This is a rather thought-provoking and a lengthy post.

The two Guru-s of the zodiac, Devguru Bruhaspati and Daityaguru Shukracharya in opposition, mutual aspect, placed opposite each other ie in the 7/7 axis. This may seem like a nice placement but can be a subtly problematic element in the chart. Even for selecting a muhurt, ie auspicious timing for performing important works, Venus-Jupiter opposition in the skies is considered unfavourable.

Open your chart. Find out Venus’s degree position. Add 180deg to this. This is the exact opposite point. See if you have Jupiter placed within 15deg on either side of this point (This is a 7% probability). If you have a Venus-Jupiter mutual aspect in your birth chart then you are slightly different. The final results will depend on the signs/ houses involved and the rest of the horoscope but this causes typical deep issues related to the individual soul/ Jivatma. (If you have Venus-Jupiter conjunct, ie within 15deg of each other then too expect similar results, this is also a 7% probability.)

These two are permanent enemies and as they are placed in the 7/7 axis their immediate status for the chart also becomes inimical. So they become ‘greatest enemies’ for each other. Both are uncomfortable, sitting opposite each other, staring at each other. They are permanently and immediately inimical. eg I intensely dislike someone and he is sitting right in front of me, staring! makes the situation worse. Whatever they are supposed to give in that chart, they cannot do it properly. They are now deadly enemies, but their enmity is not your average swords drawn and baying for blood types, it is the sophisticated, refined upper class sort. Which, perhaps is worse. (Similarly for the conjunction)

The Venus-Jupiter mutual aspect or conjunction creates deep conflicts within the individual soul. Both these graha are Guru, so you desperately crave spiritual nourishment, but there is no clarity on which route to take. This causes internal anguish, a deep dissatisfaction with life. They do give all material stuff for the mind and the body, but the individual soul doesn’t find satisfaction in these and searches restlessly. You search for spiritual guidance, often going to one Guru then to another and you seem fickle in your protestations of religiosity/ spirituality.

On the outward levels, you love luxuries, are easy going, very motivated on what you really want to do, generous, affectionate, loyal, idealistic, intelligent, generally well off in life, in some suitable profession, inclined towards religious pursuits, etc. But on the inner levels there is a deep disconnect with the desires of the body/mind and the desire of the soul. The married life is generally problematic. The spouse has very different thought processes and expectations from life which in the long run causes serious differences. It can be unfair on the person you marry and generally ends up in a superficial marriage of convenience or a break. There are very real chances of not getting married at all, late marriage, separation, divorce, early death of the spouse etc depending on the entire chart. This combination does not promote marital happiness or companionship. As a parent you generally have limited children, the children can be gifted with occult abilities. Internally it can get quite messy, though superficially it all seems ok.

Let’s analyse. Both are spiritual teachers, one is the Guru of the Dev-s, the sons of Aditi, and the other is the Guru of the Daitya-s, the sons of Diti. They have an allegory/ history going back to when they were students at Rishi Angiras’s gurukul/ school. Venus was the brightest, the class-topper. And Jupiter, Angiras’s own son, was second. Campus interviews, the Dev-s wanted Angiras to suggest them a suitable guide, and he with a father’s selfishness wanted this cushy job for Jupiter. Venus justifiably felt very bad, so went and offered his guidance to the Daitya-s who disliked the Dev-s. They were grateful and welcomed him. The Dev and Danav factions constantly wage war with each other. As they fight it out on the gross levels, their Guru-s are also enemies but on the spiritual levels. In the story/ allegories they are called demi-gods and demons, but Dev represent your Rajasic-Satvic tendencies and the Daitya are your Rajasic-Tamasic tendencies. (Samkhya does pop up everywhere, but it is unavoidable, it is the prelude to Advaita.)

Jupiter is routinely considered to be the agent of benevolence, luck, divine blessings, the spiritual preceptor, protection, the help you receive from your peers/ patrons, your auspicious karmas from your past lives etc. His primary job is to connect you with the divine, to expand your consciousness. Jupiter prefers the external trappings of worship, pujas, going to temples, moorthi-puja, mantra and the rest of the showy stuff. He maintains order and tradition in spirituality too, he will not allow deviation. He generally does not allow esoteric, experimental stuff, and sticks to the standard path. And you cannot remain satisfied with indefinite external religion, you have to turn inwards to progress. And each one of us is different so a bit of experimentation and personal touch to the spiritual path is essential. Jupiter does not allow this to happen (hint: Jupiter’s mooltrikon is not Pisces but Sagittarius, why? work it out for yourself).

He is located at the Swadhishtan chakra. Bruhaspati means the ‘force which enters the expanded infinity and causes change’. One point to be always remembered with Jupiter is that he enhances and expands the results of the signs/ planets/ houses he touches rather than creating something on his own. He is responsible for regulating the satvic tendencies in you, a rather easy job, a routine SOP. He does not think out of the box, nor is adaptable or sociable, more like pompous, traditional and thinks himself to be higher than the rest. His students ie the Dev-s, are satvic-rajasic tendencies so he believes that if the material needs are satisfied, his students will naturally incline towards the spiritual, like there is no other option. A very hopeful teacher, but this is not very sensible expectation nor an effective approach especially in these modern times.

