Jupiter will blow your mind ()
In Magical Doors, I introduced Jupiter as the “Miracle Grow” energy, the astrological fertiliser. Whatever it touches becomes bigger.
Other essential keywords for Jupiter are “knowledge” and “understanding”. Looking at the bigger picture, our mind expands. The biggest picture may well be what we call “worldview”.
Today, I’ll add another key word: “Assimilation”. Following this thread, we’re going to understand Jupiter better, and in particular why it makes sense for Jupiter to rule Pisces. Jupiter is more similar to Neptune than we think.
What is knowledge? If you’re asking what’s the capital city of Lithuania, I know the answer: It’s Vilnius. But to really know Vilnius, I would have to go and live there. I would know the sound of its streets, what they like to eat, how they treat one another and many other things.
I would get more than lovely memories: we assimilate our experiences. They nourish us. They make us grow. What we live becomes us.
This is also true about culture. Our inner life is enriched by the books we read, the music we listen to etc. Cultivating our inner fields, we grow. We understand better. We know more. We become wiser. Our worldview becomes more colourful, our philosophy more refined, our beliefs more inspired.
Assimilation is also a word we use about the process of learning. Students do more than memorising information. They understand how things come together. They can explain.
One becomes a mathematician, another a carpenter, a flautist or simply themselves with “that kind of personality”.
What we assimilate shapes us.
Someone said: “Culture is what is left when everything else is forgotten”.
I would say:
We stand under what we understand.
Let’s keep digging!
A healthy baby assimilates nutrients from its food. The food becomes its own flesh and blood.
An empire expands by invading neighbouring countries and assimilating them into itself. From the point of view of the Empire, the process is straightforward enough.
How about the point of view of the neighbouring countries?
Their boundaries have been rendered ineffective.
The identity of colonised people is at risk of getting dissolved as the bigger thing takes over.
These themes are typical of Pisces: issues with boundaries, dissolution… In an Empire, or a union like the United States or the European Union, or the United Kingdom, the many become One. (They may or may not like it)
Being absorbed is a kind of expansion. A whole new world is there, for the better or the worse.
In some cases, the culture of the conquered strongly influences that of the conquerors. Our astrology, for example, has Hellenistic roots and planets wearing Roman names.
Assimilation is a two way process.
Jupiter is the traditional ruler of both Sagittarius and Pisces. There are two sides to assimilation: one is actively pursuing and assimilating, the other is surrendering and being assimilated. Yang and Yin business.
Conquered people have to surrender. Jupiter is usually considered benefic, but it’s really a question of point of view!
Surrendering is an ambiguous concept. For warriors it means defeat. However, for mystics and lovers, it is a valued attitude. It means letting the Great Spirit, or Love, take over.
We are like countries, and we are like lovers. Sometimes surrendering is defeat, and sometimes it’s virtue.
It’s not always clear when it’s one and when it’s the other. There are two fish. They swim in opposite directions, and they are always together…
Jupiter, the planet of growth, is called a social planet by astrologers, and rules the process of socialisation.
As they grow up and assimilate life lessons children learn to become autonomous, acquire critical thinking, self determination and all that individualising jazz . At the same time, parents and teachers don’t wish for them to rebel against the social order.
Social integration involves some amount of surrendering. There are laws and customs. (“Laws” is another central key word for Jupiter.)
Society is neither the kingdom of Heaven to whose rule it would be good to surrender wholeheartedly, nor an enslaving hell to which individuals should resist at all cost… But it’s a little bit of both!
This double bind is reflected in the interpretations of Jupiter we find in astrological literature: people stamped with Jupiter’s seal are said to love freedom and independence.
They may be explorers, adventurers, truth seekers. The Sagittarian type has the reputation of being ignorant of social graces, at times so blunt you wish them back to the savanna. The Piscean type may identify as an outcast, as “not made for this world”... and escape obligations and duties.
At the same time, we learn that Jupiterians may be Very Important Persons playing a role in society, doctors, lawyers, teachers, preachers, lecturers, priests… They may assimilate and represent a social or cosmic order and its laws. They believe in civilisation, promote culture and moral principles.
The same individual versus society dilemma characterises Uranus, in a more radical version. Jupiter rules over mutable signs, it has more flexibility. Mutable signs bring change. Jupiter talks about the process of assimilation - integration. Uranus shakes the fixed state of affairs when it looks outdated.
Conclusion
We may have a sense of identity, personally or collectively, but in reality, with Jupiter minds and cultures can get mixed. Melange is everywhere. Nothing is permanent.
If the cosmic energies were playdoughs of various colours, and we let Jupiter lead the game (by switching off Saturn) we would see all the colours and forms blend. We would end up with a round brown ball representing nothing, as I did when I was in nursery school.
Conversely, if we switched off Jupiter and gave full powers to Saturn, we would stare stupidly at our sticks of playdoughs. We would demonstrate absolute respect to their initial forms and colours. Nothing new would appear and life wouldn’t happen.
Identities are illusions, by this I mean they are not absolute, but for life purposes, Saturn needs to balance Jupiter and preserve forms and identities for some time.
When we meet Jupiter in a chart, we get clues about what we want to assimilate, how we try to understand the laws of life and society (worldview, philosophy, beliefs), and also what style of higher order we feel called to surrender to.
I hope I’ve been able to bring some elements to understand Jupiter. There is always a lot to chew with this one. Assimilate well!
Jean-Marc
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