JUPITER THE PLANET OF PROGRESS
(Written for the I942 Harrogate Convention)

In the difficult, though glorious, days in which we now live,
when I am prevented by civil defence obligations from attending
our conventions in person, and indeed from doing many other
things that in normal times have helped to make life pleasant
and interesting, I thought I would write a paper on Jupiter
the Greater Benefic. It is, at any rate, an agreeable subject.

As astrologers we believe, of course, that man learnt of the
beneficent character of Jupiter either by direct experience, or
by the instruction of superior beings. He may also have been
influenced by the beautiful appearance of the planet, somewhat
less bright than Venus, but shining with a wonderful soft
glow, which seems to me - perhaps this is mere imagination
to have something, noble and regal about it.

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thought or feeling, except in the most latent condition. Then
plant-life manifested some freedom of movement, growing up-
wards into the air and downwards into the earth; and some of
us are quite prepared to believe in the possibility of arboreal
thought and feeling, in a very undeveloped state. Next the
animals have much freedom of movement, and thought and
feeling are plainly visible, though restricted to what is imme-
diately present to the animal. The dog cannot, except perhaps
in a very limited manner, think of the past or wonder about
the future, nor can his mind wander in space. He may remember
his master on his return from long absence; but it is
very doubtful if he thinks about this master whilst the latter
is absent, except in a very limited way, a sort of sensation of
need.

But man has achieved a much higher freedom. His thoughts
range the universe both in space and time; even in the body
he can soar into the sky or plunge into the deep waters. We
do not know what further freedom may lie before him. One
thing seems certain, that freedom is of the essence of evolution
on this planet. So that despots and autocrats are really, in a
very actual sense, striving against God.

Evolution seems to be an expression of the symbol Sun
trine ]upiter. The other planetary virtues -- I like that old
fashioned word and consider it quite scientifically appropriate
-- play their part; but the main theme is Sun -- the life -- trine
Jupiter -- free progress.

Of course it does not follow that man and the rest of nature
will always march under Sun trine Jupiter. Some new cyclic
order may supervene, and, indeed, probably will. In a minor
key other and contrary influences are of course always making
themselves felt, as in the present epoch.

We must always avoid the error, too, of supposing that this
progressive evolution is something automatic and inevitable.
In our own time Dr. Inge has been very assiduous in contro-
verting this bclief in the inevitability of progress. And this is
right. We have said that Jupiter stands for "free progress".
We must freely co-operate with the major theme. Automatic
progress, which happened whether we made any efforts in the
work or not, would not really be progress at all, in a spiritual
sense. By its very essence true liberty cannot be bestowed upon
us; we must achieve it for ourselves.

In our days when, at least in a bodily sense; whole nations
have been enslaved, and when intellectual slavery has also
been attempted by every means in the power of governments,
we may be thankful indeed that Jupiter obviously plays a very
prominent part,in our national horoscope, or horoscopes.

Actually, in the 1066 figure, it is cadent in Virgo, and
retrograde, but it is in trine to the Sun. In the 1707 and 1801
maps it is in Leo and angular, being trine Neptune in the
former and sextile Uranus in the latter.

There are many obvious signs of this Jovian element in our
national life, although we have no monopoly of the planet and
in some respects other nations, have displayed its powers more
adequately. But what nation, besides ourselves and the
Americans, are constantly organising Relief Funds for foreign
nations in distress? Not many, that I have ever heard of!

Still, consistency is not very prominent in Jupiter. Thus we
are at the same time very fond of animals and have formed
almost a religious cult of certain forms of hunting them, not
always in at all a merciful manner. We have also, until recent
times, been apt to forget that charity begins at home, so that
we have sent missions to the heathen and neglected the poverty
and disease that lay under our very eyes. All this is quite.
characteristically Jovian. The children of the planet see things
telescopically and love to study the distant horizon rather than
the nearby waters. Still, this is a tendency that can be cor-
rected, for the true Jovian is always amenable to reason, and
can also see the humorous side of his inconsistencies, if they
are pointed out to him.

Inconsistency is a quite natural result of the love of freedom.
Your true freedom-lover refuses to be bound by his own past,
which is, of course, a form of bondage. To grow we must change
and discard past opinions: the important thing is to change
for the better. One does get a little weary of the kind of
Sagittarian who is for ever pursuing some fresh craze; but even
he is more interesting than the hard-boiled son of Saturn to
whom any new thing is anathema.

It is very true that the real Jovian rejects bondage from
within just as much as he dislikes bondage from without. He
will not be enslaved by his own past.

Nor will he accept the bondage of wealth. He insists that
money is to be spent, and he never hoards. He parts with things
freely, so soon as they cease to interest or serve him.

