In my last blog, we reviewed certain planets as Good, Bad or just plain Ugly and I wrote about the Bad and the Ugly. I will now write about the Good, or Benefic planets.

The two benefics are Venus and Jupiter. Why do we judge or view these two planets as Good or Benefic? What is the quality of “good”? Is good always a good thing?

Venus represents Beauty, Love, Values, Attraction, Feminine, Pleasure, Anima, Romance, Money, Creativity. Where Venus is placed in our charts determines the ways in which she will express herself. Venus is the ruler of both Taurus and Libra as well as the houses in which they are found. Venus is exalted in Pisces, seeks a balanced beauty, harmony and grace at its highest expression. Venus is not interested in the vulgar and the profane aspects of life, but rather on the areas where we feel our humanity and seek to elevate ourselves towards the right human relationship. Venus is Art, which can lift our hearts, minds and souls from our lowly physical existence to the Beauty which Transcends all (Venus in Pisces). Venus is in her fall in Virgo -Venus is Spring and Virgo is the harvest, so you can understand why she wouldn’t be too happy in Virgo- she is in her detriment in both Aries and Scorpio -both ruled by masculine Mars.

Jupiter shows up as Expansion, Philosophy, Growth, Prosperity, Higher Learning, Faith, Morality, Hope, Religion, Risk, Seeking the Truth. Ruler of both Sagittarius and Pisces and exalted in Cancer, Jupiter leads us to look for the more inclusive whole, the Interconnected Truth of All-That-IS. As ruler of two of the last four signs, there is an experiential nature that seeks experience with something more transcendental. Jupiter is in his fall in Capricorn (where he is now) because it is hard to be expansive in the dead of winter in a sign ruled by Saturn and in his detriment in both Gemini and Virgo -signs where a lot of expansion would simply be overwhelming.

When Venus and Jupiter move through your chart, they often bring gifts along with them. Over the years, they beautify and expand the energies in every area of your life. Of course, some transits aren’t as good as they may appear at face value:

For example: A man wins the lotto. His Jupiter return has hit the big jackpot! But if that person has a 6th house Jupiter and a 12th house Neptune opposition in his chart and has been battling with addiction issues his whole life, this may give him the opportunity to remain financially secure in the never-never land of a drug-fueled fantasy. Jupiter brought what most people would perceive as a big batch of good luck, but Luck is blind and indiscriminately expands and/or blesses areas of life that sometimes really should not be. As you may know, most people who win the lottery are often in worse shape five years after the win, showing that expansion for expansion’s sake, may not be the best route.

Of course, a lottery win for this gentleman could also become the impetus to make some big changes in his life and make the differences in the world he now has the means to manifest. I like to think of Jupiter as the balloon that continues to expand until it bursts or gets your attention.

Another example of what Jupiter transits can bring about, consider not the sign, but the disease cancer. What is more Jupiterian than cancer cells? The way they multiply, expand and take over is exactly what Jupiter does best.

“You can’t have rainbows without rain” is one of Dolly Parton’s sayings. The Good/Bad duality is one that is still very powerful today. Many of us are hooked by this duality in order to have our experiences and grow. What is the goal? Balance, acceptance, become detached from the polarity, become neutral with both Good and Bad and your perceptions and attachments to how each plays out.

Zen stories are replete with stories that reflect the attachment to good and bad. On one day an experience is considered a blessing or an unfortunate event, only to appear opposite at a later date. After we have worn out our attachments to the good or bad of things, we learn a new way of being. The polarity-free answer one learns to give in response to what appears in life then becomes, “Who could say? We shall see.”

I hope this explanation of the malefics and benefics helped.

Wishing you neutrality in the polarization going on around the world right now,

Michael