Jupiter Retrograde in Taurus: Chocolate and Pleasure

Recently I put some twos together with some other twos and came up with some pretty interesting fours.

Over the last few years I learned that chocolate is, while not all that great for me as for anyone, detrimental in a specific way that I find a big issue. It has quite a rich chemical profile and when I eat it I notice my heart sending signals of displeasure. Mostly in an occasional weird rhythm or feeling like it’s working a little too hard.

Raw cacao seemed an answer, but that quite-rich chemical profile is still present even if the cacao has not been heated. I had tried it in hopes it would be a healthier alternative to chocolate, but in fact it did the same thing. People I knew who were transitioning into eating more or completely raw sometimes found it difficult to give up cooked foods they loved, and chocolate was for some a big part of that.

It’s been over the last year that I put the final twos together about this. But I wasn’t yet really able to feel good about giving up chocolate altogether. I enjoyed it, and shouldn’t I get to enjoy things?

When I was a kid, carob always seemed a lame substitute for chocolate. Now, I see that my intentions to be healthier and happier are more important than that old attachment to pleasure that chocolate represents.

This morning, I did some research on carob, which I’ve been having daily for about a week now. Last week my body drifted toward it in the local co-op (with my mind remembering only that it’s a lame substitute for the good stuff) and so I bought some. I try to listen to what my body tells me so I can keep it being my friend and not my enemy – for me, how I eat really does come down to this. I’ve been digging the carob this week and wondered about finally making peace with the fact that something that isn’t good for me can be let go of once and for all.

You can do the research on carob, but I can tell you I’m happy to make that transition. I feel good when I have it, and there are no negative aftereffects.

It was the pleasure derived from chocolate that was so hard to give up. The sugar and fat added to commercial chocolate to mitigate its natural bitterness are a huge part of what hooks us into chocolate – or falling in love with it, depending on how poetical you’re feeling. Sugar seems to elevate our mood, but in fact energetically clogs us up in too many horrible ways to spell out here. It also depresses us and makes us impatient and prone to touchy reactions and anger, actually.

But so do I need that sugar and fat? Of course not. We pretty much all know that we don’t need it (we do in fact need healthy fats, but commercial chocolate doesn’t offer these). But the relationship with pleasure can be hard for many of us to mature.

And then all of this brought to you by transiting Jupiter retrograding in Taurus, the sign of sensuality, comfort, and luxuries. Jupiter retroing invites us to look at where we think we have been expanding and what we believe in to see if we’re on the right path. In Taurus,we serve ourselves well by looking at what we believe brings us pleasure and becoming willing to be flexible about changing things up in the spirit of making life better. The end goal of all Jupiter transits is to impr0ve our lives, and often we must let go of things we’re carrying and believing that don’t serve us so we can make better choices moving forward. Its retro periods are perfect for seeing where in our lives we need to trim things in order to be open to expand in the right directions and for the right reasons.

This retro happening in Taurus asks us to listen to our bodies to see what we as whole beings can enjoy. If we’re open to this, we have the opportunity to honor our bodies more by giving them what they want. And they will guide us to pleasurable things that can be healthy for us – we just have to be willing to let our minds and mouths step down from being the primary decision makers.

Venus rules Taurus, and that planet is currently transiting Capricorn, the sign of realism and maturation. We could think of Venus here as an adviser to Jupiter. Any thinking you’re doing on pleasure, comfort, and/or enjoying life will be colored by these two planets. That’s not to say that you’re taking their advice – only that they’re in the room with you and your thoughts and beliefs about pleasure.

My first note on bringing in Venus’ time in Capricorn is to alert you to your inner judge. Whenever Saturn or Capricorn are involved, you might automatically and unconsciously hand the reins over to your inner judge. This part of you is motivated to keep you from making mistakes and making a fool out of yourself for being incompetent. So please catch this voice when you hear it and turn it instead into a nurturing sort of inner parental voice. (For the full story on this, see my book Saturn Returns: Thinking Astrologically. Use code PG9Y82E2 at checkout to get 20% off.)

Next, view any parts of you that are attached to pleasures that leave you unhealthy or unhappy in the end (for me, after eating chocolate) with compassion. What’s really going on is that part of you has an emotional or energetic need and the pleasure you derive from that thing you like is an attempt to fulfill it but, in fact, merely distracts you temporarily. The root need will persist until you address it.

If you want guidance on how to work this process with consciousness, contact me for a private consultation. You can book an hour with me at $100 until the end of the year, a significant discount. I also offer ongoing intuitive/guided coaching to support people in working through situations just like this.

Jupiter stations direct (appears from the Earth’s perspective to stop its backward motion) in the last week of December. If you’re seduced by conventional approaches to holiday culture and find yourself surrounded by food or other kinds of pleasures you know don’t work for you, don’t judge yourself for partaking or refraining from doing so. Make this holiday season a time to shift how the inner judge in you  works and you will be able to hear better what your body wants you to consume and experience.

Take this time to reevaluate why you do what you do to make yourself happy. Then be honest (and compassionate!) with yourself about whether those things really do in fact make you happy. For me, my goal of being healthier has lead to being willing to sacrifice something I have truly enjoyed but that sacrifice isn’t a loss – it’s a gain from feeling better on any given day.

And that enables me to do what I came here to do.

Tom Jacobs is an evolutionary astrologer, medium, and channel offering insight into why your soul is here and guidance about how to make it happen. Contact him to set up a private session, on sale for $100 until the end of the year. See his site for information on his three original natal reports, and numerous MP3s on astrology and channeled material and info on the new reading, “Soul’s Journey Soundbite.”
Each of his eight books including the new
Conscious Revolution: Tools for 2012 and Beyond is available as paperback and e-book between his site, Amazon, and Kindle.