Jupiter, and the Surveillance Economy
You, commodified...
Here is the paradox of the current age. And it’s written clearly in the astrology of the times:
Wake up, realize you’re being purposefully controlled and commodified, and revolt.
Or
Remain blissfully ignorant, and continue to pay for the privilege of creating your own prison.
If you’re down to find out more, read on.
Very little has changed in the 175 years since the state of Texas used prisoner labor to build its new state penitentiary in Huntsville. The same penitentiary in which the same prisoners would eventually carry out the remainder of their sentence. Inmate labor laid every stone, raised every wall, built the cells, the workshops, the warehouses, even the hospital that would treat their own wounds.
Now you might wonder what that obscure historical story has to do with astrology. Hang with me; we’ll get there.
Then, with the new penitentiary built, and the dust of the Civil War having cleared, Texas, like much of the South, began leasing convicts to private farms and railroads, replacing the old plantation system with a new form of coerced labor, then rebranded the practice as “criminal justice”.
Now “criminal justice” as a for-profit model is nothing new, of course. It just changes form. In the US, it didn’t take much of a pivot to move from out-and-out slavery to the new standards of criminal justice practiced in the South.
In a constitutional democratic republic, meaningful social change must be “sold” to the public—through ideas, persuasion, and participation—because authority is dispersed, and legitimacy depends on public consent. Because as the potential prisoner pool (that is, you) becomes ever more savvy, the warden (that is, the government and any corporation that wishes to profit from you) has to become ever more crafty.
And by “crafty” I mean you as an individual have to be sold on the idea. And the means by which that is done in a free society is termed “manufactured consent”.
Manufacturing consent is nothing new. It’s just incredibly easy now because of (1) technological advances, and (2) the astrological weather.
So, yes — this cat-and-mouse game is as old as mankind. Because as long as there has been a mankind, there has been the desire for one man to control, and profit from, another. There is the world of honest and up front trade, and then there is the underbelly of unbridled profit motive. And one of the more expensive variables involved in the bottom line is the human labor involved in producing the thing. And in this day and age another very expensive variable is raw data and the cost of marketing.
So times change, yes. But the game remains ever the same. Thing is, if you want an inside look at how the rules of the game are made, by whom and for whom, and just who the beneficiaries are (hint: it’s not you), you have the opportunity now to do just that. The veil, as they say, is thin.
Because Neptune, along with a couple of other alignments we’ll get into in this article, are pulling back the shades, offering up just that opportunity. The psychological price of admission though is more than most are willing to shoulder.
And I’m truly torn on this. Because as much as I would love if everyone would sit up and see behind Neptune’s veil, I do see clearly the purpose of the veil, in that it’s a beneficial anesthesia.
It was Karl Marx who said “Religion is the opium of the people”, and, in an astrological sense, Neptune serves the same purpose. Especially so, Neptune in Pisces.
Either way, the astrological weather is currently teeing up a very interesting situation, indeed. One that, with the kind of intensity currently at play, doesn't come around very often. You are literally being offered the opportunity to pull back the curtains. Walk right in and sit at the table with Oz. But that experience will very likely rock you to your core. Not many, given the chance, will (or even should?) trade their psychological sure footing for the possibility of finding out that what they once thought to be true is a completely upside-down fabrication.
That’s a bold statement. Let’s now tease it apart.
May 14th, 2025 marks the end of Jupiter’s year-long stay in Taurus, a transit that emphasized (from Jupiter’s point-of-view) material security and wealth accumulation, solid footing, and an emphasis on values, legacy, and tradition.
It’s no surprise to me that during this time Ariel and I have been focused on ensuring that our base material needs are taken care of should we enter a grid-down situation. Classic Jupiter in Taurus “prepping”. And, as Jupiter is my atamakaraka (an astrological big f’n deal) in my chart (Venus being the same for Ariel), this Jupiterian influence in Taurus was palatable for us.
Gemini, though, is a completely different animal. It's a mutable air sign that’s quick, clever, fragmented, and cerebral. Jupiter here — due to Mercury’s influence — shifts from building systems of value to poking intellectual holes in them. Playing – and in a big way – the devil’s advocate. And taking great joy in the squirm that ensues.
Jupiter enters Gemini on the 14th in step with the Sun as he enters Taurus. That is incredibly unusual timing, and something to take notice of. The priest-king (Jupiter) exits and holds the door as the Sovereign One (the Sun) enters, right on his heels. That’s a substantial shift in planetary energy. What might that mean in a practical sense?
