Pluto in Aries

Pluto in Aries: Helena Blavatsky, Thomas Edison, Friedrich Nietzche, Ramakrishna, John D. Rockefeller, Mark Twain

Pluto in Taurus

Pluto in Taurus: Sri Aurobindo, Aleister Crowley, Isadora Duncan, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Mahatma Gandhi, William Randolph Hearst, Carl Jung, Helen Keller, Pablo Picasso, Ramana Maharshi, Will Rogers, Bertrand Russell, Albert Schweitzer, Nikola Tesla, Vincent van Gogh, Swami Vivekananda, H.G. Wells

Pluto in Gemini

See also: Pluto in Gemini;

Pluto in Gemini: Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Al Capone, Charlie Chaplin, Ty Cobb, Salvadore Dali, Bette Davis, John Dillinger, Walt Disney, J.Paul Getty, Georges Gurdjieff, Ernest Hemingway, Alfred Hitchcock, Adolf Hitler, L.Ron Hubbard, Howard Hughes, Aldous Huxley, J. Krishnamurti, Groucho Marx, Meher Baba, Vaslav Nijinsky, Nisargadatta, George Orwell, George Patton, Ezra Pound, Ayn Rand, Ronald Reagan, Wilhelm Reich, Babe Ruth, Mother Teresa, Paramahansa Yogananda, Elroy, MarieBr, Roy

Pluto in Cancer

During the last century, Pluto was in Cancer from July to December 1913, between June 1914 and July 1938, and from February until June 1939. Cancer is the sign of mother, nurturing, family, home, country and security. While Pluto is in this sign, these areas become extremely important, and all things connected with them are forced into the light and transformed. Those of you who have Pluto in this sign in your birth charts are strongly attached to these things, but are likely to experience or be responsible for their destruction; at your core, you have a deep, unconscious ¬perhaps karmic - need to learn to let them go.

Pluto's passage through Cancer coincided with a period of unparalleled devastation, upheaval and annihilation that left few untouched. World War I and part of World War II, which toppled or reordered entire nations and claimed the lives of millions of people, were fought under this transit. The end of the Chinese Empire, the Russian Revolution and the Great Depression in America also took place during this period. Homes and homelands were wiped out, families were torn apart, races and sects (the extension of family) were exterminated, multitudes went hungry. All things related to Cancer were caught up in a life-and-death struggle, and the issue of security was foremost in the minds of people around the world.

Those of you who were born during this time are extremely patriotic. Many of you saw your nations ruined by war, others desperately feared the loss of your homeland, and millions died fighting for their countries. Your country provides your foundation and your sense of security, therefore you are willing to sacrifice personal freedoms to ensure your security and protection. Anything that endangers it awakens your deepest, secret fears; thus, your generation was most threatened by the anti-war movement of the 1960s in the U.S.. Your attachment to 'national security' and your obsession with 'the enemy' keep you from confronting problems in your own country. Pluto's sign position signifies areas where a particular generation is intransigent and unwilling to look at its own 'minotaur'. Perhaps your Pluto-group has lessons to learn about living with others on this planet, and needs to find ways to break down the barriers that separate people and countries from each other.

Family, as a microcosm of society, is also inordinately important to those of you who have Pluto in Cancer in your birth charts. Being part of a family makes you feel you are not alone, that you belong to something larger than yourself that connects you with the past and future. You derive a strong sense of security from your family, and are obsessed with maintaining a rigidly defined, carefully controlled family structure; without this, you feel adrift in the world. Consequently, you attempt to hold your family together regardless of whether the situation is beneficial to those concerned or not. You tend to be possessive of family members and intransigent in your attitudes about family matters.

However, Pluto requires transformations; thus, your generation has witnessed the destruction of the 'traditional' family and its rebirth into many new and varied forms. For you, this transformation has been especially traumatic and painful. Many of you still can't cope with such ideas as divorce, unmarried couples 'living together', single parents, childless couples and other alternate lifestyles. And although you wanted to keep your children near you forever, you instead find yourself in a highly mobile society that scatters family members far and wide. In this area, your generation has been forced to become more flexible, less domineering, less attached.

Finally, Cancer is the sign of mother, and the image of woman as mother. The Pluto¬-in-Cancer generation is deeply attached to the idea that 'a woman's place is in the home' and that a woman's role is that of mother. Other options are difficult for you to comprehend and accept, for they conflict with your unconscious archetypes. Many women with this planetary placement have found it hard to compete in the business world because of deep-seated attachments to this image. Many men with this placement feel their security - as well as their power - is threatened by women who don't conform to this archetype. The transformation Pluto demands has forced your generation to adjust to changing women's roles in recent years, but this adjustment has not been easy for most of you.

Pluto in Cancer: Those born in the generation having Pluto in Cancer experience the call to participate in world transformation by creating a new security based on co-operation with other nations. During the depression, their sense of isolation as a key to their basic survival was transformed.

On a personal level, those born with Pluto in Cancer experience their greatest fears in the area of maintaining control over their personal safety. Their challenge is to risk their self-protective instincts for a larger security in co-operation with others.

Pluto in Cancer: Cancer is the Crab - a 'defensive' creature, hiding inside a shell. Which is a pretty good idea, given the nasty way the world behaves sometimes. Fantasize with me for a moment. Imagine we humans had shells into which we could withdraw whenever we felt threatened. Nice, warm shells, with refrigerators, books and stereos. It's a pleasant thought. It's also close to the ruling passion of Pluto-in-Cancer.

Here we observe a generation that made the construction of the perfect Shell its ideal and its passion. We've entered modern territory at this point. As I write, lots of people with Pluto in Cancer are still living quite vigorously. Even though I made the point earlier, I want to re-emphasize that in speaking of Pluto's sign placement in a given chart, we're really getting information about an entire generation - the social context in which the person's life is unfolding. The Pluto-in-Cancer qualities, for instance, stand out most starkly in people in whom the Plutonian energy is very strong - the planet is conjunct their Suns or Ascendants, for example - or in people for whom the rest of their natal chart suggests a strong natural resonance with those Plutonian sign qualities.

What is the 'perfect shell', this Holy Grail sought be the Pluto-in-Cancer generation? It can be physical: a home. It can be financial: the bullet-proof retirement plan. It can be psychological: Pollyanna-like defensiveness. It can be spiritual: a religion that promises everything, explains everything, and offers parental comfort in exchange for childlike belief.

The Cancerian passion? At its best, it is for a safe, caring world in which all creatures are fed, lifted up by beauty, and inspired by a gentle faith. A world like a garden, protected, nurturing, and full of dreams.

The style of Pluto-in-Cancer is nourishing and supportive, eager to provide comfort. The offering of food or drink is one of the most fundamental human rituals, and it reaches its apotheosis here. The same can be said for the hospitable receiving of a guest: these are rituals of home and hearth, and much in Cancer's domain.

We all feel most uncomfortable when our madness is showing. Who likes to be regarded as an egomaniac, or a drunk, or a liar? In Cancer, the style revolves around the providing of comfort... and so there is considerable grace and skill around the art of helping others 'save face', thereby insuring their psychological contentment and ease.

It is a commonplace observation that the young of every species display a quality that's hard to define but easy to recognize: cuteness. And it's a short step from there to the realization that 'cuteness' is a survival-positive quality in the young, since it fills adults with the desire the provide solace and protection. Cancer, as the archetypal sign of the Great Mother, has an affinity with cuteness in all its forms. It especially values cuteness as an aesthetic in art, clothing, and decoration.

Above all, Pluto-in-Cancer focuses on the security of home and family. In the food-chain, first the self is nurtured and protected. That assured, next comes family. Then the 'guest', then the nation and family; and finally, if we get that far, the planet.

Imagine a woman born in 1936. She married in 1960, and had a son a couple of years later. As I write, the young man is in his middle thirties. He's still living at home. Dad flew the coop in 1978, so it's just the two of them. The young man has never held a job for more than a few weeks; he won't do his wash or help out around the house. He treats his mother abusively at every level while she explains away his dysfunctions as a response to the early divorce and continues to insist on 'being patient' with him and 'helping' him despite the protests of her friends.

'Nurturing' can weaken people; that is a truth to which Pluto-in-Cancer may be blind. Imagine that the scientists of two nations simultaneously develop a terrible new weapon. Neither nation has any compelling reason to attack the other one. But, in the interest of security, each nation feels compelled to accumulate just a few more weapons than the other one.... That of course is recent world history in a nutshell, and an excellent example of another one of Pluto-in-Cancer's blind spots: trying to be 'perfectly safe' often leads to terrible, escalating danger.

So, on the global level, we have the paradox of bloated welfare-states growing up at home while paranoia, suspicion, and viciousness reign among nations, all under the leadership of Pluto-in-Cancer people, or under the direct vibration of the Pluto-in-Cancer energy from more-or-less 1912 to 1939. By comparison, the pseudo-debates of 'freedom' versus 'communism' emerge as merely the clashing jumble of waves on the surface of a deep, homogenous sea.

