“The game is to be where you are. Be it honestly and as consciously as you know how.” (Ram Dass)
In this article I will share: 1) a personal introduction to Jupiter in Aries and 12th house placements, as I was born with Jupiter in Aries in the 12th house (you can skip this introduction if you’re not interested in my diary writings or musings on 12th house placements) 2) a general description of the significations of Jupiter in Aries (natal and in transit), 3) a list of dates for Jupiter in Aries along with an astrological interpretation, 4) book and podcast tips for Jupiter in Aries.
A personal introduction to Jupiter in Aries and 12th house placements
I was born with Jupiter in Aries. Jupiter is placed in my 12th house. The 12th house is not in aspect with the ascendant, it’s traditionally called a dark house, and placements in the 12th house are quite invisible to the native. As I’ve seen in clients and in myself, it sometimes takes a while to connect with 12th house placements and understand them and work with them in a positive way. – Sometimes I wish that my Jupiter was placed in an angular house, like the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th; as it makes it so much more powerful. But… once one is able to connect with a 12th house placement in a constructive way, it can actually work quite beautifully and powerful in it’s own way. – One of the significations of the 12th house is self-undoing. When one doesn’t understand one’s own 12th house placement(s), it may have destructive tendencies. My father was born with the Sun, the ruler of his ascendant in Leo, placed in Cancer in his 12th house conjunct the asteroid Nemesis. His own nemesis was his in fact his own demise; literally speaking here. I’m not talking about his nemesis as his opponent (12th house can in fact speak about hidden enemies), but him being the opponent himself. He was battling enemies that weren’t there. Nemesis was his purpose, his drive, his quest; and it become his total undoing. I know of someone with Mars in the 12th house in a Venus ruled sign (a sign that Mars has trouble in performing constructively), who doesn’t have control over their anger and can become quite destructive to other people (and consequently themselves). Which doesn’t mean that every person with Mars in Taurus in the 12th house has anger issues; it does mean that most people with Mars in Taurus in the 12th house are challenged in some way to develop a healthy relationship with any Mars topic (one’s own anger, other people’s anger, sex, desire, action, etc.). My ex husband though, was also born with Mars in the 12th house, but with Mars in his sign of exaltation Capricorn; he works in forensic psychiatry with ‘other people’s malefics’. Places that are hidden from society, like psychiatric institutions, prisons and hospitals are in fact 12th house significations. Thus, don’t worry if you have 12th house placements, they don’t need to signify your self-undoing. They can work in a very constructive way, like I’ve seen so in my ex-husband.
In Vedic astrology one of the significations of the 12th house is debt. Which doesn’t just speak about financial debt, it speaks about karmic debt. – In Western astrology we assign debt to the 8th house. Though if we consider that the 12th house is the place of joy of Saturn, the planet that teaches us that actions have consequences, we may come to see how debt is connected to the 12th house in a certain way. – People born with placements in the 12th house have extra karma to deal with in this lifetime. All actions and consequences, all experiences, are believed to be karmic according to Hindu philosophy. The practice of yoga is to burn off our karma, to not create more karma, and to reach enlightenment. If you want to know how to do this, I suggest you start by reading The Bhagavad Gita. According to Vedic astrology, people born with placements in the 12th house, tend to either increase their karmic debt or decrease it. Having Jupiter in the 12th house is in fact a monk’s signature, most definitely in a day chart. Jupiter in the 12th house is a placement that may signify walking a spiritual path in life, gaining spiritual wisdom and decreasing karma. Which actually sounds more pleasant than it is; because if one wants to decrease karma, one needs to burn it. Which in Western language means: learning a lot of life lessons. If one wants to get rid of debt, one needs to pay it. Having Jupiter in the 12th house means being faced with many life lessons, or needing to deliver some spiritual goodness to the world and pay debt in that way. The sign that Jupiter is in, and the aspects that Jupiter is in, tells something about the quality / type of those lessons. The gift of having Jupiter in the 12th house is the potential of living a deeply spiritual life, but it’s not necessarily a given (one needs to enter the 12th house consciously in order to receive it). Besides self-undoing, self-sabotage, prisons and other fun stuff, the 12th house is a place of meditation, yoga and possibly enlightenment.
