Astrology of the WNBA

The Women’s National Basketball Association was born on April 24, 1996. The birthchart of the WNBA has striking features that reflect the groundbreaking nature of the venture:

The Sun in Taurus is square to Uranus in Aquarius. The Sun in Taurus is generally a conservative aspect as one is content to maintain the status quo as long as it brings in a good harvest. Yet the square from Uranus makes one a rebel. Here, Uranus is in its own sign of Aquarius which emboldens its rebellious purpose. This square reflects the revolutionary and innovate nature of a professional sports league for women. This league bucks a widely held belief in the sports world that the public will not pay to see women athletes. And of course, the WNBA challenges the belief that women should not be playing sports at all but conforming to their traditional roles. Significantly, this aspect from Uranus to the Sun is is not an easy one. It is not a trine but a square, an aspect that is very challenging in its growing years, but ultimately very strong and built to endure for the long run.

The Moon in Cancer is opposed to the midpoint of a conjunction between Jupiter and Neptune in Capricorn and square to Mars in Aries. The Moon in Cancer is an obvious feminine placement. The Moon rules women and it is strongest in its home sign of Cancer. I do not have a time of birth for this chart and I am only analyzing a noon chart, but if the league were born in the late morning, it would likely have Cancer Rising with the Moon in the First House, an on-the-button aspect for a league created for women athletes. The opposition of the Moon to Jupiter shows the expansive potential of this venture. Meanwhile, the opposition between the Moon and Neptune brings an inclusive ability of the league to bring together fans and players. The aspect from Neptune also brings a spiritual significance into the WNBA. (The spiritual significance of sports is becoming more recognized.) Interestingly, the Moon, Jupiter and Neptune are all in square to Mars is in its own sign of Aries. Typically, Mars in Aries brings very strong and perhaps toxic masculine energy. Why would a league for women have Mars in Aries?  Perhaps this placement is embodied in the Amazonian nature of women athletes. Perhaps Mars in Aries is countered by the equally strong placement of the Moon in Cancer.  Perhaps an evolutionary process of Mars energy is being guided by the square from the outer planet Neptune. Whatever the answers, Mars is a planet of athletes regardless of their gender or sex. This very strong Mars engenders the athletic talent within the WNBA.

The WNBA begin play in 1997. It was not the first professional women’s basketball league. That place in history belongs to the Women’s Professional Basketball League[1] of the 1970s, which ceased operations due to financial problems, including an inability to pay its players. The WNBA would not have these kind of money problems since it had the financial backing of the established NBA. The NBA actually served as its parent and gave birth to the women’s league in a vote by its Board of Governors. [2]

The inter-aspects between the birthcharts of the NBA and the WNBA are fascinating. They include a striking conjunction between Venus of the WNBA at 17 Gemini and the Sun and Uranus of the NBA of 15 and 17 degrees Gemini. The NBA has its own creatively rebellious energy, which is an embodiment of its conjunction Sun and Uranus. Here, the creative Solar force of the Sun combines with the inventive energy of Uranus. When the WNBA was born, the feminine planet of Venus was exactly conjunct to both these bodies within the NBA birthchart.

Another dramatic conjunction between the birthcharts of the NBA and the WNBA exists between Saturn and Venus in Cancer in the NBA chart and the Moon in Cancer in the WNBA chart. First: what can it mean that the NBA has Saturn conjunct Venus in Cancer? Cancer is the sign of mothers and wombs. Venus is a planet of fertility.  Saturn is the sign of fathers and holds the power of insemination. There is potential here for great fecundity. Indeed, the NBA has expanded very successfully, giving birth to several franchises and creating a worldwide audience. The NBA has proven to be a very fertile institution. It also gave birth to the WNBA under circumstances that allowed the new league to thrive, whereas earlier women’s leagues could not live beyond their infancy. The conjunction of these planets within the sign of Cancer reflects the supportive parenting of the NBA towards the new league.

To say it again … it is stunning that both Venus and the Moon, the signature planets of women and feminine energy, were in strong conjunctions to planets within the NBA’s birthchart on the day the WNBA was born.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_Professional_Basketball_League

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_National_Basketball_Association