And the results....

Kentucky wins, as predicted, based on Moon trine Mercury (Kentucky's planet).  The game was a lot closer than I thought it would be, though.

As for the Ohio State-Kansas game, well, tipoff was 8:05 p.m., 16 minutes later than the chart I cast.  So the chart was no good.  As we know, Kansas was trailing the whole game but rallied in the last two minutes and pulled off a win in the end.  What a great game!

The corrected chart (below) has an Asc of 22.34 Libra, with Fortuna at 6.48 Aquarius:

I would have called the game for OSU anyway based on the Moon's final aspect with Venus.  Moon does not aspect antiscion Fortuna in this chart, so we look to its other aspects.  Moon to Lord 1 should mean a win for Ohio State, but not so.  Astrologically, what accounts for OSU's loss to the underdog?

South Node is at the MC, North on the IC, but that is not supposed to matter.  Antiscion Mars is within 3 degrees of its own cusp (the 7th), which could be important; but so could Moon on the MC for OSU. 

I wonder if Saturn, sitting within five degrees of the Ascendant, served as an affliction to OSU.  I also wonder if antiscion Neptune conjunct Saturn tipped the scales for Kansas.  Remember that earlier in the tourney we said this combo might play a role.  The latter is my best explanation for the Kansas win, although it's an unusual testimony.

Monday night is the Final and I will be here predicting a winner.  Until then!

Calling tonight's winners: Kentucky and Ohio State

The NCAA Men's Basketball Semifinals will soon commence!  The first game, Kentucky vs. Louisville, is scheduled to tip off at 5:09 pm CDT in New Orleans.  Here we go:

Kentucky are nine point favorites, so there's not much sport in predicting they will win.  But that's what the chart shows.  Ascendant is 14.12 Virgo, making Mercury Kentucky's significator.  Descendant is Pisces, so Louisville gets Jupiter.  MC is Gemini (also ruled by Mercury) and IC Sagittarius (also ruled by Jupiter), so we have just two planets in play here, not four.

There are no placement testimonies to consider, so let's look at the Moon's aspects. 

Moon at 24.23 Cancer moves immediately to trine Mercury at 24.25 Pisces Rx.  Moon makes a square to Saturn and a sextile to Venus after that, but these planets are not in play so are not relevant.  There are no aspects with Fortuna to consider.  So: Moon to Lord 1/10, Kentucky wins. 

Ohio State will tip off against Kansas at 7:49 pm, same location.  Ohio State is favored  Here's the chart:

Asc is 19.06 Libra, making Venus OSU.  Lord 10 is Moon, but Moon is needed as flow of action, so OSU will have to do without.  Kansas gets Mars (Lord 7) and Saturn (Lord 4).

The first aspect for the Moon is a trine to the antiscion of Fortuna.  Aspects to Fortuna or its antiscion are final, so we can ignore the aspects that follow.  Moon trine antiscion Fortuna favors the favorites:  OSU will win.

I won't be at home to adjust these charts if the times are off, so let's hope they're accurate!  As ever, we'll analyze afterwards, whether I'm right or wrong.  Enjoy the games!

...and so does Marquette (wrong x2)

I'm 0 for 2 tonight!  For most of the second half Marquette was trailing by quite a bit; the game wasn't even close. 

Okay, so what did I miss in this chart?  I had some time to ponder that question during the second half, and I have found something significant.

Venus plays the part of Florida, who were slight underdogs in this contest.  Antiscion Venus is just inside the 10th house, testimony for a Marquette win.  However, I missed an important aspect with antiscion Venus and the Moon. 

Moon's aspects are the best indicator of wins and losses in sports event charts.  Moon is at 9.18 Aries, applying to trine antiscion Venus at 11.08 Leo.  As bodily Venus moves forward, its antiscion moves backward towards the Moon.  So the Moon aspects Venus in about two degrees.  This is the only aspect that takes place within our five-degree range, and I missed it earlier.  Moon to Lord 7 (or its antiscion, as in this case) means the game goes to Venus:  Florida wins.

I also wonder if there isn't something up with antiscion Neptune on Saturn--as in the Wisconsin-Vandy game last week.  Saturn in this chart is Lord 4, Florida's prize.  Neptune seems not to like the favorites, so its conjunction to Florida's prize may have contributed to their win.

