Planets: Jupiter—ray 2 (sacred)

Ray 2 triangle

F Ray 2 (sacred planet)

Method: Integration and the expansion of consciousness

Rulerships: Orthodox: Sagittarius Pisces Esoteric: Aquarius Hierarchical: Virgo
Dignities: Exaltation: Cancer Fall: Capricorn Detriment: Gemini Virgo
Paired planet (Ray 2): Sun
Symbol: F A cross surmounted by a semicircle.
Jupiter triangles:

Jupiter: general information

Astronomically, because of its gravity, Jupiter is recognised as a force that attracts smaller bodies that might otherwise stray into the inner solar system. So it is a kind of “protector” for the inner planets, including Earth (in fact, it is almost like a mini solar system itself, with active volcanic and ocean moons). It has even captured other bodies as temporary “moons”, the most well-known being Shoemaker-Levy 9, which was eventually absorbed by Jupiter; but strikingly: “…comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu was captured as a temporary moon of Jupiter, and remained trapped in an irregular orbit for about twelve years”—Atkinson, Nancy, 2009 Jupiter Captured Comet as Temporary Moon

Jupiter takes approximately a year to travel through each sign and 12 years to move through the entire zodiac (its sidereal revolution), so is known as the “year planet” in some cultures. This symbolises how the role of Jupiter is closely allied to the Sun via Ray 2—the 2nd Ray nature of the Sun of our solar system is held to be the source of all seven rays as sub-rays.

In connection with the Mutable Cross, the rays of the Sun … pour into and through [humanity], via Jupiter… the agent of the second ray which the Sun expresses—cosmically and systemically. (EA 143)

Jupiter’s rulerships also connect it to several other signs:

Second ray influences and potencies … pour into our planetary sphere and life, via the Sun … and Jupiter. These sweep the forces of Leo, Sagittarius, Pisces, Aquarius and Virgo into and through our entire planet and all its kingdoms in nature. (EA 167)

A crucial factor in the interpretation of esoteric charts in general is the placement of three key planets that each represent one of the three crosses:

The Cardinal Cross—is responsible for bringing about certain great points of synthesis, as a consequence of both change and crisis. Jupiter is responsible for the focussing of energies at this point. (EA 168)

So in any chart—but especially one where the Cardinal Cross is prominent—Jupiter will indicate the focus of the Cardinal Cross activity that provides the bigger picture for an individual’s development, the point where they are able to process experience and synthesise it towards the wisdom symbolised by Ray 2 and focussed through Jupiter. The expansion of consciousness so that we become aware of a wider sense of connection and responsibility is a general quality of Ray 2, which Jupiter enhances.

Jupiter gives an inherent tendency to fusion which nothing can arrest. The achievement of ultimate synthesis is inevitable, and this Jupiter promotes. (EA 139)

There are cryptic references to the work of various esoteric schools throughout Esoteric Astrology, and Jupiter is mentioned as The School of Beneficent Magicians, or:

the ‘College of Quadruple Force Units,’ for its members wield four kinds of force in constructive magical work. Another name given to its halls is ‘The Palace of Opulence’ for its graduates work with the law of Supply and are frequently called the ‘sowers.’ (EA 335)

Jupiter: Rulerships

The connections that Jupiter makes across all its rulerships are:

  1. Pisces—Exoteric, indicating the final goal for humanity.
  2. Aquarius—Esoteric, indicating the purpose of all material evolution and the objective of all incarnating processes.
  3. Virgo—Hierarchical, indicating the purpose of the Cosmic Christ (soul consciousness). (EA 188-9)

Orthodox: Sagittarius

Sagittarius “conditions the activity of the ‘lunar lords’ who build the body of humanity out of their own substance” i.e. inanimate matter, so that when an individual begins:

…the one-pointed activity of Sagittarius and becomes the earnest disciple, it is possible… to rule the personality and to govern it so that eventually it becomes the vehicle of the soul. It accounts also for the reaction of the personality against this control. (EA 277)

The latter, because when matter isn’t infused with consciousness it is resistant to change and tends to inertia; as in the Sanskrit term Tamas from the three Gunas of Indian philosophy.