Being progressive, he is hopeful. Hope is the lamp by which
progress works. Hence your Jovian is seldom downcast for long,
though actually he does sometimes fall rather heavily and take
defeat badly -- for a time. To his optimistic nature failure is
such a disappointment; whereas your Satumian is never surprised
if things go wrong. They justify his gloomy forebodings and
allow him the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."

Again, being progressive the eyes of the Jovian are always
looking ahead; his interests lie in the future. for that reason
he is a natural prophet and is interested in all things that pertain
to the prediction of the future. Gambling on future events
attracts him very powerfully; and some of our Sagittarians
have spent a lot of time in devising not too successful methods
of applying astrology to this sort of thing. It has a real fascina-
tion for them.

This is particularly the case because they dislike routine work
and would like to get rich easily and quickly, so as to be able
to go ahead with their own progressive activities. Routine is
not in their line at all; they soon lose interest in the familiar
and want to forge onward.

Jupiter has a great name for philanthropy. It is part of its
love of improvement, which is another word for progress. It is
quite true that in certain circumstances Jupiter is very generous
in support of schemes for social betterment; but it would hardly
be right to say that every Sagittarian and Piscean and person
with Jupiter rising is unselfishly generous with money -- still less
are they always generous with helpful service, especially if it
is dull or monotonous. To find the new, not to repeat the old,
is the Jovian function.

Religion and philosophy, especially in their speculative
aspects, attract the Jovian, because. he soon sees that his
beloved "progress" means very little if it must all end with
the grave. Hence he scans the horizon beyond our last earthly
resting-place to see if he cannot detect other worlds to explore
and bring within his scheme of universal progress. Indeed a
progressive is naturally an explorer, both intellectual, emo-
tional and geographical, and the true Sagittarian is always
exploring some fresh territory, either of the emotions, the
mind or the body.

Whether Jupiter is really a religious planet, or only interested
in religion, is a rather difficult point, and depends rather on
what one understands by religion. Saturn certainly is the planet
of morality and the Sun and Leo are usually very prominent
in the nativities of undoubtedly religious persons. Which is not
strange, seeing that the Sun is the natural symbol of the All-
Father.

But if we were to define religion as the pursuit of the eternal
and the infinite, and perhaps that will pass muster, then we
shall see that Jupiter naturally comes to it, in order to find a
justification for his demand for eternal and infinite progress.

I hope to have now shown how all the Jupiter qualities spring
from that one conception, that of Free Progress.

Let us now apply this conception to the various mutual
aspects of Jupiter with the other bodies of the system.
First of all, Sun in contact with Jupiter:

This has always seemed to me above all an intellectual posi-
tion. Zeus, or Jupiter, was not, according to the Neo-Platonists,
the Supreme Deity, but the Demiurgus, or Creative Mind; and
when he is conjoined with the Sun, it shows an active intellect,
though not always a stable or consistent one. The mind is
extremely fertile, but not always practical or even accurate
unless Saturn lends a hand. One is apt to be overpowered by
the richness of the mental content and to forget to examine the
statements of Sun-Juipter and see wheter they are really sound.

I think the adverse contacts are just as clever, and perhaps
even more energetic in expression; but they are apt to make
the native a champion of unpopular causes. It is also the aspect
of the gambler and may make people careless and wasteful.

We must always look to Saturn when judging Jupiter. They
are opposite principles, and one cannot be estimated without
the other. You may have too much of either, or you may have
them both prominent or both weak, and they may be har-
moniously or inharmoniously combined.

Much the same applies to Moon/Jupiter contacts, except that
here we are concerned not with intellect, but with the habits,
prejudices and emotions. These are generous and kindly, but
the stressful aspects indicate excess and unwisdom in their ex-
pression. Sometimes there is a combative or at least a restless
tendency; and sometimes, instead of true religion, there is
credulity and superstitjon. Sometimes there is a happy-go-lucky
propensity. It depends on the rest of the nativity.

Mercury/Jupiter contacts are less happy, for these planets
rule opposite signs, whereas the Moon and Jupiter are linked
through Cancer. Both, too, are restless influences, and these
contacts certainly energise the mind. But, to some extent, each
planet tends to injure the expression of the other, Mercury
losing its edge, as it were, and often becoming rather "woolly."
There is generally a good deal of interest in religious and
philosophical matters, and when the aspects are inharmonious,
the native is often a born sceptic. It is also a chatterbox and
indiscreet in the keeping of secrets, and there is a love of
exaggeration. Still, you will find a lot of very gifted men with
Mercury-Jupiter "afflictions," so called. For instance, Emerson,
Tennyson, Rant and Wagner. If one must have afflictions,
there is often good company to share them with!