I'm away to play for the weekend so won't be calling any further games until the semi-finals on March 31st.  Until then, happy March Madness to you!

@#$%! Wisconsin loses

What a nailbiter!!!  And what a disappointment... Wisconsin loses by one point in a game that went down to the buzzer.

So:  What did I get wrong in this chart?  Moon was just inside the 7th house, testimony for Wisconsin.  Moon moved to oppose Fortuna, testimony for Wisconsin.  But they lost the game in the final seconds. 

The only possible explanation I can come up with, astrologically, is that Pluto on cusp 4 acted against Wisconsin getting their prize.  Pluto is supposed to favor the underdogs, but here it seems Pluto may have acted as a negative influence on Wisconsin. 

I just looked at the chart again, and found one other possibility.  Venus (Syracuse) at 18.39 Taurus is applying to sextile Fortuna's antiscion at 19.18 Pisces.  The Moon moves faster, but perhaps this sextile between Lord 1 and Fortuna tipped the game for Syracuse.  Aspects from Lord 1 or 7 to Fortuna are not reliable, but here it seems to have mattered.

Sigh... but, as always, great learning. 

I'll take another look at the Marquette call before game start.  Back in a few hours.

Marquette vs. Florida: Marquette will win

We're at the half of the Syracuse-Wisconsin game, and I'm afraid to say that Syracuse is looking stronger so far.  BUT a lot can happen yet, and I've learned to trust the charts.  So we'll see.

In the meantime, Marquette will play Florida at 9:17 MST in Phoenix, AZ.  Here's the tipoff chart:

Marquette is favored by 1.5 points over Florida.  They get Mars (Lord Asc) and the Sun as prize (Lord 10).  Florida gets Venus (Lord 7) and Saturn as prize (Lord 4). 

Notice that antiscion Venus is just inside the 10th house cusp.  This is a clear testimony for the favorites, Marquette.  There are no other testimonies that I see.  Moon (flow of action) is not making any aspects within our five-degree range.  Moon will sextile antiscion Fortuna in eight degrees, which could favor Marquette in theory, but this is an iffy testimony.

I'm calling the game for Marquette.

Syracuse vs. Wisconsin: Wisconsin will win

This game is about to start, so I'd better hurry! 

Syracuse is favored; they get Venus (Lord Asc).  Moon is needed as "flow of action," so it can't serve as Lord 10, Syracuse's prize.  Wisconsin gets Lord 7, Mars, and Saturn, Lord 4 (Wisconsin's prize).  Here's the chart (today, 7:15 pm EDT, Boston, MA):

Moon will oppose Fortuna in a little under four degrees, within our range of five degrees for a typical basketball game.  This favors the underdog, Wisconsin.  Another possible testimony is Pluto conjunct cusp 4.  Pluto seems to have a grudge against favorites, per Frawley.  So this, too, favors Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's my team, so on a personal note, I hope I'm right!

Here we go!

A sad and simple truth

If you follow John Frawley on Facebook, you will see some quizzes he’s posted recently showing just how literally we can understand things from a chart at times.

I believe I have an example of such a chart to share with you today. It’s an unhappy example, involving a tragedy, but I share it for the learning it might offer.

The son of a couple connected to my workplace went drinking on the evening of March 10, 2012. He was a good young man, having a night out with friends, as any young person might do on any weekend. They were celebrating a friend’s birthday. At evening's end, he left the bar alone to walk home. His parents expected a visit from him the next morning, but he never arrived. Soon after, he was declared a Missing Person.

The son’s family rallied, organizing searches in hope of finding him. Quietly, my coworkers (good friends of the parents) expressed the fear that he was likely dead. Yet no one wanted to give up hope.

Today, the newspaper announced that a body had been found in the river near where the young man had last been seen. I asked the question, “Is the body his?” 11:55 a.m. CDT, Milwaukee, WI.

“Some other person” is 7th house. There is Pluto, tightly conjunct cusp 7. “Yes, this is him” was the immediate answer. No need to look any further.

Normally we don’t pay much attention to Pluto.  But here it is right in our face, the god of the Underworld, severely afflicting the house cusp in question.

At 1:45 p.m., the newspaper confirmed that the body was his.

Our prayers for the deceased and his grieving family, who now have closure, as bitter as it is.

And Cincy wins!

