Better luck next year, Oilers.
After an epic comeback where the Oilers clawed their way out of a three-game deficit (and the Panthers blew their three-game lead, ha!), the Panthers ended up beating the Oilers in Game 7 by only one measly goal.
I got swept up in playoff fever over the last few weeks as I watched the Oilers roust the Dallas Stars to win the Western Conference final, and then go on to their final match against the Florida Panthers. I’ve never been a big hockey person, though as I’ve mentioned on the blog previously, you don’t grow up in Edmonton without an innate fondness for hockey. It’s in my blood.
I also started using astrology to predict game winners, which helped pique my interest. I wrote a couple of previous posts on this already, which are worth reading if you haven’t seen them yet:
I ended up being correct in predicting that the final series would go to Game 7, and that the Panthers would ultimately take home the Cup. However, I got some of the details wrong. I’m still very new to sports astrology and I’m testing different techniques/considerations, and one of the main ways I learn things is by writing about them.
So, I wanted to do a final post discussing my predictions and what I got right and wrong. Also, I think it’s good for astrologers to be humble. Too many astrologers let their egos get bound up in their predictions. They publicly crow about all the things they got right and disown/bury/ignore the things they got wrong. I totally understand this impulse and have fallen prey to it in the past, but I recognize how obnoxious it is and I don’t want to be one of those astrologers. So, dear blog readers, read along as I hold myself accountable!
Here’s a summary of my predictions and whether I was correct or not:
- Game 1 & 2 – Panthers win
- I didn’t predict this publicly as these games had already occurred when I wrote my post, though I did look at the charts beforehand and thought this was probably how the first two games would go.
- Game 3 – Oilers win (wrong)
- Game 4 – Oilers win (correct)
- Game 5 – Panthers win if puck drop is after 8:19pm (wrong)
- Game 6 – Oilers win (correct)
- Game 7 – Panthers win (correct)
Let’s look at my predictions in more detail, starting with Game 3. Below is the chart of the actual puck drop. (I used estimated times in my prediction post because game charts are cast at the actual puck drop time, and that isn’t known until it happens):
I had thought that the Oilers would win because the planet representing them (Mars) was in a better condition than the planet representing the Panthers (Venus). I based this on Mars being in his joy in the sixth, while Venus was combust and in the eighth.
However, the Panthers won, which suggests that a planet being in the sign of its adversity (which Mars was), is actually a worse condition than being combust. Also, with Uranus and a debilitated Jupiter in the seventh, the Panthers also had some chaos (Uranus) and luck (Jupiter) on their side.
Moving on to Game 4, this is the game where the Oilers turned it around and came roaring back with an epic 8-1 win over the Panthers. Here’s the chart:
I had predicted the Oilers would win, which they did, but I was still surprised at how they absolutely crushed the Panthers! This chart is also really similar to Game 3’s chart, except Venus is now receiving an applying conjunction from a dignified Mercury. I thought this would give the Panthers a boost, but clearly that didn’t happen.
I’ve stared at these two charts for a while to try to figure out what I was missing as to why the outcome of Game 3 and 4 could be SO different despite the charts being very similar. I think the piece I’ve been missing is the Moon – I didn’t really know how to factor the Moon into these game charts (and I’m still figuring it out) but that has to be at least part of what’s going on.
In Game 3’s chart, the Moon was in Virgo opposite Saturn and Neptune in Pisces, trine Mars and sextile Mercury-Sun-Venus. Saturn would have a very diminishing, restraining effect on the Moon. Neither of the significators of the teams (i.e. the L1 and L7 rulers, Mars and Venus) rule Virgo or Pisces, so I question whether the Moon helped or hindered either team in this game.
In Game 4’s chart however, the Moon was closely conjunct the South Node in Libra. Recall that the L7 ruler is Venus, representing the Panthers, so the Moon is in the other sign ruled by the L7. The South Node has a draining, diminishing effect and that’s clearly what happened to the Panthers’ fortune (Moon) here – they were totally drained away. This is really the only thing I can see as to why the Oilers were able to defeat the Panthers by such a wide margin.
On to Game 5. I was really unsure of this one and guessed that the Panthers would win if the puck drop was after 8:19pm – which it was – but the Oilers ended up winning:
This one was tricky because the Ascendant changed from Sagittarius to Capricorn right during the opening ceremonies of the game, so that’s why I made two separate predictions based on puck drop time. The Panthers are represented by Saturn in Pisces and the Oilers are represented by the Moon in Scorpio.
