On August 11th, Jupiter leaves dramatic Leo and gets to work in skillful Virgo. Jupiter is in “Detriment” in Virgo. It’s not his favorite place; Jupiter is the BIG picture and Virgo concerns itself with details. But Jupiter’s positive outlook inspires a quest to make the best of his time here in Virgo.

Jupiter usually remains in each sign for about one year. We will enjoy Jupiter in Virgo until September 2016. Virgo is concerned with the details, organization, perfection and honing a craft or skill. This is why Virgo is represented by a woman holding a sheath of wheat: she has perfectly nurtured this plant’s growth from seed to harvest.

Jupiter wants us to expand through each sign he visits. When it comes to work, we will be examining our current situation. Is it possible to make our daily experience more joyful? Maybe we can learn a new skill within our current field to open more doors of opportunity. But if there’s no more room to grow, we may feel inclined to find a more fulfilling job. It’s expected to be a great year for the job market, particularly service and health related jobs.

Virgo is also concerned with health. It’s a great year to detox or implement healthier routines. Planetary health and agriculture will also be hot topics. Expect new discoveries pertaining to food, diet and toxins. Virgo is ruled by the agile mind of Mercury, so it’s a good time to do a detox of the mind as well!

Artisan skills, craft fairs, cooking classes, apothecary, farming, home brew and home remedies will gain popularity.

Jupiter brings growth in Virgo by working on your skills! What is your craft and how would you like to nurture it? This is a great time to initiate a daily practice towards achieving a goal. Virgo is all about self-mastery within an area of expertise. It is said that it takes 10,000 hours to master something. She is not virginal, as in chaste; she is ripe. She has been true to herself, she is pure and she is cultivated.

Virgo finds joy through productivity, as well as being of service to others. “How can my skill help others?”

Virgo is also concerned with hygiene. Opposite of Virgo is Pisces, ruler of the waters and medicine. We may see larger efforts to bring hygiene and clean water to others. Jupiter wants to improve the quality of daily life for others (check out the work of Erin Huber with www.DrinkLocalDrinkTap.org).

The shadow side of Virgo is being overly critical. Jupiter inflates. In our quest to better ourselves and better the world, we must beware of being overly critical of ourselves or too judgmental of others.

Jupiter rules the law. I suspect the GMO discussion will heat up significantly in Congress. Lawmakers will be particularly concerned with farming, water, health care and even plant medicine. More states will look towards legalizing marijuana.

While Jupiter was in Leo, we connected with our passions, our playful side, and overall joy. But now, how do we translate this into sustainability? How do we improve the quality of life for all inhabitants of Earth? Many beings on this planet are limited to existence solely through their root chakras: Survival. The kundalini energy can’t be raised on this planet until people can stop fighting for basic resources and everyone has the opportunity to live in a place of joy.

While Jupiter is in Virgo, he will square off with Saturn and oppose Neptune. This configuration is known as a T-Square and it is very challenging! T-square’s highlight several problems and urge for change.

With 3 large planets involved, this transit affects society as a whole. It’s not happening within us, but it is felt. There may be an issue we are personally passionate about, be it GMO’s, microbeads, poverty, water or police brutality. But ultimately, this is a transit reflective of societal evolution. Hopefully the progress will continue upward, but swerve more towards sustainability. These major transits transform us collectively and as a result, individually.

We must begin the work now, because by next year, it’s going to intensify!

This is going to be one interesting election. Jupiter and Neptune will bring larger than life personalities who will inflate the people’s hopes and dreams. Neptune will distort opinions into seeing what they want to see. Neptune and Jupiter rule theatre, helping the candidates get into orchestrated character, dazzling the public with celebrity glitz and glamour. Clinton, Bush and Trump are all 3 familiar names in hopes of being on the ballot. In the case of this election, we will all be thanking Saturn for bringing a dose of reality. Each candidate is going to be embodying one of these planets, but the trouble is that it will be difficult to decipher who is who. 

Another hot topic that will be heating up as a result of this transit is police brutality. Police are ruled by Saturn, as they enforce boundaries. The police (Saturn) are in conflict with the ideal vision (Jupiter/Neptune) of servitude (Virgo/Pisces) in protecting the public. It seems like every day there is a new story of a policeman shooting someone. The public is divided on who to defend. Some people are adamantly on one side and others are weighing both sides. All that is clear is that there is a problem. For many people, police are no longer respected, but feared. Many citizens feel that they cannot trust the police to protect them, and furthermore, that the courts (Jupiter) are biased toward their own! And with prisons (Neptune) being so profitable, the people are beginning to wonder if there is a conspiracy against the lower class. This story is not over. It is only beginning. 

Historical Research:

I did some digging through history to find clues of what may come. It’s interesting to note that although Jupiter typically spends 12-13 months in a sign, Jupiter was in Virgo for an extended period of 21 months from October 1967- July 1969! Again, we see history repeating itself. The late 1960’s initiated a cultural revolution. LOVE. Issues that were loud then are loud again now (marriage equality, civil rights, marijuana). This larger movements are due to the major aspects of Uranus and Pluto, but it’s interesting to note that Jupiter was also in play; with his extended stay in Virgo during that time, it suggests that his role was also influential in the revolution. 

The European Union was established with Jupiter in Virgo: a larger governing body (Jupiter), made up of smaller parts (Virgo). We can expect the EU to make more headlines in the next year. And they already have─ since Greece almost went bankrupt! Unfortunately, this probably isn’t the end of the story for Greece. 

Another trend I saw during Jupiter/Virgo years was small countries liberating themselves from bigger ones. Bigger countries split into smaller territories. Counties were established within their countries. So there is a trend here of big and small. Who knows what will happen to Greece. It seems unlikely, but maybe the country will divide itself smaller.  

On A Personal Level:

Wherever Jupiter falls in your chart is where you are invited to expand. 

Generally, by house: 

1)    Your personality or your physical body

2)    Finances, resources, possessions

3)    Education, metal pursuits or interaction in your community

4)    Your home, family or inner world

5)    Creativity, children, romance, play

6)    Health, daily routine, productivity, work, details, small animals

7)    Relationships, partnering

8)    Combined resources, intimacy, death, estates

9)     Higher education, university, travel, spirituality, world view

10)  Career, status, public image

11)   Friends, groups, step-children,

12)   Retreat, solitude, meditation, gestation

If you aren’t sure what your chart looks like, or you want to learn more, contact me to schedule a more in depth reading!

Love, Light and Joy to all beings!

-Catherine