The Great Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction (1980)

THE GREAT JUPITER/SATURN CONJUNCTION

by Marion D. March

Here we are, a0pther 20 year cycle, that 'dreaded' cycle when Jupiter and Saturn
conjunct and supposedly bring about the death of a president elected in such a year.
After all, hadn't Presidents Harrison (elected 1840), Lincoln (elected 1860), Garfield
(elected 1880), McKinley (elected 1900), Harding (elected 1920) Roosevelt (elected
1940) and Kennedy (elected 1960) died or been assassinated while on office? True enough.
But what about Zachary Taylor (elected 1848) who died in office in 1850? And how come
Roosevelt was re-elected in 1944 and only died in 1945? And what about Harrison who
died in April of 1841 while the great conjunction didn't take place until 1842? And
how come Monroe, elected in 1820, did not die in office?
Let's lay a few old wive's tales to rest. Yes, we live in a fairly violent world and
rather violent country, so many a president or other famous personality may be assassinated. We also demand a lot of our leaders and unless their health is fantastic and
their stamina the best, we may wear them down into eventual sickness and even death.
But can we only blame Jupiter and Saturn? Kelsey Richfield in CAO Times, Volume 4,
No. 2, wrote a most interesting article showing that all the presidents who died since
1840 had strong Moon/Mars afflictions in their charts relating to the United States
chart and many other important and difficult aspects.
What really is this great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter takes approximately 12 years to circle the zodiac while Saturn needs about 28½ years. Every 20
years or so, the two giant planets meet to form a great conjunction. And it is 'great'
when not only the longitude but also the latitude of the planets is the same. It then
looks like one enormous star in the sky and many scholars believe that Christ was born
under a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Pisces around 6 or 7 B.C. They also think that
the Star of Bethlehem seen by the wise men was really Jupiter conjuncting Saturn in
the heavens. In fact supposedly the great religious leaders of the world have all been
born under this great conjunction. Mohammed when Jupiter and Saturn conjuncted in Scorpio about 571 A.D., Buddha when the conjunction occurred in Taurus around 581 B.C. and
Moses about 1296 BC when the planets also met in Taurus. This would make good sense
since Jupiter stands for religion and Saturn for form and tradition; the two together
thus representing all great traditional religions. This great conjunction is also called
a Great Mutation, because-.for about 200 years the two planets keep conjuncting in the
same element. They move backwards as the years progress.
For example, the last Great Mutation started in Earth in January of 1842 in the sign
of Capricorn. Nearly 20 years later, October 1961, the two planets met in Virgo and in
April of 1881 in Taurus. November 1901 saw them back together in Capricorn, September

The Great Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction cont. page 2
1921 in Virgo. In 1940/41 we had three conjunctions; the first in August 1940, the
second in retrograde motion in October of 1940 and the third in direct motion in February 1951, all were in Taurus. February 1961 saw Jupiter and Saturn together in Capricorn. Now in 1981, they really should meet in Virgo, but there seems to be a 'slipup', except that in nature there are no slip-ups and everything progresses as it
should. Instead of Virgo, Jupiter and Saturn will conjunct in Libra. This will be
the first break from the earth conjunctions since 1842. But it is only a break, because in May of 2000 the two planets will meet again in an Earth sign, namely Taurus.
Only then is the cycle truly broken and in December of 2020 the Great Mutation begins
in the Air sign Aquarius. In November 2040 the meeting takes place in Libra, in 2060
in Gemini and goes on to continue in air for another 120 years or so. They next Great
Mutation after that will be in Water.
What can we expect from this new element in our lives? The last Great Air Mutation
occurred in 1127 A.D. in Libra and ended in 1405 in Aquarius. The Air cycle before
that started in 332 A.D. also in Libra, and went through the 6th century. So this will
be the first time since the birth of the United States that Jupiter and Saturn conjoin
in Air. We all know what Earth meant: reality, matter, tangible and touchable things
such as money and status and real estate and agriculture. Property, material possessions and financial considerations assumed greater importance in our lives, whereas
the artistic and creative nature, even the romantic and pioneering side of man has
been pushed into the background. But now we are ready to enter the Air cycle, and although not permanently, we should start to feel the impact, feel a difference of attitude.
Air is free and flowing and can't be contained. Air is intellectual, social, communicative, idea oriented and able to conceptualize. Air is the wish to learn and to know
and to pass that knowledge on to others (Gemini); Air is the strategist and the artist,
the person who nee&.to relate to others, in fact fears to be alone, but stays emotionally detached (Libra), and Air is the wish and need to understand the abstracts of tomorrow, to help other through uninvolved humanitarianism (Aquarius). All these qualities should slowly seek prominence in our lives. New and even more involvement through
the media; novel approaches to education; more space explorations bringing us new
awareness and understanding of the universe; the family as a new and more solid unit
since on the way to starting the lofty Air cycle, we will find Saturn and Uranus and
Neptune in Capricorn. And when the Great Mutation really starts in Aquarius in 2020,
Pluto will be in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus, a solid base for airy ideas. Neptune
then will be in Pisces, adding spiritual understanding and compassion.

