On September 24, 1958 Jupiter and Neptune reached their conjunction at 3 18' Scorpio.

Such a conjunction occurs every 13 years, each time (or nearly each time) taking place in a di erent !odiacal sign. "he complete cycle o such conjunctions around the !odiac takes a#out 1$$ years to occur. %s 13 times 13 e&uals 1$', (e are con ronted (ith a cycle o 13 conjunctions occurring at almost e)actly 13*year intervals. "his emphasis on the num#er 13 is signi icant, and + shall presently discuss its signi icance. ,ut irst let us list the dates at (hich these conjunctions occur during the 18th to -1st centuries, as this is the #est (ay to sho( at a glance ho( the cyclic pattern o relationship #et(een the t(o planets operate. "his pattern is &uite regular. the three*times* repeated conjunctions occurring (hen /upiter is 0stationary retrograde0 near the place o conjunction.

1n looking at this data (e can notice at once that the conjunctions preceding the 1'28 instance occurred at very important times in terms o social and international developments. "he 1'32 conjunction ollo(ed #y a e( (eeks the atom*#om# e)plosions over /apan, and it marked the #eginning o the post*(ar period o reconstruction and o vast social*political readjustments all over the (orld. "he 1'3- conjunction can #e directly related to the rise to po(er o 4. 5. 6oosevelt and %dol 7itler, the 8e( 5eal and 8a!ism 9 t(o opposite solutions to the socio*economic pro#lems o our age.

"he 1'1'*1'-: conjunctions are to #e linked (ith the spread o the so*called /a!! %ge, (ith the start o the period o #asic social*spiritual reorientation ((hich actually ailed to ind its true 0orient,0 its true da(n;) a ter the lugu#rious "reaty o <ersailles and =oodro( =ilson's tragic de eat. +ncidentally, it (as during the months covered #y the 1'1'*1'-: conjunctions that >alestine and ?esopotamia (+ra&) (ere made ,ritish, and Syria a 4rench, mandates 9 thus esta#lishing the #ackground o the present 8ear @ast trou#les. "hen, also, the support #y the allies o counterrevolutionary movements in 6ussia ((hich made the chasm #et(een the Soviet and the =est ar stronger and more #itter) inally collapsed (Aolchak's de eat in /anuary, 1'-:). + , then, (e consider the greater /upiter*8eptune cycle and study the conjunctions (hich occurred in the same !odiacal signs some 1$$ years earlier, (e reali!e that the period marked #y the conjunctions paralleling the recent ones (itnessed the development o the revolutionary spirit (hich #rought the old eudal and classical @uropean culture to an end and impelled the %merican colonies to seek their independence rom @ngland. "he (ork o the great 4rench thinkers (ho colla#orated on the amous 0@ncyclopedia0 #egan just #e ore the 1B23 /upiter*8eptune conjunction in CeoD and it (as then that the struggle #et(een 4rance and the %merican colonies or the entire ?iddle =est reached its critical stage. "hen, also, Eeorge =ashington irst came into prominenceD and in 1B23, in %l#any, at a con erence o colonial delegates (ith the Si) 8ations (the great +ndian 4ederation (hich, in a sense, (as a prototype or the %merican ederal impulse;) a plan (as dra(n, at 4ranklin's suggestion, or a union o the colonies (under a president appointed #y the @nglish Fro(n). "he plan had no success, #ut it (as de initely a 0seed0 o (hat (as to come. "he ollo(ing 1B$$ conjunction in <irgo came a year a ter the passage o the Stamp %ctD rom then on, the struggle against ta)ation gre( in intensity. %t the 1BB' conjunction, the =ar o +ndependence (as in ull s(ing. 8eptune had then entered Ci#ra. =hen, a ter a ull !odiacal revolution, 8eptune once more reached Ci#ra, the 0%tomic %ge0 #egan (5ecem#er, 1'3-), (ith the irst controlled atomic reaction in Fhicago. "he second degree o Ci#ra constitutes, in my opinion, the midheaven o the most signi icant 0#irth*chart0 o the %merican people as a people (Sagittarius-rising chart, /uly 3, 1BB$)D and the passage o 8eptune over this midheaven produced periods that (ere politically con used (ar de eats 9 and (ho kno(s e)actly (hat the era that #egan (ith this control over the atom's energies (ill do to our political system and, deeper still, our political consciousness. =hen (e come to the year 1B'- and its three successive conjunctions o /upiter and 8eptune, (e see in %merica the gro(th o the crucial and #asic opposition #et(een /e erson's party and 7amilton's 4ederalists (hich has had deep repercussions in %merican political li e ever since. +n 4rance, on Septem#er -1, 1B'-, the monarchy (as a#olished and 4rance declared a repu#lic, a #asic date in @urope's history. "he e)ecution o Couis G<+, the revolutionary (ar, the 0"error0 ollo(ed promptly.

