Sun, Jupiter, & Divinity
An exploration of the forces that uplift us towards our higher selves.
While the Sun is making its annual pass through the sign of its exaltation and Jupiter is also co-present with it, I decided that it would be a great idea to explore the overlapping themes between these planets. The idea for this post was born once I completed the post about Mercury, Moon, and Mind. In reflecting deeply on the planetary joys scheme and its contributions to house meanings, along with the natural house system where each sign and the planet ruling it get associated with the themes of the houses in question. While I am not super keen on the natural house system in my astrological practice, I can understand the resonance between certain planets, signs, and houses. I hope that this newsletter will encourage anyone who reads this to see some interesting parallels between the Sun and the greater benefic.
The Holy Grail
When reflecting on divinity, we think of proximity to a higher power or a god-like figure. We cannot talk about divinity without invoking Jupiter, the greater benefic!! This is often forgotten amongst current practitioners of Western Astrology, but Jupiter is very much a spiritual and moral planet. There is a reason that Abu Ma’shar places “truth and divine reverence, faith and the teaching of the law, religion, and the veneration and fear of God, charity, piety, also the unity of faith and its foresight, and the fitness of morals and responsibility” under the domain of Jupiter. Furthermore, William Lilly writes that “…ecclesiastical men, bishops, priests, ministers, [and] cardinals…” are all people represented by the greater benefic. Instead, we often focus on the wealth giving and expansive qualities of Jupiter. This is a valid signification of the planet, but what happens when we combine faith, righteousness, and morality with the concept of wealth, freedom, and expansion?
I think talking about the symbolism of the Holy Grail will be a great allegorical device to unpack these themes. This mythical chalice not only promised miraculous powers, infinite abundance, eternal youth, and other god-like powers, but many legends describe the lengths which people would go to find it. What is clear about these narratives around this mythical object, is the levels of conviction about the existence of this object and the quests or pilgrimages protagonists would embark on just to claim it. Where the quests are concerned, Jupiter does have connotations of travel to foreign places, especially in the context of pursuing some higher quest or to find divine inspiration.
Therefore, it makes sense that in jyotish and certain branches of modern Western astrology, Jupiter gets associated with the natural 9th house if Sagittarius is taken as the ninth sign. However, you can arrive at this with the 12th house as well, since it does have connotations of exile and estrangement. If Pisces is the natural 12th and Jupiter rules it, of course one would surrender and subject themselves to the elements in hopes of receiving just a drop of divine Providence. In the Vedic system, the 12th house gives moksha — which describes the process of being liberated from the cycles of death and rebirth. Regardless of the astrology we are discussing, Jupiter may speak to our ability to have faith in forces beyond ourselves, the ability to receive blessings from them, and the lengths we are willing to go to strengthen this relationship.
The Divine Spark
We cannot talk about divinity without talking about the Sun! Regardless of the spiritual framework one adopts, one theme seems to be quite clear across many cultures— we are intangible beings encased in bodies that are forcing us to have a material experience (materialists please sit down, we aren’t talking about you). Though I am not the most reverent person ever when it comes to spirituality, I do think that the concept of spirit and soul is somethin deeply embedded in astrological thought across cultures. While many of us practicing Western astrology consider the Sun the “ego” and the king of the chart, I think that the Sun better represents the “superego” if we have to map your big three onto the different layers of consciousness outlined by Freud and co.
The Sun is correctly identified as something very central in our lives, but sometimes we overstate our ability to access and connect with this in a straightforward way. As I briefly discussed in a previous newsletter, the Sun is the inner divinity that resides within each of us and motivates us to project something into the world that is reflective of it. If you think about it, we are all able to sustain this experience because the Sun’s photons are being transferred from organism to organism. While we cannot directly experience the all consuming flame, everything we interface with deliberately brings us closer to experiencing that inner self.
