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This article is part two of what started out as a blog about all of the generational icons who passed away in 2016 evolved into a study on our social and societal generations in general. I began looking not only at those celebrities and their influences upon our lives, but also at the political, societal, and social climates we are facing now and in the years ahead.

PLEASE NOTE: This ended up being an extremely long article, but because I wanted to have continuity with the content, I felt I needed to keep these two generations posted together.

The outer planets of our solar system – specifically Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto – determine our generations and our generational influences. They create the larger grouping, subsets of those groupings, and further subsets still.

In most cases, these planets enter a sign, then retrograde out of that sign before turning around and going forward into the sign again for a full run. For this reason, the ending of one generation and the beginning of the next is not always clearly defined – there is some overlap.

Yet what is fascinating (astrologically speaking) is how the planetary influences affect our roles in the bigger picture of humanity. We can see the influence certain generations had/have on our cultures and societies simply by looking at which planets were in influence at the time. The planetary positions of the outer bodies reflect:

• The time or era in which they were born and raised – what it taught them about the world, how it influenced them.
• The time or era in which they come into power – how they go about changing the world, how they want to make and leave their mark.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing about the generations currently alive and active now. For some of these, I will be addressing those who have recently crossed over so their legacies can be properly addressed in the context of astrology (and occasionally, numerology, too).

Because I’m going off of my astrological analysis, my dates for these periods may be different from what is popularly agreed upon by some sociologists.

When looking at the famous persons who passed away this year, I noticed three distinct groupings. This blog post will address the second and third groupings.

In part one, we covered the first group – those in what we popularly call “The Greatest Generation” (born approx. 1914-1929) and “The Silent Generation” (born approx. 1928-1943).

Here in part two, we’ll be covering The “Baby Boomers” (born approx. 1942-1958) and The “Crisis Generation” (born approx. 1955-1970).

We’ll first talk about the Baby Boomers.

• Pluto in Leo with Neptune in Virgo or Libra and Uranus in Taurus or Gemini – This group included Alan Rickman (born 21 February 1946) – David Bowie (born 08 January 1947) – Alan Thicke (born 01 March 1947)

In the case of these three who passed away last year, all three have Uranus in Gemini, Neptune in Libra, and Pluto in Leo.

Interestingly enough, most of the world’s politicians currently in positions of executive power are also in this generation.

The top three most recent U.S. Presidential candidates (from the 2016 election cycle) – Bernie Sanders (born 08 September 1941), Donald Trump (born 14 June 1946), and Hillary Clinton (born 26 October 1947) were all of this grouping.

And in current world leaders, Vladimir Putin of Russia (born 07 October 1952), Xi Jinping of China (born 15 June 1953), Angela Merkel of Germany (born 17 July 1954), Shinzo Abe of Japan (born 21 September 1954), Theresa May of the United Kingdom (born 01 October 1956)…they are all of this same Pluto in Leo grouping.

This generation is called the “Baby Boomers” because there was a significant increase of child births in the years during and shortly after World War II and the Korean War. These people are those children born during that time.

There were some especially notable historical events happening during the time the “Baby Boomers” were being born. The A-Bomb was used to effectively end World War II, but its use began a Nuclear Arms Race between major countries of the time, most notably the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. The formation of the United Nations also occurred during this time, marking the beginning of a shift away from imperialism and toward honoring the sovereignty of various nations. The goal was the establishment and maintenance of peace, but as some parties took to the idea of sovereignty better than others, tensions were created. This was also a period in history in which “superpower” militaries engaged in their first foreign ally/intervention wars. All of the parties engaged in the Korean and Vietnam (or Second Indochina War) Wars (including the U.S, the U.S.S.R., China, etc.) took their sides with these warring nation states in ways which established a major turning point in world history, setting the stage for the generation to follow. As these matters converged, what is known as “The Cold War” began in 1947.

Pluto in Leo people are committed to bringing transformation to all areas of creative self-expression. They are determined to destroy the old paradigms of what is acceptable in individual self-expression, and often choose to make themselves popularly known by celebrating one or more unique qualities they possess – something that is uncommon or unusual in some way.  It may not seem like it at times, but they do crave positive acknowledgment more than anything else.

Of course, they will empower whatever and whomever gives them that positive acknowledgment. Whatever and whomever does not will be ignored as long as they remain neutral or silent.

However, the dark side of Pluto in Leo folks is that if they are not being given the acknowledgment they want, they become attention whores – seeking attention at any and all costs. This often results in members of this generation throwing some form of tantrum(s) until they get the attention they crave.

