Alex's Asteroid Astrology

On February 8^th, 2022, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released its nominees for the upcoming Oscars, to be presented at 5 PM PDT in Hollywood, California on March 27^th.  With the Academy agreeing to expand eligibility into films made for streaming platforms, there are a record eleven Best Picture nominations, though acting and directing categories have been maintained at the traditional five nominees per.  From an asteroid perspective, Best Picture nominations are a wasteland – just three have exact matches for any portion of their titles (“Nightmare Alley”, “West Side Story” and “King Richard”), though “Drive My Car” weighs in with an alternate spelling (asteroid Carr).

Under these circumstances, cosmic handicapping is impossible, so prediction would be meaningless, but fortunately, the acting nominees fare better in the distribution of celestial namesakes.  All but one of the twenty has at least one referent, many with exact matches, some more tangential.

The Academy Awards have a history of finding appropriate markers for the ceremony, in uncannily pertinent placement on the day, and 2022 is no exception, with asteroid Oskar at 13 Aries conjoined the 7 Aries Sun, while asteroid Academia (for the Academy, which sponsors the awards) appears at 6 Virgo on the 10 Virgo Ascendant.  The theme of the day (Sun) is certainly that little gold statuette (Oskar), while the Awards themselves are the Academy’s (Academia) most visible public face (Ascendant).  PNA (Personal-Named Asteroid) connections with Oskar and Academia often foreshadow victory, as does angularity or interaction with the two “winning asteroids” Nike and Victoria, named for the Greek and Roman goddesses of victory respectively.  This year Nike and Victoria find themselves squared each other, from 24 Capricorn and 29 Aries, so if a PNA aspects one, it likely aspects the other, increasing the chances of victory and thinning the herd of potential winners.

The asteroid bonanza kicks off with the three ladies named to host the show:  Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes, with five exact PNA matches between them.  The hosts are bound in a T-Square of asteroid Hall at 22 Aries opposed asteroid Wanda at 29 Libra, with asteroids Amy and Regina conjoined from 19 and 22 Cancer on the fulcrum, indicating close interaction.  Three of these points tie widely to Oskar at 13 Aries, identifying the occasion that brings them together, the exception being asteroid Wanda.  But Ms. Sykes makes up for this lack of connectivity with Wanda semisquare the Ascendant and asteroid Sykes at 21 Aquarius semisquare the Sun, showing her prominence on the day regardless.  Asteroid Schumi, closest to Schumer, conjoins the Sun from 2 Aries, as well as Mercury at 1 Aries, perhaps making Amy Schumer the ceremony’s chief mouthpiece.

For what it’s worth (and that’s not much), those few Best Picture PNAs show a decent distribution of likelihood for victory.  Asteroid Alley (for “Nightmare Alley”) at 24 Sagittarius is exactly semisextile Nike and trine Victoria; asteroid Carr (for “Drive My Car”) at 28 Leo is also trine Victoria and widely inconjunct Nike, as well as broadly conjunct Academia; asteroid West (for “West Side Story”) at 10 Cancer squares the Sun and Oskar, and is exactly sextile the Ascendant; while asteroids King at 7 Pisces and Richard at 29 Virgo (for “King Richard”) are respectively conjunct the Descendant, opposed Academia and semisextile the Sun; and trined Nike, exactly inconjunct Victoria, and widely opposed the Sun.   Again, with nothing to compare to seven other nominees, it’s a cosmic crap shoot as to which comes out on top, but in this limited field I like “King Richard”’s chances, with two exact matches syncing up with the Sun, angles, Nike and Victoria.

Rather than exhaustively rating all the nominees and their chances this year, let’s just cut to the chase and pick the winners, shall we?  OK, you’re familiar with my track record on predictions, so here we go, with a pound of salt, convenient for rubbing into my wounds at a later date, when the actual results are known.

Will Smith looks like a lock as Best Actor for “King Richard”.  Born Willard Smith, the former Fresh Prince has a sweet celestial set-up for victory of asteroid Wil at 14 Aries closely conjunct Oskar at 13 Aries, opposed by Willaert (for Willard) at 14 Libra and widely T-Squared by asteroid Smith at 4 Capricorn, which is more closely trine asteroid Academia at 6 Virgo.  Smith also trines Victoria at 29 Aries.

As for the competition, Andrew Garfield (“tick … tick … BOOM!”) could give him a run for his Oscar gold with asteroid Andree (closest to Andrew) exactly squared Oskar from 13 Capricorn.  Asteroid Benedetti at 27 Gemini is sextile Victoria and inconjunct Nike at 24 Capricorn, offering hope to Benedict Cumberbatch (for “The Power of the Dog”), while asteroid Javiercerna at 24 Cancer squared Victoria at 29 Aries puts Javier Bardem somewhat in the running (for “Being the Ricardos”).  Asteroid Denzen at 19 Gemini is broadly inconjunct Nike, while asteroid Washingtonia at 1 Scorpio opposes Victoria, so a win for Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” is not out of the question.