Most astrologers characterize Jupiter as the “greater benefic”. But Jupiter is much more dynamic than that. Yes, he can bestow great abundance. But in my experience, he operates more as the “great expander”. The go-big-or-go-home god of amplification. How you deal with that expansion is, well… on you. We’ve all heard the trust-fund-baby trainwreck story. Too much of a good thing, absent the wisdom to handle the abundance, turns into a bad thing. And fast.
So with Jupiter in Gemini, we can expect a Holy Hand Grenade of sorts to be tossed into Gemini’s domain: the battlefield of knowledge. And I predict we’ll see a “great fragmentation” of that knowledge. There won’t be just two sides to every story, but multiple sides. Fractals, even.
And with all the current energy in Pisces (Neptune and Staurn, especially) that’s already swamping the collective in delusion, Jupiter moving into the land of “information and data” will just add to the collective confusion.
With Jupiter in Gemini, it’s a different kind of confusion. It’s a confusion caused by sheer data overload. Where Neptune provides the smoke-and-mirrors, Jupiter in Gemini swamps by the “paradox of choice”.
That is to say, that having too many options leads to anxiety, indecision, and dissatisfaction, rather than increased freedom or happiness. Because, in reality, when faced with an overwhelming array of options (in this case, ideas, or “facts”), people:
Freeze (paralysis by analysis)
Regret or second-guess their decisions (“buyer’s remorse”)
Blame themselves if the outcome isn’t ideal (buyer’s remorse, type B) and,
Feel less satisfied, even if the choice was objectively good (“what might the other choice have been like?)
Jupiter in Gemini can - if not managed well - produce the psychological equivalent of drowning in a sea of information. Like having intimate knowledge of every part of a bicycle, yet not being able to put it all together and actually ride the damn thing.
Remember that we still have Neptune strong in Pisces (and the Neptune opposition in the US chart) at play which is creating the energy vortex where it’s very easy for the false prophet to emerge. A Rasputin figure in the court of Nicholas II just prior to the fall of Czarist Russia. For more on that, see this article.
Now Jupiter’s being in Gemini in and of itself wouldn’t be that concerning. In fact, it has a huge upside if managed well. But given the climate (and astrology) of the times, it most certainly adds an additional dimension of concern.
Let’s remember that Jupiter rules over law, order, wisdom, and meaning. He is the King’s counselor, the aforementioned priest-king, the guru, the keeper of narrative coherence. Jupiter does not generate truth (that’s for the Sun); Jupiter interprets truth. He speaks on behalf of divine order and Natural Law, but he originates neither.
Adding to the rub, here, Jupiter is, because he’s in Gemini, “deposited” by Mercury. That means, he’s on Mercury’s turf and is compelled to answer to Mercury’s demands. And these two see the world on completely different terms. Jupiter is a big-picture guy; Mercury is minutia. Jupiter is wisdom; Mercury is knowledge. Jupiter says “I interpret the truth”. Mercury says “lemme see a flowchart of the facts that got you there”.
I understand this struggle intimately, as my chart ruler is a Gemini rising Mercury, and my Atamakaraka is Jupiter. Throughout my life I’ve not intuited the truth so much as I’ve studied and built a case for it. And when I do allow for an “inner knowing”, Mercury is right there demanding evidence for that knowing. It’s a cosmic tug-of-war.
And so it goes.
So what can we expect from this transit? Here’s my take:
Information overload that makes discernment difficult (adding to the Neptunian smoke-and-mirrors show)
Accelerated and radicalized debates around “truth”, propaganda, “misinformation” and free speech, AI ethics, and decentralized platforms (especially cryptocurrencies)
Amplified religious and ideological “splintering” rather than consolidation
An increase in dualism: public vs private, physical vs virtual, human vs artificial. Pick a stance — any stance — and it’ll have its rabid opposition.
We could spend an entire day dissecting this chart. That’s the kind of thing we do here, though. Let’s keep it here to the big theme: Splintering.
Splintering as in, a Holy Hand Grenade dropped in the clay vase of the accumulation of “facts” that constitute truth.
So expect things to be really fiery between the 14th and 23rd, because during that time Mercury will be transiting Aries and squaring Mars in Cancer. So Mercury here will weaponize (Aries) Jupiter’s message. And we also see Mercury in a square to Pluto. Pluto playing the part of the “pressure relief valve” during this Kala Sarpa phase, while also completely transforming the US’s financial system as part of his once every 248-year return cycle.
