Jupiter-Saturn conjunction

More often than not Jupiter–Saturn conjunctions coincide with unfoldment of a new phase of economical reality, remember 2000, 1980 1961, 1940, 1920? Both planets are intricately linked to the societal norms and functions, shaping our own experiences of working and making money in this physical world made out of contradictions and limitations.

If Jupiter and Saturn were a couple, that would be an extremely challenging union of the two opposites that due to their nature simply can’t fathom the reasoning behind each other’s actions. It’s a bit like a marriage between a venture capital investor and a government accountant. The dissonance is extremely palpable.

Yet these two planetary energies is the driving force through which economies grow, prosper and eventually suffer inevitable hardships — all in due time and according to the dynamics of expansion and contraction.

Every Jupiter–Saturn conjunction loosely marks a beginning of new cycle of development of ways we use to manifest our ideas and intentions in the material world. It’s about how we create wealth as well as how we distribute wealth. The word “we” can be taken at both personal, country or world-wide scale.

We shall talk about the opposing energies behind this pair of planets in the context of the three major conjunctions that took place during the year 2020 — Saturn & Pluto, Jupiter & Pluto and Jupiter & Saturn — and how this eventful year marks the beginning of the period of “discovering the new world” — the one that is full of contradictions and painful adjustments. So buckle up.

The two largest bodies

Jupiter and Saturn are the two largest planets of the solar system that are clearly visible by the naked eye. Both planets correspond to the two “alpha” gods of the Greek pantheon:

– Saturn or Kronos is the old king from the ancient times of Titans – Jupiter or Zeus is the current king of the new generation of gods that superseded Titans

As the myth goes, Zeus won the victory over Kronos in a series of huge cosmic battles and the new young generation of the gods established its rulership over heavens. The planets of the classical astrological chart all named after the new victorious gods… with a single exception — Saturn is still there!

As a side note, we are talking about the classical charts that only contain planets visible by the naked eye. Modern charts introduced Uranus (it wasn’t discovered until 1782), another “alpha” god of the sky that ruled until Saturn ambushed him and took over the reign.

Tommaso Minardi, Saturn wrestling with a snake
Hubert Robert, Jupiter, seated

Saturn is positioned at the edge of the visible solar system and carries the symbolism of limits. It’s the skin that can only stretch so far without being ripped apart.

The “alpha” Jupiter doesn’t wish to know any limits. Jupiter is the king of heavens and expresses itself through the force of expansion, optimism and thunderbolts.

Inherent conflict between Jupiter and Saturn

Just as the old and established tends to naturally resist to the new, so does the Saturnian energy that tends to constrain Jupiterian expansiveness. These are the two planets that most of the time don’t know how to talk to each other.

On the positive note, Saturn brings grounding and concreteness that Jupiter often painfully missing. Jupiter is the king of expansiveness and potential bloating, it has a very strong air element. Saturn enjoys the rule of structure supported by precision and logic.

It is easy to see why both planetary energies are essential to life that grows and develops through experiences of painful yet shaping lessons. That process is usually called “maturation” when we talk about our personal development.

How to spot Jupiter and Saturn in yourself

The dialectical polarity of Jupiter and Saturn plays out very clearly in everyone’s life. Eventful periods come with movement, growth and new opportunities. Debt-laden periods of life make us stuck repaying overdue bills and perhaps feeling somewhat demotivated and fearful.

A good understanding of Saturn is the key to make Jupiter work in meaningful ways, that’s unless one choses to live a flamboyant life and is prepared to die early or end up being bankrupt once Jupiterian steam runs out. By itself, Jupiter is unlikely to get far without consistent and orderly nature of Saturn.

Charles Courtney Curran, The South Wind, 1917
Maintaining the balance between the wind element and a solid foundation, remaining grounded in the common sense — this is the practical meaning of the Jupiter–Saturn dialectic in action.

Keeping personal Saturn “happy” by having a healthy degree of common sense and accountability is beneficial to Jupiter. When Saturn isn’t stressed out, Jupiter can deliver a great degree of inspirational ideas and opportunities. One needs to be constantly aware of their Saturn’s health levels and spare it from excessive shock therapy that Jupiter may joyfully impose.

Pretty much same applies to the economy of the country and the world.

How to spot Jupiter and Saturn in your country

In terms of their dominant values most of successful economies of the world can be grouped into two broad categories:

  • Expansion at the cost of structure (Jupiter over Saturn)
  • Expansion by fortifying structure (Saturn over Jupiter)

The USA is a great example of Jupiter domination that enjoys the paradigm of unchecked growth while strongly believing that future rewards will compensate yesterday’s debts. “Growth” is the name of the god.

China is much more respectful towards Saturn with its emphasis on preservation of societal norms and traditions while still relentlessly growing and expanding.

Other economically strong countries like Germany, the UK, Canada and Australia have strong affinities with Saturn and aren’t the biggest risk takers, they naturally shy away from the unknowns of Jupiterian expansion keeping it safer and more predictable.

And finally, the so-called “world economy” or “global economy” entity is a mixed bag of princinples that behaves like a bad co-dependent marriage. Everybody is hooked onto its monetary gifts and a promise of wealth while being somewhat aware that it’s a bit like playing poker in Las Vegas.

