Alex's Asteroid Astrology

In late July 2023 a trio of notable performers exited earth with swan songs of their own.  American icon Tony Bennett passed on July 21, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor and Eagles founding member and vocalist Randy Meisner both died on the 26^th.  They were accompanied by a host of lesser-known (to US audiences, anyway) singers cross the globe, with no less than 10 others passing during that five-day period, from lands as disparate as India, Kenya, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Jamaica and the UK.

What accounts for this melodic exodus?  In part, we see that Venus, the planet which traditionally rules entertainers and singers, made its retrograde station on the 23^rd, smack dab between the passings of the headliners.  The implication is of a major turning point for all things Venusian, including persons which identified with that archetype.  At 28 Leo, Venus was opposed Saturn, ancient lord of death, at 6 Pisces, and more closely inconjunct Pluto, modern ruler of death, at 29 Capricorn.  Pluto was also being highlighted by the annual opposition from the Sun, which varied from 28 Cancer to 3 Leo during that timeframe, putting a focus on mortality.

But of course there’s an asteroid connection as well (why else would I be writing this?).  Asteroid Singer 10698 was a good place to start the investigation, and also its endpoint.  Traveling between 13 and 16 Virgo, Singer was at the Apex of a Thor’s Hammer, a fated pattern similar to a Yod, with sesquiquadrate aspects to Pluto and asteroid Lachesis 120 at 27 Aries, squared each other.  Lachesis is named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life, so we have yet another death indicator linked to a point representing vocal artists.

Singer was also semisquare to the Sun, adding further illumination of these effects, and broadly squared to asteroid Requiem 2254, named for the funeral mass for the dead, which at 6 Sagittarius was embedded at station, thus at the height of its ability to influence events.  Requiem turned direct the same day Venus went retrograde, providing an additional connection that spelled mortality for some in the entertainment industry.

The Sun/Singer semisquare was exact from 28 Cancer to 13 Virgo on July 21^st when Bennett died, which also featured a Grand Cross from the Sun/Pluto opposition, both T-squared Lachesis, with asteroid Toni 924 (for Tony) at 22 Libra filling in the empty leg.  As well, asteroid Bennett 4093 at 24 Taurus conjoined Uranus at 22 Taurus and asteroid Atropos 273 at 16 Taurus, named for the Fate who severs the thread of life at death, once her sister Lachesis gives her the high sign that the time has come.  This cluster opposes asteroid Anubis 192 at 22 Scorpio, named for the ancient Egyptian deity ruling funerary rites, and forms a T-Square with that stationing Venus, a literal cosmic overkill of death-related energies.

The 96-year-old Bennett was born Anthony Benedetto; at his death, in addition to the placements of Toni and Bennett described above, we find asteroid Antonia (feminine form of his first name) 272 at 3 Scorpio just clinging to an out-of-Sign Grand Cross with Sun/Pluto/Lachesis.  Asteroid Benedetti 5346 (for birth surname Benedetto) at 7 Virgo conjoins Mars at 6 Virgo, as well as Venus and Singer, and closely opposes Saturn, squaring Requiem for a deadly T-Square.

Born 3 August 1926 (no time available), Tony Bennett’s choice of profession seems written in the stars, with asteroid Singer at 6 Aries, trine the 10 Leo Sun and at station, making singing an embedded factor in his psyche and a self-defining act (Sun).  Singer turned retrograde the day of his birth and is also sesquiquadrate Saturn, career, at 19 Scorpio, with natal asteroid Antonia at 23 Scorpio also in sesquiquadrate for another personal connection to the theme.  With Antonia exactly squared Jupiter at 23 Aquarius, fame and celebrity came naturally to Tony; a precise T-Square with Neptune at 23 Leo, modern ruler of music and singers, signaled where he’d find his niche.  Asteroid Toni conjunct Neptune from 25 Leo reinforces the personal draw toward music.

When Bennett passed on July 21, transit asteroid Anubis at 22 Scorpio closely conjoined natal Antonia, with natal asteroid Bennett at 26 Libra caught up in the transit T-Square of Sun at 28 Cancer, Pluto at 29 Capricorn, and Lachesis at 27 Aries.  Transit asteroids Rip 7711 (a death indicator in the form of the acronym RIP, “Rest In Peace”, a common tombstone inscription) and Osiris 1923 (named for the Egyptian god of the dead) at 8 and 9 Libra opposed natal Singer, a nod to the passing of the man whose vocal artistry thrilled millions.  Transit asteroid Atropos at 16 Taurus formed a T-Square with the natal Sun at 10 Leo and natal asteroid Lachesis at 15 Leo, opposed natal asteroid Requiem and Saturn at 14 and 19 Scorpio.  Transit asteroid Requiem at 6 Sagittarius opposed natal asteroid Anubis at 2 Gemini, with transit Saturn at 6 Pisces completing another T-Square.  The addition of transit Benedetti at 7 Virgo conjoined asteroid Singer at 13 Virgo creates a Grand Cross.  Transit Antonia at 3 Scorpio opposed natal asteroid Osiris at 7 Taurus.  Finally, transit Neptune at 27 Pisces closely opposed natal Rip at 26 Virgo.

