We have a rare visitor in our solar system. The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was discovered last summer, and now this oddity is in exact conjunction with the New Moon in Libra, in the same degree with the Sun and the Moon.

Long-period comets originate from the distant Oort cloud, whereas short-period comets come from the Kuiper belt. The recently discovered main-belt comets form a group of their own. They orbit in more circular orbits within the Main asteroid belt.

Our visitor came from interstellar space, the space between stars. Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object discovered, after Oumuamua, the “first distant messenger” in 2017, and the first observed “rogue comet” Borisov in 2019.

We don’t know where exactly comet 3I/ATLAS is coming from or where it is heading after its orbit around our Sun. It seems that it originated in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, near the Milky Way’s Galactic Center. Astrologically the Galactic Center is often thought to be an intense energy point and symbolize the higher purpose or the door to deeper understanding. In the chart the Galactic Center is located around 27+ degrees of Sagittarius.

Comet 3I/ATLAS may be the oldest comet yet seen. It could be at least 7 billion years old – older than our solar system, which is about 4.6 billion years old. The diameter of its nucleus is not big, perhaps less than 1 km. Initially, the comet had a red coma. When the sky darkened due to the total lunar eclipse on Sept. 7, 2025, astronomers took advantage of the opportunity to observe the interstellar comet and found it to be green.

Comet 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025 (astrologically in the early degrees of Capricorn). It passed by Mars on Oct. 3, 2025. It will reach perihelion (the closest distance to the Sun) between the orbits of Earth and Mars on Oct. 29, 2025. Then it will pass by Venus on Nov. 3, 2025. It is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 19, 2025, but it will not come very close us. It will pass Jupiter on March 16, 2026, before heading back into interstellar space.

Comet 3I/ATLAS is in solar conjunction on Oct. 21, 2025, the day of the New Moon. It means that the Earth, Moon, Sun, and the comet are aligned with each other so that the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, and the comet on the opposite side of the Sun as seen from Earth. It is not visible from Earth’s perspective now, but space probes will continue to observe it.

Ancient astrologers considered comets to be harbringers of doom, predicting the death of a king or some other disaster. Although comets are unpredictable, modern astrology sees them in a bit more positive light. Comets bring a message of change. Considering the current state of our world, a message from the center of the Milky Way, from the Source, is bringing hope and a broader perspective to humanity.

Autumnal Equinox – Sept. 22, 2025, 18:19 UT

The New Moon in the last degree of Virgo is a partial solar eclipse. The next day is the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun enters Libra.

In August there was a kite configuration formed by Mars and the slowly moving planets Uranus, Pluto, Saturn, and Neptune. Now the Sun and the Moon have taken Mars’s place at the back of the kite. Full Moon in Aquarius – Aug. 09, 2025, 07:55 UT

Eclipses may bring events that feel “fated”. Now even more so, because asteroid 3811 Karma is in conjunction with the Sun, Moon and Mercury. Asteroid Karma was discovered by astronomer Liisi Oterma in 1953 in Turku, Finland. It is a Main-belt asteroid with a diameter of about 30 kilometers and an orbital period of just over four years. The concept of karma is universal and means the influence of cause and effect. All actions have consequences. Also the lack of action counts. The astrological meaning attached to the asteroid follows roughly the same.

Today the UK, Canada and Australia have recognised the Palestinian state. According to Finland’s constitution, our foreign policy is led by the president in co-operation with the government. President Alexander Stubb has said that he would be ready to recognise a Palestinian state if the government were to propose it. He would have liked Finland to be “on the right side of history”. Shamefully our right-wing government is not willing to do it, Finland is not recognising Palestine.

The solar eclipse and the transiting asteroid Karma are conjunct Finland’s natal asteroid Karma in early Libra and squaring Finland’s lunar nodes and Mercury in Capricorn.

The New Moon in the first degree of Virgo is in conjunction with the binary cubewano Sila-Nunam and square Uranus-Sedna conjunction in Gemini. The Sun, the Moon and Sila-Nunam form the apex of a yod pattern. Other planets involved in the yod are Pluto in Aquarius and Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries. Potent forces are present.