Looking back at previous Jupiter–Saturn conjunctions

Painting by Karl Wiener, Self-portrait with Jupiter and Saturn, 1940
A flashback from 1940. This striking painting depicting the Jupiter–Saturn conjunction (above the head naturally) of 1940 by Austrian artist Karl Wiener called “Self-portrait with Jupiter and Saturn” captures the premonition of coming years of hardships of World War II.

Each Jupiter–Saturn conjunction opened a new chapter of the modern history:

1921 — Beginning of “The Roaring Twenties”, a decade of economic boom and prosperity also known as “crazy years” in Europe.

1940-1941 — Coincides with the Second World War and slicing the pie of the world’s wealth as the aftermath. The biggest winner is the US, its economy receives an unprecedented amount of wealth.

1961 — A decade devoted to Vietnam war, cold war and sexual revolution.

1980-1981 — The US economy enters deep recession, emergence of new “loose” monetary policy that promotes growth through tax cuts and defence spending.

2000 — The dot-com bubble bursts paving the way to even more speculative monetary tendencies that culminate in the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2008.

2020 — Emergence of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) wreaks havoc in already over-levered global financial systems that will take years to understand and correct.

What made the year 2020 so pivotal?

There are three major planetary cycles that influence the economical subsequently political situation in every major country of the world and the world itself. The cycles begin with a conjunction and develop through to the next conjunction:

  • Saturn–Pluto conjunction happens every 33-38 years
  • Jupiter–Saturn conjunction happens every 20 years
  • Jupiter–Pluto conjunction happens every 12-13 years

Usually those conjunctions don’t happen all at once… unless it’s the year 2020. The world has experienced all three of them within a time window of a single year.


The following timeline shows the astrological perspective of the last 120 years of the modern history. Notice that the year 2020 is the only year when all three conjunctions take place.

Saturn–Pluto Jupiter–Saturn Jupiter–Pluto
  1901  
    1906
1914-1915 (x3)    
    1918
  1921  
    1931
  1940-1941 (x3)  
    1943
1947    
    1955–1956 (x3)
  1961  
    1968
  1980–1981 (x3) 1981
1982    
    1994
  2000  
    2007
2020 2020 2020 (x3)
    2033
  2040  
    2045
2053-2054 (x3)    
    2058
  2060  

* (x3) here signifies that exact conjunction took place 3 times during that year(s) due to the involved planets alternating between direct and retrograde phases of movement.

The picture is clear: 2020 is the pivotal year that ushered the whole world into a new period of economical growth, conflicts and opportunities. Some of the old ways will not survive, some new realities will emerge and we all will have to be ready to dynamically adapt to the every changing terrain under out feet.

The current economical model, both domestic and global, is mostly following the recipe known as “extend and pretend”. That’s the old school ruling class model of operation (extra strong Saturn) as they simply can’t conceptualise making any significant changes to avoid any meaningful wealth redistribution at any cost, “not during my term” type of thinking.

Mad scientist in the lab
Mad science ahead! Mad scientists, crazy investors and techno gurus are usually made out of combination of Jupiter and Uranus. A wonderful drug consisting of absence of boundaries mixed with wild imagination.

As the result of tension between Jupiter’s expansion and Saturn’s control the next 5 to 10 years may witness some uncomfortable changes:

  • Consequences of dealing with COVID-19 throw economies out of balance, a job and production boom that follows inevitably overheats financial systems resulting in a paradoxical “boom + inflation” scenario.
  • Governments lose ability to effectively govern as they find themselves in a death spiral imbroglio with interests of global corporations and military complex.
  • Job automation kicks in at the middle and lower management level (not blue collar jobs) resulting in serious job losses among debt-loaded university-educated professionals.
  • Automated drone delivery, machine learning, satellite internet and erasure of physical currencies wipes out last inefficiencies in trade making business easier than ever… but at the cost of “optimising” many people out of their jobs.
  • Introduction of Universal Basic Income becomes unavoidable but comes at a cost of people abandoning big cities and throwing the lease-rent economy out of balance.
  • Wild “yo-yo style” swings between left- and right-leaning politicians elected in an alternating order as each of them manages to frustrate the electorate in their own unique ways while ultimately failing to solve anything.
  • Following ongoing stock uncertainties of the US/UE markets, China’s new digital currency initiative becomes sufficiently seductive to those seeking new economic opportunities away from inherent instability of over-levered Western markets.

Once again the opposing forces of Jupiter and Saturn challenge the current economical and social systems in a quest of pushing the human history towards its next phase of the spiral of development.

It is a great time to embrace uncertainty.

New is usually made out of new

The first two decades following 2020 will be challenging but stimulate our creative potential and inventiveness. It is very unlikely that anything will return back to how it was before. The era of 1950s and 60s will be long remembered as the “golden age of prosperity” that brought so much luck and economical opportunity to the generation of baby boomers (the prize for the hardships of the World War 2).

The future is certain to bring new paradigms and technological advances that will give the edge to those who are ready to adapt. The process won’t be smooth but in the long run it’ll be worth it. The current world order is “running out of oil” and is heading for an inevitable restructuring.

One of great lessons of Saturn is its ability to endure long-term projects. The great lesson of Jupiter is the spirit of creative enthusiasm. When both are joined together, a new world can truly emerge.