A facet of the Solar principle that doesn’t get emphasized enough is the constancy and seemingly permanent nature of the Sun and the functions it carries out. The Sun always rises in the east, its light undergoes the same repetitive shifts in light and dark cycles (seasons), and shepherds all of the planets in our solar system with its gravitational force. When life no longer exists and the material realm withers away, the solar principle is one that never seems to die. This is true whether you are talking about the Sun likely outlasting the very species living under it, or if you are talking about the concept of the soul outlasting the body. Yes, the Sun will swell into a red giant and eventually go supernova. But such an event is billions of years off from now, and in comparison to our miniscule lifespans the Sun may as well be burning for eternity. These qualities of the center of our solar system map onto the association of the Sun with the fixed fire sign, Leo, and the rejoicing of the Sun in the 9th house. I will speak more on the Sun’s joy in the next section.
The Hero’s Journey
Cadent houses have connotations of movement, whether these are goal-directed trips (3rd and 9th axis) or movement by force or as a result of displacement (6th and 12th house). Of all the cadent places, the ninth hose is the most positive of these, and the one we often invoke first when thinking of travel as a concept. The houses in astrology derive their meanings partly from diurnal motion, which describes the rising, culminating, setting, and anti-culminating of the Sun and other celestial bodies. Since the ninth house represents the cadent place next to the culminating point, it describes the situations and events that came before that which is occupying a higher point in the sky. The ninth house has a lot to do with higher education, morality, and beliefs (spiritual, political, etc.). Many of these things can be found in the form of legends and epic myths, which are manifestation of the values and ideological frameworks deeply embedded in each culture. These values were defined, debated, and disseminated thanks to the nature of the rulers, scholars, and heroic cultural figures that preceded the ones on center stage today.
To borrow from the Vedic astrological framework, the ninth house can describe fathers and things passed down from the patrilineal side, which usually can involve certain values and customs (at least in patriarchal societies). These are standards we are operating in response to, regardless of whether we champion these beliefs or not. With the ninth being the superior trine to the first house, one may suggest that part of our reason of being is supported by this desire to respond to these beliefs in some way. The desire to find things to believe in and justify them through previous experiences and wisdom makes me associate the relationship between the 1st, 5th, and 9th houses as the “hero’s journey.”
Considering what’s been said of Jupiter and the Sun thus far, it may be important to see how these energies relate to the 9th house. I think both of these planets can fit well with this phase of the hero’s journey. However, I am of the school of thought that the ninth house is more solar in nature. Think about it! The Sun not only represents the soul, but does get associated with fatherly figures, gods, and organized institutions that are meant to preserve the values these figures want to create. I would argue that legends have their place in the 9th house, and the immortalization of certain attributes or certain figures is a process that takes place in the 9th house. The Sun was here before humans and all the other organisms came into being, and will probably outlast us following our inevitable extinction. Furthermore, the Sun has a gradual and consistent motion from our perspective here on Earth, which serves as something that supports the idea of travel. In fact, a lot of myths tied to seasons describe annual changes in the Sun’s movements. Therefore, a lot of significations we tie to Jupiter around adventuring and journeying can actually be tied to the Sun.
That being said, I do respect the associations that people make between Jupiter and the 9th house. After all, Jupiter does get associated with people who tend to act as the spokespeople for the divine or the ones responsible for transmitting the knowledge of our predecessors. Scholars and clergy-folk are very much avatars of the 9th house. Whether we agree with them or not, they do arm us with information that can help us formulate an idea of what the world is and how we should show up in it. Furthermore, there is an expansive quality to Jupiter that allows for further exploration and expansion. It’s the planet we come to before we hit the Great Wall that is Saturn, the boundary of what is visible. I think Jupiter can speak a lot to our ability to push up against the boundaries or constraints of what is knowable or what we are capable of experiencing, and how that guides our actions. This is the basis of faith, I think. Perhaps in having a little faith as we try to make our way through this chaotic world, we take important risks that reveal flashes of that inner flame that moves each one of us.
I’m having fun thinking about the symbolism shared between planets, and I plan on doing more of these thought exercises here in my newsletter. I hope this inspires you to think about how to make the most of this Jupiter cazimi in Aries. If you want more insight into how these planets affect you on a personal level, book a consultation with me! A friendly reminder that all Pisces Saturn folks can get 30% off of one reading of their choice, and if you want access to this discount code, email me. Lastly, prices will be going up after May 5th, so consider booking your sessions as soon as possible before this increase.
Divine slayage if I do say so
Gem of a piece! I really enjoyed your thoughts...thank you for sharing!🙏