Wednesday Journal Entry, Week 31
March 22nd 2023 – Karina Lafayette
Sometimes, this is the first person you go to when something good happens in your life. This is the person you want to give everything to, whether you receive in return. It’s the person who’ll give you a side-eye anytime you make a mistake, but who still sees the best in you. They’re the person who struggles to tell you “no”, because they haven’t learned that love means having boundaries. It’s the person you take the bus with when there aren’t any cabs available. More importantly, this is the person who’s there when everyone else has given up on you. At worst, they can be the person who shows you where you need to put your foot down. And often, this is the person you can’t forget and who you’ll love forever, even when it’s been years since you’ve last spoken. They’re probably your Juno, or you’re theirs.
In my own experience, Juno is so much more than just romantic partnerships. Of course, she’s played a huge role on my quest to find romance, but considering the fact that Juno had to spend her own life with a player like Jupiter, typical astrology interpretations feel like a slap in the face. Maybe it’s just the feminist in me that cares about equality, or the fact that my first relationship was so Juno heavy, despite also being an abusive relationship- something really makes me want to defend her. Juno is more than just the asteroid of romantic partnerships, she represents the people who are in your life for better and for worse, how you handle injustice, your needs in a partnership, and when considering her backstory, you’d be surprised how common the “for worse” part is.
In Roman Mythology, Juno is the queen of the gods. She was forced to marry Jupiter after he forced himself on her, something that was sadly common in Ancient Rome. She was once praised for her loyalty to Jupiter despite him cheating on her- yikes! Aside from that, she’s the protector of partnerships, family, childbirth and society, and she’s also known for being temperamental and assertive, not what you expect from the housewife trope. In many circles, she’s seen as an advocate for equality and human rights, and many people who work in social justice tend to have the Juno asteroid conjunct one of their planets or angles.
Angelina Jolie spent years working as an activist with the United Nations and she has her sun in Gemini conjunct Juno. While activist and education advocate Malala Yousafzai has sun conjunct Juno in Cancer. George Clooney has Juno on his Rising, and he also does a lot of human rights advocacy. President Joe Biden is another with Juno of his Rising. Even Oprah Winfrey has Juno conjunct Pluto in Leo, and she’s built a successful empire after coming from a background of abuse and poverty. Not to mention her Saturn in Scorpio is conjunct best friend Gayle’s Juno, which reflects the friendship’s longevity!
Looking at the people who’ve had a strong impact on me, no matter who they are, Juno is almost always there. I’d even say that you don’t want Juno in synastry unless both people are really mature and prepared to handle the responsibility.
When doing research on Juno in a natal chart, unfortunately information about her is very limited and tends to repeat the same things: that she shows our future spouse or romantic partner. The only sources I found that go a bit deeper are on Cafe Astrology and in the work of Anastasia Cosmic Astrologer. In most cases, there will be information on how she reflects what our needs are in a relationship, but the interpretations tend to be one-dimensional and give the impression that every person wants a traditional, straight, monogamous relationship, or that somehow Juno only relates to women. While Juno might have been worshiped by women in Ancient Rome, we need to be careful about only looking at planets and asteroids from the perspective of people who were around hundreds, if not thousands of years ago.
No matter your Juno, she shows where you need to ask for better. Juno teaches us not to settle, and to speak up even if it means putting a relationship at risk. Ignoring her brings dissatisfaction in all relationships. While she didn’t have a choice but to stay with Jupiter, we don’t have to put up with a relationship that calls for us to swallow our pain. We can have better than she did. Even with its challenges, love doesn’t have to hurt all the time. Love can be beautiful and liberating. And to be fair, when I call Jupiter a player, I’m not referring to the planet Jupiter and what he represents in a natal chart, I’m referring to Jupiter in mythology.
It’s safe to say that Juno has appeared in many of my relationships. And since our first relationships are with our parents, that needs to be looked at. It may not be the case for everyone and their parents, but for me and my mother, her Juno in Scorpio sits exactly on my Pluto, within a 1 degree orb. When I was younger, we were joint at the hip, best friends, and as codependent as you get. There was rarely a moment that we weren’t together, which is a given, since Pluto is the planet of obsession and passion. I remember one time my mom almost being ready to call the cops because I was a few minutes late from school. We used to also share clothes, and her interests were my interests. Whenever I thought for myself, she behaved like there was something wrong with me. Eventually at 22, I made the hard decision of going no contact, and she spent a few years stalking my social media, and for all we know, she might even read this. Of course, there are other indicators in our synastry that reflect this unhealthy dynamic, but Juno being at play just doesn’t surprise me one bit.
