Star Guide

Tombili, an Istanbul cat who became a social media phenomenon for a photo of him casually posing on a sidewalk in the city’s Ziverbey neighborhood, died on Aug.1. Tombili, whose fame spread worldwide after his iconic picture appeared on comic site 9GAG, died after a month-long illness. His death was announced by a notice hung on a tree in the neighborhood’s Güleç Street.  “You will live in our hearts,” the notice read. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/istanbuls-phenomenal-cat-tombili-dies-.aspx?PageID=238&NID=102691&NewsCatID=378 https://www.sott.net/article/325798-Istanbul-to-dedicate-monument-to-famous-and-beloved-cat Amongst those who have little or no practical acquaintance with the science of the stars, it is probable that the subject is believed to begin and end with the horoscope of birth. Important as Natal Astrology is, however, it might be easily argued that there is another branch  surpassing it in value and interest, namely that which is called Munda

The Trickster A bizarre error in a Microsoft search engine algorithm has outraged the Saudi Arabian monarchy. Bing Translator, an app contained within Microsoft’s Bing search engine, allows internet users to translate over 3 dozen languages. As with every translation app or website, by typing in a word or phrase in a chosen language the application renders it in another language. Over the weekend, some users noticed a questionable result when the Arabic word for the Daesh terrorist group was entered into the program. Translated into English, "Daesh" became "Saudi Arabia." Naturally, representatives of the Saudi monarchy were irate, with many calling for a boycott of Bing and its parent company, Microsoft. Aug.30 http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160830/1044756420/bing-daesh-saudi-arabia-translation.html The incident reported in the news occurred just as Mercury [29vi04] begins it station retrograde. A chart for the station at Riyad

It's definitely not ok to feed the ducks. Here's what happens to wild animals when you feed them and why it's a really bad idea...As science fiction movies and pandemic scares have taught us, diseases can indeed pass from animals to people. But it goes the other way, too. In fact, a recent study found that humans have been giving monkeys staph infections in Africa -- by feeding them peanuts. Not cool, humans. In today's DNews dispatch, Trace Dominguez looks at the Africa study and the ultimate wisdom of that enduring admonition: "Please Don't Feed the Animals." A report in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that particular groups of green monkeys in The Gambia were contracting Staphylococcus aureus -- otherwise known as staph infection. Scientists were able to sleuth out the situation and discovered that the trouble started in areas where humans were encroaching on the monkeys' habitat. Many deadly diseases that afflict hu

One of the world’s longest-running conflicts draws to a close at midnight, after Colombia’s FARC militant group declared a permanent ceasefire ending its five decades of insurgency. The commander of Colombia's biggest rebel movement has said its fighters will permanently cease hostilities with the government as a result of their peace accord. Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), made the announcement in Havana, where the two sides negotiated for four years before announcing the peace deal last week. Aug. 29 http://goo.gl/Kbw5S4 The ceasefire is a momentous event since it ends a half-century of political violence which has claimed more than 220,000 lives and driven more than 5 million people from their homes.  To understand this important event we will look at the current Cancer Ingress chart drawn for Havana where the accord was signed. Notice that a powerful Grand Cross straddles the angles. On the IC is Neptune conjunct t

The Houthi forces, backed by the Yemeni Republican Guard, seized a key military base in the Najran area of southern Saudi Arabia, Al-Masirah News Agency reported on Friday night. According to Al-Masirah, the Houthi forces and Yemeni Republican Guard managed to capture the bases in east Shabakah, which is located in the Najran Valley of Saudi Arabia. The Houthi forces have two of the Saudi Army’s flanks surrounded, leaving them in a dire situation inside their own country. Aug. 26 https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-houthi-forces-capture-key-base-saudi-arabia/ The Saudi strategy in Yemen is suffering a complete collapse. A year old  article How Saudi Arabia got its Yemen campaign so wrong  [1] explains the reasons behind the current debacle. As multiple enemies are defeating Saudi forces, Houthi-rebels are aiming to occupy the southern provinces of Saudi Arabia. On Friday US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed a plan to restart talks to end the ongoing civil war in

The conviction of Brendan Dassey, a Wisconsin man who appeared in the documentary "Making a Murderer," has been overturned by a federal judge 9 (on Aug.13) in Milwaukee, according to court documents obtained by CNN. His uncle, Steven Avery, the subject of "Making a Murderer," is in a Wisconsin prison also serving time for Halbach's murder. Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach and burning her body after she came to take photos of a van at the Avery family’s auto salvage yard on Halloween 2005. The defense attorney representing Steven Avery has filed a motion (on Aug. 26) that accuses investigators of framing the Wisconsin man and demands access to a long list of physical evidence so she can have it all analyzed using advanced scientific tests she says didn’t exist during Avery’s 2007 trial, in which he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/12/us/m

