Jupiter Retrograde in Pisces (29th July -- 24th November 2022): Ahir Budhnaya in our lives

Jupiter goes retrograde (Rx) every year for 120 days and this year in 2022 Jupiter will Rx for 119 days (so we have one day holiday 😉). Jupiter's backward motion is in fact already underway as I write this update. Retrogrades are hardly astronomical phenomena; they are astrological phenomena -- our perception of astronomical phenomena from earth. This perception takes place naturally when the Sun progresses 5 houses away from Jupiter's placement. Predictably therefore, with the Sun's transit into Cancer in mid-July, Jupiter began slowing down and preparing to go Rx in Pisces. As the Sun progresses to the 7th house from Pisces -- Virgo (mid-September to mid-October), Jupiter's Rx speed will gain its maximum backward momentum -- a state called ativakri. Though vakratva and the forward (maargi) motion of a planet are considered opposites, these are just different states within the Rx motion of slow moving planets themselves that don't impact tremendously unless you happen to be presently running a Jupiter antardasha or the antardasha of the lord of JupiterRx's current placement (again Jupiter this time since Jupiter lords Pisces). 

The various states of a planet including vakratva (deviance) signifies its existential condition (avastha). This means that maargi or forward motion is also just a state, with maargi planets becoming atichari when they gain maximum momentum. Then there are those states in which planets start to lose steam. They slow down whether in vakri or maargi states, and then subsequently become stationary (stambhit) facing backwards. Then there are other states when planets go combust under the influence of Sun (asta), or undergo eclipse (grahan), or undergo complicated conjunctions (yuti). While slowing planets slow the speed of external events, bringing a heavy feel to the passage of time, the stambhit position is when planets confer the effects of the state directly preceding it -- whether vakri or maargi. The movement of slow-moving planets like Jupiter is hence, complex and occupy various states within a spectrum located between ativakri and their atichari avastha. They cannot be seen simplistically through the binary lens of direct and Rx motion alone. This time around Jupiter slowed down by the 3rd week of July, and then turned stambhit vakri by July-end, conferring the results of its last 8 months spent in maargi and atichari states. By mid-October, it will again slow down, and then turn stambhit maargi in the 3rd week of November, once the Sun moves 9 houses away from Pisces into Scorpio. Jupiter will gain speed in the maargi state after that, and by January and February 2023, becoming atichari again, as he hurtles through the gandanta between Pisces and Aries, and transits to Aries by April 2023. Jupiter is extremely strong in Aries. Jupiter's annual 120-day Rx stint lasts 4 months -- nearly half a year. And as a result, roughly a quarter of the world's population is born with JupiterRx in their natal charts. 

        

Since Jupiter is a slow moving planet with many avasthas in his annual journey between the poles of atichari and ativakri, it is difficult to really discuss individual transit results, since these are defined by antardhashas and sookshma/ pratyantardashas, and by the avastha of Jupiter in the individual natal chart. Besides, the exact effect of a slow-moving planets is decided by the score the individual natal chart gives to a particular planet, and to the house through which the planet transits -- ashtakavarga and bhinnashtakavarga scores. At a more general level, Jupiter whether vakri or maargi activates the avastha of Jupiter in the individual natal chart, and there is no set rule for this. Though vakratva is feared as a state that intensifies Jupiter's inward qualities that reduces outward auspicious gains, this is quite singularly untrue, especially for individuals with Jupiter already Rx in their natal charts. If you are a JupiterRx person, this is the time, when you may get the outward auspicious results of the efforts you have made in a certain direction in the last 8 months when Jupiter was direct and made you work outside your comfort zone. Now is the time you may look forward to positive results. 

The two stationary (stambhit) phases in between Jupiter's forward and backward motions is important. These avasthas are temporal spaces characterized as a vantage point. It is the ground from which you look backwards with a summarizing gaze, at the period of the immediate past. It is a space of wisdom, perhaps sadness, correction, and a new resolve based on an understanding of new revelations. While the avastha of Jupiter stationary before he goes Rx (stambhit vakri) is a place from which to review the revelations brought about by the last 8 months of Jupiter's maargi and atichari states, the forward stationary state (stambhit maargi) is a space from which to review the corrections/ gains and benefits of the four months of Jupiter's vakri and ativakri states. Jupiter always retreats 10 degrees in his Rx avastha, and 10 degrees already constitutes 30% of an entire house, made up of 30 degrees. This is a vast period of time for the rethinking, course-correction, or reaping of benefits and rewards. Also, the stationary sthambit period activates much more than just the houses, the Nakshatras and the avastha of Jupiter in the individual's natal chart. There is very little discussion about the results of Jupiter stambhit whether vakri or maargi among present-day astrologers, and about the stambhit avasta of Jupiter that activates the different trikona or trines within individual charts. 

