Looking Forward to Jupiter Square Saturn

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology. Today, we're going to take a look at this summer's upcoming Jupiter Saturn square. This is something that is in the process of building and developing ever since Jupiter, enter Gemini at the end of May, this square will build between now in August.

In August, the two planets meet, and they then separate as they continue on their separate paths through direct and retrograde motions that they're in. Then, they will meet again in December of this year. And so we're going to talk about this not just in terms of what's coming in August, but the overall process of the two planets squaring one another, which can be felt as soon as the two planets are in a whole sign square with one another, which again, they've been since late May. I want to do this because Jupiter-Saturn squares are very dynamic; they imply a kind of long-term process of structural change. And I'm going to talk about these meanings at the outset here.

But then, in particular, today, I want to talk about what kind of effect Saturn has on Jupiter; Saturn is in the superior square. Saturn is also in Jupiter's other sign of Pisces. And so, what's the interaction between the two of them? I'm going to talk specifically about Saturn being in the superior square and the kind of pressures that Saturn places on Jupiter within this dynamic. So that is our goal today.

Before we get into it, as always, don't forget to like and subscribe and share your comments and reflections if you've got anything to share. We love hearing from people; you can find transcripts of any of my daily talks on the website nightlightastrology.com.

Now, I also want to point you guys over to the couple of things that are coming up. So go over to nightlight astrology.com. You can click on the events page and go to the speaker series. Our summer Speaker Series is coming up on July 13, 14th, and 21st, with three speakers with very interesting topics. Really excited. T. Susan Chang is with us talking about the decades she's written a great book on the decades. We're very excited to have Erika Beach giving a talk on Sedna and Jeanne Friscia giving a talk on art and astrology.

So, some really interesting talks are coming up this summer; click on the Events tab and go to live talks. You can see my monthly webinars. Uranus in Gemini is the next one on July 18 that I'm giving, and we're going to be previewing Uranus as an entrance into Gemini next year. So, some cool things are coming up in the month of July. Be sure to check those out. And on that note, let's shift our focus now to the Jupiter Saturn square. I'm also sick, as you can tell, so my energy and stamina are not what they usually are.

So, I'm going a little shorter on these episodes just so that I can preserve my energy. And try not to try not to know what the word I'm looking for is, like draw out how long I am sick. Like, I'm like not, I'm trying to rest, you know. So I'm making these episodes a little shorter than they otherwise would be because I'm just running out of energy earlier than I usually do, as I've been second recording this week.

Alright, so let's go. And let's shift gears here to look at this Jupiter Saturn square. So what I want you all to notice is that here we are today, Tuesday, June 25. And the two planets are quite a ways away. We have Jupiter at seven degrees from Gemini. And we have Saturn at 19 Pisces. So they're a full 12 degrees apart. But this is what happens over the course of the summer. If we go forward by some weeks, we're going to see that by the end of July. Now they're just four degrees apart. By early August, they will be within the three-degree engagement range. This is about August 6, which I'm looking at right here.

Let's then take their movement another week at a time here. And you can see that they're within a degree by August 13. Right, so they're getting closer to the actual square. Here we go. The actual square comes through as Mars and Jupiter are conjoined, which is a powerful dynamic right there. We'll be looking at that more in-depth closer to the actual date of the Jupiter Saturn square, but Mars is in the mix. And then we get the actual square right around August 19. So, on August 19, you can see Jupiter at 1725 and Saturn at 1728. So it's right around here that they first conjoin or that they first square one another, excuse me. So, if we go forward from here, they're going to Jupiter, which keeps going forward with Saturn's retrograding.

So they separate. Of course, Jupiter is going to turn retrograde in October, and then their paths will start moving back toward one another as Saturn turns direct. And then we're going to see that the two planets come together right about here. These are the two planets squaring one another on Christmas Eve. There it is, on Christmas Eve. So the Jupiter Saturn square comes together one more time. Now, if we take this forward again, Jupiter will turn directly in the new year and then slowly work its way back into the square with Saturn. But here, it's interesting because Saturn will change signs into Aries, and Jupiter will move into Cancer.

So, although the square persists, and we get one more in June of 2025, there are new signs, so it's sort of outside the realm of what we're going to explore in today's talk since we're looking at the Gemini Pisces square, but this is just to say the square goes on a long time. All right, so what are some of the things we can say about Jupiter-Saturn squares? We already talked about Jupiter's long square to Saturn, which breaks down the overall dynamics of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle. We tracked the specific meaning of a square back to the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius a couple of years ago as the opening conjunction of a new Jupiter-Saturn cycle. But essentially, what happens with Jupiter-Saturn cycles is that we're on at the beginning of a Jupiter-Saturn cycle with the conjunction; it's really about the establishment of new structures.

