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Let’s look ahead a bit: the Great Conjunction

It seems a good moment to remember that we are at the very end of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle and soon to be infused with a breath of air from a different realm. Lofty, moveable, and light are qualities brought with the air element, and we know that, after 200 years in earth, the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions move into air next month. (Not a moment too soon.)

Saturn re-enters Aquarius on December 17 (he dipped into the sign for three months this spring), and Jupiter enters Aquarius on December 19. The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction is on the 21st at 1°29’ Aquarius.

Watching the Sun, Moon and Planets is a wonderful website written by astronomer Jeffrey L. Hunt. Here’s his report on the November 7 sky. “Brilliant Morning Star Venus shines from the eastern sky during morning twilight.  Mercury joins Venus as a morning planet.  The speedy planet is to the lower left of the star Spica that is below Venus.  The morning bright gibbous moon forms a long line with Procyon and Sirius.  In the evening sky, bright Mars shines from the east while Jupiter and Saturn are in the south-southwest.”

He posts nearly everyday with graphics showing the night skies. Here is one of his essays on the December 21 conjunction. “The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs on December 21, 2020.  Jupiter passes Saturn in the southwestern evening sky.  This is the closest conjunction of the two planets since 1623.  Jupiter – Saturn conjunctions occur every 19.6 years.”

He also writes on the 2020, November 2: Jupiter-Saturn Heliocentric Conjunction, i.e., as viewed from outside our solar system that occurred on November 2nd  1°48′ Aquarius.

Peter Stockinger’s writes Welcome to the Information Age: The Great Conjunction of 2020 and its Future Implications on the Traditional Astrology Weblog. “This Great Conjunction is taking place in the first decanate of the fixed Air sign Aquarius, wherein Saturn, the greater malefic is domicile ruler. We can see that in the chart cast for London, Jupiter and Saturn are tightly conjunct the Descendant (and therefore also opposing the Ascendant). This angularity strongly indicates that the conjunction will be particularly potent for the United Kingdom.

In the long run the old, highly organised and well structured, but conservative and pragmatic forces symbolised by Saturn are likely to be replaced with new ideas based on humanitarian principles. In other words the old, established political, financial, and most likely also social structures all of us have grown up with and have learnt to accept them to be taken for granted are likely to be replaced. This will not happen over night and also not without a lot of resistance though, as the prominence and strength of Saturn in the Great Conjunction charts testifies.”

Aquarius planets seem to ask us to remember the visible sky; here is another astronomy site, Space.com which gets specific about the rare closeness of the two planets at this conjunction. “Most of the time, when Jupiter overtakes Saturn, they usually are separated by more than a degree. But come December 21, they will be separated by just about one-tenth of a degree or 6.1 arc minutes……The ‘Great Conjunction’ on December 21, 2020 will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Jupiter and Saturn together through a telescope. The last time these two planets appeared so close was on July 16, 1623, when they were only 5 arc minutes apart.”

Jupiter conjunct Saturn: December 21, 2020, published in July 2020, looks at the economic conditions brought by the pandemic. “Governments are navigating their nation’s Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery. They’re providing financial stimulus and easing lockdown measures. They have to spend (Jupiter) to contain the economic fallout (Saturn) but they just can’t keep spending…….Scientists are striving to find a vaccine; health care workers are trying to save lives; and business is trying to open up and employ people. Economic recovery won’t happen till people get back to work and start spending. Business has to get to work creating jobs……Public health and economic problems are chiefly political matters. They’re solved by politicians who make decisions as they see fit. And in 2020 some are prepared to sacrifice the public’s health on the altar of economy activity.

Jupiter conjunction Saturn brought economic crisis and financial readjustment on a global scale and humanity is relying on Jupiter’s banks to prevent a pandemic of Saturn’s poverty. It’s relying on Jupiter’s optimism and financial help and Saturn’s caution and careful planning to navigate a successful economic recovery.

