Asteroid Astrology: Page 6

O96 cover

96th Academy Awards Recap

The 96th annual Academy Awards kicked off an hour earlier than usual this year, at 4 PM PDT in Los Angeles, California, with asteroid Oskar 750, for the nickname of the gold statuette given to winners, at 11 Sagittarius widely squared the Sun at 20 Pisces (which, aptly, conjoined Neptune, ruling film, at 27 Pisces).   Oskar is also more closely trine the 14 Leo Ascendant of the event, its public face and the name commonly used to refer to the ceremony.  Asteroid Academia 829 (for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which sponsors the awards) at 27 Aquarius conjoins Venus at 28 Aquarius, outing the Awards as the popularity contest they truly are.

Continue reading

flaco cover

Asteroid Sleuth: The Case of the Fallen Fowl

Avid avian admirers worldwide were saddened on February 23, 2024, by the news of the untimely passing of Flaco, a Eurasian eagle owl that had become a celebrity bird-about-town after escaping from New York’s Central Park Zoo a year prior.  Concerns that Flaco, who was hatched at a bird park in North Carolina in 2010 and had spent his life in captivity, would not be able to survive in the wild, having never developed hunting skills, prompted various attempts at his recapture, all unsuccessful.

Continue reading

buggy cover

Asteroid Sleuth: The Case of the Battered Buggy

On 5 February 2024, Samantha Jo Petersen, 34, was indicted on 21 counts relating to an accident that occurred the previous September, when Petersen crashed her car into an Amish buggy in southeast Minnesota, killing two children and seriously wounding two others.  Petersen, high on meth and texting at the time, tried to switch roles with her twin sister Sarah, fearing jail time.  The charges include vehicular homicide and driving under the influence.  Killed in the September 25th crash were Irma Miller, 11, and her sister Wilma, 7.

Continue reading

taylor cover

AAA Profile: Taylor Swift – Karma?

Taylor Swift, in case you’re unfamiliar with the name, is the latest in a string of global female superstars in the music industry.  At just 34, Swift has a list of smash hits to rival the best, and is only the third female vocal artist to garner a net worth in excess of a billion dollars.  Not just a pretty face and a lilting voice, Swift is a canny businesswoman as well – and she’s got moxie!  In 2019, an ownership dispute between Swift and her former label, Big Machine Records, resulted in Swift rerecording her first six albums, to ensure control of her creative output.

Continue reading

phil 2024

House Diary: Imbolc 2024

Well, it’s official!  Punxsutawney Phil has not seen his shadow, and we’re due for an early spring!  But don’t break out the beachwear just yet, this prognosticating groundhog has a 39% success rate on predictions, almost as bad as my own.

Yes, it’s Groundhog Day, AKA Candlemas, St Brigid’s Day, Oimelc and Imbolc.  There’s a long history of fire and purification associated with the time period, whether that be the Catholic blessing of candles to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary at Candlemas, forty days after the “defilement” of birth; or the pagan festival of Imbolc, which means “washing.”  The Roman Lupercalia, a purification festival promoting health and fertility, occurred just two weeks later, with priests using the ritual februa tools (from which February derives its name) to cleanse the city.  Lupercalia also has ties to the she-wolf (lupus) who suckled the mythic brothers Romulus and Remus that were Rome’s founders, and that connects to Oimelc, an alternative pagan term for the holiday, which means “ewe’s milk,” another allusion to life’s rebirth in the next generation, with the coming spring.

Continue reading

bette cover

She’s Got Bette Davis Skies: An Asteroid Bio of Bette Davis

When it comes to Old Hollywood glamor, style and chic, nobody does it like Bette Davis.  Which is ironic, because, unlike most actresses of her era, Bette never shied away from unglamorous parts, unlikeable characters, and unflattering makeup, even agreeing to aging techniques that had her convincingly playing a 60-year-old Virgin Queen when she was barely 30 herself.

Continue reading