You would expect anything passing through a mutable sign to have the effect of, well, mutability. The whole meaning of that is not change itself, but the shift toward it – not ultimate developments, but penultimate ones. So, it may not be surprising that Jupiter in Sagittarius has often marked a final pause, a year of hanging on the edge before pitching forward into a new dispensation, a hesitation before the final lunge into the next step forward, good or bad, which comes when Jupiter subsequently goes cardinal. There’s almost a feeling of helplessness, like you can see it coming but can’t really do much to stop it.

Accompanying this there also is another theme which is very typical of Jupiter and Sagittarius, and that’s declarative bluster. It’s a time when history is on the march but hasn’t quite reached its objectives so there are a lot of declarations of independence and intent before those intentions turn into final moves.

They offer a timeline to prove their point, and it’s a good one. Next year both Jupiter and Pluto enter Capricorn and we’ll start to see some real changes. Perhaps the Jupiter in Sagittarius period (ending at the end of 2007 just before Pluto enters Capricorn in January of 2008) will be a time when new ideas take shape.

Jupiter was known in classical astrology as the “Greater Benefic,” and we like to think of Jupiter as being bountiful and the bestower of opportunity and All Good Things. But as with everything in astrology, there is a darker side to Jupiter as well. Dane Rudhyar, the grandfather of transformational astrology, wrote “Jupiter, worshipped by medieval astrologers as the Great Benefic, [can] also … become a power for evil. It can of itself be a force of self-destruction, if the function of self-preservation and self-sustainment turns into an uncontrolled desire for self-aggrandizement at any cost.”

We have seen in this column that many political figures have the Sun in square to Jupiter in their charts, resulting in an arrogance and a determination to be “right” at all costs. It appears that in the US there is a move towards a more expansive public policy which embodies the positive aspects of Jupiter in Sagittarius. There is always a danger with both Jupiter and compulsive Pluto sweeping through the last degrees of Sagittarius that arrogance and self-righteousness could be manifested instead. The expression of these dynamics are always our choice.

The six Sagittarius planets are all working together until around the 13th when Mercury moves out of reach, but the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars will remain in effect until around December 17. Throughout the month though, Jupiter is in tight aspect to Chiron as it approaches the exact sextile on December 28. There is an openness (Jupiter) to healing old wounds (Chiron) – an ability to create new ideologies (Jupiter) that bring about new wisdom (Chiron). This could be a very positive aspect for the world’s political problems as well as provide aid to our personal lives.

On December 7, Venus conjuncts Pluto, and a few days before this event we will begin to experience an intensification (Pluto) in our relations with others (Venus). Passions run high now, but the trine of Venus to Saturn which echoes the trine to Pluto will help to keep the intensity at a level where it can be useful (Saturn). On the 9th, the Sun makes a harmonious aspect (sextile) to Neptune, a lovely day for spiritual (Neptune) contemplation and activities requiring creativity and imagination.