Jupiter in Taurus

When you look at the qualities of Jupiter and the qualities of Taurus, it doesn't seem like the easiest marriage in the world, does it?

Certainly Jupiter's love of sprinting off in all directions is going to require some preplanning and reframing of its goals, at the very least. Taurus will put a bridle and saddle on the Jupiterian horse, which will make it easier to ride the energy but could also frustrate poor Jupiter.

They're not entirely incompatible though. Jupiter's sense of vision combines well with Taurus' sense of slow steady growth. Think of how much can be accomplished when we tend the Taurus garden with a Jupiterian vision of possibilities!

Jupiter's sense of moral values combines with Taurus' focus on material values. Taurus' material wealth then becomes a resource that can fuel Jupiter's inspiration for lifting ourselves and others up to be the best we can be. Jupiter's moral code can also be a guiding principle when pursuing Taurus' acquisition of material abundance. In other words, simply profiting from your actions isn't enough—it must also be rooted in the greater good or reach toward a higher purpose. So be aware and mindful of what you are investing your energy in, since not only will the outward result become manifest but also the spirit in which it is done.

Are these things really better than the things I already have? Or am I just trained to be dissatisfied with what I have now? Am I just under a spell that says nothing is ever good enough?~ Chuck Palahniuk

Insatiable!

One of the disadvantages of this combination is that Jupiter's hunger for more, more, more can have a potentially counter-productive effect on Taurus' love of good food! In fact, Taurus' love of all sensual pleasures can escalate when combined with Jupiter's amplification. While this can lead to increased appreciation and pleasure in your life, it can also become too much of a good thing.

Best to go for quality rather than quantity, but with Jupiter in Taurus this kind of discipline is often much easier said than done. The same goes for Taurus' love of accumulating material wealth, when combined with Jupiter's love of expansion. This could give you the "Midas touch" where everything you invest yourself in becomes golden. On the other hand, with both sensual pleasures and material wealth, if you don't have a solid sense of how much is "enough" to satisfy your needs, it can grow out of control and become insatiable and compulsive, where nothing ever seems like it's "enough."

Being a Fixed sign, Taurus can be a hard, steady worker when it gets into a perpetual rhythm in whatever it's doing, but it can also get a bit stuck in neutral when, like Ferdinand the Bull, it stops too long to smell the flowers. Again, Jupiter's love of "more" can result in a kind of laziness, where your enjoyment of living simply in the moment can be even harder to get out of when it's time to restart your engines and get back to being more productive.

Therefore, be careful not to overdo the ice cream, the shopping, working 20-hour days to get the last penny of overtime, and so on. If you find your consumption (of all kinds) is starting to mushroom out of control, take some time out and get in touch with what is hungry inside you and what that part of you is really looking for.

Jupiter normally prefers to move quickly, following its impulses, and doesn't particularly enjoy meeting obstacles in its way. Jupiter's optimism can be a valuable resource for getting past those obstacles. However, Jupiter is usually forced to slow down and pace itself in Taurus, and if results are not immediately obvious, that buoyancy and confidence can sour into discouragement and disappointment. It's important to turn this around so that Jupiter's talent for seeing the bigger and better picture can be supported and paced by Taurus' steady rate of growth.

Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood carry water.~ Zen saying

KISS ~ Keep it Simple and Spiritual

Spirituality and philosophy are also part of Jupiter's repertoire, and tend to function most naturally through intuition, inspiration and faith. In practical Taurus, this must adapt to a more structured approach. Spirituality is no longer a simple matter of belief, but needs to understand the connection between the ethereal realms and the physical world.

For Jupiter in Taurus, it's not enough to take something on faith—it must see the spiritual force at work and identify examples of it. Taurus insists that if you can't identify it in some form in the manifest world, then you don't know if a belief is based on something real or merely indulgence in wishful thinking.

At its best, Jupiter in Taurus has the ability to see the sacred side of substance, the highest potential in the mundane, and grace in even the lowliest of existence. Take that Taurus-Jupiter energy inside you for a walk out in nature and you may find yourself in silent reverence, rapt in wondrous appreciation of the living world.

At its worst, Jupiter in Taurus could become so skeptical about the existence of anything beyond what it can perceive with the five senses—or laboratory instruments—that it reduces the sacred to the most mundane or even profane level of understanding. Some of this may stem from a need to let the air out of an inflated view of life and get back to basics, to what you know is real and true. However, if you get stuck in distrusting and disparaging anything beyond the most fundamental or objective experience of life, it might backfire on you and make it hard to feel a sense of hope about much of anything.

These energies need to balance each other out, not one override the other. Taurus says, "I'll believe it when I see it," while Jupiter says, "I'll see it when I believe it." Together they can generate a sense of grounded vision that can be very fruitful and rewarding when they work together.

Together they create a repeating rhythm of lifting you up and bringing you back down to earth. Like kneading bread dough, you rise up with the hope of possibilities and return back down with a visualization of actualities. You turn toward what could be and you turn back to what is and what can be, perfecting and building substance with each cycle. Like the song says, "To turn, turn will be our delight, 'til by turning, turning we come 'round right."

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come 'round right. ~ Simple Gifts (listen on YouTube), Shaker song by Elder Joseph Brackett, Jr. 1848

Jupiter is in Taurus during these times:

• May 1940 to May 1941
• April 1952 to May 1953
• April 1964 to April 1965
• March to August 1976, and October 1976 to April 1977
• March to July 1988, November 1988 to March 1989
• June to October 1999, February to June 2000
• June 2011 to June 2012
• May 2023 to May 2024
• April 2035 to May 2036
• April 2047 to April 2048

© Wendy Guy 2011, all right reserved. Beyond brief quotes or strictly personal purposes, please obtain written permission from the author before reproducing this article. Photo of Aurora in Tromsø Norway by Marcelo Quinan, via Unsplash.com