I Do Believe I Called Out This "Generational Divide" Crap Way Back in 2011...

Is anyone else finding the "Millennial versus Boomer" showdown a little predictable? And maybe a little boring?

And now apparently, Gen Z is mocking Gen X. 

(Are we not at the point of media-amped ridiculousness with all this?)

I do believe I called out the manipulation of the generational divides way back in 2011.

Pluto in Scorpio = "Millennials"

Pluto in Leo = "Boomers"

From December 15, 2011: "Don't Believe Your Own Astrological Press. (Pluto in Scorpios, This Especially Relates To You Right Now.)"

"A little astrological prediction: I have a feeling the Pluto in Scorpio generation is going to start getting a disproportionate amount of play by astrologers in the near future. This will coincide with members of the Pluto in Scorpio generation (born roughly November 1983 to November 1995) reaching the ages where they will be taking a stronger interest in astrology and astrological information. It'll be one of those "creating your own mythology" types of things where the reality doesn't quite live up to the hype being outlined astrologically.

This echoes the disproportionate amount of play another Pluto generation has received - the Pluto in Leos. The Pluto placements of these two generations, not coincidentally, square each other, adding to the drama.

We've barely started the long, hard shift in power from Pluto in Leos to Pluto in Virgos, and instead of giving that shift some much needed attention and analysis, astrologers will be (and already are) turning their attention to the Pluto in Scorpio generation: its catalytic power, its transformative potential, how it's going to annihilate social taboos, how it'll absolutely shred every ounce of social facade or personality-level b.s., leaving bloody, raw, yet authentic! souls in its wake.

Personally, I'm not so sure about all that, and I have some issues with any Pluto generation being set up as the all-conquering, mythical generation.

This Mind is Otherwise Occupied.

"The original idealism had been compromised by these homeless people. We lost the narrative."

- Kalle Lasn complaining that the homeless people stepped on the OWS buzz in Vanity Fair article "An Oral History of Occupy Wall Street" by Max Chafkin with additional reporting by Alexandra Beggs, Mark Guiducci, Jaime Lalinde, Elizabeth Nicholas, Rebecca Sacks and Kaitlin Sanders

The seed idea for Occupy Wall Street came from the Vancouver, British Columbia-based anti-consumer, anti-capitalist publication Adbusters, co-founded and edited by a man named Kalle Lasn.

Kalle Lasn is an advertising man, you see. A Pluto in Leo advertising man. He became disenchanted with the consumer capitalist version of advertising and decided to defect, starting a publication that advertised the counter-culture instead.

The glossy, edgy, hipster-cool version of counter-culture his publication advertises makes some good points. It works with certain layers of the situation, but that's just it: it works with layers, not roots, and layers that still put way too much emphasis on money and consumer goods and the existential crisis over whether we should or should not be buying these consumer goods. These are layers that come from the perspective of the materially-privileged classes.

Getting you to buy or getting you to not buy - it's pretty close to the same thing.

And for people without expendable income, it really isn't all that much of a dilemma.

When you get down to it, Adbusters is still a form of advertising-based reality-construction, using the underlying concepts of advertising and its visual panache to promote ideology. It keeps people's minds occupied with advertising and the versions of reality that advertising is promoting, even if those versions are of the stark, edgy, graphically-stimulating, anti-consumer variety.

I fully supported the people speaking out through Occupy Wall Street, but I wasn't able to put my personal energy into the movement, and I wasn't directed to cover it on the site. When I found out the seed idea came from Adbusters, I started to get a clearer understanding of why that might be.

The movement raises some very good, crucially pertinent issues. It got people together to talk about what's really going on in the world, outside the carefully-crafted versions coming from mainstream media. It made people feel that they were doing something about the corruption, and that's important. But it didn't have the depth I needed to see in order to get really excited about it or even all that interested in it. There was an organic element and a grassroots fire that were missing, and I didn't feel it had the roots to address the issues I needed to see being addressed.

It's an interesting movement and one that fully utilizes the organizational power of the internet, but it has to be kept in context. The intense use of media - alternative, mainstream, or both - has a tendency to skew things by hyping up the broader importance of an event.

We've been protesting these issues for decades now. The World Trade Organization protests, including at the Battle in Seattle in 1999. The Free Trade Area of the Americas protests. The IMF. The G-8. The G-20. And on and on. Millions of people have protested worldwide. People know the score.

The Pluto in Virgos Take Position and Pluto Square Pluto for the Pluto in Libra Generation

New Catalytic Position for the Pluto in Virgos

Throughout 2012, potent transits are placing members of the Pluto in Virgo generation in new catalytic position as the Transition Team out of the structural set-ups currently held in place by Pluto in Leos (born 1937 to 1957), now entering retirement and semi-retirement.

Certain members of the Pluto in Virgo generation are working, literally, to change (Pluto) the system (Virgo). Others are doing their damnedest to support and lock down more of the same male-dominated hierarchy and illegitimacy in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Recall that there is a whole crop of current Global Governors with natal Pluto in Virgo (born 1956 to 1972), with many more clamouring to rise within the ranks, and they all have their prudent and practical plans (always involving many, many sacrificial lambs) out of the chaos we so conveniently find ourselves in.

Members of the Pluto in Virgo generation are responsible, in part, for analyzing and addressing deep, systemic dysfunction. Virgo is a sign with a highly-sensitive responsiveness, and it generally requires the same in return. As we are currently working within Pluto in Capricorn structures almost entirely unresponsive and non-adaptive to input, the difficulties for this generation are clearly apparent.

The Pluto in Virgos who would like to see a free humanity and improved living conditions on this planet will work to create new systems, transforming human work out of current variations of drudgery, slavery, toxicity, and eroding inhumanity and into something meaningful, integrated, and healthful. The true transformative power (Pluto) of the workers (Virgo) comes to the forefront with this generation.

True-to-the-core members of this generation are assigned the task of applying holistic principles to our ways of doing things, especially in work and business. A tall order. They have the immense job of bringing the lofty, often theoretical, and mostly dissipated (or at least latent) ideals of the 1960s into concrete, practical, functioning reality, and if any generation has the specialized skills to do this, it's Pluto in Virgo.

As stated, individuals and groups from this generation will be embedded in new catalytic position within the systems beginning this year - or within systems of their own creation. However, as is always the case with Pluto, only a rare few will go as deep as is truly necessary, penetrating to the core of the dysfunction and dishonesty, rather than wasting time and effort on more superficial, diversionary layers.

The Pluto in Virgos work the Virgo-Pisces polarity, and the efforts of a good many will, unfortunately, be swallowed by a sea of Piscean distraction, illusion, and dead ends as Neptune in Pisces opposes their natal Plutos over the next 14 years.

