Keywords: Growth, meaning, belief, opportunity, expansion, excess
- Rules
- Sagittarius (and traditionally Pisces)
- Full cycle
- 12 years (about 1 year in each sign)
- Retrograde
- Once a year, about 4 months
Dignities: Exalted in Cancer, in fall in Capricorn, in detriment in Gemini and Virgo.
Jupiter is the principle of expansion. It enlarges whatever it touches, which makes it the indicator of both opportunity and excess. Traditional astrology calls it the "greater benefic" (fortuna major), but growth is not always good; exaggeration is growth too.
What it really describes is the search for meaning: the framework through which a person explains life, what they believe in, which knowledge they trust. That is why higher education, philosophy, law, foreign cultures and long journeys are tied to Jupiter.
Jupiter completes the zodiac in twelve years. This gives life a twelve-year rhythm: around ages 12, 24, 36 and 48, Jupiter returns to its natal position and themes of expansion come up again.
In the houses
House placement: the area where opportunity comes easily but overreach is also possible.