2024 is a year of shock.
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You've likely heard excitable nerdy rumblings from myself and other astrologers regarding the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction on April 20th, but I'd really like to articulate just how massive this year (and the following years) will be as a result. As I often say, transits are not singular, isolated events, they often echo out in their impact. The slower the planet, the more impactful we can expect them to be.
Jupiter tends to spend about a year in each sign and takes nearly 12 years to return to the beginning of the zodiacal wheel while Uranus spends 7-8 years in each sign and takes 84 years to begin again. The slow journey of these two planets and the synchronicity of their collision, despite such contrasting cycles, signifies something ancient and otherworldly that occurs in their meeting. What a jolt, a surprise, a shock to our systems it can be when these two work in conjunction or opposition. This is the proverbial alien landing on Earth, becoming immersed in an entirely new way of living because it is now awake to what was living in the vast Universe before as it simultaneously shocks and horrifies the modern human who is now torn away from the womb of the world, unable to be pacified by the meaningless worries of taxes and work drama and what to cook for dinner tonight because holy shit! Aliens! You know what I mean? That is kind of what this conjunction is like.
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Because this is not a singular and isolated event, 2024 as a whole is likely to be and has likely already been a wildly jarring year and as a result, the effects will probably extend themselves into the rest of the decade as well. I mean, thinking about my dramatic alien metaphor, that isn't something that you pick up and put down in a weekend, that's the sort of awakening that would change life as you know it and provoke a billion other possibilities and many, many questions (i.e. life on other planets? space travel? god?? no more taxes???).
I often refer to Jupiter as "prolific", "lif" is also a root word of "life" and such an awakening truly gives life to things out of thin air. This is a transit that has the power to change and dismantle entire belief systems and hierarchies in one fell swoop. Now aliens are a highly hyperbolized example (and likely more of a Uranus in Gemini thing), but take any shocking event good or bad: a lotto win, a death in the family, or even things that start small and become big overtime such as an introduction, an interview, a moment of transparency, or even a social media post, these more known and mundane things can have the same result as something foreign and conspiratorial as aliens during a conjunction like this. Whatever story has been building in your life since May of 2023 is furthering some sort of emerging plot twist, giving life to thin air.
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And, because this is not a singular and isolated event, it is less likely that whatever your version of an alien invasion is to occur on April 20th on the day of the conjunction exactly. It is probable instead that this entire year is a series of all kinds shocking events of all shapes and sizes and emotional connotations– I know that for me, that has been the case so far. Expect a truly unexpected year and know that, since everyone is under this influence, it is infectious in a way, you never know what or whom you may be touched by this year.
I'd also like to say, Uranus radicalizes you. Due to how long it stays in one sign, we often forget how we approached the house topics before the Uranus transit as opposed to after the Uranus transit. This is where we are continuously combating destabilization and in the process, we tap into a more evolved and awakened version of ourselves. It is possible to go back to how things were before after the transit ends due to the impermanence of Uranus, but it's difficult. After taking your blindfold off, you can't unsee all of your revelations without a deeply unhealthy dose of denial. Uranus ingressed Taurus Spring of 2018, since then we've been collectively met with revelations and shocks in connection to our finances, our sense of stability, our views on traditionalism, anything related to the natural world including diet, quality of ingredients, resources, and livestock. The house governed by Taurus in the individual chart is where you've been transported to a more futuristic and sustainable way of handling those matters. Jupiter making a conjunction to Uranus (whose work is nearly done in this house) is somehow blowing up this radicalization process, stretching and expanding and moving us to foreign territory, guiding the process to profound epiphanies and creations as a result. We've been prepped and prepared in the only way that Uranus truly can– through continuous and weirdly expected unpredictability.
Remember, conjunctions are beginnings. This is only the start of a 14 year cycle and all that is liberated and set into motion now has much influence over the coming decade. The best thing we can do is be open to the changes presented and curious about the possibilities that open up for us.
Here is what I wrote about the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in my yearly forecast:
This is one of the most defining transits of 2024. It perfects on April 20th at 21º Taurus. A conjunction like this represents the beginning of a large cycle.
The nature of each of these planets indicate a global revolution just as well as a personal one. Jupiter is about culture, trends, politics and law, knowledge, virtue, power, discovery. Uranus is connected to society and humanity, freedom, radical inventions, genius revelation, permeating change, rebellion. When these two come together, the impact is massive, rippling out for decades. Jupiter-Uranus is incredibly prolific, a word meaning both "inventive" and "plentiful" notating how just one event, work, experience, or conversation provides us with something more.