Under the umbrella of face-saving silences, horrors multiply. Keeping the 'dangerous' world safely outside the shell allows what is inside the shell to fester, to grow strange and unnatural. Privacy is a delicious luxury, but too much of it can potentially rot the human spirit, rendering it immune to the stabilizing, correcting influences of social interaction.

Should these darker, secretive aspects of Pluto-in-Cancer's passion for safety breed monsters, where will they reside? Where should we seek them? In Cancer territory! The home! Family. Beyond mere blind spots, we now enter the realm of real darkness. And each Plutonian sign has such a potential dimension, as we have seen. For the Pluto-in-Cancer generation, the 'devil' took the form of the Twisted Parent, quietly inflicting horrible destruction on anything 'cute'.

Some realities are so taboo that it is impossible to gather very objective data about them. But I doubt there are many front-line psychotherapists today who would question the idea that there was a silent, unmarked epidemic of child abuse, sexual, physical, and psychological, during the years that the Pluto-in-Cancer generation of people was raising its families - we're speaking of the kids born between 1935 and the middle 1970s, approximately. (Assigning dates is tough here because of the wide range of ages at which people have children.)

Certainly, we must be quick to emphasize the good news that full-blown Shadow expression is virtually never the social norm - unlike the collective expression of destructive Pluto-sign 'blind spots', which emphatically is the social norm. The majority of mothers and fathers presumably did their best to make a safe nest for their kids, and were if anything overly protective. But, as always, in the darker Plutonian corners of the human spirit, the ancient beast was plotting... and in this case, it was against the very creatures who needed nurture.

If you're a Pluto-in-Cancer person and you think I've been a little hard on your generation, please indulge me in two ways. First, please note that there’s a noble cosmic principle at work in this combination, as in any other: nurturing, healing, caring for the young, the old, and the wounded. Second, you'll probably take some comfort at my characterization of the darker aspects of my own generation, the Pluto-¬in-Leo people who followed.

See also: Pluto in Cancer;

Pluto in Cancer: Woody Allen, Ursula Andress, Alan Arkin, Warren Beatty, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Temple Black, Marlon Brando, Warren Buffett, George Bush, Sr., George Carlin, Johnny Cash, Carlos Castaneda, Wilt Chamberlain, Sean Connery, James Dean, Clint Eastwood, Queen Elizabeth II, Jane Fonda, Judy Garland, Tenzin Gyatso, Hugh Hefner, Dustin Hoffman, John F. Kennedy, Ken Kesey, Martin Luther King, Jr,.Henry Kissinger, U.G. Krishnamurti, Timothy Leary, Charles Manson, Mickey Mantle, Shirley McLaine, Marilyn Monroe, Willie Nelson, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, OmNi, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Osho, Arnold Palmer, Jack Parsons, Elvis Presley, Joseph Ratzinger, Robert Redford, David Rockefeller, Evelyn Robert de Rothschild, Peter Sellers, Frank Sinatra, Gloria Steinem, Elizabeth Taylor, Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Orson Welles, Robert Anton Wilson, Joanne Woodward, Malcolm X, AbbieJ, Alford, BillH, CharlesS, Clark, Eva, Flossie, Jack, Leen, LouG, LucSr, Ray, Supr, Suzie, Tom

Pluto in Leo

Last century, Pluto was in Leo from August 1938 to February 1939, from June 1939 until October 1956, and between January and August 1957. Leo is the sign if individuality, self-expression, creativity, love and entertainment. Whenever Pluto is in this sign, these areas are brought into the light and transformed; and to people born during this time these things are extremely important.

During Pluto's passage through this sign, a major transformation took place in the entertainment business, and a revolutionary creative and dramatic medium was introduced: television. The advertising field was radically changed by television, and became a new 'art form'. Rock'n'roll, a musical style that would eventually transform the music world, also had its beginnings during this period.

Those of you who have Pluto in Leo are obsessed with self-expression, and need to be creative in some way. Unlike the previous generation, which was concerned principally with job security, your Pluto-group wants work to be exciting, fulfilling, creative - an expression of self. You are less likely than people of other Pluto-groups to stay in a position that doesn't actualize your talents, or where you feel you aren't appreciated; and unless your self-expressive needs are engaged you tend to be rather lazy and sullen. Nor are most of you willing to devote yourselves entirely to your career - unless you really enjoy it - and you make time for your other interests and leisure activities. Entertainment and having fun are extremely important to Pluto-in-Leo people; and as your generation reached adulthood the recreational industry boomed. Your generation is more concerned with what others do for fun than what they do for work.

Your focus in life is you, and your generation suffers from a severe case of self-centeredness. Aptly nicknamed the 'me generation', you are obsessed with improving yourself and engage in all sorts of self-actualization projects, psychotherapy, exercise programs and inner-development studies so you can 'find yourself' and make yourself better, more beautiful, happier.

Many of you also have a deep desire for attention, love, recognition and fame. Leo is the sign of ego, identity and self-worth; and those of you with this planetary placement have a fundamental optimism, self-confidence and even arrogance. You believe that you know best, and have little respect for people in other generations. Even if other personal factors in your individual birth charts make you more humble or insecure, at your core you have faith that everything ultimately will turn out all right - if not for everyone, then at least for you. You also believe that you are special in some way, or that you have an important calling in life. Jeff Green describes it as 'a deep feeling of specialness' and a desire 'to actualize this special destiny'.

Pluto requires transformation, often destroying things connected with a particular sign as it passes through it. Therefore, your generation has experienced a world where individual importance is being challenged and where society's needs and demands frequently conflict with personal ones. According to Liz Greene, 'During the lifetimes of those with Pluto in Leo, half the nations of the world have espoused a form of socialism or communism which frustrates... the Leonine conviction of the sanctity of... individual worth.' Perhaps your generation needs to learn to value others and society as well as yourself, and to transform your ego centeredness.

Leo also is associated with love - self-love, love given to others and to the fruits of your creativity. Those of you who have Pluto in this sign were born during a time when there was little love in the world. World War II was raging during the early part of this transit, followed by the Cold War years. The world had witnesses heretofore unknown horrors and cruelty toward others - the Nazi concentration camps, Stalin's destruction of the Ukrainians, and the bombing of Japan.

Your Pluto-group has experienced and been responsible for transformations in the way we look at and express love. As your generation reached adulthood, reliable birth control and abortion diminished the fears, restrictions and pressures that surrounded lovemaking. 'Living together' without marriage became commonplace and socially acceptable. The Women's Movement made it possible for women to support themselves, and thus choose partners for love rather than financial security. Your generation desperately longs for love, and believes that 'all you need is love'. Perhaps those of you who once proclaimed 'make love not war' will have an opportunity to effect or witness the transformation of humankind through love, or at least to be able to transform yourselves in this way.

Pluto in Leo: Those born in the generation having Pluto in Leo experience the call to participate in world transformation by altering their creative self-expression and communication with other nations on the level of art, music, and the new consciousness. They are also handed the challenge of dealing with each nation asserting itself as a power in the world.

On a personal level, those born with Pluto in Leo experience their greatest fears in the area of expressing their emotions honestly through their sense of drama and creative talents. Their challenge is to risk the disapproval of others for a larger sense of self-approval through open and powerful self-expression.

Pluto in Leo: 'To be seen is the ambition of ghosts. To be remembered is the ambition of the dead.' Those words, from philosopher Norman O. Brown, capture with perfection the precise opposite of everything we must understand about Pluto in Leo. With this sign, being seen, noticed and remembered is everything.

In a nutshell, the passion for Leo lies in creative self-expression: making visible to society every detail of one's inner universe. This process can thrive in the realm of the arts, but it is by no means limited to that area. Any place where we can leave tangible evidence of our existence in the hands of the world - that's Leo territory. It might be in a business, in our 'lifestyle', even in our clothing.

With Pluto modifying and amplifying the self-dramatizing tendencies of this sign, that which is expressed takes on the mark of Pluto's own spirit: the deepest passion is for the expression of the 'meaningful', the taboo, the psychological... in a nutshell, the expression of anything emotionally 'intense'. And to be recognized for it - the Leo-loop is completed only when the Lion's performance is applauded.

And if no applause is forthcoming, the Lion just roars more loudly.

Colorful, flamboyant, extreme... these words capture some of the Lion's style. The urge to be noticed is paramount; thus, the manner of behavior tends toward the loud, the theatrical, the histrionic. But we must also acknowledge that Leo is generously disposed toward the performances of others as well. Its spirit is appreciative, encouraging, and warm.

The table is crowded; the wine jug is nearing empty, and the hands on the old clock point straight up. Dinner and dessert were finished long ago, but no-one wants to get up, and no-one is going home. Ten good friends, with long histories together, are reliving old times. One by one, they tell tales of the past, exaggerating, dramatizing, and embellishing. When each person speaks, he or she has the full attention of the group, and plenty of support for going on at length. Hearts are warm, the night is raucous, and Leo-energy is in the air.

In the Pluto-in-Leo generation, creativity and self-expression have flourished. Sometimes it seems that everyone is writing a book, composing music, or planning a highly individualized career. Those avenues are the ones that seem to promise that high Plutonian gift: achieving meaning in one's life through the device of having one's story noticed. The rock star, the movie star, even the spiritual 'star' have become the gods of the generation. Few Pluto-in-Leo people want merely to be 'good soldiers'; kingship and queenship are in the air, along with a spirit of abundance that allows for at least the possibility that big, brave dreams will be realized for everyone.

