Harvey Woo passed away in 2023. He lived down the street from me, I saw his wife and she told me. An uncanny thing, mentioning his name, without tilting her head, her eyes looked straight upwards. Harvey is a local legend, and Carol Pogash (freelance) wrote a 1987 profile of Harvey's Place for the S.F. Examiner: FRIDAY NIGHTS They call him the patron saint of bike messengers. Without Harvey, a lot of bike messengers would starve. On the last day of the work week, the line of messengers with their paychecks stretches a long way from the counter. "If it weren't for Harvey, I'd starve," said R.K.O. Radio. He's buying a jug of Gatorade and a plate of Harvey's special: beef stew w/ rice. The bike messengers line up at the Bank of Harvey Woo to pay off their tabs, or part of them. "No matter how much money you make by Friday," said bike messenger Lizard, "you always manage to charge Monday's sandwich." "I HEART Harvey," said Amy Rockette of U.S. Courier, who has pedaled on down to Harvey's Place on Fifth Street just below Folsom. "I want to give Harvey $70", she said. Harvey gives bike messengers credit when they're hungry. He gives Amy credit when she needs toilet paper and cat food. He advances them credit when they can't pay their rent. FREE OIL It's not just the matter of money that keeps bike messengers coming to Harvey's. When their bikes need oil, he hands them his can. "I know that they can't afford it. What the heck, they don't need to buy the whole can, they only need a few drops", he explains. For minor injuries, he keeps peroxide and Band-Aids close to the cash register. BATHROOM He lets the messengers use his bathroom in the back. BREAKFAST Breakfasts at Harvey's include R.K.O.'s favorites: a double cheeseburger, potato chips, coffee and OJ. If R.K.O. has any criticism of Harvey it is that Harvey refused to make milkshakes in the morning. ... Bike messenger Lizard appreciates a Harvey touch. "His is the only restaurant that has peanut butter and jelly on the menu." This is something about which bike messengers care. HARVEY WOO Theirs is a peculiarly symbiotic relationship. Harvey, the pre-law graduate of Michigan State, who grew up in Mississippi but settled into his shop and luncheon counter business in San Francisco. The hundreds of bike messengers with scraggly hair, black leather jackets and few inhibitions. A lot of folks probably have forgotten what Harvey remembers. "I was young once", he said.
RETROGRADE 2026
In 2026, PLUTO is finally done being grim-hooved and bro-goateed – takes a bath on the wild side, courtesy of Aquarius.
Keeping pace across time and space is NEPTUNE, taking leave of Pisces to climb over the fence and into the hooligan hot-tub of neighbor Aries – wearing a bathrobe of spiritual pride and carrying a stack of scientific towels.
Retrograde 2026 sweeps up squeamish-faced egos, parrots issuing horizontal edicts, and dullards of duality.
Astronomy was conceived in an era when Gaea was still flat, and Uranus was seen every night descending to couple w/ her.
Sky watchers made use of this dark passage of time to study the stars, and paid attention to the nearest seven.
Using Gaea as the measure of all things, these seven stars were pinned to a slice of space at latitude twenty degrees – known to astronomers as the 'ecliptic' and to astrologers as the 'celestial belt'.
+
Ancients, in their belief that Gaea was flat, had front-row seats every night as Uranus seeped down to couple w/ her; these two then experimented on foundational gods: brutes w/ super strength, w/ lizard-brains, w/ the first intelligences, there were three one-eyed mistakes, and a demon able to sculpt moving air.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
2026 is a red.flag year for red.planet MARS 'god of roman war' [no.rx] – there's booty in spring; summer spent kneeling; then a bronco fall of after-dinner mints.
•❚-❚•
Landing in the clink for conduct unbecoming to group cohesion: roman.asteroid bellona 'warfare' [rx.sag apr.10 >7.21.26 sin-eater].
•❚-❚•
Post-performance buzz shifts to chrysalis mode for amazon.asteroid penthesilea 'queen' [rx.sco mar.19 >7.4.26 that rank feeling].
•❚-❚•
Revisions to two campaigns delay tno.warrior eris 'contention' –
compass fail [rx1.ari jan.1-12.26 pitchfork panic];
delayed dawn [rx2.ari jul.23 >12.31.26 pinprick protection];
Eris patrols the Scattered disc w/ daughter.moon dysnomia 'lawless', trapped inside her primary's horoscope.
•❚-❚•
The daughter to Venus and Mars is a born diplomat and runs her father's house, a defacto theater of war, she moves chairs around, smooths down carpeting, presides over tea service, etc.
In 2016, greek.asteroid harmonia 'hostess' refuses a cordial of what looks like enlightened blood, and the cause for domestic despair [rx.can jan.1 >2.16.26 shaky handshakes];
more concerning is her cornered carbon,
exuding 3D tears during a rusty autumn: roman.asteroid concordia 'harmony' [rx.ari aug.19 >11.26.26 no avenue to vent].
•❚-❚•
Getting a phantom black eye is the least of worries for complicated.asteroid apollo 'ancestor' [rx.leo-can jan.1 >3.27.26 braveheart, not].
•❚-❚•
Anonymity feels wrong for roman.asteroid justitia 'law-&-order' [rx.sco apr.5 >6.25.26 cotton crown];
she has a carbon, greek.asteroid themis 'justice', omen hunter during a spritualized spring [rx.sag apr.9 >7.22.26 everywhere a chessboard].
•❚-❚•
Homing pigeon instincts fail roman.asteroid fortuna 'lady luck' [rx. lib-vir jan.27 >5.2.26 pin cushion];
the 'veiled goddess' has a carbon,
who role-plays and now is mighty presumptuous: chance.asteroid tyche 'good fortune' [rx.sag apr.18 >7.26.26 unforeseen pile-up].
•❚-❚•
Invited by a fashion-forward from delulu-land for a spin on the dancefloor: esteemed.asteroid nike 'victory' [rx.sco mar.19 >7.6.26 lifeline or not?];
. . . The 'winged goddess' has a carbon, roman.asteroid victoria 'flourished', mixing watercolor and tears to paint reality[rx.leo 12.18-31.26 a yippy hippie].
•❚-❚•
Stepping on stale glue might upset some, but not retribution.asteroid nemesis 'representative' [rx.cap may.21 >8.26.26 angel on a stick].
•❚-❚•
Hovering over a bad habit w/ a swiss-army knife: valkyrie.asteroid freia 'love+war' [rx.can nov.17 >12.31.26 rock of ages].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
On a rumpled bed of tossed pillows, a couple looks like they are in a caress, it also looks like a chokehold, applied by love.planet VENUS 'beautiful' [rx.sco-lib oct.3 >11.14.26 purple reign];
the 'ancestor to the roman race' has a carbon,
who is a recluse w/out a cause: love.asteroid' aphrodite 'lovely' [rx.gem jan.1 >2.11.26 unborn feet].
•❚-❚•
Threading a needle, reciting 'chastise, divest, repeat': divine.asteroid psyche 'soul' [rx.gem jan.1-25.26 medieval archer].
•❚-❚•
Weeks of not heeding advice adds up for maiden.asteroid nymph 'greek virgin' [rx.leo-can jan.1 >3.10.26 clingy].
•❚-❚•
Three days before the year ends, a cup of coffee says hello to hellenic.asteroid HEBE 'girl' [rx.vir dec.29-31.26 mumble stumble].
•❚-❚•
Falling leaf drops into the clean hands of model.asteroid adonis 'handsome one' [rx.lib-vir︎ jan.23 >5.21.26 germ-phobic];
a potentially hazardous asteroid, lovers also claim that Adonis is an extinct comet and a source of meteor showers.
•❚-❚•
'Hail-fellow-well-met' steps roughshod on besotted anti-social.asteroid narcissus 'me me me' [rx.sag-sco︎ mar.5 >8.3.26 lovely are the brave].
•❚-❚•
First being to step out of the 'abyss' was inventor of the 'baby step', w/ a name written differently by different hands; returned now w/ a lump on his head, looking battered as he has battered hearts,
sex.asteroid eros 'fairest of the deathless gods' moves unimpeded through 2026 [no.rx]: potent to seedy spring, stylish during show-off summer, sighing into woo-woo fall.
•❚-❚•
Confounded by a joyful noise: arrow.asteroid anteros 'love avenger' [rx.vir-leo jan.27 >3.31.26 no green shoots].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
Retrograding in all three water signs ensures trickster.planet MERCURY is "inconstant, vivacious and curious", spending setbacks in spas:
for an end of winter exfoliation [rx1.pis feb.26 >3.20.26 lego my ego];
during a sunglass-free summer [rx2.can jun.30 >7.24.26 manicured bookworm];
when about to halloween a-go-go [rx3.sco oct.24 >11.14.26 stirring hormones w/ a wall-flower].
•❚-❚-❚•
Putting away sharp objects w/ a knowing heart, before mind games tie up the harvest: wise.asteroid PALLAS 'indicator' [rx.ari aug.15 >12.1.26 pent up].
. . . A view in a collapsible mirror shows a flexibility alien to commerce.asteroid minerva 'initiator' [rx.sco-lib mar.7 >6.8.26 tightrope walker].
. . . Putting on an obligatory nightgown is offensive for arts-&-crafts.asteroid athene 'intellect' [rx.lib feb.17 >5.29.26 what sleep? i don't need sleep].
•❚-❚•
Wearing tinted shades during the first of two retrogrades steers bottoms-up benefits to origins.moon arche 'muse' [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 glitz instead of glare];
during the second, wearing a homeless look backfires [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 deadline blues].
•❚-❚•
Any scapegoat will do, concludes remembrance.moon mnemosyne 'patron muse to the Three Fates' [rx.cap may15 >8.29.26 somber hive-mind].
•❚-❚•
The library was founded in 1865 by history.asteroid klio 'muse', ears tingling after xmas supper [rx.vir 12.30-31.26 disciplined diet? what, me?].
•❚-❚•
Stepping forth from embers of the 20th century, an amorphous CRADLE COURT showed up and was given a forgotten nook, stacked to the ceiling w/ old globes;
'compliance adverse' says the t-shirt on hittite.asteroid tigris 'river.god' [rx.gem oct.21 >12.31.26 social blackeye];
while eye-candy-itis foreshortens spring for assyrian.asteroid euphrates 'river.god' [rx.sco-lib feb.25 >6.21.26 no nonsense bully].
