While the inner planets shape our immediate, personal experiences, we have powerful players shaping the tides of our collective experience. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have a big-picture perspective and their energies elevate our awareness. These planets ask us to transcend the purely personal and tap into energy that exceeds our individual identity. They bring luck, religion, philosophy, destruction, dreams, and enlightenment.
These planets take a long time to complete their orbits, like, we’re talking 165 years in Neptune’s case. This means that they take their time transiting the signs of the zodiac, so everyone born during the multi-year period that it takes one of these planets to move through a sign, shares that sign for that planet. In this way, they shape whole swaths of people born in the same generation into distinct cohorts with passions, beliefs, and tastes that diverge from the generations before and after them. We know and feel this impact intuitively when we relate to people born in our celestial cohort. One way to look at this is to look at the differences between you and your friends’ beliefs and lifestyles and that of your parents’ generation. It’s common knowledge that parents and children sometimes struggle to speak the same language, and a lot of that has to do with the generational difference in outer planet placements.
While the specific placement of these planets in your natal chart—as in the house they fall in and the aspects they form with other planets—can definitely offer insight into where in your life you interact with that planet’s energy and how you go about it, their fundamental influence is shared in the community.
Jupiter
Jupiter is in charge of our abstract mind and bestows us all with the urge to explore (specific to the sign it occupies in our chart, of course). Jupiter is all about a search for answers, and its planetary energy shapes the things we believe to be true and good. This is the planet of abundance, luck, expansion, and good old-fashioned laughing so hard you cry. That latter part, about humor and play, that part of Jupiter’s personality gets less attention than its reputation for good luck and for trying to figure out the meaning of life. But don’t sleep on Jupiter’s love of leisure! This connection between abundance and rest is an important lesson for all of us about the importance of balancing hard work with warm naps in the sun. When Jupiter isn’t busy arm wrestling Saturn and playing hide and seek with the Earth, it gets to work bringing good fortune into our lives. Jupiter’s placement in your chart shows you which areas of your life you’re likely to be especially lucky in, which doors will open for you most easily, and what comes naturally to you.
Saturn
Saturn is sometimes called the Lord of Time, and it rules how you spend it, where you dedicate it, and what you do with it. This discerning planet defines our limits and indicates where we’ll be met with obstacles in our life. And, although Saturn is known as a bit of a taskmaster, this planet never asks you to overcome something just to put you through the wringer. Saturn promises that if you rise to meet the occasion, you will be better for it. A more holistic understanding of Saturn recognizes that limitations and boundaries are necessary in order to define your sense of self. Saturn is the force that pushes our evolution, day by day, as we become who we are. When Saturn is doing its job, this planet keeps us on track and keeps us from getting blown off course or wandering too far away from who we truly are. Saturn is the necessary force in our life to define and clarify our identity and our growth areas. None of the big dreams and lofty aspirations that other astrological bodies incite can come to fruition without determination, discernment, and concentration.
Uranus
Surprise! It’s time to talk about the planet that tells us to expect the unexpected. Uranus is the great innovator, always looking to shake things up and remind us that the only constant in life is change. This planet always has its eyes trained on the future and is not interested in conventional ways of doing things. This energy is all about innovation, technology, and breaking down systems in order to make space for new possibilities. Uranus is not interested in causing chaos just for the sake of chaos, this disruption is a necessary part of progress, and enlightenment is never the result of things just plodding along, business as usual. This is the planet of fierce independence, and sometimes this planet pops in to jolt us from a dream-like state of following the leader or going along with society’s expectations and wake us up to our own self-determination.
Neptune
Named for the God of the Sea, Neptune rules over the domain of our deep subconscious, spiritual and psychic experiences. Neptune is the planet in charge of dreams and all the murky buried meanings, the mystic inspiration, and the illusions that come with them. Neptune rules all the subtle energies of our lives, especially our spirituality. Neptune’s influence on our spiritual life is not like Jupiter’s abstract concepts of religion and philosophy. According to Neptune, spirituality is an embodied experience and requires us to be still and look inward, rather than chasing the meaning of life. This is the planet of spiritual experience and healing. It helps us connect with the unseen layers of life, and to dissolve all the boundaries between the ego and the world, drawing us into a sense of sublime oneness.
Pluto
Doing its own thing far in the outer reaches of our galaxy, Pluto is the ruler of the underworld. The planet furthest beyond our reach rules the unseen forces that drive transformation. Pluto is the force that helps us achieve the highest levels of spiritual awakening, although this process is never fast, cheap, or easy. This is the planet that governs secrets and undercover information, so its placement reveals the areas of life that require deep dives into the soul. Pluto’s presence in your natal chart exposes the areas in your life that will require total and complete transformation.