Jupiter in Taurus 2011-2012 - Patiently Stabilizing New Beginnings

by Robert Wilkinson

Jupiter entered Taurus for the first time since 1999-2000 on June 4, 6:56 am PDT, 9:56 am EDT and 2:56 pm Greenwich. Here the planet of expansion and new openings to wider views and greater truths finds expression in all things involving stabilization and simple, steady, determined actions.

Jupiter only gets to 11 Taurus before going stationary retrograde on August 30. This year's retrograde period will take it back to 1 Taurus, where it goes stationary direct at the end of December. Thus it'll be in Taurus for the rest of this year.

From there Jupiter rockets forward through the entire sign of Taurus until it enters Gemini on June 11-12, 2012. So actually Jupiter has a long stay in Taurus of an entire year, unlike Jupiter in Aries which went less than 3 months during Summer 2010 and 5 months in 2011.

First, let's revisit Jupiter's nature. As I noted in the article on Jupiter in Pisces, Jupiter rules Pisces as well as Sagittarius. Those two signs offer us a glimpse of Jupiter's nature. We could learn a lot by examining how Jupiter functions in those two signs.

Jupiter was in Pisces from January 17-18 through early June 2010, and revisited that sign from early September through mid-January 2011. In Pisces, the water quality is emphasized, just as the fire quality was shown to us back in 2007 when it was in Sag and during the months in 2010 and 2011 when Jupiter was in Aries.

Being a combination of Sagittarius and Pisces, Jupiter rules "the open sky" as well as "the vast depth." Jupiter symbolizes ever-expanding forms of Higher Truth as well as deep feelings we share with all other humans throughout time.

So Jupiter is both Fire and Water, and Mutable by nature. In Fiery Aries, Jupiter was in its element, in a sign that takes the initiative in embracing the new. Here the expansive principle flames on in dynamic ways, opening new doors after closing the old ones in Pisces.

With Jupiter in the Earth sign of Taurus, it's in an unfamiliar element. Earth is practical, so Jupiter could benefit from that, as well as the steadiness of being in a Fixed sign. While Jupiter may get impatient with being in a slow moving groove, it should none the less do well by being tethered to a process of steady gain and productive action.

We can understand even more by contemplating that Taurus is the 3rd sign from Pisces, and the 6th sign from Sagittarius. Thus Jupiter in Taurus expands and discovers other things about what began in Pisces and was made concrete in Aries, and refines and adjusts its Sagittarian side, as well as any natural expressions we learned when Jupiter was in Sagittarius.

Taurus symbolizes the natural values and resources that the Aries Self draws on in its natural, unrestrained, unedited state. While Aries' nature is to BE, in an emergent, potent way, Taurus smooths out the rough edges, and finds a comfortable groove it can rest on in expressing that Self.

While Aries is sincere, inspiring, combustible, and always aspires to express itself more positively, Taurus is calm and steadies the emergent process within natural, enjoyable boundaries. This patient, dependable, and reserved sign turns the impulsive energy of Aries into industrious, creative, secure movement.

This sign likes to accumulate using consistent methods, and brings harmonious endurance to whatever it touches. Taurus' steadiness is the natural reaction to Aries impulsiveness, and its ability to hang in there is the antidote to Aries' tendency to bail too quickly. So Jupiter in Taurus could bring steadiness to what began with Jupiter in Aries, where patience will be needed as the process of the new beginnings settles into a long term groove.

Jupiter in a sign ruled by Venus and Trans-Pluto is a very beautiful, appreciative, and protective energy, stabilizing activities and anchoring Spiritual seeds to prepare for future growth. This could mean movement along limiting lines of activity, or an "expansive consolidation" like transplanting small plants into a much larger garden space where they can expand as much as they need to. After the quick launch into the stratosphere of a new mode of living in Aries, this settles into a comfortable, stable, easy orbit within a well-defined fertile field of activity.

Jupiter in Taurus can bring a self-satisfied confidence. The trick is to ground that confidence in an ever-growing field of activity without getting bogged down in a self-rationalizing inertia. It should be great for gathering resources patiently so that we can sustain the new beginnings, and help protect us and open new possibilities as we slowly and steadily know what's ours to capture and cultivate.

Jupiter in Taurus should bring us confidence in the life areas where we have Taurus in our chart. Jupiter in Taurus can be very cautious and plays it safe, and we can use any convenient means to solve our immediate problems. It should be a very active time where we free ourselves from useless halfhearted responses, time wasting actions, and old notions of futures that were never ours to begin with.