•❚-❚•
Thought dead when sent to the morgue in 1852, an autopsy under the mantle revealed a preserved city; requisioned and revived, this lazarus now performs as a wall-to-wall carpet in the library: asteroid.map lutetia 'primordial paris' [rx.sag apr.17 >7.16.26 marinating in tomorrows].
•❚-❚•
Doing research amongst august company is a monk w/out a cell: ibis.asteroid thoth 'wisdom' [rx.ari-pis aug.5 >11.22.26 faith falters].
+
•❚-❚•
Crowded locker room turns athlete.asteroid atalante 'runner' into a sourpuss [rx.lib feb.8 >6.2.2026 conga-line oohs].
•❚-❚•
Money mishaps result in four months of belt-tightening for epic.asteroid ulysses 'sailor' [rx.lib-vir jan.16 >5.17.26 carrying a liturgical cloak].
•❚-❚•
Hero.asteroid heracles 'glory of hera' [no.rx] is seen at every springtime literary event – if not-well aspected, out of his depths; mister muscle is a cock-tease in summer – if well-aspected, malice is in wonderland.
•❚-❚•
Hamlet-cursed roadblock is a good enough reason for titan.asteroid atlas 'astronomy' to let off steam [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 concrete crown].
•❚-❚•
Reluctant xmas for astronomy.asteroid urania 'roman muse' [rx.leo dec.12-31.26 rsvp hell];
her carbon has two retrogrades: astronomy.moon eukelade 'greek muse' is quite lazy, following the tried and true:
chocolate-ices [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 family favs];
stuffed stocking [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 eye candy redux].
•❚-❚•
Helping to solve cases is long-timer afterthought.moon epimetheus 'titan', rehearsing 2026 rhetoric in a vertical world [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 word search].
•❚-❚• jenny blue [awol] has a day job as gazetteer certifying names of celestial bodies at the International Astronomical Union (1919); as 'patron goddess of nomenclature' she came in 1982 to set up the missing planet bureau.
•❚-❚•
Hosting the Olympia Academy has allowed herald.asteroid hermes 'fluid god' [rx.pis-aqu jun.19 >10.13.26 walks on water] to go roam and see every one, meet every thing; the 'keeper of boundaries' is nowadays seldom at his own home.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
From fool-me June to tip-toe September, dishing gossip chaps and cracks the maligning lips of queen.asteroid JUNO 'roman wife' [rx.aqu-cap jun.6 >9.17.26 lipstick ghetto];
her other half is only 64 asteroids away, where
queen.asteroid hera 'hellenic lady' goes abroad unwashed and wearing unfortunate outfits [rx.vir-leo jan.1 >4.15.26 quiet as a louse].
•❚-❚•
Cloudy.asteroid nephele 'juno cosplay' sifts courage through a sieve [rx.can jan.1 >3.6.26 waiting for the man].
•❚-❚-❚•
By-the-book domestic dustup, and understandable (for him) holiday behavior, await classical.planet JUPITER 'king of roman olympus', who undergoes two retrogrades:
while entering 2026, unzipped and unbuttoned [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 discarding possessions left and right – if not-well aspected, artificial and ambitious];
the second time while pacing backwards into an xmas zoo [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 caged willfulness – if well-aspected, a fig-leaf will do, if not, wearing yesterday's undies].
•❚-❚•
No shiny knight on the horizon for herald.asteroid eos 'greek dawn' [rx.tau sep.13 >12.18.26 fishbone soup];
she has a carbon: herald.asteroid aurora 'roman dawn', tangled up in a blue dawn [rx.gem jan.1-28.26 too too nice].
•❚-❚•
Bringing tempest to a teacup, as is his wont: wind.asteroid boreas 'north' [rx.leo dec.2-31.26 tousled tiara for christmas].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
One of nine foundational mountain nymphs, she is a hybrid made of earth and fire w/a bubbling body molten to mortals and demi-gods alike, and whose home is Mount Aetna;
undergoing two 2026 retrogrades sounds like bliss to fiery.moon aitne 'lava' –
first as a shopaholic [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 wind-chime kicks];
then during a no-chair xmas [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 forked mind].
•❚-❚•
What a piece of time, saddled w/ three retrogrades,
forge.asteroid hephaistos 'smith god' ends up four signs back, and upends each one:
the first one is to trim away illusions [rx1.gem jan.1 >3.4.26 firm handshake];
second occurs in muddy waters [rx2.gem-tau apr.12 <5.20.26 crabby hermit];
the third during fall is spent around mental midgets [rx3.tau-ari aug.12 >12.15.26 genius w/ a penis].
•❚-❚•
Shyness can take no more, stumbles, says goodbye to forethought.asteroid prometheus 'titan' [rx.can nov.4 >12.31.26 unpolished];
he has a twin, inner-shepherd.moon prometheus 'fire thief', now an on-the-nose conformist [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 crown of horns].
•❚-❚•
Being hoity-toity during high summer doesn't wear well on norse.moon surtur 'jötunn' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 livid phrasings];
the wielder of fire sword showed up in 2006 at the forge, he studied notebooks in the workshop nd, using legacy tools, re-fashioned destroyed heirlooms.
•❚-❚•
It/she/he/them is an amalgam of ten siblings, adept in metallurgy (boys) and magick (girls), then a
a pardon for past excuses rumbles up to digit.moon dactyl 'who/what/why' [rx.can-gem jan.1 >2.11.26 tongue-tied and maiden-shy].
•❚-❚•
Walking into January when her heart's still in November splits in two demi-solar.asteroid circe 'sorceress' [rx.can jan.1 >2.13.26 virgin vessel, maybe].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Atavistic.tno altjira 'australian dreamtime' has two retrogrades: during winter [rx1.gem jan.1 >3.3.26 good loser]; during fall [rx2.gem sep.24 >12.31.26 pitch-black opponent].
•❚-❚-❚•
Galloping emotions whip the hands that hold the reins of frightened chthon.asteroid GAEA 'roman earth' [rx.pis-aqu jul.10 >10.10.26 tuned to wrong channel];
the 'first goddess' has a carbon w/ an opposite outcome:
frozen.asteroid erda 'norse earth goddess', who is seen walking down a primrose path together w/ mister solitaire, only to reach the corner and have him say bye-bye [rx.can jan.1 >3.4.26 heavy toll].
•❚-❚•
A chameleon changeover glitches, because self-betrayal,
for multi.asteroid sibylla 'roman riddles' [rx.gem oct.23 >2.2.27 cocky].
•❚-❚•
A darkening game of 'snakes and ladders' alarms asteroid.mouthpiece pythia 'high priestess of Apollo' [rx.can jan.1 >3.3.26 rudderless].
•❚-❚-❚•
High summer through all souls season, sometimes as a chorus and sometimes an audience, inner voices flick the red-hot ears of sickle.planet SATURN 'king of the Titans' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 yesterday's crown – if well-aspected, he can try taking the first step again; if not, tossing off horizontal edicts flat as a frisbee].
•❚-❚-❚•
The inaugural goddess from the Asteroid Belt had stepped into the limelight on the first day of 1801, spherical and wearing a pockmarked swimsuit studded w/ saline pearls, slathered in organic building blocks, she is doing laps in an ocean world covered by tarp;
so why, just before thanksgiving, should roman.asteroid CERES 'corn' have any doubts as to her rudeness [rx.can nov.23 >12.31.26 bone-dry interchange];
the 'high priestess of the eleusinian mysteries' has a carbon,
greek.asteroid demeter 'barley', who forfeits when losing sight of a winter-time goal [rx.leo-can jan.1 >3.16.26 rusty skills];
they share a daughter:
having few options in a black-&-white world, twice-imperiled, is orchard.moon kore 'fruit-seed':
in winter [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 wilting mathilda];
last two weeks [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 woke mathilda].
•❚-❚•
Plastic smile says it all about
colombian.tno huya 'rain god' [rx.sag apr.2 >9.5.26 gargoyle mouth].
•❚-❚•
Treated as a sex tourist by an uncomfortable autumn: titanid.asteroid rhea 'elder earth goddess' [rx.ari aug.12 >11.17.26 poked and prodded],
whose name is so old that the way it is pronounced may have been the birth-name given to baby Gaea;
this exalted 'goddess of fertility' has a carbon,
who spoils summer and forgets fall: titanid.moon rhea 'mountain mother' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 argumentative];
they have a cousin counterpart,
reckless and seen tumbling dice as the year begins: roman.asteroid ops 'terra' [rx.can jan.1 >2.22.26 valentine wished].
•❚-❚•
Wind-bag for brains siddles up to myopic voice.asteroid echo 'voice' [rx.cap may.21 >9.3.26 fifty-fifty chance].
•❚-❚•
Holiday game of tossing darts gets ruined by virgin.asteroid artemis 'she of the wild' [rx.gem oct.18 >12.31.26 carefree therefore harm magnet].
•❚-❚•
A November of regret turns into a headache for asteroid.goat pan 'hybrid' [rx.leo dec.8-31.26 woke]; his doppelganger, though, has no regrets:
bossy lunar.goat pan 'shepherd moon' is bi-curious [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 plagued by an indoor voice].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
A summer w/ no knight in shining armor grounds roman.asteroid FLORA 'flower' [rx.cap may.26 >8.26.26 fortuitous];
the 'most ephemeral of goddesses' has a twin, grecian.asteroid chloris 'bouquet',
who is thirsty twice:
while paying w/ sticky $$ [rx1.gem jan.1-30.26 salvation to go];
after a detox in a box [rx2.leo dec.14-31.26 gummy bear].
•❚-❚•
Prodded into a 'jollification' jacket, just three days before the year is over: grape.god dionysus 'greek vine' [rx.vir-leo dec.27 >4.15.27 dunce's cap];
not so for his carbon:
grape.god bacchus 'roman fruit' [no.rx], seen out and about placing bets on this and that.