Ukraine celebrates its independence tomorrow. The declaration of independence was issued on Aug. 24, 1991. President Zelensky, president Trump and European leaders met in Washington on Aug. 18, when the Sun was in exact conjunction with the peace planet Praamzius. However, there are no great hopes for peace. This New Moon is right at Ukraine’s Sun. The New Moon is also conjunct asteroid Cardea in the last degree of Leo. Cardea is named after the Roman goddess of doorways and transitions, symbolizing the guardianship of thresholds. Is Ukraine now at a hinge moment of history? Time will tell.

This summer Finland experienced a record-breaking heatwave with 22 days exceeding 30C. The heatwave would have been impossible without human-caused climate breakdown. There were dead reindeer in Lapland because of the heat. The climate is warming fastest in the north.

Also worrying is the news from Spain that Posidonia, “Neptune’s weed”, the most important carbon sink in the Mediterranean, is disappearing. Posidonia grows on the seabed and binds more carbon dioxide than anything else in the world. It is one of the oldest living organisms in the world, partly up to 10,000 years old, and grows extremely slowly. The warming seawater is a significant threat to Posidonia.

Sila-Nunam and Sedna are both named from Inuit mythology. The entire Inuit way of life is under threat as the sea ice melts. Sedna is the goddess of the Arctic Ocean, who created the sea animals. Sila is the god of the sky, weather, and life force. Nunam is the Earth goddess, who created the land animals and the Inuit people. The presence of these Arctic deities in the chart reminds us that despite wars and other serious problems, combating climate disaster should be our priority.

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More Kuiper belt planets have been assigned names.

On July 21, 2025, cubewano Ritona was named after the Celtic goddess of river fords. Ritona’s orbital period is 267 years and its diameter approximately 679 km.

Centaur planet Petraios was named on Aug. 11, 2025. The orbital period is around 91 years and the diameter approximately 77 km. According to the official naming citation, “The centaur Petraios took part in the battle at the wedding of Pirithous, a symbolic clash between primal chaos and social order. His name means ‘rocky’, evoking strength and stability. As Ovid tells, Petraios fell while grappling with the rooted Earth. Like this minor planet, he marks the edge between structure and upheaval.”

Chiminigagua is a scattered-disc object and a binary named on Aug. 11, 2025. Chiminigagua is the creator god of the Muisca people that inhabit the Andes mountains in the central part of Colombia. When the world was created there was only darkness and the only light was given by Chiminigagua. The orbital period is about 450 years and the diameter about 740 km.

The New Moon at 2+ Leo is tightly in cojunction with centaur Echeclus and opposite Pluto at 2+ Aquarius. The Echeclus-Pluto opposition is exact on July 26, 2025. Echeclus and Pluto oppose each other five times between September 2024 and June 2026, and this is the midmost of those oppositions.

Echeclus was discovered in 2000 and classified as a minor planet. However, it has undergone several outbursts since its discovery. In 2006 it was also given a comet designation. Also Chiron and a few other objects are cross-listed as both a comet and a centaur. Echeclus belongs to a small subgroup of comets called Chiron-type comets, whose other members include Chiron and 39P/Oterma. The orbital period of Echeclus is about 35 years and its diameter about 60 kilometers.

Echeclus was named after the Greek centaur who fought in the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. He was killed with a hit in the face with a lance that lacked its point. Loss of face (figuratively) or having one’s identity shattered has been suggested as the astrological meaning of Echeclus. Taking this a little further, espionage could be related to this, especially when Echeclus is in aspect with Pluto. A spy operates secretly and pretends to be someone other than he/she is.

I think the factors of the discovery chart of Echeclus support this. Echeclus was discovered on March 3, 2000 at 16+ Virgo, in exact square to Chiron and Arawn at 16+ Sagittarius. Arawn was the Welsh ruler of the otherworld, who switched places and appearance with a mortal man, and then back again. Nobody noticed. The Sabian symbol for the Sun’s degree 14 Pisces is “A lady in fox fur”.

Image: Madame Craucher with her chauffeur Boris Wolkowski in 1930s (Wikipedia)

Minna Craucher (Aug. 23, 1891 – March 8, 1932) was the false name of Maria Lindell, a Finnish socialite and spy. Her home was a noted salon for various writers and artists, and a gathering place for the literaty group Tulenkantajat, for instance. Minna Craucher can be considered a fictional character that Maria Lindell created for herself. In addition the name, she also created an education and a noble family background for herself. Craucher became involved in the right-wing Lapua Movement. She began to be suspected of being a communist agent, which led to her murder in 1932. Craucher’s Echeclus in late Leo is in conjunction with her Sun, sextile to Uranus in Libra, and semisextile to Mercury in Virgo.

