The Astrology of Astrologers

by Terri McCartney

• The Tropical AstroSignature
• The Vedic AstroSignature

Welcome to my first AstroDatabank research column. I intend to post a research article once each month to whet your appetite for research and to keep you abreast of what we’re working on using AstroDatabank’s powerful research capacity built into version 4.

For this first column, I thought it would be fun to advance an AstroSignature for astrologers. Aren’t you just a bit curious to discover what is found in the charts of successful astrologers? We all know what we’ve observed and we have ideas about what we’d expect to find but can we really show some evidence to support our theories and observations?

In this project, I used AstroDatabank’s new release 4.0 with its awesome factor analysis feature to develop an AstroSignature for Astrologers. I wanted to test the common assumption that Uranus, Aquarius and/or the 11th house would be thematically linked to the vocational indicators in the charts of astrologers and I wanted to use a control group to validate my findings.

I found many of the statistically significant findings quite intriguing. Here are just a few of the interesting things I found in the charts of the 100 astrologers tested:

• 38% had the Sun in Scorpio, Sagittarius or Capricorn and these placements were found in the astrologers charts twice as often as they were found in the control group.
• Sun, Moon or Mercury was found in a fixed house for 70% of astrologers and Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn were placed in an air house for 71%.
• Sixty-three percent of the astrologers had the ruler of the eleventh house direct.
• None of the astrologers tested had a mutual reception between Sun and Uranus.
• Pluto, Chiron or the North Node was placed in one of the Gauquelin power zones in 66%.
• Uranus was found aspecting the vertex in the control group more often than it was found aspecting the vertex in the astrologers’ horoscopes.
• Nothing was found in 100% of the astrologers’ charts.

The Tropical AstroSignature

Abstract

AstroDatabank’s release 4.0 with its new factor analysis module was used to develop an AstroSignature for Astrologers. The common assumption that a Uranian theme is prominent in the charts of astrologers was tested. Testing the AstroSignature on an experimental group of 100 professional astrologers and a control group of 1000 provides evidence to support the hypothesis. Additionally, the signature was tested on 176 military professionals for contrast. Only those factors found in at least 20% of the experimental group and demonstrating a positive difference frequency of 25% or greater were included in the AstroSignature.

Introduction

I’ve always been passionate about researching astrology but I’m ever more so now that we have the technology to do the most tedious tasks for us. Research software has made it possible for us to peel back the layers and penetrate the subtle interplay between the astrological symbols more deeply. I’m a Capricorn with Virgo rising--I like proof of things. But I don’t do research to prove astrology works. I know astrology works. What I don’t know is what works best. With the abundance of interacting symbols found in every horoscope, the range of possibilities can be difficult to ascertain.

AstroSignatures are designed to help us discover not only what works but what works best. Most important, they enable us to test multi-factors. The AstroSignature provides criteria by which to judge the various factors found in the horoscope and advises us of those astrological factors that appear in the charts of the people most likely to develop particular aptitudes, motivations, and characteristics as defined by the signature. But before an AstroSignature can be developed, there is the task of identifying those relevant factors.

AstroDatabank 4.0 with its Factor Analysis Report (FAR) does this analysis for us, and the statistics it generates show us what factors combine to express as a particular aptitude, temperament, motivation, or orientation and more often than by mere chance. Now that we have the software available to us to assist us in developing AstroSignatures, I envision that AstroSignatures will become the standard of astrological diagnostic criteria, serving a purpose similar to the one the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) serves for the psychiatric community.

That’s a serious assertion. However, this particular research project was undertaken for the fun of it. Aren’t you just a bit curious to discover what is found in the charts of successful astrologers?. We all know what we’ve observed and we have ideas about what we’d expect to find but can we really show some evidence to support our theories and observations? Astrologers that do vocational consulting have the premise that the astrological symbolism in the chart corresponds to vocational interest and aptitude. I decided to test the common assertion that astrologers are Uranian types by determining if Uranus, Aquarius and/or 11th house significators would be thematically linked to the vocational indicators in the charts of astrologers and if such a theme occurred more often than by mere chance. Therefore, a control group was used to validate the findings.

Methodology

The data used in this project were supplied by AstroDatabank. Its release 4.0 contains the birth data for 2222 astrologers with a Rodden rating of “A” or above. From this group, 100 astrologers were hand selected for this research project. The astrologers selected have either contributed to the general advancement of astrology in some manner and/or make their living practicing astrology. Therefore, the experimental group for this study is composed of 100 successful astrological authors, organizational leaders, teachers, lecturers and/or consultants. A control group of 1000 records was created using AstroDatabank’s control group generator.

While the control group generated by AstroDatabank does not represent birth charts of real people (and therefore might generate a chart perfect for an aspiring astrologer), the greatest advantage of this control group is that it helps us quickly identify what astrological factors occur more frequently than by chance in the charts of astrologers as compared to a group of charts ten times greater than the number of records in the experimental group. In creating the control group, the year, time and place were replicated while shuffling the data independently. The Koch house system was used to calculate the houses for each horoscope.

