Wisdom Teaching #35

April 3, 2003

Jupiter The Great Wisdom Teacher

Jupiter will go direct Thursday, April 3, 2003 at 7:03PM PST.

Of all the planets in our Solar System, JUPITER is by far the largest. In fact, it is so large that if you take all of the planets, (everything but the Sun) and put them together, they would still not equal the weight of this massive planet.

Clearly, from its enormous size we can conclude that Jupiter is symbolic of abundance and greatness. Its enormous presence suggest that there are concepts in this universe that are larger than we could ever possibly imagine. Therefore Jupiter has been assigned to the principle of faith. It takes faith, the aligning to something "bigger" than us, to help us move through life's many obstacles.

In the book, "Mythology," by Edith Hamilton, Jupiter was the chief of the twelve Olympians who made up the divine family. He was also referred to as Zeus. He was Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god and the Cloud-gatherer. He wielded the awful thunderbolt and it was said that his power was greater than that of tall the other divinities together.

Jupiter in an Astrological Chart can show us where our greatest and inexhaustible faith in life can be. It can also reveal where our greatest resilience under enormous amounts of pressure would be. Jupiter will not, and cannot be overcome. Or can he?

Jupiter is our planet of blessings. He helps us to remember that life is truly worth living and there is always more faith to be had. But each planet has a shadow. Jupiter's shadow is overextension and unrealistic expectations. He is a sort of "Santa Claus" always ready to bring gifts, but perhaps never looking into his bag to see if he really has anything to give.

Faith is great. It is an admirable quality to possess. But sometimes no matter how much faith we have in something or someone, in reality we are being deceived or opposed. Zeus was not omnipotent or omniscient, Zeus was duped by Poseidon, and it was also said that the mysterious power of Fate was known to be much stronger than he was.

Knowing defeat is the shadow of our friend Jupiter. No matter how much faith we have, sometimes the reality of a situation is our greatest teacher. Jupiter's placement in our Astrological Charts shows us where our greatest faith may lie, but also where we must watch out for unrealistic expectations, taking things for granted and being seduced by that something that only feels great in the moment.

With Jupiter going direct today, the questions to ask might be, "where in my life do I need more faith?" and "where in my life do I need to be more realistic?" As you move forward keep in mind that great wisdom comes through the balance of the light and the shadow.

"For myself I am an optimist,
it does not seem to be much use
being anything else."

~Winston Churchill
(Sagittarian, ruled by the planet Jupiter, Birthday 11/20/1874)

"What if everything is an illusion
and nothing exists?
In that case,
I definitely overpaid for my carpet."

~Woody Allen
(Sagittarian, Birthday 12/1/1935)