Jupiter / Saturn Cycle 2000 - 2020

The need to balance belief and democracy in reform.

I am going to discuss the practical role of the people in the Jupiter / Saturn planetary cycle of 2000 - 2020. If you participate or not in the activities of every day society you are involved, either by your action or by your inaction. The point of this article, as it should be with all astrology articles, is not just to demonstrate how astrology works (and that it does work), but also to encourage people to work in harmony with those cycles and therefore work towards the best evolutionary possible outcome.

The reason for this encouragement should be blatantly obvious to people living in the year 2013; the time of writing this article. The world, or at least 99% of the people on it, is struggling with little or no money to live on. Food is becoming a scarce commodity for many. Governments do not appear to be working for the people, rather that they pander to their sponsors who are most likely large corporations with commercial interests that run counter to the benefit of the people. And too many of us are letting them get away with it. In short, the world stinks and we have to clean it up or be content to live under the cloud of it’s noxious fumes.

I have purposefully excluded reference to national natal charts in favour of discussing the broad brushstrokes of the cycle; The article is long enough without them.

The Jupiter / Saturn Cycle runs for 20 years. Right now, we are approaching the point where the cycle is two thirds complete (July 2013) - meaning that there is little time left to make the changes needed to resolve present problems - or else be prepared to carry the same problems on for another 20 years. The more people who are prepared to participate in the transitions happening in the world today, the better the world tomorrow will be.

In simplistic terms, Jupiter expands and Saturn contracts. A good example of how this works in society is law (Jupiter) and order (Saturn). In a modern democracy the people elect a Government, Governments make law and the judicial system enforces that law. Making too many laws would be unworkable, micromanaging our daily lives (a nanny state) and too much order would restrict or daily lives (police state). The trick is to maintain the right balance, given the circumstances of the day.

The circumstances of today is one where change is an imperative. Much reform is needed because the old systems have proven to be outmoded or dysfunctional. The problem we face is that there are many people in positions of power who either do not want change to happen because they will lose out, or they do not want change because of dogma, outmoded belief systems or extremes of ideology.

The power of the Jupiter / Saturn cycle, as it is with all dualities, is not in one extreme or the other but in the dynamic force of balance. Many democracies have been strangled in the ever changing pointless battle of left and right wing politics (Neptune and Uranus respectively), where other countries have suffered under dictatorship or religious oppression. Think of any country where the people have no room to grow and Jupiter will be restricted too much by Saturn. Think of any country where it is dangerous to walk the streets at night and the law is ineffective and Saturn will be overwhelmed by Jupiter.

A cycle of two planets working together is measured at certain points, the most common being those points of a square and a triangle. On a compass this means when the planets are apart in degrees by 0 (conjunction), 90 (outgoing square), 120 (outgoing trine), 180 (opposition) and then 120 (returning trine) and 90 (returning square). Using these planetary aspects as reference points, we can see how a situation or event is unfolding and whether there is sufficient time and the will of people / governments to balance the competing powers for the benefit of us all.

Unfortunately governments have not been very good at balancing in the past, hence the reason why 1% of the world’s population has 99% of the money. Governments have also formed on the basis of religious ideals, thus immediately isolating anyone who does not conform to that belief system. Dictatorships where no one has a say. Too left wing where merit does not count or too right wing where only merit counts. One may argue that political ideology is purely a belief system under a different guise. And if we agree with the sentiment then going too far left or right in ideological politics also isolates those who do not - indeed cannot - conform to that belief system. Proper dynamic balance is not stagnation or inertia but a working force where the status quo is accessible by (not accessible to with ideological caveats) everyone equally.

So if governments cannot, or will not, govern competently and sensibly according to the wishes of the people, then the people have to act. Yes, the world has to change but there must be a balance between the beliefs and ideologies of those whose ambition it is to govern and the requirement to represent all of the people without causing harm or detriment.

In the defence of governments, however, one must also point out that the majority of the people are invariably the silent majority, hence the vocal minority are influencing governments while we who say nothing offer no resistance. To live a quiet life it is imperative to confront occasionally those who make noise.

In the meantime we are where we are in the world and no government appears to be in control, certainly not of the money makers, the corporations and those in positions of power with vested interests in either keeping things exactly as they are or making a fortune out of conflict and death.

So this is where we come in, not to push left or right wing policies but to learn bipartisan thinking, and the first thing we need to understand is where we are now and what we can expect in the future if we do nothing - or if we just give up and leave it to political activists with vested interests to fight like a flock of seagulls over a scrap of dead crab.