The reason that we tend to get things wrong when it comes to Saturn is a lot. People always say Saturn is structured. No, no, Saturn is about limits and boundaries. All structures are something that we often use to set various limits or boundaries, right? So when we develop a governmental system or an educational system, or a personal philosophical system, we use those systems as a way of granting some kind of structure or cohesion to our life, that sense of cohesion and unity and orderliness that provides both sensibility and a kind of rational, beautiful sense of wholeness. Ideally, that's all Jupiterian.

However, one of the reasons that we establish such systems in the first place is because we recognize our limitations; for example, why establish any system of government whatsoever? I'm just being very basic here; I'm not a political scientist; we establish a system of government because we recognize that we have human limitations. One of those human limitations is that we are not so great at not all of us are so great at impulse control. And we are not so great at respecting one another, we are not so great at maintaining peace, protecting each other's dignity, and so on and so forth.

So we recognize, oh, we have limits as human beings. Saturn is a planet that demarcates the limit or the boundary. And it says, you know, there's a sort of boundary that we're a sort of line that exists, right? And it's the line, remember, Saturn ruled the opposition, the aspect of the opposition, which is about opposite qualities that exist in kind of tensing and relaxing with one another. They exist in a kind of dialectical.

So we have civilized, and we have wild, and Saturn is the planet that is associated with the demarcation of the boundary between, let's say, civilized and wild. And I'm not saying one is good and one is bad. It's just they're just a kind of duality, and Saturn sort of again demarcates the boundary between the two. When Saturn and Jupiter move through their cycles, Saturn is free. Saturn frequently helps us understand the boundaries between various qualities in the psyche and human experience, and we have to develop systems in order to hold or host them. So, for example, we need a government. Because we understand that human beings struggle with the boundary between civilized and uncivilized behavior. So we have laws.

So frequently, people start thinking of Saturn as the law when Saturn is more like this very subtle recognition that there is a sort of wall between the city and the jungle, you know, the forest. And it's Jupiter that, in relation to the existence of that boundary, says, while we ought to have a civilized cohesive way of living, and as soon as we reach the limits of any kind of system that we've established, we start becoming aware of its imperfections or its impermanence, we become aware of what it can and cannot do for us. Then, we start to revise, edit, change, and transform the system. So, this is something that I mentioned in a previous talk that I did at length on Jupiter and Saturn.

So I don't want to just labor this all over again. But the basic idea that I want everyone to be familiar with, as we go into talking about Jupiter and Saturn square to one another, is that Jupiter-Saturn interactions from their conjunction, their square, their opposition, their closing square, and their conjunction are all about the way in which systems and structures evolve in order to create coherence, meaning, a sense of order and unity around really hard dualities that exist in human life. Many of them are moral, some of them are political, some are spiritual, some are technological and intellectual like, but there are these dualities; for example, a duality that is very much present right now is, let's say, the reliance upon artificial intelligence versus the reliance upon our own organic intelligence. And we're starting to establish we're starting to see where the dividing line exists between the two.

We become aware that there is even a dividing line because we see how far we can go using artificial intelligence, and we start getting feedback. And then we start asking questions about how natural this is, and what the differences are between the use of, say, AI and our own intelligence, that kind of dialectical, which right now we all may have very different, wildly different passionate opinions about but the point is that the dialectical and sort of a boundary between say, human, organic, human creativity or intelligence, and AI, that line starts to appear. As it appears, Jupiter starts to develop ways of making meaning coherent. Virtue, it Jupiter says how, okay, there's this, there's this tension between these opposites. How do we meaningfully hold that tension through established systems? Maybe they're ethical or moral or technological, etc.

So it's this very beautiful, subtle process that's going on with Saturn and Jupiter, and a lot of it is historically Jupiter-Saturn cycles have had a big role to play in mundane or collective astrology because they impact the changes on social and collective levels. Very obviously, we see these periods related to social collective transformations in various industries and governments in the realm of the law, etc.

Personally, it's really interesting because these cycles tend to occur when we're ready for the evolution of various personal systems, personal philosophy, personal beliefs, the personal, you know, the way in which we do our business or the various ideas and thoughts that inspire our careers, our relationships, and they evolve as various tensions start to rise to the surface. And we start to say, Okay, how do I adjust and evolve in order to hold new dualities that are getting stronger within me? And that's a process that happens through this square, especially where there's a kind of I love how Dane Rudhyer, early modern astrologer, described first quarter dynamics in the moon cycle, which I think are applicable to first quarter dynamics and other cycles. He said that it was a crisis of action.

