©6-28-2011 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
For our contest to find new article topics, Lia wrote, “I can easily guess at some of the/progressions that accompany shifts in world view (9th house, Jupiter, or Neptune). I’d be really interested in your take on it and on others descriptions of times in their lives when they lost their religion or gained it, or significantly changed their view of the world in some way.”
Lia, of course, is right. The sign on the cusp of 9th house of the birth chart and any planets therein shows our religious persuasion, philosophy, and how we seek answers to those eternal big questions like the meaning of life. It’s related to Jupiter and Sagittarius, in that placements in Sag and aspects to Jupiter show additional facets of our lifelong quest to find Truth and Meaning.
The 12th house, on the other hand, has a more cloistered feel, being the house of the ashram or abbey and of devout service to the unfortunate. In that respect, it’s related to Neptune or Pisces, mystical rather than religious.
The difference between Jupiter/Sagittarius and Neptune/Pisces is that J/S is convinced it KNOWS things, has the ANSWERS and is qualified to teach them to others. N/P is convinced it knows nothing, has no answers, and therefore has nothing to offer others except compassion.
Just to warn you in advance, the line between religion and mysticism is quite hazy in my mind. I have Jupiter in the 12th AND Pisces on the 9th cusp, so for me, the distinctions between the 9th and 12th houses, between Jupiter and Neptune, between Sagittarius and Pisces are never clear.
They’re as blurred in my vision as a seriously myopic person who leaves her glasses homewhen she attends a massive fireworks display on the 4th of July.
What’s the Big Deal about a Transit to Jupiter?
Why did I call this article a journey to Jupiter’s red spot? Many astrology teachers and students assume that a transit to natal Jupiter is minor.
WRONG! There can be red hot anguish in undergoing a crisis of faith—it’s a loss of hope that leaves us in despair. We’re afraid for our own safety.
It’s that Dark Night of the Soul. It’s Jesus, crying out on the cross, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
In times of religious/spiritual crisis in my own life, I don’t necessarily see 9th house transits but more often transits to natal Jupiter. I’ve experienced transits to natal Jupiter from every slow-moving planet from Saturn to Pluto in the time I’ve been in astrology.
I’ve seen major transits to natal Jupiter producing a similar painful upheavals in the lives of clients and friends as well:
- They’re often experienced as a far-reaching crisis of faith where everything we thought we knew no longer seems true or valid.
- Those are the times when our spiritual teachers or others we looked to for inspiration turn out to have terribly human flaws.
- It’s those times when everything we thought made us a good person doesn’t keep us safe when the worst happens.
- Those are the times when the old answers that we firmly believed in no longer serve, and we have to expand our worldview.
Two Tough Stretches on the Spiritual Path
To give just two examples, I remember one time in the late 1980s when that Neptune-Uranus conjunction in Capricorn was opposite my Jupiter in Cancer in the 12th. I absolutely lost touch with God, felt no sense of a connection at all. I was desolate.
After a few months of despair and of seeking respite from this aching loss, I was walking down the street, and a car passed by with a bumper sticker that said, “Pray to Allah”. That’s it, a message, I thought, I’ll pray to Allah.
And I did for a few weeks. But I found I really didn’t care for Allah. Too male, forbidding, warlike, and rigid. And it finally dawned on me—it’s the same Dude!! Allah and God are one and the same.
What was happening when I prayed to Allah was that I was sending my prayers through the framework of the Muslim religion. Just as praying to a Christian God, given my original religious background, shaped my capacity to be in touch with him. So I tried praying through the cracks, and finally found a connection again. You probably already knew I was weird, right?
Then, from 1997-2000, Uranus in Aquarius and Pluto in Sagittarius were forming a Yod to natal Jupiter in the 12th. Both Sagittarius and Jupiter are related to the hips in medical astrology, and my hips had deteriorated terribly so that I was in serious pain every day. I was housebound waiting for them to be replaced, but had to wait a long time because I had no insurance.
I stubbornly refused to see myself as a disabled person, clinging to the thought that the surgery would let me return to normal. One of the hardest lessons for me as a fiercely independent person was to allow other people to help me, even with such taken for granted tasks as changing the sheets on my bed.
I slowly came to see that accepting help was part of the spiritual lesson I was learning—a lesson that nothing less than complete helplessness would have taught me. 
Meantime, isolated and shut-in as I was most of the time, I was reaching a state of grace through reading Tibetan Buddhist writings for the first time. I loved them deeply, especially the Dali Lama and Pema Chodrun. I was also finally studying A Course in Miracles with some semblance of regularity and found the two viewpoints compatible.
For a more complete history of my meandering spiritual path and all the byways it’s taken, see Fitting onto a Blank.
And if you ever are in a crisis of faith, here’s a flower essence that can help: Hope for Those in the Dark Night of the Soul.
What about you, Readers? Have you ever experienced a true Crisis of Faith? What did you do about it? How did you resolve it, and how did it change your beliefs? What transit would you pin it on?
FREE TRANSIT TRACKER: This handy one-page reference summarizes the transits of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto from 1990-2020. Use it to look back on past transits to your chart or your clients’ and to look forward for the next few years. Download it here: HO-transit trackingtable-1990-2020.
More Posts about Jupiter:
- How Strong is your Jupiter? Here’s the Score!
