If you have a creative business you have probably done an "imagining your ideal customer" exercise where you determine you are selling to "Sue from the city - a 42 year old childless exec who needs to look polished and professional, has no time to get herself looking polished and professional and really, really needs your thingamajig".
Or maybe your ideal customer is "Debbie from Dallas (no, not
that Debbie from Dallas) - a mom who prioritizes her children's homeschooling, supplementing her family's income with minimal sacrifices to family time and yes, still having great Texas hair (
and I'm from New Jersey and not judging, yes, hair still matters)."
Being a definite square peg, I have never been much for pigeon-holing people - on the other hand this type of exercise is often strangely effective. With everyone seeing different things now - gone are the days of three TV channels and one local newspaper where sellers/makers/businesses knew where they needed to be - we need to know who we are making our thingamajig
for or selling our thingamajig
to, so we can try and figure out where they will be
looking. So we can be
there.
One way astrology can help with this process is by allowing us to look at the generational
needs of our customers. The three outer planets - Neptune, Uranus and Pluto - most greatly impact collective energy over time. I'm writing this with an eye on the United States since it's the country I am most familiar with, but the same energies apply everywhere.
We've all heard of the Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Y - is there a Z or are they the Millennials? I'm not sure and I don't know exactly how they determine the birthday cut-offs with this stuff. The dates I've seen would make Obama a Baby Boomer and that doesn't feel right to me.
I think astrology is a good way of looking at generations if we analyze the
natal placement of the planet Pluto.
Pluto is a slow moving outer planet. The furthest planet from earth (
yes, Pluto is a planet, don't get me started!) and represents karma and the "soul".
We experience a compulsive attention to matters related to the sign where Pluto resides when we are born.
NOTE - Pluto moves in and out of a sign as it retrogrades, stations and moves direct so a person born within the first couple years Pluto is in a sign may be more in tune with the previous sign and a person born in the last two years more represented by the following sign. And of course each person has their own individual chart with many aspects and placements including the energy of Pluto's
house that may work against this collective energy - still, this way of looking at generations will be helpful when we
think about our customers as a group.
OK, let's start with the oldest generation alive today -
the Pluto in Cancer generation (born 1914 - 1939) is ruled by the Moon.
This is the 'Greatest Generation'. The United States is a Cancer Sun country so that name is probably pretty applicable. They fought for home and country and pretty much crafted the nuclear family and Norman Rockwell image of America.
Cancer is the sign of the mother, nurturing, fertility, security, patriotism, community, family. They are protective, moody, intuitive, secretive. Cancer is a cardinal sign ushering in a new season - think 'starting' here. Cancer is a water sign. A water sign needs to be balanced by rationality, groundedness and decisiveness.
Pluto in Cancer gives this generation a connection with the past, a strong sense of 'what was'. Change is/was hard for them. They like and honor history. They hold on to things. They gave up everything for their families. They are loyal and once they have 'bought into' something, it is hard for them to change. They might buy the same products they have always bought, even though things that are better for them are out there now. They do what they
have to do.
If your creative business services this group - think about some of these Cancer buzzwords. Think about how this collective energy would feel merging with the energy at play today.
(
today Pluto is in Capricorn - Cancer's polarity sign, so he is opposite this generation's natal Cancer - they can see things differently now - they can see both sides of the story and what they didn't want or couldn't hear before they can be more open to now)
What do they need/want now? Remember this is mature energy - they have worked through a lot of this stuff already, but their basic nature is still probably to hunker in; to protect. The best way to work with Pluto in Cancer people may be to offer nostalgia, a connection with something already familiar to them, security, less complex choices, etc. More than any other group, it is probably very hard for this generation to have the structures they have relied on their whole lives falling apart as they are now. Keep this in mind.
The Pluto in Leo generation (mid 1939 - 1957) is ruled by the Sun. This is the hippie, rock 'n roll generation that brought us government protests, make love not war, women's rights, African American rights, basically turned everything on its ear.
They get blamed for mostly ending up conforming to society, but with the Leo archetype representing the "king", this was always more about "self realization" than group think. Lots of people were born during these years, so there was, and is, a lot of this energy for the universe to work with! Yes, they are self-absorbed (
especially in comparison to the Pluto in Cancer generation), but also incredibly self-expressive. They were willful children, became willful parents and raised more willful children!
(
in 2023 Pluto will move into Leo's polarity sign of Aquarius and the age of Aquarius begins)
They came here to be bigger than life (Sun) and make things better. They have the Leo lion's courage "We can do anything!". They took center stage. They took charge. They wanted/want to show the world what they can do. This energy is still running things, although the next generation, Pluto in Virgo, who is cleaning up Leo's mess (change is messy and wanting to be special has its drawbacks) is slowly taking over.
Ruled by the Sun and ruler of the 5th house - Leo is a fixed sign; stable and dependable. The energy is dramatic and creative. They are generous and proud. They are natural leaders. They are the most self-concerned generation, took therapy to new heights partly because they love to talk about themselves, but mostly because they are here to break through the barriers of the ego (Sun).
If your creative business services this age group - think about some of these Leo buzzwords. Think about how this collective energy would feel merging with the energy at play today. The structures they railed against in their youth are collapsing, but they have come to embrace these same structures - so what does that feel like for them? What do they need now?
Again this is mature energy - they have worked through a lot already, but their basic nature is still to "shine". The best way to work with Pluto in Leo people might be to offer them a feeling of being special, a way to be center stage, a place at the head of the table. They want thingamajigs that make them look and feel good. Think luxury, royalty, boldness, color. Think about "what's in it for them".
Next up what your Pluto in Virgo and Pluto in Libra customer needs :)
