Bret Stephens
Bret Stephens (born November 21, 1973, New York City, United States), aged 52, is an American journalist. Stephens's honours include Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, Bastiat Prize and Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism.
Bret Stephens’s zodiac sign is Scorpio, Chinese zodiac is Water Ox, with Life Path 7 in numerology.
Scorpio, Chinese zodiac is 
Water Ox, with 
Life Path 7 in numerology.Your match with Bret
Bret Stephens’s AsterNym identity
The Gilded Lightkeeper
Metal represents precision. Metal-led charts are associated with standards, boundaries, discernment and the ability to remove what is unnecessary. Life Path 7 represents inquiry: study, solitude and the need to understand what others may simply accept.
Metal Day Master (BaZi) × fixed Sun × Life Path 7, on the intuitive plane.
How common is the name Bret in the U.S.?
#4883
US rank in 2025
~30,051
Americans share it since 1926
1959
its peak year
Bret ranked 322nd in 1973, the year of this birth, with 541 American boys on the register.
US Social Security Administration public records
What Bret’s name adds up to
Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.
7
Expression · depth and research
6
Soul Urge · being needed
1
Personality · self-directed
The name opens on B (2) and closes on T (2). The value it repeats most is 5, which numerology reads as movement.
Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again
Bret’s lucky numbers, colours and stones
Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.
Lucky numbers
7 · 1 · 9
Lucky colours
Blue & Black
Lucky day
Tuesday
Direction
↑ North
Season
winter
Stones
Topaz, Red Coral, Aquamarine
Flower constellation
🌼 Chrysanthemum · 🌺 Red Dahlia · 🪷 Lotus
Gold · Crimson · Soft pink
The record
What sets Bret apart
Björk (1965) and Goldie Hawn (1945) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.
What the chart says
Bret, according to the stars
Core essence
Bret does not do surface. The core of Bret is intensity, the kind that wants the real story and can tell when it is not getting it. They love completely or not at all, keep their own counsel, and have a private loyalty that runs deeper than anyone outside it will ever know. Trust from Bret is earned slowly and never given lightly.
The vibe
Underneath, Bret cannot fully relax while anyone in the room is unhappy. The Moon in Libra feels through harmony and hates conflict in their own house. What Bret needs to feel safe is fairness, softness and a partner in the small decisions. They are at their best when someone else picks the restaurant and they get to enjoy it.
How Bret wants to be loved
Bret wants to be loved seriously. Venus in Capricorn is slow to open and then loyal for life, and it shows love by building: the plan, the future, the thing that lasts. Respect is the romance. Show Bret you are in it for real and the reserve melts into a warmth almost nobody else gets to see.
How Bret creates
How Bret makes things happen: they refine it until it shines. A Yin Metal day master is jewellery, precise, aesthetic, particular about the finish. Bret creates by polishing, by taste, by knowing exactly which detail makes the whole thing sing. Sensitive to being handled roughly, and worth handling well.
Instinct
Instinct: Bret is steady under pressure, an Ox year, and their gut reaction is to keep going. Patient, stubborn in the useful way, the one still working when the others have gone home, and quietly very proud of it. The Water year softens it: intuitive, adaptable, feeling their way through people.
Purpose
Purpose: Life Path 7 is the seeker. Bret is here to understand, to go deep rather than wide, to keep a private inner world that most people never see. Thoughtful, intuitive, happiest with time alone, and learning to let the right people in.
Triggers
Triggers: being told to wait. Mars in Aries means Bret gets angry fast, says it, and is over it before you have finished being hurt. The temper is honest and short. Give them a clear path and something to fight for, and all that heat turns into drive.
Computed from Bret's birth date. Working below.
Where Bret sits
Six lines
Bret’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.
You may run on a few close bonds rather than a crowd. Depth is your default.
You likely think things through before you act. Haste rarely feels safe.
You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.
You may need space before addressing conflict. Cooling off comes first.
You may be drawn to big possibilities. The practical follows after the vision.
You likely warm up at a pace that depends on the person and moment.
Tap each line where you sit.
All twelve of yours, from your birth date →✦ A real star from their birth night
Dedicate a star to Bret Stephens
Three stars chosen from the real sky above New York City on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.
A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.
The sky over New York City that night
Computed for 40.71°N, 9 p.m. local sky.
Mirach stood nearest the zenith over New York City at 9 p.m. that evening, 84.8° above the horizon in Andromeda.
Vega was the brightest thing up that night, one of 101 catalog stars above the horizon.
From 40.7°N not one of the brightest stars stays permanently above the horizon — all of them rise and set.
The trade is at the other end of the sky: nothing south of −49.3° declination ever rises from here, which puts Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman permanently out of view.
The Moon was at waning crescent, 7% lit, and already below the horizon, with the Sun 50° down.
How unusual Bret's chart is
Chart pattern score
34 / 100 · Quietly distinctive
1 unaspected planet · 1 planet at a critical degree · Mars retrograde
An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.
Score your own chart →Bret Stephens in 15 seconds
Scorpio Sun
Scorpio SunIntense, private, loyal.
Bret Stephens's Sun was in Scorpio for the whole of November 21, 1973, so no birth time is needed to settle it.
What Scorpio means →Water Ox
Water OxSays little. Finishes everything.
Bret Stephens was born on November 21, 1973, which falls in a Water Ox year of the Chinese calendar.
What the Ox means →Life Path 7
Life Path 7Digs under every answer.
Bret Stephens's birth date, November 21, 1973, reduces to Life Path 7 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.
What Life Path 7 means →What stands out in Bret’s chart
- The tightest major aspect in Bret Stephens' date-only chart is Jupiter sextile Neptune, with an orb of under 1°.
- Six of the ten planets fall in Cardinal signs, making Cardinal the strongest modality in this chart.
- Bret Stephens combines a Metal Day Master in BaZi with a fixed Sun and a Life Path on the intuitive plane, the combination AsterNym calls The Gilded Lightkeeper.
Bret’s birth chart
Reference chart · birth time unknown
Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 17° to 29° Libra depending on the hour.
No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.
Placements
Tap one to light it on the wheel.
The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow
Aspects across every possible birth time
stableJupitersextileNeptune0.0° to 0.2° orb
Bret’s growth opens doors for their imagination. Nothing happens until someone makes the first move.
stableMarsoppositionUranus0.1° to 0.2° orb
Bret’s drive pulls against their need for freedom from across the wheel. A see-saw looking for balance, often played out through other people.
stableJupitertrinePluto0.5° to 0.7° orb
Bret’s growth flows straight into their depths.
stableNeptunesextilePluto0.7° orb
stableSaturnsquarePluto2.5° to 2.6° orb
stableMercurysquareJupiter4.1° to 4.3° orb
possibleMoonoppositionMarsorb from 0.0° to 8.3° depending on birth time
possibleMoonconjunctionUranusorb from 0.1° to 8.4° depending on birth time
possibleMoonsquareVenusorb from 1.6° to 13.4° depending on birth time
possibleMoontrineSaturnorb from 3.7° to 16.5° depending on birth time
possibleMercurysextileVenusorb from 4.8° to 5.4° depending on birth time
possibleMoonsquareJupiterorb from 6.9° to 19.5° depending on birth time
Chart signature
Elements
- Fire2 of 10
- Earth1 of 10
- Air4 of 10
- Water3 of 10
Modalities
- Cardinal6 of 10
- Fixed3 of 10
- Mutable1 of 10
Counted across the ten planets by sign: Air leads this chart.
Bret’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith
What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.
⚷ Chiron ℞Aries 16°58′ (moves 0.03° over the day)
centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it
⚳ CeresCapricorn 3°57′ (moves 0.38° over the day)
dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured
♡ ErosSagittarius 13°33′ (moves 0.65° over the day)
near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire
⚕ HygieaAquarius 19°58′ (moves 0.23° over the day)
main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well
⚸ Black Moon LilithCapricorn 10°55′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed
Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith
- Black Moon Lilith sextile Mercury 0.0°
- Ceres opposition Saturn 0.3°
- Chiron square Venus 0.9°
- Ceres square Pluto 2.2°
Bret’s dominant planets
1. ♇ Pluto8 pts
rules the Sun sign, Scorpio; disposes Sun, Mercury; 3 major aspects
2. ♂ Mars4.5 pts
traditionally rules the Sun sign, Scorpio; in its own sign, Aries; 1 major aspect
3. ♃ Jupiter4 pts
disposes Neptune; 3 major aspects
Configurations in Bret’s chart
No stellium, grand trine, T-square, grand cross, yod or kite — the common case.
Minor aspects
semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.
- Sun semi-square Venus 1.9°
More people like Bret
Other journalists
- Gail Simmons1976
- Amy Harmon1968
- Jose Antonio Vargas1981
- Carole Radziwill1963
- Farah Stockman1974
- Gareth Cook1969
Born in United States
- Tyra BanksAmerican television personality, producer, and former model
- Mario LopezAmerican actor
- Rachel RoyAmerican fashion designer
- Paul WalkerAmerican actor
- Peter FacinelliAmerican actor
- Anthony DoerrAmerican writer
More charts like Bret’s
Fellow Scorpio suns
- Nolan GouldAmerican actor
- Sofia KeninRussian-American tennis player
- Hinako ShibunoJapanese female golfer
Born in Ox years
- Barry BearakAmerican journalist
- Conrad AikenAmerican novelist and poet
- Joseph LelyveldAmerican journalist
Also born on November 21
- Björk1965
- Goldie Hawn1945
- Davido1992
- Ronny Chieng1985
- Dick Durbin1944
- Cameran Wimberly1983
Fellow Yin Metal day masters
- Maitland WardAmerican actress and model
- Alejandro GarnachoSpanish-Argentine association football player
- Damian McKenzieNew Zealand rugby union player
Other Scorpio Ox charts
- Dale FaughnAmerican poet laureate from Kentucky
- Lois McMaster BujoldAmerican novelist (born 1949)
- Steven MoffatScottish television writer and producer
- Bonnie RaittAmerican musician (born 1949)
Other Gilded Lightkeepers
- CM PunkAmerican professional wrestler, actor, and retired mixed martial artist
- Dimash QudaibergenKazakh singer
- Denny HulmeNew Zealand racing driver
- Trent ReznorAmerican musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and composer
Famous people with Life Path 7
- Claude SimonFrench writer
- Jack KilbyAmerican electrical engineer
- Harry MartinsonSwedish writer
From the journal: The Lo Shu square: the oldest magic square there is · What if you don't know your birth time?
Bret’s cards
Computed from November 21, 1973. Tap to flip.
Birth tarot card
The ChariotAsterNym identity card
The Gilded LightkeeperWestern zodiac
ScorpioChinese zodiac
Ox 丑Life Path
7 · Seeker♂ Ruled by Mars
Iron Fe
The working: BaZi pillarsshow
BaZi pillars
Day Master: yin Metal.
Year
癸
yin Water
丑
Ox
Earth
roots & early life
Month
癸
yin Water
亥
Pig
Water
work & drive
Day
day master
辛
yin Metal
酉
Rooster
Metal
you & partnership
Where this comes from, and how it is worked out
Bret’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q4961960 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.
Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.
Portrait by Grant Wickes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The same Bret Stephens at Wikipedia, IMDb and X.
Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by Bret Stephens.
Quick answers about Bret Stephens’s chart
- How old is Bret Stephens?
- Bret Stephens is 52 years old, born November 21, 1973 in New York City, United States.
- What zodiac sign is Bret Stephens?
- Bret Stephens is a Scorpio: born November 21, 1973, which puts the Sun in Scorpio for the whole of that day.
- What is Bret Stephens's Chinese zodiac animal?
- The Ox, with the Water element, from the Chinese lunar year of the November 21, 1973 birth.
- What is Bret Stephens's Life Path number?
- Life Path 7, calculated in numerology.
- What is Bret Stephens's Chiron sign?
- Chiron in Aries at 16°. Position from JPL Horizons.
- Where is Bret Stephens's Black Moon Lilith?
- Mean Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn at 10°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
- What is Bret Stephens's dominant planet?
- Pluto, on AsterNym's dominance score (8 points: rules the Sun sign, Scorpio; disposes Sun, Mercury; 3 major aspects). Mars is second and Jupiter third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.
