|
Home / Astrology / Jupiter / Benefic / Eternal
Optimist
Jupiter
- The Eternal Optimist
(The True Believer)
 "The
ancient grand vision of Jupiter is hard for us to imagine
today, and it is probably impossible for us to feel the
awe with which such a cosmic force (or deity) was experienced." Stephen
Arroyo
Sagittarius
is the moment - made into an arrow - shot at tomorrow’s
heart!--Dane Rudhyar
Zodiac
Good Guy
Known to traditional astrology as the "greater benefic," Jupiter
was the all around Zodiac Good Guy! In traditional astrology
Jupiter wore an (almost) spotless white hat. Above all else,
you wanted to ensure that the powers and influence of Jupiter
were on your side!
Ficino
Check out, for instance, the brilliant writings of the Florentine
Renaissance astrologer Marsilio Ficino.
Shocking,
but true... the astrologer and priest Ficino played
a vital and leading role in the Italian Renaissance,
among other things, reintroducing the Western world
to the works of Plato, Plotinus, and many others.
Anyway...
in order to live a happier, more fulfilled and healthy
life - Ficino literally prescribed filling one's
home and life with all of Jupiter's many colors, minerals
and images. And it seems that Ficino experienced great
difficulty coming up with much of anything negative to
say about Jupiter.
The Book of Life is only recommended
for advanced readers.
(Buy
it Now at Amazon.com)
My,
My, My... How Times Have Changed
These days we "modern, enlightened" astrologers tend to write
Jupiter off. We often gloss over the deeper meanings of Jupiter's
placement in birth charts. We generally ignore his transits
over birth planets...
And
when we do manage to pay Jupiter any attention, we find
great glee in charging him with being an overly pompous,
ineffectual windbag - while simultaneously striving to
point out all the more negative, shadowy possibilities
of his nature.
Why
is that?
Maybe it's just the pendulum of opinion swinging from
excess to excess - from all light to all dark. Frankly,
it all suspiciously
sounds excessively "Jupiterian" to me, since
moderation has never been thought to be one of his strong
points.
Whatever
the reason - it's a huge mistake… In Stephen Arroyo's (highly
recommended] book Exploring Jupiter, Arroyo explores
in great detail how Jupiter points the way to:
-
your
sense of future direction and purpose
-
how
you can develop confidence and self-esteem
-
where
you should take a "leap of faith" in order to manifest
your greatest potential
-
where
you have a special breadth of vision and intuitive
perception that can lead to any expanded scope of
activity and understanding
Short
excerpt from Arroyo:
"In
contemplating the profound qualities and aspirations
that Jupiter represents in astrology, I cannot
help but feel that Jupiter's bigness and broad
vision is inextricably linked to the perennial
human search for a larger truth and for an experience
of oneness with the universe…
Witness,
for example the symbol of Sagittarius: the Centaur.
This unique creature is still grounded on the earth
with an animal body, but that does not stop him
from using his human half to carefully aim his
arrow at a specific goal on the distant horizon."
Yep!
Huge mistake, ever counting Jupiter out... and if
Jupiter happens to loom large in your birth chart,
then doubly huge mistake!
Regarding
the transits of Jupiter, astrologer Steven Forrest
writes:
"Essentially,
this is a call to recognize an opportunity.
Traditional astrologers view it more
starkly - to them, it is simply the planet
of luck. And that is often the case:
the toast does tend to land butter-side
up when Jupiter is crossing sensitive
territories. But the real, evolutionary
meaning lies deeper. One key is that
Jupiter is future-oriented... it is concerned
with bright, unexplored possibilities.
Stripped
to its bones, Jupiter always asks one primary
question: how have you been underestimating
yourself? Its transits signal a time when
new opportunities come into existence,
but to seize them you must recognize that
you deserve them, that you are capable
of rising to them, and that old deals and
compromises are finished. Trust yourself,
have faith in life and go for it: that's
the spirit of Jupiter."
Jupiter
Loomers
Some of the ways that Jupiter can loom large
in the birth chart:
-
Sun,
Moon, and/or Ascendant in Sagittarius
-
Sun
and/or Moon closely aspected by Jupiter
-
Sun
and/or Moon in the 9th house
-
Jupiter
conjunct one of the angles (Ascendant,
Descendant, Midheaven, I.C.)
I
have one of these trademark "Jupiter Loomers" in
my birth chart - and I can tell you Jupiter's
transits have often behaved like a finely
tuned, precision clock in mirroring my
life journey.
|
back
to Astrology 