Life may be a beautiful tapestry, but some of the threads are drab ones.

They have to be; bright colors lose visibility and impact if there are no grays and pale whites to contrast them. Similarly, much of the reality of daily life is made up of dull threads - those 'nothing special' hours and days which define normality. For Pluto-in-Leo, accepting life's unspectacular, 'underwhelming' side does not come automatically. Often there arises a sense that if I am not ecstatic, then something must be wrong. If I am not having a peak experience, then I must be in the wrong relationship, the wrong job, the wrong spiritual path, the wrong town.

There are many positive states of consciousness that are not characterized by jump-¬up-and-down joy: the feeling of quiet self-respect or dignity, the sense that we are making a small contribution to a worthwhile enterprise, that vague sense of rightness that comes from delaying a gratification or resisting a temptation. In its hunger for the peaks, Leo can be blind to these nuances... and paradoxically wind up terribly unhappy.

Are some people 'drab threads' themselves? The phrase is distorted by its harshness, yet certainly we must recognize that not everyone possesses creativity, charisma, and presence in equal measures. Leadership cannot exist without followers; performance cannot exist without an audience. The universe needs everyone in it. But under Pluto-¬in-Leo's celebratory ray, people can blindly overvalue the Lion's 'roar', leaving those whose natures are milder feeling unnecessarily bad about themselves - and those who are merely noisy elevated far beyond their merit.

Self-indulgent egocentricity is a quality to which we baby-boomers are far from immune. And one Plutonian expression of that unfortunate attribute lies in our tendency to whine loud and long about affronts to our dignity, real or imagined. The penetrating psychological understanding of Pluto can be like a lance, and the exuberant urge-to-be-heard of Leo, the muscle that drives that lance. Thus, psychological understanding can be guided not by compassion or kindness, but by the need to be recognized as wise. The results can be terribly wounding.

Pluto-in-Leo Shadow expression reaches its nadir in the obsession with fame and glitz. If everyone wants to be a 'star', it follows that lots of people's feelings are going to be hurt. Driven by the need for approval and applause, many will make fools of themselves, extending in directions that are unnatural for them. Worse, some will posture so successfully that they do achieve a level of success or recognition, regardless of merit. In the arts, this mostly produces the sort of content-free trash that is the 'next big thing' for six months, and in two years forgotten. Harmless, but rampant.

Vastly more harmful is the bumper crop of dubious psychologists, gurus, psychics, and spiritual teachers that abound among the baby-boomers. Driven by insecurity and the need to be noticed, they can, if they put on a good enough show, succeed in seducing even themselves. The rule of thumb most relevant here is that the 'Spiritual Teacher' eager to be recognized as one probably isn't one! In a nutshell, the Shadow for Pluto in Leo lies in the pitiful, insecure obsession with the appearance of glory: the eternal disease of kings.

Shadow expressions are dreadful to contemplate, but we must keep perspective. Those expressions have no true, independent reality; they are distortions of healthy, positive drives. Pluto-in-Leo energy is about an unselfconscious, exuberant expression of human individuality. It is a celebration and a renewal of our commitment to each moment of life. Without it, gray regimentation would eclipse the rainbow of human diversity.

Pluto in Leo: Leo is a sign of leadership and of expression of energy and power. Pluto in Leo marked an era in which atomic energy - which is ruled by Pluto - was discovered, and the first atomic bombs were exploded. For the first time in history, humanity was faced with the awesome alternative of the total destruction of civilization or undreamed-of heights in technological achievement. This period began with the intense conflict of World War II. In subsequent years, many new sovereign nations were born out of the former colonial empires of European nations. A worldwide power struggle took place between capitalism, represented by the United States, and Communism, represented by the Soviet Union, a struggle that affected the destiny of all mankind.

Pluto in Leo: Once again a world war broke out as Pluto settled down to a journey through a new sign. Domination and power were highlighted in the worst possible way, but as a result of such conflicts some good emerged: while Pluto was still travelling through Leo the United Nations was formed. Another generation influence of this placing has been the development of technology, and many who work in that area have Pluto strongly placed in Leo. This is especially true of computer specialists.

The powers of leadership common to Leo will be somewhat heightened, but only minutely if neither Pluto nor Leo is personal or prominent. If the Sun, Moon or Ascendant is in Leo, there can be a power complex. Carefully consider the house position of Pluto, and be especially wary if the planet is at the top of the chart, for here we sometimes have a little - or big! - empire builder. How is the subject achieving his or her objectives? Is he or she becoming power-mad, or able to work extremely well for the good of others as well as him- or herself? Sometimes (again if Leo is prominent), the positive, fiery enthusiasm of Leo is darkened - and the 'inner psychological Sun', which is such a feature of this sign, does not shine as strongly. The placing adds business sense, though in a rather different way from Cancer, since there is a greater adventurousness and less intuitive shrewdness.

Pluto in Leo: Your search for ultimate meaning in life is linked with your own ego. At first, you will seek to learn exactly who you are and what you mean to yourself. Although this approach may seem selfish, you have the ability to then help others find their own meaning. You are looking for your place in the greater whole - your immediate community or the entire universe, depending on how you have allowed yourself to grow. Although you understand the necessity of dissolving the ego's boundaries, you may hold back from actually doing this.

Pluto in Leo: This position marks the generation born between 1939 and 1956 that brought sex out into the open. They are the infants’ terribles of sexuality. This whole generation suddenly decided that sex was something to have fun with, a wealthy storehouse of pleasure at everyone's beck and call.

When the first members of this generation came of age in the 1960s, they flaunted sex everywhere, as if it were a brand-new discovery. The discoverers rolled and reveled in it, which changed the whole world's attitude toward sex. This is still going on, but perhaps less flamboyantly.

The precocious sexual innocence of the 1960s is gone, but those in this generation still look upon sex as something joyous and supportive, something to be enjoyed for its own sake and not for any ulterior motive. Without doubt, this is the best position for Pluto next to Scorpio, its own sign. If there is any disadvantage to this position, it may be that you sometimes put too high a value on sex, neglecting the myriad pleasures of the mind and other faculties.

Pluto in Leo: These are the children who grew up to form the counterculture, with its ambiguities about the individual's relationship to the larger group. On one hand, these people have worked in large groups to create formidable mass movements. But at the same time many of them have returned to an earlier idea of the self-sufficient individual living off the land. They have tried to become independent of the centralized machinery of society by generating their own power, growing their own food and so forth.

See also: Pluto in Leo;

Pluto in Leo: Muhammad Ali, Ammachi, Kim Basinger, G.W. Bush, Prince Charles, Dick Cheney, Cher, Deepak Chopra, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Milton William Cooper, Robert De Niro, Bob Dylan, Sally Field, Bobby Fischer, Art Garfunkel, Bill Gates, Uri Geller, Melanie Griffith, Robert Hand, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, Steve Jobs, Elton John, Bruce Lee, Donovan Leitch, John Lennon, John Malkovich, Bob Marley, Paul McCartney, Terence McKenna, Joni Mitchell, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jack Nicklaus, Al Pacino, Dolly Parton, Robert Plant, Karl Renz, Mitt Romney, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paul Simon, O.J. Simpson, Patti Smith, Suzanne Somers, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Meryl Streep, James Taylor, Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Jesse Ventura, Jon Voight, Robin Williams, Brian Wilson, Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Al, AlexP, Alicia, AndySc, Arine, Arrow, Ashira, BarryKl, BenSt, Bernie, Bobbie, BobG, BPoe, Bram, Carolyn, Cate, ChrisC, Collon, Cynthia, David, Dheeraj, Donny, DonW, Doug, Duane, Dunja, Ellen, Flickinger, GaryCl, Ivy, J, Jamie, Jane, JBLight, Jean, JerryGr, JerryH, JJ, JonathanG, Joy, JRosh, Ju, Jude, Judi, Judin, JudyPl, Jyothi, Kay, Keith, Komala, LaurieSw, Lori, LucJr, Maitreyi, Marcy, Marybeth, Medwick, MFor, Mick, Miriam, Nancee, Nirvesh, Olof, PapayaJ, Paulo, PaulS, Pete, Phylissa, Prabhuta, Ralph, Ricardo, River, Robert, Roberto, RoyO, Samp, Seligma, SFor, Shakura, Silas, Steve, Sugeet, Suji, TomW, TonyC, TonyO, VinCal, VinCar, VinG, Virginia, Zeno

Pluto in Virgo

Pluto was in Virgo last century from October 1956 to January 1957, between August 1957 and September 1971, and from April until July 1972. Virgo is associated with work, service, health and nutrition, analysis, precision and humility; therefore, these things are brought into focus and transformed during Pluto's passage through the sign. To people born while Pluto is in Virgo, these things are extremely important, and your generation will experience and / or be responsible for effecting major changes in these areas.