=ith the ne)t conjunction in 18:3, (e ind ,onaparte enthroned as 0@mperor o the 4rench0 (?ay 18, 18:3) 9 all o (hich may indeed provide us (ith signi icant clues, considering (hat is occurring in 4rance today, as 8eptune de initely settles in Scorpio. =e are no( #eginning a 13 period (hich parallels, in this sense, the period 1B'- to 18:3. 7o(ever one (ishes to interpret the parallelism o these t(o periods, it is &uite clear that (e are living through years as signi icant in the history o man's social, political and religious consciousness as those (hich stretched #et(een, let us say, 1B$$ and 18:3. "hen the +ndustrial 6evolution, #ased on the use o coal and steam, (as gradually #eing initiated. 8o(, the @lectronic 6evolution and the 8uclear 6evolution are like(ise in their initial stages. "his present 0revolution0 is assuredly no less important than the irstD indeed, there are many reasons or #elieving that it may #e ar more #asic and crucial; =e are passing through a revolutionary era, the magnitude o (hich is pro#a#ly unprecedented in its implications or total social, political, cultural and religious changes. +t is (ell that (e recogni!e and ace all that such implications mean. "he &uestion is no longer (hether there shall #e a (idespread and perhaps total trans ormation o our (ay o li e and social*political consciousness, but what ind o! trans!ormation it sha"" be.

The Meaning of Jupiter-Neptune Conjunctions

+t takes a little less than 1- years or /upiter to revolve around the Sun, and during these 1- years, 8eptune moves nearly one (hole !odiacal signD thus, the conjunction o these t(o planets occurs in each sign successively at intervals o a#out 13 years. "he situation parallels rather strikingly the case o the lunation cycle 9 or (hile the ?oon revolves in its or#it in less than -8 days, the Sun moves a#out one (hole !odiacal sign. "hus, the ?oon has to move on another t(o days #e ore it catches up (ith the Sun at 08e( ?oon0 time. +n this analogy, 8eptune acts as the Sun, /upiter as the ?oonD and just as every sign o the !odiac is vitali!ed each month #y a Sun*?oon conjunction (8e( ?oon), like(ise every sign o the !odiac is energi!ed every 13*year period #y /upiter*8eptune conjunction. #he on"$ c$c"e which gi%es us a %er$ regu"ar se&uence o! two p"anets' conjunction in e%er$ successi%e sign o! the (odiac is Jupiter-Neptune c$c"e o! 1)) $ears 9 thus its importance, i or no other reason. +t is one o the most logical small cycles to #e used or historical purposes, other ones #eing the $:*year complete cycle o /upiter*Saturn conjunctions ((hich includes 9 three conjunctions spaced at a#out 1-: rom each other) and the eclipse cycles. +n other (ords, the /upiter*8eptune cycle ena#les us to state that every 13 years one !odiacal sign a ter another (ill #e energi!ed #y a /upiter*8eptune conjunction. @ach o these 13*year periods carries, thus, as it (ere, something o the &uality o the energi!ed sign. 4or instance, (e are just completing a Ci#ra period ((ith a Ci#ra president;) and starting a Scorpio period. "he 4irst =orld =ar #egan during a Fancer period ((ith >luto entering Fancer, signi icantly enough)D and the Second =orld =ar (as #eing prepared and ought during a <irgo period, ending as this period (as #eing closed.

