Jupiter: ‘Great Benefic’ or the Joker in the Pack?

Jupiter, known in Greek myth as Zeus, king of the gods, has been perceived for centuries as the ‘Great Benefic’, and many astrologers assume that this planet will always herald good fortune, opportunities for betterment, and material and emotional rewards. Sometimes this interpretation is entirely valid. At other times it isn’t, as anyone tracking the 2020 transit of Jupiter conjuncting Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn might have observed. Hopes that the pandemic would soon be over were dashed as cases of Covid-19 began to spike again and move into a second wave, while virulently partisan politics, conspiracy theories, and burgeoning fear and rage generated destructive divides between individuals, families, communities, and nations. When Jupiter transits in aspect to natal planets, the same contradictory picture emerges. Sometimes great opportunities arise. Sometimes the transit coincides with the collapse of relationships, financial hardship, the onset of serious illness, and even death. Sometimes both extremes occur at once. And in natal charts, Jupiter aspects are not always benign in the accepted sense. Take, for example, the natal Moon-Jupiter conjunction in Adolf Hitler’s natal chart, or the Sun trine Jupiter in Donald Trump’s. What does Jupiter really symbolise? These three seminars explore the enigmatic, paradoxical, and unpredictable Jupiter in the hope of finding a clearer understanding of this tricky and magical planet.

Jupiter Part 1: The Head that Wears the Crown

‘Open your mouth and shut your eyes and see what Zeus will send you.’
– Aristophanes

The first seminar of this series will explore Jupiter’s mythology and psychology, and the individual expressions of the planet in the natal chart by house, sign, and aspect. We will consider the terms so often used in relation to Jupiter – expansion, growth, abundance – from different perspectives, questioning what we mean by these terms, how we make assumptions based on our personal beliefs, ideals, and expectations, and how we often fail to understand ‘expansion’ in relation to talents and abilities, conflicts and hurts, and the human inclination to attempt to compensate for inner wounds and lack of self-esteem. We will also explore Jupiter’s relationship to the old planetary delineation of the ‘Seven Sins’, which equated Jupiter with Gluttony and the inability to tolerate limits.

This part is also available in a bundle with the other 2 parts to rent on this platform.