The upcoming meet-up between Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius on December 21st, 2020 (yes, on the Solstice!) seems to be getting quite a lot of press in both the scientific and spiritual communities alike as of late, and as such I thought it was time for a long-overdue post outlining some of the highlights of this event – you know an alignment is pretty special when astronomers agree with astrologers on something for once, LOL! It’s unfortunate that science seems to prefer casting aspersions our way these days – astronomy and astrology were one and the same back in olden times and most astrologers have at least a basic understanding of celestial mechanics (can’t say the inverse; that astronomers bother to understand rudimentary astrological principles, however 🙃). That aside, both fields are in alignment regarding how this upcoming conjunction is uncommon; occurring only about every 20 years or so. A conjunction between this duo hasn’t happened in this sign since the Middle Ages, so it’s been a long time since they met up in this particular ‘hood; a turf where Saturn holds sway.
One of the many manifestations of the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius is how it is affording us an opportunity to take a positive break from tradition this holiday season. In a Covid-ravaged year, the holidays certainly do look different but that’s not necessarily a bad thing if we are willing to back up and do an objective cost/benefit assessment; one that includes a perspective on the time we’ll be able to free up by having more minimalist celebrations. This isn’t at all rooted in “terminal positivity”; I am simply saying that for some of us being able to focus on the blessing of having a default non-obligatory appearance at family or work gatherings (or other social commitments) and pared-back responsibilities after such a demanding year may actually feel like a burden has been lifted from us. The energy of this conjunction is really encouraging us to take tradition and put our own unique “twist” on it this year in a way that celebrates our individuality and freedom. Personally, I am doing a mere fraction of the holiday baking I usually do and am cooking holiday meals purely for my own taste this year – as someone who gives (and gives a lot!), that in itself is a joy; I have permission to be a bit selfish for once! I decided to celebrate by dong something I have always wanted to do during December but could never seem to find the time for: Finally get into gingerbread house making. Introverts among us might also find themselves relishing the opportunity to focus on more restorative pursuits vs. feeling like they always have to be “on” for the many social functions that always seem to crop up this time of year.
Regarding some other manifestations of this energy, I shared this in my November 2020 newsletter: I like Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions; I really do. These planets are natural energetic opposites, so when rightly utilized they can help to balance each other’s problem areas out. Jupiter’s faults are those of excess and overdoing while Saturn’s are those of restraint and limitation, so you can see how being foils for each other would be quite helpful. That said, Saturn will be considerably stronger in this equation which will mean that to squeeze the very best out of this alignment we’ll need to embrace its tenets of accountability, personal responsibility, hard work, and doing the right/lawful/ethical thing; both in the lead-up to this aspect perfecting and throughout the entire next season. Though Saturn never gives us “something for nothing”, he does tangibly – and perhaps in this case, abundantly – reward those who commit to walking an upright path as shown by his example. Saturn is the Celestial Teacher who doles out gold stars to those working hard and paying attention to its lessons and assigns extra homework – or worse, detentions – to those who don’t take its teachings and warnings seriously. Let’s all commit now to getting on board with the positive reinforcement model, yes?
What these planets *do* have in common is their capacity for learning – Jupiter represents the ability to develop a belief or overarching philosophy through an expansion of perspective, while Saturn symbolizes trial-and-error learning where we grow wise from our mistakes with time and experience. With every Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, there is the ability to turn our biggest stumbling blocks into our greatest strengths. In community-minded Aquarius, this can be contextualized in a social sense. Where we individually and collectively are experiencing the biggest challenges in our own lives as well as in a larger sociopolitical context, we can grow enormously beyond all previous limitations if we commit to extending more time and effort in that direction.
Along this vein, perhaps the greatest benefit to be had in the upcoming meeting of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius lies in its capacity for community-building; for helping us to create the essential framework for stronger, more supportive social networks and broader communities in general. This will take time – as all things Saturn-related do – but if we approach the upcoming event with the intention of building a greater sense of community through honesty and trust and set about implementing a solid plan for how to do so, the social and professional payoffs could be enormous. I probably don’t have to tell my readers this, but in an era where “social distancing” has become *a thing* and we have wide sociopolitical divides drawing hard lines between families, friends, and neighbors, the necessity for each of us to do our own individual part to help build solid and more unified communities that focus on uplifting each other and/or working toward greater transpersonal goals/the betterment of humanity at large is so crucially important on both a micro and macro scale now.
On an individual level, when so many of us are feeling isolated by this ongoing pandemic we need to know that we’re truly there for each other; especially during the hard(est) times. No person is an island, and feeling more connected to each other can ripple outward and create greater positive engagement with the world at large. Think back to your school days and what a difference it could have made in yours or a classmate’s life to have had more/better friends – statistically, it lowers our chances of depression, increases happiness, boosts our sense of purpose, and our friends can also keep us “in check” in ways that are good for us. Isolation can breed radicalization; this is a social malady we should all be doing our best to put a stop to now under this conjunction. There are many people out there who might benefit from a longstanding trusted friend pausing to tap them on the shoulder and warn them that some of the philosophies they’re espousing aren’t right or perhaps are even sounding kinda crazy. Leaving someone alone to believe whatever they want instead of putting effort into trying to understand and yet also challenge their point of view so that it becomes less alienating benefits everyone. When you trust someone; when they’ve been your friend for a long period of time and you truly understand they want the best for you, you’re more inclined to listen to them even if you don’t agree. If enough people join together to form a safety net of genuine concern, this is what stops people from “falling through the cracks”; it’s how we can help stop everything from white supremacy to mass shootings. Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions can point to us having a fundamentally wrong philosophy about something, and indicates the broader process/challenge of straightening this out to “get right”. Unfortunately we’ve gotten to the point of normalizing crazy; this has to stop for the good of all, and it will take each and every one of us stepping up and applying beneficial social pressure.