=hat does this actually mean, one (ill naturally ask. +n order to give a consistent ans(er, (e must consider the separate meanings o /upiter and 8eptune, then study the characteristic eatures and purpose o the relationship #et(een the /upiterian and 8eptunian types o unctions or activities. Jupiter, ho(ever, can hardly #e understood (ithout #racketing this planet (ith Saturn. /upiter and Saturn are the t(o astrological sym#ols o the social realm o human e)perience using the (ord 0social0 in its most e)tended sense and making it include the transcendental aspect o social togetherness and social sharing, (hich is the core o any kind o organi!ed religion. +n contrast to the pair /upiter and Saturn, ?ars and <enus deal essentially (ith the personal actors in li e 9 that is, (ith all e)periences (hich normally are immediately and spontaneously re erred to the living center o the total human organism (#ody and psyche), thus (ith (hat (e actually mean (hen (e say 0+,0 >aul, or /ane. /upiter and Saturn re er to all e)periences (hich are primarily dependent upon the act that human #eings live in groups o various kinds and or various types o purposes 9 i.e., in the state o! societ$ and cu"ture. "his state o community living produces a sharing o needs, o values, ideals and memories, o goods and o victories over 8ature. +t produced language, culture, religion, la(s, institutions. +t gives to every person the sense that he 0#elongs0 in a community (/upiter)D in this community he has a place, unction and name (Saturn). /upiter deals particularly (ith social*cultural*religious eelings and the e)pansion that comes to the individual (ho operates (armly in terms o these eelings, reciprocated (usually) #y others, either emotionally (happiness) or in terms o concrete values ((ealth). Saturn, on the other hand, de ines the place and the #oundaries o the individual's participation in his group. "hus, (hile Saturn guarantees place, name, property, it also limits #y de ining and esta#lishing set categories, procedures, rites, techni&ues, marks o identi ication, and so on. Neptune, together (ith Hranus and >luto, #elongs to an altogether di erent level o reality. "hey are hardly to #e considered as integral parts o the solar system i the latter is understood as a closely de ined and limited cosmic entity. "hey represent the stage o transition #et(een the solar system unit and the vaster cosmic (hole, the gala)yD more precisely, they re er to certain #asic modes o activity #y (hich this galactic (hole constantly impresses its po(ers upon our tiny solar system, 0 eeds0 (in a sense) this solar system and (orks to(ard its closer integration into the galactic ield. Hranus challenges, distur#s, #reaks do(n at times and illumines (ith lashes o reali!ation the Saturnian 0place0 and name an individual has in society. Hranus says to the person (ho has identi ied himsel (ith a de inite tradition, culture, social class, jo# and ego ( or the ego is mostly molded #y social actors), 0Iou are more than that; ,reak a(ay rom your jail o narro( sel hood; @)perience your uture, your 'galactic' #eing;0 % ter Hranus has done this jo#, 8eptune moves on, dissolving the su#stance o the (alls or shells Hranus has shattered loose, releasing the stunned or enthralled consciousness.