Many will squander their effectiveness by working to reform around the edges systems and structures that need to be completely gutted and reworked. Others will focus on perfecting their personal lives from privileged positions with little progress made as far as broader, sociological understanding and change. Many will refuse to deepen a real transition out of the current structural set-ups, continuing to wield power and control in similar ways and reinforcing the same pyramid schemes with, again, small reforms around the edges.

Many more will remain caught up in the New Age paradigm - or whatever they decide to call it now - erroneously believing they are working for real change, when, in fact, they are reinforcing and feeding energy into more of the same meaningless and illegitimate hierarchical control.

There's still a lot of guru-itis in this generation - it's just a little more on the down low than the Pluto in Leo version.

A rare few, though, will really get the job done, applying soul-directed, life-supporting efforts with laser-like precision and efficacy and peeling away the detritus keeping things dysfunctional. These are the real movers and shakers of the Pluto in Virgo generation. These Pluto in Virgos are not going to fall back on the quick fix of slash-and-burn sacrificial lambs, preached by their less skillful members. No mass kill-offs are required to put their plans into action.

It's always so nice and clean to just sever the problematic issues/people from the scene altogether, isn't it? Creating your own little "enlightened" bubble realities from positions of social privilege. It reminds me of the sentiment that arose that "Occupy Wall Street was so fun and rosy and ideal until all those yucky, mentally ill homeless people started showing up and mucking it up."

(Reality check, assholes. It's about more than your ideals and your amputated version of "community." Those mentally ill homeless people have the most to be upset about as far as your cause goes. Your scope should have widened to include them, rather than making them pesky irritations that ruined your good time.)

With Neptune in Pisces opposing the natal Pluto in Virgos over the next 14 years, missing the point altogether will be a common theme. A sanitized and superficial version of reality, including only those aspects considered manageable, will be put forth regularly.

It's only the rare few Pluto in Virgos who will refuse that superficiality and really work with what's before them. These people understand the real meaning of Pisces and put it into action. They get that every piece matters, that nothing and no one is expendable, and that a plan that doesn't work with every bit of it is a pretty poor plan, indeed.

For a long while, masses of people have understood that something is fundamentally wrong - many somethings. They just didn't know what to do about it. With the potent "fixer solver" Pluto in Virgos gaining influence, gears start turning and grand-scale practical avenues start opening. Solutions can start to become accessible en masse, rather than to the specialized and privileged few.

Pluto Square Pluto for the Pluto in Libra Generation

With Pluto transiting Capricorn, the Pluto in Libra generation (born 1972 to 1984) is experiencing transiting Pluto in Capricorn square natal Pluto in Libra at various times from 2008 to 2024.

All Pluto generations experience this Pluto square Pluto transit. The Pluto in Virgo generation was the last to experience it as Pluto transited Sagittarius (1995 - 2008). The Pluto in Leos experienced it as Pluto transited Scorpio (1983 - 1995), and the Pluto in Cancers experienced it as Pluto transited Libra (1971 - 1983).

An interesting point about the current crop of people on the planet, written about by astrologer Erin Sullivan, is that the Pluto in Leo through Pluto in Sagittarius generations experience this transiting square at a younger age than both previous generations and generations yet to come.

Our feet are being held to the Plutonic alchemical fire in our late 30s to late 40s, whereas other Pluto generations both past and future experience it in their late 50s to early 90s.

As the Pluto in Virgos move into new position this year, individuals from the Pluto in Libra generation will be coming to the table to catalyze a new social structure, bringing their own special brand of social justice, which, with Pluto in the sign of relationship, is not always a socially pleasant brand.

With the cardinal Grand Crosses (2011-2014) along with the ongoing square series between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn (2012 - 2015) occurring at the time of their Pluto square Pluto transit, members of the Pluto in Libras - responsible, in part, for transformation into right human relations - are propelled into new social leadership capacity. From September 18, 2011: New Social Authority For the Pluto in Libra Generation and Blazing the Plutonic Trail Through Relationship Constructs Past

Certain members of the Pluto in Libra generation will be placed quite immediately within new positions of long-term influence and social authority - both legitimate and illegitimate.

Again, Pluto can be used to move into legitimate forms of power but it can just as easily, probably more easily, be used to reinforce and continue the current violent, coercive, inhumane, and unjust forms. Pluto is both liberator and oppressor.

Many Pluto in Libras, as with those in generations both preceding and following, will take their places within the current illegitimacy, reinforcing a social structure and forms of leadership that maintain the power of the dominant paradigm.

The Charming and Bullshitty Politico/Celebrity Type with gleaming, bleached-and-bonded teeth will be played to a fine art within the Pluto in Libra generation by both men and women. And there will be a new focus: the Charming and Bullshitty Politico/Celebrity Couple. We'll be getting double teamed on the charm and bullshit front. A false egalitarian Aquarian facade mixed with potent Pluto in Libra social literacy will be used to maintain a smoothly-functioning status quo while the real issues remain seething, unaddressed and unresolved, underneath.

Social prowess, attractiveness, popularity, and connections will be primary weapons of control. The ability to create and drive obsessive social trends, tapping into Aquarian era technological and virtual reality desires, will continue as a major source of social engineering power over the masses. The use of beauty to enchant, entrance, manipulate, and dominate will go to extremes. New allegiances and alliances, making for shiny photo ops, will sustain oppressive and regressive regimes of all levels. Flash, flash, flash go the cameras, creating false memories, false history, a very pretty and touching manufactured reality of important moments, indeed.

Those fighting for real relational change and justice have their work cut out for them, as usual.

The Pluto square Pluto aspect forces a deep examination and unearthing of layered power dynamics, particularly generational power dynamics. This includes the power other Pluto generations hold, as the Pluto in Libras determine legitimate power from illegitimate and natural skill and leadership from authoritarian hogwash. A new balance and sharing (Libra) of power (Pluto) emerges with this generation, for good or ill.

Pluto square Pluto is a tense, frictional aspect that will eventually make the cardinal Pluto in Libras stronger leaders, more concentrated in their own power and influence, by forcing confrontations with the current Pluto in Capricorn power dynamics and structures.

Throughout the Pluto in Capricorn transit, the Pluto in Libras will come to a deeper understanding of the source of their own personal power, connected to broader, generational impetus, as well as the sources of their motivations and the motivations of others. Certain people, places, emotions, psychological states, or ideas, particularly relationship-related, that hold a disproportionate amount of power over the Pluto in Libras will be examined. In many cases, the hold over them will be broken, though this can create terror.