Grant Lewi, in his masterwork "Astrology For The Millions," says Jupiter in Taurus opens opportunities that involve zero risk, since "opportunity and security are one...." He says it brings shelter and security, where opportunities come easily and without much effort. Jupiter in Taurus doesn't take gambles, and isn't much attracted to new ways of doing things. This position is generous in its appreciation of the finest of food, the arts, and enjoyable interactions.

Marc Edmund Jones, in his masterwork "Astrology: How and Why It Works," says Jupiter in Taurus "indicates the development of a consciousness which is characteristically self-exploiting, and sure in its response to ideas." It is motivated by "its own inexhaustible capacity for experience," "is interested in making an effective contribution to the values of life," and requires a "genuine role in human progress."

During this year of Jupiter in Taurus, we will all learn about Taurus things. It will sextile and then quintile Neptune and trine Pluto during the period from now through April 2012, which will help us get calm and steady as we navigate the larger changes shown by these planets. We will definitely become more sure-footed in navigating Neptune in Pisces' fogs, illusions, and peculiar atmospheres while getting to the heart of issues in simple straightforward ways.

Those who embrace this energy will find a slow steady growth of practical intuition and the ability to see which seeds of ideas and actions need cultivating over the long run, and which need to be expunged from the garden of personality and/or life. On the other hand, Jupiter will also lead some who are stuck in non-productive patterns to embrace a stubborn inertia, and may even cement unhealthy self-absorption and self-justifying values in those who don't want to grow. These people will see opportunity in not moving, or not expanding, or not learning.

During this time Jupiter, the expansive principle, will be in some very favorable aspects with Uranus, showing that whatever has been awakened by Uranus and Jupiter in Aries will be stabilized in appropriate ways. Jupiter's relationship to Saturn will be wide and varied, and since both of these social-cultural planets are in signs ruled by Venus, pay close attention to what signs Venus occupies and what aspects it makes to other planets to see the backdrop to how Jupiter and Saturn are functioning.

In June 2011, Jupiter makes a quadranovile to Saturn, showing this month to be a "dividing line" between what is spiritually compatible or not between our opportunities and our limitations, our philosophy and our responsibilities, our sense of adventure and our sense of fear. Much will be realized that's been cooking for awhile, and yet other things will have to be postponed until other realizations come forth in late September and early October.

In July Jupiter and Saturn make a powerful triseptile, showing these areas will hit critical forks in the road in our lives where new qualities of being will be revealed, we'll have to use knowledge and skill to meet a future condition, and value a new consecration. The triseptile will continue through August into early September, after which it will again move back into a quadranovile in late September, so much that will be gestating in June will be seen in the light of a new realization by early October.

Just as September will mirror August, October will mirror July, and November-December will review the lessons of June. Then Jupiter goes direct, and re-traces the degree spans of June-August 2011 from December 2011 through the Vernal Equinox in March 2012. Rudhyar states this span of degrees falls in the Process of Individualization, Act of Differentiation, Scene of Substantiation, and Span of Experience.

Jupiter and Saturn make no significant aspect between early October and late November, after which they are in a forming out of sign opposition through early March 2012. The opposition of Jupiter to Saturn challenges all of us to find a new form of creative expression and a justification for accomplishing a cherished ideal so that we can hold the line through all possible discouragement. We must all find ways to "make success worth its price," get a broader imagination and/or truth, and find structured ways to make a promise become concrete without letting rules and pessimism be a wet blanket to our dreams and ideals.

Jupiter's transit to 11 Taurus through late August will show us the initial expansion into securing the new beginnings of Jupiter in Aries. That point will help us see what we want to cultivate and what we don't. We'll get a new look at the lessons of June through August during the period of September through December when Jupiter is retrograde. Then when it again goes direct in late December, we'll be able to move more easily with the energies securing what we need during the first 3 months of 2012, after which Jupiter enters "unknown zones" of exploration and opportunity.

Obviously, all the lessons I've discussed so far are playing out in the house(s) that transiting Jupiter is moving through in our charts. This is a time when the deeper feelings and connectedness with All-That-Is that we learned from Jupiter in Pisces, opened in new ways of doing our Being where we emerged from the collective field and became true individuals with Jupiter in Aries, can be secured in comfortable and steady ways while Jupiter occupies Taurus.