- Hyperactive Jupiter Syndrome—The Down Side of an Upbeat Planet
- What Jupiterians DON’T Know–but Think They Do
- Readers Ask—Q & A about the 9th House
- Use Jupiter Transits to the Vocational Houses for a Career Boost
- Jupiter in the 12th—When Does Good Luck Turn Bad?
- Why Saturn has as much to do with Luck as Jupiter
- Jupiter and the Astrology of Self-Justification
- The Law of Progressive Annoyance—Mars or Jupiter?
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Sky Writer 
Lets see….Mars conjunct / parallel Uranus in the 9th, Jupiter Chiron and Neptune in the 12th.
My most important spiritual connection came when I was 6 years old. It was an awareness of a line that went from my heart to the Sun…it was the life force. I felt it as one feels the coat of a petted cat. It was that strong and obvious. I knew when I was in harmony wit it I was at peace but when I did something wrong my heart hurt and then I knew NOT to go that way. I vowed then and there to this guidance . To Only follow the Happy Peaceful Heart .
The Great Mystery was pure energy that moved (I now know) in a spiral and when this movement turned backward upon itself (when I did wrong) it was painful and NOT in harmony with the life force.
The promise of 9th house ( Mars Uranus) conflict because of ” Religion or Cultural Values” ( Jupiter) came when I was sent to Indian Boarding School for 4 years. This hidden from view institution ( Neptune 12th H) was designed to knock the Indian-ness out of Indian children and retool them into Churchianity etc. I battled them for 4 years. Mostly when they attacked another child , then I attacked them; until I drew all fire off the other girls onto myself. I had powerful visions and spirit helpers and gave them a good run. I was oblivious to pain and experienced what some would call miracles.
When morning mass and evening benediction came each day I would run to the little girls playground on a high hill…easily seen from chapel windows. I played fast and furious until the mass was over and then got in lines for breakfast or eve study hall as the case may be. Their ways seemed strange and the statues weird to me…it certainly never evoked feelings of spirituality. However i did enjoy the Nuns other worldly singing on Sundays and the theatrical visiting big wig priests that did the Sunday mass. After all that and the priest sing sang whilst swinging the incense burner of frank in billows of smoke i, it was my cue to pop a boil on my arm. A long green core with blood and pus shot forth and a nun would run to the front and sling a blanket to cover me and haul me out and then I played the rest of the time!
later in the city teenage years I had visions but nothing around me related to my experiences and I began to get covered in tunnel brain cement reality…yet visions broke through and I was unhappy sensing I was in the wrong place with the wrong people. Indeed at 18 I vowed to the Holy Unknown. Because what was known bored me to tears and rankled my sensibilities. I was an angry teenager.
Finally after college I turned down a lot of opportunities and proposals of marriage to go on the , ” SEARCH” around the country. There I found the reality of my visions. To make a long story shorter I peeled off all the crap of dominant societal expectations etc and became who I am in the Original Traditions of my Ancestors.
This has always been my Cultural ( Jupiter) Spirituality ( Neptune) but I had to FIGHT ( mars/ Uranus) to protect , preserve and re discover it.
Jupiter is a Preserver force after Vishnu. So I was a Spiritual Warrior to protect and defend the Right to be me and practice our Traditions. I Sun Danced in one High School vision and much later it came to pass. I am a Sun Dancer where they keep the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.This is only one of many forms my spiritual path takes.
Isn’t that what astrology is all about ; interpreting lines of force that make geometric patterns? Did I not vow to the preeminent line of force from our beloved Sun to my Heart. a line of force to to each and every Heart, be it an atom , cat or amoeba?
By: Barehand on June 28, 2011
at 2:34 pm
Thanks for this post, the July 1rst eclipse will be on my natal Jupiter. I feel punished and abandoned even though I have been a model citizen through the past 7 years of difficult transits.
By: Elaine on June 28, 2011
at 5:18 pm
I have a retrograde Jupiter in a Sag first house and Pluto and Saturn in my 9th. The religion I was raised in was atheistic Freudian psychology (talk about a cult!). Rebelling against that, in my 20s I discovered reincarnation and threw myself into a cult based on a mix of New Thought, pre-1980s mediumship, and a balancing and very grounded New England Yankee practicality. I left the cult after a few years but still had a strong belief in reincarnation. The world view I’d been taught gave me a great deal of strength to face life and do the very hard work I needed to do to heal. It also reinforced that Sagittarian need I have to Know the Answer.
When Pluto transited my natal Jupiter early this decade, I kept having an intense dream where I would swallow a poison pill and stand in that moment when it had gone down my gullet and I knew I was about to die. It was realer than real, and I would wake up screaming, night after night. There was no white light or tunnel, or friendly guides or any of the pleasing fairy tales we tell ourselves about the unknown, just the experience–totally real–of standing being about to die and having to face the truth that I knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about what came next, only that it was inexorable.
I suspect this was the universe’s way of teaching me Don’t Know Mind. It worked. I came away realizing just how much we all cling to the stories that make sense and take away the fear. And I also realized how strong the existential fears are–ones I had no idea lurked behind my carefully thought out world view.