As this aspect happens around mid-life, it leads to the realization (for those still unaware) of how short a human life on this planet really is, which can give individuals the courage to take on new areas of authority, power, and leadership in these times of crisis. Death is examined and any fear of it can be confronted through this transit, which can result in an often dramatic reorientation of personal lives, directions, and goals.

Personal Plutonic crises compel various examinations and confrontations.

Until the Pluto in Capricorn children come of age, the Pluto in Libras will be the only cardinal (initiation, new direction) Pluto generation in the works. Many Pluto in Libras will work through a fear of their own authority within new positions of social leadership throughout this transit. Libra is a sign that often prefers to defer to others, but with Pluto in Libra forcing the strong development of the Aries polarity point (transited by Uranus in Aries for the next seven years), sitting back and deferring to others can be catastrophic both personally and collectively.

These transits will force often fence-sitting Libra to choose, once and for all, which direction it is taking as we move fully into a new astrological era. The Pluto in Libras will be brought to a point where to refuse new positions of power in their own lives and societies, within their generation, is death to the soul.

The successful use of the Pluto square Pluto transit means taking on a new and powerful role in a position of vital influence or forever being under the thumb of others who have.

Don't Believe Your Own Astrological Press. (Pluto in Scorpios, This Especially Relates To You Right Now.)

A little astrological prediction: I have a feeling the Pluto in Scorpio generation is going to start getting a disproportionate amount of play by astrologers in the near future. This will coincide with members of the Pluto in Scorpio generation (born roughly November 1983 to November 1995) reaching the ages where they will be taking a stronger interest in astrology and astrological information. It'll be one of those "creating your own mythology" types of things where the reality doesn't quite live up to the hype being outlined astrologically.

This echoes the disproportionate amount of play another Pluto generation has received - the Pluto in Leos. The Pluto placements of these two generations, not coincidentally, square each other, adding to the drama.

We've barely started the long, hard shift in power from Pluto in Leos to Pluto in Virgos, and instead of giving that shift some much needed attention and analysis, astrologers will be (and already are) turning their attention to the Pluto in Scorpio generation: its catalytic power, its transformative potential, how it's going to annihilate social taboos, how it'll absolutely shred every ounce of social facade or personality-level b.s., leaving bloody, raw, yet authentic! souls in its wake.

Personally, I'm not so sure about all that, and I have some issues with any Pluto generation being set up as the all-conquering, mythical generation.

This is how faddish astrology works. It's also how astrology is hijacked so that its energetic force and influence are wasted on things that really don't matter a whole hell of a lot.

Certain events, certain placements, and certain people with those placements are amped up and glamourized, drawing a disproportionate amount of astrological attention, and other events, placements, and people are skipped altogether, creating distortion, imbalance, and a seriously skewed version of reality.

Sorry, Pluto in Scorps. It's nothing personal, but you're not special on this front. As soon as you've been sucked dry as subject matter, as soon as you're not trendy anymore, it'll be onto the Pluto in Sagittarius kids. Or the Pluto in Caps. Or...oh, just WAIT until the Pluto in Aquarius generation comes of age! Then we're really going to see some big things happening on this planet.

Sigh.

It's actually a small minority of people within any generation that takes on the Plutonic work in any truly effective and sustained way. Digging in as deeply and as tenaciously as is required is heavy, frustrating, difficult, enervating, intricate. Often, the energetic commitment is all-consuming. There is no work other than that work. There is no life other than that life.

Committing to the process of letting your soul drive, come what may, committing to really seeing and intuiting the state we're in on this planet and then finding the most meaningful and effective track to address and move through it is a full body, full mind, full spirit endeavour.

Doing the condensed, hard-slog Pluto work - working to change long-ingrained collective dynamics through the personal life - is not all that glamourous. Doing what really needs to be done, what's been neglected by most others, is probably not going to make you famous. It might even get you killed. It doesn't make for a cool digital pic to show off the edgy angles of your post-post-postmodern awareness of it all. There are no guarantees that you'll receive all that much of an earthly reward for it at all, other than the reward of a satisfied soul.

A lot of people go part way. Not many push farther than that. This has been the case with every generation, and I don't see it changing with the Pluto in Scorpios.

So will there be a group of fine and talented individuals within the Pluto in Scorpio generation that really gets it and can really get the job done? Sure. Absolutely. There will be those who see through the pathology of the collective, cutting through it like a hot knife through butter and extricating themselves from it. There will be those who confront head-on the disconnect from and denial of death that run rampant, creating all types of idiocy, superficiality, and distortion. There will be those who see through any form of manipulation, exploitation, or abuse, who can feel out a dirty motive in seconds flat, who confront and head off the unexamined patterns of the collective, refusing to repeat them themselves. But I do think those people will be few.

The glut will fall into the same traps and the same patterns, using the same power plays and the same old Scorpio tricks to maintain the dominant paradigm or some variation therein, however "edgy" it may be.

They've gotten hold of all the "edgy" these days, you see.

Our Pluto placements relate to the ways in which our generation as a whole is manipulated by the powers that be. And the dark, the taboo, the sexy, the forbidden, the occultish and pseudo-occultish, the hidden, the twisted - these are all ways in which the Pluto in Scorpio generation will be manipulated into doing things, swallowing things, and furthering things that are not in its best interests.

Totalitarianism that lets you keep a job even though you have tattoos, pink hair, and are polyamourous is still totalitarianism.

The Pluto in Scorpios have plenty of poison to dig out and many false layers to shed.

Certain members of this generation are going to understand the ways things are oh-so-wrong on this planet because they'll experience the corruption and exploitation first-hand. But so have members of all generations before them. So do members of all generations living now.

The dogma around Pluto generations is ripe for abuse and manipulation - two Plutonic key words. The amping up of this or any other astrological generation is another attempt to create some "super special, super-human" generation of young people, as the "spiritualism" circles of the day love to do. At the tail-end astrological Piscean era, they're begging for an entire saviour generation. This follows in the line of the "indigo" kids, the "crystal" kids, the rainbows, the blue stars, the seventh rays, the Whodads, the Whatzits. (Sorry, got my wires crossed with a little Dr. Seuss there for a minute.)

It's a fairly small and concentrated group of individuals that sees the whole machine and how we're being manipulated within it, that strikes at the roots, rather than becoming consumed by whatever manipulated Agenda of the Day has risen to popularity at that moment.

The members of the Pluto in Scorpio generation have a lot of power to expose the corruption and the to-the-brink-of-human-annihilation situation we have on our hands. But they also have an almost overpowering tendency to get caught up, coerced, distracted, overwhelmed, consumed.

Their power can be misused and abused - or siphoned - quite easily.