Such dissolving po(er is the aspect o 8eptune most amiliar to students o astrologyD 8eptune is, thus, related to everything that is vast, immeasura#le, inde inite, universalistic, #ut also loose, un ocused, misty, glamorous, unreal, escapist. 8eptune, ho(ever, also has a positive aspect. % ter all, it is an 0agent0 o the vast galactic ield o cosmic e)istence; +t is an emissary o the greater to the lesser. + it dissolves the o#solete narro(ness o the Saturnian ocus, it is #ecause o deep, vast 0compassion.0 Eod #ecomes man so that man may soon gro( into the likeness o the divine orm (ithin the 0galactic0 #eing. "his 0divine orm0 is the shape o things to come or the individual, and especially or collective humanity as a participant in the 0ne(0 society al(ays in the making #ecause humanity is al(ays moving on collectively 9 evolving, reaching closer to an ever* uller actuali!ation o the all*human potential. "he uture repeatedly comes to meet the present at every turn o the evolutionary road so as to save this present rom automatically repeating the past. 8eptune is the uture in relation to /upiter, (hich represents the traditional (ay o meeting, o eeling and sharing (ith other people, (hether at the economic or the religious* cultural level. %strologers are haunted (ith the idea that /upiter is 0the greater ortune0 and a sym#ol o all that is 0good.0 ,ut good and ortunate or (hat* or the easy (ay o complacent and nearly automatic repetition o the past; /upiter gives good ortune to those (ho con orm, (ho ollo( the rules o the social game, the political game, the religious ritual, the (ay o the 0classical0 great masters in the arts. "ruly, there is nothing (rong in con ormingD and there are vast practical #ene its in doing so. ,ut con orming is not taking the ne( evolutionary step. "his step 9 this ne( trans ormation or 0mutation0 9 re&uires, like the taking o any (alking step, an initial loss o #alance, a 0 all,0 immediately ollo(ed #y a 0recovery.0 "o (alk is constantly to lose one's #alance, then recover it as the oot again touches the ground a yard or so ahead. "he /upiter*8eptune cycle is very much like a (alking process. @very 13 years*and, even more, every 1$$ years 9 mankind should take a step or(ard, even i only a tiny one. +t should #e a step ahead o our past traditional social, cultural and religious sense o human relationship. Hn ortunately, such a step tends to lead at irst to con usion, disarray, dismay, perhaps temporary #lindness and panicky escape 0#ack to the (om#0 o (hat may #e thought to #e a secure and amiliar institution or religious organi!ation. 7o(ever, progress is only through the con usion and the glo(ing mist over the hills, yonder. "here is no (ay ever o going ahead, e)cept through; "hrough 8eptune the great moment or this transcendence (literally, this 0stepping through0) is (hen 8eptune meets /upiter, or it is, theoretically at least, the moment (hen the 0 orm0 o our uture #ecomes visi#le, ho(ever dimly, to our consciousness. %las, the great majority o people re use to seeD or, i they see, to understandD or, i they understand (ith their mind, to act according to their understanding ((hich re ers, then, to >luto)D or, i they act, to have the dynamic aith and perseverance to sustain the action.

"he cycles o /upiter and 8eptune constitute the essential small steps (e should take in the trans ormation o our traditional social senseD #ut they do not necessarily re er to startling events, or (hat is implied is a change o attitude or 0 eeling*(ith0 9 a ne( a(areness o (hat human relationship can mean. ,ut it is the accumulation o these small changes (hich at last allo(s the great revolutionary events to happenD and these are #asically timed #y the a#out 5**-$ear c$c"e o! Neptune and +"uto and spurred on #y the various kinds o Hranus cycles 9 particularly, it seems, the 1B1*year cycle o Hranus and Saturn (the t(o great antagonists in the solar system;).

