The Viet Nam Generation:

July 8, 2008

NOTE: Currently, many reading requests are coming in from this group, who are in their early to mid forties. As a consequence, Spirit has given me some new information and prompted me to write about it. If you were born before or after the 1960's, feel free to ignore this issue.

The Viet Nam Generation:
Uranus Crosses Pluto in Virgo, with Chiron in Pisces
Approximately 8/62-4/68

Transiting Uranus crossing Transiting Pluto (in the sky) can be considered a relatively rare event, occurring about every 112 years. It last occurred in the mid to late 1960s and for most included an opposition to Chiron in Pisces. People born during its passage are now in their forties, and dealing with a major transformation. The Chiron placement was unknown at the time, but is now active, primarily as a trigger for the upgrading of Virgo.

A standard reading of Uranus conjunct Pluto is overkill. The historic event which roughly corresponded to the last time this transit occurred was the Viet Nam War. Only when I read Flight of the Intruder, by Stephen Coonts did I really get the connection. He described a war in which modern technology was confronted by a much simpler lifestyle. He described the repeated bombing of certain targets which hardly merited being bombed once–largely because the vision of the war, held by the two combatants, was entirely different. If neither side truly won, it was because they were not fighting the same war. And because of that, many of the (American) troops suffered great emotional and/or spiritual damage. So then, in metaphysical terms, what was the message? What was the point?

From another point of view, there are certain events which seem to land us in a strange world, one for which we do not know the rules, one which we are ill-equipped to handle. When such an event happens, we are torn loose from our grounding and find ourselves afloat in a different reality–at least for a moment. For the men who were sent to the Viet Nam War, the experience was extended over months and years and some became so detached from their accustomed reality that full recovery became questionable. Again, in metaphysical terms, what was the message? What was the point?

In a sense, most, probably all, natives of this period face such a crisis or turning point, at or near the Uranus Opposition (Demi-Return). Every person born has a Uranus Opposition, usually during the period between age forty and forty two–occasionally somewhat earlier or later. It is the most obvious opportunity for changing the direction of life in most incarnations. When Uranus stands alone, it usually takes about one year to process the changes. Those who have other planets near Uranus in their natal chart will find that this period is somewhat extended and/or intensified. For those born in the mid to late nineteen-sixties, it is usually both intensified and extended.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Virgo is an earth sign, and less malleable than the other elements. Even more problematical is the fact that Virgo has long been poorly understood, due to the common religious notion that no person is perfect, or can become perfect while on Earth, but that everyone should try. The conditioning puts Virgo in a no-win situation. Whether you have any other planets in Virgo or not, Uranus in Virgo will affect your capacity to make changes, while Pluto in Virgo affects your capacity to take back your power from those who taught to live this kind of frustration.

The greater metaphysical truth is, and has always been, that we are born perfect, whole, and complete. Ultimately, Virgo stands between spiritual childhood and adulthood, at the point where full stature has been reached and a basic education acquired. Having achieved this, Virgo must now go out into the world/society and put what s/he has learned into practice. The only thing and Virgo person or planet needs is practice. Entering adulthood, we all (at least everyone before the New Kids) make some mistakes. Still, practice leads to mastery, and mistakes should be regarded as a normal part of learning how to use our adult years.

With Uranus in Virgo, what needs to change is your methods of handling life. You are asked to give up the struggle for perfection–you cannot now attain what is already behind you. Relax, give yourself a break, and continue practicing. This is not different from learning to drive a car. At first it takes all of your attention. Often we grind the gears, or kill the engine. Some of us run into something (I did). But, gradually, over time and with practice, we learn to drive with ease. In time, many of us drive almost automatically, and are able to trust that our attention will return as needed for dealing with other drivers, etc. This is the point where we have mastered driving.

For Virgo Uranus, the period can be extended because you try too hard, or are too worried about making your changes perfect. Instead, this placement asks you to practice making changes in how you handle life–commonly over a longer period than some other signs, so that you achieve enough mastery to be able to make changes of method without undue stress. You may wish to find a guru–a spiritual astrologer or life coach, for example. Most of you will simply work through the process–an ability for which Virgo is famous.

When Pluto conjuncts any other planet, it intensifies the transits to it. Pluto’s motif is metamorphosis, and this is one of the most profound changes anyone can make. So with this conjunction, the Uranus Opposition period is greatly intensified–often in a rather compulsive way. More than that, this intensity comes from your higher self, which often quite high-handedly takes over our lives from time to time–without bothering to ask our ordinary thinking mind. As one who has the Pluto energy prominent in my chart/life, I learned long ago that my lower mind is not in control and making firm, long-term plans are useless. Bit by bit, I have been required to accept that Spirit works through me–whether I think so or not, and it takes me where it will. But I have also learned that it does a very good job of directing my life when I get out of my own way!