Pluto transits of Virgo metamorphose the way people work and earn their livelihood. Pluto's previous passage through this sign in the early 1700s coincided with the development of shipping and trade between continents. During the planet's most recent trip through Virgo, the United States' economy began shifting to a service-oriented one after being based on industrial productivity for more than a century. The same sort of transformation also took place in other developed countries. As those of you who were born during this period reached adulthood and entered the work force, this trend accelerated. 'Business services (which range from word processing to cleaning offices), health care services (in hospitals, nursing homes, and social welfare agencies), and food catering services have all expanded enormously in recent years in both Western Europe and North America.'

For the Pluto-in-Virgo generation, work is vitally important; and as a group you are diligent and conscientious, concentrating much of your energy and attention on your careers. Many of the so-called 'yuppies' are members of this Pluto-group. Those of you with this planetary placement in your charts often are employed in some type of service, technical or support capacity, and you are more concerned that the work you do has practical application than that it is creative, entertaining or self-aggrandizing. The Pluto-in-Leo generation might originate the ideas, but your generation finds ways to implement them.

To you, the purpose of education is to develop specific skills in preparation for a particular job; and during your generation's college years many schools began changing their focus from liberal arts to technical and 'useful' career programs. According to David Kennedy, president of Stanford University, your generation is more adept in technological areas but less proficient in languages and writing skills than your predecessors. You are not particularly interested in the arts, philosophy or learning for its own sake; you want to be able to utilize what you know directly and see immediate and quantifiable results from your efforts.

Health and nutrition also are important to the Pluto-in-Virgo generation. As Pluto neared completion of its most recent trip through Virgo, the public became increasingly concerned with the quality of the food they ate. Millions changed their diets, turned to 'health foods', vitamins, low-salt or low-cholesterol diets, or vegetarianism, and attention was focused on the detrimental effects of chemical preservatives, fertilizers and pesticides. Those of you with this planetary placement in your charts tend to be attentive to the purity and nutritional value of your food, and as your generation reached adulthood a plethora of health-conscious food products appeared on the market.

Virgo's connection with health links it to the medical profession. The sign also is associated with analysis and specialization, as opposed to synthesis and holism; therefore, it is interesting to see how Pluto's passage through Virgo instigated a major shift in the medical field toward specialization. Virgo's obsession with purity and germs has led to a focus on viruses in medical research and treatment. While Pluto was in Virgo, immunization programs became widespread, as did the use of antibiotics to treat everything from syphilis to common germs. Those of you who have this placement in your birth charts may worry excessively about diseases, infections and germs; your obsession with illness might incline you to visit doctors and / or take medications more readily and frequently than members of other Pluto-groups.

Virgo is a modest, self-effacing sign. Those of you with this planetary placement in your charts are interested in job security, being productive members of society and making money, but fame is of lesser importance to you than to the preceding Pluto-in-Leo generation. You don't feel a compulsion to 'set the world on fire', nor do you think you have some special mission in life. As a group, you tend to have a rather pessimistic and resigned attitude, believing that things will only get worst in the future, and that you'd better not set your hopes too high. Whether this stems from a fundamental pragmatism or from discouragement over your inability (or anyone else's) to achieve perfection is debatable. You are more likely to see what's wrong with the world instead of what's right, and to feel victimized by situations beyond your control. According to Jeff Green, those of you who have Pluto in Virgo are 'learning essential humility, but also a necessary self-purification that purges all traces of self-glorification and delusions of grandeur' in preparation for future growth.

Pluto in Virgo: Those born in the generation having Pluto in Virgo experience the call to participate in world transformation on the levels of health and service to those less fortunate. They are also given the challenge of transforming the ecology of planet Earth.

On a personal level, those born with Pluto in Virgo experience their greatest fears by risking the criticism of others through a commitment to their sense of duty. Their challenge is to serve others on practical levels even though they may not have attained the perception of self-perfection they seek.

Pluto in Virgo: Precision. That's the essence of Virgo. Making everything perfect. How to do it? One must start with a sense of the ideal... and Virgo is an idealistic sign. But one must not become lost in an intoxicating, otherworldly meditation upon the ideal. Then nothing gets done. Virgo is also an Earth sign, which is to say it is down-to-earth: realistic, practical, concrete, logical. There is thus a rather stereoscopic consciousness at play in this sign: on one hand, a sense of the idea toward which we are shooting. On the other hand, a scrupulous, meticulous sense of what is real.

And, with Pluto in Virgo, attaining the ideal without once sacrificing an unerring, unflinching portrait of actuality is the guiding passion. At the heart of matter, there is a fervor for self-improvement and for the attainment of excellence. The prayer of the generation? 'Let us see clearly. Let us act upon what we see.'

With Pluto in Virgo, the style is questioning, full of doubts, quick to criticize. And, no: we haven't mistakenly skipped ahead to the 'Shadow' section. Virgo wants the truth, and blind faith is no road to that goal. The style of the sign may seem skeptical or reserved, even cynical. But the aim is always to sort out truth from appealing falsehoods - and no Plutonian sign is less patient with empty platitudes or hypocritical 'idealism'. Always, that stereoscopic mind is at work, comparing and contrasting observed reality with ideals. And observed reality always falls short of those ideals, leading Pluto-in-Virgo to polish and refine the present circumstances even further.

There is caution here, and not a little fretfulness. But there is an overriding commitment to honesty. 'The devil is in the details' - that's an old proverb straight out of the heart of Virgo. It will search for tiny inconsistencies, little glossed-over leaps in the logic of anything - a relationship, a belief system, a political theory - always suspecting that there is a flaw... or an area open to improvement.

Consistent with its concern with particulars, Pluto-in-Virgo is not afraid of technical systems or the hard work needed to master them. The most obvious expression of this quality in the generation born between 1956 and 1972 is their marriage to the computer. More basically, we observe the mixed feelings with which media-dubbed 'Generation X' views the 'baby-boomers'. There is a strong 'please get real' theme in their attitudes, and at the same time an undercurrent of basic appreciation of many of the so-called 'hippie' ideals: community, ecology, personal freedom.

Sometimes it seems to me that the Pluto-in-Virgo generation is cosmetically charged with taking the Pluto-in-Leo ideals, editing them, tempering them, and finally with far less bluster and a lot more hard work making them real. That is, if they don't get caught in their blind spot…

Ideals are difficult to attain. Perfection is a merciless standard by which to judge oneself.

Here's an attitude that simultaneously guarantees impressive accomplishments and total despair: 'I'll be happy when I get this exactly right'. It may work fine with cooking dinner or getting a computer program running, but when it comes to working on the more purely human level of life, it will certainly fail. What man or woman is 'perfectly sane'? Or even 'shaped perfectly'? What relationship has no rough places, no immortal misunderstanding, no epic frustrations? Life is messy business; and one of the secrets of existence lies in knowing when to say 'This is good enough!' And relaxing, enjoying, appreciating - we might add 'forgiving'.

Difficulty accepting reality - that's the key blind spot for Pluto-in-Virgo. Let me emphasize that I speak of 'accepting' reality. This is utterly distinct from the question of whether one sees reality. Seeing reality clearly is an enterprise at which Pluto-in-Virgo can whup Pluto-in-Leo before breakfast. But to accept reality - especially one's own flawed reality - and not be brought to despair by it: that's the art that Virgo may lack.

If Pluto-in-Virgo falls into that idealistic trap, it paradoxically ceases to appear idealistic at all. Instead, it descends into cynicism, a sense of doomed impossibility, and hyper criticality.

People who feel guilty tend to punish themselves: that's one of the most elemental laws of human psychology. And the emotion of guilt arises when we feel we have fallen short of a deeply held ideal. But for Pluto-in-Virgo, all ideals are inherently unreachable! Why? Because perfection itself is the core Virgoan ideal, and that is a divine attribute, not a human one. Thus, with Pluto in Virgo, we observe a generation of people whose Shadow lies in the domain of dealing out harsh sentences upon themselves. And it's a short step from there to dealing out equally harsh sentences upon others, since we all tend ultimately to treat others with the same respect or disrespect with which we treat ourselves.

Harsh sentences. Free-associating, we might quickly jump to notions of physical torture. And in 'Generation X', we have observed the ravages of physically destructive drug use: 'crack' and all its horrors. We have seen an epidemic of violence and gunfire. We observe a widespread ignoring of the basic principles of safe sex. Going beyond the physical, we recognize an elevated attitude of hopelessness and despair about the future, the planet, one's personal job prospects, relationships and so on.

What more devious and dreadful self-punishment could one imagine than to rob a human being of hope, dreams and a sense of bright possibility? A good friend of mine who is very much a figure in his Pluto-in-Virgo generation refers to his fellows as 'the gloom hippies'; and while certainly not everyone in that age-group wears black clothes and violet hair, some of the more bitter ones who do constellate visibly for us the Shadow side of Pluto-in-Virgo.

