The Economic Cycle of Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter-Saturn Cycle
Jupiter and Saturn are considered the planetary pair that most closely relate to economic factors in a person’s chart. Their relationship by phase (more below about that) and aspect can relay information about a person’s attitudes, prospects and habit patterns regarding “success” in the “real” world. On a mundane scale—i.e. global/political, they have a cyclic relationship that correlates with worldwide economic conditions which can be very helpful in assessing current events.
It was 1974 in San Francisco at an AFA convention that I first heard about this. Marc Robertson gave a lecture on the topic, and in fact, you can read more about it in his succinct book, “Engine of Destiny” published by AFA. I don’t know if it’s still available, but it’s a wonderful little gem of a book with enormous information packed into less than 100 pages. He covers not only the Jupiter/Saturn cycle, but five other pairs, as well.
The synodic cycle of Jupiter and Saturn is twenty years. That is, after Jupiter and Saturn align (conjunct) in space, it will be roughly twenty years before they do so again. Within that cycle there are eight phases. We are used to the Sun and Moon having phases and are familiar with four: new, first quarter, full and last quarter. Those are the times when the Moon has moved, in relation to the Sun, a quarter of a circle (90 degrees), half a circle and the last quarter of the circle before becoming new again.
You can divide each of those four phases in half again. This makes each of the eight phases 45 degrees in space. All planets have phases with all the other planets, and it is a bedrock concept in Astrology holding profound meaning. With Jupiter and Saturn, regarding our global economic cycle, the new phase, which is at the alignment or conjunction (they appear to be together in the sky although one is farther out in space than the other), is when we tend to act instinctively. The beginning of this current cycle, was in late May/early June 2000. We believe we have pretty good sense about how far to go with spending or not, we think, but it is instinctive and without a plan. This initiates an approximately ten year period of optimism and spending—and if misused, greed. Note that ten years ago we in the USA had a surplus when Bush took office. Lots of optimism, so Bush gave it back. Then we had a rising bubble of housing prices and debt accumulation over the next ten years. Whoever was amassing debt was looking at expansion or profit and not at the responsibility of the results. The waxing phase of the Sun and Moon, remember, is when the Moon appears to get bigger and bigger.
After the new phase comes the crescent phase, which is when the two planets are 45 degrees apart with the faster planet ahead of the slower one. This is when there is an urge to break new ground and depart from old structures. We started a war.
Then there is the first quarter phase, around five years from the conjunction, and it is here that there is a crisis, a battle. Usually, it is a more aggressive period. In the current cycle, this was when Bush entered his second term where he aggressively announced he would spend his political capital.
The next phase is the gibbous. Jupiter is now 135 degrees from Saturn in the sky. This is the time the global community begins to analyze what has been going on and to try to be more efficient. There is a danger of degenerating into criticism and “blaming” during this time. It has a “Virgo” flavor.
The ten year marker, or full phase, is where we are now in this cycle. It was exact the last day of March/first day of April, which is why I was inspired to write this. The full phase is when we “see the light.” That is, if we use the Sun/Moon analogy, it is full Moon time, and there is full realization of the results of the last ten years’ economic choices and activity. We are heading into the waning phase for the next ten years, and during that time, historically, economies are more austere. We reap what we have sown in the waxing phase—positive or negative depending on whether it was wise or not.
The disseminating phase is next, starting in October 2012, and may be the most important of all. This phase is about assessing what we have learned and teaching others, although most of the time we as a species don’t use its highest function. It is about making laws to insure the future will be wiser from our mistakes.
The last quarter phase, starting August 2015, is when we reach a place of responsibility and act on what we have learned, preparing for the future. In the last cycle, Clinton was in office during these last couple phases. It wouldn’t have mattered who was in office, though. The same energy would have been prevalent. The difference is that some can use it better than others.
And finally, the Balsamic phase, which is the most spiritual of all. On some level of our global psyches we realize, whether we’re conscious of it or not, that we are all one. It is an internalizing of what has gone before, digesting it, and preparing for the new cycle which will begin this next time just before Christmas in 2020 at zero degrees Aquarius. Every time I see these cycles unfold, I’m awestruck again at how orderly God has arranged our growth. If we don’t learn the lesson in one cycle, there will be another one right behind it!