The Best Actress category has more exact PNA matches than any other, but the cosmic nod likely goes to Penelope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers.”  Asteroid Penelope at 29 Leo is exactly trine Victoria and sesquiquadrate Oskar, as well as being broadly conjunct Academia and inconjunct Nike.  Asteroid Cruz at 25 Cancer T-Squares Victoria and Nike, also exactly semisquare the 10 Virgo Ascendant. 

That’s a tough act to follow, but Olivia Colman will give it her best shot, with asteroid Olivia at 4 Leo squared Victoria and widely trine Oskar, and asteroid Coleman at 29 Aries an exact match for Victoria, also squared Nike, and broadly trine Academia.  Colman also gets a boost with asteroid Olivia at its station, having turned direct just four days before the ceremonies.  Kristen Stewart (nominated for “Spencer”, the biopic of Princess Diana) shows as asteroid Kristan at 21 Taurus, trine Nike, and asteroid Kristina at 7 Virgo, conjunct Academia/Ascendant, with asteroid Stewart at 17 Gemini sextile Oskar, so she could be in the running.  Asteroid Nicole at 17 Sagittarius is trine Oskar, but that’s a slender reed upon which to hang the hopes of Oscar gold for Nicole Kidman (in “Being the Ricardos”).  Lastly, Jessica Chastain (for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) doesn’t have a really strong PNA match; closest is asteroid Jessie, which at 25 Taurus is trine Nike and semisquare the Sun.

Asteroid Jessie is a better fit for Jesse Plemons, nominated as Best Supporting Actor for “The Power of the Dog”, but without any additional match for his surname, he’s likely out in the cold.  Troy Kotsur (in “CODA”) has no matches at all, the only one of twenty to be celestially unrepresented, while Kodi Smit-McPhee’s matches are tangential at best.  Also nominated for “The Power of the Dog”, he’s represented by asteroid Kodai, which at 7 Sagittarius is trine Sun/Oskar and squared Academia/Ascendant, and by asteroid Smith, squared the Sun and trine Academia from 4 Capricorn.   This could certainly make him a contender, but the lack of an exact match and the likelihood of having his vote split by the other “Dog” nominee in this category suggests it won’t be enough.

That leaves J.K. Simmons (for “Being the Ricardos”) and Ciaran Hinds (for “Belfast”).  Hinds is seen as asteroid Hind, which at 10 Sagittarius squares the Ascendant exactly, as well as Academia, and is trine the Sun and Oskar.  Hind is also semisquare Nike, and widely sesquiquadrate Victoria, which could give him an edge over Smit-McPhee, with similar placements.

But the most likely winner is J.K. Simmons, with asteroid Simmons at 5 Libra opposed Sun/Oskar and semisextile Academia.  The J in J.K. stands for Jonathan, and there are several close matches for that, all of which lend support for success.  Asteroid Jonathan Murray at 17 Capricorn conjoins Nike and squares Oskar; asteroid Jonathanwang (a CNA – Compound-Name asteroid, with first and last names strung together as one word) at 13 Scorpio is exactly inconjunct Oskar; asteroid Jonathanma at 2 Aquarius is squared Victoria and broadly conjunct Nike; asteroid Jonathanli at 24 Aquarius is exactly semisextile Nike and semisquare the Sun.

Rounding out the acting awards is Best Supporting Actress, where Judi Dench (for “Belfast”) seems destined for Oscar gold.  Asteroid Judith (her given first name) appears at 27 Aquarius, sextile Victoria and semisquare the Sun; asteroid Dence (closest to Dench) at 4 Cancer squares Sun/Oskar and is sextile Academia/Ascendant, while asteroid Denchukun (with its first syllable an exact match) at 15 Aries conjoins Oskar closely, as well as the Sun.

Kirsten Dunst (yet another “The Power of the Dog” nominee) shows as asteroid Kirstenwright and Kirstenemeyer, both at 3 Capricorn, trine Academia/Ascendant and squared the Sun, broadly squared Oskar and trine Victoria, perhaps making her a strong contender.  Ariana Debose (for “West Side Story”) is represented by asteroid Ariane at 21 Aries, which exactly splits the difference between Oskar and Victoria, widely conjunct each, also trine Nike, and asteroid Debussy (closest to Debose, but a pretty wide stretch) at 15 Cancer, T-Squared Nike and Victoria.  Asteroid Jessie finally finds its exact match, in Jessie Buckley, nominated for “The Lost Daughter”, but it’s the actress’ only match, and no more impactful for her than the other two nominees who share the name.  Lastly is Aunjanue Ellis (for “King Richard”), with asteroid Ellis at 19 Aquarius not doing much of anything, semisquare the Sun and broadly sextile Oskar.

So there you have it, AAA’s picks for 2022 Oscar gold:  Will Smith for Best Actor, Penelope Cruz for Best Actress, J.K. Simmons for Best Supporting Actor, and Judi Dench for Best Supporting Actress, with a nod to “King Richard” as possible Best Picture.

Let’s see how wrong I am this time!