You get to this point where now it's time to do something. Remember the seating point of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius a couple of years ago? I want to say it was December 2021. But I feel like my spacing was at 22. No, it was 21. So, yeah, it was no, was it? I think it was 2020. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was 2020. It was December of 2020. Sorry, I space for a second.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 2020 introduced the idea that there are certain tensions that exist in certain areas of our life; look at the whole sign house of Aquarius. This is where the story began. Pluto, of course, has entered Aquarius, sort of re-upping the importance of this transformation. So everything is like the epicenter in your birth chart, which is in the whole sign house of Aquarius.

The two planets got together in December of 2020. We need to evaluate and recreate structures in order to hold various tensions. Now we're reaching the first quarter square, where it's time to start acting. This is a moment when we go from the seating to conceptualizing new things. The fact that we use conjunction is sort of like the awareness that, you know, something needs to change structurally and systematically. And again, look at the whole sign house of Aquarius. Now, we're at this point where it's time to actually act upon and make those changes.

But also, in order to do so right, we have to look at the specific dynamics of the Jupiter Saturn square, the first quarter square; in this case, here, we will see that for the next year, one of the main things that are happening is that we have Saturn in Pisces Jupiter's feminine sign in a superior square to Jupiter in Gemini. So that's a very specific dynamic.

There are three things that we should watch for based on those details during this first quarter square, where the whole idea is to start initiating and acting upon the original impulses of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction starting in 2020. So here are three things to watch for, given that we have Saturn in Jupiter's sign in a superior square to Jupiter.

One is that Saturn will be restraining Jupiter. So here's the thing: Jupiter in Gemini is youthful, eager, and filled with energy and ideas. It is like the high you get after your morning coffee. Bustling with you have a list of 30 things you're so excited about that you get two of them done before the energy runs out, and you get a caffeine crash. And today ends up being like any other day. So, it's sort of a familiar pattern with a caffeine rush in the morning that I hope you can all relate to.

In this sense, I use this as a metaphor because Saturn is going to restrain youthful, bustling Jupiter. Jupiter, who wants to do so many things, has so many irons in the fire, and Gemini is just teeming with creative ideas but ideas that have not yet found a gravitational center. This is Jupiter's stability. By the way, its detriment in the sign of Gemini is due to this. In part, it's due to the fact that you're going to have a lot of irons in the fire, but it's going to be difficult to come to a place of mature, cohesive unity.

Now, we have Saturn in Jupiter, a sign of Pisces, a place that suggests a kind of spiritual unity. Saturn in Pisces is sort of like a wise grandmother. And the wise grandmother at its best is restraining youthful Jupiter in Gemini, saying yes, you're ready to recreate a bunch of things, but you can't go too fast. You can't have too many ideas. You need to refine and reflect upon and discriminate which are the best, which are the most useful, which will be of the greatest service to humanity, and which are the most compassionate to yourself. Saturn in Pisces provides a kind of gut check for Jupiter's busy, excitable energy in Gemini.

So you could think of it as Saturn sort of offering this kind of limit and saying, you know, you have to be able to hold the tension of opposites very wisely and carefully with a lot of emotional intelligence in the way that you take off with new things right now. Okay, wow. You know, some of us might feel like we're getting our wings clipped right away. Some of us might feel like it's too slow. Some of us might feel like it's too cautious or conservative. And at the same time, some of us may realize that slow and steady is the best way to go. There is a prayer that I have prayed in my life for 14 years since becoming a professional astrologer. This prayer came to me during an Ayahuasca ceremony, and where I just realized this is something I need to pray for.

And the prayer goes like this: Dear universe, please do not allow my company, my work as an astrologer. And this, by extension, is something my wife Ashley and I have prayed together for: her work for our company, for a yoga studio, for our family, for everything. Do not allow growth to happen too quickly for us to be mature enough to handle it and be good stewards of any success we receive. And to me, that's a really important prayer that Saturn in Pisces may very well be reminding Jupiter in Gemini to pray right now. Don't go so fast; don't be so eager to develop. Don't be so eager to succeed, even if it's exciting, and there are things you actually can succeed at.

Don't go so fast that you can't actually hold, maintain, safeguard, or steward with humility and reverence the success you're in receipt of. This is something that Saturn may be offering Jupiter right now, and that kind of prayer may be the one that we're being reminded to pray. And it's especially easy when you're taking off to forget that prayer.

At least that's my reflection now the Saturn restraining Jupiter could also be the voice of cynicism, doubt, despair, lack of faith, overly conservative or rigid qualities that are holding something back unnecessarily that we have to overcome that we have to sort of acknowledge but also move beyond don't let this slow you down. But you know how you know the difference is because you sit with it, impulsive responses to the limitations of Saturn right now.

