#10: Grow grow grow grow grow.
what happens when excess moves through the sky?
Upcoming Astrology:
There are plenty of week ahead resources out there (the CHANI podcast is a good one), so I thought it might be more fun to read a focused interpretation of one dynamic in the sky.
Sun conjunct Uranus: This astro event is happening right now - surprise! The Sun, the representative of collective spirit and philosophy, is sitting exactly conjunct Uranus in Taurus today, May 9th. Uranus demands change and rebellion. Think flipped tables, regardless of what the cause is and what the demand is. Rebellion for rebellion’s sake. Astrologically, you can’t control where Uranus focuses their attention.
That being said, I would love to see this rebellion focused on gun control. We just experienced yet another mass shooting in Texas. The stories are horrifying and difficult to read, but, if you have the space to do so I find it is important for me to stay connected to the terror that politicians are enabling. It keeps my Uranian impulse focused and helps resist the normalization of this that Republicans specifically require.
I’m donating to GoFundMe’s and I’m doing what I can to contact relevant officials. It all still feels as hopeless as it has for pretty much my entire life. If you have more ideas, let me know. Love to everyone, I wish this wasn’t a problem.
Grow grow grow grow grow.
Last week my upcoming astrology section was about the soon-to-occur Jupiter entrance into the sign of Taurus on May 17. I shared Joy of Life, painted by Matisse when Jupiter had returned to its position in his own birth chart in Taurus.
The combination of Jupiter’s and Taurus’s archetypal promises should be sweet and satisfying, likely more pleasurable than the combination of Jupiter and Aries. This is interesting, because Jupiter and Aries have the technical affinity of both holding day-time energy. Taurus on the other hand is nocturnal, earthy, cooling.
Aries is a cardinal sign, meaning this space in the sky is one that is prime for initiatory actions. Beginnings (Aries begins with the spring equinox) are at home in Aries, especially those beginnings driven by passion, as Aries is also a fire sign. Jupiter’s natural optimism and excitement meets these energies and approaches ecstatic action. Endorphins that come from using your fast-twitch muscles to break a sprint record or pushing yourself to reach a new squat max.
Taurus, as a fixed earth sign, is stable. Some argue that Taurus is the most fixed of the fixed signs, solid as rock and completely stubborn. This is backed up by the image associated with the sign, the Bull. Notably, this doesn’t have to be an angry bull. Just a bull. Immovable and unbothered. With Jupiter’s presence, we might expect that bull is just taking its time to digest, letting an abundant grass and foliage meal break down as it moves through multiple stomachs, soaking up every last nutrient.
As an archetype, Jupiter represents indulgence, enjoyment, saturation. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system by a long shot. Its surface churns and bubbles, evoking the foam that forms on the surface of beer poured into a glass. Mythologically, he’s connected with god kings who lack restraint and, mostly, don’t suffer consequences for it. A binge without a hangover, an indulgence without shame. Utter satisfaction.
Astrology’s systems are all about balancing too little with too much. Excessive cold balanced with warmth. Excessive moisture tempered with some needed dryness. Jupiter, technically, is understood to be a planet of moderate heat and moderate wetness, a “benefic” planet that brings good things. He’s the counterpart to Saturn and his joyous movement through your chart complements Saturn’s often difficult maturation. Just as you have a Saturn return every 27ish years, you also have a Jupiter return roughly every 12 years. Where Saturn helps us pull back and cut out the unnecessary, Jupiter helps us grow, experiment, explore. You wouldn’t want one without the other. Even so, as far back as the first century C.E., astrologers considered it possible to have too much of a good thing or to see gifts manifest in ways that at times could be a hindrance. An overactive Jupiter might lead to excessive pride, false piety, or drunkenness, for example.
Identifying “too much of a good thing” isn’t difficult, especially in America in 2023. Excess is killing the planet, unquestionably. On an individual level, we’re expected to be physically, exceptionally small in places and large in others. Our performance of an exceptional self is endlessly scrutinized internally and by each other. We compulsively expand.
But to deny ourselves any kind of growth, expansion, or the opportunity to reach new heights isn’t ideal either. Astrologer and herbalist Maeg Keane wrote about that beautifully here, but, to quote them at length:
When I hear “expansive,” I don’t think “stable.” At least, I didn’t. This makes sense considering my own where and when. Whether in the form of corporate greed, colonization, or wellness culture’s obsession with “self-improvement,” words like “expansion” and “growth” have a nasty taste to them. But growth, even overgrowth, does not have to be mutually exclusive with wisdom, discernment, or stability. Part of growing is outgrowing.
When a potted plant grows, it may outgrow its container. That doesn’t mean the plant is “too much.” It means it needs a bigger pot. The transfer to the new container is stressful for the plant. Its roots are exposed. It has to get re-acclimated. The plant has to find its place in its new context. But if the plant stayed in the smaller pot, it wouldn’t have been stable at all. Growth is stabilizing even if we don’t feel secure while we’re doing it. It’s a vulnerable moment to be as big as you are. It’s vulnerable to move from one container to another.
The metaphor of outgrowing the pot you’re planted in is apt for Jupiter’s upcoming movement into Taurus, a fertile earth sign. Taurus is lush landscape, somewhere between the wheat fields of Virgo and the scaled agriculture systems of Capricorn, our other two earth signs. Jupiter moving into Taurus indicates a shift of abundance for your individual chart (remember to consider which house Taurus covers for you) as well as a collective shift that will last for roughly the next year.
To more deeply understand Jupiter’s influence and version of abundance in Taurus, I like to think about volunteer plants. The unexpected growth that comes from the seeds you didn’t even realize were planted. Hidden opportunity in your compost bin or the leftovers from a pest that got into your garden and left behind waste. Growth frequently comes from unplanned places.
Consider Jupiter as a spotlight on an area of life that is in need of some fertilizer. Maybe Taurus is in your Second House and it’s time to dream about how you’re earning money or how you could spend it in different ways. If you’ve got Taurus in your Seventh House, you can bring that imagination and expansion into your committed relationships. Wherever Taurus sits, Jupiter invites you in the next year to let things grow.
For the collective, we can consider the general significations of Taurus: a stable, living planet Earth. How can we experience more abundance in the natural spaces we still have? Where can we enact Jupiter’s devout faith in support of nature? This is not optimization, but enjoyment and expansion. The flowers are blooming, go spend time with them.
Always a lot of credit goes to the people who have been my teachers, both directly and through their freely shared knowledge, and so many books.
P.S. Send me your Enneagram and astrology and random questions why not?