•❚-❚•
Grovelling for sweets leads to an unrefined winter for unkempt wind.asteroid zephyr 'west' [rx.leo-vir jan.1 >4.23.26 bubble-tea brain].
•❚-❚•
The 'first hellenic woman' is returned now as twins:
asteroid.pandora 'all gifts' gets nudged by angel wings [rx.lib feb.18 >6.5.26 nods head];
and moon.pandora 'all blames', unmoored by amor [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 crown missing a head].
•❚-❚•
A helmet paddles up to and flirts w/ water.moon naiad 'freshwater' [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 showboat soul].
•❚-❚•
A shapeless spine visits calendar.moon TITAN 'week' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 dog-collared] –
he is patron god of the garden of Apollon, which is connected to the Infirmary; star-fat now and nova lazy, this slovenness vanishes when his secret name is uttered – and Titan sits upright to resume again his role as fork-tailed monster third-class.
RETOX 2026
+
+ + +
The geomachia of 1807 had casualties, but the high priestess of 'first flame' was not one of them;
gingerly picking up her charge, Vesta slipped into sensible shoes and stepped off the submerged face of Gaea, landing in a nearby cemetery where she built shelter and rekindled a fire;
then her greek carbon was recovered, and when Hygiea showed up, in 1849, the three made use of their convergence to establish an infirmary; the first patients were mostly misshapened comets, flattened meteors, and spent asteroids.
•❚-❚-❚•
'First flame' now sits on the hearth throne in an unroofed kitchen, positioned so as to cast no shadow at high noon on the first day of summer;
its resultant glow reveals venerable.asteroid VESTA 'roman hearth' [rx.27ari12 aug.26 >11.28.26 detox best served cold]
to be bean-shaped, wearing a smooth basalt cloak buttoned w/ achondrites and cratered w/ meteorites made of diogenite, eucrite, and howardite.
. . . She has a hellenic half, who undergoes, during autumn, a comedy of errors:
having many options bewitches hearth.asteroid hestia 'hellenic fire' [rx.tau-ari sep.12 >12.2.26 klutz on a mission].
•❚-❚-❚•
Reading and understanding labels until mid-winter is over proves a must for medicine.asteroid HYGIEA 'wholesome' [rx.gem jan.1 >2.14.26 dosage darling];
she has a roman carbon juggling two retrogrades:
first, medicine.moon valetudo 'vigor' ignores personal space [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 ignorance is strength]; later, she is a fish out of water [rx2.can nov.12 >12.31.25 eyes wide shut].
•❚-❚•
Bureaucratic redtape has an after-meal tryst w/ roman.asteroid aesculapia 'medicine god' [rx.leo dec.18.25 >3.21.26 tail wags the cat].
•❚-❚•
Setting up the nurses station in 2017 and now dating lady luck is nurse.asteroid florence 'nightingale' [rx.sco-lib feb.24 >6.9.26 rust-proof skills].
•❚-❚•
Age does not go before beauty in the estimation of suddenly charmless medicine.asteroid panacea 'tonic' [rx.lib-vir jan.27 bitter root].
•❚-❚-❚•
Dosed by phantom LSD, injury-law.asteroid METIS 'counsel' walks on the god side [rx.pis-aqu jul.14 >10.14.26 bison blues];
the 'titanid of deep thought' has a twin,
who acts as her own defense during two retrogrades:
first, criminal-law.moon metis 'common sense' faces a cemetery [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 philosophical skeleton];
the second happens under a mistletoe [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 blames butler].
•❚-❚•
Two hexed retrogrades confront doctor.centaur chiron 'surgeon' –
while standing in raging waters [rx1.ari jan.1-2.26 picked on];
while in strut-mode [rx2.tau-ari aug.4 >12.31.26 mad-hatter].
He has a centaur wife, who is entangled w/ mortals dense as bricks: chariklo 'common sense' [rx.aqu may.31 >11.1.26 flayed].
•❚-❚•
Titan.moon iapetus 'mortality' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 doggie-bag crown] had followed the fate of 'first flame' from afar,
and today he leads the morgue, tinkering w/ the corpse of faded.sky theia [rip], dead for a long time, bits of Gaea still imbedded in her.
•❚-❚•
A helle-elemental god lies on a slab, donating root matter for building parts: hangry marine.moon proteus 'old man of the sea', even though he has parchment skin pockmarked w/ polyhedron-shaped ices and pinkish-red boils [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 toasted crown].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
Two retrogrades showcase the cool and the cruel in peculiar.planet URANUS 'eunuch god' –
first in the form of a shockwave at the bank-teller's window [rx1.tau jan.1 >2.3.26 exuberant remorse];
then while sipping a social-media beverage [rx2.5gem2 sep.11 >12.31.26 dead pride – if well-aspected, effusive agent provocateur, if not, commission agent].
•❚-❚•
The first baby steps into Cancer faltered twice last year, and will falter twice in 2026; it is an ongoing battle, inside four walls, to wetnurse oblivion.tno
chaos 'abyss'
–
the first time will be by giving the 'shapeless, unwrought mass of disconnected elements all heaped together in anarchic disarray' a sweet tooth [rx1.can jan.1 >3.15.26 sticky fingers];
then by serving the 'vast, immeasurable abyss, outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild' an under-the-counter holiday treat [rx2.can oct.9 >12.31.26 empty obligation].
•❚-❚•
Persuaded back down from a winter ledge, drying out by the hearth, wrapped in the holy cloak of 'meat is murder': zoroastrian.asteroid mithra 'all-seeing'[rx.can jan.1 >3.11.26 sitting on a porous rug].
•❚-❚•
With two retrogrades, this is a year of duty for vedic.tno varuna 'cosmic law',
taut as a stretched rubber band – in the first one, that bird in hand might be fool's gold [rx1.leo jan.1 >4.21.26 raindrop crown];
in the second, spending the holidays inside a compostable personality [rx2.leo ︎nov.13 >12.31.26 dish-rag blues].
•❚-❚•
Garbage babbles on and animals talk back to roman.moon janus 'two-faced' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 virtual equality]
.
•❚-❚•
Aiming at a fly w/ an elephant gun is over-the-top for composite.asteroid moira 'the fates' [rx.tau-ari aug.30 >12.14.26 punishment park].
Spooked by bright lights blinds spindle.asteroid klotho 'fate' [rx.sag-sco apr.2 >7.23.26 tugging heart].
Dropping a finished jigsaw puzzle on the floor sends giggles through ruler.asteroid lachesis 'fate' [rx.lib-vir jan.25 >5.5.26 heaven on earth].
Acting as her own counsel gums-up the gears for scissors.asteroid atropos 'fate' [rx.aqu jun.19 >9.10.26 misplaced reality].
•❚-❚-❚•
Loosening her belt twice tells a lot about empty-calorie diet of force.moon ananke 'queen serpent from the cradle of necessity'; first time during target winter [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 bullet stomach];
while enduring xmas dinner [rx2.leo ︎dec.13-31.26 molting at the table].
•❚-❚•
Hybrid w/ a lego mind : white-snake.asteroid nuwa 'mother sky' [rx.gem jan.1 >2.3.26 chipped tongue];
Nuwa took her time fashioning mortals, using leftover clay to first bake wuxia wardens, one each for wind 'air', thunder 'earth', rain 'water', and lightning 'fire'.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Paying heed to time and the zodiac wheel, the old throne belongs for now antiquated double.moon phoebe 'prophecy' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 new look leads to bad luck].
•❚-❚•
Poster-child for an ice cube sits on the full throne: lunatic.asteroid selene 'visible' [rx.tau-ari aug.29 >12.6.26 docile drip].
•❚-❚•
The new throne is now hers, but arrives at an inopportune time for hunter.asteroid diana 'rebel' [rx.pis-aqu jul.5 >10.20.26 reek of the chase], because the 'protector of roman children' has a small problem, currently locked in time, she is a 'phased phantom' – a sliver of light just below vision.
•❚-❚•
Into the breach has come the ideal candidate, who ascended to the vacant throne on four legs, he is bull.moon tarvos 'divine' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 intangible fears] – sole male-carbon to the triple-mooon goddess, among other eyebrow-raisers – this latest balancing act vexxing the house of Luna has now been restored.
•❚-❚•
A summer storm advisory for nocturnal.asteroid asteria 'star' [rx.aqu jun.16 >9.23.26 fun now sucks].
•❚-❚•
Drawing her mantle over Gaea at the end of each day, infernal.moon nix 'darkness' gets a spritzing of early hay fever [rx.aqu may.7 >10.15.26 wheezing wordsmith];
meanwhile, it boggles to find out that the 'sole daughter to Chaos' has a doppelganger: night.asteroid nyx 'darkness' [no.rx] is dressed in grandma chic for 2026,
but her star-spangled mantle cannot hide the fact that something is very wrong w/ the 'primeval goddess', sickened by alien gravity, tottering while wrapped in bandages stained w/ yesterday's reds, and flinging backwards once every 45 minutes.
•❚-❚-❚•
Translucent, hard to detect, in a reflective bodysuit featuring a magnesium zipper, ribbed in nickel and iron silicates, and a viscous veil descends on virgo.asteroid ASTRAEA 'purity' [rx.pis-aqu jul.6 >10.21.26 vampire pecks];
the 'star maiden' was the last immortal to abandon Gaea, distraught by devolutionary trends; by joining her kind in heaven, Astraea ended the 'golden age' and was the last mythological link to a greco-roman world.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Daughter to Gaea alone, freshwater.moon tethys 'water.eve' bakes under a summer sun [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 wields egyptian cobra as an umbrella];
her mate is oceanus 'sea.adam' [mia]: self-created and the third element after earth and air; together, Tethys and Oceanus are 'sovereigns of the seas'.
•❚-❚•
A dandy trapped in aspic perfectly describes trans-neptune.moon phorcys 'oldest man of the sea' [rx.sag mar.1 >8.15.25 painting white waves];
as the 'son to Tethys and Oceanus' he was born grey-haired, pug-nosed, and fish-tailed, and recognized by his cape of crab claws.
•❚-❚•
Glimmering in the 1949 night, a drop clad in a one-piece swimsuit of silicates and neutral-ices: sea.satellite nereid 'daughter to Nereus' is marooned at a sun-drenched curb [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 dressed for success].