The problem is…the tantrum gets them attention, but usually not in a positive way. This is when it gets ugly. When met with negative attention, those in the Pluto in Leo generation often seek to intellectually and/or physically destroy whatever they believe is getting in the way of their quest for positive acknowledgment. Usually a good round of slander or character assassination will satisfy their egos, but let’s be clear – these people usually can’t take what they dish out.

That said, Pluto in Leo people are amazing in drawing attention to themselves, usually in positive ways.

• For those with Neptune in Virgo, they may find that creating practical solutions for everyday problems was/is their strength. They also see things from the perspective of problem-solving – they are solution-driven, and really strive to seek solutions to problems rather than to scrap things and start over from scratch. They can be tenacious and detail-oriented, and will always seek to make things more efficient and effective than they already are. Their ideal is to improve the functionality of the world.
• The weakness of Neptune in Virgo natives is that they saw/see everything from the perspective of practical and functional need. Though health, wellness, and function are fundamentally important to our everyday lives, they often were/are challenged in getting others to see their point.
• For those with Neptune in Libra, creating diplomatic partnerships or peacefully connecting with others may have been/may be their strength. The great news here is that they really do want to establish balance, euqality, fairness, peace, and harmony between the parties involved.
• Yet they also create(d) these partnerships with their ideals (or delusions) in mind. As much as they’d like to believe they are capable of coming to fair and just agreements, the only truly acceptable agreements are often the ones which favor them. For them, “balance”, “equality”, and “fairness” are matters of perspective, not necessarily a factual reality.

Pluto in Leo people also like to receive positive acknowledgment and feedback from their communities. This is where the Uranus influences play their strongest role. What is also of significant note is that Uranus has more ingresses in the “Baby Boomer” generational group than any other – it touches upon four signs during this roughly 15 year period!

• For the few this group with Uranus in Taurus, they are/were determined to bring changes to the material-physical-financial lifestyle values of their nations and the world. Economic priorities were of paramount importance for these natives, and they used their abilities to acquire what they needed to establish and ensure lifestyle stability and security.
• For those in this group with Uranus in Gemini (Rickman, Bowie, Thicke…Clinton, Trump, Sanders), their community priorities are communication. They want(ed) to control the dialogue that is occurring in their communities. Most of them had/have the gift of gab, and were/are effective in communicating with others. Yet most of them also have two or more faces or dialogues – one for each audience they interact with. They did/do this to maintain the ideal of social balance, fairness, and justice…even if the reality of matters is anything but balanced, fair, and just. These natives can use their powers for good (being honest and earnest spokespeople for important social and societal causes) OR they can use it for evil (propaganda and deceit). And let’s not forget technology’s role in aiding these mass communication endeavors, especially with the use of television on the rise. The television was well on its way to becoming a common household item, making people more informed about what was happening in the world through a visual as well as audio medium.
• For those in this group with Uranus in Cancer (Putin, Merkel, Abe, Xi), their community priorities are family and home. These people are often wanting to bring innovation to their communities without losing the traditional principles in place. However, if a choice is to be made between tradition and innovation, innovation wins every time. These Uranus in Cancer natives also have either a great pride in home and family OR there is an urgent need to distance themselves from their homes and/or families. In both cases, there is a desire to “right the past” – to “correct” the history or set the historical record straight, possibly to even apologize anything negative or “wrong” they perceive needs correcting or adjusting.
• For those with Uranus in Leo (May), their community priority is creative self-expression and making sure the public is pleased with the role they are playing for them. Believe it or not, it’s less about them, and more about who they are being in the eyes of others. They are very conscious of their legacies, and want to make sure that they will look good in the memories of their contemporaries and successors and in historical records. Yet they may also rebel against any group or community that does not give them positive acknowledgment or see them in a positive light. Instead of seeking to destroy their adversaries like Pluto in Leo, Uranus in Leo natives will instead aggravate them by proving themselves to be superior to their adversaries or their adversaries claims in some way (a.k.a. – “one-upping” them)…unless of course, a “Boomer” is gifted with both Pluto and Uranus in Leo in which case both ways of dealing with adversaries are likely to apply. More often than not, this one-upping is done through unexpected acts of original and creative self-expression, though occasionally, it’s done by taking the moral high ground. These people tend to be seen in a positive light by the public, though their contemporaries may be envious of them or competitive with them.

It is imperative to note that the members of the “Baby Boomer” generation will not go quietly. In their minds, they’ve worked way too hard to earn their positions of power and influence just to let them go and let the kids take over. The natives of this generation will not release their positions or roles easily or quietly-  they have too much ego pride. Humility is NOT their strong suit. Though there may be individual exceptions, only by illness, death. or force will “Boomers” let go and allow the younger generations to replace them. They intend to be around for a very long time.

Now that we’ve covered the “Baby Boomers”, let’s move on to our assessment of the “Crisis” Generation (1956-1970).

