People love to talk about the Generations - an assigned classification of personality type based on when a person was born. Hey wait, that sounds an awful lot like ASTROLOGY! There is some overlap and similarities between the Cultural Generations (generally assigned by pop-culture trends and demographics relating to an age group) and Astrological Generations (Generally assigned by the sign of Pluto and Neptune at the time of birth). I made this graphic above as a simple way of seeing the astrological generations and cultural generations overlaid on a timeline.
Keep in mind that the labels such as "Baby Boomers" and "Generation X" or "Millennials" was terminology related to the demographics and popular culture trends that were happening in the USA. As such, I am mostly talking about historic events and cultural mindsets of people living in the USA with the Astrological generations also - I speak from this perspective because it is what I know, but the astrology is not limited to the cultural impacts of the USA. I'm not a historian, though I enjoy learning about history and I find it fascinating to interpret through as astrological perspective! However there are others who are much more knowledgeable about these topics than I am. Think of this more like a personal project that I am undertaking, and I am sharing my findings and musings with you as I study.
Baby Boomers - 1946 - 1964 An 18 year time period. Generally the Baby Boomer Generation relates to the Population Boom in the United States after WWII. A period of confidence in which America saw itself as a nation of Heroes - these are the Children of WWII Veterans and other young adults who had just lived through the biggest war the world had ever seen. These parents instilled their children with this national confidence, and the dream of wanting the Children to inherit a world that was better than ever before. "Baby Boomers" was a label relating to the United States cultural response to the end of War - a baby boom. Other countries did not have the same population boom or cultural confidence that America did - but the generation of children born during this time period all had some other shared cultural experiences - like Rock 'N Roll, television, the Cold War, and rapid shifts in technology and society. People born during these years were born into a vastly different world than what their parents had grown up in.
Astrologically, this generation could be split in half - between the Pluto in Leo generation and the Pluto in Virgo generation.
Pluto - while a small and distant Dwarf Planet - astrologically relates to great power to bring change. Pluto in astrology relates to the archetypes of Power, Intensity, Death & Rebirth, Suffering, Transformation, Depth, Energy, and Explosiveness. It brings this intensity and transformation to our conscious experience through whatever sign it is moving through. People born under a common Pluto sign share an energetic signature as a "generation" of people who will collectively continue to bring Pluto's Intensity, Depth and transformative power in a specific way or through a specific expression of energy.
Pluto in Leo expresses all this transformative power through the expression of the Leo archetype by being Energetic, Dramatic, A Leader, Powerful, Egotistical, Vain, Generous, Noble, Creative, Talented.
Pluto in Leo: 1937 - 1956
A 19 year time period. These are people who were either very young children when WWII was happening (1939 - 1945), or they were born within the decade after WWII ended. They were likely very susceptible to any Nationalist Propaganda they were exposed to at such a young age - such as news broadcasts proclaiming how "great" the USA was, and that it was the greatest country in the world. They had a childhood filled with images of atomic bombs, and the beginning of the Cold War. However - when these people were teenagers entering the workforce, they found an abundance of jobs, and an economy that was doing very well compared to the Great Depression and the two world wars that their parents had lived through. Pop Culture and Capitalism responded to this young, confident, entitled workforce by creating more products for individual consumerism. This was the first generation to have music that was made just for them rather than for the whole family - Bands made records knowing that the young adults of Pluto in Leo had their own stereo systems to listen to their own music (rather than a whole family gathered around a stereo to listen together). Young, unmarried people bought cars for themselves - not as a family car but as a personal vehicle. Television began to create programs just for the demographic of this very large generation, etc
One can easily see how Pluto in Leo was influencing the culture and personalities of the people born at this time. Leo is about Personal Self Expression, Personal Confidence, Boldness, and Creative Expression. As they entered the workforce and began to influence the world, the Pluto in Leo generation brought a strong focus on Personal Power and Individualism, with a Bold Creativity that changed music, pop culture, television, technology, etc. Their inventions and creations were focused on Marketing this personal power with items of "personal conveniences" and loud, bold individualism.
These are now the very oldest of the "Baby Boomers Generation", and in 2022 - the Baby Boomers who have natal Pluto in Leo are 76 - 66 years old. (Older than 76 are Pluto in Leo but are classified as "The Greatest Generation")
This older half of the Baby Boomer Generation also shares a Neptune Placement.
Neptune in Libra; 1942 - 1957 This 15 year period overlaps with the majority of the Pluto in Leo time period, so it can be hard to tell what aspects of this time relate to Pluto and which relate to Neptune.
Neptune - astrologically this planet relates to the Subconscious - the Dream World of Human experience. Therefore it relates to a Search for Higher Meaning, Spirituality, Dreaminess, a Search for Unity, Self Sacrifice, Inclusiveness, Sympathy, Illusions, Fantasy, Artistic Expression, and Delusions. As another distant and slow moving planet, we generally see the influences of this planet emerge in the collective through pop culture, social spiritual movements, and collective beliefs (or collective fantasies and delusions)
When Neptune moves through the sign of Libra, we will see its Dreamy, Spiritual, Imagination manifest and express itself through realms of Relationships, Diplomacy, Style and Clothing, Art or Aesthetic movements, and cultural belief in the need for Balance, Beauty, and Cooperation. The people born with Neptune in Libra are Indecisive, Balancing, Judging, Beautiful, Charismatic people. The Years of Neptune in Libra we saw a cultural push for the "Nuclear Family" and "Traditional Family Roles", and yet the children of this era were more likely to Divorce than prior generations. As this generation got older, they had a strong influence on the art and music scenes - "Can't we all just get along" and "let's give peace a chance" and "Free Love" - these people were the teens and young adults of the Hippie counter-culture movement in the 1960's to 1970's. The Neptune in Libra generation are romantics at heart - and their romantic idealistic dream of everyone getting along applies not only to their relationships - but in their view of the world, politics, and the workforce as well. When people don't get along, and this romantic idealism is let down or betrayed, the explosive nature of Pluto in Leo comes out - blowing up the relationship and returning to an extreme individualism and the search for Personal Power once again.
Artists, Musicians, and Performers with Pluto in Leo and Neptune in Libra: Bob Marley
Jim Morrison (The Doors) David Bowie Freddie Mercury (Queen) Meryl Streep Robin Williams Arnold Schwarzenegger
Jimmi Hendrix Cher George Harrison
Elton John
Other notable famous personalities with both Pluto in Leo and Neptune in Libra: Stephen King
Angela Merkel
George W Bush Prince Charles
Tom Hanks
Bruce Willis
Oprah Winfrey
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Ted Bundy
Sharon Tate
Bill Gates
Vladmir Putin