Jovial Jupiter Knows Best: The Imperative of Healthy Selfishness and the Joys of Self-Indulgence

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“The entire Universe is my true personality”—Anonymous Zen Master

“There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.”—Maya Angelou

I hope you’re ready for some really good news! Today, January 22, we’re in the midst of Awakener Uranus’s direct station (after five months RX), which means that, right now as you’re reading this, the Universe is encouraging you to open up your mind to a higher perspective on your wild and precious Life.

For example, we could choose to stop viewing all the chaos in the world as “bad” news and, instead, with our whole heart/mind, start cultivating faith that chaos is woven into the Divine Plan or Tao (aka Flow) to accelerate soul growth as nothing lesser could. I call this: “Divine Orderly Chaos:).” In other words:

“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” —Jung

From today, we’re on course for an almost unprecedented three months of forward motion, as all planets are now direct and working together synergistically as they pick up speed. This momentum has been building since the direct stations of Warrior Mars on January 12 and Communicator Mercury on January 18 and is culminating now at a new, higher level of proactive interplay with Life.

Exponentially adding to these fabulously auspicious planetary energies, we have a Super New Moon (closer and larger) in Aquarius, still reverberating from yesterday, kicking off the Chinese New Year of the Water Rabbit. This means that 2023 will embody the yin principle of the Universe and inspire in us a desire for more relaxation, fluidity and contemplation.

This will allow us to get much more done with much less stress by going with the Flow, rather than resisting it or spinning our wheels trying to push the river, amplified by last year’s feisty yang tiger energies.

So, energetically speaking, the New Year actually begins today and the theme going forward is: “Full steam ahead in the Flow!”

Consequently, if you’ve been feeling sluggish about setting into motion your 2023 plans until today, now you know why. For, even if we don’t receive an astrological reading about what’s going on, we can still feel the planetary energies affecting us anyway. Right?

Added to all this positivity, lucky Jupiter, who moved into me-first Aries in mid-December, is zooming through the sign of healthy selfishness (as well as other kinds) until mid-May, when a new Jupiterian theme commences in Taurus.

Jupiter, the planet of good fortune and enjoyment, takes twelve years to cycle through all twelve signs (it whizzed through the first half of Aries last year). This means that, each year, we get to partake of one of a dozen different varieties of how to live Life with more full-hearted gusto.

If you’re ready to explore which areas of your Life Jupiter in Aries and then Taurus will be transiting and bringing you the most abundance on all levels in 2023, please consider gifting yourself:
Astrological Reading
To get your chart for free: Astro.com

The idea of healthy selfishness seems to push more of my clients’ buttons than almost any other teaching of mine. But with upbeat Jupiter in self-reliant Aries this is exactly the lesson presented now and, for our long-term health and peace of mind, an imperative one.

My definition is simple. On an airplane, we’re directed, if we have a baby on our laps, to place the oxygen mask on ourselves first. So too, in Life, it’s vital that we take care of ourselves first, as it’s the only way we can truly be of service to others with a tone of joy in the giving, and without exhausting our life-force energies, especially if we’re surrounded by many souls always clamoring for our attention.

For, when we continuously harm ourselves by tapping into our reserves and depleting our storehouse of chi (aka life-force energies), we risk burning ourselves out—and have no doubt that this damage is incurring karma.

This type of karma is referred to in Vedic traditions as “silver chains.” And, while not as heavy as the iron chains of injuring others, it’s still a form of bondage that keeps us on the wheel. For more on different levels of karma:
If This Were Your Last Incarnation, What Would You Do?

Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, disregarded his own channeled guidance to never do more than two readings a day, because so many souls were coming to him in urgent need. His selflessness blew him totally out of his body with a stroke at age 67.

Over thirty years ago, I almost completely burnt myself out by frying my nervous system and psychic circuitry as a direct result of continuously placing my clients’ needs before my own for many years. This close call prompted me to seek out Taoist water-method energy arts to daily replenish my storehouse of chi and nourish and stabilize my root and grounding wire to the core of the planet. As, up until this point, I was only practicing fire methods which, while feeling great, were actually revving me up in a way that was the opposite of what I needed.

