The Jupiter Saturn Conjunction of 2020 - ground zero, the king is dead long live the king, what kind of world are we going to create | The Astrology of December Part III - December 21, 2020

 


 

On December 21, 2020, on the day the Sun moves into Capricorn and ushers in a new season - the Winter Solstice here (longest night of the year) - Jupiter meets Saturn at 0 degrees Aquarius. This is the closest they have been in 800 years and might resemble the Bethlehem Star that guided the Magi at Christ's birth. I hope we all get to see it!


We get a new 20 year Jupiter/Saturn cycle (the last was in Taurus, this one in Aquarius), a new monthly solar cycle, a new seasonal solstice cycle and a new 200 year Jupiter/Saturn (air) cycle all at the same time (they met in air - Libra - in October 1980 into 1981 to test this out - if you were born then, this transit will be particularly impactful/beneficial). This Jupiter/Saturn is super charged!

 

If "time ran out" in January 2020, here is where time starts up again. 

 

This is the meeting of our great benefic expander - Jupiter - and our great malefic constrictor/lord of karma - Saturn - in the very first degree of the sign of the people, the higher intellect, the future, humanity, technology, equality, astrology : Aquarius. Our optimism/hope/beliefs just a hair's breadth away from our pessimism/fear/death - what will we collectively choose? What have we chosen? It's a nail biter, folks.


After spending the last year cramped up in Capricorn (Saturn's sign), here is where Jupiter can finally get past Saturn (our hope/beliefs/faith surpassing our fear/limits/moving past the death). In the blink of an eye (and over the course of a year) a kind of stoic preservation of the old will give way to a more radical reinvention of ... just about everything. In Aquarius, co-ruled by Uranus - who is outside the bounds of Saturn - Jupiter has some room to maneuver. And, in Aquarius it is hard, if not impossible, to know what to expect! We talked about Saturn into Aquarius by sign HERE.

 

We have to keep in mind Jupiter is not only moving into Aquarius. He is meeting with Saturn who will be in Aquarius, too! Jupiter/Saturn is MORE AND LESS. Something expands and something is reduced. This can be about all the same thing - a kind of two steps forward/one step back or this can be about two different things. Something becomes more in our life as something else is reduced, maybe to make way for it or maybe the two things seem totally unconnected, although they won't be. Jupiter moves faster than Saturn (he will be in Aquarius for one year/Saturn for more than two) and is going to pass him rather quickly. So, we will get the expansion and then the contraction. Keep this in mind with any big moves - the reality checks later. 


In your own chart - your Aqua natal and progressed house gets this push and pull of NEW. The house ruled by Jupiter (your natal Sagittarius house) and the house ruled by Saturn (your natal Cappy house) will be working together. This conjunction unites them for a good long time, so think about their themes and what this might be about for you - again, keeping in mind, Aquarian changes (ie Uranian changes) will not play out as we think they will!


If we look back at the tumultuous/life changing year that was/is 2020 - we have had not only the virus and its likely unprecedented response/ramifications/grief, but a treacherous journey with Venus/Juno requiring us to work through imbalanced relationship energies and take responsibility for what we are mirroring through our relationships AND a journey through Mars/Aries requiring we take responsibility for our actions/in-actions/our passions, our ANGER.


Let's see what the chart for the moment of the conjunction tells us about what we might expect. 

 

Let's unpack the chart.


We have Jupiter and Saturn at 0 degrees Aquarius. We have the Sun and Mercury conjunct at 0 degrees Capricorn (superior conjunction) with Mercury combust. The Moon is at 23 degrees Pisces - having just crossed over illusive Neptune. She is void! She will then move into Aries and square the Sun. We have Mars and Eris conjunct at 23 degrees Aries and squaring Pluto at 23 degrees Capricorn (this will be exact in a couple days). Lilith is conjunct Uranus (!). Two of our stand-ins for the virus are opposed (Hygiea and Wuhan) from Leo (royalty/the heart) and Aquarius (the people/the intellect). Venus (ruling the 6th and 10th houses here) is inconjunct Lilith/Uranus in Taurus from the Sag ascendant of a chart drawn for Washington DC.


This is a crazy chart (and 2021, especially early 2021, is filled with charts like this one!).

 

Look at all the 23's - which we talked about HERE - and all those 'starting at the  very beginning' zeroes. The Moon is void and Mercury is combust (blown out of the Sun) - more zeroes? There is power here, but also a kind of fragility. We are starting at the very beginning. This is about the Age of Aquarius, yes, but keep in mind this age is being born THROUGH US. This is not something we are just stepping into. Nothing is set in stone in this chart. The void Moon and a combust Mercury speak of the risk of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. We are going to have to be active here. Mars is strong and helping us, but also rather dangerous now. There is a strong potential here - because we have Eris/Mars (square Pluto!) and Uranus/Lilith - of real rebellion - almost always needed to overthrow the old - and again a life and death requirement to bring everyone and all parts of ourselves to the table. 

 

Jupiter and Saturn meet. They meet every 20 years. 

 

They last met in Taurus in 2000, preceded by Libra in 1980. So, they stuck a big toe into air (Libra), then moved back for a final earth conjunction (re-emphasizing our possessions, our values, our money, our self-esteem) - kind of the way planets changing signs will sometimes retrograde back into the old sign before moving forward. After today, their meetings will be in air for the next 200 years. They began their journey through air in 1980, in Libra, bringing us into a very important 'relationship' timeline - this was also the time AIDS was being brought into our consciousness - for, maybe the first time, our intimate connections with other people could quite literally kill us. We can see the foreshadowing with what is happening now, and also the important lessons we learned about the need for connection and 'embracing the other' as we moved through that. Jupiter/Saturn return to air now for the long haul; this time in Aquarius. Aquarius air is original, humanitarian, intellectual, scientific, detached.  