I no longer have the dreams–Pluto has moved on and is now beating up on my Mars instead of Jupiter. But since the year I had those dreams I have never again been able to comfort myself with facile intellectually pleasing truths about our existence. I know I don’t know, though that makes me want that much more strongly to find out.
Astrology still works for me, but I am willing to admit I have no idea why. That it does is intriguing. I’ve had other experiences through my life that point to something that needs an explanation. Lately I’m thinking it’s time to start asking even more questions. . .
By: Jenny B on June 28, 2011
at 5:47 pm
Thanks for sharing your Jupiter story, Jenny. This is how we learn–by hearing how the transits and natal aspects actually play out. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 28, 2011
at 10:12 pm
Hi Donna – Good topic! The term “crisis of faith” brought to mind two different times in my life. When I went back and looked up the astrology for the first time (which took place when I was still a very young woman), I was amazed to discover that both times involved the same transit, that of transiting Saturn conjunct my 12th house Pluto (in I-aim-to-be-perfect Virgo) and squaring my 9th house Mars!
During the first episode, I was really lost (it was also at the same time as my Mars Return. I’d just left a pseudo-religious organization after realizing it was primarily a money making business designed to brainwash people in order to rip them off – I threatened to sue them and got my money back. It represented a real spiritual crisis for me, and despite my best efforts, there was no one to turn to for guidance. In desperation, I even tried to set up an appointment with a minister from a local liberal church, but he never even returned my phone call. It was the beginning of my disillusionment with organized religion, as I also began to slowly develop a more intimate relationship with God.
I was much older the second time around and by then thought I was on pretty solid terms with God. This time, Saturn’s transit coincided with my 6th house Chiron Return (Chiron is opposite 12th house Uranus). I won’t go into all of the details again (I’ve already worn that story out) but let’s just say I had a lot on my plate and I suffered – physically, emotionally, financially, but most especially, spiritually. And once again, I had to take legal action against someone – this time it involved a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly.
Eventually, I came to realize God isn’t Santa and even good little boys and girls sometimes have bad things happen to them – even when they do everything “right”.
It taught me to be mindful and compassionate and completely changed the way I view my relationship with the Divine, as well as with other human beings. It also shattered any remaining illusions I may have had about how things (and the people in positions of authority we’re taught to trust) are supposed to work. I no longer take anything at face value and I pay attention to the details. After that, it’s all about hard work and faith. Pluto in the 12th is a placement that demands ultimate surrender. And my Chiron/Uranus placements require me to “serve or suffer”. Now that I get it, I struggle less. I still struggle, but not usually with God.
By: LB on June 28, 2011
at 10:15 pm
How fortunate that you caught on to that brainwashing cult so soon, LB. Where Saturn transits are involved, there are aspects to that position every 7 years, so you get reminded of the same lessons each time. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 29, 2011
at 4:03 am
It was (and is) a very popular cult. It wasn’t hard to see what they were trying to do – their brainwashing techniques seemed pretty obvious to me. I didn’t even know what brainwashing was, but I did have an immediate and powerful reaction to them trying to break down and micromanage the way I thought (Mercury in Scorpio). The hypocrisies in the way they ran their organization also seemed obvious, once I was allowed closer access.
Yes, there have been lots of reinforcing lessons along the way. – in various areas of life.
By: LB on June 29, 2011
at 9:37 am
I forgot to mention my 9th house Mars (retrograde in Gemini) is conjunct my MC, which is quincunx my Jupiter in Scorpio (conjunct Neptune/Mercury). So right after Mars is hit, so is my Gemini Midhaven and all of my Scorpio placements. Actually, when transiting Saturn joined my Pluto (which is conjunct my Ascendant), it also formed a sextile with my Neptune/Mercury/Jupiter conjunction – all in Scorpio on the cusp of the 2nd/3rd.
I strongly relate to a lot of these comments, particularly Merryweather’s and KuCla’s. Maybe that’s Jupiter in Scorpio’s influence. It does demand transformation – also that we rebuild our faith from the ground up . . . This new faith is different from what has gone before, still based on Divine Love, but Love as a source of truth, not illusion. I also learned true power comes from surrender, not force.
Thanks Donna. I really enjoyed this post and am looking forward to reading more comments.
By: LB on June 29, 2011
at 8:51 am
Thanks for this post. It is so apt for me.
I have my natal 9th house Jupiter (Cancer) conjunct my MC (in Leo). Currently, transiting Jupiter is squaring my natal Jupiter, transiting Uranus trines natal Jupiter, and transiting mercury is conjunct natal Jupiter. Guess there is a lot of activity to my natal Jupiter.
Currently I am going through a “crisis of faith”. I am a beginner in astrology, so some of my understanding may still be evolving. I am currently doing a doctoral program in management, which I think I pursued more from the interest in understanding the field of management in depth, rather than becoming an academician (which is what a doctoral program trains one for here.) When I joined the program, I thought I could explore whether I would like to teach, and whether to take it up as a profession, if it seemed interesting.
Lately, with the way my thesis is progressing, it’s showing me the underbelly of the organization (the place where I am learning) and I am not liking the politics in the organization, the rigidness of an academicians’ views. My natal Jupiter makes me a very willing student, with a happiness to keep learning all the time, not so sure about the teacher bit. Hence this very strong crisis of faith for me, since the past five years and more working on this program, all the learning is about equipping me to be an academician. I could be a researcher, but a researcher without teaching as an academician is an anomaly here. As each day progresses, I am sure that I am not going to be an academician.
