The Power of Story: The Cosmic Storyteller
Uranus and Jupiter in Taurus: When Push Comes to Shove (A fateful moment)
Did you know that the word ‘cosmos’ means the beauty and harmony of the universe? We humans often take ourselves out of that equation, but we too are part of the cosmos. We are aligned with the beauty, order and harmony of the universe. In this time of chaos (because the Ages are changing), it’s good to remember that there is a cosmic order that is so vast we might not understand it, but we are part of it.
Our psyche is set up in accord with the structure of the universe, and what happens in the macrocosm likewise happens in the infinitesimal and most subjective reaches of the psyche.
– C. G. Jung
This month is full of celestial events. There’s more cosmic excitement coming our way now that we’re past the Aries solar eclipse, which opened us to examining who we are. Are we a cog in the corporate wheel or are we creative, individual souls who have a unique gift we need to share with the collective? This celestial event will be more grounded, so we might have to look around our world, as well as within ourselves, for expressions of what is happening in the heavens.
Whatever it is, it might be dramatic. Exciting. Surprising. Instantaneous. Earthshaking. Spontaneous. Shocking. Mind-blowing. Life changing.
I say might be because astrology can only offer us a glimpse of the energies involved but it’s up to each of us to decide if we’re going to work with the energies instead of ignoring them. Something might happen that triggers you to a sudden awareness, and we have to claim these messages from our Self to our ego. It’s time to listen to the wisdom within us, especially instinctual wisdom as we watch the chaos in the world.
We also have to learn to think symbolically when we use astrology as a means of conveying information, just as dreams, myths and fairy tales speak to us in symbolic form. The real trouble comes when we only look at the surface meaning of events, which for most people is the only meaning they know.
Once again, it comes back to our rejection of the feminine ways of knowing, which come to us through our right brain imagination, which gives meaning to our experiences. Patriarchy has colonized our imagination. It’s time to take it back and set it free.
I was listening to a Jungian astrologer speak about the hermetic text The Emerald Tablet, from which this alchemical statement is found. As above, so below. As within, so without. Like the Jung quote, this statement indicates we are all connected to the outer world and the heavenly one. So when celestial events unfold, they are also unfolding within us.
The next big planetary event is the conjunction (coming together of) Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus on April 20 – 21 at 22* Taurus. The last time these two forces came together in Taurus was in 1941. The surprise comes from Uranus, the explosive power from expansive Jupiter and the grounding comes from the sign of Taurus.
Taurus is the sign of manifestation and embodiment. The second sign of the zodiac, it takes the primal fire of Aries and molds it into a form that suits its function. Ideally, it is the process of giving form to something. It’s shadow is rigidity and concretizing – the flat earth approach.
Taurus is a fixed earth sign, concentrating energy for manifestation. It is ruled by Venus, the Empress in the Tarot deck. Venus/Aphrodite is the goddess of embodiment and the wisdom of the body. The fertile soil of Taurus takes in the potential ‘seeds’ of the fire of life and gives it nourishment to grow into its unique form. Taurus is the archetypal Garden of the Goddess, a place of peace, sensuality, beauty and connection.
On a mundane level, Taurus is associated with agriculture, banking, money and real estate, and all matters dealing with permanence and security. Taurus’ strength lies in its concentrating power – it is a grounding energy. So be ready for any disruptions in those fields – disruptions that need to take place so a new form can arise.
Psychologically, Taurus is concerned with our values. What do we value, morally and concretely? What is our self-worth, the value we place on our own talents and interests? How do we see ourselves at this time – as ‘just’ a person doing a job, or as a reflection of archetypal purpose, such as a healer, a bard, a priest/ess, a mother, a leader, a teacher, a protector, etc?
An interesting aspect of this upcoming conjunction in Taurus is that the Sabian symbol and the Star Sparks symbol for 22* Taurus is very inner-directed and spiritual. It’s a call for us to remember that the Earth is sacred and it is indeed full of spirit, and we are connected to her wisdom through our instincts. A good thing to remember since Earth Day is on April 22nd, just as the Sun moves into Taurus.
