Alex's Asteroid Astrology

The coronavirus continues to spread globally, with the first deaths in the United States, Australia and Thailand, all announced within a 12 hour period on Leap Day. Genuine awareness of the economic threat it poses seemed to sink in during the prior week, manifesting as a panicked sell-off on Wall Street to the tune of 3600 points, some 11% of its volume, the worst week since the financial crisis of 2008. February 27^th saw the largest single-day drop in Dow history, shedding 1191 points. Of course, Fearless Leader says it’s just a hyped-up conspiracy by the Fake News Media to discredit him, the Dow drop occurred because investors were depressed by the paucity of viable candidates in the Dem primary (but shouldn’t that make these alleged Trump-lovers happy?), and coronavirus will just “disappear one day … like a miracle.”

So I guess we’re on our own for this one. As noted in the article on the coronavirus’ discovery, stick to that stationary Hygeia’s advice – wash your hands often! (And perhaps invest in hand sanitizer stock to recoup your market losses?) Trump may opine that a vaccine is just around the corner, but world health officials advise that it’ll be a good 12-18 months before one can be created and disseminated. The administration’s “wishful-thinking-as-policy” approach and a few mean Tweets from its head won’t have much effect on coronavirus’ spread, so be prepared to hunker down for the long haul on this one.

Trump’s obsession with the virus as a source of political hazard and the public’s growing identification of the President with his handling of the crisis can be traced to one simple astrologic fact – asteroids Troemper and Koronis are conjunct (Koronis being the closest match to “corona”). In fact, they’ve been together for quite some time, locked in an extended conjunction within just a few degrees of each other since January of 2019! They are just now beginning to separate, right after the Sun came along to illumine their connection.

In a chart cast for the first US death on 29 February 2020, Mercury, Koronis, Achilles, the Sun and Troemper are all crammed within 9 degrees of early Pisces, from 2 through 11. Troemper conjoined Achilles on the 16^th, pointing up just how weak Trump’s response has been; on the 23^rd, the Sun conjoined Koronis, bringing the virus’ impact into full consciousness and precipitating the stock market tumble; on the 26^th the Sun conjoined Achilles, highlighting our shared vulnerability in the global economy, and the next day saw that single greatest point drop; and on March 2^nd the Sun conjoins Troemper, further demonstrating his connection to the crisis.  Natally, Trump has asteroid Koronis at 13 Capricorn, opposing natal Nemesis at 16 Cancer – could this be the crisis that finally brings his downfall? Transit Saturn’s direct station exactly conjoined Koronis in September 2019 says this has the potential to affect his presidency, so he’s right to be so worried about its effects.

Donald Trump displays a map of the coronavirus’ global spread at a White House press conference; asteroid Troemper conjoins Koronis, Achilles, Mercury and the Sun, is squared asteroid America, and semisquare asteroid Apollo, known to the Greeks as a bringer of plague

Although Troemper and Koronis came together exactly only once, on October 27, 2019, their protracted contact has served to comingle their energies, so that the two have become hyper-identified in the public mindset. In fact, they were so enmeshed, that each came to its direct station within 24 hours of the other, on August 31 and September 1, with Troemper at 11 Capricorn and Koronis at 12. But they weren’t alone there – Saturn was hovering nearby, at 14 Cap, lending planetary clout to their union and stressing that respect for the facts, responsible action, and genuine leadership would be required in the upcoming crisis. Unfortunately, Trump possesses none of these qualities, and the cosmos is only as good as its least effective tool.   So by default we’ll be falling back on some of Saturn’s less appealing facets – fear, loss and death.

That potential is confirmed and underscored as these early Pisces points move through the “hot zone” of semisquare to the Saturn/Pluto conjunction, currently at 24 and 28 Capricorn, which animates 9-13 Pisces. Saturn and Pluto combined certainly could spell “loss (Saturn) of investment (Pluto)”, and together they signify both the ancient and modern lords of death, with Pluto also associated with contagion, tapping into the coronavirus connection. Mercury kicked off this process with its February 16^th retrograde at 12 Pisces (playing a return engagement March 27-30). Troemper entered the fray on 25 February, exiting March 7^th; the Sun followed suit, in the zone from February 28-March 4, the day Achilles joins the party (until March 27); while Koronis, guest of honor, comes late to the party on March 7^th, lingering just until the 18^th.

This period represents the window of greatest peril, as the virus expands into its “community contact” phase of transmission; previously all known cases came from persons with connections to the virus’ geographic epicenter in China, or direct contact with those so exposed. But the recent diagnosis in northern California shows no such connection, implying that the virus is now spreading third-and-fourth-hand, and is loose in the population at large.