I am currently feeling “everything we thought we knew no longer seems true or valid”; “our spiritual teachers or others we looked to for inspiration turn out to have terribly human flaws”; “when the old answers that we firmly believed in no longer serve, and we have to expand our worldview.”…. so true.
By: KuCla on June 29, 2011
at 1:45 am
A good illustration of how transits to Jupiter AND the 9th house work, since the 9th also represents educational experiences, too, and transits to the 9th are so often about passages in our education. Academia is a kingdom all its own. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 29, 2011
at 3:59 am
Hi KuCla – Your last paragraph rings very true for me as well. It’s sad at first, although now that I know there’s a certain freedom as well. I’ve learned to be discerning.
By: LB on June 29, 2011
at 9:16 am
This is a great post! Thanks, Donna! I have always loved discussing and pondering philosophy, spirituality, theology and faith (you’ll see why in a minute), and found this completely fascinating.
I have a Pisces 9th House, with the North Node firmly ensconced there all by itself. The 9th House Rulers, Neptune and Jupiter, are in Sagittarius and Scorpio respectively. (Empty Gemini 12th House, just in case anyone was wondering.)
The only time I can ever recall having a serious crisis of faith was last year. Over the fall and winter of 2010, I truly felt as if the Universe/Source/God (whatever you want to call it) had betrayed and abandoned me. It was a horrible feeling. My faith, as off-the-wall as it was, had always been my rock. It kept me going and gave me hope. And suddenly, there was nothing there to believe in anymore.
I realize now after reading this article, that Pluto was sextiling my Jupiter at the time. Pluto completely deconstructed my beliefs and my faith, and demanded that I rebuild something better. (And my Jupiter IS in Scorpio, so transforming was the order of the day!)
I’m happy to report that I passed the test. Pluto is still sextiling my Jupiter, but I’ve come around and have regained my faith in Source/God again, and I know it’s stronger than it ever was before.
In light of the crisis I went through, it’s kind of sobering to realize that this transit – a sextile – is usually considered to be benign and/or positive. But I guess that’s Pluto for you! I don’t even want to think what the square from Pluto to my Jupiter will do in about 15 years!
By: Merryweather on June 29, 2011
at 6:49 am
Jupiter is out-of-sign conjunct Pluto, exactly conjunct Uranus in my chart, and all these planets are clustered around my Ascendant. I don’t particularly track transits to this little grouping, because the issues, challenges, and gifts inherent here are so much a part of my identity. I am an eternal wonderer and questioner. One of my passions is comparative religions, particularly the rituals and practices that religions use to embody faith. Whenever I have a crisis of faith (and I have them often), I usually find my way out/up/back with a practice from a path that is unfamiliar to me (thank you, Uranus!). Yoga, mudras, meditative walking, etc… Meditation has been especially helpful for surrendering (Pluto) the need to know (Jupiter). My academician husband (with Mars in Sagittarius in his ninth house) refers to me as an example of someone with a high quotient of “comfort with uncertainty.” I’m not crazy about uncertainty, but I have learned to ground it through my body and be okay with it.
By: Mary on June 29, 2011
at 7:54 am
My transits to my natal Jupiter in Aquarius/9th house range from being subtle to benign; Aquarius also rules my 10th house (I was one of those born in the far northern latitudes!). At best, beneficial things occurred in my career. I began and graduated from colleges or specialized training! I also found myself going abroad during those transits!
However, Sagittarius (ruler of Jupiter) is on 7th house. It has been undergoing a Pluto transit since 2005 that has been quite painful at times. I know that Pluto is the great regenerator, purging whatever doesn’t belong or work. I can best describe this transit as everything I thought I knew about relationships has been turned on my head! My thoughts about them have definitely gone through huge crises of faith, and I had no idea where they were from until I saw this article.
Although Jupiter itself isn’t being affected by the Pluto transit, its house certainly has! In short, I can say I don’t approach relationships the same way I had 6 years ago, and I’m still trying to figure out which way is up! Thanks for the article & the topic: it brought me a much-needed ‘a-ha!’ moment!
By: kristy on June 29, 2011
at 12:50 pm
My Jupiter is in Taurus conjunkt the Dec and Saturn.
I lost the meaning of life and belief in God when my mother died, I was 12 years then, and had my first Jupiter return. I did pray to God to save her. When “he” did not listen, I lost my faith, but have luckily found it later in life in a different way.Transit Jupiter had just made a conjunction to natal Jupiter, when I was 12 years old, and it opposted my M
ars on the day she died. Mars rules my Scorpio Ascendant. Loss in faith – yes !
rijo
By: rijo on June 29, 2011
at 12:57 pm
A very sad event, and what an unexpected Jupiter return! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 29, 2011
at 4:02 pm
not sure if this is it, but: transit Uranus conjunct natal Jupiter in the 12th.. I feel like there is no hope for our country, for humankind. That’s the big picture.
I don’t personally feel hopeless, but i do feel inadequate to help our society.