•❚-❚•
It did not matter whose turn it was at telling the Flood myth that menaced Gaea, antique.asteroid nereus 'the Mediterranean' stayed placid;
the 'eldest son to Pontos' would watch over injured Gaea, splashing his waters over her exposed wounds, initiating another tidal rite to soothe his beloved, his mother, his only home [rx.aqu-cap may.26 >9.2.26 revisits oath to self].
•❚-❚•
This is her house, Neptune sits next to her, so why did the new outfit backfire for trans-neptune.queen salacia 'roman sea'? [rx.ari jul.15 >12.26.26 fast fashion].
•❚-❚-❚•
Delayed due to a standing obligation, satiated summer to fall's last-call, humor lubricates the tongue of ocean.planet NEPTUNE 'king of the roman sea' [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 harrumphed by pride] – if well aspected, snobbishness evaporates; if not, a neurotic pariah.
•❚-❚•
Conked on head for being messenger of bad news: herald.moon triton 'merman' [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 chasing wigs].
•❚-❚•
A pair of royal carbons mirror the house of Salacia.
poseidon 'god of greek earthquakes' spins castles in monopoly air [rx.ari-pis-aqu-cap-sag-sco sep.1 >12.15.26 elbows-out].
Thinking "what carbon footprint!", til one helps her cross the street, chastens queen.asteroid amphitrite 'the third one who encircles' [rx.sag apr.10 >7.19.26 pained brain].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Ignoring cracked pavements refereshes death.asteroid proserpina 'roman queen of shades' [rx.lib feb.20 >5.22.26 figurative trip and fall];
'she who destroys the light' then found her carbon in 1895, underworld.asteroid persephone 'greek queen of the damned', seen chasing the wrong pot of gold in 2026: [rx.tau sep.13 >12.26.26 rainbow warrior].
•❚-❚-❚•
Praying through a backwards summer, mindful of landscapes w/ familiar detritus is tombstone.planet PLUTO 'rich' [rx.5aqu3 may.7 >10.15.26 fear of fear];
the 'king of the roman underworld' has been inching into, then out of, Aquarius for a while now; starting in 2026, Pluto will to stay put in the water-everlasting sign until 2274, giving 'people power' a new patron saint.
•❚•
Three-headed.asteroid cerberus, 'hound of hell', knows where skeletons are buried [rx.tau-ari-pis sep.19 >12.31.26 torpor in a deja-vu vortex].
The 'death demon of the dark' has a carbon, obedient-for-now monster.moon kerberos 'spawn of Echidna' [rx.aqu may.7 >10.15.26 soul-scratcher].
•❚•
Asleep at the oar and hearing voices from the past is enough to confound coffin.moon CHARON 'ferryman to hell' [rx.aqu may.7 >10.15.26 the dream is real].
•❚•
Woe is she, stepping on a snake, dying, and passing on to the underworld; now, trusting.asteroid eurydike, 'wife to Orpheus', believes she is too sober [rx.vir-leo dec.24.25 >4.16.26 times up for a contrite flight].
"Fangs for the memory," whoops lyre'n'roll.asteroid orpheus the 'bob dylan of ancient greece' [rx.aqu-cap-sag may.15 >8.13.26 mystified juggler].
•❚•
Ignoring illusions can trigger a cagefight for jealous.asteroid magaira 'fury' [rx.tau sep.22 >12.15.26 marathon martyr].
Having porridge for brains could well be a blessing to anger.asteroid alekto 'fury' [rx.can jan.1 >3.21.26 hands solo].
Losing steam in the midst of delivering an idol, an onset of the heebie-jeebies can tingle avenge.asteroid tisiphone 'fury' [rx.sag-sco apr.5 >7.17.26 wielder of the scorpion whip has disquieting hands].
•❚•
The Three Furies also performed an acretion rite to cast forth their embodiment, spitfire.asteroid erynia 'personification of the furies', who is stalked by walking agendas, whilst standing before a doorbell to a noisy party [rx.sag-sco mar.23 >7.7.26 playground honesty].
Brush Script MT Copperplate Papyrus Courier New Courier MS Monaco Lucida Console Helvetica Avant Garde Century Gothic Lucida Grande Arial Narrow Arial Segoe UI Tahoma Geneva Verdana Palatino Garamond Bookman Impact Didot Perpetua Baskerville Century Schoolbook Palatino Linotype Book Antiqua Times New Roman Big Caslon Lucida Bright Bodoni MT Hoefler Text Trebuchet MS
Brush Script MT Copperplate Papyrus Courier New Courier MS Monaco Lucida Console Helvetica Avant Garde Century Gothic Lucida Grande Arial Narrow Arial Segoe UI Tahoma Geneva Verdana Palatino Garamond Bookman Impact Didot Perpetua Baskerville Century Schoolbook Palatino Linotype Book Antiqua Times New Roman Big Caslon Lucida Bright Bodoni MT Hoefler Text Trebuchet MS
Illustrated w/ collages, drawings, maps, paintings, photographs, prints and quotes
|⁋|
Out west, when 1848 was only twenty-four days old, mechanic James Marshall was making a routine inspection on the grounds of a sawmill he managed for his employer. That was when the New Jersey native noticed some odd-looking ore in a water channel of the South Fork of the American River. It was “... bright, yet malleable. I then tried it between two rocks, and found that it could be beaten into a different shape, but not broken.”
|⁋|
Nine days after Marshall emerged from the waters w/ his find, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, transferring a large tract of Mexico to the United States.
|⁋|
These concurrent events together precipitated the California Gold Rush of 1849, when folks came from all over, bringing dreams while praying to the god and goddess of wealth for a show of “colour”
|⁋|
The first came from Monterey, San Francisco, San Jose and Sonoma: when clerks, doctors, laborers, lawyers, mechanics, rancheros left their jobs. Sailors deserted their ships. Soldiers deserted the Mexican War. As word spread more came from Hawai‘i, Mexico and Oregon.
|⁋|
Gold seekers showing up near the sawmill of John August Sutter, where gold was first discovered, had no need for milled lumber, and his business went into decline. All the while, a new settlement grew across the American River to become Coloma, the first gold rush town. Nearby stands a monument, by the Native Sons of the Golden West, to mark the grave of James Wilson Marshall, the “discoverer of gold.”
One can cross Panama to get to California rather than sail around Cape Horn. Up Chagres river to the town of Culebra; then donkeys to Gulf of Panama, eleven miles away.
Maps were consulted
and what became the California Trial began w/ existing routes. Emigrants showed up along the Missouri river and towns in Illinois or Iowa. Wagon trains hitched, they headed out, crossing landapes of grasslands, prairies, steppes, valleys and rivers to Wyoming and Fort Laramie.
|⁋|
The only way to cross the Rockies was a corridor beyond Fort Laramie, level and broad. South Pass afforded several routes passage to California. At a fork in the road soon after, the Oregon Trail veers right while the Mormon Trail turns south toward Fort Bridger.
|⁋| Overland travelers chose routes dependent on starting point and final destination. Other factors were the condition of their wagons, livestock, and the availability of water.
|⁋|
From California, one can get to Oregon on the Applegate Trail (1846), an alternative to the hazardous last leg of the Oregon Trail.
|⁋| The Oregon Trail begins in Missouri and leaves either Fort Leavenworth, Independence or Saint Joseph for a two thousand mile trek to the Oregon Territory. Past the Great Plains, then the Rockies, heading west northwest to the Snake river, Fort Boise, Witman Mission, The Dales, Fort Vancouver, the Columbia river, and the coast.
The Santa Fe Trail starts off in Missouri, rolls through Kansas and a corner of Colorado. Crossing the Arkansas river before dropping to New Mexico, the trail loses its identity somewhat in Santa Fe, where it is braided to the Gila Trail, a local 16th-c. commerce and travel high road, bringing trade from inland to the coast.
|⁋|
The Mormon Trail, gathers in Illinois and wends by Iowa and Nebraska before joining established trails in Wyoming. Together they cross the Rockies, then the Mormon Trail continues south southwest to Utah Territory to end up in Los Angeles. Besides the overlanders there were also seafarers.
|⁋| An eight-month sea route from New York to San Francisco would involve a hazardous rounding of Cape Horn.
A 49er carries pickaxe, shovel and pan. Can add a rocker and a hopper; some also conduct hydraulic experiments. A water wheel would be jim-dandy, to pick up individual quantities of gold-bearing gravel and sand.
Personal gear: pair of blankets, frying-pan, flour, salt pork, brandy (or other sanctifying spirit). Field gear must-haves: pickaxe, shovel and pan. Some procure a mule.
|⁋| Gold miners w/ no financial backing learn to congregate along mountain roads and wait for supply wagons passing through, bringing food and tools and carrying out gold dust. Saturday nights were for salooning and carousing. Sunday is a holiday – laundry, tool repair, swapping stories, writing letters, napping.
|⁋| A twelve inch shallow sheet-iron pan to rinse soil w/ water and locate the gold.
|⁋| A rocker is a rectangular wooden box mounted on two rockers and set at a downward angle.
|⁋|
The hopper is a box sitting on top of the rocker, lined w/ a sheet of perforated iron. Beneath is an area called the “riddle-box.”
|⁋| The long tom is an improved rocker plus hopper, reaching to twenty feet in length. A long sheet of perforated iron lines the bottom and beneath that iw the riddle-box.
|⁋| Women too had gold fever, coming from Mexico, Chile, Peru, England, France, New York and New Orleans.
|⁋| Depicted in history as adventuress, courtesan, harlot, pickpocket, prostitute and the demimonde, these women were also bookkeepers, cooks, laundresses, shop-keepers, maids, wives. When mountain roads improved sufficiently to make travel between towns feasible, they set forth as performers.
|⁋|
Mrs Clappe came west in 1851 w/ her husband. In her letters home she gives an account of the era, about geology and a visit to a rural doctor’s rude office of pine shingles and cotton cloth.