There are four trikonas according to the imagined world of Hindu varanashrama dharma. The first trikona is the dharma trikona made up of the 1st, 5th, and 9th houses, followed by the artha trikona (2nd, 6th, and 10th), kaama trikona (3rd, 7th, and 11th), and moksha trikona (4th, 8th, and 12th). The placement of important planets in these trikona houses is what decides the emphasis or nature of an individual's quest in his present birth. Having enemy and mutually conflicting planets in the various trines can indicate to situations of turmoil, struggle, disappointment or moderate success despite great efforts during the mahadasha of these planets. Returning to Jupiter stambhit and its effects over trines, let us take the example of Leo Lagna (ascendant). Jupiter stambhit in Pisces takes place in the 8th house for the Leo ascendant, activating the native's moksha trine, and transforming (8th) his home context (4th) in a way that incurs expenditure (12th). There are two ways of looking at this trine activation, based on an analysis of supporting planets. If the Leo ascendant's Lagna-lord (Sun) is debilitated or weak (or in conjunction with Rahu-Ketu-Saturn), then this may indicate to the demise of an elder at home leading to both inheritances and losses at different levels. If the Lagna-lord is bali (powerful), then the Leo-ascendant native may move abroad, to a foreign country quite permanently. Since SaturnRx from Capricorn is currently gazing upon JupiterRx with his 3rd aspect, and the Nakshatra in Pisces where Jupiter is currently Rx is Uttara Bhadrapada -- also ruled by Saturn, this transformation that may take the Leo-ascendant native abroad, will have a structured, professional, and permanent nature to it. It depends on the condition of the Lagna-lord in the individual chart. In case the Leo-ascendant native has a strong and well-placed Sun, then the native is also simultaneously undergoing a double Vipareeta Raja-Yoga -- a period of self benefit and gain with the lord of the 8th in the 8th itself, and a period of victory from adversaries with the lord of the 6th in the 6th (Saturn in Capricorn). This does not entail any losses, though expenses are definitely on the card, and this 'settlement' abroad will moreover confer the native with a feeling of final deliverance (moksha). 

Similarly, if the stambhit avastha is taking place in the dharma trine that activates the 1st, 5th, and 9th houses, the native can look forward to happiness and great success in educational and professional pursuits, the happiness of being supported by one's elders, husband, father, and mentors -- benefits of blessings from kings, due to the good deeds of one's ancestors -- poorvapunya bhava (5th house). With the conjunction taking place in the artha trikona, this indicates gains in property and liquid cash -- victory in court cases, family and ancestral inheritance, and gains through workplace -- pension/ provident fund/ gratuity/ insurance etc. This effect will be tremendously intensified if there are important planets in the moksha trikona, and if there is an auspicious interaction between planets of the moksha and the artha trikona (like the lord of the 8th in the 11th). If the stambhit avastha takes place in the kaama trikona, the native can look forward to a period of victory and dignity from self efforts, and monetary gains accrued from within the domain of marriage, and successful family and marital alliances -- taking over a family business, or partnership with the wife's parental family business. These results are intensified, if Jupiter in the individual natal chart is in the same state as the state of transiting Jupiter. For this, it is important to understand Jupiter's cheshtabal in the individual natal chart, as cheshtabal will provide information on the exact speed or avastha of Jupiter at the time of birth. As is obvious, dharma and moksha trikona are interconnected in terms of Jupiterian results as Jupiter is friendly with Mars and the luminaries -- Sun and Moon. The artha and kaama trikonas are also interconnected, with artha and kaama being stronger in Kaliyuga, but these trines are not really supported by Jupiter. If one were to consider the 4 trines from the perspective of the Kaal-purush chart, Jupiter only supports the dharma and moksha trikonas. The artha and kaama trines are the domain of Saturn, Venus, and Mercury. If according to your chart, you are an artha and kaama trine dominated person, apart from being pretty sure that you will be reborn, a strong Saturn auspiciously placed in one of your upachaya houses -- 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 11th will go a long way in bringing financial and worldly success and victory in the latter half of your life (uttarardh). Happiness can be drawn from this if you try.     

