Jupiter is about to begin a four-month-long retrograde. Astrology’s Greater Benefit, lucky Jupiter is associated with good fortune, expansion and success. Its spheres of influence include faith, higher learning and justice. When pondering the more punitive implications of the law, restrictive Saturn may come to mind. But philosophical Jupiter is equally committed to fairness, equity and balance. Back on September 3, 2007, boundary-setting Saturn entered meticulous, fact-finding Virgo, where it stayed until October 29, 2009. While Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn in late 2008 is often cited when astrologers discuss the Great Recession, I have always asserted that Saturn’s Virgo transit was its precursor. The earliest hints that the housing bubble was about to break appeared underneath the inherent incompatibility of strict Saturn in lavish Leo, from 2005-07. By the time the planet of austerity entered detailed, methodical Virgo, the cold, hard consequences of loose credit and overexposure became unavoidable. As Jupiter starts its 2023 retrograde in the sign of financial markets, Taurus, under a Virgo Sun, while Mercury is retrograde in Virgo, some ominous economic clouds have again gathered.
On August 8th, the day before the second Venus Uranus square, the New York Federal Reserve Bank reported that US consumer credit card debt surpassed $1T, and interest rates are rising. On September 1st, the COVID era rent moratorium will end in California, America’s most populated state. September 1st is also when interest will begin accruing on student loan repayments that will resume in October. There are 43 million borrowers who owe approximately $1.56T in federally insured loans, with an average monthly payment of $503. Lastly on the domestic front, with the fiscal year ending on September 30th and 12 appropriations Bills needing to be passed to avert it, a federal government shutdown could start on October 1st. In Europe, Germany and the Netherlands are officially in recession, the UK is experiencing stagflation and the EU has just asked member nations for an €86B “top-up” beyond current budgets. Worldwide, the BRICS organization recently added six new member nations, including Saudi Arabia, and is working on a rival to the US dollar for trade settlement. In its law enforcement role, Saturn may have been the party crasher in 2007. In 2023, Jupiter and its retrograde may be bringing the reckoning. Never missing an opportunity to get in on the action, Mars is set to become part of the story, as it transits Libra, another force for justice and balance.
Recently on his Nightlight Astrology podcast, Adam Elenbaas noted that the October 1987 Mars conjunction to the South Node of the Moon in Libra occurred within days of what became known as Black Monday (or Tuesday depending on one’s time zone). That was the largest stock market crash since 1929. In a hat tip to Adam, I pulled up the chart for October 28, 1929 and discovered that then too Mars and the South Node were nearly conjunct, that time in Scorpio. On October 4, 2023, Mars and the South Node will form an exact conjunction at 24º Libra 57′, which puts them within a 3º square to Pluto. Meanwhile, Pluto is presently revisiting the points at which it was during the buildup to the American Revolution. For example, Pluto was at 26º Capricorn 41′ on April 18, 1775, the date of the “shot heard ’round the world” battles of Concord and Lexington, and Pluto was at 27º Capricorn 33′ on July 4, 1776. When 2023’s Mars/Pluto/Lunar Nodes t-square becomes exact, Pluto will be at 27º Capricorn 54′. Additionally, October will see the next set of eclipses. Some clues about what is unfolding will arrive during the next two weeks. Before its retrograde begins on September 4th, Jupiter will trine keen Mercury. On the 8th it will trine the analytical Virgo Sun, and on the 17th its final square to Venus in Leo will be exact. Jupiter will station to go direct on December 30th. Between now and then, it may be the planet of inflation that starts setting limits.
