One of the best ways to understand cycles in astrology, is to observe how transits to your natal chart affect you and areas of your life. There are untold layered timing techniques in Hellenistic astrology. And like the internal components of a watch, there’s an intricate array of mechanisms active simultaneously, each carrying out their own function and purpose. Learning and practicing some of these techniques takes dedicated — and sometimes intensive — study, and there are others you can learn simply through observation.

In the northern hemisphere, Aquarius season occurs during the stronghold of winter. The weather is fixed and constant, and the promise of spring feels distant. The darkness dictates time and keeps us under its lingering sheath, but daylight slowly takes over, and the days inch longer. Sunny winter days are welcome, but the sunlight is harsh due to awkward, penetrating angles from the Sun’s rays, and the intensity of light is imbalanced with its warmth.

This sign is symbolized by the Goat-Horned One or the mythological Sea Goat, an animal that is half goat and half fish.

Saturn represents containment, duty, frugality, hard work, order, and structure. It is a planet of both the wise, respected sage or the decrepit, senile old man. It’s associated with widowhood, childlessness, orphanhood, and outcasts. It represents matters that are chronic, long-lasting, and that take time to develop. He’s seen as a source of captivity, grief, misery, mishaps, and sorrow.

Because I just published a story about Sagittarius, which is a Jupiter-ruled sign, this piece will focus primarily on Jupiter. I will describe the features of his character, what he tends to represent in astrology, and his natural significations.

In the northern hemisphere, this is a time when we are plunged into deep autumn. Where I live, it feels more like winter than fall. Daylight continues to wane and temperatures become cooler; deciduous trees shed the last of their leaves and any remaining perennial foliage blackens and grows mushy; non-domesticated animals are seen scurrying about, storing nourishment for winter.

In the esoteric scheme of light, this is the dark half of the year, initiated in Libra at the autumnal equinox, where the balance of light hands over to the dark. Darkness dominates and persists, consuming the light until the winter solstice when the light slowly begins to return. Sagittarius season is in the dark half of the dark part of the year (the “dark of the dark” or the “yang of the yang”). The transition between light and dark reaches its most intense depth in Sagittarius.