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By David McCann
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Ancient Mythology
In Mesopotamia, the planet Jupiter was known as Neberu and associated with the god Marduk. He was the patron god of Babylon, and considered equivalent to the older Sumerian god Enlil. The Assyrians in turn equated Enlil to their state god, Ashur. All were often just referred to as Lord, and this title is preserved in Biblical references to Baal or Bel. Enlil was described as the king of the gods, and hence associated with rulership and wisdom. Those with Jupiter rising or culminating often display an imperious nature, self-will, or at the least confidence in their own judgement. The wisdom of Jupiter is the practical wisdom of everyday affairs, not the philosophy which belongs to Mercury. Contemporary astrologers who associate the planet with ninth-house concerns are confusing Jupiter with Sagittarius and the ninth sign with the ninth house. There is no real evidence to associate Jupiter with the law; indeed, he is often prominent in the charts of criminals, who equate law to their own will.
The Greeks considered Marduk to be the same as Zeus, the king of their own gods. He was said to be the son of the Titans Cronos and Rhea: in that way the Hellenic invaders grafted their chief god onto the divine family of the indigenous Pelasgians. To this mixture they added ingredients from Asia: Marduk defeated a race of monsters, so Zeus made war on the Titans; the Hurrian sky god Teshub overthrew his father Kumarbi, so Zeus
supplanted Cronos. When the three sons of Cronos - Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades - divided the world, Zeus took the sky, appropriately for the myrthologcal ruler of a planet with an airy nature.
The most notable feature of Jupiter is the number of his mistresses and children. These relationships symbolise the heavens fertilising the earth, the various nymphs each having been the goddess of a particular area - diverse landscapes demand a multiplicity of goddesses, compared with the featureless sky. Jupiter often features in the charts of the promiscuous: e.g. squaring the Moon with Casanova and Louis XIV, configured with a fifth-house planet in the charts of Anais Nin and J.F. Kennedy. This, however, is not because he is a particularly sensual planet, but rather a manifestation of the Jovian inability to concede that enough is as good as a feast.
Roman Jupiter was much the same as Zeus, and shared the same name: Jupiter was originally Deus Pater, corresponding to the Greek Zeus Pater and the Sanskrit Dyaus Pitar, all derived from a prehistoric dyeus pater 'bright father'. The Romans considered that the equivalent Germanic god was Thunor (the Norse Thor), since both Jupiter and he were associated with thunder: this is why Thursday (Old English:. Thunresdaeg) corresponds to the Italian giovedi (Latin: jovis dies). Actually, Thor was closer to Mars in his nature: it was Tiw (the Norse Tyr) whose name corresponded to Zeus, and who originally had the same functions.
Cabbalism
 In the Jewish cabbala,
the Sun, centre of the solar system, is appropriately linked with the central divine sphere, Tiphereth or Beauty, through which all things are united and harmonised. This is number six,
and in Pythagorean teaching that number was called Harmony.
Tiphereth is associated with harmony in man as well as in the cosmos, which is why the archangel of this sphere, Raphael, presides over healing. Christian cabbalists associated Tiphereth with the life of Christ, without knowing that the Babylonian symbol for the Sun was a cross.
Tarot
 In the tarot, the Sun has its own card in the major arcana. Like the Moon he is shown with a face, indicating a living being, not merely a material object. This card signifies success and renewal. Many packs also show a child, showing rebirth or renewed innocence. It is the 19th card and by numerological analysis equates to number 1 (19= 1+9 = 10 = 1+0 = 1) making it a symbol of unity restored. In the minor arcana the Sun is associated with the sixes, all of which are favourable - the 6 of wands is victory; swords, earned success; coins, material success; and cups, joy.
David McCann, who lives in London, is an expert on the history and philosophy of astrology. His articles have been published in many international journals of astrology and he was a regular contributor to the Traditional Astrologer magazine, where this article first appeared.
© David McCann
This article was first published in The Traditional Astrologer Magazine, issue 17, September 1998
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