Jupiter in 2016

Jupiter is an enormous gas-giant planet that can have distinctly personal effects as well as larger social effects as it travels through the signs. It’s the largest planet in the solar system, visible to the naked eye at night during certain parts of the year. It travels through one sign per year. Jupiter is accessible and his astrological effects noticeable, whether they bring challenges or benefits. It may be called the planet of luck, but what Jupiter truly offers is change – ready or not!

Jupiter is in Virgo as 2016 begins, magnifying and expanding Virgo-related issues like education, hygiene, physical labor and jobs (rather than careers), farming and agriculture, and with health. Women’s health issues have become a hot-button topic, along with the way health-care systems are managed and the high cost of care and drugs. Similar concerns center on public education and colleges. Jupiter in Virgo puts a spotlight on pollution, environmental disasters, and necessary clean-ups.

The big planet turns retrograde on January 8 at 23 Virgo. Through the first half of the year, Jupiter trines Pluto and squares Saturn. This is a mixed bag. The Jupiter-Pluto trine brings deep, intense issues out into the open for discussion. Pluto is associated with the black market, crime, and conspiracies, as well as life-changing transformations. Jupiter-Saturn squares bring challenges and contentions about ways and means. People seek results but disagree about how to obtain it. Since both Virgo and Sagittarius are considered “double-bodied” signs, conflicting agendas accent the struggle to use limited resources (Saturn) to achieve multiple goals (Jupiter). Public issues that coincide with the Jupiter-Saturn squares on March 23 and May 26 will be very visible to the public. The US presidential race will intensify and highlight completely different philosophies, management styles, and views of how government should operate.

Jupiter magnifies and expands debates over Saturn-in Sagittarius control issues. Who gets to decide? Who decides on public issues like health care and schools? Government funding? Jupiter is a primary significator of wealth. When Jupiter butts heads with Saturn, control of the distribution of wealth becomes a huge topic of contention. These effects resonate on a personal level, too. Who decides how household income is spent? How family resources are distributed? How time is used? Which repairs are made, and which ones have to wait? Who has to clean up the house? Virgo-Sagittarius issues require multiple discussions with lots of nit-picking, and decisions that may seem unfair. Mutable signs are changeable, so these decisions may need to go through another round of negotiation later in the year.

Jupiter turns direct on May 6 at 13 Virgo. It enters Libra on September 10. Jupiter is in detriment in Virgo (ruled by Mercury), which means it has to work harder to fulfill sign-related goals and objectives. When Jupiter enters Libra, it fares better because this sign is ruled by Venus, the hostess with the mostest. Jupiter expands interest in various kinds of human relationships and calls attention to inequitable situations. Libra is also associated with the law, architecture, and the arts. Jupiter will push an agenda of beauty and symmetry, whether in human relationships, application of laws, economic equity, or international relationships. Fair and equitable outcomes almost always require compromise. Sometimes it takes a genius to craft a plan that’s agreeable to all.

Jupiter squares Pluto on November 24, and opposes Uranus on December 26. Libra is the sign of the Scales that weigh and measure. If the Scales are rigged to favor one side’s interests, Pluto reveals the underhanded and conspiratorial actions behind the imbalance. Uranus triggers breakthroughs and/or breakdowns in Jupiter’s process of equalization. Libra strives for perfection, but this isn’t a perfect world. Venus may be able to give some aid to Jupiter in her sign as she travels from Libra to Aquarius from September to the end of the year. Give-and-take on personal, social, political and cultural levels will be in a process of revision and rebalancing through the final four months of 2016.