Alex's Asteroid Astrology

Well, one out of four ain’t bad. I’m referring to my pre-Oscar predictions, where I sussed out the chances of victory for the various contenders, based solely on their PNA (Personal-Named Asteroid) interactions with the chart for the 92^nd Academy Awards on February 9^th.   It was an incredibly tapped-in lineup, with 13 of the 20 acting award nominees connected to the Sun of the event, 14 connected to asteroid Oskar, 12 angular and 11 linked with the Moon. Of course, the day’s sky has a powerful impact, but in a field so evenly distributed with cosmic potential, a lot will come down to the natal chart. And now, with the winners firmly in hand, we can see just how that played out.

I’ll begin with my sole correct pick, Brad Pitt winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Cliff Booth in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Based on Brad having an asteroid actually named for him, with Bradpitt at 17 Scorpio conjunct asteroid Oskar at 16 Scorpio and squared the Sun/Academia conjunction (for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which sponsors the awards) at 20 and 22 Aquarius, he seemed like a lock. And so it transpired. But Brad Pitt’s natal potential backed up his transit placements as well.

Brad Pitt won Best Supporting Actor, with transit asteroid Bradpitt conjunct asteroid Oskar and squared Sun/Academia for the Awards; natal Oskar conjoins asteroid Clifford and opposes asteroids Booth and Bradley, indicating his win for the role of Cliff Booth

Born 18 December 1963 at 6:31 AM CST in Shawnee, Oklahoma (Rodden Rating A), Brad’s eponymous asteroid Bradpitt at 21 Sagittarius conjoins his 25 Sag Sun, which is in a Grand Cross, opposing asteroid Actor at 16 Gemini (also conjoined the 11 Gemini Descendant) and squared asteroid Academia at 18 Virgo (which conjoins the Uranus/Pluto conjunction at 10 and 14 Virgo) and asteroid Nike at 14 Pisces, named for the Greek goddess of victory. That singles out Brad Pitt (Sun, Bradpitt) as a potential winner (Nike) of an Academy Award (Academia) for acting (Actor), all right. And with transit Oskar an exact match for natal Neptune at 16 Scorpio, planetary ruler of film, also exactly inconjunct natal Actor at 16 Gemini, the timing was right for him to receive recognition.

But why this role? Brad’s character was Cliff Booth; natal asteroid Clifford at 19 Capricorn conjoins asteroid Oskar at 22 Cap, and is part of a powerhouse stellium including Mars, Mercury, the Moon and Venus, at 10, 16, 22 and 23 Capricorn. Saturn and Pluto had both transited this group in recent years, with their exact conjunction at 22 Cap a month prior to the awards falling exactly on natal Oskar/Moon. Clifford/Oskar also opposes asteroids Booth and Bradley at 13 and 14 Cancer, binding both names of his Oscar-winning role with his full middle name (used as a first name for acting; his given first name is William), allowing him to identify personally with the role and provide an authentic performance. Transit Jupiter at 15 Capricorn added its propensity for positive outcomes, expansion, publicity and celebrity to this mix, putting Brad over the top.

I had granted Best Actor nominee Joaquin Phoenix of “Joker” the possibility of an unorthodox win, based in asteroid Joachim (the original Hebrew for Joaquin) at 0 Taurus, conjoined Uranus at 3 Taurus and angular on the 8 Taurus MC. The elevated placement put him in a powerful position when the Awards began, the focus of all eyes, and the trine to a Moon/Victoria/Nike combination at 0, 1 and 3 Virgo added oomph to his chances for victory.   But I discounted this outcome based on the unusual nature of his role as the Joker, an atypical choice for the Academy, but I hadn’t counted on Joaquin’s natal potential.

Joaquin Phoenix nabbed Oscar gold as Best Actor for his portrayal of Jack Napier in “Joker”; transit asteroid Joachim conjoined Uranus and the MC, trined a Moon/Nike/Victoria stellium which conjoined natal asteroid Napier

Born 28 October 1974 (no time available, but I’d bet the Astro-Data Elves are working on that as I write!), like Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix’s Sun at 4 Scorpio broadly opposes asteroid Actor at 13 Taurus. The Sun is also exactly semisextile asteroid Oskar at 4 Sagittarius, which was being squared by that transit Moon/Victoria/Nike trifecta at the Awards, and Oskar itself is paired with natal Victoria at 26 Scorpio and natal Neptune at 8 Sag, squaring natal Academia at 1 Pisces, so there’s a natural affinity for winning (Victoria) an Academy Award (Oskar) for acting (Neptune).

Transit Moon/Victoria/Nike also opposes that Academia at 1 Pisces, and again, the role itself was pivotal. The Joker’s “real” name is Jack Napier, and Joaquin’s natal asteroid Napier at 2 Virgo fell smack-dab in the middle of the Virgo victory stellium, opposing Academia, helping to explain the Academy’s unusual affinity with the out-of-the-box performance. This of course also means that natally, Napier squares Oskar, refining Joaquin’s winning potential to that role. Natal asteroid Phoinix (closest to Phoenix) at 23 Aries had also received a strong shot of “transformation-in-career” mojo from that recent Saturn/Pluto conjunction in square, while natal asteroid Joachim at 20 Leo was exactly opposed by the Awards’ Sun.