The factor analysis feature in AstroDatabank 4.0 was used to assist identification of the significant single factors that could be combined to build one multifactor AstroSignature rule. Those signature rules that included factors found in at least 20 % of the astrologers’ charts and at frequencies 25% or greater than they were found in the control group were included in the AstroSignature.

Results & Discussion

Before the AstroSignature and the results from testing it are set forth, I’d like to share some of the process involved. For example, in my own practice, I use both the modern and ancient (classical) rulers. I calculated the data using both rulers so that I would be able to test which rulerships worked best with astrologers. I was able to test using the ancient rulers only, the modern rulers only, or both together. The best results were most often achieved by using the modern rulers only. When both rulers were used together, the least significance was demonstrated. Often the aspects that worked for the modern ruler didn’t work with the ancient rulers and this remains an area for further investigation.

Following is a list of what was tested using the AstroDatabank software:

• Planets, asteroids, house rulers and dispositors in signs.
• Planets, asteroids, house rulers and dispositors in houses.
• Aspects among planets, asteroids, house rulers, dispositors & relevant points (such as the vertex, part of fortune and fixed stars).
• Aspects to all 12 house cusps.
• Essential and accidental dignities including motion, unaspected planets and mutual receptions.
• Gauquelin sectors¹.
• Declination.

Vocational Significators and the Uranian Theme

Houses 1, 2, 6, and 10 were used as significators for the vocational analysis and Uranus, Aquarius, the ruler of the 11th house and 11th house placements were used as significators for the Uranian theme. Both Uranus and the ruler of the 11th (R11) demonstrated significance by aspect and house and R11 also demonstrated significance in five signs. Placements in Aquarius and/or the 11th house also demonstrated significance but no combination of planets in Aquarius occurred in the charts of at least 20% of the astrologers with a positive frequency distribution of 25% or greater, so none were included in the signature. Just in case you’re curious, following is a list of the single factors found in Aquarius and the 11th house for at least 10% of the astrologers with distributions 25% or greater than were found in the control group.

• In Aquarius: Pallas, the ruler of house 5 or 9 and the dispositor of Mercury, north node or south node.
• In the 11th House: Sun, Mars, Saturn, Chiron, Ceres, the ruler of house 3, 5, 6, or 12 and the dispositor of Neptune or the North Node.

The rulers of houses 1, 2, 6, and 10 did not demonstrate significance in Aquarius and of these house rulers, only the ruler of the sixth house demonstrated significance in the 11th house. An interesting discovery was made however while evaluating the factor analysis reports for combinations involving sign and house placements. The rulers of houses 2, 6, or 10 showed significance by both sign and house when the two were combined and this is reflected in rule 35. That is, if the ruler of house 2, 6, or 10 is also placed in Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio or Sagittarius AND in house 4, 5, 8, or 9 then statistical significance was demonstrated. Fifty-six percent of the astrologers scored at least one point on this rule.

The most emphasized sign was not Aquarius—it was Scorpio. Twenty-eight different factors demonstrated significance in Scorpio with positive frequency differences of 25% or greater and found in the charts of at least 10% of the astrologers. Those factors qualifying in Scorpio were:

• Sun, Mercury, Venus, Venus’ dispositor, Mars, Mars’ dispositor, Moon’s dispositor, Jupiter’s dispositor, Saturn’s dispositor, Uranus’ dispositor, Neptune’s dispositor, Pluto’s dispositor, south node dispositor, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Midheaven, or the ruler of any house except the 9th.

In fact, the only factors in Scorpio that demonstrated such distribution and frequency for the control group were the Moon and Mercury’s dispositor. The Moon was found in Scorpio 75% more frequently and Mercury’s dispositor 55% more frequently in the control group. In general, the signs most frequently demonstrating positive significance for the control group and not for the astrologers were Aries, Taurus, Gemini, or Cancer.

Both Uranus and the R11 were found significantly more often in houses 1, 5, or 7 for the astrologers. While Uranus or the R11 did not demonstrate significance in the 8th house, the rulers of houses 2, 6, and 10 all did with positive frequencies 25% greater than the control group. However, only the ruler of the 2nd was found to be in the 8th in at least 10% of the astrologers’ charts. In addition to the 11th house, placements in the 2nd, 5th, and 10th houses also demonstrated the most significance for the astrologers. Since what is precious and treasured is found in the arena of the 2nd house and fun and genuine self-expressive activities are key in the 5th house, this might explain why most astrologers love what they do. If the Sun or 5th house significators are also linked with 10th house themes in the horoscope, one’s work not only needs to be an expression of the authentic self but also fun!

Following is a list of the factors that were found in the 2nd, 5th or 10th house in the horoscopes of at least 10% of the astrologers demonstrating positive differences greater than 25%:

• 2nd House: Mercury, Mercury’s dispositor, Mars, Mars’ dispositor, Neptune, Neptune’s dispositor, North Node, Sun’s dispositor, or the ruler of houses 8 or 9.
• 5th House: Moon, Sun, Mercury, Neptune, Vesta or the ruler of house 1, 10, 11 or 12.
• 10th House: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Ceres, South Node, Venus’ dispositor or the ruler of the 7th house.