I wanted to share something about 12th house placements, because it explains why it took so long for me to connect with my Jupiter in Aries. You would think that I may be the perfect person to write about Jupiter in Aries, as I was born with this placement and know about this placement from personal experience. But the fact is that it took a very long time for me to connect with this placement, it’s only after I started practicing yoga (which is in fact a 12th house thing) that I discovered my inner Jupiter in Aries. And I’m still very much in the process of learning about this placement. Though, as I write this, I realize that maybe I am indeed the perfect person to tell about Jupiter in Aries. Because it’s often not the things that come easy to us in life, that we become the best teachers in. We often become the best teachers in things we’ve struggled with throughout life (because then we understand the struggles of our students). It is through struggle, that we get deeply connected, deeply invested. We often don’t value the lessons that were learned easily. All the more we value the gift of wisdom that comes from the lessons we learned the hard way. I’m still learning, by the way, but aren’t we all? What you read in this article about Jupiter in Aries, are my insights that I’ve gained not only through my astrology studies but also through personal life experience being born with this placement. I hope I may teach you something through my writings; and if not, Jupiter certainly has lessons to teach.
Musings on Jupiter in Aries in general
Traditionally, Jupiter is called the greater benefic. Jupiter’s significations are growth, abundance, fertility, wellbeing, luck, and so on. Jupiter transits or Jupiter placements tend to show in what area of life we may experience one or more of these significations. But / And Jupiter’s significations are also wisdom, understanding, philosophy, spirituality and learning. Jupiter is in fact the teacher! Jupiter is the Guru. Sometimes we may expect Jupiter transits in the 2nd house of income, to bring us more money. While these transits actually may speak to a period in life in which we learn something about the way we handle money, or where we start to gain insights on how we want to build or grow our livelihood. When I look back at my Jupiter transits over the last twelve years, they actually didn’t come with the obvious blessings; they came instead with understanding and insight. Though this may very much depend on your personal Jupiter placement. When Jupiter moved through Gemini and my 2nd house of livelihood, possessions and income, I was unemployed and unable to find a job. Just after graduation, most of my friends started successful careers. And there I was, with zero money, sending out one job application after another. Jupiter (and any other planet) works in mysterious ways. Jupiter, the greater benefic, doesn’t always come with the obvious blessings. We never know beforehand exactly what transits will bring us. With some clients I’ve indeed seen material gains and job promotions, marriage, or other obvious or external blessings or lucky opportunities coinciding with Jupiter transits. With other clients I’ve seen that Jupiter transits don’t come with such blessings, instead they come with life lessons… (I was able to find a job eventually, by the way, but by that time Jupiter had already reached the sign Leo…) I want to believe that Jupiter gives us what we need, and sometimes we actually need life lessons because in retrospect they prove to be way more valuable than the obvious material or social blessings.
What about Jupiter in Aries? How does Jupiter work in Aries? Aries is a cardinal fire sign and it is ruled by Mars. Aries is all about action. Aries is all about establishing the self, “Here I Am”. Aries is fast and furious. Aries is impulsive. Aries takes courageous action. Jupiter in Aries brings about luck and growth, but also understanding and insight, through courage, impulsive moves and leaps of faith. Which sometimes brings out very favorable results; it may get you to cross the finish line first. Which sometimes brings out failure; the risk of taking impulsive action over calculated action. With Jupiter in Aries, though, we don’t want to take too much time to make calculations and estimations; because the opportunity will pass. Jupiter in Aries NEEDS to take leaps of faith and NEEDS to make courageous moves and NEEDS to go after their own desires, in order to bring about personal and spiritual growth, abundance or other forms of success.
Let’s compare Jupiter in Aries with Jupiter in the other cardinal signs (cardinal signs are about taking action). Jupiter in Capricorn, has most luck with taking action based on well thought out plans and strategies. Jupiter in Aries needs to do the impulsive thing, otherwise nothing will come anyway. Jupiter in Aries IS a leap of faith. So, while Jupiter is in Aries, I want to ask you: where do you maybe need to take a leap of faith? Jupiter in Cancer, has most luck with taking action in regards to protecting what is valuable, guarding what is important, caring for what is dear. Safekeeping what it already has, it’s not focused on gaining or achieving. Jupiter in Cancer is more inward focused, while Jupiter in Aries is more outward focused. Jupiter in Aries is a Jupiter in the present, in the here and now. Not in the past (like a Jupiter in Cancer), not in the future (like a Jupiter in Capricorn). Jupiter in Aries is about the Self, about ‘where I am’; and not about the other (like a Jupiter in Libra). Jupiter in Libra has most luck by waying options, seeing things from multiple perspectives, and balancing the scales before making a decision and taking action. Jupiter in Aries needs to be a little more selfish, compared to a Jupiter in Libra.
