2022 promises to be a change from the previous two years. The last two years were dominated by Saturn, but this year Jupiter will emerge from Saturn’s reign and start to shine in her own right. There will still be challenges, but the heaviness of the past two years will start to lift.
The Jupiter/Saturn cycle
In Mundane Astrology, which is the type of astrology that focuses on larger concerns of the world and society, the Jupiter/Saturn Cycle is extremely important. Jupiter/Saturn Conjunctions are known as Great Conjunctions and they mark major shifts in the world as well as generations. Great Conjunctions occur at roughly 20 year intervals.
The most recent Great Conjunction occurred a little over a year ago, on December 21, 2020. For more information about this, see:
The Great Conjunction of December 21, 2020
We are now in the very early stages of this cycle, and we are only beginning to see how it will unfold.
Jupiter’s two-year journey
Jupiter is no longer in the same sign of Aquarius with Saturn but has moved on to her own sign of Pisces. Jupiter had dipped her toe briefly into Pisces for a few months in the late Spring and early Summer of 2021, but then returned to Aquarius. Now, she will be entering Pisces and moving on from there.
This promises to be quite a relief from the previous two years, as Jupiter will no longer be in a sign that is ruled by Saturn. Jupiter entered Capricorn in December of 2019 and was there for most of 2020. Not only does Saturn reign supreme in Capricorn, but Jupiter is debilitated there, with no dignity of her own. So the planet of blessings, harmony, and good fortune was both hated and homeless in a land ruled by the planet of hardships and restrictions.
This is when there were lockdowns and quarantines throughout the world because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In December of 2020, at about the same time as the Great Conjunction, Jupiter entered Saturn’s other sign, Aquarius. This was a big improvement in that Jupiter has some dignity in Aquarius. Jupiter moved from being hated and homeless to having a small, modest estate in a land where she was liked. While we have still been dealing with the pandemic, restrictions have eased quite a bit, and life has started to return to something more normal.
Now, with Jupiter in a sign which she rules, she will be in a much better position to give us blessings and to ease the heaviness that we have been experiencing over the past two years. Saturn is still strong in her own sign of Aquarius, but she will no longer be the main voice that we hear.
Because of this, 2022 promises to be a big improvement over 2020 and 2021.
January
Venus went retrograde on December 19, 2021 and will not turn direct until January 29. Old relationships may resurface during this time. These relationships may or may not last, though, after Venus turns direct.
The other major astrological event this month will be that Mercury will go retrograde on January 14. Mercury retrograde periods are sometimes feared as they can interfere with communication and cause problems with paperwork and in offices. Some Mercury retrograde periods are worse than others.
For more information, see:
This one will not be too bad. Mercury will be in Aquarius, and Saturn, the ruler of Aquarius, is still in this sign. Mercury has dignity in Aquarius, and Saturn will also be able to help. Mercury retrograde periods are good for introspection and reflection, and Saturn will assist with that. Saturn will also assist with helping people to be more careful so as to avoid the miscommunications and careless errors that often come about when Mercury is retrograde.
February
Mercury will go direct on February 3, and the Sun will conjunct Saturn the following day, on February 4. This will be a good time to move forward on projects.
Other than that, this month is quite light when it comes to transits. This means that there will not be much in the way of either planetary assistance or hindrance on a global level. Life will proceed much as it usually does.
March
March is a bit busier with respect to planetary activity than it had been in the previous two months. Much of this activity involves the Outer Planets, however, rather than the Traditional Planets.
This means that the influence and potential disruption is voluntary, at least on a personal level. There may be many temptations to avoid. It is best to follow the rules this month and avoid breaking conventions. This will provide protection from the influence of the Outer Planets.
April
The planets are all marching forward through most April. The transits are quite busy this month, but most of them are positive. The difficult transits mostly involve the Outer Planets, and these transits can be avoided.
The end of the month, however, marks the first Eclipse Season of the year. This will start on April 27. Three days into this season, there will be a Partial Solar Eclipse on April 30.
Eclipses and Eclipse Seasons tend to be quite disruptive, and Darkness is much more powerful during these times.
May
May 10 marks the beginning of the second Mercury Retrograde period of the year. The beginning of this period will not be bad, as it occurs in Gemini, which is one of the signs that Mercury rules. This will minimize the difficulties with communication. After May 22, it could become more difficult, because Mercury will return to the sign of Taurus where she does not have any special dignity.