Another famous Finnish spy and salon hostess was the writer and cultural influencer Hella Wuolijoki (July 22, 1886 – Feb. 2, 1954), known for her Niskavuori series. Wuolijoki was a member of the Finnish Parliament and also served as the director of the national broadcasting company, YLE. She had secret connections with the Soviet intelligence. She maintained a transit point, the most famous user of which was John Reed, while traveling from the United States to Russia. Wuolijoki was arrested in 1943 for hiding a Soviet paratrooper spy on a mission. She was sentenced to prison for treason. Hella Wuolijoki’s Echeclus in early Leo is in conjuntion with her Sun in the last degree of Cancer, sextile to Pluto in Gemini, and sextile to Jupiter and Uranus in Libra.

Alger Hiss (Nov. 11, 1904 – Nov. 15, 1996) was an American government official who was accused of espionage in the late 1940s and convicted of perjury. Whether he was guilty or not continue to be debated. The Scorpio Sun of Alger Hiss is in conjunction with Echeclus.

Stig Bergling (March 1, 1937 – Jan. 24, 2015) was a Swedish Security Service officer who spied for the Soviet Union. He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1979. His escape and defection to Moscow via Finland in 1987 caused a great stir. For health reasons he voluntarily returned to Sweden in 1994. Bergling’s Echeclus in late Libra is squaring tightly his Pluto in Cancer and opposing Venus in Aries. The time of his birth is unknown, but in the noon chart Echeclus is exactly conjunct his Moon.

Alexander Litvinenko (Aug. 30, 1962 – Nov. 23, 2006) was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, who had fled to London and was granted asylum in the United Kingdom. In November 2006, Litvinenko fell ill because of polonium poisoning. Litvinenko met with two former agents earlier on the day. He died a few weeks later. A British investigation identified a former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoy as the main suspect. Litvinenko has a stellium in Virgo. The Sun is in tight conjunction with Echeclus, and the other planets in Virgo are Uranus, Pluto, and the Moon.

The second Echeclus-Pluto opposition of the current series took place on Dec. 26, 2024. On the previous day happened the Estlink 2 cable incident in the Gulf of Finland (Dec. 25, 2024, 12:26 EET -2:00). The oil tanker Eagle S, part of the Russian shadow fleet, intentionally caused the cable ruptures by dragging its anchor. The officers of the ship are suspected of aggravated vandalism and aggravated interference with telecommunications. An expert has estimated that Russia’s shadow ships may be commanded by an invisible captain. In reality, the commander who makes the decisions would be in a lower-ranking position than the captain on paper. An “invisible captain” and a spy have a lot in common, both are busy in the shadows doing something completely different than what is visible to others.

A week ago, coinciding with the third Echeclus-Pluto opposition aspect, we were surprised by the sighting of an Indian warship sailing in the Gulf of Bothnia. The Tamal frigate is Russian-made and was handed over to India in July. The reasons for the ship’s strange route can only be guessed at. The authorities were closely monitoring the situation. There have been speculations that the ship was spying for Russia.

The Sun entered Cancer on June 21, marking the Summer Solstice. The New Moon in Cancer occurred on June 25. Also in early Cancer there are Jupiter, tno Chaos, centaur Asbolus, and comet 39P/Oterma. Cancer is the home sign of the Moon.

The trans-Neptunian Chaos was discovered in 1998. Its orbital period is almost 310 years and its diameter is about 400 – 500 km. Recent studies suggest that Chaos is a binary, possibly a contact binary. It is named after the primeval state of existence in Greek mythology, from which the first gods appeared, including Gaia, the Earth. Wikipedia says that Chaos was the state the universe was in before it was created. Because early christians did not understand how to use the word “chaos” properly, the word’s meaning changed to the opposite of order.

