Name Asteroids in the News

Cerberus and CERN

Reader

Elizabeth Lyon

asked in the comments on my previous post if the proposed merger between the Albertsons and Kroger grocery chains could be a manifestation of the transiting Mars-Uranus-Algol conjunction interacting with the natal chart of the state of Oregon.

As part of the proposed merger, Kroger and Albertsons would sell 579 of their stores nationwide to another grocery chain, C&S Wholesale Grocers, in order to address antitrust concerns. Though Portland NBC affiliate KGW recently identified 62 Oregon grocery stores that would be affected by this change, I think this story is bigger than Oregon.

KGW also reported that Albertsons, which owns other grocery chains including Safeway and Haggen, is owned by Cerberus Capital Management. I thought Cerberus sounded like a name that would potentially have an asteroid associated with it.

Sure enough, there is an asteroid called Cerberus, named after the dog that guarded the entrance to Hades. Of course, in the chart of the July 15, 2024, conjunction between Mars, Uranus, and Algol at 26° Taurus, the asteroid Cerberus is hanging out close by at almost 2° Gemini. Great find, Elizabeth!

Interestingly, one of the locations that Albertsons hopes to divest to C&S is the Safeway at 1030 SW Jefferson St. in Portland, Oregon, which has such severe problems with drug users misusing the bottle return program that THE GOVERNOR OF THE WHOLE ENTIRE STATE OF OREGON HAD TO GET INVOLVED. Meanwhile, in my city of Eugene, Albertsons would sacrifice the Safeway on E. 18th Ave. that installed new theft control features near the entrance in the past few years and keep the Safeway on E. 40th Ave. that’s in a quiet and settled residential neighborhood.

You’re really giving your best, Cerberus. What else would we expect from the three-headed hound of Hades?

CERN name asteroid

When I looked up Cerberus in Astro.com’s alphabetical list of asteroids, I happened to see an asteroid named CERN close by. I remembered that some of the crazy rumors flying in advance of the April 8 Solar Eclipse incorporated CERN.

The March 25, 2024, Lunar Eclipse was actually a closer hit to the natal chart of CERN than the April 8, 2024, Solar Eclipse — its Moon was exactly conjunct CERN’s Sun at 5° Libra. At the time of the Lunar Eclipse, the asteroid CERN at 29° Virgo opposed Neptune at 27° Pisces. The CERN-Neptune opposition could account for wild claims being made about the actual CERN, and the CERN-Neptune opposition being close to the Lunar Eclipse’s Moon-Sun opposition could account for those claims gaining prominence.

By the time the Solar Eclipse actually took place on April 8, the CERN chatter was already dying down — probably because CERN’s physics data-taking season began on April 5, and nothing happened.

Watching the Republican National Convention

The New York Times provides a list of streaming sites and TV stations that will air the Republican National Convention July 15-18. C-SPAN.org and C-SPAN seem like the most accessible options to me. The schedule of events is available on the convention’s website.

I will liveblog astrological observations on Substack chat threads for paid subscribers throughout both the Republican National Convention this coming week and the Democratic National Convention in August. Start your paid subscription now to join in!