Destructive obsessions and misanthropic tendencies can be stoked. Energy can be wasted in the nihilistic narcissism that Pluto and Scorpio do so well.

This generation has a big tendency to be enamoured of its own complexity. There's a tendency to self-absorption that has gone to an extreme I don't think another generation has experienced, facilitated to a great extent by internet, social media, and affordable digital cameras. Distracted by the gratuitous documentation of the absolute minutiae of their personal lives.

With the early Pluto in Scorpios came a sub-generation that was used as a gateway. This sub-generation involved the members who had Chiron in Gemini (1983-1988). The test group. Through this sub-generation's flooded synapses came the initial implementation of constant connection, constant stimulation, constant diversion, constant attention through cellular phones, cheap, accessible internet, iPods, social media, Blackberries, digital cameras, and computer programs designed to manipulate image. Through wounded Gemini circuits came a take-over of minds, bodies, and electrical impulses that has shown no sign of letting up since. And a new, encrypted language has developed within the Pluto in Scorpio generation, reinforcing its insulation.

There are a lot of layers to peel here.

Plutonic/Scorpionic issues of power, corruption, dishonesty, lack of integrity, betrayal, abuse, murder, manipulation, exploitation, oppression, suppression, and social taboo have been here all along. And there have been people working on this stuff all along, committing their lives, risking their lives, losing their lives.

There's a thread of people throughout time, space, and astrological Pluto generation that has taken on the work of deep, core-level change on the planet and has taken it on body, mind, and soul. They've done dangerous work, and for most, it was not a choice. This is about more than paying lip service to it or throwing some money at it. It's about living it, staying true to the course, even when no one is watching, when no cameras are flashing.

To set one group of people up as the most powerful, the most magical, the most catalytic is - to use Scorpio terminology - complete b.s.

To be at the most relevant point for the astrological Aquarian era, we have to shift out of the incessant desire to find and then exploit the next It Generation. This has become a dominant drive within a mainstream paradigm - fueled by the Pluto in Leos - that is enamoured of and obsessed with youth. It's absolute silliness. Anyone who is truly "hip to the now" will not be chasing tween, teen, or twenty-something trends. Aquarius goes beyond age and generation to the common threads that unite us in the struggle toward freedom and improved conditions.

Generation doesn't matter among comrades. It's a team effort. It always has been, and it always will be. The responsibilities, the pain, and the glories are shared.

Scorpio relates to soul lineage, and any member of the Pluto in Scorpios with the benefit of wisdom will understand his or her context within the long line of people working this stuff out. To understand yourself or your generation as something superseding that is to fall for a line that has been used countless times before.

Generational hype is a layer of detritus that inevitably slows the Pluto in Scorpios down, keeping them from their most effective points during this burgeoning astrological Aquarian era as part of the cross-generational, cross-cultural effort, fully aware of their context within that.

We're in a dicey little time on this planet. Those in positions of stolen power are attempting to purposefully replay an extremely nasty historical cycle.

To have any chance of righting this ship, we need all hands on deck. This means all Plutonic types from every Pluto generation, baby to senior citizen.

Through the Pluto in Leo generation, en masse, we had the proliferation of Sun sign and personality-based (Leo) astrology. This was fun enough, but it led, to a certain extent, to an excessive (Pluto) need to celebrate (Leo) certain placements, certain signs, certain personality traits, and certain people as special or important above the others, rather than focusing on how it all works together.

A new, more thoughtful and nuanced astrology has to emerge here, one that works with the real diversity of the astrological system as a symbolic framework of life itself, not just the most sexy or dramatic bits that will get the most web hits or sell the most books.

The astrological idols have to fall.

So Pluto in Scorpios, since you're a group that relates to the death of everything that must die, we might as well start the process with you before it even starts.

And As I Was Saying...

I got a comment a couple of days ago on the "Aftermath of Pluto in Leo" post that I deleted. I really should have kept it and posted it as an example of what I'm talking about with the Pluto in Ego...I mean, Leo...generation. (Total typo, but it works.)

But hey, why don't I post about it now? It's educational.

(Again, disclaimer: this is not for any Pluto in Leos who do not carry around seven tonnes of ego detritus, leaving a trail of energetic skid marks behind them wherever they go. I know you exist, but the guy commenting was not one of those.)

So this Pluto in Leo dude started off the comment by saying that he "didn't appreciate my outburst." (IE. the post)

hahahaha First off, it's my own fucking blog! I couldn't give a rat's balls what you do not appreciate about what I write here.

I don't water myself down for mainstream commercial appeal, and I stand behind everything I write here. I keep it real from my astrological perspective and personal experience, and if you don't like what you read, there are 1,354,565,847,352,346,984,038 other blogs on the webosphere, including 284,957,387,572 astrology blogs. I suggest you visit one of those that might be more to your liking.

Buddy then went on to say he didn't like women stereotyping him and suggested this was what I was doing. Because, again, my blog is all about him. I'm just one more in a long line of women who don't "get him," apparently.

I think we're getting you just fine, actually.

The hilarious part, of course, is that one of the themes of the Aftermath of Pluto in Leo post was how the majority of Pluto in Leos need to stop tripping over their own egos and get over themselves! (Especially in light of the damage wreaked by their gen's way of doing things/regime)

Just as I've said in the past re: establishment New Agers, if you want to stop being treated like a cliche, first stop acting like one. Until then, if you choose to come into contact with me, I'll be pointing it out.

I practise astrology. I write about what's important to me. Your reaction to what I write is not my concern. I follow higher orders than that. It's not my job to deal with your ego-detritus-laden reactions.

This is what Pluto in Leos who haven't taken on the process of stripping down their crystallized ego constructs need to know. It's no one else's responsibility to deal with your ego/personality demands. It's no one's job to indulge you - despite the ways you have set things up for this purpose.

So many in this generation leave a trail of ego bullshit wherever they go and then expect other people to deal with it as if it's something important instead of the big old heap of steaming shit that it is.

Sorry, I avoid stepping in shit at all costs. And if I can't avoid it entirely, I just step over it.

The fact that this enrages a lot of Pluto in Leos says more about them than it does about me. If they can't entangle people in their bullshitty ego constructs, how do they siphon energy off to feed those ego constructs?

This is a perfect example of the dangers of not fully developing Pluto's polarity point. The more the Pluto in Leos navel-gaze and obsess over themselves, turning everything into an extension of themselves, the more mired in ego hell they get.

And when you're constantly dumping ego garbage on people and trying to suck them into false ego constructs, you're not going to get the appreciation and recognition you so crave. People are going to see through that and say no thanks.

