Planetary Initiations: Jupiter and Saturn
What happens during Jupiter and Saturn returns?
My class Outer Planets: The Pulse of The Zeitgeist is coming up! The first day of class covers Jupiter and Saturn’s returns. We’ll look at our own charts as examples and talk about the "initiations” these planets usher into our lives. The second class explores Uranus, the third focuses on Neptune, and the final class looks at Pluto. Sign up for Outer Planets: The Pulse of the Zeitgeist here. This class takes place on Saturdays September 14, 21, 28 and October 5 at 1PM ET, live on Zoom (or catch the recording afterward!).
Today, this newsletter gives you a glimpse of what we’ll explore in the first class: Jupiter and Saturn!
Every 12 or so years, Jupiter returns to its original spot in our birth charts. Saturn takes about 29 years to return to its beginnings. These returns mark the start of new journeys and as such are initiation points in our lives.
Our first Jupiter return at age about 12 marks an important period of growth. For some, it could mean an important journey across the globe. There could be a new awareness of distance, possibility, and discovery. For others, this could be an important period academically. There could be a longing for exploration, or communication about very new ideas. Our second Jupiter return at about 24 could bring a spiritual breakthrough — whether induced by prayer, movement, or intellectual inquiry, or by drug related means! Our third return at about 36 starts the cycle over with a grand journey unfolding out in the world. New horizons beckon us during the Jupiter returns, while the Jupiter oppositions invite research, communication, and networking in preparation of these big leaps.
The class is named Outer Planets: The Pulse of the Zeitgeist because there is a back and forth swing that takes place within the connected archetypes of the zodiac signs and the planets. Jupiter pushes us to reach out, then Saturn swings us back in. Uranus beckons us to break the traditions Saturn sets in place, and Neptune ameliorates the chaos Uranus stirs. Pluto incites transformation and raises power in the wake of Neptune’s sleepy, passive waves. The zodiac signs, too, ebb and flow, starting with Aries’s battle cry, on to Taurus’s serenity, and so on. This back and forth swing pulls together the “zeitgeist,” the mood of an era.
While Jupiter pushed us out in the world, Saturn calls us back home (or to the office). Saturn’s initiations are serious… and sometimes shocking. The first return at about 29 is famously arduous, with a focus on work (and a dose of existential crisis in the background). The second return at about 58 breaks out our inner mad scientist, inviting radical change.
Jupiter inspires a feeling of limitlessness, but Saturn’s returns remind us that the clock is ticking. That said, people who have had their second Saturn return often say it was easier than the first! There’s a third return, too, an important age of mastery and knowledge. Each return of both Jupiter and Saturn signals maturity and experience in its own way.
What will these planetary initiations mean for you? What have they meant for you? Come learn and share this autumn! Register here and see you soon!
Paid subscribers of my Substack get a discount to this class, you can find the discount code to use at registration after the paywall on the May 13, 2024 weekly horoscope, linked here.
My Jupiter return is soon! My natal Jupiter sits at 4 degrees Gemini, and Jupiter is currently Conjunct my ascendant (27 degrees Taurus). I’ve been doing some research on it, but looking forward to what it brings. Hopefully it’s good stuff after all this 12th house energy lately!