I feel the need to emphasize here that Shadow dynamics are only one aspect of the Plutonian picture, and quite optional. They are a seductive trap, to be fallen into or avoided depending on choices we make. 'Generation X' has a high destiny, just like all other generations. Their task is to roll up their sleeves, and create the practical realities of a humanized future in an eco-sensitive, multicultural, technological age. Whether or not they accomplish that is their own choice. To succeed, they must confront and overcome their Shadow: shame-driven despair and the resultant self-destructiveness. But that despair and self-punishment are perverted expressions of an honorable, healing force: the radical commitment to seeing oneself and one's life clearly and honestly, without the egoistic varnish that comforts and blinds us.

See also: Pluto in Virgo;

Pluto in Virgo: Jim Carrey, Madonna Ciccone, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Princess Diana, Robert Downey, Jr., Bill Hicks, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Carl Lewis, Maharaj Ji, Barack Obama, Cathy O’Brien, Brad Pitt, Edouard de Rothschild, Susanna Arundhati Roy, AndyF, Antonio, Beth, Cheri, ChrisTr, DavMcC, Dewitt, Dipesh, DJenkins, Erika, Erin, Fergus, George, Gina, Jason, Jeff, JerGar, JerryP, Johanna, JT, JulieD, Lance, Leif, Leigh, Lina, Marie, Mark, Maureen, Merrill, Molly, Pankaj, Patrice, Prabhukar, Q, ScottS, Sky, Tammy, Tara, Victoria

Pluto in Libra

Last century, Pluto was in Libra from October 1971 to April 1972, between August 1972 and October 1983, and from May until August 1984. Libra is associated with relationships, women, art, balance and the law; therefore, these areas are forced into public awareness and transformed when Pluto passes through this sign.

Perhaps most significant of the changes which occurred during this time was the Women's Movement. Pluto in Libra brought to light the inequities between men and women in American society, and tore down the old, restrictive, outworn attitudes about 'a woman's place'. In true Plutonic style, issues of power and control were important, and the movement was plagued by extremism, fear, resistance and turmoil. Pluto's entry into Libra saw the legalization of abortion in the U.S. (January 1973), the publication of Ms. magazine (January 1972) and the expansion of the National Organization of Women (NOW) into a formidable political force. By the time Pluto left this sign, a woman had run for vice president on the Democratic ticket and women's economic, professional, political and educational opportunities had increased dramatically. Most importantly, women's self-confidence, and their vision of themselves and their role in society, had been transformed by this Pluto transit.

Laws concerning things that affected women's personal and professional lives, such as credit, ownership of property, equal job opportunities and pay, sexual harassment, divorce and medical care, were brought into the light and changed.

Those of you born during this time have a deep, abiding belief in the power of women, and are obsessed with the issue of equality between the sexes. Women with this planetary placement in their birth charts may be strong, dominant, shrewd, even ruthless and manipulative; men with this placement may see women as being more powerful than they are and fear both women and the female (or yin) side of themselves. However, both men and women in the Pluto-in-Libra generation have the opportunity to eliminate sexual inequity once and for all and establish balance in society and interpersonal relationships.

Along with the changes in women's status came fundamental and unavoidable changes in personal relationships. As women achieved greater professional and economic power, they demanded more power in their relationships as well. The pattern that had been established by earlier generations of the man as unquestioned authority and provider, woman as nurturer and passive dependent, was revised. Improved birth control and the legalization of abortion allowed women to control reproduction, and thus exercise more control over the rest of their lives. This also enabled woman to express their sexuality more freely. Predictably, Pluto's transit through Libra brought an end to many individual relationships as it destroyed the old concept of relationships. The divorce rate skyrocketed, 'living together' without marriage became popular, and many people grew jaded about the institution of marriage.

Many of you who were born while Pluto was in Libra have seen your parents’ divorce. Even if your parents stayed together, you still have experienced the turmoil and instability inherent in this transformative period of redefining roles, rights and responsibilities. As a result, you are obsessed with maintaining strong, lasting relationships yourselves. You have a deep need for love and partnerships, are possessive of your partners, and may be unhappy when you are not involved in a relationship.

There is no such thing as a casual love affair for you. Your generation feels compelled to form committed relationships quickly and early, and to stay in those relationships despite problems that would have caused members of earlier generations to bail out. Relationships provide a sense of deep, emotional security for you, and one of your greatest fears is being alone. However, this planetary placement suggests that, of necessity, you probably will go through many transformative, traumatic relationship experiences and perhaps losses that will force you to relinquish your attachment to partners and partnerships. Some of you may become involved in destructive relationships where domination, manipulation, sexual control and power plays are common. Others might submerge individuality in the relationship. Your generation needs to learn to find the balance between self and others.

Pluto in Libra: Those born in the generation having Pluto in Libra experience the call to participate in world transformation by introducing new forms of co-operation between nations. They are also given the challenge of transforming traditional ideas of partnership relationships on planet Earth.

On a personal level, those born with Pluto in Libra experience their greatest fears in risking disharmony through disclosure of what they feel to be unjust. Their challenge is to be willing to discard personal illusions of balance and objectively express their power in relationships in order that a new and greater harmony can be established.

Pluto in Libra: Scales: the eternal Libran image. They represent balance and harmony... and the weighing and reconciliation of opposites.

The passion with Pluto-in-Libra lies in the creation of conditions of accord and symmetry. Where? Anywhere. Everywhere. In all ways imaginable. Art is one such territory. So is justice. And peace. And human love in all its forms, from simple friendship on up to community in the largest sense.

Put down a heavy burden. End an argument with an agreeable deal. Come to a conclusion when you're faced with a tough choice. Always we experience the same physiological reaction: we sigh. And a sigh is a release of tension. And that release of tension is the heart's passion of Pluto in Libra.

Shortly after Pluto entered Libra, the peace movement attained critical mass and the war-machine was brought home from Viet Nam. But far more importantly, a generation of potential peacemakers began appearing, cleverly disguised as little babies so Nixon wouldn't know. Ingrained in their consciousnesses, these children carried not just a sense of appreciation for peace, but far more significantly an uncanny set of instincts for the processes we must employ in creating peace: negotiation, listening skills, and empathy with alien perspectives.

A minority of human beings actually seems to enjoy fighting. For the rest of us, it is an unpleasant process at best. Marital spats, trouble with one's family, a threadbare spot in the relationship with a dear friend - it's all hellishly uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that we often try to avoid the conflict, even when it is a necessary step in clearing the air. And then the trouble just festers.

Pluto, as we have learned, is not inclined to turn away from hard realities. With Pluto in Libra, while the high destiny of the generation lies in peacemaking, these people are by no means cute little angels who are just going to 'make nice'. Why? Simply because it never works for very long. It is not an effective peacemaking method. Real peace can never be attained through denial or through glossing over difficult questions. The Plutonian instinct here is for diving into the muck, facing the heat of anger, resentment, prejudice and bitterness, and then hacking out a deal that succeeds.

The style of Pluto in Libra is thus negotiational, with an instinctive emphasis on recognizing areas of mutual benefit and agreement as the foundations of any lasting peace. Libra argues! But it argues toward an end, not just to vent anger.

Cosmically, this generation is charged with the task of moving us beyond the morass of deadlocked oppositions in which humanity currently finds itself. Liberalism versus Conservatism. Race against race. Environmentalism versus economic growth. Masculine versus feminine. Socialist caring versus capitalistic individualism and personal responsibility.

We must also emphasize the sheer aesthetic sensitivity of Libra. With Pluto there, we observe a generation that will be passionate about the creation of beauty - but probably only lukewarm in its attitude toward 'mere prettiness'. Pluto likes stronger, more shocking medicine.

There are two fundamental types of questions over which people can disagree: ones that are susceptible to compromise and ones in which there is no middle ground and it must be one way or the other.

Land use provides an easy illustration of the former. On the same piece of ground, all the blonde people want a nature preserve, while all the brown-haired people want an industrial park. When the dust settles, there's a small industrial park on the edge of the vast natural garden. Everybody feels a little peeved and a little ripped-off, but there is no clear winner or loser.

Then there are questions like abortion. As I write, the debate between the 'right-to-¬life' people and the 'right-to-choose' people is still raging. And one point makes this debate so difficult to resolve: there really is no middle ground. There may be some details over which legislators can quibble, but there is a basic Yes or No here. Abortion will be safe and legal, or it will be illegal. There's no such thing as a semi-abortion.

The blind spot of Pluto-in-Libra lies in this second category of question. In their zeal to find middle ground, people born under this configuration may find themselves paralyzed in the face of tough choices in which there will be real losers. The urge to be fair, however laudable in principle, may turn to mere immobility and procrastination. Then the energy runs down darker pipelines: endless debate over trivialities, obsessive concern with details of etiquette (however that may be defined twenty years from now!), and byzantine political maneuvering.

The key Plutonian passion in Libra is for peace: that spirit-easing sign of relief that comes close on the heels of an accord, a lightening of one's burdens, or a solution. And peace is a noble goal. But there are forms of peace that come at too high a price, and together they constitute that grave warning that we call the Pluto-in-Libra Shadow.

Faced with a tough Yes or No question, we already saw a potential Libran blind spot: indecision and procrastination. But what if the pressure to solve the problem mounts? Libra does not appreciate pressure, and may crack under it. Justice may fall prey to the urge for peace - peace restored at any cost. And then we can see terrible, quick, almost unconscious violence stomping out the offending alternative.