Orthodox: Pisces

The orthodox rulerships of Jupiter in Sagittarius and Pisces act as a precedent to the esoteric function of the planet; although these are exoteric rulerships, Jupiter “produces a constant stimulation” of the indwelling soul consciousness.

Esoteric: Aquarius

Aquarius has the motto “Water of life am I, poured forth for a thirsty humanity”, which embodies the role of Jupiter as its esoteric ruler.

The World Server: Leo and Aquarius, through the Sun and Jupiter, are related to Ray 2. Development of the individual consciousness into world consciousness. Thus an [individual] becomes a world server. (EA 34)

Jupiter as esoteric ruler of Aquarius is one of the most significant esoteric rulerships in the scheme of esoteric astrology. In a personal sense, it is no co-incidence that many people in the caring and healing professions have this placement in their chart (which recurs approximately every 12 years), although the main focus is the siginificance of the Aquarian age for humanity:

This coming process of planetary service through… [humanity] is only truly effective when Aquarius rules and when our sun is passing through that [sidereal] sign of the zodiac. Hence the immense importance of the next 2000 years … only when [individuals are] becoming group conscious can this desired objective of manifestation begin to demonstrate. It is beginning to happen today for the first time in planetary history. It is one of the first fruits of initiation and only in the next root race [the sixth, after the current 5th] will we begin really to understand the significance of the process and the true nature of the energies to be released through the medium of humanity upon the planet. It is for this reason that Jupiter and Uranus (expressions of the second and the seventh rays) are the exoteric and esoteric rulers of Aquarius.

The text continues by outlining the flow of this process via three sources of transmission:

  1. Alcyone—in the Pleiades, the mothers of the seven aspects of form life and the “wives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear.” They are connected with the Mother aspect which nurtures the infant Christ [the matter of the Earth and our personality which nurtures soul awareness].
  2. Aquarius—the World Server, the transmitter of energy which evokes magnetic response.
  3. Jupiter and Uranus—planets of beneficent consummation. The second ray of love and the seventh ray which fuses spirit and matter “to the ultimate glory” of the solar Logos are in the fullest eventual cooperation. (EA 201)

Hierarchical: Virgo

The central idea of occultism that even the smallest atom of substance has in it the germ of that which can respond to spiritual energy is preserved for us in the teaching anent the influence of Jupiter, the second ray agent (EA 277)

Virgo is the “mother of all things”—the vessel through which the inner prepares for birth into the outer. Increasing the vibration of dense matter occurs when it is infused by consciousness during the emobodiment of the soul in incarnation. The “dead lives” or inorganic substance ruled by the Moon are then vivified and can move beyond dull intertia. Incarnation thus changes the very substance from which our bodies are made.

Jupiter… is the hierarchical ruler and rules the second Creative Hierarchy, that of the Divine Builders of our planetary manifestation. […]

When the human Hierarchy is fully awakened to spiritual and not simply material possibilities, then the work of Jupiter will immediately intensify and this beneficent ruler will lead the human family into the ways of peace and progress. (EA 264)

Via Jupiter and the Moon “Virgo is brought into relationship with Aquarius which means, in this case, with the seventh Creative Hierarchy” (which is also the Second—see EA 263). This is the actual “atomic substance out of which the dense body of manifestation has to be constructed” if the soul consciousness (which Virgo nurtures) “is to be brought to successful manifestation.” As mentioned, this involves vivifying inorganic substance (ruled by the Moon) so that it begins to respond to the inner soul life.


Jupiter decanates

In conventional astrology, decanates simply follow the rulerships of each elemental triad, but the information in Esoteric Astrology is inconsistent. For more information, see notes about the decanates, and the “decans” tab under each sign.

Jupiter Dignities

Exaltation in Cancer

Cancer, in which both Jupiter and Neptune are exalted, is named “the great sign wherein the desire for incarnation finds its fulfilment” (EA 83-4)

As this is the sign of rebirth, these two planets indicate the successful development and eventual use of the form aspect and the development of psychic sensitivity both in the higher and the lower senses.

These are important developments for the soul who has chosen to incarnate. The building of adequate forms and the use and control of form are essential […] Jupiter guarantees this in Cancer from the very initial stage of birth. Love as relationship to divinity and wisdom as relationship to form lie behind the soul’s intent. …for long aeons, form controls and hides the soul. This is equally true in regard to the fluid psychic nature. These (the form aspect and the psychic nature) reach an eventual concrete perfection in Capricorn to become again in Cancer the perfect instrument of service which the initiate wields [while seeking] to render mass service instead of being involved and lost in the mass. (EA 164)

The essence here is that Cancer represents both “the masses” of humanity as well as the actual form nto which the soul incarnates. “Building the lighted house” in Cancer is therefore refining the bodies of the personality so that they transmit the soul’s qualities. The dedicated “light worker” is able to separate themsleves from majority consensus and the thoughtless acceptance of everyday culture, to focus on aiding the inner development of humanity.

Fall in Capricorn

The acquisitive nature of Jupiter, feeding the material depths of a conventional Capricorn, is the first Jupiterian influence to fall away here. Later, the evolved Capricorn transcends personal ambition and the purely personal self; the baser Jupiterian desire to acquire and possess for personal gain is transcended.

Jupiter… falls in this sign (Capricorn). This fall must be studied from two angles, for Jupiter in its lowest aspect gives the fulfilment of desire and satisfied demand, whilst in its highest Jupiter is the outgoing expression of love, which attracts magnetically to itself that which is desired—this time the good of the whole. In Capricorn, therefore, Jupiter reaches its lowest point of expression in the densest material aspect, and then—as love and selflessness triumph—this lowest aspect vanishes and disappears. It is to the “fall” of the highest aspect that the symbolism refers, and then later to the fall or disappearance of all that is base and low. Love is fallen and blinded when desire is rampant; desire vanishes when love triumphs. Neptune is often spoken of as falling in this sign and for the same reasons. Neptune is the God of the waters, and is esoterically related to Pisces. […] (Neptune and Jupiter) both fall in Capricorn, when [soul] consciousness comes to full fruition. (EA 171)

Detriment in Gemini

An understanding of the connections between the Ray 2 triangle, Mercury and Jupiter, Gemini and Virgo, is helpful in understanding the allocation of “detriment” to Jupiter in those two signs.

The universal polarities of Ray 2 are distinct from the personal dualities of Gemini:

In Gemini, [Jupiter’s influence is lessened]. …the basic, spiritual dualism of Jupiter [is] in contradistinction to the body-soul dualism of Gemini (EA 177)

The second ray nature of our solar system and its Sun lend Gemini a special role in the zodiac. The various dualities involved can be summarised as follows:

  • Ray 2 (Sun/solar system): primal polarities e.g. awareness of self-other
  • Jupiter: unification and inclusion of opposites
  • Gemini: a pull between pairs of opposites

So the “steady pull between the pairs of opposites” that “initiates the struggle … between soul and personality” (EA 358, 360) symbolised by Mercury in Gemini, runs counter to the unifying synthesis of opposites embodied by Jupiter. Whereas “through the activity of Mercury” an individual with a Sun sign of Gemini “is aided to attain the synthesis of soul and form” (EA 175), the Jupiter influence in Gemini as a rising sign:

…indicates the initiate and the rapidly attained “dualism in synthesis” of soul and spirit. […] through the activity of Jupiter, the [individual] whose rising sign is Gemini is enabled to attain the conscious integration of soul and spirit. (EA 175)

See the Gemini-Virgo-Mercury triangle

Detriment in Virgo

Jupiter as the second aspect is concealed during the “pregnancy” of Virgo, when the soul prepares for conscious development and “descends into the depths and is temporarily veiled or hidden” (EA 282). Alice Bailey’s Christian background frames this as the Virgin Mother carrying “the Son or the germ of the Christ Who will come, the Son of Mind…”. The meaning is that in preparation for the turning point of Libra and the intense development of Scorpio, in Virgo the soul gestates and is nurtured in the womb of matter.