Pluto in Leo vs Pluto in Cancer Generations

The economic downturn finds the leading edge of the Boomer group abandoning retirement plans right and left, if we had any to begin with. I didn’t. What I’m anticipating is the Pluto in Cancer folks will be the group with the greatest number of people able to enjoy their golden years.

If the Pluto in Leo group continue to stay more focused on personal goals (we have been called the “me” generation) and are less interested in parenting our country, I foresee a gradual shift from minding other people’s business to tending to our own. We are more likely to belong to a gym than a homemaker’s club like my mother did for over 40+ years and less likely to attend a particular church or synagogue. There a lot of us who wouldn’t dream of tithing 10% of our income either! If for no other reason than we aren’t able to afford it.

I receive forwarded emails from older relatives about keeping “under god” in the pledge of allegiance, two words added in 1954 during Eisenhower’s presidency when the Pluto in Cancers were in their prime. I delete them because this is a non-issue to me.

Nuclear family was very important to those with Pluto in Cancer and they promoted the idea immediate family came first for years. Now we Boomers need to step up and take the lead in promoting the Aquarius ideal of all being part of one human family and citizens of the world rather than belonging to one nation only. The internet is a perfect vehicle to facilitate this and soooo Aquarian!

Is it possible we can reclaim some of visions we had in the sixties and seventies of communal living and choosing our families from those who share our ideals and values? I’m looking forward to see what evolves as more Boomers move past their Uranus square Uranus cycle point and turn inward rather than outward. Fewer giant RVs on the road and more experiments in creative ways to share expenses may be seen. Whatever happens I do not believe we Boomers will be living out the remainder of our lives as our parents did.

** My thoughts on the New Moon in Aries square Pluto.**

Only sign of Spring on the way is the hills are greening up. This was taken at sunset with a storm moving away from us.

Libra Love Note to Aries

I happen to really, really like Aries people and that includes those whose Sun is in another sign but has lots of Aries in their charts. My immediate family as well as my extended family is well represented by this forward looking group. So here’s a big “Happy Birthday to you, Aries!”

Sure, Aries can be abrupt but if you keep in mind most of them have this image of riding to the rescue of those in trouble, it’s easy to bear with them. I wonder if they like tilting at windmills ala Don Quixote too.

There is a very good reason you see a lot of Scorpio-Aries friendships because Scorpio really appreciates the purity of intent their Mars ruled brethren bring with them. You really don’t want to pick a fight with this pair either because after Aries head butts you, Scorpio will finish you off while you’re down.

And to all of you wonderful Aries women out there, please don’t you dare change a thing about yourselves. You were born to give ‘em what for in no uncertain terms. We need you breaking all the rules about gender related roles so our daughters can grow up seeing a wide array of possibilities for themselves.

Hugs and kisses to you all!

Venus in Aries Moment

Neptune is currently squaring my Ascendant by transit, Libra’s ruler is retrograde, spring seems to have been put on hold where I live and I am very, very, VERY tired of the media feeding frenzy whipping up hysteria.

I can’t get too excited when I listen to someone moaning about having their investments lose 40-50% in value . . . from six million to three million. Those of us who have always lived within our means and saw only modest benefits from the glory days of Pluto in Sagittarius high living and hype are being impacted too but to a lesser degree. More than anything it feels to me like it’s fear that has paralyzed many people. We all need to take a deep breath and note the Sun is still coming up every day. One of my favorite astrologers, Ralfee Finn, has this to say and I agree 100%!!

-snip- “And here’s mine: The media keeps referring to this recession as if we’ve been in a halcyon period of milk and honey abundance for the last several decades. Hel-lo? Did I miss something? Most of us didn’t strike it rich in the high, fast, free, and easy financial world. Most of us have been in a constant struggle to survive, especially as the spending habits of a small minority jacked up prices on necessities, especially rent and food, not to mention oil and health care. Since Reaganomics, normal life (whatever that is) has become increasingly expensive, as our system, bloated on its own greed, continued to devolve. Those of us who weren’t in the small echelon of the rich, attempted to maintain a personal status quo through plastic, which on one side of the coin was a god send, but on the other, was a ring of hell Dante could never have imagined. But if you listen to the media, none of that struggle existed. From the infomercial point of view, we’ve gone from an Ozzie and Harriet to Road Warrior over night, and at any moment there will be riots in the street.”

