Hello Everyone. Happy holidays! May the coming year be a pleasant, healthy and successful time of spiritual growth and unfoldment for you. The time is right for great success in your spiritual practices. Why? Jupiter and Saturn have always, and will always, remain the key architects of world destiny. And seeing as you are part of this world at the moment, they tug at your strings of fortune too.
In Vedic astrology (Jyotish), these two planets act as the outer bounds of the melodrama of life. That is, the main way Jyotish understands all the comings and goings, both high and low, on this earth depends upon a cast of nine characters—some villainous, some charming and good, some a bit questionable but usually okay. Called grahas (literally, those that seize or grasp) in Sanskrit, these solar system bedfellows include planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn); the Sun and Moon; and two mathematical points (Rahu, Ketu) related to the Moon’s orbit around the Earth.
So, outer planets such as Uranus and Neptune and many other more distant celestial bodies get short shrift in this way of thinking. But the hoary Jyotish model does just fine without them. Here, Jupiter and Saturn stand tall as the outermost planets. What does this mean? You might imagine that the further one goes out from the earth and away from the sun, the more cosmic it all becomes. You would be right. Relative to the earth, Mercury and Venus putter along as inner planets (these represent familiar themes of daily life such as making a living and being happy). All other planets are outer. They also have unique and relevant meanings but gradually become more distant and difficult to understand or control.
Thus, the furthermost planets provide access to the most potent spiritual energies. The two key players that figure prominently, Jupiter and Saturn, cover the waterfront: they define all the possible manifestations of Shakti (in Hinduism, the Divine goddess that represents spiritual energy). Jupiter holds the keys to all good, happy and wholesome outcomes. And, yes, you guessed it: Saturn is the tough gal or guy who beats up all that cross its path (whether they deserve it or not).
Saturn - called Shani in Vedic astrology and Hindu culture - notorious as a planet with difficult and trying energies - however, every planet has multiple sides to it including Shani: he represents good things too such as: the harvest (early autumn = a time to tease out the useful), practical business skills and serious spiritual practices.
Now you might think that Jupiter is good and Saturn is bad and that’s that. But actually, the two work together and at times even connive a bit to conjure up all the happenings in this world. If you know anything about sales and marketing, you will be familiar with the idea of “good guy - bad guy.” The concept means that two persons work together to make a sale (or achieve some goal) by acting as if they are opponents so the unknowing consumer buddies up with the good guy and together they agree what a terrible person the bad guy is. And, of course, the good guy closes the sale and then later splits the profits with the bad guy. Meanwhile, the customer thinks she or he has done her (his) civic duty but fighting for justice and the Light. Hoo boy.
This happens all the time with Jupiter and Saturn but the picture mostly painted for you by astrologers, thinkers and religions simplifies the lot to an easy equation: it’s good or it’s bad. This is black and white thinking: what you did as a six-year-old kid. But, hey, now you’re a grownup and know better. Maybe. Yet from a deeper spiritual (quantum-level and beyond) perspective, these childlike planetary antics continue in fine fashion and with no one caring to blow the whistle. The Sun, a star, reigns in this region of spacetime and could police the two outer planets but does not. In Jyotish, he wears two hats: one as a planet (more like a fellow juvenile delinquent who abides and even abets the pastimes of the other planets) and one as a star (the soul and a portal to much of what is noble and good beyond this world’s trying drama of yes and no).
To summarize: Jupiter and especially Saturn will transit (travel) through a region of the zodiac which deeply connects to advanced (and accessible) levels of consciousness for a couple of years now. Jupiter (called Guru, in Jyotish) has been in Pisces since mid-April this year and has now turned direct (travels forward in a normal and helpful way). It will grace Pisces until the latter part of April next year. All true yoga systems understand that levels of coherence (consciousness or information) pepper this universe. The highest such level for earthlings (what they should be striving for) corresponds to the Andromeda galaxy in Pisces. The planet Jupiter owns (is the caretaker or lord of) this constellation so here you have buckets of blessings and celestial pixie dust raining gently down upon your head and life. A very important and fairly rare (once every 12 years) chance for support from the higher realms.
Saturn, in contrast, being Saturn (slow, ponderous), will start its journey through the most highly charged spiritual region of the zodiac in the middle of this coming January (a month away) when it enters Aquarius. It made a brief cameo appearance there for a few months in late spring this year but starting in January 2023, it will gradually move through Aquarius and then Pisces (together the most spiritual place in the zodiac) without driving backwards and out of this spiritual hot spot. How much time will Shani (the Jyotish name for Saturn) linger in these two constellations? Shani takes two years to get through a constellation so you can count on four years.
Each year it does drive in reverse for a handful of months but on net the ringed planet moves inexorably forward. It first reaches Pisces at the end of March in 2025. And, likewise, it first enters Aries (leaves Pisces) at the start of June 2027. It will reenter Pisces for a short time (four months) starting in October of that year but after that Shani will be gone from the spiritual highlands for quite a long time (not for another 20 years).
So, now’s a great time for serious spiritual practice (Saturn likes serious and sober awareness—you don’t have to become drab and a social pauper but, at least, spruce up your spiritual act and make some focused, steady and determined effort to improve your awareness of more subtle energies. If you can, and do so, the higher realms will share some special and profoundly useful insights with you. Your life will become more of a blessing both for you and those around you (Shani will like that as he favors the common folk).