Boy, are my arms tired! Astrology.

Janitors of the Zodiac

Will the Pluto in Virgo Generation inherit the torch from the Baby Boomers in the 2008 Presidential Election?

If the January presidential primary in Iowa illustrated anything, it was that Americans are ready to entertain a changing of the generational guard. The Baby Boomer presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who could have ushered in a new era of personal freedoms, instead presided over a 16-year period of growing corporate power, erosion of government oversight, the destruction of the social safety net and a decided shrinking of our civil rights. Not so groovy for graduates of the Summer of Love, eh? obama chart

But the surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses by Senator Barack Obama, the bi-racial, Democratic Senator from Illinois, sent a message from the electoral starting gate, that Americans are not thrilled with the rule of the Boomers.

Though Obama was born in 1961, and the term Boomer is generally defined as those born during the years 1946-1964, he’s no Boomer. Because, astrologically speaking, that generation really ended in 1958.

According to the ancient art of astrology — which may be utter nonsense, but is as good a study of mythology and human psychology as anything else — the motion of the outer planets, particularly the planet Pluto, defines the characteristics of generations — both its people and events. Because it takes Pluto about 248 earth years to complete one orbit of the sun, Pluto spends a bit less than two decades in each of the twelve signs. From 1939-1956 (with a few retrogrades in 1957 and 1958) Pluto was in the sign of Leo.

The Pluto in Leo generation has been described as: obsessed with self-expression, resistant to authority (except their own), materialistic in the pursuit of style over substance (when necessary), and determined never to grow old. These qualities, which are signs of a well-developed ego, are all classic Leo traits, and certainly describe American and European Big Chill babies.

The Pluto in Virgo kids — who can be divided into two groups within popular culture, the short-lived Blank Generation and the early Gen Xers — were born between 1956-1971. They were children during part of the same post-WWII era of economic expansion as their older Boomer pals, but after a shared, protracted adolescence, the similarities between the two groups ended. The Boomers experienced, and therefore demanded, far more comfort and affluence during their lives than any generation previous to them. This made them free-lovin’ hippies and optimists. The Blanks and Gen Xers saw their opportunities begin to erode much earlier in life. This turned them into nihilists and punks. Granted, this is a simplistic portrait, but let’s just agree that there was a marked change in the personality of the generation that followed the Boomers. **

This change in outlook and personality happened partly because the sign of Virgo has a very different destiny than does Leo. While Leo is compelled to act in the service of self-gratification and -glorification, Virgo acts in the service of others. This second post WWII generation came here to help and serve — whether they like it or not. They are here to lead the reformation of matters regarding health. They are here to sort what is bad from what is good in society, and to analyze and organize it. Mostly, they’re here to clean up. Because Virgo is an earth sign, they will have to lead the clean up of the planet. They are, in essence, the janitors of the zodiac. So, if the Boomers have helped suck everything from the body of the economy, the environment and the constitution, and left only a rotting bag of bones, the Virgoans are obligated to put those remains in a pot and create something nourishing.

This January Pluto moves into Capricorn. It will remain in this dour position until 2024. Interestingly, this transit will mark the first Pluto return for the chart of the United States of America. The U.S. was born with Pluto in Capricorn, and the return should signal a significant end-of-an-era in the country’s history. What that will ultimately look like, remains to be seen. However, astrologers can look to the last Pluto in Capricorn period for some clues about what is to come during the next 16 years.

Many astrologers predict, as does Travis Rogers of Austin, Texas, a "huge backlash against the government, corporations, and hierarchy," just like during the American Revolution. Since Pluto acts on humanity through violent transformation, much like a volcano, it is unlikely that this backlash will be passive. Or, as astrologer Robert Currey put it, "Pluto in Capricorn regularly coincides with the establishment of a new world order." Currey believes that this era will see the end of the reign of the U.S. as the only world superpower. That’s not a very risky prediction to make with Asians now holding so many of the world’s purse strings, and Russia awash in black gold (Texas tea).

