Jupiter and Saturn form another pair of opposites which can be broadly defined as the principles of expansion and contraction, faith and fear, enthusiasm and inhibition. When these two planets are supporting each other, Saturn will provide structure and shape to the vision and faith of Jupiter. Without Saturn, Jupiter would remain ungrounded and unrealistic, unable to manifest itself in the world. Without Jupiter, there would be no purpose or meaning to the structures created by Saturn.  Jupiter is the entrepreneur with the vision, and Saturn is the ability to turn the vision into reality. We need both.

As social planets Jupiter and Saturn describe our experiences of the outside world and what we therefore expect from the world. From a developmental point of view, Jupiter and Saturn begin to come into their own as we stand on the threshold of adulthood.  When the time comes for us to engage with the world as adults, to find work and to support ourselves emotionally and financially, we discover that, according to the nature of Jupiter and Saturn in our charts, our assumptions about how easy or difficult this will be, will be confirmed by the world’s response.

Audience:  So are you saying that, where these two planets are involved, we get what we expect?

Clare:  Yes, and this is a very important point. For example, as the principle of faith, enthusiasm and expansion, the world will often ‘oblige’ by giving us a charmed path according to the Jupiter position in our charts. As the principle of fear and inhibition, Saturn is equally pleased to oblige us by providing the obstacles and difficulties we anticipate, therefore reinforcing our expectations of the world. 

Audience:  Does this mean that if we change our expectations then the world’s response will also change?

Clare:  The short answer to this question is yes, but of course it is not as simple as it sounds because there is a natural balancing mechanism in the psyche between the principles of Jupiter and Saturn, which points to the fact that they need to be equally acknowledged and developed. According to the law of opposites, every polarity, pushed to its extreme, will become its opposite. For example, if we push our luck where Jupiter is concerned, we will eventually become excessively arrogant, overbearing, complacent and careless. This will evoke Saturn, and we will find ourselves alone to the extent that we are excluded, restricted or rejected. On the other hand, if we give Saturn his due, take nothing for granted, take the long hard road, suffer isolation, pessimism and periods of depression, eventually we may find, if we are fortunate, that a deep ‘hard won’ faith gradually emerges which, built on the hard rock of experience, nobody can take away from us. We will have found Jupiter. Clearly, neither extreme is advisable! We need to develop a positive relationship to both these planets in our birth charts, so that neither one becomes too extreme and each supports the other. 

As social planets, Jupiter rules the benevolent face of society and Saturn rules the restrictive face of society. Jupiter rules our civic rights and all the amenities provided by the government or by society for the benefit of civilians: employment protection and equal opportunities laws, child and unemployment benefits, legal aid, hospitals, refuse collection, sports centres, concert halls, libraries, schools and universities. In this sense, Jupiter rules the ‘they’ whose job it is to provide all these services. As children, or for as long as we remain psychologically infantile, we expect ‘them’ to be the benevolent parents who provide for all our needs without us having to do anything.  

            Saturn rules the stern face of society and all the laws and amenities which are put in place for the safety and necessary containment of civilians: the police force and armed services, prisons and detention centres, rules and regulations, law courts, fines, penalties, punishments, imprisonment. As children, or for as long as we remain psychologically infantile, we tend to experience ‘them’ as restricting critical parents against whom we can rail but who wield power over us as long as we remain under their control.

Ultimately, the principles of Jupiter and Saturn need to be owned and integrated within our own psyches if we are to become psychologically adult. This means that we need to find our own Jupiter, our own god or gods, beliefs and principles which give our lives meaning, and these may in fact be quite different from the culture in which we live. And we need to find our own Saturn, our own inner authority and our own personal laws by which we live. If we can develop these two principles in such a way that they are no longer projected or carried by society for us, then we can make a positive and useful and valuable contribution to the society in which we live.