By: mimitabby on June 29, 2011
at 1:27 pm
I felt the same way when uranus was conjunct my natal jupiter (ruler of both my IC and North Node) I lost hope on my country’s ability to work for a greater good (it hasn’t changed for the better unfortunately, in about a decade) But I did feel there was something better, somewhere…if it makes any sense.
By: Sabrina on June 29, 2011
at 4:53 pm
I’ve never paid much attention to my Jupiter. (1st house in late, late Cancer. It really wants to be Leo, I think.) I have not considered it a big player in my chart; I don’t have any Sag or 9th house placements. I have always been a person who has believed in God/ a higher power/ The Universe/whatever/, and I have always been a person who prays, but who also has a pretty big aversion to organized religion, and not through lack of firsthand knowledge. I’ve gotten up-close and personal with many different churches, and ended up feeling ickier after each one.
As I look over your handy chart of transits, I notice that tranisiting Saturn in Aries squared my Jupiter about the time that I had a bitter fallout with my devout sister over religion. Upon hearing how upsetting this was to me, a friend introduced me to Emmett Fox’s “The Power of Constructive Thought,” which I found to be a great comfort during this time and it helped me find some structure for my very private version of faith.
That was about 12 years ago. I’ve worked with meditation, prayer, goals, manifestation principles, constructive thought since then and always felt that some higher power was involved. (I’m very Neptunian, so this isn’t a big stretch.) And then, about a year and a half ago, I just started thinking it’s probably all bullshit. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve even let myself think that there’s nothing out there; no god, no life after death, no “He watching over Israel,” no nothing. I’m in this place now where I feel like: no, it’s really all just hard work and drive that matter. And my drive is shot to hell right now.
This is sad for me. I have lost my faith, and I don’t even know if I want it back. But I miss talking to angels, or god, or my higher self, or whomever. I catch myself doing it occasionally, but that mocking voice shows up and says “you really think someone is on this? Get real.”
Astrologically, this all started about the time transiting Neptune entered my 9th house. As for my Jupiter, he got squared by himself this month.
I hadn’t put all this together until I read this article, Donna. Thank you. I don’t know if I feel better, but I’ve at least allowed myself to address it.
By: wildrose on June 29, 2011
at 4:44 pm
Dear Wildrose, these transits to Jupiter can be extremely sad and feel hopeless, so, you’re not alone in going through something like this. I’ve been through many of them in a long life, and what I ultimately come to understand as a particular transit ends is that what I’m disillusioned with is a set of ideas/constructs/beliefs that some human church or teacher is selling their followers.
When we start to question their teachings, we find out that the Truths (if any) are a whole lot bigger and more unfathomable than those limited human institutions. And we expand our sights each time and learn another tiny microscopic piece of the whole.
I think through all these years of transits to Jupiter that what I’ve found out for sure is that I don’t know anything for sure–and I’ve gotten really comfortable at saying, “I don’t know.” It’s not a popular stance, as usually people who read what a person writes want a definite answer. But a definite answer is not necessarily a true answer. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 30, 2011
at 11:35 am
Amazing timing.
Neptune in transit is 20 min from my natal Jupiter and I’m not sure I can articulate it right now, maybe in few more months, or years. Now is affecting other areas in life that surely will connect with faith. But I can’t say there has being a crisis about it (yet). More like a process of becoming more spiritual and less religious. it’s always being like that, now is coming from a deeper place. I have to thank my parents for that, they taught me about a compassionate God, but like you say Donna, is the same one through different lenses. And also taught me to stay away from rigid doctrines and from spiritual pride, to literally run from it if I sense it, or develop it myself!
Jupiter and Neptune are in mutual reception in my chart, Jupiter in pisces rules IC and NN and trines saturn and uranus, Neptune rules Desc. Mars is in gemini in the 9th. Sun in pisces rules 12h cusp.
Jupiter is in my 6th, so there has being a lot of simplifying and purifying lifestyle, body and mind that resonates with what I believe (which is shapeless right now), whatever it is, is getting closer and closer to Buddhism.
Astrology has being also more present than ever in my everyday life, and like Jenny, I can’t explain why and that’s fine. I just like it.
I can tell you this about neptune kissing jupiter right now, there is a soothing, balsamic effect, it gives me hope. Much needed now, since the moon is still facing the cardinal T square. I do believe part of my lesson is to open up and let flow compassion (to myself), and let go of many things without fear.
I wanted to add, my Dad had Jupiter in scorpio in 12h, squaring pluto and saturn in leo in 9th house, his whole life was a crisis of faith, that’s for sure, but I haven’t seen a more truthful, devoted searcher.
Blessings…
By: Sabrina on June 29, 2011
at 5:57 pm
Ok, how about this: I need to allow myself to have MORE faith in the greater good/plan, in others, in me.
By: Sabrina on June 29, 2011
at 6:10 pm
You’re definitely working it, Sabrina, with that Neptune transit to Jupiter. You go, girl! Divine grace, kinda Jupiter/Neptune. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 30, 2011
at 11:37 am
Divine grace..I love it! Thanks Donna, this has being a moving post and comments to read. It reminded me of the sermon of that young, wide eyed priest in the Chocolate movie (is one of my favorites too!) when he speaks about a faith that does not exclude, but embraces differences.