It is easy to draw connection between the mythological Chaos and the scientific origin of the universe. The Big Bang marks the origin of the universe and the start of spacetime. Spacetime is the bending fabric of the universe, blending space and time. The universe started billions of years ago from a hot point which then rapidly expanded, and this expansion is still happening. First the universe was in a chaotic state, but it slowly cooled and the chaos gave way to the orderly cosmos of today. The Solar System evolved and the planets formed.

Cancer is the sign of home, the place where we need to feel safe. Jupiter is the planet of expansion and the symbol of hope and optimism. Centaur Asbolus orbits between Jupiter and Neptune. The name means carbon dust and in mythology he was a seer who made forecasts from the flight of birds. The New Moon is the seeding moment for future growth.

Although the world around us is in chaos, as the meaning of the word is understood today, at this New Moon we can focus on the good in our lives and wait for the seeds to sprout.

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NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The first images of the powerful new telescope of Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile were released on June 23. There is a stunning conjunction of asteroid Photographica and tno Varda at the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. Martha Lang-Wescott interprets that “while useful for showing the importance of photography and visual images, Photographica also relates to the brain’s ability to retain and interpret visual imagery.” The trans-Neptunian Varda is named after the queen of stars and light in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional mythology. Varda lived with Manwë, a Jupiter-like deity, and together they saw “further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness”, and heard more clearly than all other ears.

Astronomers anticipate that the new telescope of Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon reveal the location of the so far hypothetical Planet Nine in the outer region of our Solar System. I am eagerly waiting the news!

The Mars-Pluto opposition was exact in the early hours of the day. The New Moon in Taurus follows in the evening. The New Moon forms a t-square with the Mars-Pluto opposition.

Yesterday we witnessed the funeral of Pope Francis. Heads of state were gathering, cardinals were dressed in red and gold. But Francis was above all a humble pope of the common people and the poor. Pope Francis died on Easter, which was startling in itself, but the chart cast for the time of his death is one of the most astonishing in a long time.

The unpredictable Uranus, one of the emissaries of change, was at the ascendant of Pope Francis’ death chart. Francis had been discharged from the hospital and just the previous day he appeared in public, so his death came as a schock.

It was the Last Quarter Moon, which is the phase of letting go, the time of release and transformation. The Moon in early Aquarius had just opposed Mars in Leo, squared the Sun in Taurus, and now conjoined Pluto in Aquarius. Pluto means transformation. The Moon symbolizes the common people, crowds, and matters of a public nature. The Moon-Pluto conjunction was exactly at the Midheaven, the highest position of the chart. In addition, in the first degree of Aquarius, as a part of the conjunction and the t-square, was the centaur planet Hylonome, the symbol of grief.

Centaur planet Hylonome was discovered 30 years ago, in February 1995. It is a dark body with the orbital period of 126 years. Astrologer Eric Francis Coppolino has written about the proving moment for Hylonome during the funeral of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 (The Mountain Astrologer, Oct./Nov. 2012). Tens of thousands of mourning Palestinians attended the ceremony in Ramallah. Eric was watching the funeral on TV at the moment of the Scorpio New Moon conjunct Hylonome. He wrote: “Hylonome has been connected by Centaur specialists to themes of grief and the process of working through grief. This is a theme endemic in the Centaurs, but especially pronounced with Hylonome. As the New Moon took shape conjunct Hylonome in Scorpio, we were witnessing one of the most vibrant public outpourings of grief since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, almost a decade earlier.” Eric particularly highlights the keywords of astrologer Juan Revilla, “the cry of the poor”.

In Pope Francis’s natal chart, his Midheaven, the cusp of the 10th house, is in the first degree of Taurus. The 10th house represents one’s most cherished goals and the “calling” in the life. At the time of his death, the transiting Sun was conjunct his Midheaven, and all the planets of the transiting t-square were affecting it. Right at the pope’s Midheaven there is the trans-Neptunian Praamzius, the minor planet of peace.

In his final Easter message Pope Francis wrote: “There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.”

We are living in odd times when one almost starts to hope that astrology would not work so perfectly well.

The Sun entered Aries on March 20, 2025, in conjunction with Neptune in the last degree of Pisces and Borasisi in early Aries. The focus stays strongly in Aries with this solar eclipse and with several planets there.

