Past Articles

AR 73 Planet to Plutoid: Pluto's Identity Crisis

AR 72 Mars, God of War or Brave Hero of the Sky

AR 71 Lilith; Goddess, Demon or Earth's Dark Moon

AR 70 Sign Language, Exploring the Enduring Archetypes of the Zodiac

AR 69 Venus The Mysterious Magic of the Morning Star

AR 68 Astrology and the Fixed Stars

AR 67 Jupiter in Capricorn

AR 66 Lord of the Rings Enters the Realm of the Celestial Virgin

AR 65 The Asteroids

AR 64 Chiron, Wise Centaur or Rogue Comet?

AR 63 Astrology and the Hero's Journey

AR 62 Aquarius Ascending

AR 61 Dwarfing Pluto

AR 60 Jupiter in Sagittarius

AR 59 Neptune in Aquarius

AR 58 Mercury, Messenger of the Gods

AR 57 Moon Signs

AR 56 Chinese Astrology

AR 55 Circular Logic

AR 54 Jupiter in Scorpio

AR 53 The Lion in Winter

AR 52 As Above, So Below

AR 51 The Ancient Quest

AR 50 Astrology and Alchemy

AR 49 Star of Wonder

AR 48 Jupiter in Libra

AR 47 Once in a Blue Moon

AR 46 Sedna Enters the Arena

AR 45 Royal Stars of Persia

AR 44 Ancient Formulas for Immortality

AR 43 Twelve Gates of Heaven

AR 42 Jupiter in Virgo

AR 41 Geometry of the Spheres

AR 40 Saturn in Cancer, June, 2003 to July, 2005

AR 39 The Poles of the Zodiac

AR 38
Uranus In
Pisces
2003-2011

AR 37
Twelfth Planet, Plutinos or
Planet X

AR 36
Eclipses – Promise or Peril?

AR35
Solar Fire

AR34
The Lunar Mansions of Vedic Astrology

AR 33
Children of the Gods

AR 32
Wheels Within Wheels

AR 31
Horoscopes of Destiny

AR 30
Zodicac of Dendera

AR 29
A Star Is Born

AR 28
Age of Aquarius

AR 27
Persia's Royal Stars of Ancients

AR 23
The Lore of a Shaman

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
       Victor Hugo

Greek Stamp depicts Zeus

Jupiter in Aquarius
January 2009 to January 2010
The God of Light Visits
the Waterbearer

Aquarius, the Water Bearer, is the eleventh zodiac sign, and the third air sign. Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the “awakener,” and co-ruled by Saturn. Saturn is the principle of form, responsibility and discipline. Uranus shatters the forms that Saturn molds and upsets the crystallized limitation of Saturn. However, freedom without responsibility or discipline is anarchy, so both of these qualities must be incorporated into Aquarian ideals, along with practical application. When the influence of these planets cooperates in Aquarius, principle and form have the potential to be perfected.

The two wavy lines of Aquarius’s symbol can be seen as water, light or energy. Sometimes these undulating lines are seen as twin serpents; one snake is wisdom and the other is guile. In mythic symbolism the Water Bearer has been depicted as an angel, pouring out living waters like rain that falls on everyone equally. This collective sign, when expressed positively, does not discriminate based on class or status. As the imaginary pictures of the constellations are drawn, the waters of life from the urn of Aquarius flow into the open mouth of Piscis Austrinis, the Southern Fish. The Southern Fish is sometimes depicted swimming upstream in the waters of Aquarius. In November 2008 the first actual image of a planet in orbit around another star was taken in this constellation. The star is Fomalhaut, the alpha star of Piscis Austrinis.

It’s said that knowledge is power, and it is Aquarius which offers the power that comes from knowing the truth. At the highest level of expression Aquarius embodies right relationship to all things, which can manifest as the kindred spirit of humanity. At this level, groups can be unified by a common ideal and cooperation can bring the shared ideal into outward expression.