I am aware that much of what we may think of as 'common courtesy' is specific to our own culture circa 1950, and quite obviously going the way of the pterodactyl and the Beatle wig. But every society, however rough-and-tumble, has rules of acceptable behavior. When the Pluto-in-Libra people come into their prime, they will be very likely to generate a new set of acceptable behavioral norms reflective of the new realities of society. The True Multicultural Miss Manners may already be on the earth and simply not yet revealed!

Politeness has a Shadow side. Pluto-in-Libra can create stultifying situations in which a chilly formality of courtesy and 'appropriateness' mask an unspoken war of stilettos and poisons. A dear Afro-American friend of mine, for example winces when he speaks of the painful undercurrents he has often experienced in a 'liberal' white environment. Courtesy without love may be overtly peaceful, but it is deadening. Again, we observe the elemental principle: the Libran love of peace may come at an alarming price.

Lastly, modern technology has created a variety of methods by which 'peace' can be induced in the human organism with only the slightest effort. There will be new waves of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pharmaceuticals, probably developed by young scientists just getting their educations today. And despite the ubiquity of computers, we are still only on the cusp of the cyber-revolution. Virtual reality, brain-machine interfaces, direct electrochemical stimulation of the cerebral cortex - all these avenues, while probably positive and exciting in many ways, will also provide ample temptation for the 'peace-loving' Shadow-side of Pluto in Libra.

Shadow energy is a warped reflection of the useful side of any astrological configuration. The miserable possibilities inherent in Pluto's interaction with Libra are real enough, but we must always emphasize the real purpose of the combination: the restoration to humanity of equitable peace, balanced justice, and the estimable comforts of a society reflecting widely accepted standards of civility, courtesy, and elegance.

See also: Pluto in Libra;

Pluto in Libra: Angelina Jolie, Alex Jones, Tiger Woods, Abbe, Andrea, Andrew, Cesar, Farmer, Fisher, Gabriela, Geoff, Jen, Joze, Kyle, Michelle, Mikael, Raga, Sarik, Suzanne, Travis, Yarrow

Pluto in Scorpio

Pluto entered its own sign, Scorpio, at the end of 1983 and stayed there until May 1984. The planet returned to this sign in September 1984, and remained there (except for a brief period between January and April 1995) until November 1995. Both Pluto and Scorpio have similar characteristics, so when the planet is positioned here its expression is intensified.

It is interesting, though not surprising, that George Orwell chose the title 1984 for his famous novel; that date corresponds to Pluto's entry into Scorpio, and the book aptly depicts the dark Plutonic forces at work. Though Orwell's portrayal of this Pluto-in-Scorpio period is perhaps an extreme one, we nonetheless saw an increase in government domination and pervasiveness at this time, and a public willingness to sacrifice freedom to 'Big Brother' out of fear. In the United States, mandatory drug testing was one example of Plutonic / Scorpionic prying. The expanded power of multi-national corporations and banks, and the effect this has on the world's financial situation, is another example of Plutonic / Scorpionic domination.

At the opposite end of the spectrum (for this planetary position indicates extremes) are the political and social reforms that took place in the U.S.S.R. and the People's Republic of China. Known for their controlling, restrictive governments, these two nations showed signs of opening up and interacting with the rest of the world.

Power issues of all kinds are connected with Pluto and Scorpio; therefore, those of you who have this planetary position in your birth charts may be obsessed with having power. You might attempt to control and manipulate other people - or the forces of nature. When your generation reaches adulthood, we may experience a time of government opposition, cruel and powerful dictators, or other conditions that strictly limit freedoms.

Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are also associated with Pluto and Scorpio, and this planetary combination forced this issue into public awareness. Power struggles between nations and the buildup of nuclear arsenals were highlighted during this period, as we began to realize we must change our attitudes about war or face annihilation. The reactor incident at Chernobyl, U.S.S.R forced the world to reconsider the issue of nuclear power. During Pluto's transit of Scorpio, nuclear and toxic wastes could no longer be ignored either; and the problem of what to do with these wastes, as well as the threats to health and the environment, became more poignant and pressing.

These issues could be of major significance to those of you with this planetary position in your birth charts. Perhaps your generation will establish peace in the world and do away with war and power struggles. Or, you may be the survivors of a nuclear holocaust and be responsible for reconstructing life on Earth. It is quite likely that your generation will face the problem of cleaning up the environment and getting rid of nuclear and toxic wastes. Or, you could suffer plagues, famine and pestilence as a result of damage done to the environment. On the brighter side, your Pluto-group might discover a problem-free source of power and energy for the planet, making nuclear power unnecessary.

Sex, and the taboos, fears and secretiveness surrounding it, are related to Scorpio and Pluto. Both the planet and the sign also are linked with death. Therefore, the connection between this planetary placement and the appearance of the venereal disease AIDS is obvious. In true Pluto-in-Scorpio fashion, fear of this mysterious and devastating disease has led to cruelty, suspicion, and attempts to isolate AIDS victims and deprive them of their rights, especially the right to privacy. Pluto always drags skeletons out of the closet and makes us take a good, hard look at our secret fears. AIDS has forced us to deal with the issue of sex and the taboos surrounding it ¬particularly homosexuality.

Attention has been focused on other Plutonic problems during this period, too, such as the sexual abuse of children, the connection between such abuse and violent criminal behavior in adulthood, sex and violence in movies and television, rape, sex education and pornography.

For those of you born during this time, sexuality will be extremely important. Perhaps you will harbor intense fears about your sexuality or see sexuality as an instrument of power. Or, your generation could be responsible for transforming negative attitudes toward sexual expression. You might find a link between sexual repression and illness and seek to approach certain diseases like cancer on this basis. By the time you reach adulthood it may be essential to limit population growth, and your sexual and reproductive freedom might be curtailed sharply. More frightening is the opposite possibility: that a devastating war could make it necessary for your Pluto-group to re¬populate the Earth. Or, your generation could be plagued by sterility or birth defects as a result of nuclear and / or toxic pollution.

One of Pluto and Scorpio's principal themes is death and rebirth; and public awareness was attuned to this during the Pluto-in-Scorpio period. Reincarnation became more widely accepted in the West than ever before, and past-life regression and channeling were popular. Concerns about the right to die led many states in the U.S. to pass laws that allow individuals to make decisions about medical intervention in life-or-death situations before the fact.

Those of you who have this planetary placement in your birth charts are practically obsessed with the issue of death and the possibility of life after death. Your generation will be intrigued with the concept of reincarnation and, as you reach adulthood, we may see a period of intense interest in all matters pertaining to death and the hereafter. Your Pluto-group might make startling discoveries about life after death and other worlds beyond this one, or even witness the 'Second Coming'. Your generation also could be responsible for discovering new 'miracle' cures that will extend the human life span significantly. It is also possible that you will experience cataclysmic events during your lifetime that destroy much of the Earth's life, such as the one that killed the dinosaurs, or the Biblical flood, or the sinking of Atlantis. Perhaps you could be responsible for a nuclear accident or war that brings us to the brink of destruction. It is difficult to predict how this energy will manifest, but undoubtedly death will be an important issue for your generation.

Pluto in Scorpio: Pluto 'rules' Scorpio, which simply means that Pluto is very much at home in this sign. Thus, the combination is particularly heady. As you might imagine, the key word here is intensity. Squared.

In Scorpio, Pluto has a passion for ferreting out whatever is comfortably hidden behind a web of fear, lies and ignorance. It is hungry for the bracing, edgy spark that comes from looking the devil straight in the eye.

We must emphasize here that ultimately all planets are about consciousness, and that a sharp distinction can be drawn between pure negativity and the consciousness of pure negativity, which is Pluto-in-Scorpio's real domain. Only when mortally twisted does this energy descend into an identification with the dark.

To the fainthearted, the style of Pluto in Scorpio appears to be bleak, self-serious, even morbid. We humans have always had an ambivalent relationship with life's frightening aspects: on one hand, fascination. On the other, horror. You can observe this phenomenon rather comically while watching a horror flick in a movie theatre. Maybe there's a gruesome shocker of a scene about which everyone has been warned. Half the audience will have their hands over their eyes, but they are still watching the screen fixedly through spread fingers. The same behavior occurs reliably at the scene of an automobile accident: onlookers slow down and stare, hoping - and fearing - that they'll see bloody carnage.

In essence, the style of Pluto in Scorpio centers on a compelling curiosity about everything that makes us uncomfortable. Thus, during Scorpio's most recent passage through this sign (essentially 1983-95) there was an exploding preoccupation with childhood wounds, sexual abuse, and psychology in general. Twelve-step groups multiplied exponentially. There was a corresponding swell in the sales of horror fiction and films. The vampire - a classic creature of the dark - became the 'national bird' of the collective unconscious.

A graveyard mood of desolation arises... and contains a lot of wisdom. Black is the color. Unflinching perspective on the truth is the goal. More precisely, the goal lies in generating consciousness regarding certain particular truths: those which make people squirm. Other, happier truths about the human condition may get ignored. But, laser-like, the Pluto-in-Scorpio vibration ties us resonantly with the collective Shadow. And by elevating consciousness there, we rob it of some of its power to run our lives.