But before this clash between the people and their government and corporations — at this point virtually the same entity — the loss of civil freedoms and the contraction of the economy will worsen. During the 1960s, my parents used to wonder why America’s Baby Boomers didn’t really stage that revolution they liked to sing about. Eventually they came to the conclusion that "Americans will never revolt until the vast middle-class loses everything that it has. They are too warm and comfortable." Today, there is an icy wind blowing through the middle classes and we stand on the cusp of the kinds of losses that will bring about real change. Still, experientially, and astrologically, we’re not quite there yet. As long as most Americans can still afford to shop, even if they’re only buying a lot of cheap shit from China at Target, they will hold on to the status quo.

Until the majority of citizen experience the pain that is inevitably coming, the country will not be ready to elect a reformer or embrace a wholly new vision. Plus, if the Baby Boomers really are the same bunch who have always expected and gotten the biggest slice of every pie, they’re not going to let go of the reins of power after only two presidencies. The WWII generation put eight men onto Pennsylvania Avenue. The Boomers are not going to be satisfied with a measly two. No, they won’t get out of the spotlight while they can still get up on stage and they won’t relinquish power while there’s still some marrow to be sucked from the bones of the country.

Obama and his Pluto in Virgo cleaning squad may have to wait another four years, until 2012 for their turn to lead. Interestingly, 2012 is the year when all the new age folk predict a real change is coming, because that is the year that allegedly coincides with the end of the Mayan calendar. That’s another story, but, in brief, 2012 is the Mayan doomsday when the earth’s poles reverse and the face of the globe shifts disastrously, killing most of its inhabitants. The good thing about that scenario is that people can stop worrying about their mortgage interest rates readjusting. Seriously folks, don’t get your hopes up for a Mayan-style Armageddon; the earth is probably not going to eject humans quite so soon. She hasn’t cooked us enough yet.

What the outcome of the presidential election will be is anyone’s guess, and is probably in the hands of a very few people anyway. With Pluto having moved out of Sagittarius, which rules religion, let’s hope that the country is finally sick of voting for evangelicals; that will rule out the good pastor, Governor Mike Huckabee (R). After the utterly contemptuous behavior displayed by corporations and been revealed during the past eight years in the form of one financial scandal after another, perhaps the country is also finished with CEOs; that would eliminate Governor Mitt Romney (R). Health care is a priority for most Americans and each candidate has some plan for changing the country’s system. Senator Hillary Clinton (D), who tried to re-imagine that broken structure fifteen years ago, is in a unique position to capitalize on her visionary status. Perhaps she can ride that to the top.

Unpredictable events during the next year could change fortunes one way or another. If there is not another attack on the U.S. during this time period, Rudy Giuliani (R) has no chance, because without a 9/11 he’s little more than a corrupt, cross-dressing, adulterer. If there is an attack, Senator Obama probably has no chance because the familiarity of fear will trump the audacity of hope. John McCain has tied his future to the success of General Petraeus and the diminution of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq. If the Iraqis increase the violence, he too is done for. Finally, of the viable candidates, John Edwards has to hope that his amazing wife, Elizabeth, who has malignant, stage-four cancer, does not die while he is running for office. Because, if he is perceived as having put his wife through a grueling campaign while she was dying, his message of compassion for the downtrodden is going to sound pretty hollow.

Will the generational torch get passed during this election? I think not. I believe the Janitors of the Zodiac will be emboldened by the shifting planets and attitudes and move into gear in various sectors of society, but their leader will not emerge until 2012. In the meantime, the Boomers will have to try their own hands at cleaning up some of the mess. Sadly, they won’t really have the constitution for it. It’s not glamorous enough. But what they can do is articulate the vision, and that is something at which Boomers excel. And this time around, for better or worse, it is going to be the vision of the Democrats that is ascendant.

Al Gore, who might not want to give up his energy-gobbling mansion in Tennessee, will continue to be a man of pretty good character and the best spokesman for the planet that we’ve got. Hillary Clinton who may have had her plans to make healthcare available to all thwarted by the corporations that funded her husband, kept the desire, just the same – and will work for some version of it if given the chance. John Edwards with all his money and good hair was able to make the story of the “two Americas” of haves and have-nots part of the national narrative that will not go away. The Boomers are nothing if not well-meaning and great promoters.

That might have to be good enough this time around.

**As a disclaimer, almost all I read about astrology has to do with its effects on Western societies and not about how the movement of the planets affects the rest of the world, except in the vaguest ways, or again, in relationship to the developed, Western world. Non-Western astrologers likely look at the story entirely differently.

