Planets as Teachers: Jupiter

Jupiter is the planet of good fortune, and it was called the "Greater Benefic" in the ancient world. It represents expansion and opportunity. Those blessed by its position in their birth charts or by the passing influence of its cycles were considered to be favored by the gods.

Jupiter is the largest of all the true planets, more massive than all the rest of them combined. And, in fact, Jupiter is lucky for the Earth because its enormous gravitational field captures many of the asteroids, meteors and other space objects that would otherwise crash into and damage our planet.

Jupiter is associated with philosophy and what is called the higher mind. It's not the data collector, which is little Mercury's role, but the synthesizer of information that weaves together a sense of meaning or truth. It is a planet of belief systems and religion, which represent our highest intellectual values.

Jupiter's judgmental dark side

Yet in its role as arbiter of truth, Jupiter can show its dark side, which is being judgmental. When beliefs are over-inflated, the generosity of Jupiter takes a position of moral authority and can put down others like a hell and damnation preacher. When we over inflate the importance of our ideas and interpret them as absolute truths, we kill kindness with condemnation. Compassion and curiosity are remedies to becoming paralyzed by a heavy-handed belief system that infects faith with rejection and punishment.

The good fortune that Jupiter is associated with comes from having a wider perspective. It looks up from the details of daily activities to see patterns that give meaning to what we do. The difficulties of the challenges we face do not necessarily disappear from this point of view, but they are recognized as pieces rather than the whole of our lives.

In practical terms, Jupiter reminds us to step back from situations in which we are entangled so that we can recognize how we became enmeshed in them and, hopefully, show us how we can untie these knots.

A giant symbol of hope

Jupiter is also about optimism and hope, which can help us through the toughest of times. If you're feeling blue, doing this planet's walk is a way to invite its expansive spirit into your body.  Simply lengthen your stride by an inch. That's it. Doing this opens the body, expands your walk and mimics the boundless nature of Jupiter. Inviting more space into your life on a physical level is a direct expression of this planet's openness to greater possibilities.

And remember, when you're down, look up and the world will open to a larger space in which your purpose and possibilities grow.