Again, for this Jupiter in Aries transit, I want to ask you (regardless of your natal Jupiter placement): Where do you need to take a leap of faith in order to live your best life? Tip: look at the house that Aries is on in your chart, it’s in regards to those house topics that you may want tot take a leap of faith.
Jupiter in Aries brings blessings through action. While a Jupiter in Pisces (as we’ve experienced these past several months) is more passive, Jupiter in Aries is active. Jupiter in Pisces was about receiving. Jupiter in Aries is about pursuing. Jupiter in Aries transit will not bring you much, if you’re not willing to take action. This Jupiter does his work if you’re daring to take a risk. Risk it all, dare to lose everything if you want to gain everything. I think Jupiter in Aries is the perfect Guru in explaining to us that we’re responsible for our own happiness and that we need to courageously and selfishly go after it. Not everything in our life is in our control. Jupiter in Aries doesn’t say you will win every game. But, if you’re not daring to play the game, you will certainly not win. While Jupiter was in Pisces, we’re blessed to receive without putting in too much effort (we’re blessed to receive wherever Pisces is in your natal chart). With Jupiter in Aries, we need to take some action.
“Don’t think about the past. Just be here now. Don’t think about the future. Just be here now.” Words spoken by Ram Dass. Ram Dass was a well known spiritual teacher. In case you’re not familiar with his work and offerings, I can definitely advice you to dive into his teachings. Ram Dass was born with the Sun conjunct the North Node in Aries. It’s amazing that he’s known for the quote “Be Here Now”, because that is a hundred percent an Aries comment. Happiness and bliss are found in the now, in the present. Bliss is found not just when we don’t worry about the future, but also when we don’t have expectations about the future. When we are fully present in the here and now, performing our actions consciously, without holding any attachment to the fruits of our labor. Karma is created through attachment. When we conduct right action, without being attached to the outcome (without feeling entitled, deserving, etcetera; without hoping, desiring, expecting, etcetera), we may become free of creating new karma. As The Bhagavad Gita teaches us.
Being born with a Jupiter in Aries in the 12th house, and not any other placements in Aries (and possibly due to having strong Taurus and Capricorn, which disagrees with being impulsive), I didn’t identify with the above for many many years. I do have to say my life changed in major ways after starting my yoga practice. It’s through yoga that I connected with my courageous Jupiter and started to take leaps of faith in life. Those leaps of faith have led to both success and failures. Those leaps of faith have created change and movement where I used to feel stuck. I can’t say that every leap of faith will lead to a success, as we are under the spell of Jupiter in Aries. But I can say that it is the only way this Jupiter functions. And you know what… Failure actually is a gift sometimes. When a leap of faith doesn’t lead to the desired success, it will at least give us a life lesson. And that, again, is how Jupiter in Aries works. Jupiter in Aries may come with the opportunity to learn to detach ourselves from future outcomes. To be present in the here and now. To act because taking a certain action is meaningful; but to release attachment to the results of that action.
Jupiter always has spiritual lessons to teach us. Jupiter in Pisces, the sign that Jupiter is about to leave behind, may have wanted to teach us about love, compassion and ‘Bhakti Yoga’. Jupiter in Aries teaches us about faith, courage and being in the present moment. And when the time comes that Jupiter will move into Taurus (in 2023), he may want to teach us something about the connection between mind and body and about the living being that is called planet Earth.
I don’t want to make this article into a long Hindu philosophy talk, others are probably better at teaching you about that. If you want to dive into Hindu teachings, teachings that perfectly fit with Jupiter in Aries, I would suggest you read The Bhagavad Gita. I mean: the story is about Krishna and Arjuna (a Guru / teacher and a student; aka Jupiter and ‘you and I’) on the battlefield (so damn Aries). At the end of this article I’ll share my book and podcast tips.
