Do you ever feel like you’re not typical of “your generation”? Are the classic descriptions of people in your age-group alienating or annoying? Aside from the fact that categories can be infuriating and of course you are unique, there is an explanation.
The actual generational terminology is inadequate. Some of it broadly makes sense: there WAS a baby boom after World War II – hence: Baby Boomers. Millennials were born around the new millennium but wait…that was Generation Z. And if there is a Generation Alpha after Z, do we follow that up with Gen B or Beta? It sounds off.
Astrologically, it makes sense to classify generations by their Pluto sign. Boomers are loosely Pluto in Leo people, Generation X (the term was initially coined by Douglas Coupland, a mordant, witty multiple Capricorn, in his 1991 book of the same title)are Pluto in Virgo and so on.
But as you will see from the table below, each Pluto generation has sub-genres*: early Pluto in Virgo people have Uranus in Leo and are often more boomer-esque in their cinematic or musical preferences, for example. The later Millennials with Uranus and Neptune in Saggo seem boppier (by and large) than the cohort born under Pluto in Libra with Uranus in Scorpio.
You can also see generational similarities if you take the sub-genres into account: The 1989-1995 Sea-Goaty Millennials are energetically similar to the 1961-1969 Plutonic Gen Xers. And the Early Eighties Neon Millennials align with the Rock & Roll Boomer core mid-1950s.
I’m sure there is something to this and that despite vastly different times, generations and their sub-genres with similar elemental mixes share values or come ‘of age’ into similar zeitgeists.
So many questions remain, of course. Are Millennials also Generation Y? Do they encompass Pluto in Libra AND Pluto in Scorpio? Surely not. You may also note that Pluto was in Scorpio, the sign it rules, for a relatively short amount of time
Pluto was in Leo for 17 years, Virgo for just 14, Libra, Scorpio and Sagg for 12 years and Capricorn for 14 years. The Pluto in Aquarius generation will span 20 years (!) and the babies born in the 2nd half of this decade will have Pluto in Aquarius with Uranus in Gemini and Neptune in Aries – more Neons!
You can also see that Pluto in Aquarius is broadly beautifully aligned with the Pluto in Libra generation, elementally at least.
Thoughts?
*Outer planets move in and out of a sign before settling in one for several years so the years in this table do not include incremental moves in the changeover years. These are broad dates.
Image: Chloe Sevigny – Harper’s Bazaar 2007
I’m actually advocating for us to start the trend of going with the NATO phonetic alphabet because let’s be real Pluto in Aquarius is so Gen Bravo
Pluto in Pisces GEN CHARLIE?
People born in the ‘70s are absolutely not millennials. Millennials are 1983-1996.
Totally agree with you.
I’ve been thinking about the Chinese Zodiac as generational as well. For example my brother was a 1970 dog year and I’m a 1982 dog… it seems to align a bit with the Plutonian generation interpretation as well which helps me make even more sense as to why he and I seem like so generationally but in different ways. What do you think about this? It certainly doesn’t fully line up with Western astrology but there is something there.
I always identified Pluto in Libra with Gen Y — they’re constantly lumped in with either Gen X or Millenials but they’re so different and distinct. It’s the sexy generation of like Sarah Michelle Gellar / Britney Spears teen icons, they’re witty / charming / nerdy like Zoel Deschanel. I think it also amplified the more Aries driven “Dudes / Bro” vibe as well maybe because Pluto was opposite. They constantly post GIFs. I could go on.
Millenials like to joke about death. Its a completely different vibe to me
Thank you so much for the Pluto in Libra/ Gen Y idea it makes so much sense. My early 1980s Pluto in Libra children have described themselves as different in the same way, the distinction between themselves and people a few years younger who have more creative angst. Pluto in Scorpio and exploring darkness is quite different from the Libran witty friendly vibe. Maybe a MM update is needed.
Millennial??! This Pluto Libra – Uranus Scorpio 1975 baby is a Gen-Xer thank you very much!
I agree that we are all in little astro sub-groups, but the labels need to be created accordingly rather than keeping the broad labels of Boomer, X, & Millennial etc which have been ascribed to traits & contexts that don’t shift over to suit the astrological sub-gens… eg. Millennials are considered to be the first digital natives. My ’75 gen was still firmly planted in the analogue realm. The internet is considered to have been ‘born’ in 1983, but it was not readily available til most Gen Xers were well out of school and even University – unless you were in the right place and affluent, or a computer prodigy. But we were close enough to observe it, learn it, and adapt to it – to venture into cyberspace, but still with foot firmly on terra firma (and the other on a skateboard). And we do know how to live without it! (We just don’t choose to 😏).
