Jupiter turns direct
Self-confidence is back!
Hello! How are you doing?
Celebration seems to be in the air, doesn’t it?
Happy Imbolc, Happy Groundhog Day, Happy New Year in Human Design, and Happy New Year in the Chinese zodiac!
This week we also have another reason to celebrate: On Tuesday, the 4th, Jupiter turns direct at 11°16’ of Gemini.
Jupiter had been retrograde since October 9, 2024, when it started “moving backward” at 21°20’ of Gemini. The middle of the retrogradation took place on December 7, 2024, at 15:57 EST.
Jupiter turning direct in Gemini is literally a breath of fresh air. Your good luck will improve, especially when making social connections and learning about different areas of knowledge.
Action is also favored this week because the first quarter Moon at 16°46’ of Taurus occurs on Wednesday 5th.
All in all, it looks like fun and stimulating days await us.
Today, I want to focus on Jupiter and its retrograde cycle. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Jupiter retrograde by transit
Jupiter retrogrades every year. Its retrograde period lasts between 115 and 120 days.
That’s around a third of the year every year.
So, Jupiter’s retrogradation is not as big of a deal as when Mars or Venus retrograde.
Still, the retrogradation of planets is one of my favorite astrological topics. That’s why I’m writing about it here.
But I’m not alone. I do it with the help of Erin Sullivan’s book Retrograde Planets: Traversing the Inner Landscape.
Before we discuss the characteristics of the retrograde phase, I want to mention some of the meanings related to this planet.
10 keywords associated with Jupiter
Expansion
Abundance
Philosophy
Adventure
Luck
Generosity
Vision
Enthusiasm
Trust
Faith
I like to see every astrological placement and transit in fifty shades of gray, so I'm offering you some extra keywords.
The one on the left depicts Jupiter most positively. Meanwhile, the one on the right offers a negative expression of this planet.
Here we go:
Optimism >>> Exaggeration
Confidence >>> Arrogance
Courage >>> Risky behavior
Enjoyment >>> Over-indulgence
Abundance >>> Excess
Generosity >>> Waste
Vision >>> Gullibility
Wisdom >>> Grandiosity
Authority >>> Hubris
Luck >>> Entitlement
Jupiter retrograde cycle as a superior planet
In astronomy, planets are separated into inferior and superior planets.
Inferior planets are those whose orbits are between the Earth and the Sun. Only Mercury and Venus fall into this category.
Superior planets orbit farther from the Sun than the Earth. These planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
The inferior planets Mercury and Venus always remain close to the Sun. This is why, in your birth chart, Mercury and Venus' signs will be the same as your Sun sign. Or, at least, a very close sign in the zodiac.
Superior planets have individual paths along the ecliptic and aren’t necessarily close to the Sun.
However, there are some differences between all the superior planets and Mars. These differences occur because they have different relationships to the Sun.
When the other superior planets are retrograde, they make a trine to the Sun. But not Mars.
The other difference between Mars and the other superior planets is associated with the nature of the retrograde periods.
Superior planets, Jupiter included, spend many months a year in their retrograde phase. We are used, at least unconsciously, to this cycle. Therefore, we won’t significantly feel those retrogradations.
With Mars, things are not like that. You WILL notice that it is retrograde.
We are so used to Mars' steady state that we are shocked when the planet goes retrograde every two years.
Those 80 days are definitely memorable.
And we are surviving a Mars retrograde phase RIGHT NOW!
Mars will turn direct on February 23rd at 17° of Cancer. Feeling low in energy, angry because projects seem to be taking forever, and just more tired than usual is completely normal when Mars is retrograde. We are almost out of the woods. Hang in there!
If you want to read about Mars’ unique retrograde cycle, check this post:
Every planet’s retrograde phase can be divided into two parts. These two parts are marked by an opposition of the retrograde planet to the Sun.
Let’s see Jupiter’s two retrograde phases and their specific characteristics.
Possible manifestations in the first part of Jupiter’s retrograde phase
Your personal decisions about growth seem impotent or insignificant. A bigger power is operating in the background, blocking your expansion.
You realize you need more time to evolve the idea or relationship you focused on before Jupiter turned retrograde.
You may lose perspective on your ability to follow through with your goals or plans. Your self-confidence may not be as potent as it used to be.
You have the opportunity to contemplate your life and explore your code of ethics. What’s your profound and personal sense of justice trying to tell you?
It’s not the best time to pressure yourself to complete a situation or achieve a specific end. It’s more appropriate to withdraw from that situation to reflect before moving forward.
Accepting flexibility in your overall affairs or long-term planning could allow projects to mature more naturally. Less hustle, more flow.
There could be a conflict between what you wanted to happen and the actual results manifested. In the long run, this can be a lesson in humility and the limits of personal power.
It offers a period to contemplate the source, or hidden cause, of your need for social acceptance. Who hurt you, and why do you still want to convince that person or situation of your importance?