In addition, at this time, I received channeled downloads of psychic empowerment practices to maintain healthy boundaries which I’ve been practicing daily ever since and teaching to others. And, no, I never do more than two readings a day.
For more on this:

Taoist Practices MP3s

Psychic Empowerment

The ultimate lesson of Jupiter in Warrior Aries is to, not just stop harming ourselves by placing the oxygen mask of the Divine on ourselves first, but to actually enjoy doing this fully without any vestiges of guilt or karmic feelings of unworthiness for choosing to love ourselves more.

I call this “Heart Development 101”—and it is what many of us are here working on healing and opening to as a foundational level of our soul assignment. This is especially true for those of us who have already developed all the other, seemingly higher levels of opening our hearts in our capacity to love and have compassion for others—personally as individuals, as well as transpersonally, meaning all beings. But ourselves, not so much.

This selfless service to others, while bypassing themselves, comes from what I call: “the Mother Teresa karmic rut.” I have to remind clients who carry this quite common rut of identity that, even if they were self-sacrificing channels of Divine energy in past lives, in this life, if “bathing lepers’ sores,” metaphorically speaking or otherwise, isn’t blissful, then it’s definitely not for them this time.

So, if you haven’t already, it’s time to address this blind spot in the fullest range of your capacity to love. For, once we do give ourselves permission to place ourselves first, then we can stride out into Life, overflowing with the juicy energy of infinite abundance, to be of service to all others and the earth plane itself. And this is done without depletion, but with an overflowing sense of joy in Being, peaking into epiphanies of bliss when we’re at our highest levels of inner and outer Flow.

This way, as we replenish our chi daily through mind/body/spirit practices and only tap into our energy “capital” in emergency situations, we become an open channel of the heart on all levels, with a firm commitment to no longer bypass ourselves anymore. Heathy selfishness—ta-da!

In mid-May, I’m truly delighted that expansive Jupiter, the planet of good fortune and abundance on all levels, is relaxing into the comfort-loving sign of earthy Taurus, the most self-indulgent and sensual placement of all.

The lesson of Jupiter in Taurus is to really get, on a visceral and experiential level that: There is no other plane of existence except the physical plane in which we can enjoy the physical senses. So, all together now, “AAAAH!”

That being the case, if we don’t choose to develop our capacities for pleasure on the sense level to a point of contentment, we may end up having regret for missed opportunities when not incarnate, thus keeping us firmly entrenched on the wheel of karma (regret does that, you know), until we give ourselves permission to enjoy our senses more while we’re here.

Furthermore, if we are indeed “the Divine’s little hand-puppets,” then the only way Source can experience the physical senses is through us and who are we to withhold this delight from our Cocreator?

If the above subject matter pushes your buttons, you can choose to witness your resistance arising as a signal that there may be a karmic limiting belief of judgement or unworthiness, to name a few, blocking you from enjoying the pleasures of your divinely-gifted sensual nature.

In severe cases of a karmic aversion to pleasure and joy, which can manifest as anhedonia, a soul reading followed by past-life regression therapy for accelerated healing has, in my experience, allowed this block to be fully released.

For all of us, it helps if we remember that infinite abundance means there’s always enough to go around for everyone—all the time—on all levels.

I’ve been consciously working on cultivating more capacity and tolerance to handle ever deeper levels of pleasure, joy and bliss—three aspects of abundance—for many lifetimes. How about you?
If you’re ready to enjoy Life more, here’s a very good place to start: On Pleasure, Joy and Bliss

The most important month this year in terms of astrology is, without doubt, March. With Karmic Teacher Saturn moving into otherworldly Pisces in early March for thirty months, we can be sure that wherever we have Pisces in our chart is where our karmic lessons will arise.

Clients always ask me why Saturn has to be in this or that area of their life. And I always reply, as a true lover of the rules of the Earth Game governed by Saturn: “Well it has to be somewhere! But that also means that benevolent Jupiter is also somewhere.”