Pessimists, by their natures, excel at recognizing problems. Psychologists, through their training and experience, develop a knack for sniffing out psychopathology. Doctors look for disease. Private detectives and police officers learn to treat everyone as a suspect. All these roles are necessary in the world, and many of us have had our lives saved or at least made better through contact with such people. But imagine what it would feel like to have those attitudes and perceptual faculties rolled up into one big ball inside your head! The mind would then operate like a filter, and what would not pass through it into awareness would be the sweetness, health and nobility woven into every human being. We would miss the bright sense of possibility that exists for every person, every situation, even for the human future. In our 'realism', we would succumb to despair - and ironically lose track of a significant dimension of what is actually real.

That is the blind spot for Pluto-in-Scorpio. In essence, it boils down to one word: hopelessness. And that hopelessness is often complicated by a self-righteous sense of one's own superior wisdom and moral courage. Imagine a foolish, arrogant psychotherapist who blindly views every difference of opinion as evidence of 'your resistance'. That's the Pluto-in-Scorpio blind spot.

Most of us know such psychotherapists, be they professionals or of the self-appointed variety. Thus, the individual who has fallen into this trap is profoundly resistant to help; he or she dismisses every notion of a broader, brighter, more hopeful attitude as 'denial'. As a result, he or she may very well rot for a long while in a self-absorbed, imploded state of isolation, impossibility, and grim anticipation.

Evil has a terrible gravity. Anyone who has every glanced at the news understands the horrible way that atrocities breed atrocities. 'They did it first!' - that's the eternal defense. It's the saddest human paradox: so often we 'punish evil' by becoming evil ourselves. This disease is always with us; we humans carry it like the common cold. But when Pluto is passing through Scorpio, we all become more vulnerable.

Vengeance is heady; we've all been caught up in the emotions of a film or book where the bad guys finally 'get theirs'. That same paradox again: give us a plausible 'moral justification' and the violent 'dispensing of justice' becomes exciting business. Although we give the process noble names, the simple truth is that something in us finds it absolutely intoxicating to free the Shadow into full, wild expression.

With all the acts of darkness committed in this bleeding world, how many are done by people who imagine themselves to be evil? Not many, I suspect. In the majority of cases, there's a self-righteous 'reason'; and the 'reason' is almost always along the lines of 'I was the victim first'.

With Pluto in Scorpio, this victim-psychology can run rampant and trigger an escalating cycle of hatred, passionate self-righteousness and blind violence.

The Shadow scares us. Most of us would prefer to be decent human beings. When the dark looms up loudly, there is another road we may be tempted to take, almost equally dark in the end. In our fear of our own capacity for despair and destruction, we may try to take refuge in a Pollyanna view of life in which 'negative thoughts' become the demons to be avoided.

Thinking positively is in many ways the soul of wisdom, but like any strong force it has a powerful dark side. And its dark side is the shallowness and voluntary ignorance upon which real darkness always thrives. Thus, another modern Pluto-in-Scorpio scenario: the 'positive-thinking New Age person' who is shocked to discover that his child has been on cocaine for five years, shocked to discover that she has a cancer that could have been cured two years ago, shocked to go through a divorce, shocked that the 'spiritual teacher' has problems with zipper control.

Ultimately, Pluto in Scorpio is about generating consciousness of the dark. And no form of consciousness is in and of itself ever evil. As always, the Shadow of Pluto in Scorpio is at its core a distortion of a positive principle. Emotional courage, psychological understanding, a willingness to face our own hurts and also to recognize the hurt we have done to others - these are the saving graces of this intense, brooding energy.

Pluto in Scorpio: With Pluto in Scorpio, worldwide conflict was likely to reach a peak of intensity. 'Regenerate or die' was the order of the day, because Pluto rules Scorpio, the sign of death and regeneration. There is no other planetary sign position of such potency. This period marked the final death-gasp of the Piscean age; time has run out on human folly, and there is no choice left but to face the consequences.

Pluto has its fastest orbital motion while going through Libra and Scorpio. As the biblical Book of Revelation says, 'Unless these times were shortened there would be no flesh saved'. The greatest danger of plague, famine, and atomic and biological warfare occurred during 20 of the last 25 years of the 20th century. From 1975, Uranus was in Scorpio, and from 1984 until 1995 Pluto was there. In this period, the human race was forced by dire necessity to regenerate itself in preparation for the Aquarian age.

Pluto in Scorpio: Pluto's entry into Scorpio had its effects on those born with Neptune in Scorpio (1956-1970/1). They made their presence felt in increasingly powerful positions.

But perhaps the most Scorpionic of all effects was the appearance of AIDS - a sexually transmitted disease; and Pluto's influence is very much a part of our sexuality. Remember that Pluto is at home in Scorpio, so its strength is increased. It is to be hoped that the situation will be controlled and Pluto's influence, having brought the scourge to the surface, will later be curative. Here, lessons are learned the hard way. The light on the horizon was from the influence of the other generation planet, Neptune, working from Capricorn. Uranus was also in that sign, and Saturn transiting Capricorn between 1988 and the end of 1990 was also a curative influence. We must not forget the financial implications of Pluto from its own sign. The desire to make more money and the even-increasing implications of the expansion of world markets are very much part of this physically tiny but important planet (Pluto).

In the birth chart, this position adds an intensity and sense of purpose; but if Pluto receives negative aspects from the Sun, Moon or ruling planet there may be psychological problems. These must be resolved if the individual is fully to develop potential and make positive use of increased emotion and intuition. There will be a much stronger source of emotional and physical energy if Scorpio is also the Sun, Moon or Ascendant sign; and this must be channeled positive. Make sure your subject's parents are aware of this, since using it through competitive sport and in reaction to very demanding challenges is essential. The earlier parents start to encourage it in their offspring, the better, or otherwise they could possibly have a difficult, restless and unfulfilled child on their hands. If Pluto is conjunct the Midheaven and / or placed in the tenth house, the expression of power, and identification with everything that is strong and powerful, will be present.

Pluto in Scorpio: Astrologers have assigned Pluto's rulership to Scorpio; and while opinions occasionally differ, notably Carl Payne Tobey's that Pluto rules Aries, the symbolic meanings of Pluto and Scorpio do have much in common. Pluto travels its fastest in Scorpio, spending only 12 years in that sign, where it spends up to thirty years in the other signs. The planet Earth experienced perihelion between the Sun and Pluto in September of 1989, or its closest contact with that planet, during which time Pluto actually orbited on the inside of Neptune for a while. Here we have felt Pluto at its strongest. This is a convincing argument in itself that Pluto rules Scorpio.

Sexual matters are the main manifestation of Pluto in Scorpio. There was an alarming spread of the AIDS virus. Questions arose and demanded consideration about what constitutes safe, responsible sex. Free mores of the 1960s and '70s had revealed a need to concern ourselves with the implications of what we still welcome as more open attitudes about sex.

Sexual violence and rape also came to the fore. Hardly a day went by when there was not some story, great or small, in the newspaper. Pluto in Scorpio challenges people to deal with tension in productive ways. Unfortunately, perpetrators of physical violation find their outlet through aggressive outbursts. Pluto in Scorpio also calls self-esteem into question, with a general helplessness the result. Defenses are down all around.

Pluto in Scorpio also had a dramatic impact on religion. Notice the number of cases of sexual abuse that were highlighted within the church. Also notice, on a more positive note, people's increasing interest in discovering the common thread in their fellow human beings and nurturing it for the better rather than, like their ancestors, using it as a noose.

We are challenged to be more responsible toward the welfare of each other without losing our respect for ourselves. A mixture of directness and compassion is the subtle key. It is an alchemical process, whereby we find the right proportion of allegiance and maverickness, producing wisdom.

Pluto in Scorpio: You may find that your generation puts a premium on intensity in a relationship. Love, like other aspects of life, is considered an all-or-nothing proposal. If this is in line with your personal style, you will feel catapulted along by the times you live in. Your love relationships will be both stressful and very rewarding, often at the same time.

However, if you are more easygoing, then you may find that your partners expect more energy and conflict in a relationship than you want or can deliver. In that case, you should look for a lover whose temperament is similar, even though you may be attracted to those who are very different from you. In the long run, you will be happiest with someone who keeps your pace and does not run you ragged emotionally, even though that may seem like the most exciting direction.

No matter what kind of relationship you are in, however, the level of intensity will be heightened just by the attitudes and expectations of those around you. If this is not your preference, it might be better to postpone a permanent relationship. Those in the next generation (Pluto in Sagittarius), about ten years younger than you, will approach love in a radically different and much simpler way. That style may be more to your liking.

Pluto in Scorpio: This period was a time of change that was intense even by 20th century standards. Many astrologers believe that this is the sign that is ruled by Pluto. The children of this era should be much more concerned with the forces underlying the surface of reality. They will put their intelligence to investigating all kinds of phenomena, and it is just possible that they will bring the arts and sciences out of stagnation to a new period of dynamic activity.