Getting outside themselves, taking a more objective view and understanding that there are broader forces at work than just them and what they personally want/think they deserve (Aquarius) would actually allow for a healthier self-expression. It would allow the Pluto in Leos to align with the real needs of the planet/humanity/community and find a successful place within that context for their creative contributions.

Again, too many fall into the trap of doing for the community only what feeds their own egos/needs for status/recognition. It's false.

Without that alignment with Aquarian reality and as long as what they personally want and believe they deserve (especially materially) trumps all else, the Pluto in Leos will increasingly have Pluto problems.

Aftermath of Pluto in Leo Rage

OK, so my feelings toward the Pluto in Leo generation have officially turned to rage, kicked up by today's Moon in Leo and Venus in Aries square to retrograding Pluto in Capricorn.

This square is bringing to awareness how structurally messed up things really are and how our personal directions are being confined by the necessary clean-up and transformation of the fucked-upness reinforced for so long by the Pluto in Leos holding power.

So in honour of this aspect, here's a highly inflammatory post slagging the Pluto in Leos in a way that is deeply satisfying to me...

This is what really gets me. That so many members of this generation still haven't truly taken on responsibility for the Aquarius end of the equation. They're using the energy of the new to play the same old ego games within the same old ego constructs.

They're getting slightly trickier about it, though. Because now that society has gotten on board with the whole "global planet" thing, the Pluto in Leos have had to bring at least a semblance of social responsibility into their game. But don't be fooled - for the most part, it's still the same old game.

At this point, the social responsibility and focus on the broader good many of them are willing to take on is in direct proportion to how much personal acclaim, recognition, and rewards they will receive for doing so.

Most still trip over their own egos long before they get to real Aquarian consciousness.

When you spend an excessive amount of time and energy drawing attention to all the wonderful things you supposedly do for the community rather than just doing those wonderful things, well, you've got a skewed idea of what is really going down.

Draining energy from the collective to feed the bottomless pit of attention-questing ego validation...

I think of Scorpionic/Plutonic dynamics as a figure eight (8). 8th House = house ruled by Scorpio. So think of a person on one end of the figure eight and whatever/whomever that person is in relation to on the other end, exchanging energy in that sort of figure eight dynamic.

What so many members of the Pluto in Leo generation seem to do is set up power dynamics where whatever they do or say results in energy being fed back to their egos/sense of self-importance. This can then easily lead to only doing what will lead to this ego-feeding.

And if they don't receive the personal acclaim and promotion they seem to think they deserve, watch out. It gets nasty.

I'm so aware of this these days that it doesn't take much old school Pluto in Leo bullshit to get my eyes rolling. So many interactions seem to involve wasting time and energy wading through their ego constructs. They use the magnetic nature of Pluto, pulling every trick in the book to - consciously or unconsciously - siphon energy off to meet their personality and ego demands. This wouldn't be a problem if they had done the Plutonic work of stripping away all unnecessary ego detritus first - but so many haven't, leaving us with garbage dynamics.

A lot of Pluto in Leos are too busy tripping over their own egos, while demanding that you bow to their awesomeness, to understand that there are larger forces at work than just them, their personal desires, and the self-promotional quest for recognition.

You want to impress me? Get the fuck over yourself and interact in the moment as equals. Do the right thing just because it's the right thing to do. Cut the cord to the long list of personal accomplishments you parade out at every opportunity. (And just to be clear - the Pluto in Leos certainly don't have the market cornered on ego detritus these days.)

I wonder if it's actually the winds of change stirring these dynamics up in such a repugnant way? The Pluto in Leos can feel things starting to shift and see that the younger generations have their own ideas about how to do things, and this causes them to panic and do everything in their power to puff themselves up and reinforce their power and control.

Anyway, I'm really getting sick of the disclaimer that, yeah, I know, not all Pluto in Leos are this way. There are individuals who don't fall into and reinforce these same old traps. But this is what a lot of people around my age are feeling. If you are one of the Pluto in Leos who do not fall into these dynamics, bravo to you! Thank-you. We need more of you. But if you can't see the way your generation, en masse, has gone and continues to go off the rails, well, we've got problems.

So I'm going to repost part of a previous Pluto in Virgo/Pluto in Leo article. Just to reinforce my displeasure at what the Pluto in Leos seems to insist on reinforcing.

"Baby Bush's regime is a pretty fitting symbol of what went wrong during Pluto in Leo.

Massive, overblown egos, petit tyranny, treating everything as if it's a game (including war), excessive material accumulation, thinking only about oneself and one's own desires, interacting with everything as if its merely an extension of oneself, short-term gratification over long-term planning, ego-driven actions instead of objective understanding of a larger vision, addiction to personality and personality-driven drama, forcing one's personal will even when it is not in the best interests of the community/group, questing for personal glory and attention above all else, childish lack of impulse control.

This sounds harsh, sure, but I speak from experience. I worked with a Pluto in Leo over the past two years (the owner of the store where I worked) and have had contact with many members of this generation. These are some of the things I have personally run into.

Clinging to old forms of personality-driven power instead of moving on into something better.

I've said in the past, “It's not all about you.” To which, this Baby Boomer replied, “Yes, it is.”

What can you do with this mindset? It's like arguing with a toddler.

Pluto in Leos are the Children of the Zodiac. But unfortunately, a lot of them took that too literally and simply refused to grow up. Their power went to their heads. Their bloated egos became the driving force in their lives. And it became more about having the most and best toys, homes, cars, clothes, art, vacations, etc....or pining away for those things. Rampant material accumulation (living like Kings and Queens - Leo) with little regard among the mainstream with how that would affect the planet. Capitalism became a game to a lot of them, addicted to the ever-increasing power that fed their egos. They couldn't get beyond themselves in any truly lasting, meaningful way to see that they had any kind of responsibility to humanity itself or to the world.

But they did and do.

Pluto in Leo's generational imperative did involve fun, play, art, beauty, living the good life - but it also involved the stripping down of ego constructs, finding their hearts, and transforming beyond greedy little children playing a game of “King of the Castle.”

The polarity point of Leo is Aquarius, so the Pluto in Leos had/have a necessity to think about the future, the big picture, the planet as a whole, the community and their real responsibilities there – not just those that would bring them the most personal glory. They were challenged to use their personal talents and abilities to create something for the whole, to create a real win-win world, rather than using them to overpower others and attain attention and status. They were challenged to look beyond their own material wants and desires for personal recognition.

And some have, to be sure. But many have not. En masse, I would say, they have not.

Baby Bush and company are a fitting symbol for this navel-gazing failure to understand the whole and any responsibility to it. The lack of preparedness for Hurricane Katrina, for example.

