Jupiter in Taurus: Plenty of Hard Work and Enjoyment!

Jupiter, the planet of luck, expansion, faith and adventure, made its grand entrance in the sign of Taurus four days ago (June 4^th 2011) and will remain there for one year, even during its 4-month retrograde period from late August onwards. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this post on how Jupiter will generally manifest its energies while transitting the sign of Taurus. The following two posts will explain how each zodiac sign will be expected to incorporate these energies. As a foretaste of the analysis that follows, suffice it to say that Jupiter in Taurus will expand our tendencies to work hard for things that will last, on the one hand, and to enjoy material things and comforts, on the other. In order to see in more detail how Jupiter will function while transitting Taurus, let us examine what the planet of Jupiter and the sign of Taurus symbolise in astrology.

With regard to Jupiter, this planet is supposed to be the luckiest of all. Although this may be true, it would be useful to keep in mind that the luck Jupiter brings is surely overestimated; how appropriate for a planet that often times promises more than it can deliver! Jupiter is the biggest planet in our galaxy, hence its further association with growth, expansion, inflation, development, openness, abundance, largesse and grandeur. Jupiter also represents opportunities, improvement, adventure, exploration, risk-taking, enthusiasm, trust, faith, vision, wisdom and search for meaning. Moreover, it is related to social benefits, civic rights and the benevolent face of society, while its associations with philosophy, religion, morality, the law and travelling are well-documented. In a nutshell, Jupiter represents our urge to expand, develop and improve ourselves by taking risks and by placing our trust and faith in the universe.   

Now that we have seen what Jupiter symbolises, it would be a good idea to examine the manner in which its principles will manifest themselves during its transit through the sign of Taurus. For this reason, we need to take a look at what the main characteristics of this sign are. Taurus follows Aries and is the second sign of the spring, so its role is to establish, secure and stabilise the initiatives taken by Aries. If Aries is about sowing the seeds, Taurus is about planting them firmly in the ground and making sure they grow to become plants and trees. Therefore, Taurus is related to fertility, security, stability, continuity, tenacity, endurance, stamina, patience, deliberation, reliability, solidity and loyalty. Taurus is also about slowly producing things which are meant to last. It is further related to pleasure, joy, sensuality, calm, comfort and contact with nature. Therefore, Taurus is generally interested in building, enjoying and measuring possessions and the material world.      

We can already see that the enthusiastic, excessive, exaggerated and risk-taking principles of Jupiter do not sit very well with the calm, reflective, thoughtful and patient qualities of Taurus, which in itself is neither positive or negative of course. We might thus expect Jupiter in Taurus to urge us to take sensible risks and thus seize opportunities that aim at fertility, security, stability and solidity, as well as at slowly producing things which are meant to last. More specifically, for the past year or so Jupiter transited Aries; this may have spurred many of us to take advantage of opportunities in order to initiate personal, professional or other projects. Therefore, Jupiter in Taurus will probably help us give form and shape to any of the projects we started while Jupiter was in Aries.

Actually, Jupiter’s transit through the reflective and practical sign of Taurus will develop our sense of realism and our need to know which of the projects we initiated is worth keeping and relying upon. Inevitably, some of these projects will come to pass, whereas others will grow and flourish in a slow but steady manner. The problem is that, while Jupiter was in Aries, we were probably too caught up in our enthusiasm and urgency to initiate things and to get the ball rolling that we didn’t stop to think about potential obstacles. Therefore, decisions and plans made with Jupiter in Aries will stumble upon practicalities and material limitations that are perhaps magnified by Jupiter in Taurus. We will accordingly improve ourselves by taking into account these limitations and by trusting our five senses and practical spirit.  

Therefore, the Taurean Jupiter will help us recognise which of the projects we initiated are feasible (in terms of time and money, for instance) and it will further provide us with abundant patience, stamina, strength and perseverance to see these projects through to completion. This way we will not only open up ourselves to the prospect of working hard and patiently to create something tangible and solid, but we will also explore opportunities to gratify ourselves by enjoying the fruits that these efforts will eventually bear. After all, let’s not forget the association of Taurus with pleasure, comfort and sensuality, themes in which we will look for meaning for the next year or so. It thus seems that Jupiter in Taurus will instill in us a more materialistic philosophy and vision of life: let us not be surprised if we come across opportunities to develop our material resources, on the one hand, and to indulge ourselves in all the material and physical delights that life has to offer, on the other.

Stay tuned to find out which part of your life will be particularly receptive to these tendencies on the basis of your personal zodiac sign!