“Man is a microcosm, or a little world, because he is an extract from all the stars and planets of the whole firmament, from the earth and the elements; and so he is their quintessence.” ― Paracelsus More and more people are suffering ‘burnout’ – but is this the fault of modern life or is physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion a far older condition? A few years ago, Anna Katharina Schaffner became the latest victim of the exhaustion ‘epidemic’. It began with a kind of mental and physical inertia – as she put it, a “sense of heaviness” in all that she did. Even the most mundane tasks would sap her of all her energy, and concentrating on her work became increasingly difficult. July 22 http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160721-the-reasons-why-exhaustion-and-burnout-are-so-common If  only people looked towards the heavens they would see that time has a quality that is unmistakably written in the stars. Astrologers are aware that currently the most significant a

Sellapan Ramanathan, (3 July 1924 – 22 August 2016), usually referred to as S. R. Nathan, was the sixth President of Singapore from 1999 to 2011, having been elected in uncontested elections in 1999 and 2005. In 2009, he surpassed Benjamin Sheares to become Singapore's longest-serving President. Nathan suffered a stroke on the morning of 31 July 2016 and was taken to Singapore General Hospital's Intensive Care Unit.He died in hospital on 22 August 2016 at 9:48 pm SST, aged 92.He was survived by his wife Urmila Nandey, their daughter Juthika and son Osith, three grandchildren, and his sister Sundari. On 26 August, a state funeral was held at the University Cultural Centre of the National University of Singapore (NUS), followed by a private cremation at Mandai Crematorium. The death of the former President S. R. Nathan can be attributed to the Mars-Saturn conjunction on August 24.  The conjunction took place on the 10 th house cusp in Singapore. Mundane as

An impoverished man in India carried his wife's body for 12km after the hospital where she died allegedly failed to provide an ambulance to carry the body back to their village. Dana Majhi's wife Amang, 42, died from tuberculosis in the district hospital in Bhawanipatna town in Orissa state. Mr Majhi said his village was 60km (37 miles) away and he couldn't afford to hire a vehicle. The hospital authorities have denied his charge. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37183011 The last total solar eclipse of March 9 will help explain this news. At Bhawanipatna, the eclipse was placed in the 12 th house linked to hospitals [1]. It was placed amid stars in the flowing waters of  Aquarius. These stars bring up the theme of humanitarianism or the lack of it as in this case. The eclipse is conjunct Neptune and square Saturn. Since Saturn rules scarcity or lack while Neptune rules compassion, it brings up a story that deals with hard-heartedness. Neptune in

(CNN)On a cold, dry plain in rural eastern Spain, 1,000 meters above sea level, a surreal scene greets drivers speeding along the Mudejar Highway inland from the Mediterranean sea. Line after line of enormous jumbo jets appear silhouetted against the horizon. It's not a mirage, but the site of the largest industrial airport in Europe. Located outside the town of Teruel, the smallest of all Spanish provincial capitals, this is not a typical airport. This airport was built with other purposes in mind. It hosts aircraft from all over the world that have been withdrawn from service, be it temporarily or permanently, and caters to their maintenance needs. What it's not, however, is an aircraft junkyard. Some aging airliners may be scrapped here (after being stripped for valuable parts and spares) but plenty of new, perfectly serviceable aircraft are stored in Teruel. Some are ready to fly but are waiting for financial or legal issues to be sorted out. Some are here because their

One of the world's largest and most valuable pearls was left forgotten under a bed for more than 10 years, its owner told CNN. The enormous pearl, weighing 34 kilograms (75 lbs), was originally found inside a giant clam, said Puerto Princesa City Tourism Officer, Aileen Cynthia Amurao. She said her relatives discovered it and up until now have been using it as a good luck charm.  "He'd almost forgotten everything about the pearl until he was moving out, and he remembered he had something under his bed," she said. On August 20, Amurao posted photos of the monstrous pearl to Facebook, asking for gemologists who might be able to verify the pearl's weight and value. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/24/asia/largest-pearl-philippines-amurao/index.html The cardinal ingresses of the Sun have a traditional reputation as  important  mundane events. Of these the Capricorn Ingress has a special place and is considered by many to be the  annual chart. Shown

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, leaving at least 13 people dead and others trapped under rubble, Italian officials said. "Half the town is gone," said the mayor of Amatrice, one of the worst areas affected. A family of four were feared dead in the rubble of their house in the nearby town of Accumoli. The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, at a shallow depth of 10km. Some buildings in the capital shook for 20 seconds. Officials warned the number of fatalities was likely to rise. The head of the civil protection department compared the earthquake's intensity to Aquila in April 2009 in which 309 people died. Aug. 24  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37171953 The earthquake comes exactly on the day Mars and Saturn conjoin. At Amatrice, one of the worst areas affected, the conjunction along with Neptune and the nodal axis forms a T-square with the meridian. Here Mars and Saturn are conjunct the star Ant