Aquarius is mentally fixed, which aids in grounding new ideas, but which can bring a narrowness of mind. Aquarius energy is individualistic, independent, strong-willed and dislikes restraint, tending to be critical and questioning of authority. Those born in this sign are creative, imaginative and are often mental pioneers who are focused on the future and not the past.

Aquarius tends to be detached and impersonal, living in an intellectual realm which is inventive, scientific and sometimes rebellious. Physically, Aquarius governs the ankles, calves and circulatory system, and carries and disseminates ideas like blood distributes nutrients throughout the body. Aquarius is related to air and space travel, wave theory and the mechanics of light, and also to the world wide web, connecting the realm of the higher mind around the planet.

Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the largest in our solar system. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Jupiter is classified as a gas giant. Jupiter is the third brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus. However, at certain points in its orbit, Mars can briefly exceed Jupiter's brightness. Known since prehistoric times as a bright "wandering star," Jupiter is twice as massive as the rest of the planets combined. The famous Great Red Spot, which is larger than Earth, is actually a giant storm that is known to have existed since the 17th century. Jupiter has a system of faint rings, but unlike Saturn's intricate and complex ring patterns, Jupiter’s simple ring system is composed of an inner halo, a main ring and a Gossamer ring.

Mythically, the Roman Jupiter was the earlier Greek Zeus and the Egyptian Min-Amon. King of the gods, Zeus was the authoritarian sky father who appeared in many cultures around 1,800 BCE. The Zeus/Jupiter archetype was derived from the earlier Indo-European Sanskrit Dyaus, from div, “to shine.” Zeus/Jupiter was considered to be a god of light, and therefore wisdom, although his notorious escapades don’t always reveal his higher attributes.

Zeus was the son of Cronus, or Saturn, who escaped death because his mother, Hera wrapped a rock in swaddling cloth and fed it to Cronus. Cronus had already gobbled up the rest of his children to stay in power. To protect him, the infant Zeus was hidden in a cave on Lykos, and fed on milk from one of the horns of the goat goddess Amalthea of ancient Crete. Her horn was the origin of the cornucopia. In one myth, nectar flowed from one horn, and ambrosia, the drink which gave the gods their immortality, flowed from the other. Later her skin became Zeus’s aegis, or shield of protection. Amalthea was immortalized as the constellation of Capricorn, and the related goddess Aega became the bright star Capella, “Little She Goat.”

Jupiter’s astrological presence is larger than life. He is characterized by largesse, and he wants more and bigger of everything. His influence is generally benevolent and generous. However, this can lead to excess if not constructively channeled. Jupiter is thought to bring abundance and prosperity and to have an expansive and preserving influence. As ruler of wide-ranging Sagittarius Jupiter wants to look through a telescope, exploring far and wide, expanding his vast knowledge and eventually gaining wisdom through diverse experiences.

Jupiter’s nature can be difficult to contain, but it’s uplifting, and he aspires to greatness. He is the planet of opportunity and gives the ability to prosper, but this energy can take things to extremes. Jupiter helps us look on the bright side with a generous dose of humor. As a god of light Jupiter is said to deal with the realm of super-consciousness and therefore is a widener of horizons. His domain includes religion and philosophy, and he supports an expansive view.

Jupiter’s positive qualities include a jovial expansiveness, a sporting approach to life and an unquenchable optimism. The glass is definitely half-full, and it’s a large vessel. Exaggerated, or used unwisely, these same characteristics can become extremist in viewpoint, wasteful and disregarding of resources, trusting too much to luck. This side of Jupiter can be too fond of a good joke and fail to see when matters are serious. Because Jupiter always wants to take the larger view, there is a risk of dismissing details as insignificant.

Jupiter in Aquarius

The ancient duty of water fetching

Jupiter in Aquarius is a powerful combination that wants to make the world a better place. The highest expression of this combination shines the light and wisdom of the archetypal king of heaven through the sign of envisioned Utopia and humanitarian ideals, poetically bringing flashes of lightning to high heaven. Jupiter will transit the astrological sign of Aquarius from Jan 2009 until Jan 2010. This combination of influences brings mental expansion with humanitarian impulses, offering the potential for large projects of reform and noble group effort. Philosophy blends with science, ideally accessing the higher mind for the good of the collective.