Bush was off fighting a war overseas in order to secure Middle East oil and was too busy chasing power and glory, despite many warnings, to develop a contingency plan for New Orleans in case of catastrophic hurricane. The (horribly inadequate) plan in place was simply that residents would drive out of New Orleans, despite the fact that thousands of residents did not have access to vehicles. You know - the poor folk, Georgie? I know you haven't had much contact with “those people,” but if you could have gotten your head out of your own ass for a couple minutes...

There's some sick oil dependency for ya. “Just drive!” That solves everything for an oil baron Texan, doesn't it? Unable to get beyond his own immediate perspective, he did not understand the situation, did not listen to advisers and went about doing things “his way.” Which, of course, was no way at all, and more than 1,800 people died in what was an atrocious lack of responsibility, creating a disaster that could have been much better contained.

I read a while ago that scientists estimate every square mile of ocean has 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it, all ready to be swallowed by marine life.

This statitistic is just mind-boggling to me and shows what the Pluto in Virgos (born 1956 - 1973) are coming into after the “live today, plan tomorrow” shit show of the Pluto in Leos.

And maybe all is not lost and the mainstream Pluto in Leos will get it together and start working for the whole, instead of looking out for number one.

If their retirements are in jeopardy, maybe this is the ego transformation they need, coming later in life? That they will have to continue to work for the Pluto in Virgos under a very different system of doing things? Not “their way” anymore.

As I said earlier, Leo is a fixed sign, and the Pluto in Leos are not going to give up their place at the head of the table easily.

But with the shift into Pluto in Virgos being in the driver seat combined with the full-on shift into the Aquarian paradigm, the Pluto in Leos are going to have to get with the program. They can either start living for the betterment of all of humanity and living things, having some long-range vision, or they will become more and more redundant, clinging to their big heads and personal way of doing things, anyone else be damned.

As far as the Aquarian portion of the Pluto in Leo's generational exam, I would have to give them a big old C-. Just like Baby Bush's average at Yale.

Here you can see how it is all connected. One generation successfully achieving its imperatives, doing its generational (Plutonic) work, carries forward. The progress made assists forthcoming generations. But if one generation drops the ball in a big way, the next generation will be playing major catch-up. Unfortunately, Virgo is a sign that often has to take on the work of others, work that has been neglected by other people. It is a sort of karmic catch-all at times. So through no fault of their own, the Pluto in Virgos will now have to start their process in a complete and utter mess. The immaturity and lack of large-scale vision for the planet of the preceding generational leaders makes it so."

Willow's August 2008 Astro Perspective

The first day of August brings a New Moon total solar eclipse in Leo, ushering in a new backdrop of personal creativity and living from our hearts’ truths. This New Moon solar eclipse will infuse us with the Leonine courage necessary for the new creative cycle unfolding as we express who we truly are and allow that expression to lead the way into something better. Channelling the love we have inside into our lives and using what inspires us on the deepest levels as a force for action and change. It means saying goodbye to old ego games, old creative expressions, old personality traits, old glories that have had their day and saying hello to a new context for our creative self-expressions. It means bringing a whole new role for the creative force within all of us into the community at large. Fresh!

We start the month with the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus in Leo, the sign of the performer, the artist and royalty. Leo is symbolized by the regal lion, king of the jungle, and its ruling planet is the Sun, so the Sun is very happy and comfortable being in this sign. Flowing expression of the self. Leo relates to the joy of creative self-expression and the child-like wonder and magic of the moment. Revelling in our ingenius creations. Think of a child totally wrapped up in whatever it is creating - a mudpie, a finger painting, a play for its parents. Within that creative process, nothing else seems to exist. Nothing else matters. So this is the conscious backdrop of this month as we enjoy the summer. Living in the moment, enjoying being ourselves. Fashion, parties, fun, the dramatic nature of the human experience. Celebrity is a Leonine thing, and if you look at famous Leo Suns, they generally have that larger than life quality. Madonna (Express Yourself!) and Jennifer Lopez come to mind. Dramatic and showy…but also prone to ego excess, insane demands of other people (their peons) and doing things just to gain attention rather than for the true benefit to the community. I'm sure these (and most) artists could somehow justify how everything they do is of benefit to the community...but again, in a lot of cases, there is a strong element of self-indulgence talking.

With the South Node in Leo this month, connecting with the personal planets, there are certain expressions of self that we are being asked to move on from. Suns that have sustained us with warmth in the past are burning out. Continuing to follow those same orbits will provide decreasing amounts of energy. It's no longer about creating strictly for fame, attention, glory or personal ego fulfillment. The world doesn’t need another diva.

The North Node, Chiron and Neptune are still in Aquarius, and the personal planets that inconjuncted Aquarius from Cancer last month now move to oppose from Leo. The tension of the Leo - Aquarius polarity challenges us to understand ourselves, our creative self-expressions and what we create within the larger context of the community, the planet, the times in which we are living and our desired future. It’s the balance between individual (Leo) and collective (Aquarius).

So while we're living it up as the Leonine stars that we are this month, we must also understand that it’s not all about us. There is something beyond the personal, something equally important. Our personal egos and desire for attention and acclaim have to exist within the larger paradigm of what is needed for the community as a whole.

The conjunctions of the Moon, Mercury and Sun in Leo to the South Node (opposing the North Node in Aquarius at the same time) drive these points home. The Moon moves across the South Node August 1, colouring the themes of the New Moon solar eclipse. Dropping the old orbits as we find new ones. Letting old forms of self-expression fall away as we find ones more vital to our current moment. Mercury crosses the South Node August 4 and the Sun does August 10. The South Node relates to an expression that has had its day, to a certain extent. It’s an area that has been mastered as fully as it can be, and in order to continue to develop it, one must head to the opposite point of the polarity, the North Node. With the North Node currently in Aquarius, the way forward is about doing what is right for the community, the planet and the future. It has a humanitarian bent. It means having an objective overview of what is going on around us and using that objective overview to motivate and guide our personal expressions. We have to understand the context of our creative self-expressions, of ourselves and our lives, in general, so that we can truly be brilliant, cutting edge, effective and in the now.

The days of purely hedonistic art are, under the current backdrop of conditions on Planet Earth, well…a little silly. A little out of context. That’s not to say hedonistic art and the lifestyle that goes with it won’t continue to be pursued. For some, this is the way to go, I guess. But we're in the dying days of the Piscean era, which means that the overall context for art and creativity are changing. We are shifting away from romanticizing the tortured and/or pampered artist, wrapped up in the Neptunian pursuits of booze, drugs and transcendence, sacrificing personal health for the sake of the art, insulated in a bubble of his or her own making. The current astro conditions are asking us to move on from the old ideas of art and creativity and from the old ego pursuits of fame, attention and elevation from the masses as a special, special snowflake.