Yerba Buena was a hamlet on the San Francisco peninsula w/ an excellent harbor. The Spaniards established a maritime trading post and built the Mission of San Francisco de Asis. Ships docking in its cove discharged seafarers to a Spanish-style plaza known as Portsmouth Square.
|⁋| On arrival gold seekers rented lodgings in shanties and tent towns, and stayed long enough to buy tools and provisions before heading out.
|⁋|
Brought over from Australia to perform labor, English convicts deserted en masse and instead formed a gang. Soon a frontier patch of lawlessness, Sydney Town, sprouted at the base of Telegraph Hill. The Sydney Ducks preyed on people and property, augmented by a gang of lady pickpockets, and willingly committed murder to survive.
|⁋| The embers of Sydney Town rekindled and gave birth to the Barbary Coast, chock-a-block w/ bars, saloons, brothels, concert halls, dance halls; where “getting shanghaied” was first rehearsed. Survived the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, by 1917 the red-light district was no more.
Sutter’s Mill on the South Fork of the American River.
Coloma, next to Sutter’s Mill, was the first gold mining town. A post office and jail were added in 1852 – both proved popular. Gold mining also took place north at Bidwell’s Bar, Cut Eye Foster’s Bar, Downieville, Dutch Flat, Goodyear’s Bar, Grass Valley, Helltown, Illinoistown, Iowa Hill, Kanaka Flat, Lousy Level, Marysville, Murderers Bar, Nevada City, Plumas City, Poker Flat, Rough and Ready, Washington, Whiskey Flat, Wisconsin Hill, and You Bet.
|⁋|
Coloma is now a ghost town inside Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park.
|⁋|
South at Angels Camp, Chinese Camp, Dogtown, Fair Play, Hornitos, Jackson, Mokelumme Hill, Mormon Bar, Rawhide, Rich Gulch, Shaw’s Flat, Sonora, Volcano.
|⁋|
Gold was found along tributaries to the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. At Auburn, Diamond Springs, Grizzly Flats, Missouri Flat, Placerville.
|⁋|
Home to Native Americans incl. the Miwok, the Sierra Nevada was rudely affected by the Gold Rush. In 1849 an incident occurred along the Middle Fork of the American River when some 49ers died and some indigenes killed. An uneasy truce obtained when Native Americans were hired on as laborers and paid in tin, but by 1900 their population had declined to only ±16,000.
|⁋| Before James Cagney was the Frisco Kid and Edward G.
Robinson dramatized life in the Barbary Coast era, there was a 1913 feature, The Last Night of the Barbary Coast, now a lost film.
The 1849 state census counted 42,000 overlanders and 35,000 seafarers caught up by gold fever; together w/ 3,000 sailors who had deserted ships.
Like all who seek a better tomorrow, the Chinese too came to the California Gold Rush, formed a fraternity in Coloma, squatted spent claims and worked as a team over the “tailings” left behind. In 1880 this gold-mining Chinatown was lost to fire.
In 2026, PLUTO is finally done being grim-hooved and bro-goateed – takes a bath on the wild side, courtesy of Aquarius.
Keeping pace across time and space is NEPTUNE, taking leave of Pisces to climb over the fence and into the hooligan hot-tub of neighbor Aries – wearing a bathrobe of spiritual pride and carrying a stack of scientific towels.
Retrograde 2026 sweeps up squeamish-faced egos, parrots issuing horizontal edicts, and dullards of duality.
Astronomy was conceived in an era when Gaea was still flat, and Uranus was seen every night descending to couple w/ her.
Sky watchers made use of this dark passage of time to study the stars, and paid attention to the nearest seven.
Using Gaea as the measure of all things, these seven stars were pinned to a slice of space at latitude twenty degrees – known to astronomers as the 'ecliptic' and to astrologers as the 'celestial belt'.
+
Ancients, in their belief that Gaea was flat, had front-row seats every night as Uranus seeped down to couple w/ her; these two then experimented on foundational gods: brutes w/ super strength, w/ lizard-brains, w/ the first intelligences, there were three one-eyed mistakes, and a demon able to sculpt moving air.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
2026 is a red.flag year for red.planet MARS 'god of roman war' [no.rx] – there's booty in spring; summer spent kneeling; then a bronco fall of after-dinner mints.
•❚-❚•
Landing in the clink for conduct unbecoming to group cohesion: roman.asteroid bellona 'warfare' [rx.sag apr.10 >7.21.26 sin-eater].
•❚-❚•
Post-performance buzz shifts to chrysalis mode for amazon.asteroid penthesilea 'queen' [rx.sco mar.19 >7.4.26 that rank feeling].
•❚-❚•
Revisions to two campaigns delay tno.warrior eris 'contention' –
compass fail [rx1.ari jan.1-12.26 pitchfork panic];
delayed dawn [rx2.ari jul.23 >12.31.26 pinprick protection];
Eris patrols the Scattered disc w/ daughter.moon dysnomia 'lawless', trapped inside her primary's horoscope.
•❚-❚•
The daughter to Venus and Mars is a born diplomat and runs her father's house, a defacto theater of war, she moves chairs around, smooths down carpeting, presides over tea service, etc.
In 2016, agreeable.asteroid harmonia 'hostess' refuses a cordial of what looks like enlightened blood, and the cause for domestic despair [rx.can jan.1 >2.16.26 shaky handshakes];
more concerning is her cornered carbon,
exuding 3D tears during a rusty autumn: roman.asteroid concordia 'harmony' [rx.ari aug.19 >11.26.26 no avenue to vent].
•❚-❚•
Getting a phantom black eye is the least of worries for complicated.asteroid apollo 'ancestor' [rx.leo-can jan.1 >3.27.26 braveheart, not].
•❚-❚•
Anonymity feels wrong for roman.asteroid justitia 'law-&-order' [rx.sco apr.5 >6.25.26 cotton crown];
she has a carbon, greek.asteroid themis 'justice', omen hunter during a spritualized spring [rx.sag apr.9 >7.22.26 everywhere a chessboard].
•❚-❚•
Homing pigeon instincts fail roman.asteroid fortuna 'lady luck' [rx. lib-vir jan.27 >5.2.26 pin cushion];
the 'veiled goddess' has a carbon,
who role-plays and now is mighty presumptuous: chance.asteroid tyche 'good fortune' [rx.sag apr.18 >7.26.26 unforeseen pile-up].
•❚-❚•
Invited by a fashion-forward from delulu-land for a spin on the dancefloor: esteemed.asteroid nike 'victory' [rx.sco mar.19 >7.6.26 lifeline or not?];
the 'winged goddess' has a carbon, roman.asteroid victoria 'flourished', mixing watercolor and tears to paint reality[rx.leo 12.18-31.26 a yippy hippie].
•❚-❚•
Stepping on stale glue might upset some, but not retribution.asteroid nemesis 'representative' [rx.cap may.21 >8.26.26 angel on a stick].
•❚-❚•
Hovering over a bad habit w/ a swiss-army knife: valkyrie.asteroid freia 'love+war' [rx.can nov.17 >12.31.26 rock of ages].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
On a rumpled bed of tossed pillows, a couple looks like they are in a caress, it also looks like a chokehold, applied by love.planet VENUS 'beautiful' [rx.sco-lib oct.3 >11.14.26 purple reign];
the 'ancestor to the roman race' has a carbon,
who is a recluse w/out a cause: love.asteroid' aphrodite 'lovely' [rx.gem jan.1 >2.11.26 unborn feet].
•❚-❚•
Threading a needle, reciting 'chastise, divest, repeat': beauty.asteroid psyche 'soul' [rx.gem jan.1-25.26 medieval archer].
•❚-❚•
Weeks of not heeding advice adds up for maiden.asteroid nymph 'greek virgin' [rx.leo-can jan.1 >3.10.26 clingy].
•❚-❚•
Three days before the year ends, a cup of coffee says hello to hellenic.asteroid HEBE 'girl' [rx.vir dec.29-31.26 mumble stumble].
•❚-❚•
Falling leaf drops into the clean hands of model.asteroid adonis 'handsome one' [rx.lib-vir︎ jan.23 >5.21.26 germ-phobic];
a potentially hazardous asteroid, lovers also claim that Adonis is an extinct comet and a source of meteor showers.
•❚-❚•
'Hail-fellow-well-met' steps roughshod on besotted anti-social.asteroid narcissus 'me me me' [rx.sag-sco︎ mar.5 >8.3.26 lovely are the brave].
•❚-❚•
First being to step out of the 'abyss' was inventor of the 'baby step', w/ a name written differently by different hands; returned now w/ a lump on his head, looking battered as he has battered hearts,
sex.asteroid eros 'fairest of the deathless gods' moves unimpeded through 2026 [no.rx]: potent to seedy spring, stylish during show-off summer, sighing into woo-woo fall.
•❚-❚•
Confounded by a joyful noise: arrow.asteroid anteros 'love avenger' [rx.vir-leo jan.27 >3.31.26 no green shoots].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
Retrograding in all three water signs ensures trickster.planet MERCURY is "inconstant, vivacious and curious", spending setbacks in spas:
for an end of winter exfoliation [rx1.pis feb.26 >3.20.26 lego my ego];
during a sunglass-free summer [rx2.can jun.30 >7.24.26 manicured bookworm];
when about to halloween a-go-go [rx3.sco oct.24 >11.14.26 stirring hormones w/ a wall-flower].
•❚-❚-❚•
Putting away sharp objects w/ a knowing heart, before mind games tie up the harvest: wise.asteroid PALLAS 'indicator' [rx.ari aug.15 >12.1.26 pent up].
A view in a collapsible mirror shows a flexibility alien to commerce.asteroid minerva 'initiator' [rx.sco-lib mar.7 >6.8.26 tightrope walker].
Putting on an obligatory nightgown is offensive for arts-&-crafts.asteroid athene 'intellect' [rx.lib feb.17 >5.29.26 what sleep? i don't need sleep].
•❚-❚•
Wearing tinted shades during the first of two retrogrades steers bottoms-up benefits to origins.moon arche 'muse' [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 glitz instead of glare];
during the second, wearing a homeless look backfires [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 deadline blues].
•❚-❚•
Any scapegoat will do, concludes remembrance.moon mnemosyne 'patron muse to the Three Fates' [rx.cap may15 >8.29.26 somber hive-mind].