I call this group “The Crisis Generation” because during this time, the world seemed to be in a state of perpetual crisis – for better and worse. The Cold War peaked in these years through the unprecedented events of nuclear proliferation, the Bay of Pigs incident, the Vietnam War (and those who refused to participate in the draft), and the race to put men into space which resulted in the U.S.S.R. getting the first man into orbit, but also the U.S. getting the first man onto the Moon.

Yet there was also the increase of desegregation orders in racially segregated areas, an increase of women entering a professional workforce dominated by men, and other efforts to bring social equality and justice to matters which eventually led to the peak of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

It was a time for social and societal change like no other before it. It was the first time U.S. citizens refused to answer the call to aid their government by rejecting (or dodging) the military draft, the first assassination of a U.S. President in the television era (J.F.K.),and it was the first time we began to see our world from the outside in. Through protests and sit-ins and love fests and the technology of the day, our perspectives of ourselves and our world would be forever changed…and these changes led to individual and community crises for many people who didn’t know how to find their place in the midst of the changes and the emerging truths.

• Pluto in Leo or Virgo with Neptune in Scorpio and Uranus in Leo or Virgo – This group included Carrie Fisher (born 21 October 1956) – Prince Rogers Nelson (born 07 June 1958) – George Michael (born 25 June 1963)

Carrie Fisher and Prince had Uranus in Leo, while George Michael had Uranus in Virgo.

Carrie and George had Pluto in Virgo while Prince had Pluto in Leo.

But all three shared Neptune in Scorpio, and this is key in distinguishing them as members of the “Crisis Generation”.

• People with Neptune in Scorpio challenge(d) us to face our ideals and delusions about emotional-spiritual depth, intimacy and secrecy. Through them, the ideals they embodied did not meet the ideals previously set – they felt emotion and compassion on a much deeper level than their predecessors, and this affected all of us on a heart and soul level. In many ways, the natives of Neptune in Scorpio gave us permission to express ourselves in heartfelt ways outside of our racial, gender, and overall norms. Yet because they were challenging long-held ideals, they also did not trust others easily. They took the usual ‘deal in extremes’ approach of Scorpio – all or nothing. Either they kept things very secret…or they put it all out into the open for everyone to see.
• That said, this generation is also known for their “stealth philanthropy”. Neptune in Scorpio natives feel very strongly about giving to people and causes that move them deeply in emotional and/or spiritual ways. They seek out ways to make a profound difference in lives of others in their communities and around the globe. They want to know their contributions are not just helping but truly transforming the world and healing people’s souls as well as their everyday lives. Yet hardly anyone in this generation wants their contributions attributed to them. Even those who have Leo Pluto or Leo Uranus, they DO NOT want others to know that the money, resources, or service came from them. They just want to see people healed, happy, and whole – that is reward enough for them. All three of our featured celebrities of this generation – Prince, Carrie Fisher, and George Michael – are being posthumously acknowledged for the contributions  they made to communities and individuals as many of their charitable deeds were not labeled or identified as being made by them while they were alive.
• A few of the “Crisis Gens” have Neptune in Sagittarius. For these natives, they are more open with their philanthropic efforts. They want their contributions to not only be known, but to expand exponentially. They seek ways to make contributions which will be far-reaching, perpetual, or that will increase once initiated.
• Neptune in Sagittarius natives also have a strong global consciousness. They recognize the importance of taking care of everyone, not just their own. They strive to serve their loved ones and their community and their nations and the world. There are no boundaries for their desire to be of service to others. And they’re willing to travel wherever they need to in order to be of service. In fact, with air travel coming into its heyday around this time, Neptune in Sagittarius encouraged people to start traveling even more often, increasing their consciousness of and sensitivity to the well-being of the world.

Regarding the Pluto placements for this generation

• A few “Crisis Gens” had/have Pluto in Leo. For Prince in particular, he was similar to the previous generation due to his Pluto in Leo in that he loved getting positive acknowledgment for his creative self-expression. He didn’t really stand for critics nor anyone who didn’t want or care to understand him to be around him. He kept out his haters, and he kept a very tight inner circle as result – he did NOT trust easily. And though he sought public attention and affection for his creative self-expression, unlike many of his Pluto in Leo counterparts, he also had Uranus in Leo which found him seeking to one-up his critics and naysayers. It wasn’t enough for him to shut them up – he also did his best to shut them down before he shut them out.
• But for the majority of “Crisis Gens” had/have Pluto in Virgo. For Carrie and George and their contemporaries with this placement, their Pluto in Virgo energy was all about transforming daily life. They were committed to finding solutions to problems and challenges of everyday living rather than simply doing away with what didn’t work or function as well as it could of. This is a MAJOR detail about the Pluto in Virgo natives of this generation in general – they did/do not give up on things easily. They did/will do everything they can to fix or heal something before they’ll write it off or let it go. This is reflective of the environment they were raised in as well as how they approach(ed) matters in their lives later on. They would/will always try to fix or heal someone or something rather than give up, almost to a fault.