As well, Jupiter will be forming a T-square with the nodal axis which is scheduled to shift signs (into Leo/Aquarius) on the 29th. Again, the theme of splintering running through the collective (Aquarius). And the pressure of the individual (Leo) to identify with one of these splintered tribes.
Then, when Mercury enters Taurus, the pressure will be on to commodify all those splinters of knowledge. We’ll get to that below.
Either way, Jupiter’s not speaking purely in Gemini. He’s filtered through the agenda of the messenger — Mercury. So who is Mercury serving? Mars by way of Aries? Venus by way of Taurus? The war machine or the market?
Let’s consider this now through the lens of the US chart.
The first thing to take notice of here is that the US natal Mars is the gatekeeper, so to speak of the US’s Gemini. Parked as he is at 0 Gem 41 in the US 6th house of public health and services. And from this position natal Mars rules the US 5th house of speculative markets.
So the first thing we should expect is this information overload to further confuse the markets. Trade war talk will escalate, as will the retaliatory rhetoric. And the markets will gyrate accordingly.
We still have that very active Pluto return in play that is fundamentally reshaping the US financial landscape. And, until later this summer, Pluto is acting as the lone pressure relief valve for all the volatile energy lassoed to one side of the lunar nodal axis. Pluto — the god of like-it-or-not transformation — is not exactly the guy you want in this role. But on the upside, at least it’s not Mars. For more about that, see this article.
Now, as the 6th house deals with national health and blue collar workers (including first responders and the armed services), I expect to see lots more on the RFK, Jr. Health and Human Services front. Additionally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see info on the “compelled” vaccination situation as it relates to the armed forces and working class. And with the public disclosure (or lack thereof) of the true health concerns related to the vaccine. The bottom line being this: who (if anyone) will be held responsible for the hiding of evidence suggesting that the vaccines that were “forced” upon the working class (comply or be fired) were in fact suspect? And who will pay for the avalanche of negative health effects resulting from the vaccination program? Keep in mind that Jupiter is the nation’s chart ruler, and the nation’s 1st house represents the general condition of the nation’s populace.
Compare and contrast this to the 2008 mortgage loan debacle. A manufactured-by-the-banking-industry financial trainwreck that taxpayers not only suffered, but picked up the tab for. And with next to no judicial repercussions for those responsible.
That alone is quite a bit for the nation to grapple with, and we’re just getting going here.
Because as mentioned above, almost to the moment of Jupiter’s entry into Gemini, the Sun enters Taurus in an applying conjunction with Uranus at 3 Taurus and the fixed star, Algol; Algol being symbolized as the severed head of Medusa. This is a very dicey neighborhood in the zodiac.
I’ve always seen Uranus as a Promethean figure. Prometheus being the iconoclast who would dare steal fire from the gods and hand it over to the mortals. So what is Prometheus here signalling? Holding the severed head of what exactly?
I can’t help but to see this as a representation of the “Medusa” that the USAID disclosure is. A colossal, Hydra-headed misappropriation and weaponized misuse of taxpayer money. It’s one thing to be shaken down by an oppressive force (aka, your own government), but it’s quite another to have that money be used to coerce and manipulate the very ones who were extorted (in other words, you) to begin with.
Note: the USAID story is A LOT. It’s deep and convoluted, and it’s exactly the kind of endless rabbit hole thing that this Jupiter transit (together with the rest of the astrological weather) is going to kick up. Do your own due diligence with the reminder that this issue will have as many fractal spins as there are agencies-with-an-agenda involved. You can start here, if you like.
So where is all of this going? What’s the end game with all the smoke-and-mirrors (Neptune), and information overload (Jupiter in Gemini)?
Well, it’s not exactly like being an inmate building his own prison cell in 1849 Texas —- or is it?
No matter what side of this USAID issue you are led to believe, my point here is that this is but one example of the “clay vase” that the Jupiter in Gemini Holy Hand Grenade is being dropped in. And if you haven’t before this article heard about this issue yet, you will. The question is, what fragment of this story will you believe?
Hint: it’s the story that you’re being led to believe. The story you’re being fed.
And I do mean “fed”, because it’s clear that the narrative is being manipulated for response depending upon which of the multitudes of potential demographics you identify with. Or rather, the one you’ve been nudged into.
A quick aside: the last time Jupiter transited Gemini (June 2013 - June 2014), Edward Snowden disclosed the fact that the NSA was (and still is) spying on its own citizens. But at that time, the fixed star Algol (at 2 Taurus) was not activated. Now however, Uranus (Prometheus) stands here in conjunction to Algol, holding the severed head of Medusa, and showing us just how monstrous and pervasive this spying and manipulation issue is.
