Pluto Generations - From the Maxis to the Minis

by Wendell C. Perry

Over the past few years, I’ve written several articles on Generational Astrology. For the most part, I’ve dealt with the “Baby Boom” generations, those born with Neptune in Libra and Scorpio. These generations are unusually large and influential, so information about them is relatively easy to find. I’ve also written about the generations born with Neptune in Sagittarius and Capricorn. Though these generations are not as populous in the United States as the Baby Boomers, there is still information about them that has been gathered through polling and other means.

Of course, coinciding with and overlapping these Neptune generations, we have generations defined by the transit of Pluto through the signs. These generational groups are sometimes smaller than the Neptune folks. That’s why I call these the “mini” generations. But their influence is still important and gives us a way of breaking down the larger Neptune generation.

In this article, I will briefly describe the generational impact of the natal sign position of Pluto, including its shorter transits. But first, we need to understand the limitations of Generational Astrology.

The Generational Astrologer’s Lament

No one has ever learned astrology just by reading a textbook. When we want to understand the meaning of a particular planet in a particular sign, let’s say Mercury in Scorpio, we compare what we’ve read in a book to the behavior of our friends, our family members, and maybe some famous people who have Mercury in Scorpio. After we’ve done that, read a couple more textbooks, and then looked at some more real examples, we might be able to say we know something about Mercury in Scorpio.

Generational Astrology doesn’t work that way. I don’t care how many friends you have on Facebook or how broad your life experiences have been — you can’t know enough about enough people to make intelligent judgments about a generation, based only on experience. I think this is particularly true of astrologers. People who are astrologers, who consult astrologers, and who hang out with astrologers are probably not going to be representative of the norms of their generation. Don’t get upset. That’s a compliment.

In order to get real information about generational trends, we have to depend on polls and surveys and the observations of academics who make it their business to follow these trends. In a perfect world, astrologers would be conducting these surveys and getting paid to do it, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Therefore, we are forced to look to experts outside astrology who don’t always divide the generations the way an astrologer would or ask the questions that an astrologer would ask.

Another pitfall to avoid when doing generational work is the tendency to assign detailed personal attributes to entire generations. For example, just looking at the symbolism of Neptune (music) and Libra (marriage), I might jump to the conclusion that people with Neptune in Libra would marry musicians. That’s a nice reading of the symbols, until you apply it to everyone born between 1942 and 1956. Obviously, there wouldn’t be enough musicians to go around.

Picture the horoscope as a horse race. You might have the Sun and Moon neck and neck in the lead but planets on the angles coming up hard on the outside. Strong aspects, the Ascendant, and several other factors are close behind on the rail. And trailing the pack, usually at a considerable distance, are the natal sign positions of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Virtually everything in the chart is going to cross the finish line that determines your personality long before these planets even get to the final furlong.

The best policy is to avoid saying too much about these sign positions. Simply unloading everything you know about the symbolism of sign and planet is not going to be effective. We have to seek out a few trends and basic attitudes that might be applicable to a wide range of people.

The influence of the sign positions of these slow-moving planets is typically only visible in the aggregate. You may not see it in your life. You may not see it in the lives of people you know. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not there. It is only when we look at the generation as a whole that we can see the full influence of these generational planets.

Size Does Matter

In my previous work with generational planets, I’ve favored Neptune. This is largely because of the regularity of its orbit. Neptune occupies each sign of the zodiac for approximately 14 years. Neptune generations are not only equally distributed; they are large enough to create a discernible generational impact on a given society.

The term “discernible generational impact” is the big catch, when it comes to studying Generational Astrology. From nursery schools to nursing homes, and everywhere in between, there are always many different generations clamoring for attention at any given time. In order to be heard, a generation has to have sufficient numbers to hold their own against generations that are older and younger. The 14-year transit of Neptune seems to provide those numbers.

Of course, when Pluto is moving through the elongated part of its orbit — such as it did when it transited Cancer, Leo, and Virgo, during the last century — it also produces large generations. Unfortunately, it does not when it is going through the “short” span of its orbit, such as during its recent transits through Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. Pluto’s transit of Cancer lasted more than 20 years, while it spent barely 11 years in Scorpio.

So, how do we determine the nature of these “mini” generations? Even though these groups may be “under the radar” of most surveys and academic observations, there are certain societal trends that we can examine. For the most part, however, we have to depend on the symbolism of the planet and sign. We also have to keep in mind the limitations I’ve described above. And we have to know how each planet functions as a generational factor.

