What do Brad Pitt and Katie Holmes have in common? Both have unaspected Suns in Sagittarius that are being hit hard by a conjunction of Pluto this year, and both are involved in high profile relationships that are turning their lives upside down.

Individuals whose astrological Sun makes no major connections or aspects to other planets in the birthchart can experience difficulty in establishing an independent identity and in experiencing a real connection with others. Brad Pitt is well known for morphing into a likeness of his partner, and Katie Holmes appears to be losing her own identity under Tom Cruise’s megalomaniacal control. These two photos tell the story: In photos with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt is always shown following at a distance with a rather forlorn look on his face. She is the one who shines, and he follows in the background. In photos of Katie Holmes with Tom Cruise she appears to be melting into him, unable to stand on her own two feet.

One of the more interesting astrological events to occur in a year that is already packed with significant astrological events is the conjunction of Pluto with the Galactic Center. Although the conjunction will not be exact (at the same degree) until December, we have feen feeling its effects all year as Pluto has been within 1 degree of the GC. For people like Brad Pitt and Katie Holmes that have planets at 26 degrees Sagittarius, the transformation evoked by Pluto is likely to be particularly significant and particularly challenging.

The Galactic Center has not been used much in western astrology, and in fact it was not really placed by astronomers until the late 1960s. Pamela Cucinelli writes, “Each time Pluto confronts the Galactic Center, we experience a death of the familiar routine of life while we embrace the ‘new birth’. It becomes impossible for us to go back to the way things were before, while we grapple with changes that we may not be able to cope with in the most progressive way.”

Brad Pitt and Katie Holmes have same birthday, and their suns are both at 26 degree Sagittarius. Pluto first entered 26 degrees Sag in February, and “stationed” there as it turned retrograde in March. It is now moving away from the 26 degree point but will transit back after Pluto turns direct in September, and the next hit in the cycle of the conjunction to the GC will take place in December.

Pluto transforms everything that it comes into contact with, and that transformation is not always easy or pretty. In Sagittarius that transformation comes, as we have seen, through ideological (Sag) warfare (Pluto), religious (Sag) upheavals (Pluto), danger (Pluto) in travel (Sag), and on a more personal level, the death and rebirth (Pluto) of our core (GC) values (Sag). When a significant planetary event such as the conjunction of Pluto to the Galactic Center occurs at the same degree as one of our own planets or “angles” (meaning ascendant or midheaven), this transformation becomes even more significant. Some astrologers have hypothesized that those with planets that are tightly aspected by the Galactic Center in their birthcharts have a significant role to play in the development of civilization. Only time will tell if this is in fact true, but certainly this is a powerful time of change for the planet, and for the individuals who live there!