The Sabian symbol for 22* Taurus is: A white dove flying over troubled waters. The ability to ‘fly above’ (not get caught up in emotional drama) and have faith that all will be well once the crisis passes. It is a message from the Holy Spirit of a new dispensation. (Dane Rudhyar: An Astrological Mandala).
The Star Sparks symbol for 22* Taurus is: A blindfolded woman who sees the future. We are pulled to our inner depths to see what needs healing, and to connect to multiple dimensions, so we can imagine a better future. (Ellias Lonsdale: 360 Degrees of Your Star Destiny).
In Richard Rudd’s The Gene Keys, 22* Taurus is the 23rd Gene Key “The Alchemy of Simplicity”. The Shadow aspect is Complexity, dealing with thinking and speaking and trying to control the environment. The Gift is Simplicity. And the Blessing/Siddhi is the Quintessence – the magical 5th element or vibration itself.
Weaving these images together, I would say: leave behind your need to explain things and go within. Let go of what’s going on outside, let go of the unnecessary things in your life and tune into what is inside you. Listen and wait for your soul’s voice. This is the Quintessence we all hope to find.
Go to Nature. Sit in silence. Go within to awaken.
Uranus conjunct Jupiter in Taurus
On April 20-21, 2024, Jupiter will conjunct Uranus at 22* Taurus.
Uranus was the first planet beyond Saturn and the visible planets to be discovered. It was discovered by William Herschel (an amateur astronomer!) in 1781, ushering in three big revolutions in the West. The American Revolution (1775 – 1783). The French Revolution (1789 - 1799). And the Industrial Revolution (1760 – 1840). So it makes sense that in astrology, Uranus symbolizes the common man, rebellion, freedom, equality, surprises, thinking outside the box, electricity and unseen energies.
Some astrologers think these characteristics better suit a figure like Prometheus, who gave mankind fire, more than the sky god Uranus. Uranus is a cosmic god who represents the starry heavens. So another aspect of Uranus is the Higher Mind and the archetypal realm, which we can see reflected in the stars and constellations at night.
Uranus has been in Taurus since 2018 and will fully enter Gemini in 2026. Its restless energy has a hard time in solid Taurus. While Taurus values security, Uranus is all about being different, being an outsider, upsetting the status quo. And as a sky god, it connects us to the galaxy as well as the archetypes. Our task is to embody these celestial and archetypal energies. We have to become galactic citizens, or at least world citizens. Its’ electrical nature helped give rise to our modern technology, for it is also the archetypal energy of the inventor and genius.
Jupiter has been in Taurus since May 2023 and will enter Gemini for a year at the end of May 2024. While Uranus is a generational planet, Jupiter, along with Saturn, governs our social consciousness. Jupiter expands while Saturn contracts. For the first time in 800 years, in December 2021, Saturn and Jupiter began their new, 20-year cycle in the air sign of Aquarius, and will continue to do so in air signs for the next 200 years. Information, social connections and communicating will be central to society, whereas for the previous 200 years, their conjunctions have been in earth signs, where consuming and profit have been the concern.
Jupiter is considered the greater benefic, meaning it’s a good luck planet. Its energy is expansive and fertile. Jupiter, and its Greek counterpart Zeus, is a god of thunder, lightning, rain and fertility. Jupiter’s energy is optimistic, generous and usually positive. Jupiter can bring us healing and inner confidence, making us stronger through a philosophical or religious outlook. Jupiter is the storyteller who sends us on a quest to expand our vision and imagination and to discover Truth.
Jupiter likes to give us blessings.
Jupiter’s shadow side is excess, inflation and over-confidence. And if we look at the myths associated with the Greek god Zeus, we also see his entitlement – he was after all, the king of the gods. As such, he raped many women and demonstrated his fertility by all the gods, demi-gods and heroes he fathered.
