The Jupiter Neptune conjunction, elections and emotion

Increasingly noticeable, the major astrological event of 2022, the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces will be highly active from the last week of February to the end of May. It will become active again from the end of October to the end of December. The two planets will conjunct each other exactly on April the 12th, as political shifts and elections take place around this cosmic alignment. The first round of the French presidential election, scheduled for the 10th, March the 9^th in South Korea, and May the 9^th in the Philippines and some time before May 2022 in Australia. Then, at the end of the year when the conjunction returns, the USA will hold its midterm elections (1).

Without attempting to make predictions – or take sides – let us ask ourselves if the encounter of these two planets has the capacity to influence the ballots and, more generally, how does it affect our destinies?

The emotion

The main fact to remember is the excessive importance of emotion and its undue influence on the debates, opinions and behaviors; the winner is unlikely to be the child of logic and discernment. It is certainly never quite the case; we are not composed of cold intellects in which only rationality and logic govern our choices and decisions. Emotion makes us human, as the two masters of Pisces, the most sensitive of the zodiac signs, remind us. What would we be without the ability to be moved, and without feeling a sense of justice and compassion? (Jupiter) or deprived of the urge to empathy and communion (Neptune)?

Unfortunately, overflowing emotion often translates into sentimentality (Neptune): “…. the distinction to be made between love, which is self-sufficient, and sentimentality characterized by fear and suffering is crucial. Sentimentality is the source of the unspeakable, especially if one ” genuinely ” believes to be acting for the Good. Indignation can be a superficial reaction to injustice, a way of defining oneself, of feeling virtuous and compassionate, and of filling the inner void” (2).

This is the very danger: amplified by Jupiter, sentimentality (Neptune), linked to suffering (Neptune) and indignation (Jupiter), accounts for many opinions. Fear, anger, grief at times, and perhaps contempt overrule reason. Joy and confidence are not absent, but they move in a tight circle: people rejoice and become enthusiastic amid large partisan rallies where they loudly testify to their faith in a certain ideology and in the anticipated victory of their favorite candidate.

In this context, naive beliefs, illusions and manipulations thrive; let us remember that in a natal chart, apart from its benevolent qualities which are not to be underestimated, a Jupiter-Neptune conjunction associates with emotional dazzlement (Neptune) and poorly offered trust (Jupiter). One will be more easily seduced by denunciations of injustice (Jupiter), and promises to protect the vulnerable (Neptune), than by well-considered and reasoned arguments.

Casting a vote for a person or for an image?

Our present-day elections involve millions of people who choose not a person in the flesh, but the perceived image of that person. Neptune, who among other things rules the world of movies, is the mastermind of these images which are crafted over time through articles, profiles and interviews; this provokes subtle shifts of feelings in the public mind.

A simple alteration of a properly staged image triggers a sudden sort of empathy (Neptune) towards a political figure who then seems more touching, more human, more intimate; whereas a mistake, a misplaced comment, provokes a rejection, a disgrace from which it is sometimes very difficult to recover.

Once again, in the context which concerns us, the two planets interact, each playing its own tune: if the image itself, inevitably delusional, is Neptunian, its content – generally righteousness, integrity, unselfishness, and truth – is Jupiterian. The contenders are therefore altruistic (Jupiterian) with a mission to achieve, not in the least motivated by power, money or fame.

If these are standard mechanisms in most elections, the Jupiter-Neptune conjunction greatly magnifies them. The pre-election climate is permeated by it: people argue more about the personal character of the candidates than about the proposed programs. Either they are seen as saviors or violently rejected. This confusion leads to brutal reactions and instinctive dismissals in a highly polarized society.

Identification

This polarization arises from identification, a dangerous neptunian tendency (3) now amplified by Jupiter: even more than usual, we are influenced by the sense of belonging (Neptune) to one or several categories defined by social class, religious beliefs or lack thereof, ethnic origin, cultural background and even, actuality compels, a pro or antivax attitude.

Neptune, though a star of empathy, fusion and communion, is thus found at the root of our worst behaviors: Neptunian identification feeds racism, xenophobia, intolerance, hatred and ultimately violence, brutality and war.

Wrongly instrumentalized, legitimate anger against injustice (Jupiter) fuels this logic of identification (Neptune) which looks for the guilty on the outside; it then becomes imperative to belong to a group (Neptune) which possesses the truth (Jupiter), thereby defining oneself against the others.

Truths and untruths

Neptune is very much associated with spying, surveillance, infiltration, concealment and secret manipulations, whether national or foreign. Jupiter on the other hand has a lot to do with frankness and truth. This mixture generates a great deal of confusion, truth and lies intermingling in a world where disinformation has become an organized and sometimes even a lucrative activity. Over the next few months, Jupiter is expected to amplify neptunian activities through hacking, troll factories, media manipulation and social networks.

These activities are to be watched closely in the context of the current Ukrainian crisis, in which Neptune plays a leading role: Vladimir Putin is a former spy (Neptune) and Russia, although traditionally Aquarius, has much to do with the sign of Pisces. The situation could very well remain confused and chaotic until the end of May

More than ever, information and their sources must be assessed, because truths (Jupiter) and lies (Neptune) are more than entangled.   

A perfume of scandal?

Throughout the world this planetary context fuels the possibility of scandals, which may affect opinions and results in the countries where elections are being held. Combined with Neptune, Jupiter encourages – through recklessness or excessive extraversion – the exposure of improperly shared secrets, again in the context of poorly placed trust.

The bright side

The Jupiter-Neptune conjunction powerfully influences the collective consciousness for better or for worse. Emotion is a tremendously powerful energy that needs to be felt in all its purity, i.e., free from the shackles of conditioning, beliefs and manipulations:

” Ideally Jupiter and Neptune are associated with the genuine, fiery emotion, not conditioned by the fear of suffering, freed from lies, pretenses and self-delusions. The illusory balloon of the ego is then deflated and the inner emptiness that one has fled through identifications and illusions, turns out to be the greatest wealth one can possess” (4).

As we approach significant elections while the world continues its mad trajectory towards self-destruction, let us remember that Jupiter truly represents justice and compassion for the weakest (Neptune). Therefore, it is not excluded that these next months justice and philosophy (Jupiter) as well as empathy and the wish for communion (Neptune) penetrate deeply the collective consciousness, slowing down at least a bit the race towards personal interests which destroys our societies and our planet.

Our choices, electoral or otherwise, could consequently be more grounded in generosity, altruism and heartfelt intelligence. Ultimately, this means looking inward, no longer blaming the other, in order to understand the great neptunian principle: I am the world, and the world is me; an awareness allowing Jupiter to unfold its principles of justice and compassion throughout the collective consciousness.

To reach this point, solar nobleness, saturnian seriousness and uranian intelligence are called upon, since celestial geometry is a whole, but this is another story to be told.   

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(1) Brazil holds presidential elections in October the 2^nd, with Jupiter retrograde in Aries, less than 10° apart from Neptune in Pisces.

(2) L’astrologie et la mécanique de la pensée – Jupiter et Neptune en aspects

Bernard Duchatelle – Amazon 2015

(3) In its relation to Neptune, the concept of identification has been discussed in this article, in French only: Neptune et les dangers de l’identification

https://bernardlastrologue.blogspot.com/2015/02/neptune-et-les-dangers-de.html

(4) L’astrologie et la mécanique de la pensée – Jupiter et Neptune en aspects

Bernard Duchatelle – Amazon 2015