Two weeks a ago at the time of the lunar eclipse, Mercury was starionary at 9+ degrees of Aries and turned retrograde on the next day. Now the solar eclipse occurs at that same degree. Mercury is now retrograding at the Aries point tightly in between Borasisi and Neptune. The next day, on March 30, Mercury steps back into Pisces and meets Neptune. Neptune keeps moving forward and enters Aries later in the day, starting a new 165-year cycle around the zodiac.

Mercury represents thinking, speech, all forms of communication, negotiations, and making treaties. Mercury retrograde is famous for disruptions in technology and communication, and one should be very careful when entering into contracts.

“The Signalgate” is by far the most striking example of Mercury retrograde that I have ever come across. The United States national security leaders accidentally leaked the country’s war plans for Yemen to the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. The national security advisor Mike Waltz erroneously added Goldberg to the group chat on the Signal messaging service. Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, used the chat to share detailed plans. In addition to Waltz and Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice president J. D. Vance were also present. Nobody noticed Goldberg. Also, in the aftermath, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that they were able to find on the internet some private contact details and passwords for members of the group chat.

Cubewano Borasisi has affinities with Neptune, and now they are in conjunction at the Aries point. Borasisi completed its entry into Aries in January 2025. Neptune dissolves boundaries and can blur reality. It can be difficult to understand what actually is happening. Neptune is associated with dreams, illusions, deception, confusion, chaos, escapism, and leaks, among other things. Borasisi is related to the tendency to live believing pleasant lies, because it makes life feel better than seeing and accepting unpleasant truths.

The ceasefire negotiations to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine are taking place under this disturbing astrology. Europe is watching “the negotiations” with feelings of horror and disbelief. Putin is doing everything he can to delay the process. The parties do not seem to agree on what has been actually agreed. Trump is continuously changing the terms of the agreement. A few days ago, respected British scholar Keir Giles said that we should assume that Trump is working for Moscow unless proven otherwise.

In addition to what is said above, there is a kite pattern in the chart formed by Uranus in Taurus at the apex, Mars and Saturn at the corners, and Narcissus opposite Uranus, steering the kite. The peace planet Praamzius at 24+ Leo is in aspect to Saturn, Eris, Uranus and Narcissus.

The New Moon is in Aquarius, where Pluto has recently entered. Mercury is in conjunction with Pluto. Pluto is trine Sedna in the first degree of Gemini.

Pluto’s trine to Sedna reflects the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists being moved closer to midnight yesterday. The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by scientists including Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The metaphorical clock was now set to 89 seconds to midnight to warn the public and the world leaders about how close humankind is to destroying the world. The factors shaping this year’s decision include nuclear risk, climate change and the potential misuse of artificial intelligence, for instance.

Mars in Cancer is in conjunction with the newly named quasi-moon of Earth, Cardea. Last summer the International Astronomical Union and Radiolab announced a public competition to name one of the quasi-moons of Earth. The winner was chosen from seven finalists and announced on Jan. 13, 2025. Cardea is the Roman goddess of the hinge.

A quasi-moon is an asteroid that actually orbits the Sun, but if you watch it from the Earth, it looks like it’s orbiting our planet just like the Moon does. Cardea is a small Apollo asteroid discovered in 2004 by the Lincoln Near Asteroid Research project (LINEAR). The orbital period is one year. It stays as a quasi-satellite of Earth until around 2600.

Roman doors were hung on pivot hinges. Cardea was one of the deities who preside over doorways. They were said to be “doorkeepers of the earth”, guarding the passage to the earthly sphere. On Radiolab’s contest page Cardea was introduced like this:

”A name imbued with elegance and depth, Cardea is the Roman goddess of doorways and transitions, symbolizing the guardianship of thresholds. This quasi-moon, forever straddling the space between Earth and the cosmos, reflects Cardea’s dominion over liminal states, embodying a celestial gatekeeper of the in-between.”

In its discovery chart Cardea was retrograding at 14+ degrees of Leo tightly opposite Neptune and also with wide orb opposite the Moon. Neptune symbolizes dreams, illusions, imagination and the unconscious. Perhaps Cardea really can turn the hinged door from our everyday reality to another place. The unique director David Lynch died on Jan. 15, 2025. In his birthchart he had 10th house Cardea in late Virgo trine to the Sun-Venus conjunction in Capricorn, semisextile Jupiter in Libra, and square to his lunar nodes in Gemini and Sagittarius.

