More about Jupiter in Neptune's 6th House

(But first a bit about Mercury opposing Neptune)

Late last night (East Coast Savings Time) Mercury reached opposition with Neptune, which could also be referred to as Mercury entering Neptune's 7th house of partnership.   We see Mercury in Virgo straight up in the sky when we finish the first 1/3 of our daily ascent whirling around earth's axis.  When I say ascent here I mean we are literally going up from the lowest point below the orbital plane (Cancer) to final approach before crossing above it.  In pop astrology the word ascend is usually used to describe what we see planets and stars doing in the east as we revolve in that direction; here we are not talking about what we see passing before our eyes in the surrounding carnival

grounds, but the actual ride.   Without swimming in the numbers, the best way to describe this Virgo energy level is to compare it to the point where a roller coaster car has shot up from the valley and spent a good bit of its kinetic energy but clearly has a ways to go.  We repeat this ride every day, so we know we will make it to the top and fall again, but the difference in energy is still visible in the measurements, as it was back in the days when they came up with the zodiac system to help remember all the different stages of the ride.

Virgo's status as a mutable earth sign is related to this dissipation of energy which allows for better control, not as much as in Capricorn but more than Taurus.  Taurus is like opening a parachute in free fall, which may seem like a lightweight break system to those who have never been under an opening parachute in free fall, but is actually enough deceleration to give whip lash if the parachute is folded to open fast.  In Virgo following Leo there is not so much kinetic energy to begin with, as in Taurus following Aries.  In Virgo the immediate deceleration is minimal, but cumulatively enough to catch the words, or begin to discern and record the order of events.  For the next 18 days zippy Mercury in the sign of measurement is briefly bringing to fruition some small part of Neptune's Piscean vision.
Ok.  That's enough mechanics for today.  Ahh!  Now we can move on to some symbols and a fairy tale.

First let's talk about how Jupiter in Leo is the apprentice to Neptune in Pisces. (For more about Jupiter in Neptune's 6th house see Bottom of Thursday's post)  If Neptune in Pisces is promoting a vision, a construct having little to do with reality and much to do with wishful thinking, how is Jupiter in Leo studying that vision and working like a diligent student to perfect it?  A staged performance designed to entertain, gives participants a chance to experience a vision that is beyond reality.  The more entertaining the production the more willing participants are to invest their mental energy in trying out the illusion.  That’s a beginning to understanding the student role of Jupiter in Leo to Neptune in Pisces.  Leo is the apprentice assisting in the fulfillment of the Pisces dream.

What about Mercury’s brief passage through Neptune’s 7^th house of partnership/fulfillment?  If we take the unit cycle of the zodiac which begins with Aries, the 7^th step is Libra, which I often think of as Cinderella delivered in a pumpkin chariot to a fancy ball with people that like her.  In the unit cycle Libra is the ball, and Virgo the preparation and instructions before the ball.  That is one fulfillment of a girl starting out facing a challenge in life (Aries).  What is the fulfillment if we take Pisces as the beginning?  What is the fulfillment if the starting point is a dream instead of a challenge?  In the unit cycle Libra is the sign across from Aries; in a cycle beginning with the fishes the opposing sign is Virgo.  The fulfillment of a vision is a rational exploration of the real possibilities. Starting with her Piscean fantasy of someone loving her, the tech savvy fairy with rules for the night is the fulfillment, and the ball is an 8th house look at a secret world.  Depending on the point of departure different aspects of the story take on varying significance.

Using this astrological technique in the context of real life, and including Jupiter and Mercury in their respective relationships to Neptune, we could say a Leo performance portraying the effects of genetically modified grains on farming prepares us for the Piscean vision of post modern food production.  The "play" turns the day to day work and decisions of farming into a fascinating experience that holds peoples' attention and gets them interested in learning more.  The use of music, humor and larger than life drama attracts our attention and focuses our minds on lives very different from our own.  The fulfillment of the vision is a Virgo survey asking farmers how genetically modified grains affect their business.  Or Leo is a staged protest about the dangers of these new fangled ideas and Virgo is the more scientific discussion about the pros and cons.  While Jupiter is getting our attention in Leo, Mercury is sorting out the real possibilities of the vision in Virgo. 

That’s a somewhat more real life example of Leo as the apprentice and Virgo the partner of Pisces.  

We usually think of Leo as being fun loving and after pleasure.  When we see Leo as the apprentice of a Pisces vision we see how serious, studious and self sacrificing Leo is.  Wise theater goers are aware of the intense concentration required to remember lines and movements on stage and the countless details that must be arranged to make a story come to life.  We have this whole next year while Jupiter is in Leo to ponder how Leo is a devoted graduate student helping to make a Piscean dream come true.

And we have till September 6 to observe how Mercury in Virgo is documenting that vision in such a way that we can return to it and discuss it objectively.  It is a brief period of partnership between Mercury and Neptune and one that will be repeated 11 more times while Neptune is in Pisces.