January 6, 2008 ©Suzanne Rush 2008.

DR. ZODIAC ARCHIVE CURRENT -2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 -10

baby jane

The Real Boomers:
a rebuttal

I realize that, statistically, it is that '46-'64 thing they talk about, even by your Pluto in Leo emphasis. It's just that, fixed around my own experience, admittedly, I think of it more like a culturally-defined psychic attitude, and I don't think either the Clintons or Barbra [Streisand] really reflect it. The notion of the baby boom as a phenomenon was that, in the post-war affluence and stability, not only were lots of new babies born but there was, permitted and encouraged by circumstance, a generation raised to presume comfort and freedom and, encouraged by their own numbers and the reinforcement the shared experience gave them, branch out into naturalistic exploration from a spirit of inspired motivation, which led to alternate attitudes and innovative ways. Yes, Pluto in Leo had something to do with it, and the "me first" thing you described, but I think those guys were (are) still way too defined by their depression-and-war surviving parents, and came too early in the post-war aftermath, to truly embody and reflect the fundamentally new spiritual and cultural energy and approach that emerged in the late 60's, when they were in their 20's. They are the cusp people, even the ones who were all "radical" for five minutes in college — before joining the establishment with this silly (and ultimately self-gratifying) relationship to "making a difference." As I said, I think the true shift in core attitude and relationship to life started in '52 (even '50-'51 people seem to be a different, older generation to me) as we approached the alignment of Saturn (grounding) and Neptune (dreams) in Libra (love-mindedness). I don't have "liberal" or "idealistic" notions to live up to, that wasn't part of my experience. Only a former Goldwater girl like Hillary, or a careful "didn't inhale" careerist like Bill, could so pissily attack Obama for not measuring up to their resume. Acid changed your perception of life and politics, reaffirmed a more instinctive and nature-based approach to life that made all that old style stuff (no matter what music you listened to) seem like part of the same old control-based "grown-up" culture and functional paradigm. Then Jupiter over the top into Cancer's energy release gave you the dynamic, successful crowd in the wake of the true '60s-baby boom shift, but tortured and lost about what it really meant and what they should do about it. The energy played out 'til '57, when Jupiter got to Libra just as Neptune moved on into Scorpio. Again, I'm more fixed on the shift in core relationship to culture and politics, with consequences (and on-going personal conflicts) for all aspects of life. You almost had to be raised with Dr. Spock's presumption of demand consumption comfort and be old enough to get the Beatles while young enough to not yet be compromised and rationalized. It's a pretty narrow window. And I've, admittedly, been sitting on the ledge watching the parade ever since.

Year of the (Fat) Rat

2008 is the Chinese year of the Rat, and this time around our furry friend has a new mascot. It’s named Josephoartigasia monesi, and it’s a one-ton ancestor of the pint-sized, modern mammal. The skull of this hippo-sized, über rodent, nicknamed Mighty Mouse, was uncovered in Uruguay several years ago and stored in a South American museum. It wasn’t until 2007 — just in time for the start of this new zodiac cycle on February 7— that paleontologists realized that the fossil deserved another look.

Mighty Mouse probably lived four million years ago, and though Chinese astrology is thought to have been around for five thousand years, it’s still not ancient enough to have included this frightening, behemoth in its lexicon. Still, even without the weight of a prehistoric critter behind it, Rat is impressive in its own right.

Rat is the first sign in a 12-year Chinese sequence in which each year is assigned a different animal personality. According to legend, the Buddha determined the organization of the zodiac by holding a race. The order in which the animals finished would determine their place in the line-up. Rat, it is said, caught a ride on the horns of the ox leading the pack, and when they approached the deity, he leaped down and ran to the head of the line.

Because Rat got there first, Rats are considered to be leaders, and the years they rule are characterized by new beginnings. Rats are also charismatic, fastidious, clever, thrifty and very hard working.

During a Rat Year, that hard work will be rewarded — but not immediately. 2008 should a good year to begin a new job, relationship, business venture or to make a fresh start of some kind. While the Pig year was a time of abundant harvests, the rat year is once in which to plant seeds. Decisions made this year will carry long-term consequences, so be clever like a Rat, choose well and you too may end up a Mighty Mouse.