Tonight’s the night, folks! A number of years ago (2012), I did Oscar predictions, but that time I did it without tarot. This time, I’ve pulled cards for each nominee, and selected a winner based on the cards that came up.

Predicted winner in red, followed by the reason I selected them. Following my selections for some of the biggest Oscar categories, I discuss and pull cards on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy…

[EDIT 2/29/16: I have added the actual results in bold, with a WINNER! after it. For the complete list of nominees and winners, please go to the official Oscars website here.]

---

 

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Bryan Cranston in Trumbo
Warrior Prince: Gift of Spirit

Matt Damon in The Martian
Judgment reversed

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant  – WINNER!
Dancer 9: Make a Wish

Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs
Dreamer Prince: Gift of Liberty

Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl
Maker 4: The Greedy Tree

 

Leo’s winning. Here’s why: Dancer 9 correlates with the 9 of Cups in the standard RWS deck, the card of wishes coming true and goals becoming manifest (a little Star card). It seems to have been Leo’s most ardent wish to become an Oscar winner, and the Academy seems to want to grant that long-held wish tonight. I think it’s because the Oscars voters have been swept up in the thought of Leo-mania… And giving him an Oscar seems to outweigh the other stellar performances in this category, such as Eddie Redmayne’s solid and steady performance (something is known for) (4 of Pentacles) for The Danish Girl or Bryan Cranston’s passionate performance in Trumbo. Matt Damon in The Martian getting the Judgment card reversed isn’t surprising in the least: it’s a token nomination, but ultimately one that won’t outweigh Leo-mania. And finally, Michael Fassbender’s turn as Steve Jobs was more cerebral than full of heart.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Cate Blanchett in Carol
Maker 8: Emergence

Brie Larson in Room – WINNER!
Warrior 3: Alignment

Jennifer Lawrence in Joy
Death reversed

Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years
The Emperor reversed

Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
Dreamer King: Gift of Judgment

 

Brie Larson. Here’s why: The best actress race is MUCH closer than actor, with Leo being a foregone conclusion at this point. For the ladies, there’s many more positive cards and equivalent but different performances. Jennifer Lawrence with Death reversed and Charlotte Rampling with Emperor reversed seem to be the least likely to win, not just because of the reversals, but reversals of Major Arcana cards. With J-Law getting Death reversed, it seems as if Hollywood’s love affair with giving her Oscars is ending, and her performances have to be twice as good now to give her the gold statue: it’s almost as if her hardest competition is with her past self and past performances. For the other three ladies, it is not just performance being considered but who’s star is rising the most as well. Saoirse from the cards had the most worthy performance, but with Brie Larson receiving a card like the 3 of Wands with the keyword of Alignment, it seems that she will be receiving the statue on Oscar night.

Best motion picture of the year

The Big Short – 4 of Swords reversed

Bridge of Spies – 8 of Pentacles

Brooklyn – King of Chalices reversed

Mad Max: Fury Road – 4 of Pentacles reversed

The Martian – 5 of Swords

The Revenant – Strength

Room – 9 of Chalices

Spotlight – Tower reversed  – WINNER!

 

The Revenant. Here’s why: Once again, Leo’s star power carries into another category. I would LIKE to say Room is also a heavy contender with the 9 of Chalices coming up (a little Star card, wishes coming true and fulfillment of goals) but the Strength card for Revenant carries a bit more weight.

Achievement in directing

The Big Short, Adam McKay
Maker 5: Winter’s Bite

Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller
Pan

The Revenant, Alejandro G. Iñárritu  – WINNER!
Maker Prince: Gift of Connection reversed

Room, Lenny Abrahamson
Justice

Spotlight, Tom McCarthy
The Elder (Hierophant) reversed

 

Room, Lenny Abrahamson. Here’s why: Very strong cards here, but when I ask tarot about who will win something, the bearer of the Justice card usually gets it. Director Lenny Abrahamson will win for Room.

 

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
The Dancer: Water

Rooney Mara in Carol
The Dreamer: Air

Rachel McAdams in Spotlight
Warrior 6: No Foe Too Great

Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl  – WINNER!
Warrior Queen: Gift of Charm reversed

Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs
Maker 10: Kingdom Prospers

 

Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs. Here’s why: This pick surprises me, because before pulling the cards I wasn’t initially thinking that Kate Winslet was a front runner (nor is she), but the two strongest cards I pulled was for her and Rachel McAdams (Warrior 6). While the cards indicate that Rachel McAdams’s performance was impressive (and with Warrior 6 having a seeming spotlight in the card, a nod to the movie that she’s nominated for), I believe the steady Maker 10 for Winslet will win out. She’s just a dependable actress, and in this role, she made it possible for Fassbender’s performance to be nominated for Best Actor. If that’s not Best Supporting Actress material, I don’t know what is.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Christian Bale in The Big Short
Death