The present Jupiter / Saturn cycle started on 28 May 2000 in the financial fixed earth sign of Taurus at 22 Degrees. The last time Jupiter / Saturn made a conjunction in Taurus was in August 1940, several months into World War II in Europe. The conjunction occurred within a closing Saturn / Pluto cycle that meant much of the 20-year Jupiter / Saturn cycle would be tied up in the restructuring of the status quo caused by events as far back as the Saturn / Pluto conjunction of 1914 (Saturn / Pluto is a 33-year cycle). Many people argue that World War II was simply an inevitable outcome of the wrong decisions made after World War I. Events tied to a fixed sign will most likely unfold as an intransigent position looking for a result. One wonders how much would the world have degenerated into yet another war if the penalties on Germany after WWI had not impoverished the German people? Cause and effect.

The next conjunction was in the cardinal earth sign of Capricorn in February 1961; the year that the Berlin wall was erected to stop a mass exodus from East to West Berlin. Events tied to a cardinal sign will most likely be new, initiated at the time. This is a building time, new starts, different pathways, new ideas. Historically it would seem that those in power who have tried to initiate important changes run the risk of assassination. From the Cuban missile crisis to flower power (1966 was also the start of the new Uranus / Pluto cycle), The 60s certainly changed direction but it was a generational divide that changed the direction of the world; and in 2020 it will happen again.

 The next conjunction was the very end of December 1980 in the cardinal air sign of Libra, focusing on relationships but manifesting in the first instance in assassinations, death by hunger strike, AIDS, riots (Brixton) on race and economic grounds. Significantly, the Jupiter / Saturn conjunction preceded the new Saturn / Pluto conjunction by only a matter of a few degrees (Saturn / Pluto Conjunction November 1982) thus highlighting the underlying themes that we, as a society, needed to tackle for the next 33 years until the year 2020.

By the time Jupiter / Saturn made conjunction in the year 2000, the new focus was back to establishing personal values but the test of whether the structure of society was sound and fair was about to be tested as both Jupiter and Saturn made opposition to a globally focused Sagittarius Pluto. Jupiter Opposed Pluto in 2000 just after the G8 summit aiming to half world poverty by 2015 (Clearly destined to failure on the pathway they used). The steadily increasing gap between rich and poor continued to widen but the fixed view of ‘corporate earth’ did not seem too concerned as it’s money making system expanded in exponential, and increasingly risky, profit making ventures. Saturn opposed Pluto in August 2001 just before the 9-11 World Trade Centre attack that became the catalyst for the ‘War on Terror’, which has to date demonstrated the application of huge expenditure on war and on lives to no benefit whatsoever.

The Jupiter / Saturn square of Oct 2006 may not have seemed significant by itself at the time but it was the height of mortgage defaults in the US on sub prime mortgages, as interest rates increased from 1% to 5.35%, that became the first significant factor towards the global banking crisis of 2008. And so it was that, by the Jupiter / Saturn outgoing Trine, with Pluto hovering on the ingress from Sagittarius to Capricorn, the new focus on the failures within regulation and administration of the global system left the financial sector reeling; and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

With a global debt crisis growing and highlighting the still widening gap between wealth and poverty, so the Arab Spring occurred just before the Jupiter / Saturn opposition (March 2011) and just a few months before the start of the first of seven powerful Uranus / Pluto squares that add greater significance to the kind of changes we are about to see*. The reasons to reform the status quo were laid bare. ‘We are the 99%’ was launched in August 2011 that evolved into the ‘Occupy’ movements around the world. Internet movements based on political change sprang up with Avaaz in 2007 and 38 degrees in 2009 as good examples. The tide of dissatisfaction was swelling.

Since then, the tide of human protest has swept away much of the people’s apathy and resignation. More people are engaged in the engine for change than has ever been witnessed since World War II. Austerity measures are starting to bite but still have long way to go. The Middle East has experienced violent and terrible changes where those in power and privilege seek to cling to it desperately in the face of fierce demand for reform. Syria currently lies in ruins because one regime refuses to step back and allow the country to evolve, while a myriad of factions and fundamentalists now vie to change the country - unfortunately not for the Syrian people but for another equally dissatisfactory regime.

Likewise in Egypt, the promise of a less violent revolution in 2011, has been derailed by an elected leader attempting to lead the country away from the desired secular rule to Islamic rule. The Egyptian military, in their consideration of rewriting a new constitution, may wish to consider the Turkish model established by Ataturk in 1876, ensuring a secular state that included all the people irrespective of belief systems.

The Jupiter / Saturn trine on 17 July 2013 is joined by Neptune in Pisces to form a grand water trine. Grand trines are notorious for becoming defence mechanisms where everything comes to nothing as positions become entrenched. In water this suggests a great deal of emotional outpouring but nothing concrete is ever resolved. It therefore does not bode well for warring countries and demands for reform at this time. Mars is applying to conjunct Jupiter and before July is over they will oppose Pluto, suggesting extreme behaviour. The grand trine implies an escalation of violence and death rather than a pathway to peace.

