Jupiter: From a Mythological and Symbolic Perspective
As I’ve been on my astrology journey, one of the ways I’ve connected to the planets has been through their mythological and archetypal correspondences, accompanied by the symbolism astrologers use to describe what the planets signify.
With that in mind, this series of posts about the different parts of astrology, where I’ll cover the luminaries and each of the planets in our solar system (including Pluto), I’ll write about their mythology, archetypes, and some general symbolism, including my own observations.
In this post, I will focus on Jupiter.
[I will add to this post when I broaden my knowledge of myths, deepen my knowledge of the planets, and make new observations concerning them.]
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The Mythology of Jupiter
Zeus
In Greek mythology, Zeus (also known as Jupiter in Roman mythology) was the child of Kronos and Rhea. He was born after Rhea tricked Kronos into swallowing a stone, thinking it was his newborn child, the way he had done with their previous five children.
Zeus grew fast and strong in his exile, feeding on goat's milk and gum from ash trees. His mother would come to visit as much as she could and tutor him in the arts of revenge, as well as ask her friend Metis to tutor him.
When Rhea finally took Zeus to his father, Zeus was posing as Kronos’s cupbearer, giving Kronos a concoction that made him throw up all the children he had swallowed. As he threw up the children, they were “reborn” and Zeus, in this way, became the eldest.
Zeus’s brothers and sisters thanked him for being rescued, and he led a long battle between the older and the younger generation. Zeus won, with the help of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires (also children of Kronos who he had banished to the underworld), and established a new order. That’s how Zeus and his siblings became the Olympian gods, with Zeus as the king of the gods.
When the three brothers (Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon) were to establish their individual dominions, they drew lots. While Poseidon became lord of the sea and Hades lord of the underworld, Zeus was lord of the heavens. He was the lord of the sky and he wielded a thunderbolt.
Zeus is, perhaps, most known for all the things he did in the heat of lust. One of the women he pursued was Metis, a Titan goddess who was associated with wisdom and counsel. Zeus had heard a prophecy that a child of Metis would rise to overcome their father, and so, when Metis was pregnant with his child, he swallowed her when she turned into a fly during one of their escapades. However, just like his own father had paid for swallowing his children, Zeus would also pay for swallowing Metis and the child she bore. He paid for it with a terrible migraine, which wouldn’t stop until Prometheus told Hephaestus, the god of forges and metalworking, to split Zeus’s skull in two. Out of his head rose a female figure dressed in full armor. It was Athena.
While part of this story could be seen as a confirmation that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Metis would forever be inside Zeus’s head and be an internal wise counselor that would whisper advice to him. Perhaps she was someone who, sometimes, curbed his stormy temper and raging lust, even though it didn’t always work.
While he had some great qualities on his own, like his strong sense of justice and fairness, Metis’s guidance made him a great ruler who surpassed his father and grandfather, Kronos and Ouranos, respectively.
At the same time, there were definitely moments when Metis wouldn’t be able to stop Zeus from giving in to his strong urges of lust and passion, which resulted in his many children with different lovers, aside from Ares and Eileithyia, whom he got with his wife Hera, like “The twin gods Apollo and Artemis were his children with the second-generation Titan goddess Leto; Hermes with the nymph Maia; Dionysus with the Theban princess Semele; Persephone with Demeter; and the nine Muses with Mnemosyne” (Giesecke 2020). He also fathered the mortal hero “Hercules, whom he co-fathered with Amphitryon, both god and mortal having slept with Alcmena, Hercules’s mother, on the same night” (Giesecke 2020).
He also had various ways of pursuing the ones who attracted his eye, like “transforming himself into a shower of golden rain in order to gain access to an imprisoned Danae, who by him became mother of Perseus. He abducted the Tyrian princess Europa in the form of a lovely, tame white bull, and assumed the appearance of the goddess Artemis in order to approach Callisto, that goddess’s chaste devotee. In order to seduce Leda, who would bear to him Helen of Troy, Zeus disguised himself as a swan. However, it was the god’s sacred eagle, and not the god himself, that carried off the handsome Trojan prince Ganymede” (Giesecke 2020).