By: sabrina on July 6, 2011
at 7:03 am
Hasn’t it been a wonderful exchange? Moments like this are why I love blogging. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 6, 2011
at 7:12 am
I feel I have a crisis of faith right now. Transiting Saturn is just in the 12th house on my ascendent conjunct my natal mercury on the ascendent. What keeps me going is the hope when Saturn goes into the 1st house and perhaps my energy and fate will be more direct.
By: Marie on June 29, 2011
at 6:13 pm
I think this article will help you a lot, Marie: https://skywriter.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/night-and-day-transits-from-the-12th-house-to-the-1st/ Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 30, 2011
at 11:40 am
9/14/99 transiting Mars & Pluto at 7 deg Sag were conjunct my 10 deg Sag Jupiter, and Chiron at 29 deg Scorp was conjunct my 0 & 2 deg Sag Sun & Mercury. My Sun, Merc & Jup are all in the 10th house. I got let go that day from the Fortune 500 company I worked for after 15 years of service. I had worked very hard; always said that they raised me business-wise. That shook my faith in hard work, the corporate world, myself and many other things. 9 mos later my brother-in-law died from brain cancer. Pluto remained in my 10th until September 2002. Between end of ’99 & ’02, lost my career, a father figure, got divorced, sold our house & moved. My entire life as I had known it for quite a while changed. To say I lost faith is an understatement; I was also hurt, humiliated and beside myself. But with MC, Mars & Neptune in Scorpio, like the phoenix I rose from the ashes. I keep reminding myself that my soul signed up for this journey & to learn the lessons I’ve come here to learn. Losing one’s faith is, um, no fun to say the least. On the positive side, I won’t have to live thru those transits again. Now it’s just transiting Pluto in 12th house conjunct natal Saturn, transiting Neptune square Sun, transiting Uranus in 2nd and transiting Saturn conjunct Venus. That’s all:D I had regained my faith somewhere along 2005, where it stayed somewhat in tact until last year. But like Bette Midler, a fellow Sagittarian sang, “You’ve Got To Have Friends,” which is true, I also know for sure that you’ve got to have faith as well.
By: Karen on June 29, 2011
at 6:43 pm
Thanks for the post. I went through a short episode of crisis of faith with Pluto conjunct Jupiter for five times in 2 years. It was first a huge constant “power wrestling” in stock markets. In the final two exiting transits, I was totally defeated by the universe through an extremely unlikely combination of setups. The rug (money) was pulled out right under me at the worst possible time. If my parents-in-law were not in a big lawsuit, if they have already paid taxes on their pension income, if the timing of events is any other time, and if they didn’t tell me that they need their tax money and more at the exactly wrong time. So many complicated ifs, and so unlikely, and yet it happened. I walked into the trap set up by the universe, with all of my best intentions and good wills for other people, just to be literally shredded (soul-wise). That was together with Saturn through my 8th house, conjuncting my stellium.
I was hanging by a thread. The news came like a thunder, and yet I had to remain calm and smiled back.
I survived. I have always wonder what the lesson meant to me. I guess it was this: depend on God only, and nothing else. Everything else is ephemeral.
By: Nathan on June 29, 2011
at 8:08 pm
My Jupiter is in House 8, and the only planet in my House 9 is Uranus (conjunct the Midheaven) which may explain why I haven’t really had specific periods of feeling a crisis of faith. My approach to religion and spirituality, at least since I left childhood, has been a more-or-less continual process of exploration. My father was a minister, and I’m actually much more comfortable with the divine being mystical and ambiguous than I ever was with the more cut-and-dried religious beliefs I was brought up with. That’s not to say that I have always felt a strong or happy spiritual connection (quite the opposite, really) just that it’s normal for me to feel that my spirituality is in flux. In fact, I feel happier when my beliefs are changing and rather unclear than when they seem static. I checked back for some of the times when Pluto or Uranus made a square or opposition transit to my Jupiter, and didn’t come up with correlations to anything memorable – with one exception. When Uranus was transiting opposite my Jupiter, I had an experience with a psychic who gave me a glimpse of my own psychic potential. This was during a difficult period in my life, but the problems were social rather than religious. What the psychic told and showed me gave me more faith in myself and my potential.
By: Margaret on June 29, 2011
at 8:31 pm
I have always wondered what it could mean when you look at a chart with the planets in a certain quadrant of the Astro wheel whose center is opposed by a lone planet in the opposite quadrant. I and my oldest son have this in the same houses only I am dominantly Fire and Air and he is Earth and Water.
Its uncanny how he walks in my foot steps but is better at GROUNDING my dreams and perceptions.I am a big part of his inspiration .
Any way, what do the planets furthest out on each side of the Group mean , specially when they trine each other and the one who stands alone? For me this is Neptune ( conjunct parallel Jupiter) on Ascendant and Uranus in Gemini (conjunct Parallel Mars.) in the 9th H.. The moon in Aquarius is the stand alone planet….here is a quote from a spiritual activist that ties it together.:.
“that the birth of a new
>divine humanity is trying to take place from the depths of our contemporary
>crisis, and that it depends upon a radical union of all the opposites that have
>traditionally been kept separate: a radical union of transcendence and
>immanence, heaven and earth, mind and heart, body and soul,
mystical awareness
>and radical action.”
