A lot of questions have come up regarding Jupiter’s recent transit to Cancer, so I wanted to go into more detail regarding it’s specific effects, particularly as they relate to physical and mental health.
I have mentioned that Jupiter is widely considered the greatest benefic of the zodiac. He is not only supportive—in the way a teacher, guide or Guru might be—but also has the ability to protect us from negative influences and experiences. If there is an affliction in a birth chart, Jupiter’s aspect can intervene and help someone find a solution. And a Jupiter transit over a troubled natal planet tends to bring a ‘cure’ to the suffering associated with that planet’s placement. This generally comes in the form of good advice and resources.
A large part of Jupiter’s beneficence comes from his innate Sattva, or goodness.
Tri-Guṇa
For anyone not familiar with the tri-guṇa or three qualities of nature which impact every aspect of thought and behavior, here is a brief explanation:
There are three guṇas in Vedic philosophy, each with their own qualities. We all experience them in different proportions but will generally have a predominance of one, similar to how we have a predominant physical doṣa. The guṇas are the active principle that mix the elements to create every manifest part of our experience. This means that they are behind everything, impelling thought, action and emotion. They are extremely important behavioral determinants, and influential in all matters related to mental health.
They are: rajas (initiation), tamas (inertia) , and sattva (equilibrium)
Rajas is quick and active, gives us ambition, creativity and drive and can also cause jealousy, anxiety, hostility, arrogance and a sense that there is never enough time. Rajas is associated with daytime, when there is naturally more activity in the world.
Tamas is dull and slow, gives confusion, greed, ignorance and depression, but is also the energy that allows us to go to sleep and get rest. Tamas gives the sense that there is too much time in the day, which can lead to boredom. It is associated with nighttime, when things slow down and recharge for the next day.
Sattva is measured and patient, gives satisfaction, purity and happiness. It is modest, simple and non-judgemental. It lends itself to moderation and truthfulness, and gives the sense of there being just enough time in the day to accomplish what needs to be done. It is associated with sunrise and sunset, when a certain tranquility tends to come over the world.
Diseases of mind/body
Someone’s habitual behavior will tell you what guṇa(s) they are dominated by. From the Ayūrvedic perspective, rajas and tamas are considered doṣas of the mind, in the same way that vata, pitta and kapha are doṣas of the body.
“There are three bodily doṣas: vata, pitta and kapha—they vitiate the body. Again, there are two doṣas of the mind: rajas and tamas—they vitiate the mind. Vitiation of the body and the mind causes the expression of diseases and no disease is caused without vitiation of doṣas.” – Charaka Samhita, Sharirasthana 4/34
This means that Sattva is synonymous with health, and that we should strive to bring more of it into our thoughts, lives and actions: a task which can become increasingly complicated in a world dominated mostly by rajas and tamas.
It is also complicated by the fact that it is easy to categorize certain lifestyles or behaviors as ‘sattvic,’ even though they are not necessarily motivated by sattva. As an example, many people might consider meditation and yoga sattvic, but if it is performed as a competition or in order to appear spiritual, it is actually rajasic. If it is undertaken as a form of punishment, then it is tamasic. Following a vegetarian or vegan diet while being judgemental of those who don’t would also be a pernicious type of rajas behavior.
Similarly, actions or occupations which may appear tamasic, such as law enforcement, can have sattvic motivations. It may be the case that some of the most sattvic people are the least visible, most humble humans who are quietly benevolent without asking for reward or seeking visibility.
A deep understanding of the guṇas is a lifelong project. In this article, I would like to discuss Jupiter’s guṇa and how his transit can impact behavior.
Jupiter and Sattva
Each planet has both an element and a guṇa, which together help us understand how it operates. Jupiter rules the space element and is one of three sattvic planets, the others being Sun and Moon.
These three planets are in charge of our connection with Time (Sun), our senses (Moon) and our inner knowing (Jupiter)—three pillars of health, from an Ayūrvedic perspective. When these planets are healthy, these are in good working order and we:
Sun: follow a healthy routine, change our diet and lifestyle according to seasons and phases of life, and have a structure in our lives which supports our flourishing.
