THE JUPITER SIGNATURE
PORTRAIT OF AN IMMIGRANT
By Ivana
Have you ever wondered why some people like to live in their hometown their entire lives, and others spend theirs moving? Why do some of us find the familiarity of their birth place comforting, and others find theirs suffocating?
Since the dawn of time, people have been moving around in search of food. And as tribalism, nationalism and the creation of borders developed, so did the concept of immigration arise. People weren’t just moving around anymore, they were crossing borders into someone else’s territory. Since astrology is such a great tool for personality analysis, let’s turn our high beams on the astrological characteristics of the immigrant.
There are a million reasons why someone might choose to move to a foreign country, although economics is the most prevalent. An astrological chart will reveal all the motivational factors that are pushing us to make radical changes in our lives; so where do we look for that relevant information?
The natal (birth) chart is the precursor of our actions, and a reflection of our psychological make-up. It is no more difficult to recognize a traveler from the configuration of the natal chart than it is an artist or an athlete. First we make a distinction between the two very dissimilar types of movement, each of which is ruled by different planets and houses. Short trips are ruled by Gemini the Twins, and correspond to the third house of a horoscope and the planet Mercury. Long distance and long-term moves, on the other hand, are ruled by Sagittarius, the ninth house and the planet Jupiter.
Sagittarius is famous for its restlessness, a big mouth and a thirst for knowledge. The half-man half-horse needs expansion, to reach out to new territory, both physically and intellectually. When Sagittarians can’t literally travel, they do it in their imaginations, on maps, travelogues, using every tool available to them to broaden their horizons; they can dream of traveling even if they are confined. Sagittarius is the most adventurous sign of the zodiac and is notorious for creating space for themselves, even at the expense of others.
Those individuals who spend a major part of their life roving other countries, deal in some way with foreigners or simply live far away from where they were born, have Sagittarius prominent in their charts or have a very active ninth house, and/or have Jupiter prominently placed in their chart, by aspect or near the angles.
Another sign that is important for travelers, but rarely mentioned, is Cancer. Tradition has the Moon sign ruling sailors and sea travel. Today, Cancer and the Moon have garnered a reputation for “worshipping” their home or comfort zone, but I frequently find these elements prominent in charts of immigrants or are somehow connected with Sagittarius, the ninth house or Jupiter in the chart. The connection makes sense: the Moon rules one’s home and Jupiter rules relocation. When the two connect, we get relocation (Jupiter, ninth house, Sag) of the home (Moon, fourth house, Cancer).
The prominence of Sagittarius and Cancer in a chart can be inferred by several placements: Sun, Moon or Ascendant in Sagittarius or the ninth house, connected to the Moon/Cancer. For example: Moon in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Cancer (stronger when on the Ascendant); Jupiter as the ruler of the Ascendant placed in the fourth house; Moon in the ninth; fourth house planets in Sagittarius; ninth house Sun, or stellium in the ninth house or in Sagittarius; and any other combination of these components.
When the ninth house is occupied by planets, even the outer planets—Uranus, Neptune, Pluto—it can signify travel, but with some difficult (beyond one’s control) experiences in relation to it, those that change a person significantly at the core, with residual and irrevocable results. With the personal planets, especially Moon and Venus, the individual immigrant will still experience hardship, but the overall type of feeling is a much more positive and warm attitude towards their adoptive country and people.
Many other sociological and political factors determine what drives an immigrant. Whether because of war or poverty, or simply because the immigrant wanted or needed a change will show up as different patterns in the natal chart.
The natal chart reveals a great deal about one’s potential for travel, but there is another, less-used method that says a whole lot more about one’s relationship to their new city and country than the natal chart ever could. A synastry chart between the individual and the new home compares the clash of cultures and the deep personal needs of the immigrant that are engaged by the adopted country or place. A composite chart will showcase the more obvious connections between the two and how they would manifest to others. These two techniques are often used for analysis of personal relationships between people, but they work just as well for relationships between a human and a place. One’s inexplicable attraction to, or repulsion from a place can be ascertained with help of these two techniques.
When analyzing a person-place synastry, check the personal point and planetary aspects and the aspects between the jointly aligned Suns and Moons, Ascendant, IC and the planets. Having a cluster of planets from one chart fall into a cardinal house of the other (first, fourth, seventh and tenth), or nodal ties from the one chart to the Sun, or the Moon or the Cardinal Axis of the other (cusps of first, fourth, seventh and tenth) will show what drives the immigrant and what kind of reception he or she will get from the intended locality. Since we are talking about place/person synastry, it is important to focus more on how the place influences us than the other way around. In a person/place composite chart, an important relationship with a place is indicated by the same aspects and placements as in a person/person composite chart. These would be heavy angular placements; Sun and/or Moon connected with Saturn and the outer planets; planets conjuncting the Nodes, and so forth.
It is naïve to think that a life-changing event like a move to a foreign country is a coincidence. There is a higher order in the Universe, one which we may not be aware of most of the time, yet one that is so beautifully demonstrated by planets and their movement across the sky. In a sense, when our feelings and our yearnings come together, the story of immigration becomes a story of a heart (Moon) on a journey (Jupiter). Our Moon is the most sensitive point in our natal chart. And what is more important to us than the place we call home?
The reality is that one has no way of knowing just by looking at an immigrant why they moved from their original place of birth. It could be love or money, or any emotional compulsion stronger than the fear of change. This is important to know at a time when “immigrant “is a dirty word.
People’s agendas may not be written on their face, but it is always written in the natal chart. This is something to consider when you hear demagogues denigrate immigrants and discriminate against them. Remember, it is probably an active Jupiter that drives immigrants to dream of foreign shores, supplies them with hope and energy to get there and helps them grow and thrive in their new surroundings. Isn’t this the type of person that we would want as our neighbor and as fellow citizens?
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