A "weak" Jupiter is like a sad clown
Tee asked me recently, with his characteristic gentle concern, “What do I do about my debilitated Jupiter?” Tee’s Jupiter in 29 Capricorn. I’d told him a while back that my friend Matthew Currie says that a person with such a Jupiter may find it hard to be happy and may go to unusual lengths to find happiness. That’s certainly been true for Tee and his excesses have left him rather debilitated.
His question lead to an animated discussion and I told him that I’ve often wanted to write on “weak” planets (planets that are debilitated or in their fall in a chart) and what we can do about them. “What can one do?,” he asked. “Well, if you have a planet that’s ‘weak’ in your chart, you should honor it in your life. It’s weak because it can’t express itself properly. Take Jupiter. What is Jupiter about?” “Teachers,” he said knowledgeably, “gurus.” “Yes. But also generosity and enthusiasm and kindness and optimism and plain blind luck. It’s also about giving. It’s kind. You don’t have to give things. It’s also about generosity of spirit. I think first you need to understand Jupiter. Read about it. Then honor him in your life, every day or every hour or once a week or whenever the spirit moves you.”
Not an unusual conversation. Unless you know Tee. He’s not into astrology. At all. So it was rather surprising that he and I were talking about Jupiter. Intrigued, I decided to do a horary for the time he asked me the question. I told him since we were talking about Jupiter, chances were that Jupiter would be strongly placed in the horary chart, on the ASC or the MC. As a matter of fact, when he asked me this question, Jupiter was conjunct the MC exactly!
Can I recommend a book? Venus in Gemini is always recommending — or gifting (or wanting to GET) books.
It’s seemingly lighthearted, (but with a wildly irreverent style of delivery), but Debbie Kempton Smith’s Secrets From a Stargazer’s Notebook went a long way for me in dispelling the erstwhile notion of debilitated or ‘fallen’ planets, Suns or Moons. At the very least she will make you rethink that school of astrology. (Though god forbid your moon is in Capricorn, she seems to have an axe to grind there — but, secretly, I sensed from experience with clients, that she was on to something as well, related to ‘mom’).
Over time I did away with making blanket statements about any specific placement in a chart, because, really, you could have Jupiter in Capricorn with a trine to Uranus, and be expressing the most noble, uplifting gifts of that particular Jupiter. Even as a circus clown. And feeling great about it. Where then is the whole detriment condition? Chart’s represent things or people or creatures as whole conditions or entities; and I don’t think it’s so good to single out specifics and build a case off of them. Or is that my Jupiter in Virgo talking? (detriment-ed thing that it is).
Anyway, just check her book out and see if it doesn’t influence you.
http://www.astroamerica.com/basics5.html#k2
Frederick
Great stuff as always.
Many thanks, Frederick, for that link and recommendation.
Frederick makes an interesting point about helpful aspects offsetting debilitation/fall by sign. Or making it worse. I have a debilitated Jupiter too – in the sign of Gemini – and it makes squares to both Mars and Uranus. I’m not exactly an optimistic person. And I’ve always been very very scattered, which from what I’ve read is a typical Jupiter in Gemini thing. I was always really good at a lot of different things and couldn’t pin myself down to mastering one or the other. I was also always very restless in general. I liked taking all the money I’d saved, leaving everything behind and traveling for 3 months at a time with a backpack until I ran out of money – then coming back home and starting over again. I’ve done it 4 times in my adult life (although the last trip I wasn’t just backpacking around – I went to Brazil to study the language further and immerse myself in the culture – a very Jupiterian thing, no?). It took forever for me to settle into a job that I like – Gemini on the midheaven too.
On the other hand Jupiter is in its own house in my chart, the 9th, which probably helps a little, and it’s sextile my impulsive Aries Moon. It’s also trine my Ascendant according to astro.com, but it’s a very wide orb so not very strong and probably doesn’t count.
Adding to the discussion (my qualifications – Jupiter in Gemini; Mars in Libra; Venus in Scorpio) a recent astrology teacher of mine teaches that the concept of planetary dignities comes from medieval astrology when people’s choices were much more restricted. To effectively use the energies of planets in detriment or fall, a person must recognize that they cannot use these energies in traditional, conservative occupations and relationships, but they can be very successfully used in alternative occupations and lifestyles.
This has certainly been true for me, and as I have just learned this theory, I haven’t had a chance to test it much yet. But it seems useful, and better than telling a client that these energies are blocked or ineffective in their lives.
I love how you addressed the client in asking him to express more of Jupiter’s energy, and to read up on Jupiter. I feel that the Indian idea of propitiating the planetary energy could be useful in Western society, getting to know the planet, honoring it and befriending it.
Hi Ellen, thanks for sharing.
I should take advantage of the country of my birth and find out more about propitiating planetary energies. From the little I know, what you need to do is very ritualistic. With no understanding needed.
But, perhaps, we can fill ritual with meaning or create rituals that have meaning for us.