Jupiter was the father of the gods. Among the Greeks he was known as Zeus—mighty ruler of the Skies—whereas his brothers, Hades and Poseidon, had power over the Underworld and the Seas, respectively.
While the Hades and the oceans were both known as dark and mysterious places, the domain of Jupiter was clear and understandable. The light of the sky ruled mankind from above.
Jupiter as a Force
In astrology Jupiter represents the forces of confidence, trust and faith. It’s an inner power which enables us to believe in what we know to be true—hence to bring forth our intentions and deeds. In other words, if we don’t believe in something we won’t go for it; that’s what makes Jupiter such a strong force in the human soul. Even faith—usually regarded as the power to believe in what we can’t see—is driven by an invisible sense of confidence. We don’t know why, but we know it to be true. This heartfelt, warm, inner inspiration functions as a guide that leads us towards higher goals.
From a social perspective Jupiter represents trust. Everybody knows how important it is to being able to rely on people. Trusting someone is tough. Life has let us down so many times that we don’t want to do it. Still, we have to, because it is impossible to live without trusting your mechanic, dentist or hairstylist. Jupiter teaches us to let ourselves go and lose control.
Following him, we are finally free to make mistakes. If you think about it, this is not something that we usually allow ourselves to do. We live in a world that seeks efficiency and perfection, trying to avoid mistakes at all costs. We are taught to fear mistakes because in our society they have become a symbol of failure.
Jupiter’s approach is completely different. He knows that making mistakes is the only way to grow. Through life experience we can expand our horizon, becoming wiser and learning to enjoy life in all its imperfections. This is why he tends to oversimplify things: if you question them too much you will become too doubtful even to try.
The Philosopher
The term Philosophy comes from the Ancient Greek word φιλοσοφία (philosophia) which literally means “love of wisdom”. Since Jupiter is our inner philosopher we need to understand what wisdom is all about.
Being intelligent and being wise are two very different things. If you are smart your mind is quick: it can easily solve problems, analyze situations and make you good at Maths. But life isn’t an equation, nor a problem to solve. Life is something made of annoying paradoxes, blurred emotions, irrational events, leaps of faith, dreams, and experiences. You just can’t control it.
You’re probably going to get many things under your control, but your life is not one of them. And the reason for that is simple: you don’t know yourself. You don’t know how you are going to react on all different scenarios life’s going to put you into. You can find it out only little by little—living, loving, dreaming, making experiences, crying and bleeding. But eventually life will still be able to surprise you. Wisdom starts being aware of all of this.
This said, it doesn’t mean we need to throw ourselves in life randomly. We bear inside a guiding force which makes us humble enough to let life craft ourselves into who we really are. On our personal journey we grow wiser and wiser every day. Eventually, we may even learn how to love wisdom—our inner spiritual guide—and become a philosopher.
The Goal of Wisdom
The truth is that being a philosopher is something very practical. People usually think of philosophy as a very mental, speculative subject (and that’s true, in a sense). But the entire point of philosophy is to enlighten life experiences and ultimately to guide us through them. This is what “wisdom lovers” try to achieve, and it is also the reason why in Ancient Greece they where so connected to political life. In fact if Jupiter is the philosopher, and wisdom is our guide, shouldn’t politicians—leaders of entire countries—be inspired by this force?
Unfortunately, history has shown us that this path doesn’t always work. In fact Jupiter is the planet which inspires community foundations based on a sense of trust, gathering people around the same set of common ideals. For this reason he’s more related to organized religions—a good mix of higher goals, faith and community living—rather than politics. To manage that sort of power other, darker energies are required.
Key Words
- optimism, calm, joviality, trust, confidence, faith,
- religion, indoctrination, philosophy, teaching
- honesty, loyalty, respectability, generosity, ingenuity,
- experience, wisdom, expansion, growth, maturity
- warmth, richness, excesses, vitality