By: Barehand on July 1, 2011
at 5:48 am
Hi, Do you have a grand air trine/kite? Is your chart in a see-saw pattern? I’m having trouble visualizing this pattern.
By: Vanessa on July 1, 2011
at 3:53 pm
There is no see saw….not sure what you mean by that? But yes there is a Kite. The top is stretched from the 9th house to the 12th and ascendant…they are opposed by the moon in the opposite quadrant. The moon makes a Grand Trine to the outter most ends of the top spread…respectively Uranus in the 9th and Neptune in the 12 near the ascendant. The moon is also aspected to almost all the other planets in one way or another.
By: Barehand on July 2, 2011
at 3:01 am
I abandoned religion during the Neptune transit of my 9th house. At the time I was living in Europe and had done a lot of sightseeing. I visited more churches during this time than during the rest of my life, I had been brought up Catholic and as a child, didn’t question religion. What I learned during this transit is that religion has been used as an excuse for some really horrendous things (such as the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. From then on I became cynical of religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular, because I found too much hypocrisy in organized religion.
By: katley on July 1, 2011
at 7:43 am
Must have been on that tour with you, K. because I’m feeling it! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 1, 2011
at 10:35 am
I can remember the actual day that I decided that I was done with the church. I was furious because they had a list of books and movies that they were banning and wanted us all to pledge. Their stance against birth control seemed preposterous to me, a 16 year old.. I do not remember the exact date, but it was when Saturn was in my 12th house opposing my natal Neptune (and Saturn), chiron was conjunct my natal Jupiter (and of course opposing my entire stellium in the 6th house). Nothing obvious going on in my Capricorn midheaven. possibly Mars was going over my ascendant. Like i said, i am not sure of the exact date so hate to talk about the lesser planets.
By: mimitabby on July 1, 2011
at 7:56 am
Hi, I have Jupiter (0° virgo) conjunct Mars and the north node (25° and 26° leo) in the 11th house. The transit that sticks out in my mind is a few years ago when saturn conjuncted and uranus opposed these planets (creating a t-squre to my natal uranus), within 6 months I was in two car accidents, lost an important friend/mentor to cancer, my uncle was killed and I got a severe case of mono. The loss of faith came in the aftermath of this when I was treated as a leper by some of my younger friends.
By: Vanessa on July 1, 2011
at 3:46 pm
Big crisis! I think passages like that expose the fake facade of friendship forever. You know who’s real by who can hang with you through it. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 1, 2011
at 4:41 pm
It is not only transits to Jupiter but also progressions. During Mars progressed opposite Jupiter progressed, I moved 3,000 miles to a place very different from my birthplace, and while trying to make the adjustment discovered that what had seemed to be old friends were not friends at all, but judgmental and no longer approving of my beliefs and traditions such as reading Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales each Christmas. They were turning Hindu and Buddhist and I was still clinging to my esoteric Christian beliefs. I felt lonely, poor and misunderstood as the asylum and synergy they promised evaporated — I had given up a choice job and many friends to be there with them. But even as I transcended traditions and explored new faiths, God/Goddess reappeared in many forms, letting me know that each pathway is only part of the whole, a lens through which we relate to the Divine, not a prison. By the end of the progressed opposition, I had sprung loose from every path and was directly experiencing the godhead, which is what I really had needed all along.
By: Misty Day on July 2, 2011
at 2:34 pm
I’m sure that progressions to/from Jupiter can create the same sort of crisis–thanks for giving us an example. So sorry, Misty–difficult Jupiter passages can break your heart in a way, the loss of a belief in ultimate goodness. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 2, 2011
at 3:45 pm
I just found out I had this right now when I gotta pass a ton of exams-some smart idea it was to give up astrology this year ..Saturn Transits in Aspect to Natal Jupiter Saturn and Jupiter are true opposites. When transiting Saturn makes an aspect to your natal Jupiter the Jupiter effects tend to be curbed. If you have some project that is scheduled to be completed during a stressful aspect that Saturn will be making to your natal Jupiter try to reschedule it.
By: business on July 2, 2011
at 10:09 pm
November 12, 1962 12:45pm Iserlohn, Germany. I include this because I’m just really learning my chart and for those that are interested, you may see what I don’t. I’m looking more at the big picture rather than the minute details of exact angles/transits etc., because that just makes my head spin at the moment.
MC/Sun/Venus/Merc/Nep in Scorpio (9th).
Cap rising. Moon (Taur, 4th, cusp IC)
Saturn (Aq), Jupiter and Chiron (Pis) in the 1st.
Mars/NN/P.Fort/ (Leo), Uranus/Pluto/Vertex/Ceres/Vesta/Juno (Libra) ALL in the 7th.
I think this all relates to Jupiter/Chiron opp Uranus (1 deg) and Saturn bq Pluto exact. THIS is how all THAT played out.
I was born within a full moon (haven’t done the time conversion). Dad came home drunk with his army buddies and dragged Mum down the stairs by her hair to make them tea – I apparently said “get me outta here!” and thus, I was born, 4 lbs – small but mighty.
