The Changing of the Cultural Guards and the Jupiter/Saturn Conjunction By  Leo Knighton Tallarico    Every 20 years brings a societal turning point and sacred passage for the greater culture, symbolized by the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. This is so because Jupiter and Saturn are archetypal symbols of the culture. Jupiter is the potential rewards given by the society to "worthy" members, and it is also the progressive social causes that expand it and hopefully inspire the citizenry. Saturn is the rules one is made to follow, and the general structure and institutions that hold the model of reality for the culture. Jupiter and Saturn are also symbolically the good guy and bad guy cops, respectively, who regulate one's life within a culture, and keep one attached to it (It is Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto who bring one beyond societal walls). Jupiter helps a person to stay engaged in society, by giving positive encouragement for jobs well done, and hope for a better future. One can dream about fame, fortune, and the perks for success through Jupiter's optimistic rays; one can also be inspired, through believing in a society's higher values. Saturn, which symbolizes gravity, often rules through fear; and one can feel threatened by poverty, jail, social ostracism, the IRS, and punishment in general, if one does not do what one should. A person may also, with Saturn's influence, develop a soldier's kind of loyalty, to a nation or system that provides an organized guide to secure and "successful" living. Together, Jupiter and Saturn are a potent duo in providing the paradigm for living in the dominant culture.    So, once every 20 years they meet up for a new and revised reign of societal guidelines for living. Each new cycle brings a changing of the guardians of our outer world. Familiar images, from our popular culture, which bring instant recognition, like an archetypal imprint, change faces when Jupiter and Saturn begin anew their 20-year dance. The 20th century has brought all, but one, of these conjunctions in Earth signs, and perhaps that explains, in part, the material and practical emphasis of the last century. Jupiter and Saturn begin a new 20-year cycle on May 28th, 2000 at 22+ degrees of Taurus, an Earth sign once again, before we change to more idealistic air signs in 2020. The history of past Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions sheds light on the meaning of these meetings. Some of the facts surrounding this are fascinating.    For instance, every American president since 1840, who has been in office when the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction occurred, has died before leaving office. Some like FDR and Taft died naturally, while others were assassinated. These include Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, and John Kennedy. President Reagan had an assassination attempt on him, but survived. That conjunction, in 1980-81, was the 20th century exception to earth signs for the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, and was in air sign Libra. Reagan survived (the attempt was in March of 1981), and he certainly had great influence on the 20-year cycle now finishing. The pope had his life threatened by an assassin also, and was spared, in May 1981. His influence on the last 20-year cycle was also substantial. But in December 1980, when the first pass of the 3-pass Jupiter/Saturn conjunction happened at 9+ degrees of Libra, John Lennon was murdered. The process of changing the cultural guards allowed the perfect symbol of the previous Jupiter/Saturn cycle, from 1961-81 (60's revolution) perish, while meaningful symbols (Reagan and the pope) of the 80's movement to New World Order, lived.    That Jupiter/Saturn conjunction of 1961 brought the changing of the guards from the war years and its aftermath (1940-1960); to rock and roll, youthful rebellion and grand scale Cultural Revolution. John Kennedy was the perfect symbol of the war and its aftermath, from 1940-60. America was the hero nation, to many, of the 2nd world war, confident and bright. We were becoming the envy of much of the world, and the 50's brought American comfort and security, as well as the image of success. When Kennedy was assassinated on Nov.22, 1963, while still in office from the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction at 22+ degrees of Capricorn (on Feb. 18, 1961), the glamour of America died too. The Beatles had formed in Britain, and would appear on American T.V. in Feb. 1964. The changing of the cultural guards was happening. Martin Luther King, in 1963, delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Rebellion against the American shining hero image was beginning and the 60's Cultural Revolution was started. . . . .(click to continue)