I’m looking over a four-leaf clover that I overlooked before.
— Mort Dixon
Jupiter’s Gemini course reverses at 9:18 am EDT Thursday, initiating a layered lesson in discernment. Jupiter never actually moves backwards; that’s the first layer. In reality, Earth is catching up to pass between the Sun and Jupiter. It is only our perspective between the two largest objects in the solar system that is making Jupiter appear to slow down and turn around. Layered perception also plays a part in the anticipatory interpretation of a retrograde.
Explication begins with the nature of the object about to recede, then incorporates aspects to its stationary position just before regression begins. Jupiter, in the words of Robert Hand, “is a planet of growth and enlargement.” In our material world, the expansive Jovian paradigm is nearly always affirmative. Hence, Jupiter’s consistent contribution to astrology is to bring out the best of its placement or aspects, even in retrograde.
Retrogrades have a bad reputation they do not deserve; that’s the next layer. Giving credence to undeserved reputations is prejudice. Prejudice, as we all know, is based on what we don’t know. The first step in working with any retrograde planet is therefore to divest yourself of ignorance and work with what you do know.
You can work with retrograde planets and get good results. That is especially true of Jupiter. Addressing the case of Jupiter specifically, Lynn Koiner famously wrote, “Some retrogrades are not bad at all, and this is one of them.” In other words, the nature of Jupiter does not change with its apparent direction. What does change is the direction of Jupiter’s nature, leading to a subsequent level of discernment.
As one would expect from an object symbolically retracing its progress, a retrograde planet either directs us back in time or back inside ourselves for another look. In the case of Jupiter, such a review holds the promise of revealing abundance or benevolence overlooked before.
With the mutable air of Gemini, the discoveries during Jupiter’s impending retreat will likely include the intellectual growth and expansion necessary to recognize and successfully engage with a new cycle that requires a new way of thinking and communicating. The revelation of any retrograde period is never more available than when it begins and ends. That’s how the aspects to and from a stationary planet become important as the means of discerning the specifics of a given recession.
When a planet’s apparent motion has slowed to a halt, it means that a retrograde is either beginning or ending. It is in those stationary moments that the entire retrograde period is frequently condensed and characterized. Jupiter’s station on Thursday will be at once in precise conjunction and opposition.
Jupiter’s Gemini retrograde station will be conjunct to the degree with remote and retrograde Chaos. The Sagittarius centaur in exact opposition to stationary Jupiter and distant Chaos will be Pholus. The extraordinary precision in both the placement and timing of Jupiter, Chaos and Pholus clearly implies that a commensurate level of discretion will be in order for you during the next four months of Jovian sabbatical. That would begin with your perception of Chaos.
Chaos is subject to at least as much prejudice as retrogrades. People nearly always say the word “chaos” like it’s a bad thing, whereas, so far as we know, it is where all good things begin. Nearly every human culture has a story about how things got started. In every one of those stories, including the speculations of modern science, the primordial state was chaotic.
To have Jupiter, the representative of all that we welcome, conjoin with an object named after the source of all that we embrace, thus distinguishes this impending retrograde period as a time of unlimited positive potential. The outcome, however, will be heavily influenced by initial conditions, which is where Pholus comes in.
Pholus was the second centaur object discovered, after Chiron. Pholus established that Chiron was not, in fact, a solitary maverick and thus defined the initial conditions for an entirely new class of object. With their acutely inclined and elongated orbits crossing the paths of outer planets, centaurs revealed a complex and unstable layer of the solar system’s astronomy. Consequently, centaurs gave astrology a tool to interpret complicated and changeable components of human existence that transcend routine and constitute the chaotic compost of our creative potential.
The role of Pholus is to help us be aware of how care should be taken from the start of any endeavor. Of course, to be careful in initiation, it is necessary to discern that you are at a beginning, something the Jupiter retrograde station plainly represents — which returns us to the first layer of discretion with a deeper perspective.
For those without a deeper perspective, prejudice may govern how the Jupiter retrograde period between Thursday and the end of January is discerned. It may appear to be a time of setback and discouragement. Simply knowing the nature of Jovian reversal, however, will allow you to look back and within to find the abundance of gain from experience that can eventually expand to outer, and material, manifestation.
For those who discern chaotic conditions as the end of all things, it may be difficult to see a future beyond the end of this week. Understanding the natural order that gives rise to possibility, however, will give you the perspective to seize upon opportunity as it presents itself in the process of re-evaluation.
For those who act recklessly and indiscriminately, Jupiter’s retrograde station may precipitate unforeseen and unpleasant results. Careful deliberation before acting, however, will almost certainly provide you with both the time and the timing to find and employ the means to persist into transition, revealing the way to prevalence in a season yet to come.
The outcome of Jupiter’s impending retrograde is therefore not preordained. You will have a role. The results of your participation will depend on how, and how deeply, you discern to work through, and with, the layered lessons of what is not bad at all.
Offered In Service
Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
Len- please ignore me, my reading comprehension is in ‘chaos.’
Hi Len- the sentence I quoted of yours left out the word “opposition.” Forgive me for being unclear in my question, and thank you for your response.
Thank you for this great piece which resonates for me just about to have a Jupiter return and with NNode conj Pholus.
And 3 cheers for chaos because….
” One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star ”
Nietzsche
KathyC: You are most welcome.
be: Thank you for your kind appraisal and for out-doing Jupiter itself with both your expansion and magnification.