By examining the life areas of each house, we can see the progressive lessons Jupiter teaches us on a year-to-year basis. Since it takes about 11-12 years to make an entire circuit through all the signs, we can learn how the expansions and openings that happened when it crossed our Ascendant, Sun, or planets are related to what we learned in subsequent year periods about those life qualities.

It's also a time when the Taurus energies can "teach" our natal Jupiter more about natural values and non-risky behavior, regardless of what sign our natal Jupiter is in. Our natal Jupiter in its sign shows us where we naturally learn and embrace various kinds of "quests." Jupiter transits show us how we relate to our natural openness to a greater truth or future.

Regardless of how we're living the adventure of our life, Jupiter in Taurus shows us how that quest or adventure is related to our values and resources, our sense of stability, and how to take the initiative on our own behalf to secure and stabilize new life expressions and opportunities. In any case, this transit counsels patience, patience, and more patience as we gather what we need to sustain our future!

The next article on this subject will discuss the possible effects on each sign.

© Copyright 2011 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[rebekka]

Brilliance in Insight Robert thanku

[jan]

Hi Robert, with J smack-in-the-middle of my 12th, and my natal J Cap-11, Cap Sun, natal Sat-Virgo-5. I feel balanced w/Taurus ascendant and even more so when I read your articles. Gracious thanks from your avid earthling..

[Judy Croome]

Oh thank goodness. I nearly wept with relief when I read your calm and reassuring explanation. With 3 planets (Sun, Saturn & Mercury Rx) in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Scorpio conjunct midheaven and moon in Pisces, anything that transiting Jupiter does rocks my world...and this Jupiter in Aries rush has left me happy and excited at the new directions my life & writing are taking, but utterly exhausted & knocked off my feet too. The idea of a whole year of stable calm steady expansion while Jupiter is in Taurus is simply the best news I've had! Maybe I can actually take a breath now!
Judy, South Africa

[katharina]

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[Robert]

Hi Rebekka - You're most welcome.

Hi jan - This grand Earth trine should be good to/for you. Enjoy!!

Hi Judy Croome - This should stabilize a lot, and Saturn of course is doing good things for your Sag. Many of us, me included, had our breath taken away by Jupiter in Aries. Looking forward to stable consolidation myself....

Hi katharina - You obviously didn't read the guidelines for commenting, or you would have contacted me before doing a personal commercial plug. If you want me to reinstate the name of the book, you must email me. And NEVER do multiple promotions of the same thing on several articles. That will get you deleted quick.

[Bwebber01]

THANKS for all your insight!! I'm trying to better understand how jupiter in taurus over this year might affect me, where is the expansion...using natal chart my Sun is in 24 Degrees Taurus. (6th house)Jupiter is in 07 Degrees Aquarius. (2nd house I think)...thanks in advance, learning more and more

[Valerie]

thanks for another good article... i'm especially partial to Jupiter having it in conjunction with my Sun. the magic word here is patience... that's what i really need. Namaste :)

[Ed]

Robert,

I haven't posted in a long while as I've been waiting for the significant changes in my life to begin but reading this article again has prompted me to post what has been happening in my life these past couple of months....as a refresher, I've been in limbo since the Saturn Uranus Opposition of 2010 where I posted in that article that I've been laid off much to my surprise/chagrin. that time was a total meltdown of my psyche/confidence and life as I knew it as I lost a career that was rewarding and took a long time for me to build.

fast forward a year later, I now have a new career prospect as a computer instructor at a youth center (it's called a youth center but actually a Juvenile Hall for young female offenders). I am going through background check right now but the job is mine pending the result of the check. it is a totally new career, which will allow me to use knowledge I accumulate in my past career (computers) and pass it on to a younger generation. Jupiter in Aries truly opened up a new path for me, and Jupiter in Taurus is solidifying it.

going from IT Manager to computer instructor is a big change, from corporate world to state government job in a prison, from a task master to a teacher...big changes that corresponded to what astrology has been stating these long transit that started with Saturn Uranus opposition in 2010, and, from the looks of it, would be in place for a very long time for me.

I am thankful for the possibility of gaining a new career, thankful for your guidance and words of wisdom, thankful for a new chapter in my life that started out as a very scary transit but is now turning out to be a new lease on life.

