There's no escaping the media circus surrounding the fostering and potential adoption by Madonna and Guy Ritchie of David Banda. To look at it through the lens of astrology it's necessary to address disagreement about Madonna's time of birth.

Apparently Madonna was born at 7:05, the question is was it a.m. or p.m.? The lady herself has said she has an Aquarius ascendant, which points to p.m. not a.m. Her involvement with Malawi started in April 2006, according to a recent interview on Newsnight, when she sent staff to the country to film for a documentary about the plight of the children there.

When Madonna visited in October 2006 she witnessed the start of construction of the Raising Malawi-Consol Homes Orphan Care Centre. Calculating Madonna's chart for 7:05 p.m. confirms this involvement with Malawi, but 7:05 a.m. doesn't. Here's a map showing Madonna's current transit of Pluto through Malawi:

The yellow line shows the area where Madonna will experience this Pluto transit. Back in April Madonna's Pluto transit was further to the right, just outside Malawi, moving to the left. By August, her Pluto transit had moved into the centre of Malawi and was positioned about 10 miles from the capital, Lilongwe. At that time Madonna reportedly told the media this:

"For the last few years — now that I have children and now that I have what I consider to be a better perspective on life — I have felt responsible for the children of the world. I’ve been doing bits and bobs about it and I suppose I was looking for a big, big project I could sink my teeth into."

All very suitable for a Pluto transit: wanting to use one's power to make changes that improve conditions. Madonna will have Pluto transiting through Malawi only once in her lifetime. She would have to live for over 200 years before she experienced the same transit in the same place of the world again. If she was seeking to sink her teeth into a big, big project, being drawn to the place on Earth where she has a Pluto transit is more than apt.

On 4th October when she flew into Lilongwe this Pluto line was just 7 miles away (this is extremely close, in astrological terms.) Mphandula, the location of the orphanage that Madonna's charity is building, is just 30 miles from Lilongwe, and so falls within the range of the Pluto transit line.

While in Malawi, Madonna and Guy visited Mchinji and the village (Lipunga) nearby where David was living. The map shows that this was approximately 50 miles from Madonna's Pluto transit line. Again, this is within the orb of the transit and is very appropriate for the life-changing events that all involved are experiencing. Here is what a generic, pre-written, non-Madonna-specific software interpretation has to say about this astrological configuration:

"You will encounter people in this area that are likely to have a big effect on your life. Perhaps they will become life-long friends or change the direction of your life in some way. There is likely to be both good and bad effects from these relationships; the relationships cannot be avoided, but how you handle them is up to you."

Pluto is also renowned for intense experiences, swinging between heaven and hell, finding oneself in the centre of the fray, trying to do something creative amidst death, decay, and dereliction. Pluto transits often correlate with questions being raised about the use of power and influence, so if Madonna had consulted her astrology she could have been forewarned and forearmed. Also falling under Pluto's rubric are taboo subjects and the like (including racism), and the likelihood of being on the receiving end of people's "good guy versus bad guy" projections. Or, as Madonna puts it:

"A lot of people's hang-ups and 'isms' are sort of mixed into this too. It's just kind of a cocktail of disaster in terms of media perception."

Madonna once said "I'd rather walk through the fire than round it." and wherever Pluto is concerned 'trial by fire' is likely. The cliché of the Phoenix rising from the ashes applies too though, and in true 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' style, Madonna and her newly expanded family - as well as, hopefully, the situation in Malawi - will rise up from this conflagration. For Madonna, 'Raising Malawi' is the biggest test of her survival and success instincts that she is likely to ever face.

In a newly-published Time magazine interview Madonna spoke about saving David:

"Time Magazine: Do you worry at all that you've saved this child from physical misery...

Madonna: From death. Death. He would not have lived."

You can't get more Plutonic than that.

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To read more about Madonna's Plutonic experience in relation to Malawi have a look at her Time magazine interview: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1555006-1,00.html