The Great Jupiter/Saturn conjunction cont. - page 3
But what about now? What will this particular great conjunction which occurs three
times, mean to us? The first conjunction takes place at 9:19 pm UT (Universal Time)
at 9 Libra 30 on December 31, 1980. That would equate to 1:19 pm PST (Pacific Standard Time), 2:19 pm MST, 3:19 pm CST and 4:19 pm EST. The second conjunction takes
place sometime on March 4, 1981. The exact time is hard to determine on the retrograde motion that both planets experience, but astrologically this will be at 8 Libra 07.
The third conjunction happens on July 24, 1981; both planets are in direct motion at
4 Libra 57 and meet at 8:14 am UT which translates into 1:14 am PDT (Pacific Daylight
Time)m 2:14 am MDT, 3:14 am CDT and 4:14 am EDT.
Besides the afore mentioned religious connotation of Jupiter conjunct Saturn and the
possibility of another great religious leader being born into our age (or maybe the
'Antichrist' predicted in the bible), Jupiter and Saturn have very practical applications. They represent the economics (Jupiter) and politics (Saturn) of the world. Together they also become the institutional level of organized society. So this conjuntion really affects us all on a very mundane level, the way we run our economy and
our governments.
With the invaluable help of Johanna Koch, Bette Travis and the DR 70 of Angel Thompson,
I have gathered much factual information to enable all of you to judge for yourselves.
Please see Table with explanatory notes and Astro*Carto*Graphy graph by Jim Lewis.
Firstwe collected the horoscopes of all the independent countries of the world. Of
those horoscopes I have selected all planets that are within reasonable orb of the
three great conjunctions, and aspect by either conjunction, square or opposition. Jim
Lewis, inventor of Astro*Carto*Graphy (P.O. Box 22293, San Francisco, CA 94122), has
drawn a fantastic graph which shows exactly where the conjunctions are angular. It
shows graphically which countries are affected and also if other planets happen to be
on the same angle simultaneously. In column 3 of the table I give all the angle data
for the conjunction of December 31, 1980 and July 24, 1981. Last but not least we collected the birthdates of the leaders of those countries which have either a planet in
aspect (column 2) or are affected by the great conjunction being angular (column 3).
The planets of those leaders who are in aspect to either or the three conjunctions are
shown in column 4.
Some facts are quickly obvious: of 168 countries, 91 have some cardinal planets in aspect to the great conjunction; of those 91, 56 of their leaders also have cardinal
planets in aspect. 37 countries have the conjunction on angles and 22 countries have
aspects, the conjunction angular and leaders with planetary aspects. Seven countries,
namely the U.S., Brazil, France, the USSR, Turkey, China and Australia have both great
conjunctions on angles. Of these countries the U.S., France, USSR and Turkey also have

The Great Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction cont. - page 4
other planets on the angles at the same time, that is Mercury, the Sun, Mars and
Uranus, making the great conjunction more powerful yet. All seven countries and their
leaders have planets in aspect to the conjunction (China to be checked out once a new
leader is elected). In the United States Reagan's Mars at 4 Capricorn would be a bit
more combative than Carter's Sun at 8 Libra or Anderson's Saturn at 7 Libra and Pluto
at 8 Cancer. But Carter's Sun and Anderson's Saturn are conjunct Jupiter and Saturn
and the conjunction is always considered stronger than the square. The setting and
rising position of the great conjunction in the U.S. is stronger than Brazil's where
it occurs at its lowest point. In France the great conjunction is also rising and
setting, but both the country and its leader Giscard d'Estaing have the Noon in aspect, showing unrest & fluctuations rather than violence. The USSR has the conjunction of December culminating and the one of July 24th setting in one area and at its
lowest point in another. This is powerful indeed, so is the fact that Brezhnev has
3 planets in aspect, including Uranus which always brings unexpected results. Turkey
has both conjunctions angular and both the country and its leader have Mars aspects,
aggressive to say the least. China's Sun and Uranus are involved, again promising
important yet unpredictable changes, whereas Australia has Saturnian involvements,
probably imposing some limitations and/or new respQnsibilities. But do remember that
Brazil, China and Australia have no other planets on the angles together with the
great conjunction.
It is also interesting to note that of 12 South American countries the great conjunction culminates in 6 of them; but only 3, Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela, have the
country and the leader also in aspect.
Worth observing will be Africa. Of the so-called "Hunger Belt" involving 17 countries
and 23 Million people, only 4 seem really affected: Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
That does not mean that these 4 countries will have terrible problems and the other
13 will not. It could mean the contrary, that the 4 countries will have the strength
to overcome their problems, the conjunction giving them the impetus necessary to
fight for survival.
Other points of interest may be that Queen Elizabeth II is still "Queen" to all
Commonwealth countries and that her Mercury is at 4 Aries 45; that Yasir Arafat has
no official country, only a 'cause', but he has his Moon at 11 Aries, conjunct Uranus
at 10 Aries 45 and Mercury at 8 Libra. That states and cities also have charts: Los
Angeles for example has its Venus at 8 Libra; Washington DC has Saturn at 7 Aries 45
and Venus at 12 Aries; New York's Sun is at 11 Capricorn 30 and Jupiter at 9 Libra 30.
You can check your own state or city for aspects.

The Great Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction cont. - page 5
What does all this tell us? I'll leave the mundane interpretation to each of you7i44
the first and most obvious conclusion is that all of us on this earth are interconnected. If the great conjunction affects Jimmy Carter because his Sun is at 8
Libra, it will also affect 55 other leaders who have aspects. And if it involves
Austria or Guinea who's Suns are at 8 Libra, so will it involve 89 other countries
in some way, shape or form. We are all linked and no man or country is an island
anymore.
The second and even more important conclusion is that a Great Mutation is the
beginning of a new cycle, not necessarily a specific event. There will always be
wars and earthquakes and uprisings and hurricanes. If you look at history in capsule
fashion 7 you know that something is always happening somewhere. There is never a year
or month or week or day when nothing is recorded. Life goes on, and as some people
or some ideas die, new ones are born. The Great Mutation is just one of the great
cycles of history, and as such it should awaken us, the world, to the best and the
worst that Gemini, Libra and Aquarius can offer. The leaders who happen to be in
charge at this time will all, in their way, play a part in the larger scope of destiny.