The days between May 22 and May 28 will be the worst with respect to the Mercury retrograde. On May 28, Venus will enter Taurus as well, and Venus rules this sign. This should help to smooth out any difficulties that may have occurred during the previous 6 day period.
Also on May 10, Jupiter will leave the sign of Pisces and move into Aries. While Jupiter does have some dignity in Aries, this is a negative move for this planet, as she is leaving the sign that she rules.
Jupiter in Aries can be a time of overoptimism, and there can be a temptation to charge forth without considering the consequences. Saturn is still quite strong in Aquarius, so this should help temper and anchor this temptation.
On May 15, there will be a Total Lunar Eclipse. While it will still be Eclipse Season after the Eclipse is over, the most difficult part of the Season will be over.
On May 24, Mars will move into Aries, the sign that Jupiter entered as well. Mars rules Aries and this will increase the likelihood of impulsive action for the next month or so.
The first clear New Moon will occur on May 30, which will definitively end this Eclipse Season.
June
After the busy month of May, June will be rather quiet with respect to transits. Mercury will go direct on June 3. Saturn will go retrograde on June 4.
Saturn always slows things down, and this is particularly the case when she is retrograde. On the other hand, Mars will continue to be in Aries with Jupiter trying to speed things up.
The good news is that the signs of Aquarius and Aries are in a friendly relationship to each other, so Saturn should be able to balance the impulsiveness of Mars and Jupiter. This will mean that matters will tend to flow at a quick, but steady pace.
It might be a good idea to get as much done during this month as possible.
July
July, on the other hand, will be very busy when it comes to transits, and most of them will involve Mercury. Information will coming very quickly, and many people will be more talkative than they usually are.
It might be hard to accomplish tasks during this time, however, as life will get quite hectic. It will be hard to make plans and stick to them as things will be changing almost daily.
On July 5, Mars will leave Aries and move into Taurus. This will make it even harder to accomplish tasks as the energy of the previous month will start to fade.
On July 28, Jupiter will go retrograde. At this time, overambitious plans from the previous months could come to a standstill.
August
August will continue to be busy with respect to transits. This month, all of the planets will be busy, not just Mercury, and life will continue to be rather hectic.
September
The transits will be much lighter in September, and the hectic pace of the previous two months will slow down for a time.
The third Mercury Retrograde period of the year will begin on September 9, which will slow things down even further. Like the first two Mercury Retrograde periods, this one will not be bad. It will occur in Libra, where Mercury has dignity, and in Virgo, where she rules. The problems caused should be relatively minor.
October
Mercury will go direct on October 2, and Saturn will go direct on October 22.
On October 23, Eclipse Season will begin, and there will be a Partial Solar Eclipse on October 24.
On October 28, Jupiter will re-enter the sign of Pisces for a brief stay. This should help ease the other difficulties of this month.
On October 30, Mars will go retrograde and remain retrograde for the rest of the year. This Mars Retrograde period will occur in Gemini, which could make it hard to concentrate for many people. It will be especially difficult for those with planets and major chart points in the Mutable Signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
November
This will be another busy month with a lot of Mercury transits. This could be more problematic than it was during the month of July because of being in Eclipse Season, making it more likely that there will be difficult miscommunications. It will be important to do your best to not take things the wrong way and to check your facts before overreacting.
There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse on November 8, and the first clear New Moon will not occur until November 23.
Jupiter will go direct on November 23 as well, and this should be quite positive. If problems had been caused during Eclipse Season, it should be easy to forgive them when Jupiter goes direct.
December
December will be light with respect to transits, which will make preparing for the holidays easier.
Jupiter will return to Aries on December 20. The year will end with another Mercury Retrograde starting on December 29. This one is likely to be more difficult than any of the others during 2022 because it will occur in Capricorn, where Mercury does not have any special dignities.
This could cause miscommunications with respect to holiday plans.
Conclusion
2022 promises to be a nice year. It will be lighter and more optimistic than the previous two years have been. The problems during the year will be those that happen every year, like Eclipse Seasons and Mercury Retrograde periods. There is nothing out of the ordinary this year.
This will make it easier to return to ordinary life and routines.
I hope that everyone has a happy and safe New Year and that 2022 is filled with blessings.
The Stars Within Their Courses 