Celebrity Death-a-thon

By Alex Miller

It’s been death, death and more death, thinning the ranks of the famous, as Jupiter, the planet of celebrity, pairs with asteroid Requiem, named for the funeral mass for the dead.  As September waned, we saw the passing of actress Maggie Smith, singer Kris Kristofferson and pro athlete Pete Rose.

Smith was the first to check out, taking her final bow on the 27th.  The two-time Academy Award winner, best known for her work in the Harry Potter film series, was born with asteroid Smith conjunct asteroid Academia, squared asteroid Actor and trine asteroid Oskar, a sure sign of acting success.  Asteroids for both her Oscar-winning roles connect to asteroid Oskar and asteroid Victoria, named for the Roman goddess of victory.  Smith passed with asteroid Smith conjoined asteroid Atropos (Fate who severs the thread of life at death) and opposed asteroid Anubis (Egyptian deity governing funerary rites).

Kris Kristofferson’s swan song came on September 28th.  The singer/songwriter was born with asteroid Christophe conjunct asteroid Singer, and Neptune (music) opposed Saturn (career).  Kristofferson also had a respectable acting career, with Christophe widely conjoined asteroid Actor opposed the Moon.  Kristofferson passed with asteroid Christophe squared asteroid Singer conjoined asteroid Osiris, named for the Egyptian god of the dead.

Third man out was MLB player Pete Rose, who dominated baseball in the 1970s and ’80s.  Born with a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction squared asteroid Cincinatti, we see his career (Saturn) in pro sports (Jupiter), mostly sent with the Cincinnati Reds; Uranus with Jupiter and Saturn depicts the controversy surrounding his sports betting, with TNO Salacia semisquare Mars indicating a scandal (Salacia) involving athletes (Mars).  When Rose passed on September 30th, asteroid Peter conjoined the Sun and Mercury (news), squared asteroid Lachesis (Fate who determines the span of life); and asteroid Rosa conjoined asteroid Rip (“RIP”), squared asteroid Anubis (funerals).