Alex's Asteroid Astrology

What can be said of Meryl Streep?  One of the most talented and versatile actresses of our day, Streep leads the pack in the race for the little gold statuette, with twenty-one Academy Award nominations and three wins.  Only Kate Hepburn has more Oscars, with four victories, but considerably less nominations (just twelve).  Streep is a skilled character actress, able to don a new guise in every film; a gifted mimic, assuming accents and dialects with ease; noted for dramatic work but able to turn out a good comedic performance when called for.  Streep’s honors peak with her Oscar wins, but don’t stop there.  Nominated collectively for more than 400 awards, when Emmys, Golden Globes, Grammys, Tonys and SAG awards are factored in, she has won over 200, about as good a batting average as anyone in the business.

From whence comes this talent, and all these accolades?  No surprise, but this Silver Screen legend has Star Power of a different sort!

Born 22 June 1949 at 8:05 AM EDT in Summit, New Jersey (Rodden Rating AA), Meryl Streep incarnated in the right place, at the right time, to reach the pinnacle (Summit!) of success.  The 0 Cancer Sun exactly conjoins Uranus, allowing for a diverse range of self-expression and fueling those powerhouse, electric performances.  Streep crackles with energy onscreen, and has a quirky side, both Uranian attributes.

But all that energy has to go somewhere, needs an outlet, and in this case, that’s found in a T-Square from Sun/Uranus to asteroid Actor 12238 at 29 Pisces, opposed asteroid Victoria 12 at 27 Virgo, combining her chosen profession of acting (Actor) with a propensity for winning (Victoria, named for the Roman goddess of victory).

But we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves.  To begin at the beginning, the actress was born Mary Louise Streep, of a long line of Marys.  As she describes it, “At birth I had to be named Mary because my mother’s name was Mary and her mother’s name was Mary and [so on].  I named my first daughter Mary because I [wanted] to make everybody happy in the family, basically.”

But her father coined the nickname Meryl for her early on, to avoid confusion, a sort of phonetically hybridized “Mary-L(ouise).”  Streep wasn’t too happy with the name:  “I haaaaaaaated it,” she expressed in a “Vanity Fair” interview.  But it stuck.

Whether Mary, Mary Louise, or Meryl, Streep’s chart fits the pattern of one’s own PNAs (Personal Named Asteroids), which typically interact with the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Mercury (as ruling the naming function).  Asteroid Mary 2779 at 19 Aquarius squares the 14 Taurus Moon and is sesquiquadrate the Sun, as well as embedded at station (having turned retrograde three days prior to her birth).  Asteroid Lousie 2556 at 16 Leo squares the Moon and is semisquare the Sun, while asteroid Streep 386851 at 13 Gemini (named for her) is semisquare the 2 Leo Ascendant and conjoined Mercury at 10 Gemini.  Streep is also conjunct Mars at 8 Gemini, another fuel source for her energetic personality.

Remarkably, asteroid Merrill 11768, a phonetic match for “Meryl,” also appears at station, perhaps prompting her father’s association of it with his daughter.  At 9 Scorpio, Merrill turned direct a week after her birth, is opposed the Moon and trine the Sun.

But to what can we attribute her multitudinous Oscar nods, from an asteroid perspective?  How about asteroid Oskar 750, which at 20 Aries conjoins the 18 Aries Midheaven, the most elevated point in the chart, ruling career, reputation, status and place in the world.  Oscar also opposes Neptune at 12 Libra, the planetary ruler of movies.  As well, asteroid Academia 829 at 25 Aquarius, representing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which sponsors the Awards, squares asteroid Nike 307 at 24 Taurus, named for the Greek goddess of victory, for an Oscar-winning combination if ever there was one!

Streep is perhaps best known for the authenticity of her performances, something which is explained astrologically by links from asteroids representing her characters to the Sun or her PNAs.  This affords the ability to genuinely self-express when portraying someone else, tapping into internal qualities that personify identifying character traits of her roles.

