Astrology report with Gillian Dwyer

Astrology concerns itself with the significance for earthlings of the not quite infinite intertwining of cycles of the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the asteroids as they traverse our celestial sky. Nothing beats directly communing with the stars in the night sky. Nevertheless, the complexity of relevant information is accelerated in the computer age and with the aid of the internet and social media.

Cycles of individual planets vary markedly. At one extreme Pluto takes 248 years to cycle once around the Sun. Upon its recent entry into Capricorn in 2008 we witnessed the World Financial Crisis. Pluto will remain in Capricorn until 2024 encouraging the transformation of business, government and hierarchical structures, while highlighting the state of our planet.

Meanwhile in 2012, Neptune returned to its own sign of Pisces for the first time in 165 years. This coincides with a deeper embrace of spirituality and growing interest in the mysteries of life and the universe. Along with Uranus, these are generational planets.

The Moon takes a just over 27 days to complete its cycle around the earth. The two luminaries and Mercury, Venus and Mars all have relatively rapid cycles and are concerned with more personal issues.

On a path between these two groups we find the social planets, Jupiter and Saturn. While Saturn is associated with restriction, Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is the planet of expansion and inflation. It spends roughly a year in each sign, taking approximately 12 years to return to the same position in the zodiac.

The recent ingress of Jupiter into Scorpio on 10 October has excited the imaginations of many astrologers. The presence of Jupiter in Scorpio will illuminate some dark and hidden places, on both a global and a personal level. A particularly pertinent manifestation of its themes is seen in the recent Hollywood sexual assault scandal centred on the activity of Harvey Weinstein. This scandal exploded into the public arena just days before Jupiter ingressed into Scorpio, where it will remain until 9 November 2018. The associated “ME TOO” campaign unearths and shines a bright light on hidden and taboo issues.

In the Jupiterian quest for truth and the meaning of life, there is also a positive sense of expansion. Scorpio is concerned with sex, death and depths and brings up issues of trust. With Jupiter in Scorpio truth will enhance our capacity for powerful transformational healing. This would be a good year to address an unwanted addiction, and transform the self through yoga, meditation or something similar.

To understand the potential influence of Jupiter in Scorpio in your own life, think back to what was happening for you in late 2005 and most of 2006. If you are familiar with your own astrology chart look to the position of Jupiter and any aspects that transiting Jupiter is making within your chart.

I will leave you with a particularly poignant news headline, reported about a week after Jupiter recently went into Scorpio. It involves alchemical gold and great mystery:

“Two stars crash into each other, wobbling the universe and flinging out huge amounts of gold!”