Venus and Jupiter together, the annual Conjunction of the Benefics, takes place on May 23, 2024, in the early morning hours of Thursday 23 May 2024 at 4:16 am EDT. This year is especially delightful, because it takes place in one of the two signs that is ruled by Venus, and in the anaretic degree (which is a fancy astrological way of saying “last” — and which brings a special empowerment to its effects).
Hymn of the Benefic Conjunction
Hail to thee, Jove, the brilliant kindly judge,
the magistrate who wakes us to our selves!
Hail to you, Venus, who loves without grudge,
birthed of the sea-foam that rides tidal swells.
Together you meet, and blessings shower
from shining realms to mortal lands below,
dispensing justice, and beauty's graces,
to all who love mercy more than power;
Glorious happiness you two bestow —
if we but choose to show you our faces,
and dance our gratitude beneath your gaze:
like mortal lovers long separated,
you reunite with kisses, hugs, and praise
each curious of what's been created
in the days apart — and full of stories
of their adventures in distant places,
new foods tasted, and new wonders beheld!
And in the homestead: are there new glories
seen in the children's freshly washed faces?
Have our agreements been properly held?
Venus and Jove, look with generous eye,
and, as you meet, replant wealth and beauty —
the kinds of partnerships where none need lie,
and mutual help is happy duty.
As mighty waters tumbling over falls
become calm pools where life forever thrives
and sweetness lingers in the perfumed air...
help us to act so justice never stalls,
and love of beauty constantly revives,
and joy and laughter are easy to share.
The conjunction also takes place opposite a debilitated almost-full Moon in Scorpio… which will slip into Sagittarius around dawn an hour after the conjunction, and then perfect as a Full Moon at 9:16 am EDT with the Moon in the Sixth House below the horizon, and the Sun in the Twelfth House somewhat above. The crossover from Scorpio to Sagittarius isn’t particularly significant in astrological terms for the Moon — but in metaphorical terms it is the crossover from secrets to stories, or in even more poetic terms, the decision to draw back the bowstring. The time for thinking about what to target is past; the time for drawing a bead on the target has arrived.
Jupiter has long been a symbol of justice in astrology, but often it’s been misunderstood as the laws of mortals, rather than as the gentle and generous arbiter of cosmic law. “Sure, you can pour toxic goop into the river… but the consequences of that action will come due sooner or later…. no, I don’t know when. But they will come due. I’ll give you time to fix that, but you can’t do that forever. Yes, that same rule applies to smog in the air…. No, I don’t know when the costs of that will become apparent, but they will.” The lenient judge has appeared in enough TV shows and movies for you to know the type — and to see that they rely on the better angels of our human nature to draw us in line and hold to our own self-discipline. In tragedies like Romeo and Juliet, the judge often gets the last word:
A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head.
Go hence to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardoned, and some punished.
Similarly, Venus is far too often seen as the flighty lover — of cosmetics, of fashion, of silly trends, of good sex — rather than as the creative force of God who observes cosmic beauty and strives to recreate it in matter and mortal life for the benefit of all. The flower that blooms today will become the seed that grows the grandchild’s oatmeal: the flirty skirt that attracts the mate will become part of the baby’s swaddling clothes; the golden bracelet commemorating an anniversary this year will be the money that saves the refugee from disaster in twenty years.
It is said in myth that Jupiter could refuse Venus nothing — whatever she asked, he in his indulgence would give her.
Metaphors and Archetypes
This year’s Conjunction of the Benefics occurs in Taurus’s anaretic degree, which as I said is one of Venus’s two domiciles. Called her Night House, Taurus is the place where she’s strongest — where she’s most outstanding in her field, to use my favorite Taurean pun.
Jupiter has been here, minding her herd of cows and looking after her flocks of sheep, cleaning out her cellars, and looking after her bathhouse and boudoir since 17 May 2023 — getting everything ready for her return. She returns to Taurus on 30 April 2024, and there’s a long period of inspection, and introspection, about whether or not she’s happy with what he’s done with the place while she was away. Sheets changed on the bed? Bathroom properly cleaned? Tub ready for a bath? Shower scum scrubbed off? Sheep sheared, cows milked (chickens fed)? Sweeping and vacuuming?
Here in the Americas, the conjunction starts to intensify around sundown on Wednesday 22 May 2024. — just as the Moon rises in late Scorpio on the opposite side of the sky. As Venus snuggles up to Jupiter, they’ll traverse the private realms, and together they’ll examine every nook and cranny of private life, carrying generosity and kindness to every corner of house and home — first the sixth house of the yoga studio and the medicine chest; and then the fifth house of boudoirs, kitchens, pantries, and kids’ rooms; then the family room and the security of the house and family in the fourth house; then the gardens and the yard and the fences with the neighbors in the third house; and then a peek at the bank accounts and the closets and dressers in the second house. And finally, only then, after the whole house has been thoroughly investigated and examined, and all the private issues are touched upon — will Venus climb into bed with Jupiter, and ask for what she wants. It might be let’s get freaky together… but it has equal potential to be I am disappointed: re-do all your cleaning and management again, without my help. And Jupiter, remember — denies Venus nothing, especially not in Taurus. Will it be a night of hot delights, or of cold shoulders?
At the same time that this minute inspection goes on through the night, the Moon rises at sundown since it’s almost full. In Scorpio, she is full of secrets… secret desires, and secret angers. We tend to think of Scorpio as the sign of the love-’em-and-leave-’em bedroom bandits, and there’s something of that in this sign; but it’s also the sign of barely contained emotional hungers… the desires bitten back and unspoken, the frustration arising from unaddressed needs, the building hunger for re-balancing or revenge when clearly expressed wants go ignored or denied.
Even as Venus finishes her last private inspections before union with Jupiter, the Moon will make a similar tour through the above-horizon “public places of the sky — the 12th house of long-term trends of health and illness, like hospitals and prisons; the 11th house of legislative action and political alliances; the tenth house of professional conduct and office environment; the ninth house of learning and travel; the eighth house of duties and responsibilities… before setting in the seventh house of spouses and lovers. What Venus does in private, the Moon does in public this night of 22-23 May 2024 — investigates the back room deals and the text of proposed legislation, the conditions in the emergency room and the county jail, the concerns of presidents and governors and corporate CEOs, the burdens of taxes and chores, the readiness of her partners to support her.
And then she moves as she completes her fullness — from the scuttling secrecy of Scorpio where she feels powerless, to the arrow nocked to the bowstring and her hands pulled back, the horse galloping at full speed toward her target in Sagittarius — where she protects what is hers and seizes what she wants. She moves from gathering information and researching what she wants, in counter-posture to Venus and Jupiter — to deciding on a course of action and beginning the journey to come around to their point of view and deliver on Venus’s desires.
It’s rare, even for so beneficial a conjunction, to offer such a powerful set of metaphors and archetypes — or for any set of aspects to be so strongly in support of the Astrological Ladies, Venus and the Moon. It’s possible to imagine a dance starting on Wednesday and going on late into the early hours , with wild singing and howling at the nearly-full moon … and a whole lot of side conversations around the refreshments table what will we do in the morning?
Somehow, I suspect, the answer will become clear.