The three parts for which she won her Academy Awards are a case in point.  Streep’s first Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress for Joanna Kramer in “Kramer vs Kramer” (1979), resonates with asteroid Jo-Ann 2316, which opposes the Sun from 10 Capricorn.  Jo-Ann also opposes asteroid Kramer 5715 at 13 Cancer (just a bit too wide to be considered conjunct the Sun), in a Grand Cross with the Oskar/Neptune polarity, no more than appropriate for her first Oscar-winning movie role.

Streep’s first Best Actress Oscar came a few years later, for her performance as Sophie Zawistowski in “Sophie’s Choice” (1982).  Asteroid Sophia 251 at 22 Sagittarius also opposes the Sun, trine Oskar, inconjunct Nike and squared the Victoria/Actor polarity at 27 Virgo and 29 Pisces.

There are several asteroids to approximate her role as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” (2011), which garnered her third Oscar.  There is no exact asteroid match for Margaret, but asteroid Margarita 310 at 4 Cancer conjoins her Sun, while asteroid Margarethe 220495 at 29 Sagittarius opposes it.

Additional high-profile roles that resonate to solar or PNA contacts abound.  Among the real-life figures she has played, whistleblower Karen Silkwood in “Silkwood” (1983), author Karen Blixen (who wrote under the penname Isak Dinesen) in “Out of Africa” (1985) and TV chef Julia Child in “Julie & Julia” (2006) stand out, all Oscar-nominated performances.  With asteroid Karen 2651 doing double duty for the first two, we find it at 13 Pisces, exactly squared natal asteroid Streep at 13 Gemini.  As well, asteroid Silke 1733 (for Silkwood) appears at 29 Aquarius, closely trine the 0 Cancer Sun, while asteroid Blixen 3318 at 13 Sagittarius completes a precise T-Square with Karen and Streep, for one of her most memorable performances.

Her portrayal of Julia Child, as a celebrity subject with virtually universal name recognition and easily identifiable character traits, was especially impressive.  Whether her earlier performances, however compelling, comported to the real-life Silkwood or Blixen is debatable, but there’s no doubt that Streep nailed Julia Child, in an almost uncanny mimicry.  Asteroid Julia 89 at 11 Cancer is just coming into orb of the Sun, trine asteroid Merrill at 9 Scorpio and sesquiquadrate asteroid Academia at 25 Aquarius, widely squaring asteroid Oskar at 20 Aries.  Asteroid Child 4580 at 22 Gemini does conjoin the Sun, sextile asteroid Oskar.

Two out-of-the-box roles for Streep to display her comedic chops were as Madeline Ashton in 1992’s “Death Becomes Her” and Donna Sheridan in 2007’s “Mama Mia!”.  Asteroid Madeline 2569 at 10 Libra squares the Sun, while asteroid Donna 3085 at 11 Taurus is semisquare.

Four of my favorite Streep roles are as Rachel Samstat in “Heartburn” (1986), Suzanne Vale in “Postcards from the Edge” (1990), Francesca Johnson in “The Bridges of Madison County” (1995) and Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006).  “Heartburn” and “Postcards” well display her comedic timing, with asteroid Rachele 674 (for Rachel) at 2 Cancer conjunct the Sun and trine asteroid Thalia 23, named for the Greek Muse of comedy, at 0 Pisces; and asteroid Susanna 542 (for Suzanne) at 2 Taurus, sextile both the Sun and Thalia, on their midpoint. Thalia, incidentally, is also at station, having turned retrograde the day before her birth, making comedy a formative part of her character.

“Bridges” showcases Streep’s phenomenal gift with accents, as she slips into the uneasy English of an Italian-born American Mid-West transplant.  Asteroid Francis 2050 (masculine form of Francesca) at 4 Libra squares the Sun, while asteroid Johnson 5905 at 12 Leo is semisquare it.  “Devil” provides Streep at her most devious and controlling, confident and assured as she steamrolls all opposition.  Asteroid Priestley 5577 at 5 Gemini conjoins asteroid Streep, and is exactly semisquare asteroid Oskar, for yet another Academy Award nomination.