•❚-❚•
The library was founded in 1865 by history.asteroid klio 'muse', ears tingling after xmas supper [rx.vir 12.30-31.26 disciplined diet? what, me?].
•❚-❚•
Stepping forth from embers of the 20th century, an amorphous CRADLE COURT showed up and was given a forgotten nook, stacked to the ceiling w/ old globes;
'compliance adverse' says the t-shirt on hittite.asteroid tigris 'river.god' [rx.gem oct.21 >12.31.26 social blackeye];
while eye-candy-itis foreshortens spring for assyrian.asteroid euphrates 'river.god' [rx.sco-lib feb.25 >6.21.26 no nonsense bully].
•❚-❚•
Thought dead when sent to the morgue in 1852, an autopsy under the mantle revealed a preserved city; requisioned and revived, this lazarus now performs as a wall-to-wall carpet in the library: asteroid.map lutetia 'primordial paris' [rx.sag apr.17 >7.16.26 marinating in tomorrows].
•❚-❚•
Doing research amongst august company is a monk w/out a cell: ibis.asteroid thoth 'wisdom' [rx.ari-pis aug.5 >11.22.26 faith falters].
+
•❚-❚•
Crowded locker room turns athlete.asteroid atalante 'runner' into a sourpuss [rx.lib feb.8 >6.2.2026 conga-line oohs].
•❚-❚•
Money mishaps result in four months of belt-tightening for epic.asteroid ulysses 'sailor' [rx.lib-vir jan.16 >5.17.26 carrying a liturgical cloak].
•❚-❚•
Hero.asteroid heracles 'glory of hera' [no.rx] is seen at every springtime literary event – if not-well aspected, out of his depths; mister muscle is a cock-tease in summer – if well-aspected, malice is in wonderland.
•❚-❚•
Hamlet-cursed roadblock is a good enough reason for titan.asteroid atlas 'astronomy' to let off steam [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 concrete crown].
•❚-❚•
Reluctant xmas for astronomy.asteroid urania 'roman muse' [rx.leo dec.12-31.26 rsvp hell];
her carbon has two retrogrades: astronomy.moon eukelade 'greek muse' is quite lazy, following the tried and true:
chocolate-ices [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 family favs];
stuffed stocking [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 eye candy redux].
•❚-❚•
Helping to solve cases is long-timer afterthought.moon epimetheus 'titan', rehearsing 2026 rhetoric in a vertical world [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 word search].
•❚-❚• jenny blue [awol] has a day job as gazetteer certifying names of celestial bodies at the International Astronomical Union (1919); as 'patron goddess of nomenclature' she came in 1982 to set up the missing planet bureau.
•❚-❚•
Hosting the Olympia Academy has allowed herald.asteroid hermes 'fluid god' [rx.pis-aqu jun.19 >10.13.26 walks on water] to go roam and see every one, meet every thing; the 'keeper of boundaries' is nowadays seldom at his own home.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
From fool-me June to tip-toe September, dishing gossip chaps and cracks the maligning lips of queen.asteroid JUNO 'roman wife' [rx.aqu-cap jun.6 >9.17.26 lipstick ghetto];
her other half is only 64 asteroids away, where
queen.asteroid hera 'hellenic lady' goes abroad unwashed and wearing unfortunate outfits [rx.vir-leo jan.1 >4.15.26 quiet as a louse].
•❚-❚•
Cloudy.asteroid nephele 'juno cosplay' sifts courage through a sieve [rx.can jan.1 >3.6.26 waiting for the man].
•❚-❚-❚•
By-the-book domestic dustup, and understandable (for him) holiday behavior, await classical.planet JUPITER 'king of roman olympus', who undergoes two retrogrades:
while entering 2026, unzipped and unbuttoned [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 discarding possessions left and right – if not-well aspected, artificial and ambitious];
the second time while pacing backwards into an xmas zoo [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 caged willfulness – if well-aspected, a fig-leaf will do, if not, wearing yesterday's undies].
•❚-❚•
No shiny knight on the horizon for herald.asteroid eos 'greek dawn' [rx.tau sep.13 >12.18.26 fishbone soup];
she has a carbon: herald.asteroid aurora 'roman dawn', tangled up in a blue dawn [rx.gem jan.1-28.26 too too nice].
•❚-❚•
Bringing tempest to a teacup, as is his wont: wind.asteroid boreas 'north' [rx.leo dec.2-31.26 tousled tiara for christmas].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
One of nine foundational mountain nymphs, she is a hybrid made of earth and fire w/a bubbling body molten to mortals and demi-gods alike, and whose home is Mount Aetna;
undergoing two 2026 retrogrades sounds like bliss to fiery.moon aitne 'lava' –
first as a shopaholic [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 wind-chime kicks];
then during a no-chair xmas [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 forked mind].
•❚-❚•
What a piece of time, saddled w/ three retrogrades,
forge.asteroid hephaistos 'smith god' ends up four signs back, and upends each one:
the first one is to trim away illusions [rx1.gem jan.1 >3.4.26 firm handshake];
second occurs in muddy waters [rx2.gem-tau apr.12 <5.20.26 crabby hermit];
the third during fall is spent around mental midgets [rx3.tau-ari aug.12 >12.15.26 genius w/ a penis].
•❚-❚•
Shyness can take no more, stumbles, says goodbye to forethought.asteroid prometheus 'titan' [rx.can nov.4 >12.31.26 unpolished];
he has a twin, inner-shepherd.moon prometheus 'fire thief', now an on-the-nose conformist [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 crown of horns].
•❚-❚•
Being hoity-toity during high summer doesn't wear well on norse.moon surtur 'jötunn' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 livid phrasings];
the wielder of fire sword showed up in 2006 at the forge, he studied notebooks in the workshop nd, using legacy tools, re-fashioned destroyed heirlooms.
•❚-❚•
It/she/he/them is an amalgam of ten siblings, adept in metallurgy (boys) and magick (girls), then a
a pardon for past excuses rumbles up to digit.moon dactyl 'who/what/why' [rx.can-gem jan.1 >2.11.26 tongue-tied and maiden-shy].
•❚-❚•
Walking into January when her heart's still in November splits in two demi-solar.asteroid circe 'sorceress' [rx.can jan.1 >2.13.26 virgin vessel, maybe].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Atavistic.tno altjira 'australian dreamtime' has two retrogrades: during winter [rx1.gem jan.1 >3.3.26 good loser]; during fall [rx2.gem sep.24 >12.31.26 pitch-black opponent].
•❚-❚-❚•
Galloping emotions whip the hands that hold the reins of frightened chthon.asteroid GAEA 'roman earth' [rx.pis-aqu jul.10 >10.10.26 tuned to wrong channel];
the 'first goddess' has a carbon w/ an opposite outcome:
frozen.asteroid erda 'norse earth goddess', who is seen walking down a primrose path together w/ mister solitaire, only to reach the corner and have him say bye-bye [rx.can jan.1 >3.4.26 heavy toll].
•❚-❚•
A chameleon changeover glitches, because self-betrayal,
for multi.asteroid sibylla 'roman riddles' [rx.gem oct.23 >2.2.27 cocky].
•❚-❚•
A darkening game of 'snakes and ladders' alarms asteroid.mouthpiece pythia 'high priestess of Apollo' [rx.can jan.1 >3.3.26 rudderless].
•❚-❚-❚•
High summer through all souls season, sometimes as a chorus and sometimes an audience, inner voices flick the red-hot ears of sickle.planet SATURN 'king of the Titans' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 yesterday's crown – if well-aspected, he can try taking the first step again; if not, tossing off horizontal edicts flat as a frisbee].
•❚-❚-❚•
The inaugural goddess from the Asteroid Belt had stepped into the limelight on the first day of 1801, spherical and wearing a pockmarked swimsuit studded w/ saline pearls, slathered in organic building blocks, she is doing laps in an ocean world covered by tarp;
so why, just before thanksgiving, should roman.asteroid CERES 'corn' have any doubts as to her rudeness [rx.can nov.23 >12.31.26 bone-dry interchange];
the 'high priestess of the eleusinian mysteries' has a carbon,
greek.asteroid demeter 'barley', who forfeits when losing sight of a winter-time goal [rx.leo-can jan.1 >3.16.26 rusty skills];
they share a daughter:
having few options in a black-&-white world, twice-imperiled, is orchard.moon kore 'fruit-seed':
in winter [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 wilting mathilda];
last two weeks [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 woke mathilda].
•❚-❚•
Plastic smile says it all about
colombian.tno huya 'rain god' [rx.sag apr.2 >9.5.26 gargoyle mouth].
•❚-❚•
Treated as a sex tourist by an uncomfortable autumn: titanid.asteroid rhea 'elder earth goddess' [rx.ari aug.12 >11.17.26 poked and prodded],
whose name is so old that the way it is pronounced may have been the birth-name given to baby Gaea;
this exalted 'goddess of fertility' has a carbon,
who spoils summer and forgets fall: titanid.moon rhea 'mountain mother' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 argumentative];
they have a cousin counterpart,
reckless and seen tumbling dice as the year begins: roman.asteroid ops 'terra' [rx.can jan.1 >2.22.26 valentine wished].
•❚-❚•
Wind-bag for brains siddles up to myopic voice.asteroid echo 'voice' [rx.cap may.21 >9.3.26 fifty-fifty chance].
•❚-❚•
Holiday game of tossing darts gets ruined by virgin.asteroid artemis 'she of the wild' [rx.gem oct.18 >12.31.26 carefree therefore harm magnet].
•❚-❚•
A November of regret turns into a headache for asteroid.goat pan 'hybrid' [rx.leo dec.8-31.26 woke]; his doppelganger, though, has no regrets:
bossy lunar.goat pan 'shepherd moon' is bi-curious [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 plagued by an indoor voice].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
A summer w/ no knight in shining armor grounds roman.asteroid FLORA 'flower' [rx.cap may.26 >8.26.26 fortuitous];
the 'most ephemeral of goddesses' has a twin, grecian.asteroid chloris 'bouquet',
who is thirsty twice:
while paying w/ sticky $$ [rx1.gem jan.1-30.26 salvation to go];
after a detox in a box [rx2.leo dec.14-31.26 gummy bear].