A simpler way of putting it could be:
Gen X: The Muppets
Millennials: Fraggle Rock
YES!
Yep!
This explains so much! I have long felt that the early 90s generation “sub-genre” – as Mystic says – are very different from the earlier Pluto in Scorpios. The double Capricorn strengthens the Scorpio I think: they’re more introspective, less trusting, conspiratorial, very creative. Generalizing of course. And my former partner was technically a Gen X like me but with boomer cultural tastes, this also explains that!
Still the same Pluto Gen Xer. But good to know that I am energetically matched with Sea Goat Millies as two of my friends are these. There is a purity about them that I appreciate. Thanks Mystic.
Triple checked. Pluto in Libra, Uranus in Libra and Neptune in Sagittarius.
I’m completely fine with being a geriatric millennial. And I do feel super aligned with the Pluto in Sagittarius generation too.
Woah… just found out I’m a geriatric millennial. I have Pluto in Libra but I was born in September 1972
This actually makes sense as I identify more with millennials than gen x ers in lots of ways.
My building era is Pluto in Sagittarius and I live with a Sagittarius so….
Cute post 🙂
My formative years were lived with grandparents as mother had 2 business’ to run that were live in & close by so absorbed attitudes from the 30’s & 40’s, THEIR youthful times.
Can sing along to songs from the 50’s but my playlists West Coast 70’s & electronic 90’s with some 60’s blues & as a Sagg, Ali Akbar Khan, Zydeco & Reggae in the mix. Music is me.
Not a typical boomer because coming of age included Ken Kesey & Timothy Leary overlaid with Kahlil Gibran & Baba Ram Dass & don’t own a house as never understood ownership of land thanks to talks from White Cloud an Indian lecturer.
It’s Gen X Y Z here that keep me informed of mind sets, for that i’m grateful, as you may know except for the doggie owners at the parks now don’t mingle at pubs, cafes, gigs or CBD/Malls.
Four close buddies are Millennials & there doesn’t seem to be much difference in age at all, though they listen to me more than i listen to them :-).
Always in awe of the Uranus in sadge friends. They definitely do naturally have the cowboy bebop I would dearly love to embody somehow!
1982 Sag Uranus here — I fully embody and embrace this description. Cowboy Bebop? That’s exactly how I feel and didn’t have the words. Thank you!
I refuse to identify as a millennial after many decades of gen x angst.
It simply won’t do.
Same; ’79 is my birth year and i have 3 older siblings born between ’62 and ’71. My dad is the silent generation and my mom a boomer who has always been aligned w/ the silent generation, not a rebellious bone in her body. The friends i have in my age group all have a totally different relationship to $$, and overall I’ve been too heavily influenced by the traditions of abusing children and authority in general to have any millennial in my personality at all. I do appreciate a micro-generational analysis tho.
🤣
For Millenials sub category 1975 – 1981.
They’re officially known as Xenials.
They have elements of Gen X and Milenials.
I love this analysis, Mystic. I’m a Xennial and feel this deeply. (Actually writing a book about this, specifically from the media and technology perspective)!
I would love to read this – when is it out?
That’s right ! We were coming of age when the internet was also..
I have to agree. We aren’t Full-Stop GenXers. But we can relate to them. Work with them. We have learned at their knee. But I know I am not a Millennial. Millennials spent some of their formative years in AOL chat rooms. The 73-84 crew are still paper-based creatures. Not having the internet until we were in college+ turned us into a sub-category. Also, our anxiety/depression seems to have a different frequency than Millennials and GenZs. They are different energetic creatures.
Semi-SideBar: I’ve been teaching in a college classroom since I was 24 and have taught kids born from 1986-2006. It’s fascinating to feel the energy shifts over time. Same age range, but totally different skill sets and attitudes. To get to a lesson point, I recently asked a student, “What’s the first thing you do when you sit down to eat a steak?” The answer I was looking for: “Cut it up”. The answer I (unironically) got: “Take a picture of it.”
