Editor’s note: we are delighted to publish this article by Alex Miller, with thanks to Alex and his website, Alex’s Asteroid Astrology, an incomparable resource for asteroid-related astrology. There you’ll find in-depth astrological analyses of breaking events, as well as the astrological meanings of many mythic named asteroids.]
The plight of Central American immigrants was spotlighted again the week of June 23, 2019, as horrific conditions for some 300 migrant children at a Texas detention camp were exposed, followed by the intense, heart-wrenching images of a young father and his 23-month-old daughter, both drowned while attempting to swim the Rio Grande, their bodies still clinging to one another.
The week before, a team of lawyers and doctors visiting the Border Control facility in Clint, Texas, reported appalling conditions for the children detained there, separated from family members, including untreated outbreaks of flu and lice. Inadequate sanitation was a major issue, with children going without showers for weeks, a lack of soap and toothbrushes, living in soiled or filthy garments, toddlers without diapers, cared for by older children. Following the public outcry, the administration moved the children from the facility temporarily on Monday, but was forced to return more than 100 a few days later, citing lack of space elsewhere.
While the Vice President blamed congressional Democrats for not supplying funding for toothbrushes, the President blamed (who else?) his predecessor for building “the cages” (at least he acknowledged that’s what they are) and separating families, claiming he was the one who rectified the situation. He probably believes that.
On Tuesday June 25, acting US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders abruptly resigned his post; although no reason was given for his departure, Sanders reportedly had difficulty managing the constant personnel changes in the agency and the evolving and contradictory administration border policies. He tendered his resignation in the wake of news reports of the squalid conditions being maintained for children in facilities under his charge.
But the capper of the week was the release on Wednesday of photos of the drowned bodies of Oscar and Valeria Martinez, who died while attempting the cross the Rio Grande, perhaps to avoid the separation and privations that would be imposed upon them if they sought asylum legally. Face down in the water, the 23-month-old girl’s arm is still wrapped around her father’s neck, their bodies tangled in reeds.
The drowning actually occurred on Sunday June 23. A chart cast for that day vividly portrays the circumstance. Asteroid Oskar (for father Oscar Martinez) at 24 Cancer combines exactly with Mars, ruling violent deaths and accidents, paired with asteroid Nemesis at 21 Cancer, a point denoting self-undoing, and Mercury at 26 Cancer, which rules children and the news. Asteroid Child with Requiem, named for the funeral mass for the dead, is square from 15 and 20 Libra, alluding to the passing of a juvenile; and a T-Square is formed with TNO Eris and asteroid Atlantis, both at 24 Aries, and asteroid Texas at 25 Aries, with Eris representing marginalized, disadvantaged populations, Atlantis named for the civilization which drowned beneath the waves, and Texas their destination; while Saturn and Pluto, respectively the ancient and modern lords of death, opposed from 18 and 22 Capricorn to create a Grand Cross.
Asteroid Valeria, for his daughter, appears at 7 Aries, conjoined asteroid Ophelia at 9 Aries, named for the Shakespeare character from “Hamlet” who drowns in a river, as well as asteroid Atropos at 12 Aries, named for the mythic Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death. Valeria also squared a Sun/Lachesis conjunction at 2 and 3 Cancer, with the Sun illuminating and pulling focus to the tragedy, and Lachesis named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life. These also oppose asteroid Child and centaur Hylonome, which resonates to issues of public grief, at 12 Capricorn, forming a T-Square.
Asteroid Martinez at 25 Taurus is exactly squared to asteroid Anubis, named for the Egyptian deity ruling funerary rites, which turned retrograde that very day at 25 Aquarius, for a death which reverberated internationally. Martinez is also exactly semisextile Texas, sextile Oskar, semisquare Ophelia/Valeria and trine Pluto.
Neptune is the planetary body ruling drowning; at 18 Pisces, this forms a T-Square with asteroids Osiris and America at 12 and 16 Virgo and Jupiter with asteroid Rip at 17 and 12 Sagittarius. Osiris is named for the Egyptian god of the dead, America represents the US, Rip is another death indicator (as the acronym “RIP”, “Rest In Peace”, a common tombstone inscription), with Jupiter bringing widespread publicity to the death.
Asteroid Photographica at 27 Pisces, the image itself, pairs with asteroid Karma exactly, broadly conjunct Valeria, sextile Martinez, trine Oskar/Mars/Nemesis/Mercury, and exactly squared the Galactic Center at 27 Sag, conveying universal notice or attention for the photograph.
It was just a year ago this same week that the original family separation crisis was exposed, with First Lady Melania Trump traveling to the border to inspect conditions in her “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” jacket. Has anything changed?
Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, whose website AlexAsteroidAstrology.com offers a trove of info on the role of asteroids in personal and mundane astrology. He is the author of The Black Hole Book (available on Amazon.com) and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. Alex’s books and writings are available on his website. Alex can also be reached for comment or services at .
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