Jupiter Retrograde In Capricorn - It's All About Keeping The Faith

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Jupiter, the planet of luck and expansion, turned retrograde on 9 May 2008 and will continue to do so for the next 4 months or so. The planet Jupiter is normally associated with qualities such as optimism, a happy-go-lucky attitude, higher learning, long-distance travel, philosophy and of course, luck. Jupiter in our charts (sign and House) represents where we get our seemingly lucky breaks in life and promises good things for us to fall back on when things seem to be going rough in our lives.

Retrograde periods are periods when the planets seemingly move slower and backwards or 'reversed' as viewed from Earth's perspective. In reality, the planets are not really moving backwards of course; they just appear to be doing so because of an optical disillusion. Although Retrograde periods always signify and usher in periods of trials and tests, there are also opportunities for growth and learning, especially those to do with inner growth and self-healing issues. Retrograde periods force us to turn inwards instead of outwards in our search for answers and we are able to gain more perspective on life and its issues that way.

With a Jupiter Retrograde, luck may seem harder to come by and seemingly lucky breaks may appear to come to a halt for the time being. It's a time for us to re-evaluate and re-assess things around us; a time for us to question the beliefs, values that society and organizations have imposed upon us. This encourages us not to take everything at its face value. Monetary gains in general may not seem so easy to come by these days.

Capricorn on the other sign if the sign of hard work, diligence, responsibility and practicality. It is ruled by the taskmaster Saturn, also known as the Father of Time and Ruler of Karmic Issues. Capricorn rules mountains and the arduous journey all the way to the top. In an individual's chart, Capricorn represents one's social standing, status, career and work-related issues, wheres on a social level, Capricorn rules governments, social institutions, clubs and organizations.

Now, when Jupiter turns Retrograde in the sign of Capricorn, what does that imply? On a personal level, opportunities in the job front such as promotions, career advancement etc might come to a standstill or be limited and restricted for the time being. There may be refocusing or realignment of one's social standing, career goals in the months to come until Jupiter turns direct again at the beginning of September. We are likely to re-evaluate the priorities in our lives - should we overly reliant on external sources such as materialism, job status, social standing to determine our sense of self-worth and esteem?

On a broader social level, it is also a time when our faith in the external bodies - our governments, social and political organizations and institutions is being tested to the extreme. Instead of placing trust in everything that is handed or served to us from the external, this period encourages to turn inwards for answers instead. Are we really gaining much from being dependent on those external governmental structures for our individual growth, progress and development? When the structures that governmental bodies erect start to crumble, who can we turn to now? The answer lies in us and our own inner guides, for there is really nowhere else to turn to.

This is why this period often highlights the issue of crises around one's faith. As we begin to turn inwards for answers instead, we are forced to re-evaluate and re-assess the sources and objects that give us strength and security in life. Many individuals choose to focus on and feed their inner spiritual needs instead as this is an excellent time to deal with issues relating to self-healing and soul searching.