This generation has three Uranus placements. These placements are significant in that they reveal a critical elements of how another dimension of the Neptune in Scorpio energy was/is expressed in their generation:

• With Uranus in Leo, Carrie and Prince sought positive approval from their community. Yet they also innately knew that in order to get it, they had to rebel against social norms of the day.
  • For Carrie, she challenged the way women were expected to present themselves in the world. Though she visually played the part of a traditional woman in her everyday life, her way of speaking and behaving was anything but what most of society would expect a woman to do. In her role as Princess Leia, she was the antithesis of every other portrayal of a princess – bold, brash, ballsy, and beautiful. She didn’t have to downplay her femininity to prove she was a woman. She also didn’t have to act coy, meek, or softly to prove she was a woman. Carrie also dealt with mental illness and became a champion of mental health by not allowing her own challenges to take her out of the game of life. She embodied who so many of us either wanted to be or actually were/are being in our roles as women, in life. She also had a lot of adventures in her life, but I wouldn’t say they were mistakes or disabilities – I see them as painful and challenging parts of her journey that many people go through in their lives, just maybe not as publicly as she did. Yet because she went through them so publicly and talked about them so openly, she became a testament to how you can triumph over difficult circumstances and choices brilliantly with honesty and humor. Most importantly, she never apologized for being herself, which gave many of us as women the courage to never apologize for being the women we chose/choose to be.
  • In Prince’s case, he challenged how a man presents himself in the world. Though his lyrics clearly spoke to blatant (and sometimes, explicitly graphic) heterosexuality, his visual self-presentation regularly challenged that sound. Often effeminate in his presentation, Prince was a lot like Bowie in that he challenged visual stereotypes of what men should look like or be. But unlike Bowie, Prince was determined to prove himself as a technically capable musician (often playing ALL of the instruments and singing ALL of the vocal tracks on his early albums himself) and as an extraordinary stage performer. He may have gotten eyes on his appearance, but those eyes brought ears to his craft, his passion, and later on, to the messages in his music.
• With Uranus in Virgo, George’s community priority – as is the priority with his Uranus in Virgo contemporaries – was to evolve what practical service and function are. In many ways, he rebelled against what was expected of him as a “rock star”. Combine this with his Neptune in Scorpio, and this is in large part why he did more in practical service to others privately than he ever did in public. He didn’t want attention for it – he did whatever he did in order to bring attention to the causes…and to his music. His music was his joy, and he wanted it and the messages he beautifully conveyed to be known to the world, delivering a purpose-driven everyday message about living one’s life as best and as honestly as you can. It was always less about him and more about getting the depth and power of his art to others, but he did give in to the public and corporate expectations of “rock star” at first, and he spent the rest of his life trying to correct what, in his mind, was that huge mistake of “selling his soul” to the industry.
  • One more fascinating note: Prince, though born as Uranus in Leo, became Uranus in Virgo through progression later in his life. He had a shift in expression which reflected much of what George Michael displayed – a concern for how his lifestyle was being reflected in his music, and the impact his music and lifestyle was having on others. He chose to give is work a more life-affirming purpose in the late 1990’s-early millennial years after converting to the Jehovah’s Witness faith.

And to address a notable absence in the earlier world leaders category, the outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama (born 04 August 1961) is part of the “Crisis Generation” with Pluto in Virgo, Neptune in Scorpio, and Uranus in Leo. As the first U.S. President of African decent, he broke social and societal barriers in that alone. He also brought the power of social media to politics through his campaign for the 2008 U.S. Election. With Pluto in Virgo and Neptine in Scorpio, his focus was getting to the bottom of the nation’s problems and finding solutions for them more than it was seeking power and influence in or over other people and/or the world. And like his fellow Uranus in Leo counterparts, he strived to prove his naysayers wrong. The struggles of his presidency, however, were very generation-driven as many of the problems he had throughout his terms were due to clashes with the “Silents” and “Boomers” in Congress – they did all they could to exert their power to keep him from making any progress he wanted to make.

The “Crisis Gens” are among those currently in power around the world.They won’t be as determined to hold onto power and control as the Baby Boomers are, but they will be very concerned about the legacies they leave behind. Look for the “Crisis Gens” to be more concerned about being known as ‘good people’ after they’ve served their purposes to society rather than being known for their ability to control the world around them.

Coming next in part three: “Generation X” (born approx. 1970-1984).

Thanks for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…

~ Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace