The Asteroid Anand and the Magnetic Pull of Fate

Introducing…. (drum roll)… the asteroid Anand(a) #23323! I was following some delicious bread crumbs one day and discovered this asteroid by accident. Are there really any accidents, though? Mmmmhm this asteroid begs us to ask this question. Since Ananda is my name, and I was able to find pretty much zero real astrological info on this asteroid, I of course was excited to dive in and do my thang.

What’s already out there on the interwebs in this:

Ananda – Pleasure, joy, and Hindi word for spiritual bliss.

Raymond Scott has linked asteroid Anand to interest in religion or philosophy, especially Eastern. The asteroid was named after teenage Intel International Science and Engineering Fair entrant Vikas Anand (born 1989) of Jericho, New York. You can find a photo of him here.

Ananda was Buddha’s most beloved disciple, and some say his first cousin or brother. It is said that Ananda was born on the day of Buddha’s enlightenment, and that his family was overcome with joy when he was born. Ananda was devoted to Buddha, sometimes taught in his stead, and was praised for his fantastic memory, erudition, and compassion. It’s also said that he was quite a hottie and some ladies even went to the lengths of turning to black magic in order to catch his eye, but Ananda always snapped out of the spell before he broke his vows and betrayed his ascetic lifestyle. His commitment and connection to Buddha was so intense that when Buddha got sick, Ananda would physically take on his illness. Boundaries, boys. Let’s have some boundaries.

Honestly, as I began working with this asteroid, it blew my mind again and again. The first thing that caught my attention was that it was discovered on January 20, 2001. Remove the zeros and we have the number 1221 which is the number I associate with twin flame, soul mate, and divine partnership and the number that stalked me relentlessly during the period of time when my divine partner and I were finding each other and falling in love. It’s 11:11 as I type this… which is the number my partner associates with twin flame, soul mate, and divine partnership. There is an undeniable fate theme with this asteroid and I’m about to get weird with it.

First I will list the keywords for Asteroid Anand(a) 23323 for those who aren’t into reading the details about my geek out as I studied the astrological configurations of this asteroid.

KEYWORDS and THEMES: fate vs free will, passion, love and devotion, the need for freedom and boundaries in relationship, karma, destined partnerships, time travel and timeline jumping in order to meet destined choice points, Sirius, divine feminine, Sirius starseeds, magnetic pull between souls, relationship as a spiritual path, spiritual enlightenment triggered by relationship.

Asteroid Anand(a) has the energy of:

Sun in Aquarius at a critical degree conjunct Venus/Pluto midpoint. This is all about falling madly in love, yet critical degree Aquarius want freedom in that love.

Moon in Sagittarius conjunct Pluto in 8^th house.

Ascendant in Taurus 11°22’ (hello 1221 once again and it’s now 12:21 as I type this, have mercy!)

Mars conjunct Descendant bringing vitality, passion, and extra focused energy on partnership.

We also have Venus and Juno conjunction in Pisces conjunct the antivertex (MIND BLOWN). I mean… RIGHT?! Juno on her own says nothing about love and speaks mainly about commitment, but Venus brings in the love. Pisces brings in the depth, emotion, and psychic connection, becoming one with another, as well as the risk of losing oneself and not having healthy boundaries. The antivertex in the mix speaks about how the individual feels and is affected by this fated energy around love and commitment.

We also have a delicious Yod with a boomerang and this is gonna get a little weird for a minute. A Yod, also called the Finger of God, speaks of a specific destiny and an active agitation until the destiny path in question is embraced. This particular Yod is formed by the supportive energy of Mercury (conjunct Uranus) sextile Pluto (conjunct Moon). Now, Pluto at Sagittarius 14° is conjunct the Great Attractor which is a cosmic anomaly of immense mystery and power. It is sometimes called “The Creator’s Voice” and speaks of the push and pull of fate and free will. In the energies of Asteroid Anand(a), this speaks of the Big U knocking itself out, making constant adjustments, coordinating events, poking at you until you find yourself at destiny’s door. At that point it is up to us whether we walk through or not.

The apex of this Yod, in case we’re just not picking up what the Big U is putting down, is the North Node (destined path) conjunct Sirius at Cancer 14°. The boomerang that adds the extra emphasis is the nodal axis (again, more destiny and fated themes). Sirius is powerfully connected to the goddess Isis and Divine Feminine.

This brings it all together. The answer to the question that this asteroid poses is about the integrity of embodiment. The Divine Feminine is the answer, but what does that mean? It means that in order to reap the spiritual benefits of a significant Asteroid Anand placement in the natal chart or in relationship synastry, we must be well down the road of healing our core wound and/or Chironic wound. We must have healthy boundaries and be able to move freely within the love and commitment of this type of destined energy and/or relationship.

When I began working with this asteroid in relationship synastry, which is one of my most favorite things to do, everything I’ve mentioned here was active in the energy. In my personal life and relationships, the ones where I can see how the Universe orchestrated events… you guessed it… prominent Anand conjunctions. These are also the relationships in which you can feel the gravitational pull even when the shit has hit the fan and one hasn’t done their healing work or the critical Aquarius energy took over or it went all toxic and gross on you. Powerful stuff, folks, and one of the unique aspects I check for in my relationship synastry readings.

For extra fun, the day Asteroid Anand was discovered was the day of the George W.‘s inauguration. Fate vs Free Will much, USA? Also, the #1 song on the charts was Independent Women Part 1 by Destiny’s Child. Independent. Destiny. You just can’t make this up.

In the Tarot, Asteroid Anand comes to us as The Page of Wands, particularly in the Shadowscapes deck. Here she’s playing the violin with her wand, bringing the themes of emotionally driven passion, devotion, self-actualization, and spirituality together in musical harmony for her loyal and etheric audience.