Another shift in the astro-landscape is almost upon us with Jupiter's impending entrance into Virgo on August 11th! Jupiter spends about a year in each sign and his time in Leo is almost up, so if we've enjoyed the heart-opening potential of this placement over the last year, let's pause for a moment and give thanks. Jupiter is the planet of gratitude and abundance, and we honor him whenever we count our blessings and look for the good in life. Perhaps you've enjoyed an increased level of confidence, experienced creative expansion, felt blessings come though your children ( for a very literal example, see this humdinger of a story about a son who recently gave his mother a winning 5 million dollar lottery ticket for her birthday, LOL!), amped up your joie-de-vivre, or expanded your heart-center during the 391 days it spent in Leo. So before we prepare to see him off on the next leg of his journey and welcome his entrance into Virgo, let's acknowledge all the good this planet has done for us during his time here!

Jupiter in Virgo will have a very different feel to it - it's not nearly as showy as Leo, and so the ways in which we are fortunate might not be quite as obvious. Virgo represents the little things - it's the small, ordinary, routine things we tend to take for granted and so it becomes more important under Jupiter in Virgo that we look at the multitude of everyday ways we are blessed and to make gratitude a routine practice. This is a fab time to start a gratitude journal, for example. It's Law of Attraction 101 - as we seek, so shall we find. And when we off start by acknowledging all the good there is around us every single day, this can have a positive "snowball" effect where our blessings build upon themselves until we have ourselves a big ole' Ball of Awesome!

 

And speaking of what we choose to focus on, it's worth noting that Jupiter is *the* planet of perspective - it concerns faith and what we believe, so with Virgo being the sign of wellness what we believe about the state of our health can have a profound effect upon us now. Adopting a positive attitude toward illness and recovery is so important for this reason and can really can do wonders. Jupiter is a Seeker - it is all about the quest. To be handed an answer right off the bat would hinder further exploration, so look at the entirety of the journey toward wellness simply as places you have been. No matter where you are now, you can always keep moving onward and it is for this reason that I see it as vital to align ourselves with healthcare practitioners who share a positive point of view on recovery. We want to surround ourselves with people who will be our advocates on this healing journey and who promote wellness over sickness. Honesty is such an important quality with Jupiter as well, so while knowing the facts and having statistical data as a general reference point can help us to have a better understanding of the totality of the picture, it by no means should be construed as *the* whole picture. A blunt diagnosis coupled with huge laundry list of facts and figures can overwhelm, and the best practitioners will always inspire hope and focus on ways to make improvements, even if these are small.

 

Although Jupiter in Virgo can be a great boon for our health and can also amp up the benefits from things like diet, exercise, good nutrition, and supplements, because this planet tends to easily "overdo it" we should also be careful not to go overboard in this regard. The tendency can be to think that if a little is good, then more must be better and this can lead to an imbalance if we're not paying attention - a focus upon only eating what we perceive (and that's certainly the keyword!) as good for us, excessive amounts of exercise...things like these can also have the ability to do more harm than good, so think macro and holistic. Another important keynote to consider is that Jupiter in Virgo can also have a tendency to over-focus upon the minutiae, where stress levels are increased. Think about ways too keep yours from getting out of hand, and also about keeping a good work-rest balance because Jupiter in Virgo can tend to put the work ethic on steroids, LOL. If we find that a common complaint of ours is we're too busy to take a day off, it's probably a sign this is precisely what we need to do!

 

I think one final point of consideration worth mentioning is that health "Truths" aren't necessarily a universal thing, and sometimes what's good for me, you, him, or her might not all be the same because there is no "one size fits all" and every body is different. We have to be mindful of this - especially if we encounter those promoting their avenue for wellness during Jupiter in Virgo as if it were *the only* means to get there. While it's totally understandable that one might want to "spread the gospel" to others if they encountered something that improved their own wellbeing, there are many paths we might take and not every one will necessarily be right for every person - as I mentioned earlier, it's all about the journey. This kind of wellness evangelism - thought likely to come from a good place - should be avoided; mostly because when a method is touted as "the only way" to get to hale & hearty and yet for any number of reasons does not quite yield the results we had hoped, it's a lot like putting all our eggs in one basket and then having it dropped, which can cause us to lose the faith entirely. Heaven forbid we be subsequently judged as doing something "wrong" simply because our Way turns out not to be the same as somebody else's Way. Nope, in that case remember this was just a brief port-of-call detour you sent a postcard from and not the actual destination - keep moving along! Onwards and upwards!

 

There will certainly be many other manifestations of Jupiter in Virgo's energy, so we might consider this article as only scratching off some major keynotes.  I try to provide enough food for thought in the newsletter without overwhelming via TMI, so hopefully I've managed to strike a balance.  And if you want more information about this placement (and/or many other astro-topics), you can always follow my blog where I'll be posting supplemental articles!