Jupiter is the planet of good luck and expansion; it bestows multiple blessings to whatever house it touches. Jupiter rules the 9^th house in astrology home to Sagittarius; a freedom loving sign that enjoys discussing ideologies and loves to travel to far off places. Jupiter rules horses imagine them beautiful, wild and free. The very essence of Jupiter is growth, optimism and expansion. Sounds great? Usually it is but as we know everything is great only if used in moderation. Jupiter can also show where we tend to go overboard and rely heavily on good luck; it shows where we live in excess and even take advantage. Someone with an overactive Jupiter can have dreams of grandeur, they are going to college to get that Masters, they are going to move to France, next year they are finally going to partake in that triathlon well after they quit smoking and start exercising.

Every planet and sign has its shadow side.

“When the astrological symbolism is related to psychology, this planet actually has much wider significance for all forms of  inflated self-esteem, over confidence and exaggerated self-importance also belong to Jupiter” Alexander Ruperti

Ruperti goes on to write in his book Cycles of Becoming; “The lesson of Jupiter on all levels of reality is the importance of limitations. Too much of anything, no matter how good or desirable becomes an evil in itself”

Dealing with someone with an overactive Jupiter in their natal chart can be VERY difficult, and annoying quite frankly; especially for someone like myself that has a cardinal t-square I’m always under internal pressure to get something done. A person with abundance of Jupiter doesn’t operate in this manner; they feel as though time is infinite. They are the type that allow mail to pile up on the kitchen table, bills may pile up without much thought and they may spend much time talking of all the things they are going to do without much planning or action.

The Shadow side of Jupiter:

The Pharisee, complacent person, the self-righteous individual –Keywords for Astrology

Overestimates his or her own personality, addicted to pleasure, lazy, self satisfied.

(Paraphrasing from the book Keywords in Astrology)

This is most apparent when Jupiter is in hard aspect (square and opposition) to the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars otherwise known as the personal planets. I want to stress this doesn’t indicate the individual is a bad person however they rely heavily on the belief that everything will be okay, they often do not take responsibly seriously and leave others to pick up after them. I promise you, it will bother family and friends more than it will bother the Jupiter person.

I wonder at times if they feel as though they are doing a lot, this constant planning and doing in the mind must be very exhausting. When faced with being held accountable they are likely to deny any responsibility and take it as a personal attack.

It is essential if you have a dominant Jupiter to set achievable goals for yourself so 10 years haven’t gone by only for you to wake up and realize you haven’t accomplished much. Ask yourself what can I do today to get me closer to my dreams? Jupiter/Sagittarius/9^th house have to do with big picture thinking; this is painting with a broad stroke. I love the visionary aspect but it has to be followed with some Saturnian work or ideas will remain just that; thoughts that never manifest into a physical reality.