If We Could.....
If we could give ourselves over to the invitation of the Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter... what would we be asked to do? What is being asked of us?
The last time they appeared this close and were visible was 1226. They will conjunct exactly on December 21, 2020, The Winter Solstice.
A visible event like this is a reflection of an interior calling.
We stand at the threshold of a new perspective and consciousness shift.
Check out where Saturn and Jupiter are conjoining in your natal astrology chart, look at what house they will be conjoining in at 1° Aquarius (or ask an astrologer.)
Where Jupiter and Saturn conjoin in your personal astrology chart might give a clue of what is being asked of you, an invitation into the global dance.
Emergence
We are part of an Emerging new narrative and shift in awareness.
Your personal interactions impact the greater whole. We are individual
parts contributing to the vision of what is next. The vision of what is next
will be something different than our vision. This is about possibilities.
What is the story you want to bring forth and contribute?
Where are you holding back on your contribution, your vision, your story?
This is a seed time. What are you cultivating? And what is calling to you?
Astrology offers ways to explore individual and global cycles.
This is an exploration of an emerging cycle and we have no way to know
what will happen. The time invites us to tell our stories and sit by the fire and
invoke our vision.
The Great Conjunction
The Great Conjunction of Jupiter Saturn happens on Dec. 21, 2020 - the Winter Solstice - in the sign of Aquarius, an air sign. Jupiter and Saturn conjoin every 20 years. And in the last 200 years, they have rendezvoused in Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn) with the exception of a union in Libra (air sign) in 1980.
Jupiter and Saturn will now conjoin in Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) until 2219.
The transition from one element to the next is called The Great Mutation. The last time the great duo traveled through the Air sign element was from 1226 -1405.
Jupiter is the planet associated with luck, fortune, faith, purpose, higher learning, philosophy, religious ideology, beliefs, storytelling, future vision, optimism, and it is a driver for expansion and growth.
Saturn is the planet associated with discipline, focus, limitations, boundaries, constriction, rigidity, ancient wisdom, and the capacity to discern and discriminate. Saturn drives us toward consolidation and manifestation.
Although they are polarized energies, the vision of Jupiter needs the discipline of Saturn. Jupiters' faith is tested and becomes embodied with Saturn. Together they are cautiously optimistic. They create a foundation to grow upon. They blend to form a healthy skepticism and infrastructure for the next vision.
They both lead with different styles.
Saturn leads by the wisdom of experience: conservative and cautious in making changes.
Jupiter leads through inspiration driven by a sense of purpose, infusing meaning into rigid laws and bureaucracy.
They support us to develop an experiential sense of the power of faith, an intuitive sense that we are here for a purpose.
What Now?
The 200-year union in Air signs calls for a new way of thinking.
Air signs have a commonality - the dissemination of information.
The air sign Aquarius is growth-oriented and holds the vision of equality and individual freedom.
The symbol for Aquarius is the water bearer. A human being holding a container and pouring water onto the Earth. Water is symbolic of the gift of life, of cleansing, of connection, fertility, healing, oneness.
While Saturn and Jupiter rendezvoused in Earth signs the last two hundred years (1802- 2000) a culture of domination of the natural world flourished.
We had a few flurries of Earth-centric awareness. But mostly human beings
did not hold a consciousness of stewardship and sustainability. Domination and control were the drivers based on the Earth signs desire for security and to control land and resources.
We are left with the vestiges of the last 200 years. The many gifts and the destruction.
The Age of Aquarius
Is this the dawning of the age of Aquarius?
The musical 'Hair', which opened in 1967 off-broadway, articulated a vision in the song "Aquarius"
"Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation"
53 years later and we live in a time that might be considered the antithesis of this vision. And yet shifts happen over time... the birth of the new and the dying of the old journey together.
The events of one cycle seed the possibilities of the next.
Aquarius is about humanitarian ideals, the vision of global unity, community values, tolerance, equal and different, unique self-expression that serves the whole.
We can expect innovation in medicine and science; artificial intelligence will flourish, visions of community and awareness that we are all in this together. Hopefully, in the next 200 years we can concretize an ideal of what it means to be human and establish a world inclusive of all life on the planet Earth.
This is the time to seed the ideal; to invoke the vision we want to pass onto our children and grandchildren.
The challenge is how we blend individual self-expression to serve our community and the greater whole.
We can hopefully expect to see a new social-cultural narrative. but when the parts are splintered and shattered what emerges is the shadow of Aquarius.
The Shadow
The last 200 years can teach us how the resources of the Earth were coopted for gain. The life of other races and other species have not been honored. The Water Bearer symbol of Aquarius shows water poured onto the Earth. It invites us to heal the Earth, to have a consciousness that is inclusive and connecting rather than dominating.
This leads to issues of equality: economic, race, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, and other species.
Truth-telling and meaningful story-telling is essential. Lies, disinformation, and conspiracy theories are the destructive forces of this time. The Aquarius vision is the "minds true liberation." The spread of lies and falsehood is the shadow.
Who controls your attention and vision controls your reality.
Practices for the times we live in are numerous and abound, just to name a few: meditate, breathe, detox from the angry false stories and lies, immerse yourself in nature.
When Saturn and Jupiter rendezvoused in Libra (an air sign) in 1980 the AIDS virus and economic inequality grew exponentially.
Covid19 is a virus spread through the air and the source of the latest viruses are linked to the destruction of wildlife habitat. We hope this might bring a greater awareness of our connection to each other and to the Earth.We are on a sharp learning curve.
The last time Saturn and Jupiter took their Grand Air Tour was 1226-1405. This 200 year period of time included the Bubonic Plague, famine, disease, war, and the end of empires.
Saturn, the king of Karma, says we choose what we do because we are still unconscious and not taking responsibility for that choice.
Will we as human beings step into the role of stewards?
Can we make a new world that sees the parts as a system that needs each other to be whole and healed?
The Great Mutation Ritual
Ritual is the conversation between Self and the Sacred Other.
Make up your own way to converse, and here is a simple way to honor this time.
Light a candle, or your fireplace. Create a sacred space or circle.
Ask for a vision, a word/words.
Invoke a vision for yourself, family, community, the Earth, the "others" (the excluded ones.)
Invoke the Powers that Be to lead you, guide you, inform you, teach you.
Humbly ask for healing, to feel the grief needed
to heal the wounds of your ancestors and self.
Release the old, the false, the rigid, the certainty of what is "right".
Invite wonder, wisdom, reciprocity, inspiration and whatever arises
for you.
It is not unusual to miss the opportunity to converse with the Sacred at a power time. We are often waylaid. It doesn't matter if you missed the exact Conjunction. Watch for the ways you will distract, devalue, and destroy the seeds of your own flourishing.
Stay present and aware.
I share these words from Clarissa Pinkola Estes. They are as true now as when she first wrote them.
"In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that....
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good."
I believe it is time. We will tip toward an enduring good.
copyright Judith Duhl, The Great Conjunction Winter Solstice 2020