The Overconfidence of Jupiter

by Marguerite dar Boggia

On January 19, 2013 an airplane hit a power line, crashed and the occupant was killed. The true name of the occupant is being withheld. He will be referred to as “Pete”. This is his chart with the secondary progressions for 01/19/2013 in the outer circle:

Pete has Jupiter, the ruler of the Sagittarius ascendant, within one degree of the MC. That is an aspect one deserves for ones benevolence exhibited in past lives. Everyone thought highly of him. He had a congenial personality, was trustworthy, popular, witty, playful, hard-working and most respected. This aspect is very favorable for career. This is why Politicians usually have it.

With the ruler of the 1st in the 10th house, he identified with his Father. His Father was a genius in the mechanical field. He was a pilot and loved flying. Pete also loved flying a plane.

Pete has planets in the Eastern half of the chart. He, alone, was in control and made all the decisions. Four cardinal planets plus the MC gave him drive, enterprise, enthusiasm and executive ability. He has four planets in a grand trine in fire. Mars is strong in its own sign: Aries, Venus and Saturn are in Sagittarius and Uranus is in Leo. Venus conjunct the ascendant contributed to his cheerful, fun-loving disposition. Saturn conjunct the ascendant contributed to his perseverance and practicality. Uranus in Leo supplied intuition and ingenuity. He had courage, was self-confident, self-motivated, and was generous with his loved ones. He has three planets in mutable signs plus the ascendant and in fixed signs, he has the Moon, Uranus and Neptune. With his Sun and Mercury in Capricorn, I would say his planets were evenly balanced. The chart rulers are Jupiter & Mars.

Jupiter is in Libra and Venus is in Sagittarius. They are in a wide sextile aspect. They are in mutual reception. Its effect is similar to having Jupiter conjunct the ascendant from the 12th house and having Venus on the MC. Jupiter gave him self-confidence, optimism, good health, a positive philosophy of life and Venus gave him love, wealth, and admiration from his community. For him, life was beautiful. He was independent and good fortune attended him. He worked hard every day, having Sun in Capricorn, the sign of the workaholic. He needed to enjoy time spent at his favorite recreation: flying.

His ascendant is in the Aries decanate of Sagittarius. This fueled his dynamic energy, drive, enthusiasm, initiative, self-confidence, and his desire for adventure and excitement. it bequeathed a tendency toward hastiness, rashness, a me-first attitude and a quick temper. His Sun is in the first house in Capricorn. This demonstrates as having the sign of Kings: Leo, on the ascendant. He was the BOSS. Leo, fire, combined with Capricorn earth. He was a veritable steam-roller. When others were exhausted, he was still active. He was capable of putting his ideals into practice. He was practical, thorough, ambitious, persevering in his work, self-disciplined and had great organizing abilities. He demanded perfection in his work and workers, which is how he successfully built up his own metal parts business. The quincunx of the Sun to Uranus fired his intellect to the extent that intuition guided him in being inventive. It also stimulated RESTLESSNESS. Fortunately, the Capricorn Sun grounded him and provided some stability.

His Scorpio Moon denoted some reserve, loyalty to friends, intuition, a tendency to be secretive about personal matters, but caused him to be more emotionally sensitive than others. He could be easily hurt especially in regard to family relations. While he had a quick temper, he could occasionally indulge in anger, especially in relation to his workers. The Moon conjunct the No. Node reinforced his strong emotional nature, as well as his ability to be in harmony with his neighbors and all of the members of his community. Pluto square Moon contributed to his emotional nature and to his need to be in control.

Jupiter trine Mercury is an aspect that connotes a comprehensive intelligence which he has brought over from past lives. Mercury is in a sextile aspect to the Moon. The rational mind (Mercury) is instrumental in controlling his negative emotions. He had good relations with his family. Mercury being in the second house of money, he was financially secure. In addition, Venus in Sagittarius conjunct the ascendant (from the 12th), contributed to his financial security, good looks, good fortune and his high-spirited, delightful personality. With Jupiter in Libra, the sign of relationships, he valued intimate love relationships. He loved and lived with a woman; but being freedom-oriented, he was not legally married.

The natives of Sagittarius, while courageous and daring, can be rash and over-confident. This is a sign that takes risks, especially with the strong influence of Mars (angular in Aries); Mars, a co-ruler of the Scorpio Moon; an Aries decanate in the rising sign, and with the Sun quincunx Uranus. He was intrepid, self-willed, loved excitement and challenges which validated his fearlessness and uniqueness. The worst thing in life is to be bored.

According to Alan Leo, Mars in the 4th house if badly aspected, can bring misfortune or problems towards the end of one’s life, unless they are spiritually oriented and using the energy constructively.