Although, for this generation, the mid-life turning point is a major event, since 1977 a saving grace has been available to assist in the process. That gift is an opposition from Chiron in Pisces. Ordinarily oppositions are considered rather stressful in themselves. They require the two (or more) planets involved to cooperate or fight–rather like a marriage, they come from opposite view points (as male and female, for example) and must discover a meeting ground where contributions are equal and balanced.

This opposition is one of the exceptions, made easier by the fact that Chiron is the new ruler of Virgo, having superceded Mercury. In essence, this is about correcting the spiritual error described earlier. In so doing, Chiron has upgraded Virgo’s meaning and purpose, with the practical effect of allowing Virgos to tune in their intuitive/visionary/creative capacity. As they accept their own innate perfection, they are able to move forward both socially and spiritually, without the old fears of doing something imperfectly.

And for the Viet Nam generation, it frees you up to listen and learn from an inner voice of inspiration. More than that, it allows you to retrieve your power–to discover the power/ability to do that which you once feared to try.

While Uranus often refers to the kind of change that resembles the remodeling of a structure for a changed or improved use, for this group the change is greater, more dramatic because the Pluto effect refers to a complete metamorphosis. The old life is simply wiped out and replaced by a new one—transformation–rebirth. I like to call any transit involving Pluto a butterfly transit, in which you are transformed from the ordinary overly-grounded person, crawling in the dust, to a beautiful butterfly, soaring above the flowers. During this period, a few get their angel wings and soar among the stars. Either way, it is worth the struggle, out of the bindings of the past, to sit in the sun, with drying wings.

Cancer

It is impossible to predict, from the birth chart, exactly how planets, points, and houses in Cancer will turn out. Cancer is the energy of beginnings, the place and/or signature of birth and infancy. Like an infant, who grows more and faster than s/he ever will again, the Cancer area of any individual chart can be expected to grow, and keep on growing. It also suggests emergence, as a plant emerges from the soil. It is the place where something which has been gestated in the dark of womb or soil, emerges into the light. The more care it is given, the more love and attention, the healthier the growth. It is from lack of nurture, that certain Cancers become moody and depressed.

Traditionally, Cancer is known as one of the three so-called unconscious signs. This writer believes that they are, more accurately, pre-verbal memories, what might be called subconscious memories.
We usually think of memories as describable. Ordinarily, memories contain both a verbal and an emotional component. Babies are born without (recognizable) language. Memories acquired in this lifetime begin before we learn to speak, which means mostly, perhaps entirely, before we can truly think. They must be recorded in pictures and/or feelings, which are triggered by later events, bringing up apparently irrational emotional responses. It may be important to realize that there is a reason for such responses, even if you do not consciously know it. In the psychological sense, the source of such responses comes from very early in life–occasionally before birth, and nearly always before age two or three. Many, perhaps all, such responses are linked to events which happened before you had language–at least before you had language adequate for describing the event.
On the surface, those with strong Cancer influences in their charts often appear moody–may even think of themselves that way. This may only be the result of their tendency to soak up all the feelings of those around them. All water signs do this to some extent, because water has little or no resistance to have things dropped into it. Natives who have good strong Saturn boundaries will have less trouble with this. One way to use this to advantage would be to imagine/visualize some type of wall–or preferably filter–which will keep out, or at least limit the penetration of other people’s feelings. Make a picture, then summon up a feeling of safety (Cancer has much to do with feeling safe and secure) and comfort.
Spend time at least once or twice daily with this exercise for a (lunar) month. After that, repeat as needed.

In the ordinary sense, Cancer is related to feelings. Feelings are the mind of the body, telling us what we need. Literally, feelings refer only to the basics: hunger, thirst, pleasure, pain, etc. Generally, it is these feelings that Cancer types pick up so easily. One of the great problems in this area is that many people continue to hold on to unmet needs from their earliest years of life. The truth is, that when we have parents–especially mothers–who do not meet our needs, it is a sure sign that we have already evolved beyond the need or more than we were given. We do choose our parents –of course they must agree. As we near the end of an age, many of us are entering into families which lesser-evolved being would not survive. Whatever our reasons for doing so, of one thing we may be sure: We knew that we could survive, and that we could overcome.

Going beyond this level, we find the enlightened Cancer types who are really channels. They absorb material from the higher mind or super-consciousness–the point where mind is neither limited nor linear, where you can remember things from the apparent future. To the degree that it is a Cancer function, this will come primarily as visions, and perhaps feelings–sometimes the feeling of a vision or a vision of certain feelings. Many from this group become artists, especially painters. The artist can only draw what and how s/he sees.

For Cancer types, one of the most important things to realize is your innocence, for it is the innocence of a small child. You came into this lifetime with a clean slate. This is true, at any level, for the cycle of incarnation turns and turns through the Zodiac. In whatever cycle you are living out, you have newly emerged and you are born free–free of condemnation, free of error, free of karma. Take these words from the Master Jesus as your standard:

Permit the little children to come unto me.
Forbid them not,
For of such is the kingdom of God.