How Pluto Works as a Generational Planet

In my work with Neptune generations, I came to the conclusion that Neptune’s sign position shows us the vision of a generation — that generation’s hopes, dreams, and delusions. By imposing this vision on the world into which they are born, Neptune generations help to create the times in which they live.

Pluto functions in a very different way as a generational planet. Pluto’s sign shows us how a generation will react to the major events of their time, particularly the events that overshadow their youth and young adulthood. Pluto reveals how a generation will internalize those events and make them part of their personal mythology. In other words, through the natal sign position of Pluto, we see how a generation is created by the time in which they live.

The Maxi Generations: Pluto in Cancer, Leo, and Virgo

Pluto in Cancer

Pluto was in Cancer between 1914 and 1938. (All of these spans are approximate. Because of retrograde motion, Pluto moves back and forth across sign boundaries more than once. Here, I will cite the range of years when Pluto was in the sign for most of the time.) This was an extremely eventful period in world history, starting with World War I, then the boom years of the 1920s, followed by the Great Depression, and in Europe, the rise of fascism and Nazism. For a generation that grew up during this tumult, conservatism came naturally. It was not a conservatism based on an ideology. It was based on experience, and it was understood in subjective, emotional terms.

This large Pluto in Cancer generation overlaps the Neptune in Leo generation and most of the Neptune in Virgo generation. The members of the Pluto in Cancer generation who had Neptune in Leo (between about 1915–28) responded to these fearful and unsettled times by escaping into a heroic vision of a better world. The particulars of this new world varied a great deal. In the U.S., the comic book hero Superman became an instant pop culture sensation, while in Europe, the rhetoric of Italian fascism and German Nazism captured the imagination of the young.

The folks with Pluto in Cancer and Neptune in Virgo (1929–42) were the true conservatives. It was their task to rebuild the world that the heroic Neptune in Leo generation had nearly destroyed and to institutionalize the Neptunian visions that had survived. This is the group that William Strauss and Neil Howe called the “Silent Generation” in their study of American generations and what Richard Nixon dubbed the “Silent Majority.” What made them a majority (in all probability) is that they were joined in their conservative silence by many of the Neptune in Leo generation who, in their later years, responded more to Pluto in Cancer and its deep, emotional call for peace and security.

Pluto in Leo

Pluto was in Leo from 1939 to 1956. In the U.S., this Pluto generation became one of the most influential in our history. One reason for this is that it completely overlaps the generation born with Neptune in Libra, so that we have an entire generation that shares the same Neptunian vision and the same internalized drives of Pluto.

The second reason this generation has been so powerful is that this is the first wave of the Baby Boomers. In a previous article (“The Battle of the Boomers,” TMA, Aug./Sept. 2009), I described the influence of Neptune in Libra as a vision of “fairness.” Pluto in Leo added to this vision a profound sense of mission and self-importance.

This Pluto in Leo generation is different from any that has ever come before. This is the generation that grew up under the threat of a nuclear holocaust. This is the generation that grew up knowing that they could easily be the last generation. What these folks internalized from this experience was a sense that they were special and that they had important work to do: They had to save the world. So, we have a vision of a world defined by fairness and equality, combined with a Leo-sized sense of purpose (some might call it hubris). Is it any wonder that this generation rocked the status quo and still exercises a huge global influence.

Pluto in Virgo

Pluto was in Virgo from 1957 to 1971. This overlaps the second wave of Baby Boomers. In the previously cited article on the Baby Boom generations, I described how pollster Jonathan Pontell discovered that boomers born after about 1956 were a different breed than those born in the 1940s and early ‘50s. Pontell labeled this group “Generation Jones.” They have also been called “the invisible generation.” I call them the second wave of the Baby Boomers, a generation defined by the fact that both Pluto and Neptune changed signs between 1956 and 1957.

In the previous generation of American boomers, we saw Neptune in Libra and Pluto in Leo working together. Almost all of the members of the second wave have Neptune in Scorpio and Pluto in Virgo. This is a conservative combination, so it’s no surprise that Pontell’s polls showed that this generation, as a whole, leaned more to the right than boomers born under Neptune in Libra and Pluto in Leo. With Neptune in Scorpio, it is easy to see that their Neptunian hopes, dreams, and delusions are bound to be tinged with fear and cynicism.