But when Jupiter’s hope and optimism is defiled by Saturn’s fear and pessimism his over-optimism and irrational hope can make big mistakes.

When Jupiter’s irrational exuberance moves too fast lockdown restrictions are eased too soon and the coronavirus can come surging back; and when Saturn’s irrational caution moves too slow lockdown restrictions are eased too late and the economic hardship is exacerbated and prolonged.”

Greg Bogart’s Jupiter Saturn astrology explains the astrological meaning of their cycle. “The twenty year cycle of Jupiter and Saturn defines the story of our efforts to pursue constructive long-term projects, to build our life structures and enterprises. Jupiter-Saturn as a pair represents a positive, focused attitude, the attempt to define and focus our ambitions, whatever we seek to achieve. They signify our search for success in all of our activities. The major phases of their cycle correspond to turning points in our efforts to actualize our ambitions.

At the time of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions we start to see new directions for our ambitions. We begin to formulate new goals for social activity and achievement. If the transiting conjunction (or other major phases of the cycle) falls in a powerful place in our natal chart, we may see specific accomplishments occurring at that time. The conjunction is the beginning of a formative process that will continue to unfold over the next twenty years.”

He looks back to the conjunctions in 1980-81 (Libra) and 2000 (Taurus), and has thoughts on the conjunction for each of the 12 houses of the birth chart.

Grey Crawford’s The 2020 Great Conjunction: Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius (published on astrology.com in October 2019) captures the mood of these days. “Jupiter and Saturn will form their next conjunction on December 21 of 2020 in the first degree of Aquarius, and so most of 2020 will take place during the end of their cycle. There will be an atmosphere of anticipation building during the year of being on the precipice of a new era, while simultaneously old issues will resurface in need of resolution.” Further, he writes: “Vitally, not only will Jupiter and Saturn be uniting in Aquarius, they will also be forming a catalytic square aspect with Uranus in Taurus. At this pivotal moment in our journey, the lightning bolts of Jupiter and Uranus will not only bring down old societal structures but will also impel us to release old personal dreams and drama we have been attached to.”

Also at this site, Narayana Montufar writes, November Forecast: Embracing Yet Another Deep Transformation. Her thoughts for today, November 6 include: “This Mercury-Saturn square perfects on Friday, November 6, the same day that the moon in Cancer will square Mercury itself, besides forming three oppositions to the Capricorn planets. It goes without saying that this day will not be easy, so it’s key to keep our schedules light and not book any important meetings. And since communications will be challenging, if possible, it might just be better to take the day off and focus on rest and self-care.’

The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius is an interesting essay by Mike Zizis. “Conjunctions represent the concept of instinct. The sign in which the conjunction occurs reveals the nature of that instinct. Aquarius the water-bearer pours new life onto the parched earth thru innovation, a detached kindness, a flowering of care for the group, and often ingenious individuality.”

He looks back to the previous conjunction in Aquarius, which was in January 1405. “Constantine Palaiologus was the last of 12 emperors named Constantine in the 1,123-year existence of The Eastern Roman Empire. This was a strictly Christian and thoroughly theocratic medieval empire. Do these times resemble our own?”

“Constantine was born with this conjunction embedded in his birth chart. Jupiter conjunct Saturn also represents the death or end of the old king {Saturn}, and the reign of the new king {Jupiter}. These two planets in Aquarius symbolize a flowering of culture, science, and vision.”

I imagine lots of local astronomy groups will have events and, if any reader are in Kenosha, WI, here’s a live event:

“The extra-close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in 2020 won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080. At their closest, Jupiter and Saturn will be only 0.1 degrees apart. That’s just 1/5 of a full moon diameter.

Reserve your tickets today for this spectacular show. The planets are low in the sky so we have to get an earlier start to this rare great conjunction. Tickets are limited so reserve early.

This event is weather-dependent and will be canceled by e-mail 24 hours before the scheduled start time in the event of a cloud cover forecast greater than 30%.” ($12)

Have a great week, everyone. May we all enjoy being under the stars together.