Given the Moon’s debilitated condition in Scorpio, as well as the fact that it’s opposite Mars-Uranus, I thought that would see the Oilers lose. As well, the Sun is right on the seventh house cusp and the two planets in the seventh, Venus and Mercury, are combust – though, they both have some essential dignity in that part of Cancer.
But the Oilers won, so having the Sun on the seventh house cusp and dignified Mercury-Venus in the seventh seemed to help them out, despite the poor condition of the Moon.
As I’ve discovered, there isn’t a clear pattern that establishes combustion as a really bad condition. Sometimes it seems this is a big problem and sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter much. Frustrating!
Moving on to Game 6, I was pretty confident the Oilers would win this one and they did:
Once again Mars represents the Oilers and Venus represents the Panthers. I judged that Mars in his joy in the sixth was a better condition than Venus combust in the eighth and opposite a debilitated Moon. This turned out to be correct.
Again though, I am a little bemused that combustion seemed to be a problem for Venus here, but not in the chart for Game 3 or Game 5. Perhaps the real factor swaying the outcome was the fact that the debilitated Moon was opposite the Sun (i.e. full) as well as opposite the L7 ruler – Full Moons are something usually avoided in elections for astrological magic and maybe there’s a similar issue happening here.
Finally, we get to Game 7. My heart sank when I saw this because the outcome seemed pretty obvious, and it turned out I was unfortunately correct:
The Panthers are represented by Saturn in Pisces and the Oilers are represented by the Moon in Aquarius. Having the L7 ruler in a sign ruled by the L1 ruler seemed pretty obvious to me that the home team (Florida) would win. And indeed, that’s what happened.
There were similar factors as in the chart for Game 5 – the Sun on the seventh house cusp and Venus-Mercury in the seventh. However, that didn’t seem to have any bearing on this one. I thinks I really does come down to that Moon, representing the Oilers, being in a sign ruled by Saturn, representing the Panthers.
Before I end this post, I wanted to discuss a couple more things related to sports astrology which you might be wondering about. I’ve only been looking at game charts and I’m interpreting them really narrowly – basically paying attention only to the first and seventh houses and their rulers. But the Moon can have more influence (which is kind of obvious in retrospect), and I’m sure there are other factors to consider too, so I’ll be looking at these charts more holistically in the future.
Aside from using game charts, you could also theoretically use natal astrology for sports predictions. However, this is tricky for a few reasons:
- Players’ birth times are usually unavailable.
- It’s basically a crapshoot to make specific astrological predictions if you don’t have an exact birth time.
- An NHL team has up to 23 players so you’d have to look at 23 charts, which is an insane amount of data to synthesize.
- Even if you only look at the starting lineup (plus goalie) that’s 6 players/charts.
- I think natal astrology would be more useful for individual sports, like golf or boxing, than team sports like hockey.
- You could also look at the natal chart for the team itself – but again, you run into the issue of how to validate the correct birth data.
- This is the hardest part of mundane astrology because when was the team officially “born”?
A reader of my NHL prediction post commented that the night the Panthers won the Cup was the exact Jupiter return for Sergei Bobrovsky (the Panthers’ goalie who played a critical role in their victory). This is true, and leads me to think that Jupiter must be a very key planet in Bobrovsky’s chart – I would bet he has a day chart and Jupiter is angular and rules a key part of the chart.
Unfortunately, there’s no published birth time for him so there’s no way to verify this. Jupiter returns usually bring good things to the native, however it really depends on your chart. Speaking from personal experience, Jupiter returns don’t do so much if you have a night chart and your Jupiter is fallen, retrograde and cadent.
You could also use mundane astrology for sports predictions, though again there are some challenges:
- You need an accurate chart for the city the team is from.
- There will always be multiple charts and disputes over which one is “correct.”
- Some teams aren’t actually from a city, so which chart do you use?
- For the Edmonton Oilers, obviously you would use Edmonton’s chart.
- For the Florida Panthers, would you use Tallahassee’s chart (the capital of Florida), or Sunrise’s chart (the city where the games are actually played)?
- Some cities don’t care much about hockey, so winning a Stanley Cup wouldn’t necessarily show up as much as it would for a city that loves hockey.
- This is another reason why it’s such a burn that the Oilers lost – Edmonton LOVES hockey and the entire city celebrates when we win. Meanwhile in Sunrise, I bet no one outside that arena knew or care that the Panthers won the Cup. Ugh.
I did look at Edmonton’s city chart a while ago to see if it looked like we might take home the Cup this year. I thought it might be possible, though not a sure thing. I could see it happening in the next few years, based on a quick review of solar arcs and secondary progressions, but I’ll have to look into this more closely.
As always there’s so much to say, but this post is long enough! I hope you found this journey into sports astrology informative and entertaining.