•❚-❚•
Prodded into a 'jollification' jacket, just three days before the year is over: grape.god dionysus 'greek vine' [rx.vir-leo dec.27 >4.15.27 dunce's cap];
not so for his carbon:
grape.god bacchus 'roman fruit' [no.rx], seen out and about placing bets on this and that.
•❚-❚•
Grovelling for sweets leads to an unrefined winter for unkempt wind.asteroid zephyr 'west' [rx.leo-vir jan.1 >4.23.26 bubble-tea brain].
•❚-❚•
The 'first hellenic woman' is returned now as twins:
asteroid.pandora 'all gifts' gets nudged by angel wings [rx.lib feb.18 >6.5.26 nods head];
and moon.pandora 'all blames', unmoored by amor [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 crown missing a head].
•❚-❚•
A helmet paddles up to and flirts w/ water.moon naiad 'freshwater' [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 showboat soul].
•❚-❚•
A shapeless spine visits calendar.moon TITAN 'week' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 dog-collared] –
he is patron god of the garden of Apollon, which is connected to the Infirmary; star-fat now and nova lazy, this slovenness vanishes when his secret name is uttered – and Titan sits upright to resume again his role as fork-tailed monster third-class.
RETOX 2026
+
+ + +
The geomachia of 1807 had casualties, but the high priestess of 'first flame' was not one of them;
gingerly picking up her charge, Vesta slipped into sensible shoes and stepped off the submerged face of Gaea, landing in a nearby cemetery where she built shelter and rekindled a fire;
then her greek carbon was recovered, and when Hygiea showed up, in 1849, the three made use of their convergence to establish an infirmary; the first patients were mostly misshapened comets, flattened meteors, and spent asteroids.
•❚-❚-❚•
'First flame' now sits on the hearth throne in an unroofed kitchen, positioned so as to cast no shadow at high noon on the first day of summer;
its resultant glow reveals venerable.asteroid VESTA 'roman hearth' [rx.27ari12 aug.26 >11.28.26 detox best served cold]
to be bean-shaped, wearing a smooth basalt cloak buttoned w/ achondrites and cratered w/ meteorites made of diogenite, eucrite, and howardite.
. . . She has a hellenic half, who undergoes, during autumn, a comedy of errors:
having many options bewitches hearth.asteroid hestia 'hellenic fire' [rx.tau-ari sep.12 >12.2.26 klutz on a mission].
•❚-❚-❚•
Reading and understanding labels until mid-winter is over proves a must for medicine.asteroid HYGIEA 'wholesome' [rx.gem jan.1 >2.14.26 dosage darling].
. . . She has a roman carbon juggling two retrogrades:
first, medicine.moon valetudo 'vigor' ignores personal space [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 ignorance is strength]; later, she is a fish out of water [rx2.can nov.12 >12.31.25 eyes wide shut].
•❚-❚•
Bureaucratic redtape has an after-meal tryst w/ roman.asteroid aesculapia 'medicine god' [rx.leo dec.18.25 >3.21.26 tail wags the cat].
•❚-❚•
Setting up the nurses station in 2017 and now dating lady luck is nurse.asteroid florence 'nightingale' [rx.sco-lib feb.24 >6.9.26 rust-proof skills].
•❚-❚•
Age does not go before beauty in the estimation of suddenly charmless medicine.asteroid panacea 'tonic' [rx.lib-vir jan.27 bitter root].
•❚-❚-❚•
Dosed by phantom LSD, injury-law.asteroid METIS 'counsel' walks on the god side [rx.pis-aqu jul.14 >10.14.26 bison blues];
the 'titanid of deep thought' has a twin,
who acts as her own defense during two retrogrades:
first, criminal-law.moon metis 'common sense' faces a cemetery [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 philosophical skeleton];
the second happens under a mistletoe [rx2.leo dec.13-31.26 blames butler].
•❚-❚•
Two hexed retrogrades confront doctor.centaur chiron 'surgeon' –
while standing in raging waters [rx1.ari jan.1-2.26 picked on];
while in strut-mode [rx2.tau-ari aug.4 >12.31.26 mad-hatter].
He has a centaur wife, who is entangled w/ mortals dense as bricks: chariklo 'common sense' [rx.aqu may.31 >11.1.26 flayed].
•❚-❚•
Titan.moon iapetus 'mortality' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 doggie-bag crown] had followed the fate of 'first flame' from afar,
and today he leads the morgue, tinkering w/ the corpse of faded.sky theia [rip], dead for a long time, bits of Gaea still imbedded in her.
•❚-❚•
A helle-elemental god lies on a slab, donating root matter for building parts: hangry marine.moon proteus 'old man of the sea', even though he has parchment skin pockmarked w/ polyhedron-shaped ices and pinkish-red boils [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 toasted crown].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚-❚•
Two retrogrades showcase the cool and the cruel in peculiar.planet URANUS 'eunuch god' –
first in the form of a shockwave at the bank-teller's window [rx1.tau jan.1 >2.3.26 exuberant remorse];
then while sipping a social-media beverage [rx2.5gem2 sep.11 >12.31.26 dead pride – if well-aspected, effusive agent provocateur, if not, commission agent].
•❚-❚•
The first baby steps into Cancer faltered twice last year, and will falter twice in 2026; it is an ongoing battle, inside four walls, to wetnurse oblivion.tno
chaos 'abyss'
–
the first time will be by giving the 'shapeless, unwrought mass of disconnected elements all heaped together in anarchic disarray' a sweet tooth [rx1.can jan.1 >3.15.26 sticky fingers];
then by serving the 'vast, immeasurable abyss, outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild' an under-the-counter holiday treat [rx2.can oct.9 >12.31.26 empty obligation].
•❚-❚•
Persuaded back down from a winter ledge, drying out by the hearth, wrapped in the holy cloak of 'meat is murder': zoroastrian.asteroid mithra 'all-seeing'[rx.can jan.1 >3.11.26 sitting on a porous rug].
•❚-❚•
With two retrogrades, this is a year of duty for vedic.tno varuna 'cosmic law',
taut as a stretched rubber band – in the first one, that bird in hand might be fool's gold [rx1.leo jan.1 >4.21.26 raindrop crown];
in the second, spending the holidays inside a compostable personality [rx2.leo ︎nov.13 >12.31.26 dish-rag blues].
•❚-❚•
Garbage babbles on and animals talk back to roman.moon janus 'two-faced' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 virtual equality]
.
•❚-❚•
Aiming at a fly w/ an elephant gun is over-the-top for composite.asteroid moira 'the fates' [rx.tau-ari aug.30 >12.14.26 punishment park].
Spooked by bright lights blinds spindle.asteroid klotho 'fate' [rx.sag-sco apr.2 >7.23.26 tugging heart].
Dropping a finished jigsaw puzzle on the floor sends giggles through ruler.asteroid lachesis 'fate' [rx.lib-vir jan.25 >5.5.26 heaven on earth].
Acting as her own counsel gums-up the gears for scissors.asteroid atropos 'fate' [rx.aqu jun.19 >9.10.26 misplaced reality].
•❚-❚-❚•
Loosening her belt twice tells a lot about empty-calorie diet of force.moon ananke 'queen serpent from the cradle of necessity'; first time during target winter [rx1.can jan.1 >3.10.26 bullet stomach];
while enduring xmas dinner [rx2.leo ︎dec.13-31.26 molting at the table].
•❚-❚•
Hybrid w/ a lego mind : white-snake.asteroid nuwa 'mother sky' [rx.gem jan.1 >2.3.26 chipped tongue];
Nuwa took her time fashioning mortals, using leftover clay to first bake wuxia wardens, one each for wind 'air', thunder 'earth', rain 'water', and lightning 'fire'.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Paying heed to time and the zodiac wheel, the old throne belongs for now antiquated double.moon phoebe 'prophecy' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 new look leads to bad luck].
•❚-❚•
Poster-child for an ice cube sits on the full throne: lunatic.asteroid selene 'visible' [rx.tau-ari aug.29 >12.6.26 docile drip].
•❚-❚•
The new throne is now hers, but arrives at an inopportune time for hunter.asteroid diana 'rebel' [rx.pis-aqu jul.5 >10.20.26 reek of the chase], because the 'protector of roman children' has a small problem, currently locked in time, she is a 'phased phantom' – a sliver of light just below vision.
•❚-❚•
Into the breach has come the ideal candidate, who ascended to the vacant throne on four legs, he is bull.moon tarvos 'divine' [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 intangible fears] – sole male-carbon to the triple-mooon goddess, among other eyebrow-raisers – this latest balancing act vexxing the house of Luna has now been restored.
•❚-❚•
A summer storm advisory for nocturnal.asteroid asteria 'star' [rx.aqu jun.16 >9.23.26 fun now sucks].
•❚-❚•
Drawing her mantle over Gaea at the end of each day, infernal.moon nix 'darkness' gets a spritzing of early hay fever [rx.aqu may.7 >10.15.26 wheezing wordsmith];
meanwhile, it boggles to find out that the 'sole daughter to Chaos' has a doppelganger: night.asteroid nyx 'darkness' [no.rx] is dressed in grandma chic for 2026,
but her star-spangled mantle cannot hide the fact that something is very wrong w/ the 'primeval goddess', sickened by alien gravity, tottering while wrapped in bandages stained w/ yesterday's reds, and flinging backwards once every 45 minutes.
•❚-❚-❚•
Translucent, hard to detect, in a reflective bodysuit featuring a magnesium zipper, ribbed in nickel and iron silicates, and a viscous veil descends on virgo.asteroid ASTRAEA 'purity' [rx.pis-aqu jul.6 >10.21.26 vampire pecks];
the 'star maiden' was the last immortal to abandon Gaea, distraught by devolutionary trends; by joining her kind in heaven, Astraea ended the 'golden age' and was the last mythological link to a greco-roman world.
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Daughter to Gaea alone, freshwater.moon tethys 'water.eve' bakes under a summer sun [rx.ari jul.27 >12.10.26 wields egyptian cobra as an umbrella];
her mate is oceanus 'sea.adam' [mia]: self-created and the third element after earth and air; together, Tethys and Oceanus are 'sovereigns of the seas'.