Jupiter in Aquarius brings growth and expansion of revolutionary ideas, blazing new trails in science. Directed in a positive way, groups and collective consciousness can be channeled into worthy causes on a grand scale. There is potential for scientific genius and this combined energy enjoys research. It’s a promising transit to mobilize efforts to tackle environmental and energy issues.

Jupiter in Aquarius brings a focus on universal principles and a sense of global connection. It augurs beneficial developments for human rights. Aquarius distributes resources of an energetic or informational character, and Jupiter characterizes how things are spread. The optimistic and forward-thinking combination of Jupiter in Aquarius may help open our minds to greater possibilities.

In 1610, when Galileo pointed his telescope skyward, he discovered Jupiter's four largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and recorded their motions back and forth across Jupiter. This was the first discovery, in recent times, of a center of motion not centered on the Earth. It was a major point in favor of Copernicus's heliocentric theory of the motions of the planets. Galileo's outspoken support of the Copernican theory got him in hot water with the Inquisition. Based on my arithmetic, Jupiter was not in Aquarius in 1610, but it’s a good example of breaking out of a limiting collective paradigm, and shows how a shared world view can be transformed through science. Today anyone can repeat Galileo's observations in their own backyard using binoculars or a small telescope.

Aquarius is the energy of the incoming Age of Aquarius, so this transit may give us a harbinger of that dispensation. The outgoing age of Pisces has been about faith and belief while Aquarius will add direct knowledge and the faculty of intuition. The paradigm of Pisces is one of hierarchy which concentrates power, centralizing and controlling resources while Aquarius prefers to distribute without discrimination.

Presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt were both Aquarians who served at times of transition and profound change in America. Barak Obama is a Leo, the opposite sign to Aquarius, but he has Aquarius rising, and he was born with Jupiter in Aquarius. Therefore, this transit is a Jupiter return for him, a passage across Jupiter in his birth chart. This will occur in January just before the inauguration, triggering the innate influence in his birth chart. This expansive influence will last through his first year in office, and this will affect his idealism and support a thrust of idealistic change. Jupiter will cross over his 23 Aquarius Ascendant twice in the first year of his presidency, in April and August, intensifying Obama’s desire to impact reforms and large scale humanitarian efforts.

Jupiter & Neptune

Neptune has been advancing through the sign of Aquarius since 1998 and will continue this transit until early 2012. At this point in our history, I believe this influence holds the potential for collective transformation of our psyche. Neptune in Aquarius can dissolve destructive mental patterns and make way for more idealistic and expanded thoughts. As Jupiter moves through Aquarius the giant planet will come into conjunction with Neptune in May and July, 2009 at 26 Aquarius. This conjunction brings an opportunity for expanded compassion and the growth of humanity’s sense of oneness and shared experience.

Aquarius is said to be the sign of spiritual rebirth. Perhaps this auspicious conjunction will also offer potential for improved religious tolerance. This conjunction forms a third time at the Winter Solstice of 2009, at 24 degrees of Aquarius, and is joined by the Moon. The highly spiritual energies of Jupiter and Neptune in Aquarius will touch the subconscious patterns of everyone on Earth through the combined influence of the Moon. People may believe anything is possible.

In addition, the Moon in the birth chart of the United States occupied 27 Aquarius, so it is close enough to be impacted by Jupiter and Neptune. At a high level of expression, this could bring more of America’s true destiny and purpose to conscious awareness. Jupiter will pass over this exact point in January 2010 at the end of Jupiter’s transit through Aquarius, bringing his blessings of light into the collective consciousness of America. If minds and hearts are open this conjunction will be like a benediction.

Julie Loar’s latest book, Everyday Goddesses: Ancient Myths for Modern Women, is now available.
Julie Loar
Queen of Cups, LLC
PO Box 1679 Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World
http://www.queenofcups.com
970-264-7474