The Sun in a trine aspect to Pluto reinforced his willpower and his need to be in control. He was meant to develop willpower in this incarnation, to be used to discipline his lower nature. Pluto is in a sextile aspect to Neptune in the 11th house. This aspect favored the assistance from organizations and friends relating to his business. He provided several organizations with his specially invented metal products.

For accidents and injuries, I look at the secondary progressions first; especially those of Mars and Uranus, then Pluto, Saturn and the Sun. Then I look at the eclipses that activate the aspects and last of all, the transiting planets. For death, I look for a yod called a "finger of God aspect".

Progressed Mars (15°25'Taurus) quincunxed natal ascendant (15°01' Sag.) The lunar eclipse on 6/4/12 at 14°08' Sagittarius activated this quincunx. A quincunx aspect signifies a change or a separation of some kind. In his case, Pete separated from his dense physical body, resulting in death!

Many times in death charts there is an eclipse on the natal or progressed MC/IC axis. It usually occurs months and sometimes years before the demise. In his case, it was on the secondary progressed Midheaven (27°02' Scorpio). The solar eclipse on 5/20/12 (00°21' Gemini) and the solar eclipse on 11/13/12 (21°54' Scorpio), both activated his progressed Midheaven conjoining his natal Moon (26°54' Scorpio) and the North Node of the Moon (28° 57' Scorpio). The Moon rules his 8th house of death. It also rules the 4th house (end of life). The Nodes of the Moon also seem to be prominent in death charts, perhaps because the Moon governs the family that is affected by the death.

In addition there is a yod, a finger of God aspect, between the midpoint 3°27' Capricorn (formed by Equatorial Ascendant (00°06 Cap.) and natal Sun (06°49' Cap.) in a sextile aspect to progressed Sun (3°44' Pisces) with both quincunx progressed Uranus (3°45 Leo) in the 8th house of death.

Many astrologers do not use the equatorial ascendant and the vertex. They are additional Meridians around the earth. I find that they corroborate the important aspects. What is the equatorial ascendant? The equatorial ascendant is the degree of the zodiac rising at the equator for sidereal birth time of the relevant chart. It acts as a minor ascendant. The Vertex is the western point of intersection of the arc of the ecliptic with the prime vertical, a great circle passing through the earth’s zenith and nadir. Some believe it is related to things that occur that are fated, like death or the ending or beginning of a relationship or an event. Others believe it acts as another descendant. If you don’t have a computer that gives you the vertex and you have a table of houses, look up the IC as if it were the MC. Then go to the Ascendant for the co-latitude (90-birth latitude) of birth. That is the Vertex.

I also use the declination equivalent planets to ascertain if an eclipse will activate its aspect to a natal planet. What is a declination equivalent planet? The degree of a planet’s declination in latitude is converted to its ecliptic equivalent in longitude. The software of a computer does this easily. It is a fantastic tool.

Declination equivalent Saturn at 00°Aquarius quincunxed natal Pluto. That demonstrates as karmic destiny! We have choices in life. Perhaps in the next incarnation, he will be more circumspect and cautious. Progressed Jupiter (29°42' Virgo) was in a square aspect to the natal equatorial ascendant (00°06' Capricorn). That is a self against self aspect. We have to work out all the hindrances to the higher Mind (Jupiter), in order for the personality to eventually fuse with the soul. This is the goal for a human being. Progressed Pluto (29°06' Leo) quincunxed the natal IC (00°07' Aries). Death removed him from his home (IC) on the planet Earth (temporarily). The solar eclipse of 5/20/12 at 00°21' Gemini activated these challenging aspects. Where was transiting Pluto? It was conjoining his natal Sun at 9°57' Capricorn! Even the transiting Sun (29° Capricorn) quincunxed natal Pluto (00°17' Virgo) and progressed Pluto (29°06' Leo) and it opposed natal Vertex (00°32' Leo). Wow!

If a competent astrologer had looked at his chart before the accident, he might have noticed progressed Mars quincunx the ascendant being activated by the eclipse. My question is: Should the astrologer have warned him to be careful of accidents? Personally, I don’t think so. It might induce fear which might contribute to the unfortunate occurrence. Then the astrologer would have a guilt complex. I think the best recourse is for the astrologer to petition the Cosmos that he be guided and protected by his Inner Self and then, the astrologer should take his mental hands off and be detached. Am I being callous? Perhaps.

While Jupiter is the great benefic and is noted for optimism, confidence, generosity and expansion, one can become overconfident when everything is going so well. This is basic in the astrological teachings. While material things and financial security are a veritable blessing, one must ask, what are the goals of my soul? Am I starving it with all my thoughts centered in the material world? How can I serve in the Divine Plan?

Image sources:
Chart: provided by author
Double Decker: Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay