Jupiter in Sagittarius; the expanding self

Jupiter moved into Sagittarius, his home sign, just over a month ago and will stay there until early December 2019. Since then I've read plenty of commentary about how positive this is, how much good luck the next year will bring us, how this is going to be the best time ever. Jupiter in Sagittarius is about broadening our horizons, expanding our minds and our worlds, that's true. But I'm not comfortable with it as the great benefic, all good fortune and positive energy. For me, it misses the point about Jupiter, which is that Jupiter expands, exaggerates, broadens. Sagittarius has its shadow side just as all the signs of the zodiac do. If there's dogma, reactive thinking, an insistence that there is only one truth, all of these might be exaggerated too. Jupiter in Sagittarius might expand our refusal to take responsibility or to take life seriously, as well as recklessness, restlessness, self-righteousness. Jupiter is a gas planet after all. It could be said that it's a load of hot air, which I can't help thinking we have quite enough of in our current reality.

Of course, there are plenty of positives. What you are seeking? Where do you want to grow beyond your comfort zone and towards your highest self? Jupiter in Sagittarius encourages us to dream big, to reach for the stars. All of these things are encouraged by our dominant culture, the idea that we need a goal, that we should fill our lives with activity. Dreaming big is important, but so is putting the work in to get us there. Dreaming big can come to feel like an awful lot of pressure. We end up guilt-tripping ourselves for not doing more, for not being more. I'm not sure that Jupiter understands the word "enough". The message of Jupiter in Sagittarius is that we all have the capacity to expand and grow, and growth is a wonderful thing. But it doesn't need to be a "should". Whatever we do, we need to remember that we are enough, just as we are. However you grow and expand as Jupiter moves through Sagittarius, the most important thing is the meaning we find in each and every step. By expanding into the moment, we open ourselves to its lessons. We also release our expectations around what that meaning or lesson is and how it manifests in our lives. The destination we finally reach may not be the one we expected. But it's what we learn on the journey that counts.