“The Generosity of Jupiter:   Dolly Parton’s Charity Work”

In mid-November 2022, Dolly Parton won Jeff Bezos’ Courage and Civility award, giving her $100 million to spend on the charities of her choice. Though she has been a successful country music performer since the 1960’s in more recent years she has become just as famous, if not more, for her generosity and charity work. This latest accolade is only one of many she has received in particular, since Jupiter has become active in her chart.   Let’s take a look into why this is so.  In particular, we will look at the dashas in which Jupiter is prominent to see how they lay out the timings of these things unfolding in her life.  But first, let’s look at her natal placements.  

Dolly’s natal Jupiter is in Libra shows she finds inspiration through relationships with others.  It is in the nakshatra of Chitra, the jewel, showing her ability to be creative and innovative in multifaceted ways. Jupiter in the 3rd house also emphasizes the fact she likes to donate towards diverse causes - things such as childhood literacy, environmental conservation, transgender rights, and funding Covid vaccination research shows this part of Jupiter in play.  Jupiter in the 3rd also makes a strong aspect with her 11th house of altruism and doing good in the world, bringing this even more into the spotlight.

Dolly has her Ascendant in Leo.  This makes Jupiter the Lord of her 5th house (indicator of children) and her 8th house (indicator of sudden loss).  A large portion of her charity work has been for children who have suffered loss in natural disasters such as fires and floods.  

Another layer to her 5th house is Ketu being there in Sagittarius/Mula nakshatra. Much of her charity work has to do with helping children (5th house) become inspired (Sagittarius) to succeed in their education.  In particular, her Dollywood Foundation has given free books, money and scholarships to the children in the town where she grew up.  Ketu also has to do with our childhood.  Her desire to help children to read was inspired by her father who was illiterate, and her family was very poor.  Ketu here also shows how she was not going to allow the circumstances of her childhood be a hindrance to what she wanted to accomplish, and it being in sattvic, fiery Sagittarius shows how she could be an inspiration to others who may find themselves in similar circumstances.  Mula nakshatra is concerned about getting to the root causes of issues.  Mercury, the indicator of intelligence/ability to learn is also in the 5th house. Certainly the correlation between getting an education as a way to pull people out of poverty was an inspiration to her setting up this charity. 

Ketu in the 5th house puts Rahu in the 11th house in Gemini/Mrigashira nakshatra.  She is continually on “The Quest,” searching for new things (Mrigashira) and creative ways to do good in the world (11th house).  This is indeed her passion, and she does it in the spotlight, yet she remains humble.  The reason for this is the presence of Saturn and Mars alongside Rahu, both in the nakshatra of Purnavasu.  Saturn is the indicator of hard work and humility, and Mars is the indicator of personal strength.  She worked very hard to gain her fame.  Both planets are retrograde, further emphasizing that she had to put extra effort into securing her place in society and she never takes it for granted.  Purnavasu is ruled by Jupiter, indicating optimism and overcoming struggles was definitely part of her story.  She never gives up!

With all of this inclination towards philanthropy in her natal chart, why did she start this work when she did?  This is where the dasha cycles tell the story.  For the purpose of this article, we will focus on the dashas directly related to Jupiter.

Natal Jupiter (her diverse interests) in Chitra (dasha planet Mars) became active when she entered her Mars-Mercury dasha in June of 1988. Mars Mahadasha is a time when we pursue our goals with energy and passion. Mercury in the 5th house also became active, bringing the latent energies present there to life.  This is when she started her first charity, the Dollywood Foundation, which became the cornerstone for all her other charity work.  One of the first expansions of this foundation happened in May of 1989 when she began her Mars-Ketu dasha. She started the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, focusing on preserving bald eagles and bringing them protection and awareness to the public (Mars in 11th house).  

In 1991, Dolly’s Rahu Mahadasha began.  This is a time when strong desires can be very much magnified but in this case,  Mars (personal strength) and Saturn (discipline) are there to keep things from going out of control (Rahu dasha trait).  In 1995 during her Rahu-Jupiter dasha, she started the Imagination Library, a program which sends free books to children.  Saturn and Mars are in the nakshatra of Purnavasu (dasha planet Jupiter) so this became significant at this time.  This is happening in the 11th house, bringing a lot of attention from the public.  Jupiter in Chitra is still very strong in this dasha, showing her 3rd house interests are creating beautiful structures to serve others.

Since starting her Jupiter Mahadasha in late 2009, her philanthropic work and the accolades associated with have kept piling up,  giving her even more fame and recognition.  Jupiter Mahadasha is a time of much hope, optimism and faith.  Expansion and titles are likely in this period.  

During her Jupiter-Ketu dasha, themes surrounding her generosity (Jupiter) were concentrated on children (5th house) from her hometown (Ketu) after sudden loss (Jupiter 8th house Lord) and their education (Mercury in the 5th).  In 2016 she organized a telethon to raise funds for families after devastating East Tennessee wildfires + college scholarships for high school seniors in the region who had lost their homes.

During her Jupiter-Venus dasha in 2020, she donated $1 million to provide research towards developing a Covid vaccine.  This is showing her interests growing (Jupiter in 3rd house) focusing this time on fighting disease (Sun and Venus in the 6th house of illness). Her 11th house of notoriety in the public eye comes to play once again with Mars and Saturn in Purnavasu (dasha planet Jupiter) 

A short list of some of the most recent awards and recognition Dolly has accumulated during her Jupiter Mahadasha:

2021 - Won Primetime Emmy award

2021 - Named one of Time Magazines “Top 100 Most Influential People of 2021”

2022 – Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2022 – Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy

2022 - Jeff Bezos’ Courage and Civility Award

Dolly’s Jupiter Mahadasha will end in the summer of 2023, after which she will enter into her Saturn Mahadasha.  With her natal Saturn being in the 11th house, surely she will continue to be in the spotlight with her charity work.  It will be exciting to see how this plays out with all the world to see!