This Week in Asteroids – 15 October 2026

By Alex Miller

Asteroids continue to supply details in current events which are unavailable from any other source, adding flesh to the bones of the planetary news.

BURNING THE MIDNIGHT SNAKE OIL

On 9 October 2026, US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whereby sanctions would be lifted on Russian diesel fuel, in direct contravention of legislation passed by Congress in August, which Trump himself had signed into law just three weeks prior, banning all sales of Russian oil.  The deal is a politically-based attempt to lower diesel costs, which have skyrocketed since the start of the war with Iran, before the Midterm elections in November, but the actual price reduction is estimated to be minimal, perhaps amounting to just a few cents per gallon.

Trump is, of course, constant fodder for the news, but even more so now, with asteroid Donn (16 Libra) tagging along with the Sun for weeks, exactly conjoined it for the diesel deal.  Opposed (180 degrees) Saturn (10 Aries), we see the immediate blowback, in criticism (Saturn) leveled against the President (also Saturn) by fellow Republicans concerned that the cash boost will enable Putin to further fund his war in Ukraine.

Specifics are seen in a T-Square (1) formed by an opposition from Neptune (2 Aries), ruling oil, to asteroid Oileus (0 Libra), for “oil”, with asteroid Diesel (1 Capricorn), representing the precise petroleum product involved, on its fulcrum, squared (90 degrees) to each.  Donald Trump’s natal Mercury (8 Cancer), the cosmic negotiator and deal-maker, fills in to create a full Grand Cross (2).

THE WALKING DEAD

On October 10^th, convicted murderer and botched execution survivor Christa Pike was discharged from a Nashville, Tennessee hospital and returned to her incarceration at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.  In 1995, at age 18, Pike and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, a crime for which she was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996, but appeals strung out the implementation of that sentence for three decades.  On September 30, Pike was scheduled for execution by lethal injection, but survived two doses of pentobarbital, after which she was transferred to a hospital, where she recovered and regained consciousness on October 6^th.  It was Tennessee’s second botched execution in 2026, and a moratorium has been placed on further such attempts, until the Volunteer State can reach the level of competence with lethal drugs readily practiced by most veterinarians.

On the date of Christa Pike’s botched execution, asteroid Christa (29 Cancer) conjoined Mars (1 Leo), ruling executions, and also reflecting the murder and violent death for which she was convicted, in a T-Square with asteroid Rip (23 Aries), a death indicator as the acronym “RIP,” and a pairing of asteroids Lachesis (26 Libra), named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life, and Panacea (25 Libra), named for the Greek goddess of medicines and pharmaceuticals, including those used for lethal injection executions.

As well, asteroid NOT (28 Taurus), a general disqualifier or symbol of negation and failure, came to its retrograde station (3) that very day, in sextile (60 degrees) to asteroid Christa and Mars, signaling the failed attempt (NOT) to end her life by execution (Mars).

ON A LUNG & A PRAYER

On 13 October 2026, Pope Leo XIV, the former Robert Prevost, was diagnosed with lung cancer, following a medical procedure the day before to remove a small nodule on his right lung, including excision of a portion of a lower lobe.  Although malignant, early detection and prompt removal of the damaged tissue gives the Pontiff an excellent prognosis for recovery from a disease which would have proved fatal just decades ago.

That potential brush with mortality is seen clearly in multiple celestial markers on the day.  The Sun (20 Libra) opposed Saturn (10 Aries), asteroid Roberto (15 Aries) and asteroid Rip (20 Aries), in a T-Square with asteroid Nemesis (15 Capricorn) is just the start, portraying a focus (Sun) on the health and vitality (also Sun) of Pope Leo (Roberto, Spanish and Italian form of “Robert,” his birth name) and the threat (Nemesis) of death (Saturn, ancient lord of death; and Rip).  The news of a possibly fatal illness is depicted in Mercury’s (15 Scorpio, ruling news) conjunction with asteroids Leona (18 Scorpio, feminine equivalent of “Leo”) and Requiem (14 Scorpio, named for the funeral mass for the dead).

Additional markers of the event include an exact pairing of asteroids Lachesis (lifespan) and Vaticana (named for the Vatican, the state ruled by the Pope; both points at 1 Scorpio) squared a conjunction of Pluto (3 Aquarius), modern lord of death, and asteroid Atropos (6 Scorpio), named for the Fate who severs the thread of life at death, with asteroid Pappos (16 Sagittarius), cognate to “papa,” Italian for “pope,” on the midpoint of the square, semisquare (45 degrees) to each.

Finally, Pope Leo’s legal alter ego, Robert Prevost, is seen as asteroids Roberta (2 Virgo), a feminine form of “Robert,” and Prevot (11 Virgo), an alternate spelling of his surname, conjoined asteroid Anubis (5 Virgo), named for the ancient Egyptian deity governing funerary rites, in a T-Square with Uranus (5 Gemini), representing the sudden, unexpected, shocking development; and Damocles (1 Pisces), the threat or peril hanging unseen overhead, about to descend at any moment.  Uranus is also exactly sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) the Sun, feeding into the solar T-Square described above, and increasing the anxiety (Uranus) for the Pope’s many well-wishers and Catholics worldwide.

NEW WHITE HOUSE DURESS SECRETARY

Also on October 13^th, newly minted White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia held her first at-bat in the White House Briefing Room, and appeared unprepared for her task.  Zacharia’s initial meeting with the Media lasted only 14 minutes, during which she took just 3 questions, two of which she was unable to answer, all from administration-friendly conservative outlets.  Zacharia also faces challenges to her description of herself as a lawyer; although she earned a law degree from Pepperdine University, there is no record of her having passed the bar or practiced law.

Kate “Katie” Zacharia (nee Black) in the spotlight as a Trump mouthpiece is imaged by asteroid Kate (12 Libra) conjoined asteroid Donn (18 Libra, for Donald Trump) and the highlighting Sun (20 Libra), with criticism of her premiere performance demonstrated by this trio’s opposition to asteroid Black (20 Aries) with Saturn (10 Aries) signifying critical appraisal and disapproval.  This polarity forms a T-Square with asteroid Whitehouse (21 Capricorn), designating the US presidency, for which she now speaks.

Additionally, Zacharia’s DC deployment is seen as a conjunction of asteroids Zacharias (18 Virgo) and Washingtonia (20 Virgo), bringing her to the nation’s capital, while a cosmic tongue-in-cheek reference to her “deer in the headlights” demeanor may be implied by Zacharias and Washingtonia opposed asteroid Hind (24 Pisces), with “hind” a term used for a female deer.

Notes:  (1) A T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more planets in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

(2) A Grand Cross is a major pattern comprised of four or more points at roughly 90 degrees equidistant from each other; this dynamic interaction can create stress, but also prompts action and motivates growth.

(3) Stations are periods when, from our perspective on Earth, a planet appears to slow its movement, come to a standstill, and reverse course.  This is an optical illusion created by the triangulation between the sun, Earth, and any third celestial body; astrologically, it represents a focusing of the energies associated with that point, and often coincides with major life events or a radical recalibration of how that point has functioned previously.

Sources:  reporting from AP, NBC News, The Guardian, Wikipedia; chart data from serennu.com; graphic images by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT