Jupiter went direct the day before my last final. I hate couching my feelings, however, in terms of astrology: yes, clearly my last post smacks of a Sagittarius feeling stuck during a Jupiter retrograde, forced to look within than to move forward to the next thing. I was born in the middle of Jupiter stationary; it went retrograde the next day. This is innate. And my Jupiter is in Virgo. I had a Jupiter return and then it went retrograde. But there is more going on with me, astrologically, as there is with you and everyone else around us.

However, I find that in counseling, reminding people that retrogrades or transits will pass is of limited help. Sure, all things pass, and we carry the lessons with us, and even when despair is far from over, we still have a sense of when the worst is over.

But emotionally, it isn’t healthy to sweep feelings under the rug and use astrology as an excuse. And Jupiter retrograde is the time where you have to deal with that mound of dirt that was swept under the rug because you were too busy dealing with other things.

We have to use the inverted energy! Even if a client contacts you because they are seeking cosmic permission to be their authentic selves, the motivation comes from somewhere. Yes, they are stuck, but behind the scenes, the wheels and gears are grinding away.

Jupiter retrograde is actually not that bad. Actually, no retrograde is bad: they are personally enriching. All retrograde planets still manifest according to their nature but just in a different, inverted way. Jupiter retrograde expands perspective and grit by denying persons the luck, generosity, and ease that it normally blesses with. Instead of material or social abundance, it gives you one big great thing. Of course, that one big great thing may be some sort of lesson. Can you learn to live without getting by on your charm? Can you focus on one thing you would rather not do simply to get it done? Can you live without material abundance for a while to gain intangible abundance? Can you have faith even when your faith is severely tested?

Can you stay in one place, mentally, physically, or spiritually, and grow from there?

The problem is that we cannot see the forest for the trees.

Mars is still retrograde. With Mars and Jupiter retrograde, we tend to feel stuck in a rut, waiting for the universe to give us signs that we are doing something right, waiting for something we are trying to do to manifest as winning.

But we cannot win all the time. And would you really want to? I would not. If I got everything I wanted when I wanted, I would be married to one of the New Kids on the Block and have like eight kids.

The only people who want the same things throughout their lives are the people who never grow.

It would be awesome if we could tailor our lives to retrogrades and simply refrain from doing things that would be adversely affected, or so we think, by the retrograde. I suppose that this is possible if you never do anything and never deal with other people. And it would be awesome if astrologers were engineers who could pinpoint a problem planet, isolate it, and remedy it so things worked smoothly. But we cannot.

We can anticipate how we will react. What were you feeling and doing on these dates?

1. Jupiter was retrograde from January 7 to May 6 in 2016.
2. It was previously retrograde on December 8, 2014 and lasted until April 8, 2015.
3. Before that, it was retrograde on November 7, 2013 and lasted until March 6, 2014.

Jupiter retrograde still acts like Jupiter. It expands from within. It is sort of like after Thanksgiving when you are regretting eating too much. Eventually, it will pass. However, this is a time of inner expansion of the mind. It is a time to cultivate the intangible. A lot of people may develop a new skill, make new deep connections with people, or discover something about themselves that frees them from previous mental shackles.

Just looking at Jupiterian things that happened during these retrogrades, I can start to see a pattern:

1. I was in my second semester of law school having a crisis over committing to a profession that I may not want to do for the rest of my life, that I may not find a place in. However, that was a time when I really just became myself at school. I stopped worrying about conforming to what I thought a law student should be, and I actually began making friends in school. I became interested in the people around me, which is actually a feat for a law student.
2. This was when I was hearing back from law schools. I had a feeling that I would be going to this particular school. Now, getting into law school wasn’t so easy. I was a non-traditional student in business for myself, having recently moved to the area. I struggled with the LSAT that fall, the first time I had taken a standardized, timed test in about 18 years. Also, that D I got in algebra when I was about 18 came with me and lowered my GPA. So, in a panic, I wrote the fuck out of my essays and really laid into my soft factors, and explained how I made up for being a late bloomer with a rough start, because I eventually bloom. I actually got a scholarship.
3. Strangely enough, this was around the time that I met my soulmate. However, I was living in my parents’ home, well passed the time I thought I would be there. At the time, I thought I would settle down in that area and make a life there, but it was proving to be impossible. I had previously house- dog- kid- sat for a friend of mine, and was trying to get permanent work. I got through to the final round of Teach for America until I blew it in the interview and told them that I hate standardized tests and think they mean nothing. After that, I got very close to what seemed like a dream job at the time, only to be told that I came in second place. I had just finalized my divorce and changed my name back. I couldn’t study for graduate school in the house I was in, let alone attend. Too much chaos. I figured something like law school was out of the question for me. But, I met Rick during this retrograde; I figured why not talk to him? I thought he wasn’t my type. Turned out, I had no idea what I wanted in a man. By the end of the retrograde, I moved to Chicago to be with him. I had inadvertently fulfilled three life-long desires: to fall in love, to find the Great American City, and to get moving toward a profession. Within a few weeks, I had moved and was about to find a job that I really enjoyed.

But here’s the trick: I didn’t feel that way at the time. I was nervous, uncertain, without faith, thinking the worst would happen, that nothing would work, and no matter how smart, talented, or resourceful I thought I was, I was doomed. I thought that I was without blessings. I thought that the universe was working against me. I thought that no matter what I did, nothing would work, even though everything I did was actually building up to something much bigger and better.

So, how do you convince someone that things are going to get better if they keep going? One of the key things is to accept that it feels like one is stuck. The people who fare the worst are those who cannot read the signs of change, who deny it. I have actually met people who cannot smell rain coming, who think that those of us who can are making it up, but it is real and it has a name. We live on earth, and we have adapted to change. Our bodies are hard-wired to cope with stress and the possibility of losing.

I have not found that clients seek me out more when there is a Jupiter retrograde. I find that clients tend to come to me during a Saturn event. It would seem that this would be an opportune time to speak to an astrologer. Then again, during a Jupiter retrograde, I am usually unable or simply too insecure to seek out clients. I am human.

Well, no more. I am taking orders now at Etsy for those who are interested. I also do custom orders if there is something you need. Send me an email and we can talk.

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