Somewhere Over the Rayne Beau
By
Alex Miller
In the summer of 2024, the story of Rayne Beau (pronounced “rainbow”) the cat became an internet sensation, addressed on Instagram, Reddit and TikTok, as well as more traditional news outlets like the New York Post, The Guardian and public radio. Everybody likes feel-good stories and happy endings; add the pet angle, and Rayne Beau’s saga was “tail-or” made for the times.
On 4 June 2024, pet parents Susanne and Benny Anguiano journeyed to Yellowstone National Park in their RV for a family camping trip, with their cats Rayne Beau and Starr Jasmyn in tow. Shortly after arrival, Rayne Beau became startled and ran off into the forest adjoining their campsite. They tried for four days to find Rayne Beau, attempting to lure him back with his favorite treats and toys, but to no avail, until they were forced to make the 11000-mile return trip to Salinas, California without him.
But the family never lost hope, and two months later, on August 3rd, that hope was rewarded, when the Anguianos received a call from the Roseville California, SCPA that Rayne Beau had been found, identified as their fur baby by his microchip. No one knows how he managed to travel 900 miles from Yellowstone to Roseville on his own steam, and Rayne Beau isn’t saying! But his paws were badly damaged on the journey, and he lost 40% of his body weight. Rayne Beau’s savior was Alexandra Betts, who found the emaciated cat in her backyard, gave him food and water to gain his trust, then trapped him and surrendered him to the SPCA. A day later, Rayne Beau was back snuggling with bestie Starr Jasmyn, in the bosom of his family, with his pet parents conveying him the last 200 miles of his odyssey.
On June 4, 2024, the day of Rayne Beau’s unplanned French leave, there was a rare triple conjunction in the sky of the Sun, Venus and asteroid Katz (German for “cat,” and a phonetic match for “cats”), all at the same degree. This throws a spotlight (Sun) on a beloved (Venus) feline (Katz), for good or ill, but with Venus here, known as “the Lesser Benefic” in astrology, most often the final outcome is positive. Venus and the Sun join in this manner fairly infrequently, twice a year at best, and to have asteroid Katz simultaneously in the same degree, with its 3.5-year orbital period around the Sun, is quite remarkable, considering the topic at hand.
But the cosmos doesn’t stop there. Also with the solar grouping, clustered within twelve degrees of each other (one thirtieth of the zodiac, a smallish bit of real estate), we find asteroids Kitty (a celestial doubling-down of the feline focus), Susanna (for pet mom Susanne Anguiano), Beny (for pet dad Benny Anguiano), Losse (phonetic match, alternate spelling of “loss”) and Alexander (masculine form of his rescuer, Alexandra Betts). Put it all together, and it’s the story of Rayne Beau, writ fine in the sky: now that’s remarkable!
Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, author of The Black Hole Book, detailing deep space points in astrological interpretation, and the forthcoming Heaven on Earth, a comprehensive study of asteroids, both mythic and personal. Alex is a frequent contributor to “The Mountain Astrologer”, “Daykeeper Journal”, and NCGR’s Journals and “Enews Commentary”; his work has also appeared in “Aspects” magazine, “Dell Horoscope”, “Planetwaves”, “Neptune Café” and “Sasstrology.” He is a past president of Philadelphia Astrological Society, and former board member for the Philadelphia Chapter of NCGR. His two decades of chronicling asteroid effects in human affairs can be found at his website, www.alexasteroidastrology.com.
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Category: Asteroid Corner
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