[Robert]

Hi Ed - Congrats! Yours is a perfect example of what I try to communicate to those who are forced on to a different road, for whatever reason. Perhaps this will be a more fulfilling reality, where you'll actually make a difference by "Paying it forward," so that those you teach will in their day teach others from their direct experience, not just theoretical but infinitely practical.

Redeeming a mind and heart from the meatgrinder of the "judicial system" is truly a fulfilling way to live. However, I have one great big caveat. A while ago I taught writing (literally behind the razor wire!) in LA County facilities, and was compelled to remember that many teenagers do lie, manipulate, and often play dangerous games. This taught me as a teacher to focus on the ones that want to change rather than just stay tough while keeping my emotions at arm's length. While I wanted to help all of them, I found that focusing on those who weren't lost in a fog of glamor and illusion (common to teens and adults!) helped me get the ones who really wanted to learn on track. All that said, all the best to you on your "new lease on life."

[Ed]

thanks for the advice Robert! I do realize that quite a few of the teenagers that I'll be teaching might not have the best mindset in terms of learning and some of them would be hard to "reach" or to get through to. That's one of the challenges that the Principal at the youth center has told me. at any rate, it'll be a rather interesting career!

for the astrology part, all of the free time I've had gave me a chance to watch all of the transits in my natal chart, to find the astrological descriptions of the transits and to see how it affected my life. I must say that Astrology has been spot on in explaining what has transpired, how it transpired, and how/what could happen in the future. it's an eye opening experience that everyone should try and feel for themselves.

thanks for all your guidance again!

[caliban]

Oh Ed, those hard to reach teens. It breaks my heart. I was one of them. Everything the hard way. I'm cringing in remembrance.

[Ed]

caliban,

most teens are "hard to reach" as I'm finding out now since my kids are nearing the teenage years. LOL!

I'm sure that you've made leaps and bounds when it comes to opening up your mind and finding the wisdom that we all need in life. I myself was quite a rebellious teen and it never ceases to amaze me how different I am today.

I'm sure that the teens that I am going to encounter at my new job still have the potential to change and improve their life...as astrology keeps pointing out to me, all transits almost always makes a change in our life and with the teens in my case, they probably have nowhere else to go but up.

[caliban]

Hi Ed, your conversation with Robert on this matter is a godsend. Very timely. It's something I had to go back and pick up. I've been personally processing very intensely for the last gulp . . . several years. I had gotten this image last week and just wanted to throw it away. It was very uncomfortable WAH WAH. Not so easy with you guys around. Anyway it all looks different now. Sometimes back to the future works. You must be very good at what you do. Osmosis completus. (1967-8 was very intense for me and there was no turning back or slowing down. Family was comatose from the changes. I was spit out in the fray and very much on my own. My Ceres emerged. A good thing.)

[Ed]

caliban,

I myself is amazed at all of the "eureka" moments I've had while reading Robert's articles and the more I re-read each article the wisdom and guidance pops out at me.

as for me being very good at what I do...It was simply "gaining from experience." I was in my former career for over a decade, it's hard not to learn a lot if you're in a career that long. while I'm sad that the cycle for that career is over, I'm glad that a new cycle is beginning with a new career. the end of the cycle was messy and full of fear, but in the end, acceptance of what was over helped me move on. I now understand that cycles end and begins, it's simply part of life.

[fire blanket]

amazing writing hope you keep posting more like this.

[Deb Marcoux]

Truly amazing Robert!

[Donna]

Hi, Robert:

Sometimes it takes awhile to accept change. I've come to grips with my short comings these last 16 months... the deep ones that we all try to ignore. Which are the ones that matter.
I've never thought of Jupiter this way. But now I find myself thinking of everything in new terms. Do I understand correctly that Jupiter has a lot to do with how we see our friends and how we relate to them, and most importantly, understanding that who we hang out with, whether work, play or major fun, impacts who we are and where we go more than glamour and illusion allows us to accept?
Finally, July 2011 was the most life changing month of my life. And now you're telling me Nov - Dec 2011 is more of the same ... or will it be an echo ... or will my life be stable by then? Stable is the right word for this paragraph, because life is so rarely stable. But that's what I'm looking for in change, not simply physical comfort (though that's nothing to throw away) but work that is belonging, friends that don't stab me in the back, and yes, okay, comfort that is joy, peace and love. I admit it. I want it.
I have come a long way in 16 months.
--Donna