As for Neptune squaring my Ascendant; after close to four years of being an active presence online, someone finally hit on me. The guy seems nice enough but is obviously seeing someone else entirely because I’m not a conservative Christian woman, I’m very married and am so not looking. Amazing.

Venus may be retrograde but she sure as heck is in Aries! This Libra is feeling quite independent minded now and determined to stand up and say her piece. My personal philosophy is still the same – live each day well, treat others with respect and kindness and refuse to worry about the zillions of things totally out of my control. Sure I have trouble with the last part but I just do not want to live my life fearing the “what if’s”. Life is too short, today the sun is shining and on Friday the Sun moves into Aries again.

I received one of those Amaryllis bulbs with it's own pot for Christmas and it bloomed! This is such a Venus in Aries flower . . . huge vivid red blooms atop a 2' stalk. I love it! :-)

Anal Retentive - Is Pluto Why?

While I have always thought of myself as being meticulous when it came to the work I did for others, it was only recently I had to acknowledge I may be a tad anal in all aspects of my life. When my husband and I were shopping before Valentine’s Day, he told me he wanted me to pick out the candy I liked best as well as the flowers. I said I wasn’t that fussy and he just looked at me. Huh. He was right!

While I don’t nag about having things done to my standards, I will quietly go around rearranging and redoing. For instance, one of my pet peeves is sour dishcloths and facecloths. I regularly wring the dishcloth out and spread it out to dry when someone else besides myself has washed up. And there is a certain way I want the clothes hung on the drying racks by the wood stove. Yeah, anal all right!

So is this my Virgo Midheaven? Or is it Mars-Mercury conjunct the Ascendant in Scorpio? Or maybe having controlling Pluto square my Mars is why I want things just so. By the way, this seems to have little to do with a need for organizing. In that respect I am not anal at all. Now I have an aunt with Pluto conjunct the Ascendant opposing her Mars-Mercury in Capricorn who is ferociously meticulous and has everything neatly labeled. Hmm, maybe it does have to do with Pluto aspecting her Mercury because her handwriting is very small and tight too.

There is a place for us anal types in the greater scheme of things. My son-in-law has the same inclination and he works as a lab technician in a hospital – not a place for “good enough.” He has a natal Mars-Jupiter conjunction trine Saturn and Pluto trine Mars. I recall working with a couple of different computer troubleshooters; one was a typical geek, willing to keep after the problem until he figured it out. The other was more slapdash in his approach and most his patches came apart or had to be replaced later, not cost efficient at all.

Will I stop wringing out dishcloths and straightening pictures? I doubt it. I will continue to do my best not be too offensive and just accept this is one facet of who I am. Besides, whenever Pluto is part of the equation the best solution is accept and move on.

Anyone else feel they may lean towards the anal side?

This photo of the Full Moon in Virgo reminds me of a story about the Moon being caught by a tree.

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Important Newsflash: Astrodatabank information is now available to the public thanks to Astrodienst, bless them! This is possibly the most accurate source of good birth data for a wide cross-section of noteworthy individuals.

More on Synastry and Reality

Over the years, I've seen examples of both great synastry and no relationship; and mediocre synastry with a great relationship. It all goes back to the individual and their expectations of themselves as a partner as well as of a partner. This is one of those circumstances where being both an astrologer and a counselor helps.

Speaking of astrologer/counselors, Donna Cunningham has a wonderful series of posts on reducing our fears in these stressful times. Go to the sidebar on her blog and click on the "Freedom of Fear" link. After reading the post on shields, I promptly reset mine - makes a difference when one has a Moon-Neptune conjunction!