So, let’s not forget that, no matter how challenging some Saturn and Pluto transits can be, if we’re having some major Jupiter transits concurrently (like Jupiter on the ascendant or a personal planet), it bodes well for softening those rough transits, as Jupiter is most always an ameliorating influence. This is true for all, although some may partake more easily of the gifts of their Jupiter transits based on their natal predisposition.

The good news is that Saturn’s sojourn in watery Pisces for the next few years may actually help us relax and go with the Flow more, instead of spinning our wheels trying to control the uncontrollable (aka any people, place, thing or circumstance outside of ourselves:)).

But the shadow side of dreamy Pisces is delusion, so we need to be aware that there is a fine line between just going with the Flow mindlessly and disregarding having to deal with some Saturn-ruling real-life challenges that are arising and require actual action. For more:
Becoming ONE with the Inner Guru… Or How to Make Saturn Your BFF

Then, on March 25, Transformer Pluto is giving us a foretaste of what is to come over the next two decades with his three-month entry into idealistic, innovative and humanity-loving Aquarius. This is a game changer for all Life on Earth as we now know it. Watch for signs and signals of what is to come on the world stage during this preview of our global coming attractions.

“It is now highly feasible to take care of everyone on earth at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. It no longer has to be you or me. It is a matter of converting our high technology from weaponry to livingry”—Buckminster Fuller

Last, but not least, big-hearted Jupiter conjoins wounded healer Chiron in Aries in mid-March. This is an amazing opportunity for us to positively embrace the places we feel most broken as vehicles for illuminating our path forward, rather than dismissing them as obstacles to awakening.

For, once we choose to welcome whatever is arising—wounds and all—as the clarifying key to our karmic healing, a new opening to the next level of our journey will undoubtedly be revealed.

In the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, a broken object is enhanced by healing its scars with real gold powder.

The position of Jupiter by sign and house in our birth charts reveals how and with what focus we can best express our generosity and love of life. Our Jupiter placement has the potential to give us many ongoing blessings, that is, as long as we don’t over-indulge to the point of sickness or get carried away in amassing an ever-expanding kingdom of power, money or stuff from our Jupiterian shadow side.

The best news—and perhaps the most important information to glean from this paean to Jupiter is that: We all have Jupiter RIGHT NOW transiting in some area of our life—shining its magnanimous light on all we survey. And knowing, feeling and owning this opens the inner doors to infinite abundance pouring in to the degree of our capacity to graciously receive it.

For a comprehensive look at all things Jupiter (and its shadow side), I encourage you to check out:
INFINITE ABUNDANCE: Owning Our Inner Jupiter

The other side of Jupiter, as he always amplifies the full range of the sign he’s moving through, is a tendency to over-do, to the extent of harming ourselves and/or causing collateral damage as well.

For example, one of the worst injuries I ever incurred was an almost complete tear of my ACL in 2000, when I was in the best physical shape of my life from working out at the gym and doing martial arts and feeling pretty self-satisfied about it.

The accident happened when I allowed my gym trainer to goad my ego into doing an exercise that my inner voice was warning me was dangerous. Later, when I checked the transits, I saw that Aries-ruling Mars, who governs physical vitality, was sitting exactly on my Jupiter, giving me a reckless overconfidence in my physical abilities!

In fact, most of the injuries I’ve sustained to date have been influenced from the shadow side of my Jupiter/Moon conjunction in Gemini/Cancer on the 5th/6th house cusp. The sunny-side of this synergy is that Jupiter’s optimism positively affects my emotional nature, allowing me to most always see the glass as half-full. But when I take my enthusiasm to an extreme of over-the-top audacity buoyed by ego, that’s when I get whacked.

So, when the positive traits of Jupiter in Aries flip to the dark side, our energies could be expressed through impatient, impulsive and mindless actions in our pursuit of whatever it is we’re after. And it is this type of greed for “more, different or better” that we need to watch out for.

The shadow side of Jupiter in Taurus, is when our desire nature for more, different or better becomes greedy in the pursuit of sensual pleasures or security and safety, which Taurus also rules. So, we need to watch out for becoming overly self-indulgent or willfully craving material things from a place of overweening desire.