The cardinal grand cross of 2014 is already documented and is too big to include in this study of the Jupiter / Saturn Cycle but suffice it to say that the effects of the grand trine will reach a climax at this point.

By the closing Jupiter / Saturn square of August 2015, where Saturn turns stationary direct on the same day, Jupiter is conjunct Venus in Leo. The square is at the critical 28 degree point, suggesting future plans rather than immediate solutions. The 7th and final Uranus / Pluto squares finishes in March 2015, suggesting that the reforms needed are now all out in the open - not completed. This will be a time to establish everything that has tried to be fudged, covered up or denied. The final truths will make the world weep and wonder how on earth we solve the mass unemployment, devastating debts and global unrest. The Venus / Jupiter conjunction sounds like it should be good. Venus is finance and Jupiter is money. Both make aspect to Pluto (the masses of) by sesquiquadrate. But in Leo the emphasis is on personal wealth and tied into Saturn that wealth is hidden. So if the wealthy go to ground and squirrel away as much as they can, the 99% face devastating consequences. The Barbault Scale indicates that 2017 is the bottom of the journey, so we can expect not to escape that which has already been set in motion.

By August 2017, when Jupiter and Saturn reach the closing sextile there is an opportunity to actively campaign for change. Uranus at 28 degrees of Aries and knocking on the door of Taurus (ingress May 2018), suggests an opportunity to influence financial reforms that must be made to ensure a viable firewall between personal banking and casino style investment banking. While Jupiter travels through Scorpio, more and more money may become taxable and Saturn in Capricorn will duly administer the revenue. However, it is also possible that Jupiter (money) in Scorpio (taxes) may also imply higher taxes for us all and higher interest rates (Jupiter ingresses into Scorpio in October 2017).

And it is around the time of the rising of interest rates and people being unable to pay their mortgages or rent that everyone starts to take notice of current affairs. This is what happened when the sub prime mortgage crisis happened in the US and the effect spread worldwide. The Internet gave a platform by which our voices can be heard and it will grow again in 2017. Hopefully the swell of people power will force governments to concede to the wishes of the people rather than the wishes of their paymasters.

The Jupiter / Saturn conjunction occurs around the same time as the new Saturn / Pluto conjunction. Great changes are to be made but not without much bickering and gamesmanship. Our input into this is paramount and even with full participation we may not see the benefit of reform until the Uranus / Pluto trine in 2025

We the people are the balancers. Without us no corporation, bank, manufacturer, service provider or government can exist. The Arab Spring is an example of the passion with which people can work together. But before we get to those kind of extremes there are other ways to exercise togetherness in peaceful and meaningful ways. Recently there was an internet campaign to abandon a utility company for not paying its fair share of tax in the UK. The project was only a partial success because not everyone switched their supplier. But think of what would have happened to that company if they did? This is the kind of example that, if we only realised it, is the amount of power we have.

Political activity groups like 38 degrees and Avaaz are waiting for your participation. You can even start your own petition or activity if you think enough people will agree with you. On a more individual level it is worth considering if you are supporting a company that agrees with buying goods from workers who are paid poorly and may die through faulty buildings in Bangladesh, cosmetics tested on animals, inhumane treatment of animals in food production, the endangerment of our food chain by genetically modified crops for profit or the abandonment of crops for food in favour of crops for fuel, trans-fat junk food sold in fast food outlets for pitifully low wages etc.

The fact that this list goes on and on is a terrible indictment of our modern world. There is just far too much to be angry about and it is affecting us all irrespective of our involvement. This is why things must change away from short term politics and the ever growing profit over people mentality. Short term politics must give way to longer term stability.

But it can only happen with your involvement and your willingness to do something about it. Albert Einstein once said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. One could argue that doing nothing over and over again is no different.

*The Uranus / Pluto Square of 1876 (Pluto in Taurus, Uranus in Leo) occurred around the time of Jesse James and wild west. Meanwhile in China there was a famine that claimed 13 million lives. The result of the famine changed the lives of many rural Chinese who had either moved to more built up areas or at least realised they needed to change their lifestyle. At the same time, the reforms of the Ottoman Empire peaked, led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is still revered today by the Turkish people and the hard fought constitution is actively protected by the people at the third Pluto / Uranus square of 2013

The Uranus / Pluto square of 1755 saw the repatriation of French ‘Acadians’ from America to France. The square was in mutable signs (Pluto in Sagittarius and Uranus in Pisces), which would probably have made any reforms at the time appear patchy and ultimately too compromised. Certainly after this date one has to consider the historical fact of the declaration of independence (1776) followed by the French revolution (1789) as evidence that any reforms that had taken place were either very unpopular or didn’t work.