See also: Pluto in Scorpio;

Pluto in Scorpio: Lady Gaga, Mark Zuckerberg, BenT, Lorraine, Michael, Nicole, Tyler

Pluto in Sagittarius

Gypsy, Scholar, Philosopher - those are the central archetypes for Sagittarius. And all of them hold one cardinal quality in common: a sense of life as a Quest. The Gypsy expresses the idea geographically, questing through foreign lands and alien cultures. The Scholar expresses the same principle, but now it emerges intellectually, as the 'quest for knowledge'. Finally, the Philosopher brings in the intuitive dimension, as human consciousness seeks answers to life's meta-questions: why are we here, what is the meaning of our existences?... and so forth.

Stretching out in new, unknown directions - that is the passion for Pluto-in-Sagittarius. It wants to learn, to grow, to be amazed. The hunger for knowledge is high, but this is by no means a dried out, pedantic energy. It is the thrill of knowledge that the scholar seeks, and the thrill of realization that motivates the Philosopher. As to the Gypsy - here we see the epitome of the passionate, enthusiastic life, short on shame and long on appetite.

'I'd like to live a dashing, adventurous life - but only if I could do it safely.' Well, good luck. Risk and adventure are a matched set; you can't have one without the other. And Pluto-in-Sagittarius thrives on risk. Accordingly, its style is brash and devil-may¬-care, full of robust enthusiasm. It cannot abide boredom. It has little taste for conformity, and not much more taste for practicality. It appreciates boldness - in the human personality, in any enterprise, even in colors. There is a pronounced distaste for restraints or limitations, and a great focus on personal freedom and individuality.

New frontiers hold an elemental fascination for Pluto-in-Sagittarius. As I write these words near the end of Pluto's passage through Scorpio, I am anticipating a renewal of global enthusiasm for the space program, and new nations joining that great adventure. We may very well see a renewed curiosity about the Arctic, or the ocean depths. Cyberspace - that dream-reality created by computers - will become even more crowded, and the 'information highway' will create a new land to be explored and colonized. The fringes of human consciousness will develop deeper popular attraction, and probably there will be a renewal of interest in the study of paranormal phenomena, psychedelic media, and various altered brain-states.

Central to any understanding of the Sagittarian style is the notion that this sign is oriented toward the future. Possibilities fascinate it, and it is biased toward optimism. A concern with answers rather than a focus on problems is the trend. The visionary is valued above the doomsayer, and the hero above the whining complainer.

Optimism is survival-positive. An optimist is quicker to become aware of new opportunities and new resources than is a pessimist, since he or she expects to see them.

But pessimism is survival-positive too. A pessimist is quicker to become aware of emerging threats and possible bad outcomes, since he or she is biased in that direction.

Human life seems to work best when a person can function in both modes and move fluidly between them. Pluto-in-Sagittarius, however, may be blind to the wisdom of pessimism. It can leap before it looks, 'trusting life' - and land headfirst in shallow water. Hope is a bright light, and it must therefore cast a dark shadow. The blind spot here, in a nutshell, is foolishness. Overextension, trusting too much to luck, an inability to foresee unintended consequences - these errors plague Pluto-in-Sagittarius.

Coming out of the stressful, dark mood of the Pluto-in-Scorpio years (1983-1995), humanity will be ready for some hope, some laughter, some sense that there is a future worth living. And probably those attitudes will make themselves felt more strongly than they have been felt for many years. More importantly, the kids born during this cycle, basically from 1996 to 2007, will carry in them the vision-seed of the human future, and they'll begin actively to build that future when the 'come online' as adults during the first half of the twenty-first century. but their rush to answers will be tempered and sobered, God willing, by the older, dark-seeing Pluto-¬in-Scorpio kids and later by the practical Pluto-in-Capricorn kids who'll follow.

Mistakes happen. We've all done lots of dumb things - locking the keys in the car, forgetting the pot boiling away on the stove, punching the wrong button on the computer and erasing the letter over which we've just labored. It's universal, but no less embarrassing for it. When we make such a mistake we feel vulnerable; it brings to the surface a scared child who doubts he or she will ever grow up right. From the external perspective, the effect is often rather endearing: there is a kind of intimacy that can only arise between people who have laughed at each other's dumb mistakes and accepted that laughter with good grace.

But something in us hates humiliation. Something in you, me and everyone will go to ludicrous lengths to avoid being discovered in such a stupid error - the more so if the error is graver. And much of what is potentially really dark about Pluto in Sagittarius stems from that lamentable quality.

Sagittarius is an exploratory, experimental sign. Naturally, it is error-prone since the best way to avoid error is the opposite road: sticking boringly to the tried-and-true. But Sagittarius may descend into glib rationalization, glossing over its mistakes. Worse, it can easily develop compelling philosophical justifications for its mistakes.

Cynics say we all make a religion out of the choices we've made, or that we can always find 'scripture' to justify whatever course we've chosen, even for the basest of reasons. These notions provide insight into the darker side of Sagittarian functioning. They constitute the gravest danger while Pluto passes through that sign, and in the lives of those who carry its mark.

In a word, we are talking about the dark side of pride. The Pluto-in-Sagittarius Shadow threatens to undo the hard, dark-facing work accomplished under the Scorpion, replacing it with games.

The darker dimensions of Pluto in Sagittarius are just garbled expressions of the positive meaning of the symbolism. Expansion, risk, and sheer adventure are essential spiritual nutrients; without them, we become automatons. At its best, Pluto in Sagittarius represents pure aliveness: an energy that epitomizes the human willingness to go beyond the confines of familiarity and therefore to create rich, unimaginable futures.

Pluto in Sagittarius: Sagittarius is a sign of religion, law, philosophy, higher education, and travel. Pluto entered Sagittarius around 1995, marking a period of spiritual regeneration at the beginning of the Aquarian age. At this time, there is a fundamental understanding of deeper spiritual values among all people. Religions as they were known are being completely transformed. A single world religion based on man's direct intuitive communion with the One Creator has been taking form. New spiritual leaders are arising to teach the fundamental laws governing all life in the universe. The new world religion combines all the highest expressions of the great religions of the past, with a more comprehensive scientific understanding of the underlying forces of life.

Pluto in Sagittarius: We can only speculate on the personal and generational influences of Pluto from this sign. In essence, the sign and planet are opposites; Sagittarius is open, freedom-loving, independent, and couldn't be less secretive, while Pluto is very secretive, finding it difficult to unburden, intense and possessively jealous. However, when Pluto's influence causes purges, a great deal is brought into the open. Is it in this way that Pluto will act from Sagittarius? It is to be hoped so, provided of course that there are not such powerful reactions to situations that the disturbance and disruption they cause is a problem in itself. It seems hard to think of any Sagittarian influence causing revolutionary tendencies, so the chances are that reactions will be tinged with wisdom and the sage-like traits of Sagittarius/ Jupiter. It is these qualities which we hope will add an interesting dimension to the children born while Pluto is in this sign.

Pluto in Sagittarius: If we found wisdom with Pluto in Scorpio, we are able to use it with Pluto in Sagittarius. We are developing new laws, new ideals, and new philosophies. Look for a blending of nations. Revolutionary fervor continues to be great. Dogmas are ripe for challenge, and the world is ripe for synthesis. Pluto in Sagittarius represents the opportunity to effect permanent changes in the fabric of culture. Beware, however, of wanderlust and a mindset of dabbling. Also guard against the extremes of ego which all too easily accompany a revolutionary's attitude. Your base of wisdom, developed while Pluto was in Scorpio, will serve you well. The dark side of change is warring faction, the 'angry young man' dynamic, dropping the philosopher's stone through the glass floors of perceived progress.

Pluto in Sagittarius: Your generation has a very robust, simple, almost pioneering approach to love, a direct but rather romantic way of looking at people. This is an innate point of view, but in part it is a response to the last two rather turbulent generations. They did not look at love as a pure concept that needs no tampering to make it more whole or perfect.

In general, the potential partners in your age group prefer to let a relationship take its own course; if it is headed for the rocks, they let it happen. They won't alter the pattern of a relationship for better or worse, except to abandon it altogether and start anew.

If you are more introspective, this will seem like a disastrous attitude. You may feel that a viable relationship should not fall apart for lack of correction or restructuring. There is not much you can do about this generational point of view, however, except to find an older partner or someone of your own age whose style is like yours. If you have a flair for the romantic, you will be right in tune. For better or worse, love will sweep you along into, and sometimes out of, relationships that are very powerful.

Pluto in Sagittarius: During this time, many more of society's cherished beliefs are being destroyed, and new religious, spiritual and cultural values are taking their place. Few of us would be able to deal with these changes comfortably; and the children of this time will probably be quite iconoclastic, even by the standards we have known.

See also: Pluto in Sagittarius;

Pluto in Sagittarius: William Blake, Elijah, Shiloh, Zoë

Pluto in Capricorn

See also: Pluto in Capricorn;

Pluto in Capricorn: John Dee, Ludwig van Beethoven

Pluto in Aquarius

Pluto in Aquarius:

Pluto in Pisces

Pluto in Pisces: Karl Marx