Even if Saturn is a curmudgeon, we are not going to be the mature ones; the mature response is going to be to sit and reflect upon contemplate whatever check Saturn is providing, and then say okay, now that I've thought about it, I realize this is something trying to hold me back when I actually need to grow and move forward. And so I have to let go of that doubt or that that limit is something I have to transcend. Or you could say this limit is something that is giving me really useful feedback, and I need to listen.

Number two, Saturn requires a sacrifice from Jupiter. When a planet is in another planet's sign, one of the ways we can think about it is that it's a houseguest, you know, so it's like, Saturn is a guest in the temple of Jupiter and Venus in pisces. When Saturn is in that temple, it is very common for the host to provide something for Saturn's needs.

So if Saturn says I want to, I want to take you to the limit. Right? Then what is it that wants to take you to the limit of something Jupiterian or Venusian? I want to take you to the limit of your faith or belief in something where you doubt it. Jupiter has to say okay, I will provide you with a meaningful experience of doubt. Well, is there a better place for Jupiter to provide a meaningful experience of doubt, the limits of how true something can be?

Then, in the sign of Gemini, which loves to be playful, curious, and skeptical? So, Saturn may require something Saturnian, and Jupiter may have to provide it, which may be doubtful and cautionary. And that may be skeptical, curious, and open-mindedness, but a refusal to commit to something that's being asked to view as this emotional, passionate commitment gets on board emotionally be seized by the romantic energy of something, but Saturn in Pisces says I need doubt, of something emotional and passionate I need to inquire about the limits of such things.

Jupiter in Gemini is actually in a pretty good position to be rational and skeptical and, therefore, fulfill the needs of Saturn. So you have to be creative with it, though, because there are a million other possibilities. Just think to yourself, what would Saturn require? Okay, Saturn requires death. Okay, Saturn is winter and decay. And Saturn is old age and mortality.

So Saturn requires that those things be addressed by Jupiter in Gemini; then what will it provide? It will provide you with the death decay, old age or limitations of ideas, thoughts, technologies, excitable, youthful nervous energy; it will say, I need you to provide me with the death or decay of those things. And that's what Jupiter will give because of where Jupiter is.

So you can play with the idea of Saturn, requiring what you think of Saturn, as if Saturn were in your house, right? And Saturn says, well, I need Saturnian things because I'm a guest, and I'm out of my own house. So, I don't have the freedom to meet my own needs; I have to rely on the host of the house. What kind of things would I give Saturn, because Saturn says I rest in old age. And I am someone who works out every day.

But Saturn is in my house, so I may have to provide Saturn with rest in old age by taking an off day from workouts. Because that's what, that's how. That's how it would make sense for me as a host who works out every day to provide for Saturn, who's in my house. Do you see what I mean?

This is why when Saturn is in your first house, and your body is the subject of the first house, you often provide Saturn with sickness. Do you see what I mean? One of the ways that ancient astrologers looked at the presence of planets and houses was in terms of having to provide the ruling planet having to provide for the needs of the transiting or visiting planet. So think about that with respect to what Jupiter in Gemini has to do to fulfill what Saturn in Pisces needs.

The other thing is that Saturn, another way of thinking about what it means for a planet to be in another planet's house, is that they need something that the planet actually needs something, not of their own nature, but of the nature of the planet whose temple they're in. So when Saturn is in Pisces, it needs something Jupiterian. Saturn is also in the dominating square over Jupiter. So it'd be like if someone came to your house and they're like, I just need him, I just need your astrology. You know, I know that's what you have to get. That's what's in this temple. And that's actually what I need. And yet they're in a dominating square.

So they sit down, and they say, okay, great, I've got some astrology for you. And I start delivering the astrology, and I go, Yeah, but that's not the kind I want. That's not what I want to hear. That's not. I need you to say it in a way that I want to hear, you know. And as a host, I'd be like, Well, I'm the astrologer. And she's supposed to, you know, have a kind of respect for what I have to give. But when the planet isn't a dominating square over its host, you have a demanding guest.

So you can also think about Saturn in Pisces as being sort of demanding, even though it's asking for something, even though it's requiring or requesting something. So if you think about that energetically, it's like, there's a very needy and demanding presence in Saturn this summer, in relation to Jupiter. I hope that's not too abstract. These are all supposed to ideally be ways that I have of, you know, helping all of us, you know, students of astrology to conceptualize how the square is playing out for the rest of the year, which is a very long process, right? And it goes into next year when they switch signs as well.

So anyway, I am out of energy. That's it. I'm done. So I hope this was useful. I hope you have a great day. Leave comments and reflections. I'd love to hear from you guys. And let's see how this plays out. It'll be interesting. We'll be visiting this more as the summer goes on, too. Alright, take it easy, everyone. Bye