The Jupiter/Pluto opposition: this time with Venus

The most recent opposition (180 degree) formation between Jupiter and Pluto began last summer and you can catch up on that earlier article here.

Jupiter inspires us to find meaning in our lives by developing faith and belief in an ideal that works for us.  It therefore rules theology and religion, but also travel and exposure to other cultures that expand our minds.  Jupiter also presides over the realm of higher knowledge and the search for a truth that makes sense for us.  However, Jupiter’s need for continual expansion can result in an overinflated sense of reality that has no basis in the real world.  Pluto on the other hand demands nothing less than Truth with a capital “T” – the ultimate Truth that can be known  only when artifice and the superficial are discarded, and when Pluto interacts with Jupiter the inflated hopes and dreams of Jupiter can often be burst.

With Jupiter opposing Pluto we will likely see conflict between the small truths and the bigger Truths that underlie the very fabric of reality.  Jupiterian truths are like theologies – your truth may be different from mine.  Your politics may be different from mine.  But Truth is a reality that cannot change from one person to the next.

Many planetary cycles occur in three phases (although sometimes with Saturn there is only one, and with Neptune and Pluto there can be five and even, rarely, seven).  These cycles sometimes fall into a pattern of experience, although just as with all human experience there is a wide variation depending on the individual and the cycle.  The initiatory phase wakes us up with new information – there is a conflict beginning to awaken in the psyche.  During the second phase there is an adjustment that sometimes results in a crisis of some kind, and the third phase generally brings synthesis and completion.

With Uranus (radical change) in range of a challenging square to Pluto (destruction and regeneration)  throughout this cycle (see the sidebar for more details if this is new to you), Jupiter’s expansive influence serves to exacerbate the changes that are already underway.

The first phase of this Jupiter/Pluto cycle began in August of last year (2013).  That was a good time for the stock markets as Jupiter’s “irrational exuberance” took over.  Edward Snowden, who fled the US in May 2013 after leaking (Uranus) details on the US government surveillance program (Pluto), was given political asylum in Russia and liberated (Jupiter) from the airport in Russia in which he had been imprisoned.  Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post (Jupiter rules journalism), marking another transformation (Uranus/Pluto) in print media.

There was also an increase in violence the week of the exact opposition including an intensification in the Syrian civil war and clashes on the India/Pakistan border – ideological battlegrounds such as we would expect when Jupiter, the governor of ideologies and religion, is involved in a clash with Pluto, lord of destruction and transformation.

This upcoming second phase of the Jupiter/Pluto opposition will begin on the 31st with the opposition to Pluto and conclude on February 25th with the square to Uranus.  The entire month between the two alignments will likely bring escalations in the kind of ideological warfare we have seen over the past few years, but with an increase in crisis-level intensity there is a greater likelihood for resolution and ultimate transformation.  Unfortunately, for most humans it often takes a major crisis to generate real change, and that is the kind of energy this Jupiter/Uranus/Pluto cycle brings.

Venus is aligned with Pluto for the first half of the cycle, ripping away any illusions we may have and revealing important Truths that we may have been avoiding.  Venus is slowing down in preparation for its change of direction on the 31st, so it will remain connected with both Pluto and Jupiter for quite some time.  This will mean there is no more hiding where relationships are concerned – if transformation is required it will be difficult to resist.  Our alliances with others now are critical and they must be strengthened where they are weak.  Pluto’s role is to eliminate the chaff, leaving only the good stuff behind.

However, positive energy is supporting us in the shape of Chiron, the planet of wounding and healing, which harmonizes with Venus, Jupiter and Pluto and helps us to move through challenging times and heal the wounds of the past.  This healing process provides the key to successful navigation of the stress of the next few months.

The last phase is in mid-April and includes Mars in a Grand Cross.  There is no doubt that this will be an intense period, but as it is the end of the cycle there is also the potential for that resolution to occur.   I’ll be writing more on that in the days to come.

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