To understand how Pluto in Virgo influenced this generation in the U.S., we have to look at the times during which these people came of age. This was the 1970s and ‘80s. This Pluto in Virgo generation had been born into a world in which the U.S. was the military and economic bully of the block and, during their early years, they saw that power erode. From the fall of Saigon, to hostages in Iran, to the decline of U.S. heavy industry, and the flight from large-scale social programs, these folks were walking into a world of diminished expectations. Yes, great things had been accomplished in the past, but not anymore. Now, the best we could hope for was the status quo.

With this in mind, it’s a little surprising that the first presidential candidate from this Pluto in Virgo (and Neptune in Scorpio) generation made “hope” the buzzword of his campaign. Of course, Barack Obama is a Sun sign Leo with Aquarius rising, two very hopeful signs. He is well suited to defy the low expectations of his generation.

Nonetheless, many would say that Obama’s first inauguration was the most hopeful moment of his administration, and otherwise it has been filled with compromises, retreats, and intense battles with members of Congress. Many of these members of Congress are deeply conservative affiliates of the Tea Party movement, who are also from this Pluto in Virgo generation.

The Mini Generations: Pluto in Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius

The difference between 14 years for a Neptune generation and eleven or twelve for one of these Pluto generations might not seem that significant, until you consider how oversized were the Baby Boom generations that came before. In the U.S., people born with Pluto in Libra, Scorpio, or Sagittarius had to compete with the much more numerous members of the generations with Pluto in Leo or Virgo. Again, size does matter. The generations with the most people typically have the loudest voice.

At the same time as the Baby Boom in the U.S. was waning, however, the Middle East was experiencing an even larger baby boom. It started in 1970 and continued for the rest of the century, so that, in 2000, half the people living in the countries of the Middle East were under the age of 30. I wrote about this in my article about the Neptune in Capricorn generation (TMA, Oct./Nov. 2011).

Pluto in Libra

Pluto transited Libra from about 1972 until 1983. During this period, Neptune was in Sagittarius, so the generation born with Pluto in Libra makes up the biggest part of the Neptune in Sagittarius generation. In an article published in TMA in Aug./Sept. 2007, I called this Neptune generation “the keepers of the faith” and discussed its connection to the rise of fundamentalist religion, both in Islamic countries and in the Christian West.

With Neptune in Libra we saw a generation that approached social issues with a vision of fairness. With Pluto in Libra we get that same kind of idealism, but with a reactionary edge. Libra is all about the relationship between “me” and “the other.” Pluto makes that “other” a dark and dangerous entity, an entity to be feared, and an entity to be destroyed.

We see evidence of this in the Pluto in Libra generation in the Middle East. The events that this generation’s members internalized during their youth were the Islamic revolution in Iran and the victory of Islamic guerilla forces in Afghanistan over the mighty Russian military. These events convinced these young people that the Western world was against them, and that they had the power to beat these forces. With this concept established, it was easy for radical mullahs to convince many of their number that Israel was a dark and dangerous enemy that needed to be destroyed, along with those countries that supported Israel, such as the U.S.

In the U.S., this Pluto in Libra generation was prevented from exercising the kind of power that their peers in the Middle East exerted, not only because they were outnumbered by the previous generations, but also because their enemy did not have a single face. For some, the enemy was the left-leaning, free-loving, pinko fags who wanted to destroy religion and the American way of life. For others, it was the fat-cat, multinational, polar-ice-cap-melting corporate cowboys who wanted to grind the poor under the heels of their sharkskin boots. There were other faces, too, all tinged with the dark “otherness” of Pluto in Libra.

Pluto intensifies, and in Libra it intensifies the natural idealism of this sign. This is not necessarily a bad thing. To believe in something fervently is one of the great gifts we are given as human beings. But it is a gift that must be used carefully. Certainly, not all the members of this Pluto in Libra generation see the world in such black-and-white political terms. However, the idealists of this generation have to guard against the tendency to demonize their opponents. There is a lot of strength in this generation and a core of activism. If these qualities are used wisely, the generation with Pluto in Libra can make much more noise than their numbers would indicate.

Pluto in Scorpio

Pluto was in Scorpio from 1984 until 1995. Its transit corresponds with the transit of Neptune through Capricorn, and I briefly described some of the qualities of this generation in my previously cited article on the Neptune in Capricorn generation. To recap, these are folks who tend to honor function over ideology, with a vision that emphasizes responsibility and practicality.

