waters of the sign of Scorpio.
However, Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is making a big move. Between November 8, 2018 and December 2, 2019 it is travelling in optimistic, generous, big-picture, open-minded Sagittarius, the sign that it rules. When a planet travels in its own sign, its effects are doubly-strong, so this passage can do much to stimulate forward, positive motion in all kinds of situations. And because it is an outer planet, Jupiter’s energies affect us societally and globally as well.
The symbol for Sagittarius is the archer, the half-man, half-horse centaur that points its arrow high into the sky. Both Jupiter and Sagittarius are about the quest for meaning, and about seeing the world and one’s place in it in a broad, non-judgmental context. Sagittarius takes all kinds of information and experience and creates patterns of meaning, which is why it, and Jupiter, rule things like philosophy, metaphysics, law, and higher education. And it’s an adventurous sign, always looking for what lies beyond the horizon, willing to risk venturing to faraway places to experience culture shock, and being open to new ideas that may conflict with existing, limiting, entrenched beliefs. This is why both planet and sign are associated with long-distance travel.
It’s important to remember that energy per se is neutral. It’s how it is used that determines whether it manifests positively or negatively. The dark side of Jupiter/Sagittarius is always excess: too much of a good thing that can lead to disregard of necessary details and red flags; cockeyed optimism that expects things to work out no matter how much or how little effort we put into the cause; an honest disposition to “tell it like it is” that, without mindfulness, can morph into “hoof in mouth” hurtful communication; an adventurous spirit succumbing to a restlessness that leaves many things started but very few seen to completion.
Jupiter’s passage through the sign of the archer offers hope, honesty, opportunity, and “freedom and justice for all.”