So, how does JupiterRx in its vakri deviant form, behave? The negative way of looking at it is: the JupiterRx person never really settles down in life even if he gets the things he has dreamed of and craved for -- things he imagines he would settle for -- eyes closed. The moment a creeping feeling of achievement and settlement comes in, the JupiterRx person seemingly sabotages himself. He leaps up and looks for the next horizon towards which he now sets out, setting his GPS towards his new course of travel and destination. While this can be taken positively, the interpretation depends on the astrologer's own perspective and biases. A JupiterRx person looks for continuous growth and uses 'settlement' as a temporary phase, from which to look towards new horizons -- conduits of the next level, especially if JupiterRx is placed in Mrigshira (Taurus), or Ardra (Gemini) Nakshatras. Specially Ardra that indicates to scientific research, discovery, and pioneering invention, is a research that never really ends. A JupiterRx person is that ambitious colleague in office, whom you feel is confused or even ungrateful, for he is ever so often miserable with the great things he achieves. He runs after permanency but leaves in a year after attaining it, to get to another position in a new place where he is again temporary, and seeking to become permanent, and miserable about the things he achieves. Your JupiterRx colleague is not there to remain and celebrate your retirement day together with you; he is there to grow and move ahead in life, towards new learning. This trait of constantly seeking is accompanied simultaneously by constant suffering -- the pain of identity-issues, homelessness, the failure of many seemingly perfect marriages and alliances, and the alienation of feeling like a vagabond. This is intensified if there are strong planets in Scorpio, in Jyeshtha Nakshatra.           

Finally, it is in the Nakshatra of Uttara Bhadrapada where Jupiter will remain Rx till November-end 2022. He will neither change Nakshatras nor signs, and will simply traverse backwards from 14 degrees of Uttara Bhadrapada to 4 degrees Uttara Bhadrapada that spans approximately from 3 degrees to 16 degrees of Pisces. This Rx motion will take Jupiter from the 4th (and last) pada of Uttara Bhadrapada back to the very beginning of the Nakshatra -- the 1st pada. Uttara Bhadrapada is the 26th Nakshatra within Indian astrology and is connected to the 25th Nakshatra of Poorva Bhadrapada ruled by Jupiter but located within Saturn's sign of Aquarius. If Poorva makes a proposition, asks a question, or initiates a quest, then it is Uttara who answers that question, being the latter, northern and the higher form of all things auspicious: Bhadra. Though Uttara Bhadrapada falls in Pisces, in Jupiter's ruled house, it also falls in the 12th house of the Kaal-purush chart, that signifies the final stages of clinching a deal -- success, or important and auspicious closure. Uttara Bhadrapada is ruled by Saturn, and has 4 padas contained within: pada-1 falls under the Leo navamsa (ruled by Sun), pada-2 falls under the Virgo navamsa (ruled by Mercury), pada-3 falls under the Libra navamsa (ruled by Venus), and pada-4 falls under the Scorpio navamsa (ruled by Mars). While the Sun, Venus, and Mercury ruled Lagnas can gain in certain specific significations from this Jupiter transit (both vakri and maargi), as Jupiter's intensified gaze falls on Cancer, Virgo, and Scorpio, this is also a good period for Cancerians, or for those who have a prominent Moon in a Nakshatra that is lorded by the Moon. 

Uttara Bhadrapada is imagined as a dual Nakshatra symbolized by the two back legs of a cot, wherein the two front legs are in Poorva Bhadrapada. This is sometimes referred to as a funerary cot because of the signification of Pisces as the 12th house of the Kaal-purush chart. The funerary cot informs an imagined scenario of how an inheritor would make sense of the death and demise of an ancestor (moksha). But in my humble opinion, this can also connote a sleeping and the waking process, where an old idea has germinated and taken root within dreams, and expresses itself in forms that are non-stereotypical and very different from tried and tested formulae. While Uttara answers the quest started in the Poorva state, the two legs of the cot in Uttara are also imagined as two serpents, a dual anthropomorphic entity called Ahir Budhnaya who protects and guards underground treasures. These treasures are not mysterious or occult-ish either, despite Budhnaya being a snake -- a cosmic symbol of our own spinal cord -- both moral and physical. But Budhnaya guards a treasure that is associated with the positive and auspicious aspects of Saturn: stability and settlement, inheritance, permanency, discipline, structure, laying foundations, and/ or benefiting and restructuring old homes, with blessings accrued from ancestors, family, marriage, teachers, mentors, and gurus. 

