Manila Standard’s former resident astrologer Zenaida Seva passed away on Thursday, March 21.
In an Instagram story, Zenaida’s close friend and writer Jessica Zafra confirmed the news and shared a personal anecdote, remembering the astrologer as her wise friend and movie companion.
“Zenaida forbade me to talk about her, but since we are remembering her, I’m blabbing. (If she complains she can haunt me.) She said there were too many charlatans out there, and a true astrologer only needed your exact birth details (day, time, place), pencil and paper, and an ephemeris (a book with tables of astronomical objects, positions, trajectories) to tell you the story of your life,” penned Jessica.
“Later she acknowledged that astrology software made the math easier (She could put away her slide rule), but interpreting the data required studying the interactions of 2,000 factors,” she added.
Zenaida was a familiar face on Philippine television, delivering daily astrological forecasts on ABS-CBN’s defunct morning program “Umagang Kay Ganda”.
She also appeared on the network’s evening news program “TV Patrol” at the beginning of each year to share her predictions for the coming months.
The celebrity astrologer was known for emphasizing the power of individual choice through her famous quote, “Hindi hawak ng bituin ang ating kapalaran. Gabay lamang sila. Mayroon tayong free will; gamitin natin ito.”
Jessica also shared details regarding Zenaida’s wake and urn viewing in her post.
The ceremony will be held at Chapel C, Mortuary Chapels, Christ the King Parish on Greenmeadows Avenue, Quezon City. Viewing begins Friday, March 22 at noon and concludes Sunday, March 24 at 10:30 pm.