The Great Conjunction 2021: Jupiter & Saturn in Aquarius

December 21st, 2020 the perfection of the alignment of Jupiter 
and Saturn, which we call a Great Conjunction, occured at 0° of the sign of Aquarius.

This is an alignment that has been dancing in and out of closeness all year since January 2020.








They got very close to perfecting alignment early in the year, then due to Jupiter's retrograde motion, separated before the alignment perfected. These Great Conjunctions happen about once every 20 years.

This one is extra special though. These alignments, although they happen once every 20 years, are part of a much greater cycle that spans thousands of years. Every alignment of these two for every 200 years, will fall in the same triplicity of signs.

Meaning that for 200 years, they will occur in only earth signs, or only fire signs or only air or only water signs. We are coming out of a 200 year period of Great Conjunctions in Earth signs & beginning a 200 year period of Great Conjunctions in Air Signs.

This conjunction is also special, because of how close the two planets will be not only by zodiacal degree (the measure east-to-west of where bodies fall on the ecliptic) but by declination as well (the measure south-to-north of where bodies fall on the ecliptic).

So if you think of the ecliptic, (the path planets and luminary bodies appear to take across the sky) like a grid, typical astrological language like "conjunction" applies to when the bodies meet up by zodiacal degree, but they aren't always closely positioned by declination, and can still look rather far apart from our perspective when conjunct.

Not this time though.

​This time they will appear very, very close to each other, to the point some will say they look like one big star. Alignments like this are sometimes compared to what the 3 wise men, aka Astrologers, may have been referencing in Bible stories of "The Star of Bethlehem".
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And it's happening on the winter solstice, on Christmas! We know that Jesus was not actually born on Christmas, it was probably spring-time, but that's still a fun connection! It's exceptionally rare for Great Conjunctions to also connect by declination, regardless.

In this graphic we see their pattern of coming together compared to what a DNA spiral looks like. As Above, So Below!

 

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Jupiter & some of its moons on the left, Saturn on the right. As seen through average telescope.

Jupiter & Saturn Dec. 21, 2020 from Larkspur, California as seen by the naked eye.

I was impressed by how close they did appear to my naked eye on the night of perfection of the conjunction compared to just days and weeks earlier! For comparison, check out this picture (below) I took of them on my phone the night of Dec. 3rd, 18 days earlier. Note that at this time, Jupiter, the brighter orb, appeared to be to the right of/west of Saturn on the ecliptic, while at the time of the perfection of the aspect on the 21st, not only were they closer by declination and zodiacal degree, but Jupiter was now on the left, just east of Saturn. 

Saturn and Jupiter through camera lens, December 3, 2020

Wherever you are (except for extreme northern locations) on the northern hemisphere of the globe, just after sunset Jupiter & Saturn will appear precisely or approximately in the southwest sky until they slowly set over the south-western horizon about an hour after sunset.

WhAt DoEs It AlL mEaN though?!?!?

Everyone wants to know! Every moment is bursting with meaning & this one is no different! I recommend scheduling a private session with me to talk to you more in depth about it or you should check out Nightlight Astrology's 3-part video series they recently released on YouTube and podcast form all about this Jupiter-Saturn conjunction!

Even that hours-long analysis just barely scratches the surface of "what it means" though. At the very, very least, it is a beautiful sight to behold, & illustrates the perfect mathematical & pattern-rich nature of the universe. ​​

Jupiter & Saturn highly magnified, December 21, 2020