Important dates for Jupiter in Aries + transit interpretation
List of dates:
May 10th / 11th 2022 (exact date depends on your location): Jupiter enters Aries
July 28th 2022: Jupiter stations retrograde in Aries
October 28th 2022: Jupiter retrograde leaves Aries and enters back into Pisces
November 23rd 2022: Jupiter stations direct in Pisces
December 20th 2022: Jupiter enters Aries again
May 16th 2023: Jupiter leaves Aries and enters Taurus
As I’m writing this, Venus is already in Aries. Venus entered Aries on March 2nd and Venus will leave Aries on May 28th. Having the two benefics, Venus and Jupiter, together in Aries means that the part of your natal chart that contains Aries, receives positive vibes. Planets that are in Aries are under the ruling of Mars. So when it comes to interpreting the works of Jupiter in Aries (and Venus too, while she’s there), we want to take a look at the whereabouts of Mars. While Jupiter is in Aries, Mars will travel through several different signs. From May 24th until July 5th, Mars will also be in Aries together with Jupiter. During that time, Mars is especially powerful and Jupiter is under the command of Mars. Together they can achieve great things, both for good and for bad. Jupiter, in his role as a Guru, may have a positive and mediating influence on the assertive and sometimes even aggressive Mars. But Jupiter also has a tendency to enhance things, and under the ruling of Mars that may mean that Mars could actually become more powerful in his aggressive ways. Passion, courage, desire, lust, action, and also aggression may rise. On the world stage, this doesn’t exactly promote peace and may actually mean an increase in warfare…
Jupiter in Aries will want to bring increase, growth, potential, and wisdom in the house that contains Aries in your chart. But since Jupiter in Aries is dependent on the whereabouts and actions of the malefic planet Mars, his success in achieving it will probably come with ups and downs. Jupiter tends to work better for people who were born during the day (while Venus tends to work better for people who were born during the night). Though Mars tends to be harsher on people who were born during the day (while Saturn tends to be harsher on people who were born during the night). Thus, I suspect the overall transit of Jupiter in Aries will come with both greater highs and greater lows, for people who were born during the day (and that it will be a bit more gentle for people who were born during the night).
On a personal level, check out your rising sign in this list below, to see what topics in life will be experiencing the magic of Jupiter in Aries in general, and the fireworks of Jupiter together with Mars for a shorter period of time (this list is not exclusive and only mentions the core significations of the houses):
Aries rising: the self, the body, identity
Taurus rising: the subconscious, spiritual life, self-sabotage
Gemini rising: social life, community, hopes
Cancer rising: career, public life
Leo rising: studies, teaching, travels, religion, writing
Virgo rising: collaborations, intimacy, psyche, taxes / debts
Libra rising: committed partnerships in love and business, important relationships
Scorpio rising: work, health, lifestyle
Sagittarius rising: creativity, romance, sex, children
Capricorn rising: home, housing, family, parents
Aquarius rising: communications, short distance travel, daily routines
Pisces rising: livelihood, income, self-worth
Below follow my book and podcast tips. I wish that Jupiter may grant your wishes and bring you blessings, and I wish that you may take a leap of faith! With love, Maud
Book and podcast tips for Jupiter in Aries:
If you want to read The Bhagavad Gita, I can recommend the translation by Eknath Easwaran, it’s very readable and comes with explanations that can be taken into modern day life. I can also recommend the translation by Winthrop Sargeant, if you want to dive deeper into it and study it from a more traditional viewpoint or for academic purposes.
If you want to grasp the essence of The Bhagavad Gita (without completely reading it, or in addition to reading it), as in the major message the Gita has to offer us, you may want to listen to Podcast Episode 28 ‘Karma and The Bhagavad Gita’ from the Podcast Series ‘Living with Reality’ by Dr. Robert Svoboda. It’s available on Spotify and other podcast apps. (I can also recommend following Svoboda if you’re interested in Ayurveda and other sister sciences of Yoga).
And as I mentioned Ram Dass before. He actually wrote a book ‘Be Here Now’. So I also want to recommend this book.