•❚-❚•
A dandy trapped in aspic perfectly describes trans-neptune.moon phorcys 'oldest man of the sea' [rx.sag mar.1 >8.15.25 painting white waves];
as the 'son to Tethys and Oceanus' he was born grey-haired, pug-nosed, and fish-tailed, and recognized by his cape of crab claws.
•❚-❚•
Glimmering in the 1949 night, a drop clad in a one-piece swimsuit of silicates and neutral-ices: sea.satellite nereid 'daughter to Nereus' is marooned at a sun-drenched curb [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 dressed for success].
•❚-❚•
It did not matter whose turn it was at telling the Flood myth that menaced Gaea, antique.asteroid nereus 'the Mediterranean' stayed placid;
the 'eldest son to Pontos' would watch over injured Gaea, splashing his waters over her exposed wounds, initiating another tidal rite to soothe his beloved, his mother, his only home [rx.aqu-cap may.26 >9.2.26 revisits oath to self].
•❚-❚•
This is her house, Neptune sits next to her, so why did the new outfit backfire for trans-neptune.queen salacia 'roman sea'? [rx.ari jul.15 >12.26.26 fast fashion].
•❚-❚-❚•
Delayed due to a standing obligation, satiated summer to fall's last-call, humor lubricates the tongue of ocean.planet NEPTUNE 'king of the roman sea' [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 harrumphed by pride] – if well aspected, snobbishness evaporates; if not, a neurotic pariah.
•❚-❚•
Conked on head for being messenger of bad news: herald.moon triton 'merman' [rx.ari jul.7 >12.12.26 chasing wigs].
•❚-❚•
A pair of royal carbons mirror the house of Salacia.
poseidon 'god of greek earthquakes' spins castles in monopoly air [rx.ari-pis-aqu-cap-sag-sco sep.1 >12.15.26 elbows-out].
Thinking "what carbon footprint!", til one helps her cross the street, chastens queen.asteroid amphitrite 'the third one who encircles' [rx.sag apr.10 >7.19.26 pained brain].
RETOX 2026
+
•❚-❚•
Ignoring cracked pavements refereshes death.asteroid proserpina 'roman queen of shades' [rx.lib feb.20 >5.22.26 figurative trip and fall];
'she who destroys the light' then found her carbon in 1895, underworld.asteroid persephone 'greek queen of the damned', seen chasing the wrong pot of gold in 2026: [rx.tau sep.13 >12.26.26 rainbow warrior].
•❚-❚-❚•
Praying through a backwards summer, mindful of landscapes w/ familiar detritus is tombstone.planet PLUTO 'rich' [rx.5aqu3 may.7 >10.15.26 fear of fear];
the 'king of the roman underworld' has been inching into, then out of, Aquarius for a while now; starting in 2026, Pluto will to stay put in the water-everlasting sign until 2274, giving 'people power' a new patron saint.
•❚•
Three-headed.asteroid cerberus, 'hound of hell', knows where skeletons are buried [rx.tau-ari-pis sep.19 >12.31.26 torpor in a deja-vu vortex].
The 'death demon of the dark' has a carbon, obedient-for-now monster.moon kerberos 'spawn of Echidna' [rx.aqu may.7 >10.15.26 soul-scratcher].
•❚•
Asleep at the oar and hearing voices from the past is enough to confound coffin.moon CHARON 'ferryman to hell' [rx.aqu may.7 >10.15.26 the dream is real].
•❚•
Woe is she, stepping on a snake, dying, and passing on to the underworld; now, trusting.asteroid eurydike, 'wife to Orpheus', believes she is too sober [rx.vir-leo dec.24.25 >4.16.26 times up for a contrite flight].
"Fangs for the memory," whoops lyre'n'roll.asteroid orpheus the 'bob dylan of ancient greece' [rx.aqu-cap-sag may.15 >8.13.26 mystified juggler].
•❚•
Ignoring illusions can trigger a cagefight for jealous.asteroid magaira 'fury' [rx.tau sep.22 >12.15.26 marathon martyr].
Having porridge for brains could well be a blessing to anger.asteroid alekto 'fury' [rx.can jan.1 >3.21.26 hands solo].
Losing steam in the midst of delivering an idol, an onset of the heebie-jeebies can tingle avenge.asteroid tisiphone 'fury' [rx.sag-sco apr.5 >7.17.26 wielder of the scorpion whip has disquieting hands].
•❚•
The Three Furies also performed an acretion rite to cast forth their embodiment, spitfire.asteroid erynia 'personification of the furies', who is stalked by walking agendas, whilst standing before a doorbell to a noisy party [rx.sag-sco mar.23 >7.7.26 playground honesty].
How San Francisco’s cable car came to be built will require more than one stop on its telling, wending this way and that, and passing landmarks of wealth and waste.
+
Before the cable car, the task for getting to Nob Hill was relegated to paying for a ride in a horse-drawn cab. On October 11, 1869, this necessary yet wanton civic cruelty of using animals as beasts of burden changed for the good. The San Francisco Chronicle had a front page article on the death of a wretch. It took place when a horse finally lost it on California Street and, throttled, dragged down to its death.
+
When Andrew Hallidie read this, he paused and paced his inner office, reflecting on what if anything he could learn from this. Hallidie was already prosperous, although not yet famous. He had inherited a company from his father. The senior Hallidie had invented and then patented a “steel cable”: strands of wire lined up and braided into a rope that was super strong, and proved indispensable in the gold fields and gold mines.
+
Hallidie took on a failed concern: to build a conveyance capable of conquering the city‘s hills. He bought the Clay Street Hill Railway Co., and by May 1873 had built tracks and a cable assembly up Clay from Portsmouth Square to Nob Hill, a vertical climb of seven blocks.
+ +
Early on August 2 1873, a prototype was in place and, lantern-lit, Hallidie stepped on board. Activating a grip lever onto a moving cable, he ascended on that peril-prone maiden voyage. Few were awake to witness, yet by opening day on September 1, the service was in demand. In 1880 over one million tickets were sold.
The first cable cars were tiny trams powered by a patented grip that alternately holds, and releases, a continuously moving steel cable running under the street. Power is supplied by huge drums housed at nearby power stations along the route.
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The tram operator is stationed forward of the tram. He employs the grip grabs and holds on to the moving cable, the tram also moves. When grip is released, tram stops, even on a hill, using a gear invention preventing slippage. Besides the tram operator (gripman) is the conductor.
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Andrew Smith Hallidie was born on March 17, 1837 in London, to Andrew Smith (b.1798 Dumfrieshire, Scotland) and Julia Johnstone (Lockerbie). He died April 24 1900, in San Francisco. Six years later his cable car system would survive the 1906 Earthquake.
Cable cars then sprouted worldwide, from New York to Hong Kong. Naples crowned its opening by commissioning a song, “Funiculi, Funicula.”
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In 1917, Andrew Smith Hallidie had an innovative building named for him. The Hallidie Building (the architect is Willis Polk) has a facade rising eight stories and sheathed in glass.
When news of the discovery of gold in California traveled back east, the brawn and brains of a young nation came westward, where notions of Freedom waltzed hand-in-glove with greatness as well as greed.
Accordingly, access from the gold mines to San Francisco were surveyed. Roads, bridges and tracks were built wherever gold was found, with waystations established for respite and recreation. The mining methods these men brought with them quickly evolved to meet the challenges posed by the Comstock Lode and its tributaries.
The Deidesheimers
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The Industrial Revolution created tools used in scientific precisioning, allowing innovated models to be tested and profitably manufactured. Among these ideas was the ingenuous “square set” created by german engineer Philipp Deidesheimer. Grey Brechin picks up the umbilical cord:
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The Square Set introduced methods of construction. Deidesheimer’s gift went from constructing safety zones to conduct the backbreaking business of mining into other uses, including the ability of a grid of steel beams and columns to allow support for more height.
“Skyscraper” came into usage in the 1880s; America had fifteen. These buildings usually came w/ modern plumbing, electrical outlets in every room, a telephone line in every unit, central heating, and an elevator.
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❛ … NASA took a fresh look at the steel cable in light of a super material, carbon nanotube ... uber-strong, light and flexible. “Space Elevators: An Advanced Earth-Space Infrastructure for the New Millenium” is the feasibility paper of this new science, to erect a track running on cables, from here to the Moon, a journey of some 62,000 miles.❜ — Meghan Neal, February 28 2014.
CABLE CAR NOTES | Based on San Francisco’s Golden Era by Lucius Beebe and Charles Clego (1060); Cable Car Days in San Francisco by Edgar Myron Kahn (1940); The Headlight, March 1947, Western Pacific Club; Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin by Gray Brechin (1999); and online articles by Mary Bellis (“The History of Skyscrapers”), Karen Barss (“Manhattan’s Golden Age of Skyscrapers”), and Meghan Neal (“Space Elevators Are Totally Possible”)
| A 1959 episode of TV series Bonanza features a Philipp Deidesheimer plot point.
| Thank you Taryn Edwards, MLIS, Mechanics’ Institute.
| Thank you Penelope Houston, SF Public Library.
Personal gear: pair of blankets, frying-pan, flour, salt pork, brandy (or other sanctifying spirit). Field gear must-haves: pickaxe, shovel and pan. Some procure a mule.
The 1849 state census counted 42,000 overlanders and 35,000 seafarers caught up by gold fever; together w/ 3,000 sailors who had deserted ships.
Like all who seek a better tomorrow, the Chinese too came to the California Gold Rush, formed a fraternity in Coloma, squatted spent claims and worked as a team over the “tailings” left behind. In 1880 this gold-mining 
Hallidie took on a failed concern: to build a conveyance capable of conquering the city‘s hills. He bought the Clay Street Hill Railway Co., and by May 1873 had built tracks and a cable assembly up Clay from Portsmouth Square to Nob Hill, a vertical climb of seven blocks.
Cable cars then sprouted worldwide, from New York to Hong Kong. Naples crowned its opening by commissioning a song, “
“Skyscraper” came into usage in the 1880s; America had fifteen. These buildings usually came w/ modern plumbing, electrical outlets in every room, a telephone line in every unit, central heating, and an elevator.