Carrie: You are very welcome. Many thanks to you in turn.
Mia: Love your vivid and pertinent imagery.
Chief Niwots Son: Thank you for your question. Not sure i understand it, so please bear with two answers. For a long time now, and to come, the geometric relationship between Chaos and Pholus is has and will be an opposition because their apparent motion is slow. In terms of their relationship otherwise, please let us look at the discovery chart for Chaos (November 19, 1998, Kitt Peak Observatory, 2:52 am local time). The discovery chart for Chaos has a prominent yod with Mars and Sun in sextile and both quincunx Saturn. Opposing Saturn in that yod (thus making it a “boomerang” composed aspect) is none other than Pholus. Astrologer Joan McElers avers that the “boomerang” position (if there is one) in a yod provides “A sense of understanding, a focal point for timing and actions”. Because the operative term for Pholus is “small cause, big effect”, the natal chart for the discovery of Chaos indicates that its relationship to Pholus is the same as the butterfly’s relationship to chaos theory – the importance of initial conditions in the final result. Please, how does that explanation do for you?
mystes: Thanks you so very much. i have a great love for the work of Wallace Stevens and you have provided a brilliant selection.
Maeve: Thank you for taking Jupiter further yet.
Eco11: Thank you as well for your selection of a magnificent lyric.
All Along The Watch Tower – Bob Dylan
There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion here
I can’t get no relief
Businessmen they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them know along the line
What any of this is worth
No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who think that life is but a joke
But you and I, we’ve been through that
And that is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
Because the hour is getting late
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While horsemen came and went
Barefoot servants too
All I got is a red guitar
Three chords
And the truth
All I got is a red guitar
The rest is up to you
There’s no reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are some among us here
Say that life is just a joke
You and I, we’ve been through that
And that is not our fate (at least today)
So let us not talk falsely now
Because the hour is getting late
Late…
be –
“So with this particular Jupiter, from what you say, it appears to be offering us a chance to sort through the rubble of trash talk we’ve dished out or listened to for a while now and find the hidden jewels that were left behind; clean them up and recycle them or build something new.”
Your assessment reminds me very much of a quote from Eric’s two-posts-ago “That means letting go of all the ways you’ve talked yourself out of what you want to do and who you want to be.”
So many things in our past (okay, my past), I’ve over-rationalized myself out of, probably out of fear of failure. Not for any true “well, this won’t work”, but for logical “this can’t work because of x, y, and oh, the last three times we tried, we failed”.
Still thinking on what bits to go through and look at.
Serendipitously, I’m going through a lot of my physical stuff and figuring out what I no longer need. Or figuring out how much I really enjoy something I’d forgotten and reintegrating it back into my life…
Len, arriving as the (“most Plantagenet”). . .
Connoisseur of Chaos I
I
“A. A violent order is a disorder; and
B. A great disorder is an order. These
Two things are one. (Pages of illustrations.)
[snip]
IV
“A. Well, an old order is a violent one.
This proves nothing. Just one more truth, one more
Element in the immense disorder of truths.
B. It is April as I write. The wind
Is blowing after days of constant rain.
All this, of course, will come to summer soon.
But suppose the disorder of truths should ever come
To an order, most Plantagenet, most fixed. . . .
A great disorder is an order. Now, A
And B are not like statuary, posed
For a vista in the Louvre. They are things chalked
On the sidewalk so that the pensive man may see.
V
“The pensive man . . . He sees the eagle float
For which the intricate Alps are a single nest.”
(Wallace Stevens )
“The Sagittarius centaur in exact opposition to stationary Jupiter and distant Chaos will be Pholus.”
Forgive me Len, how will Chaos and Pholus be in relationship?
Perhaps this retrograde will allow us to reconfigure elements in our own lives as Chaos swirls them around in lateral and obtuse directions. Gravity will determine where they land. Along with a degree of willpower from each of us. Frankly, I am ready for a new beginning. Thanks Len!
How refreshing! Instead of doom and gloom there’s a fresh spot of rethinking and re-framing in this, Len. That’s one of your many gifts. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you Len. Once again you step in to dismantle old beliefs that mostly just generate more negativity, and replace it with a positive outlook. Jupiter seems to be a “magnifying glass” to look at Chaos in a different way. The chaos we tend to view with scorn is the kind that comes after the disruption of order, such as after a tornado. Not that it’s not the same thing – full of creative possibilities – but the loss of order is quite painful for most of us.
Have you ever watched American Pickers on the History channel? Two fellows make a living be wading through somebody else’s chaos of old junk like furniture, toys, advertising signs, bicycles, parts and pieces of equipment from the past, and with a discerning eye, catch the treasures they find and recycle them into things that are desired by people who are collecters of history. They love what they do and the more chaos there is the happier they are. So with this particular Jupiter, from what you say, it appears to be offering us a chance to sort through the rubble of trash talk we’ve dished out or listened to for a while now and find the hidden jewels that were left behind; clean them up and recycle them or build something new. There’s bound to be some great ideas just waiting for us to give them new life.
As a counter-balance, like a see-saw, Pholus offers us a light hearted perspective of Chaos as viewed from a distance, unlike Jupiter who is up close and personal with it. If it looks like mayham and walks and smells like mayham it must be mayham, but only from a magnified up-close perspective. Given time, patience and a careful approach with an open mind, we can discover the treasured idea that leads to a new order on a higher level. I’m feeling better already.
be
on the other side of chaos is a new order.
Thank you, Len