14 Comments

  1. fabulous, wonderous article!!

    • Hi Cathy,

      Thank you for reading..

      It was fun to collect these different views

      Mary

  2. Many thanks for this brilliant selection, Mary! I’ll be passing the link on to my students.

    • Hi Anne

      Thank you!

      Getting exciting here today!

      Be well,

      Mary

  3. Reading these fabulous articles with one eye at Mr. Binden performance in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Nevada. So much sorrow this year must have a purpose. I would like thank Mountain Astrologer and all theirs contributors make them available online.

    • Hello Andre,

      Thank you for reading and appreciating the collection..

      Warmly,

      Mary

  4. Thank you so much for some positive views on what is going on. The times have been difficult both personally and collectivly, and the astrological predictions have often been very dark and depressing. Obviously we are going through a profound time of change, but we must keep the positive aspects in view also. It is not the first or last time that mankind will go through major changes. Thank you for keeping us on line!!

    • Dear Gillian,

      Thank you…I do love the change from earth to air…

      May we all benefit ourselves and one another!

      Mary

  5. Mary, YOU are absolutely FABULOUS! Want to be sure that you know that because all of us readers do know. Some great posts/articles to read and contemplate this week in your collection.

    Thank you for all you do and for your generosity to share astrology.

    • Dear Tanz,

      What a very generous comment!!

      Thank you so much..

      Mary

      ooxxoo

    • Ditto, Mary Plumb! Your knowledge & writing skills are so well honed & I am sure Tem is wonderously helpful at your side!

  6. A great survey. Thank you.

    With the intention of adding value, I invite people to consider that, because Aquarius is an Air Sign, how we conceptualize and think of Aquarius is the critical factor in how the conjunction through Aquarius will play out.

    I think of all the planets, signs, and astrological aspects ecologically.
    Astrology is a personal passion; Ecopsychology is my expertise, leading me to conceptualize planets and signs in ecological ways (“ecologize” the horoscope).

    Ecologizing Aquarius, I conceptualize Fixed Air that bears water, as a perfect symbol for the Biosphere. The biosphere has ‘fixed’ air and water together such that Air ‘bears’ water throughout our planetary sphere, making Life (Bios) possible here for millions of diverse species, the human species among them.

    As a symbol for all humanity, Aquarius calls for the consciousness that this H20, water-bearing, oxygenated, Biosphere is what all human beings have in common.

    As the original ruler of Aquarius, Saturn represents the critical natural law of “limits to growth.” There are limits (Saturn) as to how much life the planet can sustain and carry on it (known as the earth’s “carrying capacity”). For the planet to be able to sustain life on earth, we have to be within these scientific limits.

    Jupiter represents growth and expansion. When the two planets work together, Saturn keeps Jupiter within the limits to growth, so that the Biosphere can sustain life on earth.

    In the past 30 years, the doctrine of “endless growth” has shaped the global economy. The result is that we are putting the Biosphere into extreme stress, and pushing Gaia to being unable to sustain life on earth, human life very much included.

    Ecologically speaking, the ‘Great Air Mutation’ is an invitation from the planets for all humankind to come together to figure out (Air sign) how to thrive and flourish on earth within the limits of what the planet can carry.

    The image of a human Water Bearer, carrying an urn of life-giving water, carefully, skillfully, gracefully, who measures out just how much water to pour (and for Zeus/Jupiter, too, in the Western mythology associated with Aquarius), is a perfect expression of the Aquarian Consciousness we need, now, to sustain life.

    • What a thought provoking explanation of the value of an astrological reading for life on this planet at this time and what is required for its future. With the conjunction in Air, mayhaps Jupiter’s realm of knowledge can expand to offer ideas and Saturn’s co-rulership status focus on which ideas to implement for their practicality. Even though each may seem beyond the norm, it is time for the new that works to replace the stand-by that no longer does its job.

  7. Septile article very helpful, Mary Plumb…thank you!


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