Oxford English Dictionary defines the adjective ”lynchian” like this: ”Characteristic, reminiscent, or imitative of the films or television work of David Lynch. Lynch is noted for juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace.”

Lynch himself has said of his attitude to dreams: ”Waking dreams are the ones that are important, the ones that come when I’m quietly sitting in a chair, letting my mind wander. When you sleep, you don’t control your dream. I like to dive into a dream world that I’ve made or discovered; a world I choose…”

Actor Kyle MacLachlan wrote: “What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.”

Filmmaker Harmony Korine said: ”He embraced his own inner logic and filtered it through a subconscious magic. He created worlds and unmatched vibrations. He hit on things that were inexplicable and sacred and beyond articulation.”

This is the first New Moon after Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius on Nov. 19. The New Moon is opposite Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, and in conjunction with asteroid Urania. Mercury in Sagittarius turned retrograde on Nov. 26. Mercury is in conjunction with asteroid Discovery.

30 Urania is a large Main-belt asteroid named after one of the nine muses in Greek mythology. The muses were daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory). Urania is the heavenly muse of astrology and astronomy, and also the patroness of those who are navigating seas by the stars. She is depicted holding a globe and a compass. She is sometimes associated with universal love.

In astrology asteroid Urania stands for the capacity of handling theoretical, hypothetical or abstract principles and informaton; the capacity for self-reflective awareness; and the ability to “see the big picture” (Martha Lang-Wescott, Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids, Treehouse Mountain). According to Demetra George, “In her search for celestial truths, Urania uses her mental astuteness to probe both the microcosm and the macrocosm.” Demetra George has presented Urania and Chiron as a pair, where Urania represents the principle of inspired knowledge and Chiron the principle of wholistic understanding. She calls them “The Knowledge Holders” (Demetra George & Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses, Ibis Press).

30 Urania was discovered by English astronomer John Russell Hind (1823 – 1895) in the early days of the asteroid discovery. Hind found 10 asteroids and was one of the most successful asteroid discoverers of his time. He discovered Urania in 1854 at London.

9770 Discovery was found in 1993 by probably the most famous Japanese astronomer, Takeshi Urata (1947 – 2012), who discovered numerous asteroids. Takeshi Urata’s birthday is unknown, but let’s take a look at John Russell Hind’s chart (born May 12, 1823, Nottingham, England). Asteroid names function often amazingly accurately in astrology.

John Russell Hind’s Taurus Sun is in close conjunction with the trans-Neptunian Arrokoth, which is named in honor of those who are inspired to look up to the sky and learn about the stars and worlds beyond our own. Asteroid Discovery is in exact conjunction with the magnifying Jupiter in Gemini. Both “Knowledge Holders” make harmonious sextiles to the aforementioned conjunctions: asteroid Urania in Cancer is in sextile to the Sun-Arrokoth conjunction, and Chiron in Aries is in sextile to the Jupiter-Discovery conjunction.

The passionate and intense New Moon in Scorpio coincides with the celebrations of All Saints’ Day, Halloween, Samhain and the Finnish Kekri. This is considered a time when the veil between our physical world and the spirit world is at its thinnest. Candles, lanterns and bonfires are lit to illuminate this dark time.

The traditional and modern rulers of Scorpio, Mars and Pluto are in exact opposition to each other. The New Moon is in conjunction with Zhulong, a scattered-disc object in a 2:5 resonance with Neptune.

Zhulong was discovered in 2014 by Pan-STARRS (The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System), an astronomical survey program which is systematically surveying the entire sky on a continuous basis. Other discoveries by Pan-STARRS are for example Oumuamua, the first interstellar object detected passing through our solar system; Kaʻepaokaʻawela, an asteroid in a 1:1 resonance with Jupiter, and possibly of interstellar origin too; and Kamoʻoalewa, one of the quasi-satellites of Earth.

The orbital period of Zhulong is around 420 years and its diameter is about 233 km. Zhulong is named from Chinese mythology after the Torch Dragon, a giant red dragon with a human face and scarlet serpent body. It controlled the day and night by opening and closing its eyes. It has been described as shining a torch over “the ninfold darkness”.