In this cycle, all of these possible manifestations may have happened from October 9, 2024, until December 7, 2024, at 15:57 EST.
What happened to you during those two months?
What projects requiring expansion and growth came to a halt then? What changes of plans did you experience?
Since the planets are always interacting, I find it interesting that the middle of Jupiter’s retrogradation coincided with the beginning of Mars’ retrogradation, reducing the momentum and stamina even further.
Possible manifestations in the second part of Jupiter’s retrograde phase
Plans may automatically begin to take shape, often with some surprising new possibilities.
There’s an intensification of all the situations in which creative issues have been suppressed or swallowed.
The removal or loss of confidence in the initial half of the cycle resurges with highly charged intensity. This could be explosive if you have wanted to achieve something with ardent desire.
You confront all the hopes and dreams that may have been suppressed during the first half. Now, those hopes and dreams could be released in an inflated and overdramatic display. Drama can clear the air in a cathartic fashion.
You can spiral into a pit of mourning. Faith in yourself is required even if the horizon is unclear.
After you release your frustrations and the circumstances have settled, the purge allows you to revise your plans gradually.
Many adjustments are required. It tends to be a busy period outlining prospective plans but with an increasing sense of waiting and suspense.
The week before Jupiter turns direct harbors tension and excitement simultaneously. You may experience unrest that can be mirrored by chaos in your environment. There can be a sense of anticipation and possible apprehension about what is building to climax. You may feel some sort of mania in terms of acting. But, at the same time, you could also feel paralyzed. You lack the clarity needed to move forward with decisiveness.
In this cycle, all of these possible manifestations could still be occurring for you. The middle of the retrogradation happened on December 7th, 2024, at 15:57 EST. Jupiter will turn direct on the 4th of February, 2025.
I’m writing this a few days before Jupiter turns direct. And I can’t stop thinking about the lyrics from Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe, especially this part:
I can feel the changes
I can feel a new life
I always knew life can be dangerous
I can say that I like a challenge and you tell me it's painless
You don't know what pain is
How can I paint this picture when the colorblind is hangin' witcha?
Like Kendrick Lamar, I can feel the changes, but I don’t know for certain what they will look like.
And that’s fine. I don’t need to know. I TRUST that the information will be revealed to me in due time.
What happens when Jupiter turns direct?
Once Jupiter begins forward motion again, the clarity of where to go will gradually come.
It’s an excellent time to initiate new ventures because the eight months of direct motion allow for stability and growth.
The plans, ideas, and projects curtailed during the retrograde period will emerge with more direction and stamina. More often than not, they will also possess a new twist.
The expansiveness dreamed of before the retrograde period is likely to have undergone a dramatic change. That change modified its original grandeur. You may still have big plans, but they may be more realistic now.
On an unconscious level, a compromise might be struck during the ending of the retrograde phase. This compromise allows for a graceful change in plans or direction.
What you thought you wanted at the beginning of Jupiter’s retrogradation might not be what you want now. But that’s OK.
You can establish a solid base of operations in the house where transiting Jupiter is found.
There's a way of knowing the specific topics that will get activated during Jupiter’s retrograde period. To learn about them, you must analyze your birth chart to see the house Jupiter will go through.
The house where Jupiter is retrograding
Any sense of future or growth within matters connected to this house appears to become stagnant.
A moral tone underlies the issues of the house that come to the surface. This period is best spent exploring the source of your morality.
On the one hand, your interior life becomes dramatic. Conversely, the external world appears dull or uncooperative in the areas affected by the house where Jupiter is transiting.
Check two extra houses: The natal house occupied by Sagittarius and the one in which your natal Jupiter resides. They indirectly indicate where you might find answers to questions about your future once the retrogradation is completed.
Keep reading to find out the house that got activated during the retrograde and will still be relevant until June 9th, when Jupiter leaves Gemini for Cancer.
The house where Jupiter retrograded according to your Rising sign
In the whole signs house system, the 1st House starts with the sign of your Ascendant (rising), no matter the degree where it’s located.
Then, the 2nd House is the second house in the zodiac after the sign of your rising; the 3rd House is the third sign of the zodiac, and so forth.
Considering this fact, if you know your Rising sign, you can see the house activated by Jupiter in Gemini.
Check it out:
If your Ascendant is Aries, your 3rd House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Taurus, your 2nd House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Gemini, your 1st House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Cancer, your 12th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Leo, your 11th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Virgo, your 10th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Libra, your 9th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Scorpio, your 8th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Sagittarius, your 7th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Capricorn, your 6th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Aquarius, your 5th House gets activated.
If your Ascendant is Pisces, your 4th House gets activated.
Now, to gather some of the meanings associated with the house from traditional and psychological astrology perspectives, you can read this text.
Was this helpful? Let me know in the comments or by DM. I would love to hear from you!
With love,
Valentina
I loved the “We are used, *at least unconsciously*, to this cycle.” part✨