One of the things that made 2020 so brutal was Jupiter being in Capricorn, the sign of its fall. Jupiter dipping into Pisces, where it has rulership, is like a healing rain returning to the parched, arid soil that has barely yielded enough sustenance to get by on. Jupiter in Capricorn was a drought; Jupiter in Pisces is fertile and abundant. Jupiter in Pisces is a more loving and patient face of Jupiter, who is exuberant and energetic in Sagittarius. Jupiter collects and amasses into a cohesive whole, and in Pisces, I imagine this working like raindrops that swallow each other and become larger in their unity. It’s inclusive, it’s generous, it’s compassionate, it’s redemptive — and yes, it’s probably going to be a debaucherous time too. Jupiter is nothing if not bacchanalian. It’s a party pope. It gives benedictions and invites to the orgy.

As Jupiter’s nocturnal domicile, Pisces is less about the Sagittarian grandiosity of creating your big adventure as it is about the largesse of the soul, which, like the ocean, is large enough to contain it all. Jupiter in Pisces doesn’t “do” so much as it accepts things into its welcoming embrace. The nourishment and irrigation that happens inside this vast container obviously changes the topography, but we’re not as worried about charting the map of it, if that makes sense. The quest is not linear. The totality is the experience.

Water adjusts to the shape of the container it’s in. But in the sign of mutable water, Jupiter is constantly adjusting itself to accommodate the felt experience of what binds us emotionally to one another. Pisces is also the sign of Venus’ exaltation, and the sign of Mercury’s fall. Love is boundless and none of it makes sense. When Jupiter in Pisces throws a party, we lose track of the bar tab and probably find our phone floating in a drink for some reason, but we were too busy smooching our faves to care.

You Can Recognize Jupiter In Pisces By Its:

Ability to bring healing and acceptance to various parts of your experience.

Jupiter has to do with cycles of wisdom and experience. Wherever you happen to be in yours, this Pisces transit can help you integrate things about your past or present journey by inviting you to soften into a state of loving surrender. You, too, can become large enough to hold all of your paradoxes, messiness, and pain in a state of grace.

Generosity of care.

Jupiter likes to make it rain, and no doubt this transit will come with its own blessings, both material and immaterial. But in Pisces, Jupiter is also generous with the size of its compassion. Corny as it sounds, this is exactly the sort of influence that can create a deeply felt experience that we are all one, and that we’re more connected than we know.

Tendency to stir the parts of us that want to believe.

After a bleak period of extreme hardship, it’s going to feel really restorative to awaken to some semblance of hope again, for those who have that available to them. And if the promise of this transit is to be believed, even the nihilists will feel a few tugs on their heartstrings.

For many, spiritual and devotional pursuits will become a central story arc in this process, but this is where it’s prudent to throw in a cautionary note. Especially since Jupiter is copresent with Neptune this whole time, it’s going to be important to practice discernment around who you choose to follow and whose guidance you internalize as your own. Many of us are yearning to take a trust fall or be given some direction, and that can be a gorgeous experience if: a) you retain your own agency and b) you’re doing it in a space with strong ethics and integrity. “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Which is to say: don’t listen to anyone who says they have all the answers. We love a good teacher, but you don’t ultimately need an intermediary between you and your own enlightenment.

Divine sluttiness.

In mythology, Jupiter was a ho who morphed into different animals to have sex with more lovers. Jupiter is, you know, associated with jizz, and Pisces is where Venus exalts. Jupiter in Pisces is definitely kind and generous and soulful, but there’s something kind of lustful about it too. Think of this as the natural outcome of what happens when you say “yes” to life more fully, when you become more turned on to your whole experience. April 2022 is looking *especially* heady in this regard — this will be when Jupiter makes its exact conjunction to Neptune, with Venus and Mars in Pisces too (the cosmic lovers will be traveling neck and neck basically all through February and March too, by the way — the times, they are horny!).

Jupiter will absolutely tilt us into excess at times, so here’s your second note of caution: be really mindful of overdoing it, party safely, and don’t forget to wrap it up (that goes for both condoms and masks if it makes sense to wear them). Jupiter in Pisces loves to feel unfettered (it’s all limitless in the ocean, bay-bee), but sometimes we need a little Saturnian barrier or limit.

Jupiter In Pisces 2021 – 2022

For some perspective, the last time Jupiter was in Pisces was 2010 (more specifically, January through June of that year, then September 2010 through January 2011. So basically 2010, minus the summer). You might be revisiting similar themes around growth, generosity, divine guidance, and excess, but perhaps with an even more slippery and/or inspired twist this time, thanks to the fact that Jupiter is rooming with Neptune now.

This time, Jupiter in Pisces also comes and goes in three swooshes, like a triptych, thanks to the course of its retrograde motion:

• Act I: May 13 – July 28 2021 (0 – 2 degrees Pisces)

• Act II: December 28 2021 – May 10 2022 (the full 30 degrees)

• Act III: October 28 – December 20 2022 (28 – 29 degrees Pisces)

We basically get a concerto in three movements, or a whimsical production of Midsummer Night’s Dream in three acts, or a Beach House performance with a little teaser intro, followed by the main thing, followed by the encore. You can think of this as an initial taste of freedom, followed by the banquet of the growth experience, followed by an extra helping of the good stuff after we had enough time to digest and not feel so full.

There is both encouragement and caution in this, because while Jupiter in Pisces brings bounty and blessings of many kinds, we’ll also be prone to getting carried away or swept out to sea.

The fact that Jupiter is going back into Aquarius at the end of July is a big part of the reason why astrologers almost unanimously agree that at least some of the COVID restrictions being loosened now (the CDC literally made its “masks off” announcement the day Jupiter went into Pisces) will be walked back this summer. With Jupiter no longer bound by Saturn, restrictions are going to feel especially onerous, but the flipside of that is that some people will “go big or go home” their way to a magnified viral load. Jupiter has the potential to both alleviate suffering *and* spread a contagion. Pisces is a double-bodied sign. The water is nice for swimming, but you should still take reasonable precautions not to drown.

In summary:

Act I is probably best for enjoying this newly afforded spaciousness and elbow room, and feeding your soul in ways that don’t feel reckless and premature.

Act II is likely when the carnival will be in full swing (April 2022 is looking more like a delirious masquerade orgy, to be precise).

Act III is interesting, because Jupiter comes back to the late degrees of Pisces just in time to send a superior square to Mars stationing retrograde in Gemini. This looks like “trying to do too much” in a different way, but perhaps we’ll need Jupiter’s healing balm to keep us tapped into the spiritual dimensions of what we’re trying to achieve before we burn out from attempting to go off on too many side quests.

This post was originally published on 5/18/2021 on thedailyhunch.com.