Mercury is conjunct the Sun at 0 degrees Capricorn. 

 

Almost 1 in 3 people have Mercury conjunct the Sun in their natal charts, since Mercury doesn't get very far from the Sun, but this is an exact conjunction and happening at the time of the Solstice. Mercury is blown out. Overpowered. In a natal chart, this might speak of a parent/father/authority who overpowers the child's ability to speak. So, maybe the child grows up more tentative/not confident in his ability to communicate - she might expect other people to interrupt/not hear her/blow her off, and so this will be exactly what she notices/creates. So, maybe she talks too much or too little. Keep in mind this is a very common aspect in a chart and one of the reasons so many communication problems exist! Mercury also rules our lungs/nervous system, so a person born with Mercury too close to the Sun tends toward physical problems in these areas - this is just all in general, other factors can mitigate this. 

 

In this chart this is something we have to SEE CLEARLY and with the Sun so close it will be hard to see it. On the one hand it is simply showing us what is happening (we are masked/silenced, our lungs and nervous systems weakened by disease/grief/disconnection), but on the other hand, since this isn't just an event chart, but a chart initiating a new CYCLE - this is something we really need to think about (the dystopian nightmare we do not want to be creating)!


The Moon (the people in an event chart) is in Pisces. She has just moved over illusive Neptune (can also be said to represent the virus here) and is VOID - this makes me think of that blown out Mercury. No power. Unplugged. This also makes me think of all the zeroes and all the planets bundled together at the base of the chart. Whenever something is stated more than once in a chart we need to pay attention. 

 

Now as this chart progresses she moves into independent Aries and squares the Sun. Now she is sextiling (opportunity) Jupiter/Saturn. This is VERY IMPORTANT - the blood and guts of this chart probably. Note she must move into independent/fighter Aries to GET THE OPPORTUNITY - the sextile to Jupiter/Saturn and it comes through a square with the Sun in Cappy (authority, tradition, old goals, what used to stabilize us). A first quarter square - so a tension point created as we move forward from last week's powerful New Moon Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius. First square/first challenge - Aries/Sag. Risky new moves. Yes. But the chart is showing us - it is the risky/new move that WILL WORK. The opportunistic sextile - which being Jupiter/Saturn is, remember, both MORE and LESS, so not totally without rules/limits, and, almost certainly outside our comfort zone - the opportunity comes through that square!

 

Also in Aries we have Mars conjunct Eris squaring Pluto in Cappy. All at 23 degrees. Eris, showing us what is tucked underneath/hidden (within society and structures, but also within us!) and powered up by a strong Mars in his home sign. 

 

The square to Pluto speaks of power struggles. 

 

This isn't an easy beginning!


Outsider asteroid Lilith is conjunct outsider planet Uranus - ruler of Aquarius. Everyone gets a seat at the table or the table gets flipped! There are no two ways about this. The outsider needs to come inside/be embraced. Lilith/Uranus are inconjunct Venus so this won't be easy. The Sag/Taurus inconjunct we have spoken of before. With the rebellious energies in Taurus they are rather stuck on being rebellious. Taurus hangs onto whatever it needs to maintain the status quo. Venus in Sagittarius is a traveler/don't fence her in. She is easy come/easy go. Venus rules Taurus, so would be comfortable there. Lilith/Uranus would be more comfortable in easy/breezy Sag than in solid Taurus. It's almost like a mutual reception, they might be better off if they could switch places, but this is the next best thing!

 

Providing, of course, we can understand/accept the contradictions that the horizon can be broader and more secure at the same time.


Another thing to keep in mind is Jupiter is the ruler of the South Node now. What we are releasing/leaving behind. The beliefs we have outgrown. And Saturn will be coming along behind him with reality checks all year. 

 

It's not a 'leap and the net will appear' scenario. It's more like "take those first wobbly, BRAVE and independent steps and the path will start to appear". 

 

The path MUST be a new path. 


The path will not look like a path until we start walking it. We are CREATING this new path/new world as we go. Forget the idea of re-building anything. Nothing is being rebuilt. Think creation from the ground up - think of the zeroes in this chart! 


And we cannot allow ourselves to be silenced or docile/unplugged. This chart may not guarantee utopia, but we know we don't want dystopia!

 

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO MANIFEST NOW.

 

This is a major pivot point as we clear out the old structures to make way for the new ideas. The Moon is waxing (growing) - something within us, birthed through that major Solar Eclipse New Moon in Sag last week, is growing, too.

 

As we mobilize these new ideas/projects, etc, we need to keep our grounding/keep it organized. Things/situations/relationships get phased out responsibly as we begin to open ourselves up (through our actions) to this new/untested and EXCITING future. We will talk more about this when I start writing the 2021 posts about this ascension process after the holiday.


Powerful new cycles are beginning as this life-changing year comes to a close.


xo all


Please excuse any typos, I am too tired to re-read. My jewelry shops have worn me out this holiday season as I struggle against the tide to do something the way I've always done it. UGH! :) In Part IV we will look at the final Full Moon of this month and year on December 29th with its supportive aspects to change-maker and Aquarius ruler (co-ruler) Uranus! Change won't be stopped folks.


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