With Jupiter becoming a big story in its relation to the Grand Water Trine occurring this summer, I thought to review the last time I had my Jupiter Return cycle. The expansiveness of this planetary transit is not always about joys and fun (or, as I tell folks, about ‘rainbows and butterflies’). Jupiter’s expansion touches on the process a person is already in while adding a feeling or motivation to see beyond where one finds themselves. Usually that involves physical movement and mental stimulation, but if a person is experiencing sadness or depression or a general feeling of unhappiness, the Jupiter initiation could expand those feelings.

In Shamanic Astrology, A Jupiter Return transit is when Jupiter returns to the same sign as when a person was born. This happens about every 12 years. For example, I was born with Jupiter in the sign of Sagittarius.  The entire return transit is about one year.  On my 35th birthday in 2006, Jupiter entered Sagittarius for the third time since my birth. Since Jupiter was in Sagittarius (in the 12th house, for those curious astrologers) at the time of my birth (11/25/1971), this marked the beginning of my Jupiter Return cycle. In addition to that, I have a stellium of planets in Sagittarius: Sun, Neptune, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus. That makes Jupiter’s transit of this sign incredibly important in my life.

For me this transit expanded my mind, vulnerabilities, losses and brought to light the more hidden Sagittarian qualities within my being. Ultimately, it was a faint precursor to taking on the role of a Shamanic Astrologer.

Retracing my steps prior to the transit, Pluto had just finished crossing over my natal Mercury and Venus, providing a much needed rest from the underworld for a couple years before my Pluto square in 2008-09. Uranus (conjunct Mars) and Chiron (conjunct North Node) were also finishing up with me in December of 2006. At the time of Jupiter’s entrance into Sagittarius, I had been working at a bookstore since August of 2005 and finding myself in a place I thought I might be in for much shorter than it actually turned out to be, but never truly having a plan. The store was preparing for holiday shoppers and I was in charge of the café inside the store. The feeling was vibrant, pressured and uncertain. One day at a time.

It was also one of the first times and certainly the most visible of times in which I was placed in charge of employees and as a department head (café supervisor). I was responsible for the output of the café, the training performance of employees and the efficiency of the café as a single unit within the store. As a Capricorn Rising, it was a training ground for me. Jupiter rolled into my view toward the end of this “retail experiment phase” of my 30s and helped me see other opportunities as I made my escape in July of 2007 to work for a small, independent insurance agency.

While there was no single event that brought about my end at the bookstore, it was a combination of events and understandings I learned that helped me emerge from the darker times of 2005 and 2006.

At the bookstore, things were beginning to break down. I had a review and further conversations that pointed to my exit. Though at the time, I wasn’t thinking of quitting. In the larger context, bookstore chains were trending down and business wasn’t like it was a few years ago. So corporations fixated on improving the numbers any way they could, including needling out workers and relying on minimal staffing. This certainly brought up fears for me in terms of Saturn security and such. So I kept trying to be more effective at my job. While it was noticed, it wasn’t where I was meant to exercise that energy.

In February of 2007, I had a powerful meeting with a woman who expanded my world of defining relationship and expressing one’s self more freely without commitment. Her presence was like an electrical surge through my nervous system and so, of course, I had to explore why that was so. Jupiter brought her into my life and we began to date within a few weeks. And for some period of time encompassing about nine or ten weeks, I did something I had never done prior to that. I explored what it was like to be a “Beta” in this woman’s life. She already had a boyfriend, who was her “Alpha.” This was well outside my comfort zone, but due to the strength of the attraction, it was a great challenge to resist. But my vulnerabilities and discomfort were expanded as I knew this flame would burn out. I could not fully integrate this into my being . . . and it did end soon after it began.

Come May of 2007, a planned trip to New Mexico with a friend would turn out to be critical in realigning with my purpose. The trip was a combination of the Jupiter Return and my own mystical Neptunian side (I also have a Pisces Moon/Mars). From the desert and forested mountains to the ancient ruins of the Anasazi, I experienced places, thoughts and senses that had been absent for a long while. At the same time as feeling more than alive, I was also feeling sad as if mourning the loss of part of my nature. I wasn’t sure at the time nor could equate where the sadness originated, but knew it to be important. However, the enthusiastic charge and peace I received while on this eight-day adventure masked the sadness.

It was upon coming back to Portland that with just one phone call it was over between my recent affair and my New Mexico adventure. But there was an echo of a feeling from the time Pluto crossed over my Venus and Mercury. It generated a realization that I must leave the employment of the bookstore and take the next step toward my future while not truly knowing where that will lead. On that day of returning, it set the tone for the coming summer and fall. I joined a small independent insurance agency, going back into the industry I left in 2005.

While on this year of expansion, Saturn returned to the scene, as it does for everyone in the 36-37 age range. This was a cycle that activated my own Saturn Complex and left me pouring energy into the reestablishment of my insurance license, moving forward and onward in that career. But this job was the one that helped me learn what I needed, strangely enough, to have my own astrology practice. Unbeknownst to me at the time, it was the Universe providing me with the necessary training. For much of that time, it felt more like serving time, but that is another story for later . . .

Jupiter’s intent is to bring renewal of vision, understanding, knowledge and perspective as well as opportunities into new territory. This Jupiter Return cycle certainly did that for me but not in the way I expected.

For those who have learned that Jupiter is has returned to the place where it was at your birth or perhaps it is transiting one of your personal planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Sun, Moon, Angles or Lunar Nodes), be prepared for a renewal of vision and an expansion of where you are in life. Even if you are sad/depressed, it will help in the processing of this phase. In the rapid changes that are occurring with most people’s lives, Jupiter helps in showing us that tunnels do have ends and that transmissions from the Universe into our minds may manifest much later. But it is for us to pay close attention and place trust that the roller-coaster will take us to life’s launching pad.