Mind you this is not about moral superiority and looking down on others who simply believe something different than we do; it’s about being able to distinguish genuinely problematic philosophies that – if left unchecked – can harm our communities and doing our very best to contain them before they become more widespread. (Social) Prevention really is the best cure. It may not be popular, but in my view the world has gotten to be the “Wild Wild West” it has in this respect because we’re not doing more to police our own communities and protect each other. I’ve said this more than a few times, but during Saturn in Aquarius we must embrace the concept of truly being “our brothers’ keepers”. Going back to the quaint olden days when there were social consequences for things like racism instead of tolerating it and allowing the First Amendment to be used as both a sword and a free-for-all coward’s shield against accountability would be a step in the right direction – keep standards high and create positive social pressure to shape your networks into better versions of what they currently are.
What does building more supportive community look like? Coming together for a common purpose or ideal; it could be as personal as forming more/more dependable friendships, it could be to improve standards in an industry or community, or it could be as big as concretizing a huge and aspirational ideological goal that thousands of people all work toward together. This energy is fabulous for community organizing, and though the venues might look different – i.e. reliance on virtual instead of in-person meeting spaces – there is also the ability to utilize technology for its bigger and best purposes to broadcast and organize at more effective levels. Have a purpose, a plan, and know your target audience. Start or join virtual meetup groups and get a firm commitment from all participants. Delegate judiciously; everyone needs to have a “job”.
While we’re attempting to grow our social networks, we also need to understand that the first step toward this may actually involve paring back on certain connections; doing an honest cost/benefit assessment for the sake of freeing up time for the most rewarding social commitments is favored over letting everyone into our circle willy-nilly and then either having a time management/allocation problem on our hands or sacrificing quality, solid associates for a greater quantity of less reliable and more peripheral acquaintances. For example, the perceived prestige of having a large social media following is nothing compared to having true-blue friends who will show up for you in real life when you’re down and who will do whatever tangible things they can to help alleviate whatever hardships you might be dealing with. Mind you this is not at all to trivialize the significance of online connections as real community can be built digitally, too – be they virtual or in-person, the best communities put time and real effort into supporting one another for the good of all involved. But my point is: Logging exorbitant hours into cultivating an online “following” or “presence” – even if it is for work – can take up the free time we might have to use on more palpable social pursuits, so pausing to ask ourselves which connections are essential vs. which are more extraneous is advisable.
The other part that cannot be emphasized enough with Saturn being the Alpha Dog of this conjunction lies in taking personal responsibility for any social difficulties we might be encountering. Perhaps we find ourselves complaining about not having enough friends, yet aren’t making enough of an effort to broaden our connections. Maybe we have been putting too much time and effort into the wrong crowd and it’s causing us difficulty somehow (the term “juvenile delinquents” comes to mind, though problematic associates of all stripes can certainly be both above and below legal age). Perhaps we might be outgrowing a particular social circle but have been stunting ourselves in order to maintain the connection because of the sense of security this network provides, but what we really need is more age-/situation-appropriate friendships. Or perhaps we might have some troubles because we’ve not been the best of friends ourselves; perhaps being harsh or rather heavy on the judgment toward a member/members of our crew and now under this conjunction/the longer-running passage of Saturn through Aquarius this might come back to bite us in a karmic sense. Maybe we’ve been spreading socially irresponsible propaganda somehow or generally haven’t behaving as a”good citizen” and there might be pushback from our peers in a way that leaves us ostracized. Whatever the case might be, checking ourselves and doing an internal audit to work on the problems before more serious issues have an opportunity to manifest is enormously beneficial both ahead of and in the wake of this conjunction – heed the warnings; it’s for our own good. Make right what you can while also making an effort to stave off future problems from arising by being farsighted and preventative in approach. We can’t run around neglecting something for too long and then wonder why it is falling apart on us! Again, with all things Saturn-related, prevention really is the best cure. When we’ve failed to do that, at least humbling ourselves to learn from where we’ve erred is a good strategy.
Back to this concept of (social) prevention being the best cure and what I was saying earlier about stopping community spread (of potentially problematic philosophies), this same premise is directly applicable in a physical context as we continue to work to contain this ongoing pandemic. I have mentioned this many times, but the best and highest use of Saturn in Aquarius – and the means through which we stand to be most substantially rewarded for our efforts with Jupiter blessing it – lies in embracing the concept of social responsibility like a religion. Remember, the true measure of how good a society is lies in how well it protects its most vulnerable – shielding each other by wearing a mask (and properly, at that!) is a tangible example of how we can do better in this regard. Please understand this is not an individual liberty issue; it is one of public safety, so just take one for the team and shaddap about it because we all are. Along with having multiple layers of protection in place, if we all join together globally to do this right we can stop the spread and finally end this pandemic. At this point in time I’m not sure there could be a bigger reward than being able to walk around freely without fear of being in proximity to our fellow man once again. Personally, I want us all to live in a world where we can be uninhibited by closeness – please join with me in resolving to do everything we can to unite together and make this hope into reality; that is my humble prayer for this conjunction 🙏
12/19/2020
EmpoweredDestiny.com 