Venus and Jupiter combine well, through Pisces. It is, how-
ever, not the rather effeminate contact that you might expect.
Often there is a good deal of personal grace and charm, which
is sometimes, too, expressed in writing, dress, and so forth.
But restlessness is frequently exhibited, and even adven-
turousness. The afflictions may produce real firebrands, such
as Gambetta, Gandhi, John Burns, Washington and Masaniello
the Neapolitan patriot.

Good Venus/Jupiter configurations are rather prominent in
horoscopes of longevity.

Mars/Jupiter contacts are the sign of the enthusiast if not
the fanatic. There is little more one need say, except to point
out that the enthusiasm is usually for some Jovian object such
as travel, religion, or the stage.

And it seems a rather prosperous factor, those having it
either being well off, or at least well connected, though of
course some poor people must be born when it is operative.

The major afflictions between these two are certainly very
dangerous, Excess appears in many forms. The native who has
this temptation indicated in his chart should study and pursue
the virtues of "The Middle Way."

Jupiter and Saturn, well configured, constitute a strong
backbone, so to speak, to any nativity. It is, par excellence,
the constructive aspect, Jupiter giving the power and desire to
plan, and Saturn to execute. And often what is planned is
something big.

On the other hand the afflictions are rather serious, showing
delay in achievenient, or arduous labours crowned with disap-
pointment. Much depends on the rest of the map. They can
give dangerous tendencies to melancholia. They will usually
demand much patience of the native. Jupiter will constantly
ask for more than Saturn is willing to give.

Good, aspects between Jupiter and Uranus are very good.
There is a prospect of the mind being truly original and gifted,
whilst it often signifies real character as well. You could cata-
logue many great names who owed much to this combination,
amongst whom you will find our own Alan Leo.

Jupiter and Uranus really get on excellently together. Jupiter
is, as we have said, essentially progressive, and he will
find Saturn cramping his style with various considerations of
ways and means; and also of precedents, rules and regulations
dating from ihe past. But Uranus is quite willing to sweep all
these aside. Whereas Saturn is constructive, but never destruc-
tive, Uranus can both destroy and rebuild; and moreover he
shares the enthusiasm of Jupiter.

Of course the conjunction of these two important bodies is a
rather heavy strain on any natus, and in certain, types of
horoscope it might be dangerous. And the affiictive contacts of
the two planets, though gifted, can be rebellious, eccentric and
headstrong. H. P. Blavatsky had the conjunction and Dr.
Besant the square, and they were both "bonnie fighters," quite
fearless and very outspoken. We may mention that Joseph
Stalin, though his exact birthday seems a little obscure, cer-
tainly had Jupiter opposition Uranus, and Mussolini had them
in sextile. If he had stuck to internal reform and avoided the
temptation to revive the Roman Empire, he might have gone
down to history with a good deal to his credit.

Jupiter with Neptune is a signature of kindness, especially
to the needy and downtrodden, including those with four feet!
Of course there is the bad side here, which is very apt to de-
velop if Saturn is not at hand. It is a very inflationary influence.
If Uranus and Jupiter progress towards a defined goal, Neptune
is apt to take Jupiter by the hand, as it were, and say, "Let
us wander off somewhere, no matter whither," and the end is
that they lose their way in dreams and visions. Sometimes, of
course, their visions are beautiful and enrich our thought, for
instance, those of Maeterlinck and Swinburne; sometimes they
benefit humanity in practical ways. Again, they may, in a bad
map, go definitely to evil and produce traitors, schemers and
even violent criminals. At all events you will find many great
names with. these bodies in contact, and, as is often the case,
there will be quite as many with so called afflictions as with
trines and sextiles! Even at worst, these people probably
"mean well," as, for instance, the late Kaiser and King
George III, both tainted with mental disease.

Amongst those with the conjunction we find Edward VIII,
Shelley, and Disraeli; and what different types you have there!
You would say that no two could be less alike than Shelley and
Disraeli, but, with astrology to indicate where to look for the
resemblance, you would find it. The poet, with Sagittarius
rising, showed it freely and fully; the conservative statesman,
with Scorpio rising, was outwardly a sphinx, but inwardly had
his gorgeous visions too!

Jupiter and Pluto present a problem I cannot solve. I have
not yet studied Plutonian aspects in nativities. Many people
seem to say that his directions and transits have no effect upon
them, and if that is so, I presume the planet itself has none
from the standpoint of natal astrology. It certainly works in
mundane maps as well as any other planet. It is the planet of
aggression and in every case wherein it has been on an angle,
at any capital city, in an important map, that country has
either attacked or been attacked in this war, at least so far as
I have seen.

That would lead one to suppose that Jupitcr-Pluto contacts,
like those of Jupiter and Mars, would be fanatical and
progressive-destructive, as Jupiter-Saturn is progressive-
constructive, and Jupiter-Uranus is progressive-destructive-
constructive.