Last of all for today, we can think of how each sign is 6 stages from another sign and positioned to help bring the objective in the anchor sign to fruition.  A planet in Cancer is six signs from anything; whether it be an actual planet currently passing through, or a natal planet in someone's chart, or a point such as the north node or AC, a planet in Cancer is six signs from Aquarius.  So the unconditional love of Cancer is a student of Aquarian mental stability, on the last step toward joyful fulfillment in Leo.  Libra is the apprentice of Taurus the worker.  A communicating planet in Gemini is the apprentice of Capricorn tradition /infrastructure.....wheee! And around we go.

Upcoming Mars meets Saturn

Mars is in Saturn’s last house and just keeps getting closer to the ruler of time every day.  

You can see them at the top of Monday’s chart (when I started composing this post).  We have a quicker meeting coming up before the two malefics (ooh!  Boogie word there!  How bout the two Challengers?) between the two benifics (HHegh- em) .  Yes, yes.  We don’t believe in good guys and bad guys, or good planets and bad planets.  Let’s just say those silly ancients liked Venus and Jupiter but had a healthy respect for each of the planets' individual cycles.  We won’t talk here about why they were so fond of Venus and Jupiter; we will just make a note that the two popular bodies are meeting Aug 18.

Those with insatiable curiosity can come back to this page of the ephemeris and check the date, or even do a chart for a copacetic moment and see if it coincides with the meeting of faith (Jupiter) and goodwill (Venus).

Meanwhile Mars coming up on its bi-annual performance review with Saturn will still be generating some …tension….maybe a bit of anxiety.  But we are at the point,  going over the falls, when we realize we have no control and start facing the tune that has already been generated.  Maybe a good way to put it is that the hero (Mars) is getting sucked into the eye of the inevitable consequences (Saturn) and figuring out how to ride the current.  Once they meet (Aug 25- blue squares) Mars will be released from bad hero boot camp and returning to the world charged with a new set of orders from Saturn.  We could deepen our meditation on this meeting by considering it from Saturn's point of view.  The slower body, finally picking up speed after nearly 5 months of backpedaling in the dismal swamp (Scorpio), is anticipating a visit from the troops.  This could be seen as much needed reinforcements arriving to help an entrenched leader.  The more we look at what these two planets have been doing for the last several months, and maybe even recall that Uranus directly and Pluto indirectly are depending on Mars, the better we understand our current martial situation.  The hero, in a dark place, is carrying a lot of weight right now as it approaches this very sober meeting.

So the green squares mark the goodwill celebration (Leo) on Aug 18 and the blue squares outline the heavy duty conference Aug 25.


That’s what I started writing about Monday.    

Now, Thursday, I am anticipating Jupiter entering Neptune’s 6^th house of the student a little after midnight eastern time.  Since July 2013 Jupiter has been in Neptune’s 5^th house of creativity.  This is a much slower cycle than the two discussed above and instead of talking about a meeting between two bodies, we are measuring the distance that is growing between them.  It is kind of like trying to gauge the size of a waxing gibbous planet that takes 6 years to become full instead of the short 2 weeks it takes the moon to fill out.  Jupiter was in Neptune’s tender 4^th house of home/family from July 2012 till July 2013.  A planet in the 4^th house of a slower or natal planet is in an opening square with that body.  It is vulnerable and learning to grow a backbone, or stalk.  When it reaches the 5^th house, the backbone or stalk is formed, and the channels are in place to support a blossoming flower and supply it with the nutrient laden water it needs to grow and radiate its distinctive colors. 
That’s a review of houses 4 and 5.  Let’s get back to the two planets involved, Jupiter and Neptune.  In the old days Jupiter was the great benific, now that we can track Neptune Jupiter is still the great benific, but Neptune is the almighty sea, the vast sea that reaches out toward uncharted worlds and experiences.  If Jupiter is faith and the ability to take chances, Neptune is that faith squared, not doubled, but squared, maybe even cubed.  Neptune is not just faith, but whole generations of humans moving together toward the same vision.  That extra time in a sign, 12 years compared to Jupiter’s 1, gives it the power to sweep millions of people up in its path.  So Jupiter going around the whole zodiac in the time it takes Neptune to wander through Pisces is like Neptune’s chief executive of propaganda.  When the message needs tweeking, Jupiter is nimble enough to adjust the signal going out over the airwaves.
Here in Raleigh, Jupiter will pass from Neptune’s 5^th to 6^th house; it will go from being Neptune’s attractive showcase to being an aspiring student.  In the aspects lists this 150degree mark is called the quincunx, a minor aspect associated with discernment.  The student applies herself rigorously to learning the very specific techniques that will move her toward a desired goal, the goal of fulfillment in the 7^th house.  So tonight for some of us, by tomorrow morning for all of us, the 6^th step in the twelve year cycle between Jupiter the planet of faith, and Neptune the planet of collective vision/illusion begins.