Another person who shares Juno synastry with me is my late grandmother. Her Juno in Aries is conjunct my Mars within 2 degrees and needless to say, even though Mars is the planet of aggression, we never, ever fought. Getting angry at her wouldn’t cross my mind, even though we were opposites in many ways- literally, our synastry is filled with more oppositions than you can shake a stick at. There were a lot of things we didn’t agree on, but we were also very similar, almost like twins. When she passed, it was like a piece of me died and nothing has been the same since. There’s no doubt that lots of people feel that way about a grandparent, but it’s more common than we think for people to not be close to older family members, since elders aren’t looked at the same way they used to. Despite the relationships with my grandmother and mother being very different, both taught me what love is and what love isn’t.
For the rest of my family, one of my uncles has his Ceres on my Juno, while another uncle has his Juno on my Ceres and his Chiron on my Juno. Ceres shows what makes us feel nurtured, and Chiron is the planet of healing.
In romance, my ex has his Aries South Node conjunct my Juno and his moon was also in Aries, and boy was it love at first sight. In a way, I knew it was doomed from the start, and to add to the fuel, my moon and North Node are conjunct his Juno in Capricorn. His nickname for me was “wifey” even before we became serious and the whole time we were together, it felt like my only purpose was to be just that, the same fate that Juno suffered with Jupiter. It may also help that he was a Scorpio, and we know Scorpio loves control. This man wanted all the control and I gave it to him, because I assumed that’s what you’re supposed to do when you love someone. He’s another person who taught me what love isn’t.
Also a funny side note, Anne Hathaway, who’s in the main picture above, taken from a scene of the movie Bride Wars, happens to have Juno conjunct Mars in Capricorn, and that picture represents a lot of what Juno truly is.
Beyond romantic partnerships and family, even some of my closest friends are Aries suns or Aries moons, and I’ve known a few with Juno in Taurus and Capricorn(my dominant signs). And obviously, we’re all very independent, living our own lives and what not, but you can guess who will show up if ever shit hits the fan. However, some of my first Juno connections being with my mother and grandmother makes perfect sense. Because most astrologers only look at Juno in romantic partnerships, it would be easy to shrug this off, but in hindsight, there’s value in including Juno for many kinds of synastry.
In astrology, Juno is an asteroid that is typically associated with marriage, commitment, and she’s also seen as the person we’re likely to spend the rest of our lives with. When first getting to know her, I accepted this limited definition, but as someone who’s loved and lost and who has ample experience with Juno in synastry, only seeing her that way feels a bit insulting when you consider her in a historical context. The 1950s called, and they want their gender roles back immediately. Maybe this definition of Juno fit well once upon a time, when the only requirement for a relationship was staying together through every affair, lie and boundary crossing, but times have changed, shouldn’t Juno change with it?
Of course, she’ll always be the queen and goddess of partnerships, but partnership is more than just a husband and wife, or a longterm partner. It can be friend, a relative, or anyone who we have a really close bond with. She needs to be brought into a new era. It’s time we give Juno the respect she deserves.
Before delving further into what Juno is (astrologically speaking), let’s look at what she isn’t:
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A man’s wife and how a woman behaves in a long-term relationship.
Saying that a man’s Juno represents his wife is like saying that men don’t value relationships the same way, and that’s just not true. If anything, I know more men who crave relationships, and my ex-partner who has Juno in Capricorn, is the most Capricorn partner you can find, despite him having a Scorpio sun and three planets in Sagittarius. He’s a provider and hard worker, and sometimes sacrifices a lot for people he cares about.
Juno is the end all and be all when it comes to romance
There’s a tendency of interpreting Juno as being one of the most important aspects of a chart when it comes to doing a love reading, and while she’s definitely a big deal in that department, we’d be doing ourselves a disservice by assuming there’s only one aspect that points to who you’re going to be with. To get a better idea, we need to also look at Venus, the fifth house and the seventh house. I’d throw in Mars there, but he’s mostly associated with the sexual side to relationships. Some even go so far as to say that Juno is more important than Venus, but claiming all you need is Juno to recognize your ideal mate is like saying that the rest of your chart has no purpose here, and that simply isn’t possible.