It’s funny though, born in 80 – I spent some of the formative years in the AOL chat rooms (got the internet in HS) and had videogames from the time I was about 8 or 9. But also, vinyl records, tapes, CDs and then Napster. It’s like being on a cusp of a technological shift.
Get the mustard!
Get the mustard! Me too, Penelope Darling 😆
Exactly right. We’re so under the radar, we are invisible
Ahh makes sense
My neighbours who are Circa 1976 and 1980 went on a date night last week. After a few glasses of beverage they came home to play a playlist for the neighbourhood to enjoy. Our household of 1965 -1966 and a cheeky 2008 laughed and eyerolled at their choices- Elton, MJ, Billy J, all early 80’s (we assumed their parental influence) etc etc. Our playlist are much more eclectic and encompass very recent music (stuck on the Beefs Red Bellied Blacksnake) through to punk and blues. This anomaly above may explain this perfectly. Mind you, like good citizens, the music clicked off a few minutes after 12. Would have been alright longer if it was decent and not tragic. (Sorry for anyone that likes Bill, Elton, Michael, Cold chisel and the like, just not for me/us)
Sometimes you’re just in the mood for tragic music though!
Right? I was just wondering earlier this morning if I am the only Pluto Virgo Gen X-er that wished I was a Pluto Scorpio. Granted, I was able to enjoy all of the tragic music of that era since I was a teenager. Although the media calls that musical genre/ time period Goth, in California we called it “death rock”. I really miss those days….I still wear mostly black to commemorate. lol
C’mon not even a lil Bon Jovi power-ballad? Or a sneaky 90s dancefloor classic? And there’s always a moment for Billy J.. *I aaaammmmm … an innocent maaaannn* 🥹
Goodness, what an old school playlist you were treated to! Must be a Gary transit in their astro somewhere 🤣
Garry’s been in Cancer (drippy sentimentalist) & was opposite Mercury most of last week … expressing his feelings?
(I’m too embarrassed to say what i’ve been listening to as he’s also conjunct my Sun, atm)
I always thought Gen-X was from 1965-1980?
Me too!
I’m a (apparently judgemental) millennial? 🤮
Hmmm. Uranus in Leo, Pluto at 2 Virgo, boomer but less committed to the hippy bit than my older boomer siblings and less comfortable with capitalism than my GenX younger sibling. Except for Uranus, Pluto has now transited all my planets and two angles and it’s been … a lot. Pluto through Scorp was the most intense and eventful chapter; in the words of pre-boomer visionary Neil Young, all my changes were there.
I was surprised previously to notice how efficient Pluto through Scorpio was. I would like to nominate myself for the most awkward, Neptune busting coming of age (ages 14-25), with Pluto square Mars, opposite Saturn and transit Venus, Sun, Neptune and Mercury. I felt every day twice. It made me what I am though and now it feels like Pluto in Aqua will be the great undoing, with a Saturn Return in the middle of it.
I had the Gen X nihilism thing fairly sorted. I was into a lot of the underground grungy bands in the later 80s, had several Nirvana ‘moments’, and then I swear I dropped that all like a hot potato as soon as it all got really ‘anthem of the generation’ popular. The doco Hype perfectly captures that time. Poor Kurt. I just don’t think many from our era were made for that kind of attention and adoration.
(Pluto in Virgo, Uranus in Libra and Neptune in Scorpio).
I agree, Pluto plowed through Scorpio with unrelenting intensity, ending on my Descendant at 28’38 Scorp like a hurricane, volcano, and earthquake all at once. I’m still unraveling that hit. And yes, poor Kurt – his music wasn’t my era but I got it. May your Saturn Return be productive and only Saturnian tough love of the very best kind.
Hi Striped Hoarse, so interesting what you wrote about the intensity of the Pluto in Scorpio years! For me it was ages 16-26 and Pluto respectively conjuncted my Venus, squared my Mars, opposed my Moon and then conjuncted my Neptune. I often think back of those times and wonder how I made it through all of this alive, as I was so young. But I did, and it made me strong. I now look forward to Pluto through Aquarius with some trepidation, as Pluto will be ticking off those same planets again (mostly squares). I am wiser and more mature now than I was in the 1980s and early 90s, though, so that should help 🙂 Wishing you the best of luck in Aqua times, Striped Hoarse!
Aww, I want to heart both of these replies. Thank you. I didn’t even mean to post as a reply, but glad I did.
I too am sending good Pluto in Aqua vibes. We are older and wiser.