Page 6 Archives - Page 17 of 30 - Alex's Asteroid Astrology

October 11th, 2020 at 08:16am by Alex Miller

House Diary: Mabon

[Cover photo: the garden gate decked out in autumn splendor]

Mabon is the pagan term for the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of Fall. Also known as “the Witches’ Thanksgiving”, Mabon coincides with the peak of the harvest season. Libra’s Full Moon is termed “the harvest moon”, so-named because before the advent of electricity farmers would work late into the evening, lighted by its yellow-white luminescence, to gather their crops as quickly as possible, before the weather turned sour or they spoiled.

October 2nd, 2020 at 11:18am by Alex Miller

AAA Profile: Amy Coney Barrett, the Anti-Ginsburg

On Saturday, 26 September 2020, Donald J. Trump announced his third pick for the US Supreme Court, to replace recently deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Judge Amy Coney Barrett. I have been expecting this pick for years, after researching possible candidates at the last vacancy; her astrological bona fides for the job are unquestioned, though her judicial philosophy leaves much to be desired, from a progressive standpoint. A vocal opponent of reproductive rights, who has more than once opined that Roe v Wade was wrongly decided and should be overturned, Barrett’s appointment and likely confirmation cements a conservative 6-3 bloc on the High Court that could conceivably roll back freedoms on a wide variety of issues.

September 19th, 2020 at 08:05am by Alex Miller

House Diary: Late Summer Wrap-Up

[Cover photo: A late summer bouquet of zinnia, Maximillian sunflower, marigold, Shasta daisy and sedum brightens the dining table, already set for fall]

It’s been a long, hot summer, but at last the autumn breezes have arrived! Prime time to look back and review the progress the garden has shown this first season on the property.

Over all, I’m very pleased with how things have gone. I actually lost only a single perennial, one of those new ill-fated heliopsis cultivars in orange; everything else either thrived, or held its own. And considering all the plants I plunked into this bit of soil, that’s pretty amazing. Now, the big question is – what liked it enough to return next year? But that’s an answer for next spring – for now, let’s just take an amble down memory lane, horticulture style.

September 8th, 2020 at 09:37am by Alex Miller

Of Hearts and High Water

For those of you who may not have heard, my heart has been out of rhythm (again) and my basement was flooded by Isaias a few weeks ago. While unrelated, I do like the alliteration of the title, so here goes!

My heart issues began with birth, when Kevin Mark Miller incarnated in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at 1:37 PM EDT on July 27, 1960. (That’s my legal name still, and I use asteroid Kevin when tracking physical issues, as I do my self-chosen moniker of Alex and its variations, though we don’t like or use the K-word except for official business). I was underweight as an infant and small child (a defect I have more than made up for subsequently, I assure you!), due to having been born with a hole in a ventricle of my heart.

If I’d had an astrologer then (well, one using asteroids, anyway), she would have been able to warn me that, with asteroid Kevin at 0 Leo conjoined the Sun at 4 Leo, and exactly opposed asteroid Valentine (symbolizing hearts) at 0 Aquarius, cardiac problems could be an issue. Open heart surgery at age three in 1963, a time when this was still new territory, effectively solved that congenital problem, and I was untroubled by heart concerns for 40-plus years.

August 5th, 2020 at 08:56am by Alex Miller

House Diary: Lammas

[Cover image: The Corn Wheel I made in the early 1990s is still serviceable as the center attraction for the Lammas season, evoking corn, one of the glories of August, as well as anticipating autumn, with its use of Indian corn for the spokes representing the eightfold year.]

Lammas, August 1^st, is the celebration of the First Harvest, that of grains. It takes its name from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning “loaf-mass”, a day when early Christians brought their milled grain and fresh-baked breads to be blessed by the Church. As with so much of Christian lore, the tradition has its roots in prior pagan practice, and Lammas has been honored by nature religions for the first fruits of the earth time out of mind. The earlier pagan term is Lughnasadh (pronounced “loo-nah’-sah”), named for the annual games held in honor of the Celtic deity Lugh (“Loo”), god of light. It was a day for gathering the clans, feasting on the abundant produce, friendly competition, horse trading and “handfasting”, a remarkably sensible mating ritual whereby a couple agrees to cohabit for a year before final vows are exchanged, just to be certain they’re compatible.

Here in the garden it’s been a blisteringly hot and dry summer, which spells trouble for yours truly and the errant well. So far, adhering to a carefully spaced watering schedule utilizing zones, I have averted a second incident of the well running dry, and a few drenching summer thunderstorms have helped. We’re having one of those days as I write, on Lammas Eve, so I’m taking advantage of my break in water drills to start composing this entry.

July 27th, 2020 at 10:18am by Alex Miller

Trump: The Nemesis Dialogues

[For my sixtieth birthday, a bit of mythic whimsy, as I revision Nemesis’ role in Donald Trump’s life and career; all celestial relationships are authentic and reflected in Trump’s chart; events alluded to are accurate, though embellished; reported conversations may or may not have occurred.]

Nemesis pursed her lips as she glanced about her at the droves of celestials lining up in the Hall of Destiny, shuffling and taking their places for Zeus’ final approval of the about-to-be-incarnated’s horoscope as the birth moment approached. Enthroned on his dais, the King of the Gods seemed preternaturally still, even from Nemesis’ vantage point, some ninety degrees away.

She looked again at her traveling companion, standing on the same degree marker; this wouldn’t do at all.