Juno is the person you’ll be with forever
Just because you share strong Juno synastry with someone, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll spend the rest of your life with them, or that you’ll even make it to the altar. If that were true, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston would still be together, since he’s a Capricorn stellium and she has Juno in Capricorn.
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So what is Juno in astrology?
Juno shows your values and needs when it comes to long-term partnerships. She also shows how you respond to inequality. This really speaks for itself, but if ever you’ve been in a situation where you broke up with someone because you just weren’t getting your needs met, that’s Juno talking, honey.
She shows the area where you need to set boundaries in the context of partnerships
That lesson has been big for me, because as much as I can be very independent in relationships, there’s also been times where I’ve had people try to unnecessarily control me. At first, I would just keep my feelings to myself, but the older I get, the more I realize that I can only be happy with someone if I have my own identity, which means no matching tattoos or matching outfits, and definitely no blood drinking like Megan Fox and MGK, and definitely separate bank accounts.
She can indicate your future partner or spouse
Let’s be fair, the odds of being with someone who’s the same sign as your Juno are actually unlikely, so as soon as you find out which sign it is, don’t assume that every person from that sign is potentially the love of your life. It can show qualities in your mate though. Basically don’t do what I would’ve done a few years ago, and stay in a relationship just because you feel like you have to.
Juno gives an idea as to how you grow with the people in your life
One thing you learn about people, is that overtime a different side of their personality comes out when they are truly comfortable with you, and this can have a lot to do with their moon sign, but in other ways, depending on your bond, it can relate to Juno as well. Because Juno is all about give or take, everyone has their own idea of what that looks like.
She represents the people who you share the most loyalty with
This is where Juno makes me emotional, because if there’s one person who was always loyal to me, it’s my grandmother, and like I mentioned earlier, her Juno is right on my Mars. However, loyalty is only a good thing if the relationship makes sense. If a connection is toxic or abusive, it can show a situation where the Juno person will go out of their way, even if the other person doesn’t reciprocate. On the flip side, it can even show a scenario where the Juno person insists on being in control of the relationship, because they have a idea of how things should go. This is usually true if Juno happens to be older or if in a romantic context, they have more experience than the other partner.
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In every relationship that I’ve had to Juno, it’s been memorable. Be it with my ex, relatives, friends, and people I just can’t get enough of, or move on from. It hasn’t all been that fun, and I wish I could make some people understand that there’s more to her than just the usual man and woman, husband and wife, whatever. All that is great, but we need to value different kinds of relationships, not just the ones that are convenient to us. We need to value the teachers, the soulmates, the lessons, and the ones who make us think, “What the hell was that?” after the break up happens. After everything Juno went through historically, we owe her that much, because she is a queen.
In my readings, I also don’t associate Jupiter as the husband, and I’m fine if anyone disagrees with me on that one. I only associate him with luck, higher learning and where we tend to overdo it, but husband, no, not unless you see relationships from a patriarchal, outdated lens. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to question everything, and not accept something as fact just because someone with more experience says so. Times change.
Right now, Juno is in Taurus till May 2nd 2023, and this is a good period to get serious on what we want in partnerships, and to also get real on how we can do better in that department, especially since she’s conjunct Venus and the North Node this week. Once Juno is conjunct Uranus around April 10th, something about our relationships will inevitably change. It can show breakups or finding connection in unexpected ways, or with people we never saw coming. No matter what, take time to honor Juno by giving thanks to people who matter most to you.
And with everything that’s good, you shouldn’t romanticize the nodes, or Juno, or any aspects in synastry. Yes, they’re great to have, but people also have free will, and astrology doesn’t control every little thing we choose to do. Sometimes the person you have this with is more of a lesson than your happily-ever-after, even if they are a soulmate. It’s nice to think that soulmates can last, but that isn’t necessarily the case. I’ve also had a few instances with people having their Juno on my descendant, probably one of the most favorable positions in synastry, and I’m currently single… for now. Do I still love those people? Always and forever, actually. And that’s something even the stars probably can’t fully explain.
Karina
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Reading services will be back later this month. If you enjoyed this article, you might want to check out Reclaiming Venus and All Things Beautiful: Uranus Meets the North Node and No, The Planets Don’t Have a Gender: What Venus and Mars Are Really About
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