Jupiter – has an upside and a downside – Astroinform with Marjorie Orr
Eternally optimistic, luck-bringing Jupiter is given a forensic makeover in Liz Greene’s latest book – By Jove! The Meaning of the Astrological Jupiter.
She emphasizes Jupiter is a good deal more enigmatic and less predictable than usually portrayed. At best it brings a connection to a meaningful and greater pattern, faith in the future, the courage to pursue a vision and can foster humour and joy.
But a natal Jupiter can also bring a reluctance to take responsibility for personal choices or honouring long term commitments and can lean towards self-aggrandisement and hubris, lack of empathy, gluttony, intolerance and dogmatism.
There is an extensive trawl through the background mythology surrounding Zeus and his many lovers which throw light on the multi-faceted nature of a planet often given a simplistically positive slant – promiscuous, a chancer, unpredictable, unreliable, not stable, refuses to be bound by rules.
Jupiter rules both Sagittarius and Pisces, both signs which thrive on connections, one mental and the other emotional. But both are also ‘innately subversive’ and ‘can put vision before reality, belief before logic, perceived truth before facts.’
It plays a part not only in religious belief but also in identity politics where individuals come together in a search for a meaningful connection and an identity.
This is a comprehensive overview of Jupiter in all its manifestations, appearing at death as well as moments of good fortune, with chart interpretations of house positions, its operation in synastry and composite charts. With a final sweep through Jupiter cycles in relation to the other outer planets – Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
One thought I will take with me is that when Jupiter transits a natal planet it ‘is given an almighty kick’ which can at times be painful but ultimately can produce a constructive result.
The other – which may be pertinent at the moment with Trump in full flight and a Jupiter Saturn square in orb and coming exact in mid June – is the necessity to keep a balance or find a middle way between hubris and nemesis. Jupiter flies high while Saturn its opposite cuts down to earth. The old Roman trope of ‘memento mori’ = remember you are human, is warning which the overly Jupiterian type ignores at their peril.
Published by The Wessex Astrologer: 14 April 2025