Wow, what a game!  The score was tight--one point either way--for most of the game.  But Cincy played better in the last two minutes, and they pulled off the win.

We can conclude that antiscion Mars (Cincy) on its own cusp was an important testimony.  Look, too, at the Moon:  at 18 Aquarius, its only aspect for the game is a sextile to antiscion Mars at 22 Aries.  Sextiles are not reliable testimonies in sports event charts, but here it seems to have mattered, absent any other action from the Moon. 

Ohio is sending FOUR teams to the Sweet Sixteen, a first for tournament history.  Pretty fun!

I'll be back Thursday night 3/22/12 with a prediction or two.  Have a great week, sports astrology fans!

Delay of tip-off! New start-time is 8:55 p.m.

Strangely, now it seems that the FSU-Cincy game is to start at 8:55 p.m. CDT.  So the chart I posted is invalid.  I need to revise the chart to accommodate this new tipoff time.

The revised chart has an Ascendant of 23.54 Libra.  This makes Fortuna 13 Virgo, not 10 Virgo as with the 8:40 p.m. start time.  Antiscion Fortuna is now 16 Aries, way too far from cusp 7 to matter.  Mars has not moved, so its antiscion is still close to it's own cusp.  This could be good for them, although I don't know if it is definitive by itself. 

The revised Ascendant also puts Saturn, Cincy's prize, within five degrees of the Ascendant.  This is likely not close enough to matter--usually we limit our range to about two degrees.  Still, even at five degrees, this could mean FSU controls Cincy's prize, because, "A planet in a house is controlled by that house."

I'm not convinced that antiscion Mars on its own cusp is, by itself, enough to signal Cincy winning.  But let's go with it, just so we have something to analyze later. 

Back after the game!

FSU vs. Cincy: I call Cincy

Tonight's game between Florida State University and Cincinnati is set to tip off at 8:40 p.m. CDT in Nashville, TN.  Here's the chart:

(I apologize again for the blurriness.  For some reason Blogger is no longer accepting my GIF files, which are clearer for charts than JPG.)

FSU is favored by the bookies.  First, let's identify who is who. 

FSU gets the Ascendant, Libra, so they are Venus.  Cancer is on the 10th house cusp, but because the Moon is needed for the flow of action, FSU must go without a planet to signify their 'prize.'  Cincinnati gets Lord 7, Mars and Lord 4, Saturn for their prize. 

This chart could end up as a great example of the importance of antiscia.  There's nothing obvious going on with planets and their placement.  But look at the antiscia of Mars and Fortuna.  Antiscion Fortuna is close to cusp 7 at 19.57 Aries.  This is a clear indication against the favorites.  Also, antiscion Mars is at 22 Aries, close inside the house.  This suggests Cincinnati rules is in control of themselves, which is another positive testimony.

Based on these two testimonies, I say Cincy will win the game.  I'll be back after the game to analyze the results.

By the way, and as a postscript to yesterday's prediction:  My brother tells me that the seeding of teams for the tournament is a fairly subjective process.  He says to go with Vegas odds. 

As it turns out, yesterday's game between Vandy and Wisconsin was even odds just before game start.  I wasn't aware of that when I made the prediction.  Had I been, I couldn't have called it--even odds is a toss-up, so you can't assign houses.  Now that we know who won, we can say in confidence that Wisconsin was first house.  Lord 10 on 10th is too strong a testimony to ignore.  So, lesson learned there!

I'll check the odds again for this game just before game start.  Until later!

Wrong! Wisconsin wins

Good thing I didn't bet on this one!  Wisconsin is my home team, so I'm happy that they won.  What was wrong with my analysis, though?  As always, it is fine to be wrong.  The task is to learn from it.

There are just two explanations, as far as I can see.  The first has to do with deciding who is favored.  Now, I checked Las Vegas, and that's the recommended method.  However, Wisconsin is a #4 seed, Vanderbilt a #5.  Had I taken the seeding at face value, I'd have assigned Wisconsin as favorites.  So perhaps the bookies weren't needed here, and Wisconsin should have been assigned the first and tenth houses.

In my two years or so doing sports astrology charts, I've rarely seen such an clear testimony for the favored team to win:  Lord 10 on the cusp of the 10th, controlling its own house.  When a team controls its own prize, that means a win.

But perhaps there was some other testimony to overrule this one?  Assuming, that is, that we properly assigned Vanderbilt to the first house?