While Jupiter is associated with the Tarot card The Wheel of Fortune, Uranus is often associated with the Tarot card The Tower. Both these energies are associated with lightning, so they can bring us good fortune as well as some much needed disruption.
Together they give us a big wake up call.
On a psychological level, these two energies in Taurus can help us look at our sense of entitlement and wake us up to the fact that instead of feeling we are entitled to a good life, we’ll be more aware of the blessings we have been given. That’s a big wakeup call for some of the younger generation of Americans who think they are entitled and don’t do the necessary work that needs to be done for the good things in life.
And perhaps we’ll all learn to ‘sacrifice’ (to make sacred) some of that entitlement for the good of Mother Earth. This is the Gene Key gift of Simplicity. Isn’t it time we divested ourselves from all the useless things we’ve accumulated for the good of corporate profits? It’s interesting that our governments will ask us to sacrifice for a war (last time Uranus and Jupiter were together in Taurus was in 1941 when we went to war) but refuse to ask us to sacrifice to help heal the Earth, which is our home.
So personally, look for where you need to wake up for the greater good. Both planetary energies offer us a broader view of life, of possibilities, of embodiment.
These two energies can also encourage us to be visionaries, trailblazers and future-oriented. When they came together in the late 60s and mid-80s, their energies gave rise to people power, with the anti-war protests and in 2010, the Arab Spring uprisings and the Occupy movement. Uranus is not only future oriented but also youth oriented, so we will be hearing more from the youth about the state of the world. This time, we elders need to support them, unlike our parents who didn’t get why we protested in the 60s.
Something that will come out of this conjunction will be the shattering of old belief systems and a new belief in our right to freedom and equality. Freedom of choice about our own bodies, whether that means the right to abortion or the right to refuse to take big pharmas’ vaccines.
There will be changes in our socioeconomic structures, creating a more equitable tax structure which in turn will support our communities, especially our children and our elders. Hopefully, we’ll re-distribute our wealth for life-giving issues rather than war.
There will be new technologies developed to heal Nature, to develop new ways to produce food without poisons and to regenerate our soil. New technologies to heal us with frequencies and to help us live longer. New space exploration.
These two planetary energies will make us more rebellious against the old patriarchal paradigm, more inclined to do our own thing, more willing to take risks.
Jupiter’s expansiveness will explode Uranus’ electrical energy of awakening, of listening to the Higher Mind, of regenerating the archetypes with new energy and stories. Uranus is the modern ruler of the sign of Aquarius, and along with Pluto going into Aquarius for the first time in 248 years, we will turn to the future, rather than retreating to the past as the old dominator governments are trying to do.
Uranus’ energy will shake out what is no longer relevant to life. Together these two planets can help us consciously connect to Source, to our own inner wisdom and to the quantum field.
And because Taurus is an earth sign, we might see more earthquakes, volcano eruptions and natural disasters, especially because we’re at the height of the solar activity cycle, so more solar flairs will add to the destabilization.
Scorpio Full Moon, April 23, 2024
Just a quick note about the upcoming Buddha Full Moon in Scorpio. This Full Moon is squared by Pluto in Aquarius, which is slowing down to turn retrograde on May 2nd. This square aspect to the Full Moon where we are called on to release old emotional energies that no longer serve us (like the Buddha being tempted by the demons of desire under the Boddhi Tree) will help us to awaken to our social responsibilities. Aquarius is the sign of our collective consciousness and Pluto asks us to release the old paradigm which is dying anyway. Let go of patriarchal rules and regulation within yourself, and it will help release it in the collective.
We need to align our values (Taurus) with the collective values of freedom, equality and individual responsibility.
The new story is emerging, slowly but surely. Be part of it! May the Force be with you!
Merry meet and merry part. And merry meet again.
Cathy
This is so wonderful and informative, I have read it twice. Thank you, Cathy!