Moon: moderate the use of our senses, taking care not to over, under or mis-use any of the five sense faculties- or when we recognize we have done so, we make a change
Jupiter: are in direct contact with our body’s intelligence and respond to its signals
When these planets are afflicted, one or more of these pillars start to break down, we get off balance and the disease process begins. That is the disturbance of sattva, in which three pillars of health become three basic causes for disease:
Kāla Pariṇāma or disturbances to Time—ruled by the Sun
Asātmyendriyārtha or misuse of the sense faculties—ruled by the Moon
Prajñāparādha or mistakes of the intellect—ruled by Jupiter.
Mistakes of the intellect, or misuse of one’s innate intelligence is the most consequential of these three, since it opens the doorway for misuse of the senses and the disturbances to rhythm, routine and relationship with other aspects of Time which are part of Kāla Pariṇāma.
Prajñaparādha can be summed up as knowing something isn’t good for you and doing it anyway, or getting a cue from your body and not responding to it. This is a normal part of human life, but the degree to which we avoid listening to ourselves varies between individuals and across the lifespan.
Prajñāparādha and the ability to listen
A healthy planet in charge of one of these pillars is a huge protective factor when it comes to both mental and physical health. The ‘health’ of a planet is seen from its sign and house placements and aspects to it. A planet is exaltation is the strongest version of itself, so has more energy and resources to offer support.
All of this means that we collectively get a boost in listening to our prajña or inner knowing, during this time. Prajña is often translated as insight or knowing. It is the type of wisdom that transcends concepts, ideas and intellectual reasoning. It is naturally present in everyone and simply requires uncovering. With a highly afflicted Jupiter, there is some tamasic influence keeping someone from accessing this inner knowing. With a strong Jupiter, an individual has easy access to prajña and may wonder why others don’t.
Because Jupiter is also connected to decision making and the prefrontal cortex, the difficulty accessing prajña can be related to issues with executive functioning and attention control. For some people, issues with ADHD, memory and focus improve drastically with Jupiter remediation, which needs to be prescribed according to the individual horoscope.
You may recall that each planet is connected to an element, which is also connected to an organ of perception and sense faculty. These function almost as a unit, with input or changes in one reverberating in the others. For example, sound modifies the way space feels, with a lot of noise or undesirable music making it feel small and maybe claustrophobic. Pleasant sounds or silence can make a place feel very spacious and open. Similarly, a ruminating mind full of noise can feel like a prison, whereas a post-meditation or massage mind can be very spacious and pleasant to inhabit.
These relationships are the basis of Vedic philosophy and help us to understand how the planets actually impact us through the workings of our own bodies and minds. They also give us clues as to how to improve the health planets which may be afflicted in our chart. Focused listening—both internally and externally— and working with sound is an excellent way to improve Jupiter’s functioning.
How to use this transit
Jupiter in exaltation for the next year elevates everyone’s access to their own inner knowing. This may come through space opening up in your life somewhere, or through a new practice or lifestyle modification which creates a sense of openness (meditation, more time in Nature, etc.) which reduces pressure in your life.
Wherever this new expansiveness is, it’s something to tune into. You want to take this time to see how much you can develop that morsel of peace or brightness, however small it may be. If it is just a reduction in stress, rather than stress relief altogether, that is also something to notice and attempt to grow.
The increased spaciousness makes room for the type of deep listening which supports health. The transit can work the other way, too: our ability to hear ourselves begins to increase and causes us to make more space for the things which promote health on all levels.
All of this leads to Sattva, which is the quality that is increasing with this transit.
Now is a good time to think ahead one year and consider how you would like to feel, even above where you’d like to be in life, and start accepting opportunities which might lead you toward that.
While this transit can also bring material benefit and resources (particularly when associated with financial houses in a horoscope), some of its greatest gifts come in the way it transforms our inner world, reminding us what the best version of ourselves can be.
The guṇas are so much about approach and the way we go about doing things. It can be useful during this time to shift your attention inward, even in the midst of the demands of daily life. Notice rajasic or tamasic states and thoughts which might be habitually accompanying daily tasks and interactions. If you start to see that your inner state is full of negativity (tamas) or stress (rajas), this might be a better time than ever to work on removing that weight.
Now is also an excellent time for remedial measures related to Jupiter or any planets he may be transitting in your natal chart. For personalized details and recommendations related to this, please book a consultation with me.