I've scoured the chart, and I don't see much.  (Please refer to the tipoff chart in the previous post.)  Neither Fortuna at 25 Gemini nor its antiscion at 4 Cancer are weighing in for either side.  The Moon makes just one aspect within our range of about five degrees, and that is to Mercury at 4 Aries.  Mercury is not one of the planets in play here.  Nor is Jupiter, the next planet with which the Moon makes an aspect.  So the Moon isn't really weighing in, either.

The only thing that must have played a role is Neptune conjunct Saturn, Lord 7 (Wisconsin) by antiscion.  According to our bible, John Frawley's Sports Astrology, Neptune doesn't seem to like favorites (although this is still being studied).  Neptune influencing Saturn must have given Wisconsin the edge.  It was a close game, determined in the last few seconds. 

I wouldn't expect a seemingly minor testimony such as this to overrule such a strong testimony as Lord 10 on the 10th.  But apparently so.  We'll have to keep an eye on Neptune in upcoming games, especially as its antiscion will remain with Saturn throughout the timespan of this tournament.

On to tomorrow's games!  I will weigh in with my next prediction soon.

March Madness! Vandy vs. Wisconsin: Vandy will win

Hello all!  Quickly making a prediction here using a sports even chart.  Vanderbilt plays Wisconsin, Vanderbilt is favored.  Here's the chart.  Albuquerque, tipoff 4:10 p.m. MDT:

Vandy is Sun, its prize (a win) is Lord 10, Venus.  Venus is on the cusp of its own house.  This means Vandy will win handily. 

More analysis after the game!

Did he, or didn't he?

On February 23, 2012, Ryan Braun became the first major league baseball player to be exonerated from a drug doping charge since the drug-testing program began in 2006. Ryan plays for the Brewers—my home team—and was League MVP last year. Along with everyone else, I found myself wondering, “Did he or didn't he [use drugs]?"

So I asked the question.  The data is Feb 28, 2012, 1:46 p.m. CST in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 25 Cancer Rising:

Braun, as ‘some other person,’ is Lord 7, Saturn. Saturn is in Libra, where it is exalted. It’s in the last degree of Libra and retrograde (Rx), moving back into the sign rather than out of it. When someone is exalted, it’s as if they are on a pedestal. They are more highly esteemed than perhaps they deserve, but there is genuine dignity. If Braun had used performance-enhancing drugs, I would expect his significator to be peregrine or in worse shape, signifying bad behavior or character. Saturn is exalted, which lends credence to Braun’s claim of innocence.

What does the retrograde status signify? Braun’s reputation and character were cast into doubt when the positive drug test was leaked to the public in December. Had he been found guilty, the public’s estimation of him would have plummeted. But he was found innocent, so he pulls back from that precipice and maintains his dignity. This fits with the picture of Saturn in the last degree of exaltation, stationing Rx just before it leaves the sign. Braun has been redeemed, although lacking the same luster as before.

I can't definitively conclude that Braun is innocent, however--much as I want to. Look at the antiscion (shadow) of Neptune:  It is at 29.03 Libra, conjunct Saturn almost to the minute.  Neptune involves illusion and deception.  This conjunction accurately reflects the shroud of mystery surrounding this case. Ryan vehemently declares he did nothing wrong. The sample handler vehemently declares he did nothing wrong. They can’t both be telling the truth. What really happened??

We may never know.  Unfortunately, Neptune casts the shadow of a doubt on Braun's claim of innocence.  One could argue that this suggests Braun is lying. On the other hand, Neptune's shadow is an affliction to Saturn (Braun).  One could also argue that this shows he has been deceived in some way.

Note that Moon, Lord 1, is on Algol. I am the querent,so this could be me; but I am not important to the question, so it is possible Moon is Braun's opponent in this situation, the sample handler (Braun's open enemy, 7th from the 7th).  Seen this way, one could argue that the sample handler is in the wrong somehow; or perhaps he's just beside himself with the situation, having been accused himself of possible wrongdoing.  I don't feel we can be definitive about it, so perhaps it's best to set that thought aside.

Ryan was exonerated, but the experience has marred his reputation. Some fans will never see him the way they did before. Others will remain steadfast, putting the whole thing aside and moving on.  How this will affect his standing longer-term, or his performance in the upcoming season, remains to be seen.