The sky looked much the same five days later when Sinead O’Connor, 56, and Randy Meisner, 77, passed, but subtle changes and additions reflect them specifically.  The Sun at 3 Leo is still opposing Pluto, but moving out of its square to Lachesis and on to a trine with the recently-stationed Requiem, also just entering the orb of a square to Jupiter at 13 Taurus.  More famous (Jupiter) dead (Pluto, Requiem) luminaries (Sun).

Representing Sinead O’Connor specifically is asteroid O’Connor 8357, which at 13 Capricorn is squared that Rip/Osiris pairing, now at 9 and 10 Libra.  It’s also part of a Grand Trine with asteroid Singer, now at 16 Virgo, and Jupiter with asteroid Atropos at 13 and 17 Taurus.  O’Connor further opposes asteroid Randi 3163, for Randy Meisner, united with O’Connor in death and in the skies.  Randi also squares Rip/Osiris, for a T-Square with O’Connor (Randi is also exactly sextile Singer and trine Jupiter/Atropos).

Born 8 December 1966 (no time available), Sinead O’Connor’s natal asteroid Singer at 29 Virgo is bound up with Pluto and Uranus at 20 and 24 Virgo, and Mars at 2 Libra.  O’Connor could certainly be a controversial figure, focused on protest and political activism, as seen in the conjunction of Singer with Uranus, also apparent in her signature unconventional appearance, with trademark shaved head.  O’Connor could appear angry at times, a reflection of the Mars conjunction, and notably tore up a picture of the Pope in protest to the Catholic church’s abuses during a live performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992, sparking more controversy.  O’Connor’s voice was often described as “intense” and “powerful,” as were her lyrics, a tribute to the Pluto conjunction with Singer.  Singer’s opposition to natal Saturn at 23 Pisces propelled her into a career as a vocal artist.

At her death on July 26^th, transit Pluto at 29 Capricorn exactly opposed her natal asteroid Anubis at 29 Cancer, and was exactly inconjunct her natal asteroid O’Connor at 29 Leo (just one degree past Venus’ station degree three days prior, which exactly opposed her natal Requiem at 28 Aquarius), also exactly trine natal Singer and semisquare her 16 Sagittarius Sun. Transit Lachesis at 27 Aries squared natal Anubis; transit Atropos at 17 Taurus was inconjunct her Sun, itself squared precisely by transit asteroid Singer at 16 Virgo; transit Rip and Osiris at 9 and 10 Libra were still within orb of natal Mars at 2 Libra; transit Anubis at 22 Scorpio was an exact match for natal Neptune; transit Requiem, stationing at 6 Sagittarius, had recently backtracked over natal Osiris at 9 Sag, which transit Saturn at 6 Pisces squared.

Sinead O’Connor and Randy Meisner did not go alone into that good night.  July 26^th also saw the passing of Kenyan gospel singer Roseline Damian, 39, and Indian singer Surinder Shinda, 70, an iconic figure in Punjabi music.  Roseline is represented by asteroid Rosalinde 900, which at 20 Aquarius squares asteroid Anubis at 22 Scorpio, T-Squared asteroid Atropos at 17 Taurus; and also by asteroid Damiaan 4226, which is at station from 19 Pisces, opposing Singer and sesquiquadrate the transit Sun at 3 Leo.  Surinder Shinda is seen as asteroid Shindo 21390, which at 2 Aries is also at station, conjoined musically-inclined Neptune at 27 Pisces and in a Grand Trine with the Sun and Requiem at 6 Sag, also exactly semisquare Atropos.  Shindo also opposes the Rip/Osiris conjunction, but is too far wide to be considered in aspect to O’Connor or Randi.  Both Damiaan and Shindo turned retrograde on July 30^th, four days after their terrestrial referents embarked on a new stage in their journey.

All told, nearly thirty noteworthy singers and musicians died worldwide while asteroid Singer negotiated the Apex of that Thor’s Hammer with Pluto and Lachesis, a startling tribute to the power of “minor” celestial bodies to affect outcomes here on planet Earth.