A new University at Buffalo study that assessed bodily responses suggests that standing up for your beliefs, expressing your opinions and demonstrating your core values can be a positive psychological experience. Our happiness, and ultimately our lives, are defined by the choices we make. When we allow other people to tell us how to feel, they are making those choices for us, and we are giving away our truth. Since all truths are true, we must define if it is our ego we are standing up for or something more. When we passionately believe in something, we should let people know why we stand up for those ideals. We may not change the mindset for others, but we may change the conversation. It then leads into different directions of consciousness and people begin to recognize why we are so adamant and passionate about out opinions even if others disagree with them. The findings, published in the journal Psychophysiology, provide new insights into what it's like being alone agai

Perseus and Andromeda by Giorgio Vasari (1511) Winnipeg, Canada (CNN)As Lauren Chopek painfully details her story, she does so with the reticence of a survivor, as if somehow remaining silent would have been better. "I used to blame myself for everything. But, like I, I would say I let them do that to me. I am dirty. It's my fault," says Chopek through tears. But Chopek is finally speaking out, determined to shake the guilt and shame that she knows should stalk her perpetrators instead of her. "Now I see that I was just a child," says Chopek, now sitting serenely in a safe house, a healing lodge in rural Manitoba that cradled her in the love and protection she so needed when she escaped her life on the streets. Aug. 23 http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/23/world/canada-indigenous-sex-trafficking/index.html In his post on the August New Moon, Darkness & Delusion to Light & Illumination , Nick Fiorenza writes: The August 2, 2016 New Moon

The world's "highest and longest" glass bottomed bridge has opened to the public in central China. The 430 metre long, six metre wide structure connects two mountains in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province. It cost 22.5 million yuan (£2.5million) to build, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. Designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan, visitors are able to peer down 300 metres to the ground through the transparent floor. Ninety nine panes make up the three layers of glass, which were smashed by men with sledgehammers in a publicity stunt to demonstrate their strength prior to the opening. Aug.20 https://www.sott.net/article/325920-China-opens-worlds-highest-and-longest-glass-bridge The bridge, in the Tianmenshan National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie,  stretches 430m across a deep gorge with a terrifying 300m drop to the bottom of the valley. It was opened just after the lunar eclipse of August 18. A chart for the eclipse has it placed very significant

A Canadian band whose lead singer was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer have performed their last concert at the end of an emotional farewell tour. The Tragically Hip drew a sell-out crowd to the last show in Kingston, Ontario, on Saturday, broadcast live across Canada. PM Justin Trudeau, who was at the live show, said the band had "been writing Canada's soundtrack for over 30 years". Lead singer Gord Downie, 52, announced his illness in May. The news caused shock across Canada. Aug. 21  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37147588 The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, are a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of lead singer Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay. They released 14 studio albums, two live albums, 1 EP, and 54 singles. Nine of their albums have reached No. 1 in Canada. They have received numerous Canadian Mu

US swimmer Ryan Lochte told NBC's Matt Lauer it was his fault that a fabricated story about a robbery caused an international Olympics scandal."I over-exaggerated that story and if I had never done that we wouldn't be in this mess," he said in a snippet of the interview aired on NBC on Saturday evening. "None of this would have happened," he added about the aftermath in which three of his fellow swimmers were questioned by Brazilian police and one was ordered to donate nearly $11,000 to a Brazilian charity. Aug.21 http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/20/sport/us-olympics-swimmers-reported-robbery-future/index.html The news from CNN comes just as the Moon moves into its waning Gibbous phase. A chart for the Moon phase at Washington, DC has Mars-Saturn-Neptune-Nodes T-square straddling the horizon axis. Mars and Saturn on the Ascendant are conjunct the royal star Antares, alpha Scorpii – the heart of the Scorpion. Antares was t

Scientists from Oxford University and UCL (University College, London) have identified part of our brain that helps us learn to be good to others. The discovery could help understanding of conditions like psychopathy where people's behaviour is extremely antisocial. The researchers were led by Dr Patricia Lockwood, who explained: 'Prosocial behaviours are social behaviours that benefit other people. They are a fundamental aspect of human interactions, essential for social bonding and cohesion, but very little is currently known about how and why people do things to help others. Aug. 16; http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2016-08-16-finding-brains-generosity-centre The results of the brain scan study at Oxford University can  best be understood if we begin with a chart for the March Total Solar Eclipse. In his post for the lunar month of March entitled Altruistic – Total Solar Eclipse, Nick Fiorenza wrote: Our New Moon Solar Eclipse occurs amongst the f

The Virgin and the Crow House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte are making the case Clinton committed perjury by either lying to the FBI or lying under oath during Congressional testimony.  In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing Phillips Monday, Chaffetz and Goodlatte outlined their case by highlighting numerous examples of Clinton's own conflicting statements about her private email server. Aug. 15 http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2016/08/15/perjury-case-submitted-to-fbi-by-oversight-committee-n2205408 In this post we examine the astrological reasons why it is possible that Hillary’s lies could bring her big trouble. Hillary Clinton was born 26 October 1949. Her horoscope shows a Mercury-Neptune-South Node conjunction. A planet conjunct the south node works exactly as a planet conjunct the Sun – except that we are looking at the person’s identity in a prio