Let's explore the last conjunction to take a closer look at how society and culture were effected:
The last conjunctions, working in a triplicate fashion in the way Venus-Mars works to begin a new era, were June 8th 2010 (in Aries), September 19th 2010, and January 4th 2011 (both in Pisces). These conjunctions correlated with events like:
The Earthquake in Haiti
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The First iPad
The Killing of Osama bin Laden
Photographic evidence of liquid on Mars
The Juno spacecraft launch to Jupiter
Declaring the end of the Swine Flu Pandemic
The Occupy Wall Street Protests
The Public launch of Instagram
Siri, the digital personal assistant
An Israel and Hamas prisoner exchange
The release of the game Minecraft
The Space shuttle Atlantis retiring after 30 years
These are only a few events listed from those years alone as large transits tend to work in a bell curve in the preceding and succeeding years. The nature of many of these events can be described as prolific. An easy example of this is the first iPad– we now have generations of iPads which have advanced to the "iPad Pro" extending from this launch. It has changed the way we complete tasks, create art, and take notes. By the time I was in high school, we even had school issued iPads making online work more accessible at home. The term "iPad kid" has emerged in recent years notating the way kids are glued to a screen and lack social and behavioral skills, perpetuating chronic impatience– this has had a huge impact on our society, culture, and the future generations for better or for worse.
 These transits can also create drastic events like the Earthquake in Haiti that claimed 300,000 lives leaving behind a massive humanitarian crisis, this is plentiful in impact and damage too– prolific and not in a good way. Uranus and Jupiter are each concerned with humanity and society, how the culture operates, the welfare of people, animals, the justice system– this can create beneficial change, but it has just as much power for devastation. The problem with Uranus is that it is deeply unpredictable and shocking while Jupiter is Mr. Worldwide, so even that which is originally good or beneficial, can quickly become a problem. This aspect is often responsible for things going "viral" the rapid spread of information, ideas, sickness, crisis– it circulates it all.
Since these conjunctions took place in Aries, the beginning of the Zodiac, and Pisces, the end of the Zodiac, we saw pronounced launches and expirations defining the new decade. Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions are also famous for bringing "break out" artists, new music, literary, scientific and general pioneering legends.
In 2009-2011 surrounding the conjunction, we saw the debut of musicians like: Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, B.O.B., Bruno Mars, Ke$ha, The Glee Cast (lol), James Blake, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Ray, Tyler, The Creator, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, One Direction, and Drake. You can see how ridiculously impactful each of them have been to the modern music scene. This especially brought about the newfound potential for internet discovery, like in the case of Justin Bieber. Uranus deals with both random opportunities and technological innovation while Jupiter, again, is responsible for expanding something worldwide. Some of these artists were proclaiming their role as "independent artists" accentuated by the need for freedom this conjunction brings.
Significant literary works published during the conjunction included titles like: The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Big Short by Michael Lewis, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder, The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann, Blue Nights by Joan Didion, Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis, Liberty Defined by Ron Paul, A World On Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War by Amanda Foreman. Many of these works were about liberation as well as medical, personal, and historical discovery. It's impressive too, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann covers the global effects of The Columbian Exchange when Columbus himself sailed during a Jupiter-Uranus opposition.
Film, of course, is not exempt from the prolific Jupiter-Uranus conjunction. During this time we saw films such as the live action Alice in Wonderland, full of oddities, centering the concern of freedom in a magical world. The final installment of the Harry Potter movies– no doubt "freeing" the cast from roles they had played since childhood, a quality of Jupiter-Uranus. Inception, a very Uranus/Promethean film, a thief of secrets and Jupiter representing the planter of ideas. Tangled, all about a desire for freedom from her tower! Leap Year, Eat Pray Love, Letters to Juliet, all speaking to Jupiter's life changing travels. Frozen who has since been renewed for a third and fourth movie and had every child singing "Let it Go" at the top of their lungs. The 7 Adventures of Sinbad about saving humanity from catastrophe. Despicable Me, a film about an outcast inventor with a plentiful amount of odd yellow minions... I mean c'mon! The transits must write the movies.
Other massive successes speaking to the Jupiter-Uranus theme include: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Switch, The Kids Are Alright, Salt, Easy A, Due Date, Burlesque, Love & Other Drugs, The Descendants, The Help, No Strings Attached, Rango, Limitless, Rio, Thor, Midnight in Paris, X Men: First Class, Road to Nowhere, The Trip, Green Lantern, Bad Teacher, Captain America: The First Avenger, Friends with Benefits, Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Change Up, Footloose, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and War Horse.
As you can see, these are Renaissance periods. Major political and cultural movements are invoked at Jupiter-Uranus connections, especially concerning that which is new, a "breakthrough" in art and science, freedom movements are centered. These are incredibly pivotal times both globally and personally.