Renee Zellweger is another instance illustrating the importance of timing; with asteroid Reni (closest to Renee) at 1 Scorpio on the 8 Scorpio IC of the Awards, and opposing Uranus. Reni was also sextile the Virgo victory stellium, and trine transit asteroid Actor at 3 Pisces. This placement seemed to me to be less potent than others in her category of Best Actress, but again, the natal chart tells the tale.

Renee Zellweger walked off with top honors as Best Actress for her role as Judy Garland in “Judy”; transit asteroid Reni conjoined the IC and opposed Uranus, also sextile the Virgo victory stellium, with natal asteroid Judith exactly on the Ascendant, trine the Sun

Born 25 April 1969 at 2:41 PM CST in Baytown, Texas (Rodden Rating AA), Renee Zellweger’s 5 Taurus Sun conjoins Nike at 10 Taurus, making winning a central theme of her life. But what kind of win? Natal Reni at 14 Libra is sesquiquadrate Oskar at 27 Taurus and exactly trine Victoria at 14 Gemini, so an Academy Award seems assured (and more than assured – this Oscar is her second). Oskar also opposes Actor at 24 Scorpio, and Victoria also opposes Academia at 7 Sagittarius, further sealing the deal twice over.

And again we see the importance of the role in success; nominated as Best Actress for her portrayal of Judy Garland in “Judy”, Renee has asteroid Judith exactly conjunct her 11 Virgo Ascendant, making a T-Square of that Victoria/Academia opposition. Visually and emotively, she really appeared (Ascendant) to be Judy Garland, and this Oscar-winning role will forever transform how others see her (also Ascendant). The Awards’ Sun at 20 Aquarius also opposed her natal Moon at 17 Leo, forming a Grand Cross with the Oskar/Actor opposition.

Laura Dern, who won Best Supporting Actress for Nora Fanshaw in “Marriage Story”, was the least well-connected for the night, and frankly a total surprise for me. Asteroid Laura at 4 Aquarius is just wide of conjunction to the 15 Aquarius Descendant, though it does square the MC/IC axis and Uranus, and that was apparently enough to put her in the winners’ circle. An inconjunct to the Virgo victory stellium didn’t hurt, but with asteroid NOT, often a significator of negation or aborted progress, opposed Laura from 29 Cancer, I expected she would not be in the running.

Third time was the charm for Laura Dern, who won Best Supporting Actress on her third nomination, as Nora Fanshaw in “Marriage Story”; transit asteroid Laura squared the MC/IC axis, with natal asteroid Fanshaw square her Sun and asteroid Nora inconjunct her MC

But once again, the birth chart reveals all. Laura’s win was an early birthday present, with her 21 Aquarius Sun sandwiched between the transit Sun at 20 and asteroid Academia at 22 Aquarius, pulling focus for Academy voters. The natal Sun is also squared transit Oskar for the event.

Born 10 February 1967 at 7:48 AM PST in Santa Monica, California (Rodden Rating AA), Laura has a stellar grouping of Nike with Oskar at 21 and 27 Sagittarius, focused on the 19 Sag MC. These trine asteroid Academia at 29 Aries and square natal Saturn at 27 Pisces; with such celestial backing, an Oscar at some point in her career seems inevitable. And indeed, Laura has been nominated twice before without walking off with the little gold statuette. Like Renee Zellweger, there’s a natural focus on winning in the birth chart, with asteroid Victoria at 26 Libra in trine to the Sun and embedded at station; asteroid Actor at 7 Libra is also at station, and sesquiquadrate the Sun, making acting a self-defining profession for her.

And as with her three fellow acting award nominees, the role was key. Asteroid Fanshawe (for Fanshaw) at 21 Scorpio is exactly squared the natal Sun (also squared the transit Sun/Academia combo), allowing her to create an authentic portrayal of the character, and conjoins film-ruling Neptune at 24 Scorpio. Asteroid Nora at 19 Cancer broadly conjoins Jupiter at 26, bringing added fame and prestige, squares Victoria, is exactly inconjunct the MC (impacting career prestige) and was opposed by transit Jupiter at 15 Capricorn for the Awards. Natal asteroid Laura at 28 Leo had been transited by the Moon earlier that day, and was also conjoined by transit Victoria/Nike, which opposed her natal Moon/Mercury conjunction at 4 and 7 Pisces.

One more interesting fact emerges from the raw data: each of the winners for whom we have complete birth data possesses an Ascendant at 11-12 degrees of Mutable Signs – Brad Pitt’s is 11 Sagittarius, Renee Zellweger’s at 11 Virgo, and Laura Dern’s at 12 Pisces. I’m at a loss to explain this cosmic “coincidence”, based on current transits, but I find it an intriguing circumstance nonetheless.