Tom Hardy in The Revenant
Warrior 7: A Hero’s Challenge

Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight
Dancer 2: Soulmates

Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies  – WINNER!
Dreamer 9: Nightmare

Sylvester Stallone in Creed
The Star reversed

 

Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight. Here’s why: All the other cards are either daunting or supremely negative for a Yes to Oscar gold, except for what came up for Mark, the 2 of Cups. Just from the card alone his acting was the emotional glue that made the cast of Spotlight become an incredible ensemble telling an emotionally wrought story about the sex abuse scandals of the Catholic clergy coming to light. And sorry folks that were rooting for Sly to get his Oscar: The Star reversed signifies to me that he falls short of this goal.

So, there’s your tarot predictions for tonight’s biggest Oscar categories!

Now, let’s talk about the not-so-nice side of Hollywood’s Golden Night: the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. Truly, I have mixed feelings about this, but as a white girl, my opinions frankly don’t matter on this topic: it’s not a question of feeling here, the truth is that this kind of societal racism is STILL going on. It does nothing to pretend like everything’s okay.

Check out John Oliver’s take on #OscarsSoWhite in the clip from Last Week Tonight below:

Yeah, really: How IS this still a thing? Yet it is. And it’s going to keep being a thing about minorities not being nominated for Oscars because they are not being cast, sometimes in roles that would accurately represent and reflect their culture and race: because those roles are being taken by Caucasian men and women. Crazy-making.

I wanted to know the tarot’s take on all this. So I took a few cards from the Deck of a Thousand Spreads (I shuffled and used which ones came up, such as Disappointment, which I felt very fitting for this issue), and threw some cards from the Tarot of the Boroughs, the most no-nonsense, give it to me straight deck I have.

 

A quick summary of the reading: Wheel of fortune reversed: the disappointment that the world hasn’t changed as much as we’d have liked, 5 of Wands: attitudes and thoughts are that there isn’t REAL understanding and a huge divide between racial lines STILL, and lesson is the burden is ALL of ours to share. That’s saying a mouthful.

I then broke it down to each card’s interpretation individually and positionally:

The Wheel of Fortune reversed: we like to think society has changed, and it has… but not as much as we THINK it has…. The Wheel Rx is just one card shy of the elusive (in this situation) Justice card. If the Wheel is described as “Positive change, destiny” upright, it is the disappointment of a thwarted destiny, a negative change or no real change with the reversal.

I tried to be impartial and neutral while reading these cards, but the very positional meaning of the Attitudes and Thoughts position is “Your attitude and thoughts in regard to the spread’s topic. May also address thoughts you hold toward another (or vice versa).” Yeah, pretty much, considering the LWB meaning for the 5 of Wands that came up here is “GWRAAAAGHHHH.” I just don’t get it. It’s infuriating. It’s anger-making. And before we get to the peace that comes at the other side of a conflict, the conflict has to be fully felt and broken through for real understanding to take place. In this case, theories only go so far on this heated topic, and experiential knowledge trumps them.

Finally, the Lesson position is the 10 of Wands which reveals the “lesson, gift, or karmic teaching you’re meant to receive from the situation.” The LWB keywords for the 10 of Wands is “overworked, need sleep” but it is so much more than that. The 10 of Wands is a card of burdens and SHARING that burden so that it doesn’t become unbearable. The meaning that I glean here is that we ALL share a piece of this mess. ALL of us. We can’t be cute about this, or think that it doesn’t affect us. We all have internal bias that was ingrained in us through our childhood or our upbringing, and we all need to face it and own up to it. To end this on a hopeful note, just as much as we all have a share in the blame, we also have a share in righting this situation and making it better. The #OscarsSoWhite controversy can be countered through individual action. How? If you don’t see your stories being told on the big screen, vote with your wallet and don’t go to that movie. Say something. Speak up. Hold casting directors accountable, hold the actors auditioning for a role that is not of their own race accountable. Rooney Mara recently came forward and said that she was disappointed that she was on the “wrong side” of this discussion by portraying Tiger Lily in the newest Pan movie. Well, that’s nice… now. But where was this forethought when she was auditioning, when she was actually offered the role of a Native American? These are the questions we should be asking before, not after the fact.

No wonder #OscarsSoWhite when you start with #CastingSoWhite…

---

Decks I used are the Tarot of the Sidhe, the Mini Art Nouveau deck, and Tarot of the Boroughs.

 

Blessings,
~*~Hilary~*~
www.tarotbyhilary.com

 

What do you think of my predictions? What are you feeling about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy? Please leave your Comments and thoughts below. (and keep it civil, people… any derogatory or hateful speech will be deleted without a second thought!)

If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends using the handy-dandy buttons below.

If you enjoyed this article, get email updates (it’s FREE)!