The Aquarian winds of change are asking us to increase our relevance by ensuring that our art (whatever form it takes), our creative force, has a larger context - aligned with bringing the Aquarian future into reality. We can personally determine what the specifics mean for us, but the creative expression of the self must be aligned with the way forward and with the vision of a world that works for everyone, not just for the few “in control” within the current structures. This month, we are challenged to express ourselves creatively while keeping our gaze firmly on the way forward, creating something new, something relevant, something to catalyze the revolutionary spirit. It is about using our creative power and the power of our personalities to make it possible for everyone to be the artist that he or she is. Rather than segregating into the “artistic” community, or creating an artificial image for ourselves, it’s about unleashing the creative potential of the entire community, within the entire population. Cutting a path forward that inspires people to listen to their own creative muse and live from their hearts’ truths in their day-to-day lives - in whatever form that takes. To live as if their hearts’ desires really matter - because they do. It’s about freeing not only ourselves but those around us, little by little, by making the world a little more beautiful, more colourful, and making that beauty and colour accessible to anyone who wants to share in it. It’s not about overpowering or intimidating others with the power of our personalities or personal artistry (South Node Leo pitfalls). It’s not about putting our energies into elevating ourselves above others as “the star” or creating glamour and image to separate ourselves from the “regular people.” It’s about incremental changes in the fabric of our communities that make art, creativity, beauty, and the joy of living accessible, bringing all people closer to achieving their creative potentials - all who want to, anyway. In a society of people often dragging themselves through uninspiring work/lives, to touch peoples’ hearts and souls is important. To uplift and assist people through our acts of creative genius is important. This is the redefining of the role of the artist/artistry within the community that is going on this month. Maybe getting back to what art’s true purpose is…and to the true purpose of the creative force in all of us. Bringing it back to the people and leading away from it being a pursuit only of or for the financial elite.

The emphasis on the Leo - Aquarius polarity will especially be hitting home for the Baby Boomers this month (Pluto in Leo generation - born 1939 to 1958). They have gotten pretty used to ruling the roost, their way or the highway, and now the winds of change are whipping up. It will be interesting to see the shifts happening…and whether there is a lot of ego clinging to the old glories and structures. My guess, knowing what I know about Pluto in Leo, is yes. I suspect we will see some royal tyranny coming up for a purge. Some immaturity, some ego crystallization, some bullying with personality coming up from the depths. The puffed up egos being broken down could get ugly, so stay detached if you are in close contact with a Baby Boomer - or are one! Don’t get bogged down by the detritus. Don’t get involved in the drama. Just keep an eye on where you’re going.

It’s not all about them anymore - and this could come as quite a shock to the system for the Pluto on Leos. The king/queen of the castle doesn’t give up that position easily. But it’s time to grow up, make room, become aware of what is going on. To become equals and comrades, rather than lording personal power over others. The vanity projects are losing steam.

August 16, we have a Full Moon partial lunar eclipse in Aquarius, showing us that one wave of work we’ve done to create the space for new ways has come to completion. At this point, we have created a new balance between individual and collective. Or if we haven’t, the work we still need to do should be forced into the open by the heightened emotion of the Full Moon eclipse. Luckily, the emotional detachment of Moon in Aquarius will help us not to become overwhelmed by what is left to be done, by how far it is from where we are to where we need to go.

Less than 12 hours after the Full Moon eclipse, we have a Mars in Virgo - Pluto in Sagittarius square. A tense aspect between two powerful energies - the force of personal desire (Mars) and the force of evolutionary desire (Pluto). Pluto in Sagittarius will dig up excess and crystallization of religious or cultural ideology, rhetoric, beliefs, etc., and Virgo will analyze and trim away anything that is no longer necessary.

We’ll see the sometimes dark truth of how people really feel, what they really believe, coming to the surface…possibly kicking and screaming. The dark edge of religious fundamentalism, cultural/educational bigotry, dogma. Misuse of universal law, twisted to further certain ideologies and groups. This will set the stage for us to determine what we will and what we will not participate in or further with our personal energies. A paring down there so as to extricate ourselves from anything we can simply no longer tolerate in our lives. Cutting ourselves out of the detritus of crystallized religious, cultural, political views. Understanding people’s true, core-level allegiances and how they may be used to oppress and control others, especially when hidden - as well as our own. Choosing how we operate in our daily lives in relation to that, accordingly. Here, we're getting it all on the table - nothing hidden under the rug. Remember that Pluto is in its final retrograde through the last degrees of Sagittarius…it won’t touch these degrees again for over 200 years, so we have to get to all of it. Virgo will make sure of that, as it knows the importance of dealing with the details.

Mercury and Venus in Virgo will follow Mars’ footsteps later in the month, also squaring Pluto in Sagittarius. Mercury on August 27 and Venus August 29. This will force the issue even further, if necessary. We really have to get clear on any hidden cultural/religious/ideological dynamics and determine just what we will and will not participate in. Understanding things on this core level will help us to define our roles so that we do not get caught up in any draining karmic dynamics here.

There will be some pain here (and throughout the month) for the people who have already been attempting to move past man-made oppression/control structures…who have been trailblazing from way back. The North Node is conjunct Chiron in Aquarius all month, and all the Virgo planets are co-ruled by Chiron in Aquarius…again, the wound of the visionary, of the ones leading into the future and the difficulty, attacks and alienation that sometimes go with that.

Mars leaves Virgo for Libra, the sign of balance, harmony, justice and relationship, August 19, and we desire to maintain peace and harmony…which might be difficult, depending on what the Full Moon eclipse and square to Pluto has kicked up. Anyway, here we strive to balance and harmonize “me” with “we.” And to begin new relationships that reflect who we are now and the community we desire to be a part of.

August 5, Venus leaves Leo for Virgo.
August 10, Mercury follows suit.
August 22, the Sun moves into Virgo.
Saturn is in Virgo all month (and for the next year and a bit).

As the month progresses and we shift focus from Leo to Virgo, we move from pure, creative expression of the self and revelry in being who we are to refinement of the self and the ego so as to be of service. Virgo is the sign where we master ourselves, detail by detail, and focus our efforts. Here is where we find “right work.” The work that feels right; the role only we can do.

The planets in mutable Virgo are busy this month…lots of adjustments, changes, cutting away the extraneous, making refinements. Mercury and Venus in Virgo will conjunct Saturn, trine Jupiter in Capricorn, oppose Uranus in Pisces and square Pluto in Sagittarius throughout August.