The Scorpio Cycle

8eptune already crossed the Scorpio threshold very #rie ly on Fhristmas 1'22, and rom 1cto#er 1'2$, to /une 1'2B, then rom %ugust 2, 1'2B on it #ecame de initely settled in Scorpio. %ll this constituted the prelude to the /upiter*8eptune conjunction at 31'' Scorpio on Septem#er -3, 1'28, just a ter the all e&uino) 9 a time o particularly strong planetary aspects this year. "his conjunction #egins a period (hich (ill end in early 4e#ruary 1'B1, (hen the irst o three conjunctions occurs. "his irst conjunction (ill #e in the irst degree o Sagittarius very close to ?ars. +n Ci#ra, (e see group activity operating. ,ut in Scorpio, mere activity is not enoughD it has to #ecome trans ormed and trans igured #y a total sense o identi ication o the doer and the deed. 1nly such a sense o identi ication makes mature action possi#le that is, an action in (hich the actor pours himsel unreservedly or (as 4rench philosophers (ould no( say) 0engages0 himsel totally 9 as one gear is engaged (ith another gear. "hus, or instance, Scorpio is not really re erring to se) as a merely natural, instinctive unctionD this unction, as such, #elongs to "aurus' animal ruit ulness. Scorpio is se) at the level o a conscious, personal, all*inclusive human sharing o vital and psychic energies 9 a sharing not too re&uent today, alas, or not carried to a point o psychic trans ormation (hich makes the participants in its ritual. 8evertheless, (herever there is ritual and conscious activity, there can #e, #ack o it, a constructive or a destructive purpose. 7uman #eings can share in terms o evil as (ell as o good. >o(er is, o itsel , neither good nor #ad. +t is the use o it (hich determines its moral or spiritual &uality. "hus, people can #e identi ied in disintegration and death, as (ell as in re#irth and joint trans iguration. Iet there is great hope or mankind at this time in the act that 8eptune and >luto are, or several decades still, in constructive se)tile aspect. "he relationship #et(een the /upiter*8eptune conjunction and >luto is, indeed, a very important actor 9 as is also their relationship (ith Hranus. =hile Hranus has #een s&uaring (mercilessly, it seems;) 8eptune during the last e( years, this s&uare is no( past 9 the last e ective appro)imation to this old s&uare having occurred at the last spring e&uino) (1'28). "heoretically, thus, the tension #et(een Hranian shatterings and 8eptunian dissolutions has done its (orkD no( the trans iguration #y 8eptune o the /upiterian unction in humanity can truly proceed, though assuredly (ith occasional periods o stress

and strain. +n 1'3- (the depression and the 6oosevelt*7itler polar ascendancy), the /upiter* 8eptune conjunction (as, in semi*s&uare to >luto, an aspect o mo#ili!ation o energiesD and see (hat happened; ,ut since the 1'32 conjunction, and until the %ries conjunction o the year -:32, the conjunction (ill remain in more or less close se)tile to >luto. "he process o social, cultural and religious trans ormation may not #e easyD #ut it should un old gradually. J7o(ever, the 8eptune*>luto 0long*se)tile0 oscillated in and out o e)act Septile aspect annually rom -::1 to -:11, see #he ,a"" to #rans!ormation or detailsK. +n the last 1$$*year cycle o /upiter and 8eptune, the conjunction occurred trine >luto, rom 1B:- to 1B'-D and (e had the slo( emergence o =estern humanity rom centuries o con ining dogmatism and #rutal eudalism through (hat has #een called 0"he %ge o @nlightenment.0 +t (as the time (hen the seer S(eden#org sa( 0the descent o the 8e( /erusalem0 upon the earth. ,ut around 181B, 8eptune (as s&uare >luto in late >iscesD and the 8apoleonic @mpire, (hich had perverted the revolutionary impact o 4rance upon @urope (yet spread its concepts), had collapsed. "he trine aspect re ers to the ideal stage o any evolutionary process. Hnder the 8eptune*>luto trine a#stract concepts and ormulas are producedD and the patterns o our 18th*century democracy, the 6ights o ?an and the slogan 0Ci#erty, @&uality, 4raternity0 (ere ormulated. ,ut the se)tile re ers to practical and concrete action and technical changes, (hich (e have #egun to (itness, especially since 1'3-. "hey no( must #e deepened, made more 0human0 #y the impact o a Scorpio type o sharing in the depths, #y the reali!ation that at the root o all cultures and all societies is to #e ound our 0common humanity.0 +t is this reali!ation alone that can eradicate the horrors o 0man's inhumanity to man.0 8o( is our chance to #egin ane( on this path o glo#al understanding and communion and or each o us to participate in the great cele#ration o a resurgent and mature humanity, (hose mani old racial and cultural variations can and must #e integrated in one vast and harmonic theme.