I couldn’t close without this brief karmic warning label on the potentials for misuse of the energies of Jupiter through excess, hubris and entitlement. If we don’t utilize these most wondrous energies with gratitude for all the gifts of abundance given on so many levels, but instead are always grasping for more—we can be sure that at some point—in this incarnation or a future one—we will get the opportunity for a karmic do-ever with perhaps a little less easy access to Jupiter’s wonders to help us get the lesson. For more:
The Karmic Consequences of Entitlement (and it might not be what you think)

On this theme, here’s a well-known story about a sitar player who was discouraged with his meditation practice and went to the Buddha to ask for instruction.

“What happens when you tune your instrument too tightly?” the Buddha asked.
“The strings break,” the musician replied.
“And what happens when you string it too loosely?”
“When it’s too loose, no sound comes out,” the musician answered. “The string that produces a tuneful sound is not too tight and not too loose.”
“That,” said the Buddha, “is how to practice: not too tight and not too loose.”

So too with the energies of Jupiter, it behooves us to be ever mindful to be content and enjoy fully what is with gratitude and thus stop ourselves from acting out from any hungry ghost tendencies and giving ourselves a tummy ache on the physical and/or karmic levels. The mindful balance of moderation in all things Jupiter will create the sweetest music to dance through Life to. For more:
A Mystic’s Take on Hungry Ghosts, Karmic Setpoints and How to Truly Feed Our Souls

In closing, Pluto moving into Aquarius will be affecting all beings on planet Earth. These energies indicate we’re in for a total reset as Transformational Pluto operates through cycles of death and birth. This is especially so for those of us going through major life-changing transits personally this year.

This is certainly true for me, with Pluto passing over my Ascendant/North Node this month for the third time in a year at the penultimate degree of Capricorn. It feels as if my Being is being cooked in an alchemical cauldron as I witness all my old identities/personas falling away.

What will this mean for what’s left of my identity going forward? My channels have always told me that ideally the ego needs to be honed into a translucent tool for the soul to use solely for functioning in 3D. So, there’s definitely a lot of attachments to old ideas of what I think I need or want dispersing into the inner Void.

Throughout my life and up until last year, I had refined my metaphysical philosophy to one most in sync with my karmic personality predisposition. This means that what is most aligned vibrationally with my “greatest hits” of past incarnations of high levels of consciousness and/or pleasure, joy and bliss has been an eclectic mix of hedonism and stoicism. This has played out in my dealings with others as a form of romantic and/or spiritual pragmatism.

Added to the above, I’ve always felt a deep karmic affinity for the paths of Taoism and Tantra, both philosophically, since I was a teen, as well as informing most of my primary spiritual and energy practices for the last forty years. These have helped me become fully embodied through chi gung (especially daily standing) as well as the tantric path of utilizing my consciousness, emotions and senses as vehicles on the path of awakening.

So, as I’ll still be cooking in this Plutonian process for another year of becoming more and more “nobody home,” I honestly don’t know what else to say. And so, I’ll allow this quote by Ram Dass to say it for me, as it resonates the most and has for many years:

“If we come back into form from having merged with God, what the Buddhists call nirvana, we are in the world but not of it. We play the cosmic sport. We fill the forms though there is no one home, it is just more Lila, the dance of God.”

When I’m writing these newsletters, working with clients and engaging in spiritual practices, I am consistently at the highest levels of consciousness available to me—the rest of the time, not so much. But, it does mean that, at these times, I’m operating at a level of truth where I’m experiencing viscerally that: “There is only ONE BEING, with billions of faces.”

Therefore, everything I do for you, I am always and only doing for the Self . . . and it feels so good!

Loving All,
J O A N

“What we believe are our consciousnesses are an infinite array of mirrors, reflecting the One in manifold forms. I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all.”—Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Sufi Master

“Follow through on all your generous impulses. Do not question them, especially if a friend needs you; act on his or her behalf. Don’t sit around speculating about the possible inconvenience, problems, or dangers. Do not hesitate!”—Epictetus, The Art of Living