Alex's Asteroid Astrology

It’s been a year since my father died, leaving me my boyhood home, and I am finally ready to make the move! I won’t actually be completely cleared out from my old digs and off that lease until June 1, but Friday, April 3 was the day I chose to transfer focus to the new house in Nazareth. Until then, my base had been Philadelphia, with frequent trips north to prep the new space; now I’ll flip that script, staying mainly in Nazareth while I travel back to Philly to continue final packing. We’ve already done two prior major moves, with one remaining. But the key moment in this protracted process is when I move Ashes, my sweet-cranky tortoiseshell cat, who has been with me 13 years. Where she is, is home! And that date was set for April 3.

As ever with the cosmos, all things are perfect in their timing, and I hadn’t really consulted an ephemeris before I chose the date, relying on the heavens to do its thing. And a chart cast for moving day shows my faith was not misplaced, with the momentous event perfectly portrayed in celestial symmetry.

Let’s begin with intimations of the move in my most recent Solar Return, from July 2019. That chart showed a Gemini Moon, reflective of the dual households I would be maintaining for the year ahead. That Moon at 9 Gemini was conjoined by asteroids Kevin (my birth name) and Pandora, both at 5 Gemini, identifying whose residence was involved, and the principle of “unintended consequences” which Pandora evokes. The Kevin/Moon conjunction was particularly apt since it’s my boyhood home I’m moving into, harking back to a period when “Kevin” was how I was known. With these also squared asteroid House at 8 Pisces, the cosmos was beating me over the head with the symbolism of a move to a new physical structure. As for Pandora, well, my inheritance of the house did seem to open a whole can of worms, with multiple unexpected events involving minor (and not so minor) repairs, changes and improvements – like all those ills released from Pandora’s box to plague the world, there were times when all I had left to cling to was hope. But we muddled through, Ashes and me.

Installing a fence to enclose the back and side yards was Step One in the house’s transformation; not one for grass mowing, I had all the lawn removed to make way for planting beds, except for a few grass paths

Four other points impact this pattern to create a Grand Cross; an exact conjunction of centaur Bienor with the Moon at 9 Pisces, and a square to Toro at 11 Virgo, both indicate that lots of energy would be needed for the process. Not much is known mythically of Bienor beyond his name, which translates to “strong man”, while Toro, in addition to its affinities for bullying, brutish behaviors, also indicates vast reserves of physical strength. Certainly more than a bit of intestinal fortitude and raw elbow grease was needed to pull off this project, and while my strength is not great, it has so far sufficed to meet the tasks at hand, with a little help from my friends (and a few contractors).

Asteroid Isis exactly conjoins Toro, suggesting a need to pull together sundered parts to recreate a unified whole, and this was another key element of this move. Sorting through all dad had left behind, determining what was kept, what discarded, sold or donated, and then integrating that with almost 35 years’ worth of my own accumulations in Philadelphia, was a herculean endeavor.

Step Two: the crew planting 500 new spring bulbs last autumn; with Moon squared Jupiter natally, I’m not one to do things by halves

The final point to fill in the Grand Cross was Jupiter at 14 Sagittarius, opposing the Moon. This showed the move to be ultimately positive, if sometimes overwhelming, as well as indicating the “embarrassment of riches” in having two residences for that year. This certainly didn’t come off without a hitch, from the micro (like minor problems with the house’s heating and phone systems) to the macro (like coronavirus travel and commerce restrictions complicating the move), but over all, things have gone relatively smoothly, a sign that Jupiter is smiling favorably upon you. Jupiter opposed the Moon in the SR was also an intimation that the domestic environment would be somehow expanding, as I translate from a small rowhome apartment with a postage stamp backyard to a split-level house on a full lot.

Step Three: clean-up; the house badly needed a power washing, which my cousin helped me with; just to test the equipment’s effectiveness, I tried it on the grimed front steps, where my Scorpio Rising’s natural tendency toward hermit-like behavior briefly asserted itself; I thought about keeping my unconventional “Un-Welcome Mat”, but my cousin persuaded me to remove it

On April 3rd, Moving Day, the Sun at 14 April was exactly trine my natal Venus at 14 Leo, suggesting a positive outcome. A transit Grand Trine was created with the Sun’s conjunction to asteroid House at 20 Aries, showing the focus of the day, trined a pairing of asteroids Alexander and Alex at 19 and 21 Leo, and asteroid Ash at 14 Sagittarius. Alexander and Alex obviously represent me, while Ash is a shortened form of my cat’s name, Ashes, and one which I frequently use to address her. All three points are at their station degrees, with Alex turning direct that very day (Alexander follows suit on April 10, while Ash turns retro April 14), an indication that we’re both at a significant “turning point” in our lives. The direction of our lives is changing, just as the apparent direction of our celestial markers shifts.

Additional factors include asteroid Miller at 21 Virgo, conjunct my natal Moon at 19 Virgo and squared transit Kevin at 25 Gemini, in a T-Square with Neptune conjunct Mercury at 18 and 19 Pisces. This depicts me (Kevin/Miller) and my pet (Mercury) about to retire (Neptune) into a new home, which is also my original home (both Moon).

Three jack-o-lanterns on a timer in the bow window allowed me to haunt the neighborhood in absentia for my first Halloween owning the property; next year, their eyes will really pop!

The last celestial referents for myself and my cat are also active. Asteroid Alexandra at 14 Taurus closely conjoins asteroid Asher at 15 (both square natal Venus), and are more broadly conjunct Uranus with asteroid Cherryh at 5 and 6 Taurus, which cluster on my 4 Taurus Descendant. Alexandra/Asher brings us together in both celestial and terrestrial real estate, Uranus suggests the disruption to our lives, while Cherryh represents our new home’s address, which is on Cherry Hill Road. The connection to the natal Descendant shows an alteration in our relationship (the precise nature of which is TBD, but hopefully positive), as well as my relationships generally, with some considerable geographic distance added to the strain on existing friendships in Philadelphia.

The fruits of our labors: a patch of mini daffodils, Tete-a-tete and Jetfire varieties, greets me on a frosty March morning a week before the move

When we pulled away from the sidewalk at the apartment at 11:20 AM EDT, asteroid House at 20 Aries clung tightly to the 21 Aries MC, our goal, and the focus of all eyes (well, ours, anyway). The Moon at 12 Leo was joining the Grand Trine, and closely aligned with natal Venus – the heavens smiled. I’d heard horror stories of moving cats, and I was concerned how Ashes, who is a poor traveler, would do with the two-hour drive and the shock of the new environment. But I needn’t have worried – she took it all like a trooper, and was good as gold for the trip (it’s the first time EVER she hasn’t vomited or peed herself in the car!), and in no time was zipping around the new space, tail up, inspecting her new domain.

All in all, not a bad cosmic showing, for a date I pulled out of a hat as a matter of convenience, without prior celestial guidance. Truly, are there any “accidents”?

Invasion of the bunnies! The bow window today, as I prepare for my first guest-less Easter, given coronavirus restrictions