Jupiter will be in tropical Virgo from August 11^th, 2015 until September 9^th, 2016.

Expansion and Contraction

Jupiter is considered to be in its detriment in Virgo, meaning that it is difficult for Jupiter to perform its core actions while placed there. This is due to the difficult-to-resolve contradictions between the planetary will of Jupiter and the mode of manifestation that Virgo represents.

Expansion is probably Jupiter’s most commonly used keyword. Jupiter makes things bigger, or—sometimes—simply makes a big deal of things. Jupiter offers new external opportunities, which expand our sphere of action and influence, and internal opportunities, which expand our perspective and skill set.

This expansive action can be contrasted meaningfully with the focus of activity in Virgo, which is quite contrary. Virgo ignores the forest for the number of growth rings on one particular tree. Virgo is a lens which focuses in on the details of the microcosm. Whereas Jupiter may be interested in the role coffee has played in world history, Virgo is intrigued by the chemical composition of a particular cup.

Opportunity Cost

One of the issues highlighted by this contradiction between Jupiter’s will and Virgo’s method of execution is the matter of opportunity. It is Jupiter’s role to encourage us to take a leap of faith, to try something bigger than we have yet achieved. Virgo, however, instantly highlights possible problems and considers whether we can accomplish the proposed action in an error-free manner. If it is in fact an opportunity to expand our sphere of influence, then it is by definition not already within the circle of mastery. The result is that many people with natal Jupiter in Virgo have a difficult time stepping up and getting recognized before they are 300% certain of their complete proficiency. While Jupiter is transiting Virgo, we are all temporarily placed in this position. Although technical proficiency is important, it is key that we do not let our awareness of our shortcomings prevent us from taking advantage of opportunities. While Jupiter’s time in Virgo may make it more difficult to make big leaps, it is nonetheless a fortuitous year to go back to work on fundamental skills.

 Efficiency Expert

The primary gains that Jupiter has to offer in Virgo revolve around the refinement of what already exists within your life. Although Jupiter does not promise the same degree of fame or enlightenment in Virgo as in some other signs, he does provide a tremendous, if humble opportunity to help you do what you are already doing, only much better.

Refinement, or distillation, is essentially a subtractive process. The heart of the method is to let go of what is not useful or necessary. As they say, “less is more.” This, of course, requires that we identify the wheat and chaff, and separate them appropriately.

Another method of improving efficiency that Jupiter in Virgo blesses is the incorporation of technological methods. Leveraging the power of machines great and small to accomplish your labors can make for tremendous productivity gains. Embrace the power of the cyborg.

 Truth Value

Another area where Jupiter in Virgo has a hard time manifesting surrounds the issue of belie—a key area of Jupiter’s concern. Belief should not be confused with naïve faith, but instead recognized as a series of choices we constantly make. Do you believe what they are saying on television? Do you believe that the thoughts going through your head are true?  Do you believe an external world exists?  Questions of belief are thus not confined to paradisiacal heavens, but instead hovering all about us.

There is not enough science in all the world to gather and process the data to answer even the most simple existential questions, and thus we are left in the perpetual situation of having to decide what we believe and how we will operate, based on those beliefs.

Jupiter’s transits almost always concern the issue of belief. In many cases, Jupiter’s visitations see a bloom of hope rise, and expand our beliefs so as to incorporate bigger and more buoyant concepts.

However, Virgo is analytic Mercury’s terrain, and thus excellent at picking apart ideas and arguments. There is a skepticism inherent to the sign that makes it difficult for optimistic Jupiter to operate. Jupiter’s time in Virgo may thus make it more difficult to deal with ideas or phenomena that do not have a strictly factual or rational basis.

However, Jupiter in Virgo can help add a little more rigor to your philosophical meandering. Scrutinize your ideas and positions in order to improve them, but ward against the temptation to small-mindedness—skepticism is a method, not a master. Examining your beliefs can help refine them, but it can also be a waste of time, as certainty is not possible in all matters.

Due to the relationship between facts and beliefs which forms the focus of Jupiter’s time in Virgo, the big planet’s stay there should be culturally beneficial for skeptical, atheist, agnostic, and Hermetic movements.