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Aug 15, 1995 01:47 PM
by K. Paul Johnson
According to Aprioripa@aol.com: >> are you aware of the statistical work carried out by the Frenchman, Michel Gauquelin and his wife? But maybe you all know this work, and know of some refutation of which I am not aware? >Yes, I have heard of this work and have heard astrologers reference it. There are most likely statistical flaws in the work as it does not show up in any conventional scientific publication I've been able to find. A good number of statistical techniques that were accepted in previous decades have been found today to give false positives. I also talked to a mathematical statitician (also psychologist) who said that so far there has been no statistical research which supports astrology. >Could you send the complete title of the reference for his work? Thanks. >Peace, P I can. Hans Eysenck's Astrology: Science or Superstition? (1984) summarizes it. Michel and Francoise Gauquelin wrote in French, of course, but several English translations of their work have appeared: Astrology and Science, London: Peter Davies, 1970 How Atmospheric Conditions Affect Your Health, New York: Stein & Day, 1971 The Cosmic Clocks, London: Paladin, 1973 Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior, New York: ASI, 1978 Dreams and Illusions of Astrology, Buffalo: Prometheus, 1979 Spheres of Destiny, London: Dent, 1980 These are just the books up till Eysenck's came out; he also lists two articles: Star US sportsmen display the Mars effect. The Skeptical Inquirer, Winter 1979 Personality and the Planets at Birth: an empirical study. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 18, 71-75. @ BTW I met M. Gauquelin in 1988 at a workshop he gave in Virginia Beach. His findings tend to validate astrological causation, but not traditional astrology. For example, his work only confirms planetary influences, and not signs or houses. (Interestingly the Edgar Cayce readings are also more supportive of planetary influence than that of zodiacal signs). The gist of his most solid, replicated findings is that the positions of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon at birth tend to correlate to vocational choices: sports and military people tend to have Mars near the ascendant or midheaven, while political or business types have Saturn there, writers have the Moon, and I don't recall the Jupiter correlation. I was struck by this since my Moon is exactly at the midheaven and when I met MG I was an aspiring writer. Cheers Paul