Sometime around 4 years old Dad returned from the army. My first memory of him is taking the belt to us all because my brother tore wallpaper off. This is the moment in time that, for me and my brother, our psyches ‘split’. I was in shock and hysterical and the only way my 4 year old mind could come to terms with it was concluding that God had died, the devil was loose on earth and when I woke up in the morning I would look outside and see the earth burned (Sunday school teachings). Amazing, I just recently read that Mars/Saturn aspects can represent scorched earth (mine is opp -9).
When I woke the next day, the earth was fine and family acted like nothing happened. So I waited for God to send a lightening bolt to strike down Dad. After nothing happened, thus began my quest for Truth.
The following is an example of allowing experiences to kill you or empower you.
My brother was labelled schizophrenic at age 13, deported at age 18. We didn’t have contact for 25 years, but for many years we led the same life: alcohol and drug abuse, looking for love in all the wrong places. I rebelled against my parents, he longed for their acceptance. Long, amazing story short – Dad was dying in 2003, my brother came back and was completely stomped on by Dad. My brother committed suicide 4 years to the day after Dad died.
My Mum was the one who taught me about God. Around 12 yrs, I asked her why we didn’t go to church anymore. She told me “I don’t need any damned preacher screaming at me from a pulpit how I should believe in God.” This beautiful gift granted me the freedom to search in my own way.
I entered this world with a bang and it hasn’t stopped. So what am I going to do with all of this? Well, just look at my chart – I’m writing a book!! Flipping all this Saturn/Uranus/Pluto/Jupiter/Chiron crap (blessing) into something good that will be inspirational and healing for others (Neptune conj natal Jupiter/Chiron right now).
Also, my bro wasn’t entirely as pathetic as he sounds. He was a leading force in the Battle of the Beanfield at Stonehenge back in l985 (he drove the vehicle that crashed the gates, so I’m told), and he also left behind 3 homeless shelters that he created with his own funds. He’s the inspiration beneath my wings.
By: Mandy on July 3, 2011
at 11:08 am
The real dark night of the soul for me was when Pluto conjoined my Neptune (in the 11th house, on the 12th cusp) back in 2000. For a couple of years I was thrown into this dark state of mind that nothing seemed to alleviate. I felt like the most unworthy and wrongful person in the world … it seemed like all the universe was angry at me. What helped me was praying for spiritual guidance, meditation and reading books about faith. I emerged alright in the end, but it took all my “staying power” as I truly felt I was losing my mind (note: several of my friends went through this transit without any upheavals, so this need not be so intense for everyone).
My Jupiter is in the 3rd house, in an exact opposition to Pluto in the 9th (just a couple of minutes’ orb) and rules my 12th house.
Recently, I’ve been through another crisis of faith experience, but it was not about faith in God, but about faith in myself. Pluto was conjunct my AC for almost four years (five hits). Many things helped me along, but the most memorable was this simple song from a relatively unknown band (I’m a fan) – Crowded House: Love This Life. I came to hear it in a moment when I needed its message most. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1_Ody4BObg
By: Alice on July 3, 2011
at 1:39 pm
Hi, Alice, so many people–myself included–go through a very profound passage when Pluto catches up to Neptune’s natal position. For my age group (born in the 1940s) that was about the same year as the Saturn return and the Progressed Lunar return, about 28-29. It’s a time when negative uses of Neptune (according to the house position and natal aspects of Neptune) prove to be too much to take any longer, and the person goes through a knd of emotional detox based on that complex of behaviors. For many, the year or two of the transit gradually begins a spiritual awakening and turning to the higber uses of Neptune. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 3, 2011
at 2:45 pm
Hi Donna, the term “emotional detox based on that complex of behaviors” is fitting indeed. My Neptune is square Mars and opposite Venus, so I think I had plenty of detoxing to do. On the physical level, the transit made me quit smoking, as the habit had become totally compulsive and uncontrollable during the transit period and I just had to say “enough”!
On a different level, this transit ended a period when I’d thought that being “spiritual” meant observing the same habits as the people I’d idealized, rather than following the heart/inner guidance. I so much tried to fit in the “spiritual crowd” that I became too engrossed in the packaging and forgot to look inside. Pluto did away with this as I became so unstable and chaotic that I had to avoid crowds for a long time and had to spend extended periods on my own – which helped me to sort my inner life out. So, thank you Pluto in the end, but was it tough 🙂
By: Alice on July 3, 2011
at 9:42 pm
These transits work on so many levels, and they go on so long that it’s quite a process–enough time to make–and correct–a lotta mistakes! You’ve painted such a clear picture. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 4, 2011
at 5:54 am
Tr. Neptune has just come in to my 9th house as it entered Pisces, and is now squaring my natal Neptune in the 5th. I’d say that Neptune leaving the 8th has helped bring clarity to some boundary issues. Three years ago (while Neptune was back in the 8th, passing over my natal Mars; though I’ve just clued in to that now….the transiting Uranus square to my natal Venus was more obvious) saw the end of a long term relationship. I found myself needing to sort out what was me and what was remnants of an ‘us’ that I wasn’t part of anymore. It’s really been over the past year that I’ve been better about seeing life as having phases, and feeling like there’s a big picture that makes sense, and feeling really okay with that instead of just wanting to feel okay with that but not quite being there yet. Anyway, I’m still in it, so I can’t say I see it all yet, if I ever will. 🙂
By: Lia on July 5, 2011
at 6:09 pm