Jupiter cannot grant the deepest Illumination. He supports material+religious together. He can help you gather your material, mental, subtle etc forces.  He can grant you a solid foundation to make your attempt. He can sustain, strengthen, motivate you while you prepare for the jump from the ‘form’ to the ‘formless’. He will help you reach the springboard from which you will jump. He can stop you from falling. But Jupiter cannot make you jump towards your inner Self. This last is the exclusive speciality of Venus, the Shukracharya, only he knows how this final attempt is to be performed.

’Shukracharya’, means ‘the spiritual teacher who teaches the brightest brilliance’, a highly benefic planet capable of giving very auspicious results. Shukra operates from the Anahata chakra and your consciousness expands out from this chakra. Venus is ‘desire’, ‘kaam’. This ‘desire’ on the very gross levels is reflected in the desires of the body, sexual desires, physical relation with other humans, luxuries, money, wealth, sensual desires, passions, indulgence etc. But he is always sophistication not lust. He is an artist, a Kavi, he creates infinite beauty. One level up, he initiates intellectual desires, refinement, desires of the mind, ie creative art, poetry, classics, fine arts etc. And then deepest is the desire of the soul. For the rare few, if you pass his tests, he unveils to you your own deepest desire.

This is the real face of Venus, the Sat-Guru, who will make you aware of your deepest desire. The desire of the individual soul to experience its Reality. You are deeply attracted only to your own Reality and nothing else. The desires of the body and mind are illusions and ultimately irrelevant. This is the lesson that Venus is out to teach. He will give you the desires of the body/ mind but gradually make you aware of their illusory nature. He creates a subtle dissatisfaction with the physical/mental and waits to see if you realise the depth of your soul’s desire. If you don’t, you get a subtle kick from the material life. He will subtly rap your knuckles till you realise. His function is to regulate your tamasic qualities and ultimately bring your consciousness above these qualities. He refines your individual soul, removes the dross, till your pure Brilliance is unveiled to your own eyes.

The most difficult task has been assigned to the most competent Guru, the class-topper. Thus his teaching methods are practical, different, adaptable, creative and sure-shot successes. His students are the worst back-benchers, tamasic-rajasic, they will bunk classes if given half the chance. But he has accepted them as his students so he will do his job. He is pragmatic, he has seen the worst tendencies of the mind (he has seen his own Guru give preference to the second best student in a fit of paternal love). He has no illusions and no ego. Even when he offered his guidance to the Daitya-s, he knew the enormity of the task he was taking up but he is coolly capable and confident about his ability. So he does gives the material stuff but springs cryptic surprise tests on his students to ensure that they realise the illusory nature of it all. If they fail his tests, they have to repeat his lessons till they realise. He is a very thorough rigorous teacher who knows the secret of ‘Immortality’.

He has a job to do and he will do it perfectly, he will reveal to you your soul’s desire and also the perfect way to satisfy it. He is the supreme teacher of the most essential, high, secret, personal, esoteric face of spirituality. He is exalted in Pisces just for this reason. He has only one eye, ie his third eye is open. He allows the final merger of the individual soul into the infinite singularity. He is the ultimate desire to Unite and is Unity himself.

Thus there is an essential difference between Jupiter and Venus. Both Gurus, but both teaching very different types of disciples, with very different methods of teaching. One is brilliant, concentrated, practical. The other is expansive, hopeful, lucky?

As Jupiter and Venus fight it out face to face, their different natures become apparent. Jupiter expands Venus’s qualities and Venus appreciates Jupiter’s but both cannot come to a conclusion about what they want to do together. There is another very important story/ allegory of the Samudra manthan, where the Dev and Daitya factions stand opposite each other but in a rare spirit of cooperation churn the Ksheer-Samudra. This churning produces first a deadly poison but then final immortality is achieved. These two in mutual opposition in your chart is something like this. They churn the Three-gun, Satva-Raja-Tama relentlessly. The material life is subtly poisoned and only when all the planets mature, ie the late 40-s does the soul Realise what it desires.

The best solution for you is to do something on the spiritual front. Sometimes Jupiter will dominate, as per Dasha/transits, so you will do external pujas and stuff. In this stage you will gather your resources. And at other times Venus will dominate, so you will trash your pujas and do personal mediation, burning those resources to push your consciousness higher. This will be a cyclic pattern. Things start making sense in the 40-s. Now they cooperate, Jupiter provides the fuel for Venus to burn. And Venus will rocket you off to your own self. If the rest of the horoscope permits, you can achieve Moksh or at least high levels of spiritual progress in life. Choose your path well, this opposition is a very rare opportunity.

 

(Two charts from my own family have Jupiter-Venus exactly 180 deg opposite each other, to the degree. About 0.2% people have this rarest opportunity. In this complex inner torment, if Rahu-Ketu are involved, then the person goes through severe karmic events on the inner levels. Surprisingly both have Rahu/Ketu influencing the Venus/Jupiter. The rarest energies. And finally the third chart, my Sat-Guru, had an exact conjunction of Venus-Jupiter on the same degree and again they were heavily influenced by Rahu.)