The defining event of this Pluto generation, particularly in the U.S., had to be the 9/11 attacks. Obviously, the initial reactions of these people would have been the same as that of all the generations of Americans alive at that time: anguish, outrage, and fear. But it would not have stopped there. As I have said, Pluto shows us how a generation internalizes and makes personal the major events of their time. With Pluto in Scorpio, that internalization would go deeper and take much more circuitous routes than with other Pluto placements.

We might expect revenge to be a driving force in a generation with Pluto in Scorpio. We saw some of this when Osama bin Laden was killed, and there were gleeful celebrations at several major universities. And we might expect a degree of apprehension. After all, this is also a generation that grew up with all the post-9/11 security measures. Most of them have never experienced air travel without having to take off their shoes or submit to a full-body scan at the airport. For them, the color-coded terrorist threat level is as unremarkable as the weather report. The infringements on privacy and liberty that seem outrageous to older generations are all second nature to this Pluto in Scorpio generation.

Oddly enough, this combination of anger and constant alertness has not caused this generation to close themselves off from the world. Polls show that they are more tolerant of minorities and more engaged with the world at large than their elders. Part of this is the practical vision of Neptune in Capricorn, but we can also attribute this to a Scorpio generation’s need to investigate and understand even the things that frighten them.

One particularly interesting statistic tells us that the majority of people in this generation do not foresee a time when terrorism will not be a concern. A more idealistic generation might hope for some magical accord. A more activist generation might want to go out and make peace happen. But Scorpio knows rage. It knows the compulsion to do bad things, and a generation with Pluto in Scorpio has this awareness deep in their bones. Let the politicians brag about keeping America safe and tout their plans to eradicate terrorism, this Pluto generation knows the score. Death is a part of life, and it could be waiting for us around any corner.

Pluto in Sagittarius

Pluto transited Sagittarius between 1996 and 2008. During most of this period, Neptune was in Aquarius. The big events that this generation will react to and internalize might be the economic collapse of 2008 or the election of our first African-American president. However, I think the big event or major change that will form the psyche of this Pluto generation has yet to happen. We might see it during one of the late squares of Uranus and Pluto in 2014 and 2015. Or maybe it will come as the oldest members of this generation move into their 20s.

Even if we don’t know what this event will be, we can make some assumptions about how it will be internalized by this generation. A generation with Pluto in Sagittarius will take any event and make of it an excuse to reinforce their independence. I think that the Pluto in Sagittarius generation will be resistant to encroachments on their liberties by both government and big business — much more so than the generation with Pluto in Scorpio. They will not accept security or economic well-being as a justification for someone looking over their shoulder.

Religion will probably not be an important issue for them, as we might expect, because of their intellectualized vision (Neptune in Aquarius), but they will be an idealistic generation — easily inflamed by outrage or a (seemingly) righteous cause. The danger with this generation is that many of them will be easily radicalized. Like the Pluto in Leo generation, they are liable to take themselves too seriously. On the positive side, however, they will aspire to bring out the best in themselves and in the world.

As always with these generational articles, I have to say: “Don’t take it personally.” What I have described here are trends and attributes that apply to millions of people, but to no one individual. There will always be plenty of exceptions — and being an exception is actually kind of cool.

Bibliography:
Moore, John. “The Evolution of Islamic Terrorism: An Overview.” Frontline, Target America, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/modern.html (accessed July 2023).
Pontell, Jonathan. Generation Jones. Vanguard Press, 2000.
Stephey, M. J. “Gen X, the Ignored Generation?” Time Entertainment. April 16, 2008. www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html (accessed November 2014, not accessible in 2023).
Strauss, William; and Howe, Neil. Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069. William Morrow and Co., 1991.
Towns, Eleni. “The 9/11 Generation: How 9/11 Shaped the Millennial Generation.” Center for American Progress. September 8, 2011, www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/news/2011/09/08/10363/the-911-generation/ (accessed July 2023).

Published in: The Mountain Astrologer, Feb/Mar 2015.

Author:
Wendell C. Perry is a writer and artist living in Kentucky. He and his wife, Linda, are the co-authors of The Mars Venus Affair. Wendell is also the author of Saturn Cycles: Mapping Changes in Your Life, released in 2009, and Father Sun, Mother Moon: Astrology’s Dynamic Duo, published in 2014. Wendell’s website is GoodGollyAstrology.com. He can be reached at Wendell@goodgollyastrology.com

© 2015/2023 - Wendell C. Perry

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