Again — and according to the great myth — Prometheus is serving up “fire” to the mortals.
That your reaction to the USAID disclosure is being (or will be) carefully manipulated is clear. Because that’s in part what the USAID program is intended to do - shape reactions (through manufactured consent) both at home and abroad. It’s quite literally a taxpayer paid-for, Truman Show.
If you are unfamiliar with the movie The Truman Show, here’s the synopsis: The Truman Show is about a man, Truman Burbank, who slowly discovers that his entire life is a meticulously staged reality TV show—and everyone he knows is, in truth, an actor. His entire world is fake and manipulated; his quest for truth, though, is real.
Note: in the very Neptunian way, even the term “AID” within USAID is an intended misdirect. With the purpose of intentionally covering the true intent of the operation. Which is to manufacture consent. That is, to manipulate the psyche of nations, influence elections, and maintain control.
What Edward Snowden revealed 12 years ago during the last Jupiter transit of Gemini was just the tip of the iceberg. Now we have Uranus (ruling the US 3rd house of communication) in the early degrees of Taurus, holding the severed head of the Medusa (USAID), and that spectacle is being illuminated by the transiting Sun which rules the nation’s 9th house of “laws”.
But that’s not the only issue being illuminated. Because what USAID must have to function are two things: data and money.
That said, what’s also being revealed at this time is the incredible privacy invasion array that’s at the disposal of the government and Big Tech. Making the old days of the wire tap seem quaint. Even the means available 12 years ago at the time of Snowden’s disclosure are primitive compared to today’s surveillance technology.
The fact of the matter is that through your phone, anyone who wants to (can pay for, or steal) has complete and unfettered access to absolutely everything that makes you tick. Not just your accounts information, but your psychology. It’s no exaggeration to say that those who have access to that information - the government and Big Tech - know you better than you know yourself. And, as such, can steer you in any direction they desire. You are, quite literally, living a version of The Truman Show of someone else’s crafting.
If that sounds completely implausible, then all I can say is, enjoy the show.
If you’re on the fence, just begin to take notice of what advertisements just “randomly” happen to appear on your screen. Take notice of what news stories just “happen” to populate your search. Correlate both to recent conversations you’ve had. No big deal, just take notice.
I think by now most are well aware of the highly curated nature of what gets served up via social media. Most are aware of the algorithm's priorities — that is, to keep you scrolling. What most are less willing to stomach (or consider at all) is the statecraft involved in shaping public opinion via these methods.
Abroad, this is used to topple unsavory governments. I’m quite sure (wink, wink) nothing of the same has been attempted at home.
Circling back around to the prisoner - warden metaphor we opened the article with, the warden is way ahead of the game, and always has been. He’s highly incentivized to be so. And the warden knows that social media is an artifact now. Gone the way of the wire tap. The new frontier for the raw data needed to effectively manufacture consent comes from the unfettered access to what you cannot seem to leave the house (or even a room in the house) without — your phone. Add to this your laptop, your TV, your vehicle, your Alexa… your “smart” (voluntarily surveilled?) home. The list goes on.
Welcome to your own personal Truman Show. Only in this version, Neptune is offering you the opportunity to see it for what it is. And Jupiter, too. And Uranus (Prometheus) is there, holding the severed head of Medusa.
The opportunity is here. Will you accept the fire that’s been stolen from the gods?
So what to make of all of this? For what purpose is all of this being dragged up from the shadows now, and what do we as citizens of a “free” country do about it?
And more importantly, is any of it “true”?
The overarching theme of the last 18 months from our Functional Astrology perspective has been, do you really want to see what’s behind the veil? Because if you do, now is the time. The curtains are pulled. It is THE opportunity of a lifetime.
But be forewarned —- because once you see, you cannot unsee. There is no antidote, so to speak, to the shock of the realization. Only the eventual satisfaction of complete responsibility, and the sovereignty that comes with it.
When Ariel and I train therapists on our methodology of performing deep psychological, trauma and addiction remediation, we always caution this: unless you are wholly prepared as a therapist to handle what might come forth out of the Pandora’s Box that is a client’s psyche, do not crack the lid. Because once it’s out, the responsibility is yours to deal with it. The genie, as it were, will not go back in the bottle. It can only be dealt with, and integrated.
I think the same could be said for this moment in time as it relates to the astrological energy of this transit, and the totality of the Surveillance Economy.
—Keith