The cumulative effect of these aspects is challenging us to understand what is being asked of us by the forces of change and to take responsibility for improving things that need improvement on an earthy level. Mars, Mercury and Venus in Virgo opposing Uranus in Pisces, in particular, relate to getting real about practical reality and addressing it so that we can move forward in a real, rather than artificial and over-inflated, way. Understanding the practical realities of the whole. It means dropping old Piscean spiritual ego and ideas of spiritual hierarchy, in general (the “more enlightened than thou” trip). Taking a look at the material circumstances on Planet Earth and taking action to address things we can no longer let slide. Getting our heads out of the Neptunian clouds. Understanding that the work to be done is right in front of us, right here. It’s not about transcending it, ascending past it, or floating along in a state of denial about what is going on. At the same time, we have to recognize when we should just surrender. Choosing our battles and using our energies effectively so as not to overwhelm ourselves. Not taking the weight of the world on our shoulders but not burying our heads in the sand, either.

Dropping the Piscean “head in the clouds” thing is a big battle going on lately on the Internet message boards. The Love and Light Brigade declaring that they live in a “different dimension,” beyond the suffering going on on Planet Earth. To me, this is more misuse of the “creating your own reality” ideology. “I create my reality, you create your’s,” they repeat. Nice sentiment. Unfortunately, this solipsistic idea of reality doesn’t take into consideration collective reality. It doesn’t address how realities are inter-related, inter-connected. Or the fact that if you are currently living on Planet Earth, you are part of the situation, like it, admit it or not. What is going on affects all of us. We’re on the same planet on the material, biological level. There is no escaping physical reality (Virgo) by insisting one is spiritually above it all (Pisces). No one lives in a vacuum. And the denial of the darker, more unpleasant realities of what is going on on this planet is only furthering atrocities. It only gives them free rein. Historically, denial has not proven to be an effective strategy for change.

Another big push in the “creating my own reality” group (that will be put in check by the grounded, no-nonsense Virgo energy) is that positive people create positive realities, negative people create negative realities. This is how they explain away things like war, crime, homelessness, poverty, injustice, class/race/sex oppression, etc. Instead of these situations being the cause of anger and “negativity,” the anger and “negativity” create the situations, they insist. Back assward if you ask me. Using this ideology, people are often discredited or written off for being “angry,” “negative,” or “in a lower form of consciousness” and creating their own bleak circumstances all of their own volition - a convenient way for the positivity police to block out anything that they find personally upsetting. And yet another way that people can dismiss the current circumstances on the planet as “not my problem.” Another way to shirk any collective responsibility for the circumstances in which we find ourselves (“Doesn’t affect me! I’m above all that!”)…while remaining blind to the ways that they take part in and benefit from these dynamics. Again, not effective if you actually want to improve material conditions (Virgo).

The “ultra positive reality creators” equate positive with “good” and negative with “bad.” In reality, positive and negative are charges that just exist. The good/bad thing is something people decide for themselves. The idea that positive creates more positive and more positive is also an error. Negative and positive co-exist on Planet Earth and seek to create balance. Yin and yang. Feminine and masculine. This is a basic physical law on Earth. Excesses of positive will more than likely create excesses of negative…explaining why the rallying cry from the positivity pushers in the New Age establishment is that everyone who disagrees with them is “negative.” Well, when you insist on experiencing only the “positive,” denying anything that doesn’t fit into your happy, happy, blissed-out world view, that leaves the negative to try to balance off those excesses. And here is the challenge of the Virgo energy this month - to provide some much needed reality checks to the dying-days Piscean era ideology that has gotten a little out-of-touch with physical reality…

Doing things in an attempt to elevate ourselves above the masses and the problems on the planet will not be effective. Doing things simply to prove how “enlightened” we are will also not be effective. Recreating the forms of the past is not what is being asked of us. Under these astro conditions, we must be cutting a path forward as equals, staying real and grounded while creating something new. Moving forward collectively. I don’t move forward until we move forward.

We are also being asked to make sure that our creative forces are not being hijacked in ways that we do not agree with. With the focus on Virgo this month, we must define exactly the roles we play using what we’ve learned from listening to our hearts' guidance. Define yourself or be defined, Virgo says! And none of us really wants to be defined by someone else’s limited view of us. Virgo asks that we choose carefully what we participate in, how we use our personal energies (and how others use those energies), cutting away our involvement in those dynamics we do not wish to further. Virgo relates to service, and too often in today’s societies, the huge contribution of service people is overlooked for something more superficial and glamorous. Too often, Virgoan service falls into dynamics where its masterful energy is taken for granted and not appreciated or recognized as much as it should be. This has to change. And changing it means a lot of analysis and focus on the details of our lives. We need to be precise in what we do and say so that we are serving only what should be served (in our personal estimation)…serving only those situations and dynamics we wish to further, rather than propping up structures, dynamics and people that do not warrant our energy and assistance. The current structures will not shift until we make the adjustments personally that we need to make, coming directly into alignment with our heart’s truth and personal vision. We must take responsibility for the service, assistance and roles we provide within the systems of our society. We have to ask the questions: Who and what am I serving? What dynamics am I supporting and continuing by playing the roles I play? How am I being utilized within the systems of my life, and do I agree with it? With Virgo, the smallest adjustments and refinements create big results. No detail is meaningless. Adjusting, adjusting, adjusting and looking to understand the reality of the world around us so that we truly understand our own context within it.

At the end of the month, Mercury (August 28) and then Venus (August 30) join Mars in Libra. Now, we start to see Libra themes related to balance, equality and justice. Our relationships with others come into play more fully, and we work to harmonize the differences that came up earlier in the month (and year). Some relations can be harmonized…others will have to change dramatically. Keeping the peace is a Libra theme. And hopefully, by this point, we are working to maintain a true, core-level peace and harmony. The squares between Virgo and Pluto at the tail-end of Sagittarius should have forced our different allegiances and ideologies to the surface one final time for analysis. If we have done our work here, we can avoid a Libra pitfall…which is keeping things nicey nicey on the surface while darker, unresolved things brew underneath. Superficial peace does not last long. Avoiding uncomfortable realities and differences within our relationships will eventually come back to bite us in the ass. With luck, we can take these things on in a meaningful way and create a new harmony, based in practical reality.

The last day of the month brings our second New Moon of August. This one is in Virgo and will usher in a new cycle related to the Virgo themes mentioned earlier in the Astro Perspective. Taking responsibility for all aspects of the roles we play, the functions we perform.

- defining ourselves and our roles very precisely
- discontinuing those dynamics we no longer wish to support
- serving only what we truly feel befits us at our best
- focussing, working out the details, smoothing out the rough edges
- cutting out detritus on all levels
- improving diet, habits, holistic health in general
- removing anything that is a detriment to mental or physical health
- streamlining to conserve energy