Exploring 2024's transit:
This year, we have the conjunction in Taurus who often speaks to monetary comfort, dietary needs, ownership and value, resources we both depend on and relish in, power dynamics, hierarchical systems, traditional customs and expectations, the Earth, Gaia, the natural elements, and even natural talents, especially in speaking or singing. Taurus often has a role in giving a voice to the voiceless, opening doors that were previously locked, grounding new beginnings in tangible reality. Astrology can show up quite literally– like in the case of finding liquid (Pisces) on Mars (the planet that rules Aries) in the 2010-2011 conjunctions for example. It's possible that we could see a glaringly obvious Taurean archetype.
It's likely that we are looking at a technological revolution here with Pluto in Aquarius at the time of the conjunction as no transit is singular, each depends upon the partnership with surrounding planetary movement. Taurus doesn't typically speak to innovation by itself, but with Jupiter and Uranus in this sign, this is about working smarter and not harder. Taurus wants things done well, with quality, but it typically prefers to conserve its energy. We may see plenty of new apps, home appliances come to mind– if the conjunctions in Aries and Pisces gave us the iPad, Siri, and Instagram? And Uranus in Taurus has already given us the Air fryer? I can't imagine the inventions we're in for. Especially as they relate to Venus– cosmetics, clothing, the food industry, money, etc.
We may see drastic changes to our financial system in the years to come as this transit is accompanied by the 2nd house U.S. Pluto return. I'm not sure exactly how this will manifest, but we can expect rapid advancement when it comes to production in particular, the way that things are made. Astrologer Dorje Kirsten pointed out (on Twitter– @dorjepadma) that the Cotton Gin was invented while Pluto was in Aquarius and when looking back, I noticed that this occurred in the years following the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Leo. The simultaneous Pluto in Aquarius and Jupiter-Uranus conjunction also correlated with the invention of a working parachute, the power loom, chemical bleaching, the steamboat, the gas turbine, the first ambulance, preserving jars, the vaccination for small pox– all revolutionary things that changed our world. We can expect something similarly impactful.
We are sure to see protests and rebellion against power imbalances this year, there is a strong societal push towards a goal of financial and physical freedom. Jupiter is about an overarching power, Uranus wants individual power and autonomy. Natural disasters are often signified by these conjunctions as well, it isn't a nice thing to predict, but an obvious one with these planets in the sign of the Earth. Climate change and efforts to improve the Earth are likely to feel more urgent– humanitarian movements come to the forefront and I believe many will be changing the way they relate to their environments, opting for a more natural or efficient way of living. Taurus is a slower moving sign, I imagine that these changes will take until the next opposition (in 2031 on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis) to integrate.
Jupiter and Uranus were already well within their 15º conjunction in 2023 where we saw Barbie, Oppenheimer, Taylor Swift's Eras tour, Beyoncé's Renaissance tour contributing to the reversal of the U.S. recession, though we are still likely to see difficulty with the 2nd house Pluto return. The Pluto return will bring extreme economic swings.
There was "Book Tok" reviving the art of literature for many young people– never a bad thing. Some of the most prominent books of 2023 include: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, Yellow Face by R.F. Kuang, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, the ACOTAR series craze (even while the series wrapped a few years ago), Spare by Prince Harry, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor.
More seriously, we saw the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the oceans have reached a new record high temperature, the Titan Submersible imploded, the Free Palestine Movement has taken over in the face of genocide, Russia continues to war with Ukraine– this has had a stark influence on inflation symbolized by the North and South Nodes through Taurus-Scorpio in 2022 and now with Jupiter closing in on Uranus we are sure to see more developments with this. The FDA has approved the first RSV vaccine for older adults. The first A.I. Safety summit took place in the UK to discuss safety management for artificial intelligence. Elon Musk has rebranded the platform Twitter to "X" and has inflicted a payment system for verification, changing the way the algorithm works and affecting many online creators, writers, and the like, as a result.
All of these events are foreshadowing 2024's conjunction, 2023 was only the build of the bell curve, we'll see a peak in energy this April with a new cycle beginning. It will be a massive year in politics, science, technology, media, and art. As always, look to your personal chart, these are often times of pivotal and transformative travel, moments of "breaking free" from past modes of income and oppressive relationships, the forming of powerful partnerships, a potency for creative energy– whatever "breakthroughs" and beginnings are in store will carry us to the opposition in 2031. This conjunction is especially impactful for those with planets or angles in fixed signs (Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, and Aquarius) around the 15º-29º mark.
What's more, around this time we will have a Jupiter cazimi in Taurus at 28º and a Venus-Uranus conjunction in Taurus at 23º on the same day, May 18th 2024. I'll expand on this later, mark your calendars! It will be a wildly auspicious time.