But the cosmos wasn’t content to merely provide the potential for Streep as a winning actress at birth.  It hedged its bets by assuring those victories in real time, as analyses of the pertinent Academy Award ceremonies show.

Streep’s first Oscar win, as Best Supporting Actress, came for her portrayal of Joanna Kramer in “Kramer vs Kramer,” received at the 52^nd Academy Awards, held on 14 April 1980, commencing at 6 PM PST in Los Angeles.  The moment features an impending New Moon, with the Moon at 24 Aries and the Sun at 25 Aries, conjoined the 21 Aries Descendant and asteroid Oskar (highlighting the Oscars) at 23 Aries.  Out-of-Sign, but definitely in the mix, is asteroid Merrill (Meryl) at 1 Taurus.  This stellium squares asteroid Nike (victory) at 25 Cancer, while Merrill itself opposes asteroids Actor and Kramer, at 3 and 8 Scorpio, respectively.  Reinforcing the win is asteroid Jo-Ann (Joanna) at 13 Aquarius, exactly sesquiquadrate asteroid Victoria (victory) at 28 Gemini, and exactly inconjunct asteroid Academia (the Academy Awards) at 13 Cancer, which is further squared by asteroid Streep at 10 Aries.  Recall also that Streep’s natal asteroid Oskar appears at 20 Aries, right in the thick of this stellium for her initial win.

Streep’s first Best Actress win came at the 55^th Academy Awards, held on 11 April 1983 (no start time available), for her portrayal of Sophie Zawistowski in “Sophie’s Choice.”  The Sun at 20 Aries conjoins asteroid Mary (Streep’s given first name) at 27 Aries, squared asteroid Actor at 25 Capricorn, highlighting Streep (Mary) and the award category she won (Actor).  Even more remarkable, we see a stellium of asteroids Merrill and Streep at 3 and 5 Sagittarius, conjoined Uranus and Jupiter at 8 and 10 Sagittarius, all squared a triple conjunction of asteroids Oskar, Sophia and Nike at 3, 6 and 9 Pisces.  That’s a very emphatic celestial statement of the facts:  Meryl (Merrill) Streep (Streep) wins (Nike) an Oscar (Oskar) for “Sophie’s Choice” (Sophia), with her genius (Uranus) acknowledged and a big boost from luck (Jupiter).  Once again we see activation of her natal Oscar potential, with the transit Sun exactly conjunct her natal asteroid Oskar.

Incredibly, it took Streep almost thirty years to enter the winner’s circle again, albeit she was nominated 12 times in the interval.  A full Saturn cycle had elapsed from her prior win until Streep again took the stage on 26 February 2012 at the 84^th Academy Awards, to accept her award as Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”  A chart set for the commencement of the ceremony at 5:30 PM PST shows asteroid Merrill (Meryl) at 17 Capricorn conjunct asteroid Nike (victory) at 12 Capricorn, opposed asteroid Margherita (for Margaret) at 15 Cancer, with asteroid Actor at 17 Cancer:  Streep (Merrill) wins (Nike) Best Actress (Actor) for portraying Margaret Thatcher (Margherita).  Asteroid Streep at 29 Pisces conjoins Mercury (the vote itself) at 23 Pisces and asteroid Academia at 20 Pisces, in a T-Square, opposing asteroid Oskar at 20 Virgo, with asteroid Margarethe (also for Margaret) on the fulcrum at 22 Sagittarius:  the Academy members (Academia) vote (Mercury) her the Oscar (Oskar) for Thatcher (Margarethe).  The Pisces/Virgo polarity here aligns with her natal Actor/Victoria (winning actress) opposition, with transit Streep exactly conjunct natal Actor.  Streep was also undergoing a “Margarethe Return” at the time, with the transit asteroid about to resume its natal place at 29 Sagittarius.

Meryl Streep has been nominated four more times since that third win, but has been in a dry spell since 2018, at least as regards the Oscars (though she has been nominated for Golden Globes and SAG Awards in the interim).  At age 74, parts may be less on offer, but we can confidently expect that Meryl Streep’s amazing talent will continue to be on display, and another Oscar may well be in her future.