Growing Pains - Jupiter Saturn Square

 

Since Jupiter entered Gemini in June of this year, we´ve been experiencing some growing discomfort. Having both Jupiter and Saturn in my 1st house, I´m quite familiar with the dynamic of this process. It´s like the Braxton Hicks contractions towards the end of pregnancy that are signaling to the body that it is the final stretch, getting ready for labor. Even though, these contractions often get confused with the real thing, their nature tells us that „we are not there yet“. They are unpredictable and non-rhythmic, they do not increase in strength and they are more uncomfortable than painful. Your belly gets hard, the baby might be in a weird position and you can often feel and see some baby body part somewhere on your belly. It´s pretty cool but at the same time kind of frightening. You know you can´t possibly go back. You know it´s coming and you start freaking out whether you´re actually ready (of course you´re not) and whether you should do something about it. But there is still some time left.

During labor, contractions come in at regular intervals. The baby that has been gestating in the safety of the mother´s body is forced to get out. Yes, there has been lots of preparation but still, it is a very stressful process for both mother and baby. As labor progresses, these contractions become stronger, and the time between each contraction decreases. During each contraction, the muscles of the uterus tighten and then release. There is an immense exertion of energy, and progress, followed by contraction, and a bit of a pause. You can feel a real pressure and you can´t possibly call these contractions just uncomfortable. But there are always, unfortunately, more excruciating contractions and pushing to follow than you want to imagine.

We now find ourselves at the perfecting Saturn Jupiter square, it is a crunch time and we can´t possibly stop this labor now. We know this is the real thing, these are no „fake“ irregular contractions. No one cares if we´re ready or not, we need to go through this process no matter what.

Jupiter and Saturn have very different agendas. They tend to achieve things in a very different way but they are both necessary to bring things to life. Like in our example above, Jupiter is all about expansion, softening, pushing the baby, or anything else forward, supporting the process. His efforts are followed by contraction, temporary limitation, Saturn´s restrictive action so that the body can take a break for a bit and recuperate. Saturn slows things down so that the speed does not cause unnecessary damage.

I see Saturn in Jupiter´s domicile in overcoming square as supporting growth through necessary challenges.

Jupiter in Gemini is about multiple streams of information, having too many options where we might feel overwhelmed and exhausted by not having a real focus. Jupiter in Mercury´s sign comes to my mind when I constantly look up and learn about new things, downloading stuff on my phone and taking screenshots until I get a notification „Your memory is almost full“ and then the phone starts acting up. In Jupiter´s world, there is always hope attached to the outcomes of our actions and expectations are (often) unrealistic. „I need to save this one more information on my phone, I don´t have time for it now but I will get to it eventually (no chance). This thing will solve my problems and save me from my misery.“

When we keep accumulating things (Cancer is the exaltation ruler of Jupiter for a good reason), there is no room to settle in the current energetical space, there is no room to integrate what we´ve learned and experienced. Jupiter's activities are often not followed through. There is often just the opening, the excitement, the potential of the new possibility, and the thirst for the novelty. What is lacking though is a time for integration and maturation. Being carried away by Jupiter, we´re riding a high tide of hope and therefore so many of our activities in the spiritual realm don´t bear the fruits we desire and as a result, we keep looking for another sparkly thing to hang our hope on.

Most of us won´t voluntarily reach out to Saturn to help out but don´t worry, he will come in regularly without us asking. Saturn is that „hitting the glass ceiling moment“. At some point, you reach the limit. You´re not allowed to move beyond no matter how hard you try. How does that feel? The first thing that comes to mind is frustration and anger but with the time that Saturn grants us, comes, maybe, a bit of a relief in the sense that „there is no more I can do to push this forward“, it is what it is but feeling the boundaries (Saturn is in water sign of Pisces), allows me to identify what to focus on going forward.

Maybe there is unlimited potential but the reality in which we are bringing something to life has many limitations.
 
Let’s get back to our cell phone analogy…so we don´t want our cell phone freezing on us constantly because we maxed out its memory, right?  We don´t want to have it filled with images that we can never get to. More is not better, quality over quantity, you know how that goes, right? Saturn is here to pop our bubble. You can´t have it all. When Saturn comes around, we are asked to sacrifice.
Jupiter in Gemini – Saturn in Pisces square might be a dichotomy between rational and spiritual. Is that actually what you really want deep inside or does that just look good on paper? Is this thing you’ve had your hope attached to aligned with your inner sense of purpose or you were just following the idea in your head and lost track of your needs along the way? Maybe you got distracted by something that is not in your best interest. It doesn’t feel that way when you’re going through it but these pressure tests are actually for your sake. What has been stress-tested by Saturn’s ruthless influence? What stays when other options fail? What stays when the flood comes through and water subsides?

You might have had a great idea about what you want but what is the reality? We often connect reality with rational judgment but Saturn in Pisces connects us with our inner felt sense. Does it feel right or is there something off?

We still didn’t really get to those growing pains, did we? Labor might be too graphic or irrelevant but we all went through puberty. During this time, our body goes through rapid growth. For some time, it might seem that not much is happening but then you experience a sudden growth spurt and everyone is commenting that we´ve grown literally overnight. Proportions of our body might become a bit off balance and some teenagers might feel like monkeys for a bit with their limbs way too long. They don’t know what to do with their new bodies. It all just happened way too quickly. Some kids might experience excruciating joint pain, and not being able to sleep through the night.

During these rapid periods, growth outpaces connective tissues, and kids become more vulnerable to injuries. Bones grow longer but it takes time until muscles and tendons catch up to them. What helps is maintaining flexibility through focused training but the most powerful medicine is the time (aka Saturn).

What else is happening with the body during puberty? Girls develop breasts and start their menstrual cycle, boys' genitals go through rapid development and the changes both sexes go through indicate their body can begin to reproduce. But this certainly doesn’t indicate that kids should go and start living sexually and/or have kids right away, does it? They need lots of time to FEEL ready both physically and psychologically.

Growth is a natural part of life and it is a cyclical process. Growth doesn´t happen overnight. It is irregular, sometimes consistent for a while, sometimes it speeds up, sometimes it slows down. But growth is not just an active process. There also needs to be some allowing space - a break in between, a pause to relax, to catch a breath, so that the body can recuperate and integrate all the progress that has happened.

Keep hope alive, keep dreaming.
Petra