The Symbolism of Jupiter
Fast Facts
Keywords: Good fortune, blessings, optimism and enthusiasm, expansion (intellectual and physical), the higher mind, adventure, opportunities, abundance, possibilities, ethics, morals, benevolence
Domicile: Sagittarius & Pisces
Detriment: Gemini & Virgo
Exaltation: Cancer
Fall/Depression: Capricorn
Energy: Yang
Anatomy: Liver, thighs, hips, blood circulation, pancreas, right ear
Number: 3
Day of the Week: Thursday
Colors: Purple
Metal: Tin
Stones: Sapphire, amethyst, and turquoise
Plants: Oak and poplar
Joy in the 11th House of Good Spirit
Jupiter spends approximately one year in each sign
Symbolism
Jupiter is the greater benefic planet. Traditionally, it’s the most benefic planet. It’s also the biggest planet in our solar system, so a lot of its significations are about big things. It’s connected to abundance, growth, expansion, and grandness. It can manifest as a desire and a capacity to reach for more.
Jupiter also signifies generosity, goodwill, donations, being just or acting justly, etc. On the other hand, Jupiter can also signify a materialistic attitude and greed if it's in an unfavorable condition. Similarly, it’s also connected to pride and arrogance. Jupiter can also indicate excess and overdoing things (perhaps like Zeus overdoing things in his various lusty pursuits).
Jupiter is also connected to knowledge, philosophy, spirituality, contemplation, moral and religious aspirations, a search for truth, etc. Sometimes, when Jupiter is in unfavorable conditions, it can also signify a rigidity in these aspects, for example, being narrow-minded or only seeing one perspective and calling it truth.
Jupiter is also connected to hope and optimism. It’s also a planet that tends to say yes to things (as opposed to Saturn, which usually says no to things).
So, basically, Jupiter signifies “lawyers and legal systems, universities and colleges, religious organizations, publishing houses, and the gambling industry. A Jupitarian an object might be a lottery ticket or a hot-air balloon.” (Taylor, 2018, p. 74).
Richard Tarnas summarizes Jupiter’s correspondences and archetype in the following way in Cosmos and Psyche:
“the principle of expansion, magnitude, growth, elevation, superiority; the capacity and impulse to enlarge and grow, to ascend and progress, to improve and magnify, to incorporate that which is external, to make greater wholes, to inflate; to experience success, honor, advancement, plenitude, abundance, prodigality, excess, surfeit; the capacity or inclination for magnanimity, optimism, enthusiasm, exuberance, joy, joviality, liberality, breadth of experience, philosophical and cultural aspiration, comprehensiveness and largeness of vision, pride, arrogance, aggrandizement, extravagances; fecundity, fortune and providence; Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods.” (Tarnas, 2006, ch. 3).
Jupiter, depending on placement and condition, can either help you to think big or to think small. Wherever Jupiter is in a chart, you might find good fortune, opportunities, adventure, and confidence. “A well-placed Jupiter can help us to advise and support others in liberating ways.” (Gillett, 2012, p. 39).
However, I can also signify hubris: “Jupiter is a dominating presence, and it’s possible for you to believe that your way is the only right way. Jupiter’s effect is to desire bigger and better, which can lead to you squandering what you have.” (Taylor, 2018, p. 74).
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Sources
Brennan, Chris. The Astrology Podcast, episode 319: “Jupiter in Astrology: Meaning Explained” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdsQSITPn68), 2021-09-14.
Fry, Stephen. Mythos. Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House), 2017.
Giesecke, Annette. Classical Mythology A to Z. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020 (ebook).
Gillett, Roy. The Secret Language of Astrology: The Illustrated Key to Unlocking the Secrets of the Stars. London: Watkins Media Limited, 2012.
Kent, April Elliott. The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology: Everything from zodiac signs to prediction, made easy and entertaining. San Diego, California: Two Moon Publishing, 2023.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1942 (ebook).
Parker, Julia & Derek Parker. Parkers’ Astrology: The definitive guide to using astrology in every aspect of your life. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2020.
Ryberg, Kira. “Essential Dignity and Debility in Astrology” (https://www.kiraryberg.com/blog/essential-dignity-and-debility-in-astrology).
Tarnas, Richard. Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. Viking Penguin, 2006.
Taylor, Carole. Astrology: Using the wisdom of the stars in your everyday life. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2018.
