The return of Jupiter to its natal position in a person's birth chart, every 12 years, is a year in which the Jovian theme of expansion tends to play a key role in proceedings.
Not surprising, given that Jupiter is known as the Greater Benefic and associated with all manner of happy turnarounds, fortuitous events and desirable outcomes, traditional astrology will encourage a fairly positive expectation of such times.
Generally speaking, that is.
But mostly, Jupiter's sojourn through any house is a good indicator of amplifying or magnifying whatever state of affairs reigns in that point in the chart, (especially if the house is tenanted by other planets), whether for good or ill.
If, for example - and sorry to rain on Jupe's PR parade - the king of the gods is transiting your seventh house of partnerships, and your marriage or relationship is in trouble, his passage is not necessarily going to coincide with reconciliation or a second honeymoon.
Of course, it could - but far more likely an eventuality is that the issues at the heart of the difficulties in the relationship are made keener, larger than life, magnified. In short, they become expanded.
But should this result in an eventual break-up or parting of the ways, Jupiter through the seventh will at least point to a less-bitter, or more-amicable split than it otherwise might have been (if, say Saturn or Pluto were touring the seventh).
Similarly, if you have Mars in Aries lurking in your second natally, and Jupiter comes to call, a year of increased (over-)expenditure is just as likely as a new and lucrative source of income.
A lot will depend also, of course, on the rest of the chart, in supporting or challenging whatever amplification Jupiter's transits are pointing to.
Now when Jupiter conjuncts his natal position in your chart, oh boy...
...your outlook or beliefs about the world - your inner set of personal laws - get super, super-sized, in a resounding crescendo of the energetic themes present at your birth.
Usually, the year allows for an expanded or broader vision of what our lives could be, and a new awareness of all the possibilities we haven't yet tapped.
And when you have Jupiter conjunct Sun, as I do, I do mean all the possibilities - all of them. At once. Simultaneously. Without mercy.
What the classical texts don't talk about as much is the exhaustion, or burn-out that often coincides with such years. Or indeed - even the latent depression at seeing where you could be... and how far from it you actually are.
Yes, there is usually some kind of excitement in realising that new adventures beckon on the horizon, and often a new sense of meaning to one's personal journey...
...but the Jupiter return can also be a time when it seems like you're being torn to pieces by possibilities, with no real ability to seize on or harness any of them.
Of course, the beginning of a new Jovian 12-year cycle is actually meant to sow seeds, or point us toward a new superhighway of life we may never have known, till then, existed.
But when you have Jupiter-Sun - in Pisces - the possibilities emerging during the J return are so huge... so otherworldly (especially with natal Neptune square Sun)... that it can be really miserable surveying all the terrain with seems physically impossible to cover in one lifetime. Or even 10.
The image above is taken from this site.
