Formidable Generation

Formidable Generation

I just watched, live, the rally in Washington DC of thousands of young people, a large number of them high school students. Many from Parkland, Florida and from Sandy Hook, Connecticut were organizers and speakers. Very effective speakers! I was overwhelmed.

I was impressed by their strength, fortitude, insistence on the fact that they were right and were going to demand change. Very strong and impressive, no dilly-dallying or second thoughts. "We know what we believe and what we want, and we are right, and we are going to make it happen!"

So of course I had to look to see where the outer planets were when these "kids" (I don't like to call them that, they are so adult-seeming) were born.

Assuming that most high school students now are between 14 and 19 years old (maybe 15-18 more precisely), they were all born when Pluto was in Sagittarius. That is very interesting because I saw, as a very young astrology student, that the place of Pluto seemed to mark off the generations. When the psychedelic-era Pluto-in-Leo generation came up with the motto "Don't trust anyone over 30" they were saying, exactly, "Don't trust anyone born in the earlier Pluto-in-Cancer generation." And they had good reason for that, because there was a stark difference between the two.

I have tried to follow the trends of each generation:  Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and now Sagittarius. The Pluto-in-Scorpio generation is responsible for a lot of popular culture centered around death, vampires, werewolves, zombies, and various forms of torturous violence. All that stuff has been incredibly popular during that generation's period of dominance through their entertainment choices.

So I have been wondering what the Pluto-in-Sagittarius generation would bring us. In music, I have not noticed a strong trend yet. One would expect Sagittarius music to be more friendly, easygoing, bouncy, rather than the intense, deep, sometimes morose music of Pluto-in-Scorpio. (Frank Sinatra was Sagittarius!) A cynic would say, more superficial, but it seems there might be room for optimism after the seeming pessimism of Pluto-in-Scorpio. (I say "seeming" because most of these individuals have good hearts and when you get to know them their morbid side is just an affectation or taste or mode, not their essence. And I have gotten to feel some of their music very deeply.)

One would expect a Pluto-in-Sagittarius generation to be friendly (common sign ruled by Jupiter), confident (fire sign) and likely to break down barriers in a simple way. Marc Edmund Jones the astrologer said that Sagittarians often manifest the friendliness of a puppy.

It ids also an idealistic sign, and not afraid, as Scorpio is, to broadcast its hopes and ideals. Scorpio feels that such effusive hopefulness is sappy and not realistic. Not cool. Sagittarius feels that it wants to follow heart and hope openly, unashamedly, wherever they lead.  Not cool? Okay, then be warm.

But there is much more to the generation which took the stage at this amazing rally demanding change from politicians.

That "more" is the sign Aquarius. From 1999 through 2002, when most were born, both Uranus and Neptune were in Aquarius. (In 2003 Uranus entered Pisces, and that would be effective for those now 14 or [sometimes] 15 years old, probably not the students who were on the stage today.)

Both Uranus and Neptune in Aquarius means a lot. First, Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius. Do you want to look for "the age of Aquarius"? Then look at these young people, perhaps those born from 1996 through 2002 (currently ages 15 or 16 through 21 or 22). Something very strong is happening with them.

I saw it in their faces and in their stances. There is something "square" about the Aquarian face. You will see it in well-known Aquarians whether male or female. It is not unattractive but looks solid and immutable (a fixed sign). It is a manifestation of the fact that they know what they are about and so are not going to change. Those "kids" today were not going to change for the "powers that be," but rather demand change from them.

You saw it also in their stances, the way they walk, move, take the stage, and stand together. There is nothing soft or wishy-washy about the way they move. "I am here for a reason and I am going to state or express that reason and nobody is going to affect my stance." That is what is conveyed by their bodies' language.

Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, is Independence (its Sabian keyword) and yet Uranus is a friendly and communal planet. Its communalism is not sappy or sentimental but mutually respectful. It is impersonal, in a way, yet upholds the right of each person to be himself or herself. If you don't "get" what I'm saying, you would get it if you were conscious of living and working with a variety of individuals with the sun, moon, or ascendant in Aquarius, or a group of planets in it, such as this current four-year set of high school students who have both Neptune and Uranus there. You "get it" by living with it, observing it, and working with it. (I myself have nothing in Aquarius so I have had to learn this through a lot of experiences with highly valued Aquarian individuals over the course of my life.) Aquarius is a tough sign, ruled by both Saturn and Uranus. Its friendliness is not a friendliness that lets you be weak, but a friendliness that buoys you up or perks you up or insists that you can be stronger. It challenges, usually (but not always) without hurting.

This group's bold way of challenging their elders, and asking them to wake up, is highly reminiscent of the attitude of then-young people in the 1960s, the Pluto-in-Leo generation. Well, Sagittarius is the next fire sign in the zodiac after Leo, and so it is not surprising that this current high- school-and-college generation would have something in common with those who are now called (rather garishly) "baby boomers."  Fire is self-sure. It is as if it were the sun or a star, shining by its own light, not by someone else's fuel. So the confidence of this generation (born 1996 through 2008 [with some exceptions in 2008 when Pluto went retrograde] and so now approximately 11 through 21 years of age) is similar to that of the "baby boomers." We may expect interesting innovations and progressive changes as they mature and take power.

The current high-schoolers (with Neptune and Uranus in Aquarius as well as Pluto in Sagittarius) are a smaller sub-set and, as I saw them in action today, seem to be a real cutting edge. A later (and so now younger) group was born with Uranus in Pisces (2003 through 2008, and so now about 9 through 14 years old). They may have a softer or more accommodating style, yet still very effective because they have Neptune in Aquarius. 

Welcome to (finally?) the Aquarian Age? Mixed with beneficent Sagittarius.

Hugh  /  Cosmic Piper