So, what could all this possibly mean? You have worked in a certain direction in the past 8 months when Jupiter had become maargi and atichari, and you did all this because you felt you needed an answer about your own stability and meaning in life. Did this struggle become more potent in April, when Jupiter crossed into Uttara Bhadrapada? You definitely needed an urgent decision to be made in April. In May and June, you perhaps did reach a limited point of stability with promises that were made in April. As Jupiter became stambhit in the last 10 days, you have finally clinched that deal. The promise is made, and victory is achieved. Now comes 4 months of JupiterRx. If you are already a JupiterRx person in your natal chart, I would say -- yes, sit back and relax. You have indeed reached a good place, and you should enjoy this stage -- at least till you start feeling restless again next year. But if Jupiter is strong and maargi in your chart, then the deal you have just clinched is temporary. There is change in the air, and the decision you have made is still not the final end. This needs to be re-calibrated as Jupiter traverses backwards over the terrain he has just crossed -- like someone returning to search for a lost key or bag that contains important documents like a credit card or passport. You will have to ask yourself, how important the thing is, that you have dropped and lost. The desire to go ahead, suddenly feels like it is in shadow again. At this point, however afraid and uncomfortable you are feeling while reading these words, you will still have to have enough inner freedom to accept that the answers you felt were right, back in late summer, may not hold true till autumn-end. You will have to wait for Jupiter's stambhit margi position in autumn-end to come to that final decision. It is Jupiter's maargi and atichari state between December 2022 and April 2023 that traverses the length of Uttara Bhadrapada for the third time this year now, that will consolidate your final decisions and choices. Maybe, you realize after finding the key or bag you dropped, that it was not all that important after all. But maybe, on the other hand, you do feel its pivotal in terms of its important and it changes your life again, taking you to a different, perhaps better decision after all. Maybe making that decision will take you forwards, towards a new beginning in April 2023, when Jupiter crosses the Gandanta between Pisces and Aries, and transits into Aries. The larger value of this new beginning will depends on the role of Mars and the importance of Aries in your chart. What seems like a beginning now, may still be part of a previous ending, unless Jupiter is already Rx in your natal chart. 

A note of caution here: remember that Jupiter's maargi transit into Aries in April 2023 will bring him into direct conjunction for the next 6 months (till October-end 2023) with Rahu who is also in Aries. This forms a strong Guru-chandala yoga in Aries, since Jupiter is very strong in Aries. Besides, Rahu and Ketu are in a strong and mutually empowering Parivartana yoga in October 2023, with Rahu transiting in Ketu's lorded Ashwini Nakshatra in Aries, and Ketu transiting Rahu's lorded Swati Nakshatra in Libra. Even before Ketu moves into Swati in September end / October-beginning, Ketu will be in Vishakha Nakshatra lorded by Jupiter, representing his more uncomfortable attributes: sexual and aggressive beauty that is a break away from his normal nature, a branching-off from what Jupiter is most comfortable with. Jupiter in Aries will therefore, also make a Parivartana aspect with Ketu in Vishakha, joined with Rahu in Ketu's Ashwini that will activate Ketu tremendously in Libra -- 7 houses away. Ketu is a planet that brings separation, closure and ending, and by his very nature, he is a moksha-karaka. Ketu and Rahu will form a suction tube together with Jupiter in their midst, where Ketu will force Jupiter to break off and push away from the past, and Rahu will create a huge gravitational pull attracting Jupiter towards what seems like utopia. Both Rahu and Ketu are past masters of illusion and fantasies and Jupiter knows this. And yet, Rahu-Ketu's pull and push powers are inexorable. Ketu glorifies closure, and Rahu creates a heady and grandiose anticipation of the future. Even if you do decide to take a different direction after April 2023, be aware that some of the dreams and promises you are basing your decisions on, seem too good to be true. What you see as wonderful could perhaps only seem so, because they are all that your present is not. But that does not make the present bad, nor the future good. Be cautious! If things go wrong, only you will be to blame. It is only after the shift of the Rahu-Ketu axis in October 2023 to Pisces and Virgo, that final reality will start sinking in. Virgo will make sure of that! If you can, wait till then!