The first US death occurred in the city of Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, Washington, on February 29; asteroid Washingtonia came to station that day, opposed by Mars, ancient ruler of contagion, while asteroid Kirkland appears in a T-Square with Lachesis, Atropos and Requiem, all death indicators, and in a Thor’s Hammer with America and Apollo

The first confirmed US death occurred in Kirkland, Washington on 29 February 2020. Mars is the ancient ruler of infectious disease, and Mars at 2 Sagittarius in the discovery chart has now moved to conjoin and transit across centaur Pholus at 4 Capricorn. Pholus is significant here, as it represents mass deaths by whatever cause; its close conjunction with asteroid Wuhan in the discovery chart, named for the Chinese city where the virus first emerged, was an early indicator that this could become a pandemic (indeed, the death toll in China is approaching 3000, with more than 86,000 infected).

Mars is now at 9 Capricorn, still within orb of Pholus and imbued with its energies, but more importantly, opposing asteroid Washingtonia at 10 Cancer. Washingtonia is a frequent stand-in for the nation’s capital and the federal government itself, but of course it also represents the state of Washington, where the first death occurred. Washingtonia came to its direct station on February 29^th, the very day that death was reported, showing that coronavirus has now become “embedded” (station) in the US generally, and the state of Washington specifically (a second death in Washington reported on March 1^st confirms this).

Also at station at this time is asteroid Industria, which turned direct February 19^th, exactly opposed Pholus from 4 Cancer. Industria can be seen as a marker for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the stock market which took its biggest hit in twelve years during the ensuing week after Industria’s station. This could imply that the market crash is also an “embedded” feature, which will continue.

Asteroid Kirkland, eponym for the city in which the first US death occurred, appears at 0 Leo, connected by T-Square to no less than three death indicators: a broad conjunction with asteroid Lachesis at 9 Leo, named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life; a square to her sister Atropos at 1 Taurus, who severs the thread of life at death; and opposed asteroid Requiem at 3 Aquarius, named for the funeral mass for the dead. Uranus is also in this mix, conjoined Atropos from 3 Taurus, and indeed, the administration does seem to have been somewhat shocked (Uranus) out of its complacency by the death of an American on our own soil, perhaps even to the extent of touting actual science (also Uranus-ruled), rather than fantasies.

Travelers wearing masks at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport; masks are not much protection in this circumstance, mainly useful in preventing those already infected in spreading it to others; the best protection until a vaccine is devised is frequent hand-washing, avoiding public spaces, and wearing gloves

The US is definitely under the gun, with asteroid America at 13 Sagittarius in semisquare to Saturn with asteroid RIP (another death indicator as the acronym “RIP”, “Rest In Peace”) at 28 and 29 Capricorn, and sesquiquadrate to asteroid Apollo, named for a deity known to the ancient Greeks as the bringer of plague, at 27 Aries. (Apollo was exactly conjunct Koronis on the day the virus was identified.) There is a Thor’s Hammer pattern, a “fated” configuration similar to a Yod, with a second sesquiquadrate from America to Kirkland, in an out-pf-Sign square with Apollo, putting America at its Apex. America is also squared Koronis, Achilles, the Sun and Troemper, at 6, 8, 10 and 11 Pisces respectively, bringing the country into direct contact with the contagion. Australia, which reported its first coronavirus death the same day as the US, taps into this energy as well with asteroid Australia at 25 Libra T-Squared with Saturn/Pluto and Apollo.

It may seem out of place in the context of a plague, but Apollo also conjoins Venus at 25 Aries, perhaps a reminder that those most at risk are individuals with whom the infected are on intimate terms of affection. Kissing and hand-shaking are ill-advised for the duration; in fact, France has just recommended a ban on the traditional “air kiss” greeting on both cheeks, and outlawed all public gatherings of more than 5000 people (with Venus also the ruler of entertainments).

It may be useful to note that Saturn/Rip and Apollo are also encroaching on the US natal Pluto at 27 Capricorn; this could indicate devastating consequences for the country. Asteroid Whitehouse, an indicator of the President and his administration, is also in a precarious position; at 27 Virgo, it is still running with asteroid Nemesis at 20 Virgo, that point of self-undoing and divine reckoning, and joined now by asteroid King, for the county in Washington where the first two US deaths occurred, at 26 Virgo. Whitehouse/King/Nemesis is in a T-Square with two other death indicators, asteroids Osiris, named for the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, at 29 Sagittarius; and Anubis, named for the Egyptian deity governing funerary rites, at 27 Pisces. The suggestion is that death in some form may lead to the administration’s downfall, starting in King County.

Perhaps the most disturbing extrapolation from this chart for the immediate future is that, even as Troemper and company moves out of range of the current semisquare to Saturn and Pluto, they move into Neptune’s orb, at 18 Pisces.   This can have the effect of further clouding judgment and evoking unrealistic appraisals of the situation (both Neptune) by the President (Troemper); spreading disinformation and intentional deception (also Neptune); sapping or eroding (Neptune) natural immunities (Achilles) to enhance vulnerability (also Achilles); “universalizing” (Neptune) the virus (Koronis); and increasing the numbers of those hospitalized (Neptune as well). Talk about out of the frying pan, into the fire!

This is not looking good.