Before the discovery of Uranus in the 1780’s, Neptune in the 1840’s and Pluto in the 1930’s, the timers of human life were Jupiter and Saturn. They were the timekeepers of our societies, our institutions and our possibilities. Yes, these last 250 years following the discovery of our three new planets have expanded our world far beyond what seemed possible then, yet our societal, social, governing and economic systems are still responsive to our Jupiter/Saturn 20-year cycle.

Every 20 years Jupiter and Saturn meet in a sign which may be a fire, earth, air or water sign showing us where our society is focused, where it is developing. Three of these meetings over 60 years will meet in one element (recently in the element of earth) which is a third of the larger cycle that is unfolding; 3 of these 60-year synodic cycles are called the Great Mutation Cycle. This Great Mutation Cycle underlies the purposeful expansion/direction of our development in the time period it guides.

From 1840-2020, these Jupiter/Saturn meetings every 20 years have been in the element of earth (one exception previewing the coming cycle in air occurred in 1980 in Libra). The element of earth cycle is a time of material focus and development which has shaped our world through the Industrial Revolution, the rush to extract more and more from the earth (oil, minerals, lumber, animal foods, chemicals and much more), to build more and more homes, cities, businesses, buildings, and crucially the excessive consumption of stuff.

Money became the measure of all power, even worshiped. We have exhausted this material cycle resulting in pollution, extreme wealth and extreme poverty, endless garbage and chemicals in our air, water and soil, new illnesses born from our chemical laden food and medicine, and the spread of illnesses from animals whose habitats have been destroyed or degraded in order for humans to continue to build their homes, businesses, cities and nations. We are reaching a physical/earth limit based on the extreme obsession with getting every drop of earth’s resources into our possession to continue this materialism.

A lot of good has come from this material development producing advances in goods, science, medicine, technology, communication and connections. It isn’t necessary or beneficial to attempt to turn the clock back to the 1840’s but the end of this material cycle is near. In 2040, a new cycle of Jupiter and Saturn’s 20-year meetings will move into the air element for approximately 200 years. The air element will awaken us to the limits we have reached as the 200 years of material focus winds down over the coming 15 years. Air will shift our focus, our values, our choices, and our purpose from material developments to social development through the creation of new ideas, new technologies, new forms of communication in which new solutions, new systems, and new institutions will emerge; ideas that will transform our societies from scarcity to abundance.

It may now become possible to utilize more of our brains, alter or refine our DNA, cure current physical and psychological diseases. The current “information” society is the precursor to the future Cosmic movement of the Great Mutation into air signs. Knowledge will be the currency of the air/intelligence centuries ahead.

Jupiter is the energy of expansion, growth, opportunity, possibility, optimism and purpose while Saturn is the energy of contraction, scarcity, responsibility, pessimism, limitation and the preservation of current structures/institutions. You could liken Jupiter to the gas pedal in your car while Saturn would be the brakes. We do need brakes; however, the car won’t get you anywhere if you drive with the brakes on.

It is the appropriate balance of expansion and caution, excitement and realism, intention and follow through that creates positive, beneficial, growth. As Jupiter and Saturn move into new signs this Spring/Summer it is a time to reflect on our personal intentions, plans, goals we wish to achieve in the coming year. It is also the time to create a strategy, make a commitment and begin to act on our stated intentions.

This is year of action!