There were only a few points demonstrating significance in the 6th house: Pluto, Vesta or the South Node. However, the ruler of the sixth house demonstrated significance with its house placements as noted in rule eight.

The aspect combinations that demonstrated statistical significance commonly involved a combination of harmonics and both “soft” and “hard” aspects. I was able to analyze each aspect independently, including the major (Ptolemaic) aspects as well as the parallel, contraparallel, semi-sextile, quincunx, semisquare, sesquisquare, quintile and septile groups. The aspects that are included in the AstroSignature are the only aspects demonstrating positive difference frequencies. Additionally, while declinations were also evaluated none are included in the AstroSignature because nothing of significance was found that met the statistical guidelines established for this project.

The AstroSignature

The average signature score earned by the astrologers on the AstroSignature was 18. The average score achieved by the control group was 11. Therefore, the astrologers scored on average 63.6% higher than did the control group ((18-11)/11 = 63.6). The lowest score achieved by an astrologer was 10 and only 3 astrologers (3%) scored 11 or below (the average score for the control group.) The control group scores ranged from 2-25 but only 8% of the control group scored 18 or above (the average score of the astrologers). The charts of the astrologers scoring below the experimental group average had some of the features I wasn’t able to evaluate using AstroDatabank² and/or they had aspectual relationships involving Uranus or the ruler of the 11th but not the aspects that were found with statistical significance.

Astrologer AstroSignature

Legend: PR = Primary Ruler (in this case the Modern Ruler); HS = House Sector; HC = House Cusp; S = Stationary; Q2 = Biquintile; S2 = Biseptile; and S3 = Triseptile

Summary

Vocational research provides a salient investigative area because it allows us to develop signatures for various occupations that can be used to guide our work as vocational consultants. In my own practice, I’ve noted an increase in the number of clients who seek vocational guidance because they are dissatisfied with their careers. Our wholeness is multifaceted; a tapestry of interwoven motivations, needs, desires, aptitudes and interests. Those of us who do vocational consulting recognize that the occupation that will be found most satisfying will not only engage most completely the wholeness of self but also grow and develop with us. Most of us devote 1/3 or more of our time and energy to the work we do—certainly it’s a more vitalizing experience to do what constitutes a labor of love for us. Astrology can certainly help guide us here—increasing awareness and knowledge of who we are and the sort of work and work environment for which we are best suited.

This research endeavor and its resulting AstroSignature provide evidence to support two common astrological assumptions. First, that there is a strong Uranian theme linked to the vocational significators in the charts of astrologers. Additionally, it demonstrates that recurrent themes are significant to vocational considerations. Identifying repeating and interdependent themes in the horoscope provides a way to more readily synthesize the plethora of possibilities inherent in every horoscope. These themes provide insight into primary motivations, characteristics and aptitudes which can find, and even need to find, expression through the profession. When the Uranian theme is strongly interwoven in the horoscope, a 9-5 mainstream job is less likely to provide the level of independence, stimulation and self-direction needed for the individual to thrive. Yet, vocational options are not limited to astrology for those with a strong Uranian theme. We might also expect such an emphasis in the charts of entrepreneurs, technological pioneers, airline pilots, inventors and astronauts to name but a few of the professional possibilities.

Additionally, this research project provides evidence that viewing planets not only in their essential functions as facets of the human psyche but also in their function as rulers of particular houses and dispositors of other planets are a vital consideration. Each planet is stylized by its sign, functions predominately in a particular house, is potentially an ambassador for other houses and/or dispositor of other planets and communicates with specific others as signified in its aspectual relationships. The findings in this research project suggest that evaluating all possible considerations has relevance.

The findings also indicate the importance of reconsidering the influence of the minor aspects that many astrologers believe to be weaker than the major (Ptolemaic) aspects. All the aspects tested in this study³ demonstrated significance with some combination of points but they did so without consistency by harmonic. That is, 25 of the 40 signature rules reference aspectual relationships and each of those rules commonly involves a mixture of what we term hard and easy aspects and/or a mixture of major and minor aspects. Additionally, aspects by declination (the parallel and contraparallel) also demonstrated significance but not all rules involving an opposition also involve a contraparallel or vice versa. Similarly, the parallel was found significant when the conjunction was not and vice versa. Moreover, the sesquisquare aspect demonstrated significance as often as did the conjunction, square, and trine. And the sextile, which some astrologers consider of lesser importance than the other major aspects, was found significant more often than the conjunction, square or trine.

Most important, it’s evident that we cannot assume that the aspects demonstrating significance for one combination of factors will also demonstrate significance for similar factors. Aspectual relationships represent a rich and salient area for further investigation. AstroDatabank has the capabilities to analyze not only the various aspects but also their orbs of influence and whether they are open, closing, applying or separating.

My curiosity urged me to look for any factor that 100% of the astrologers had in their chart. There weren’t any single or combined factors that resulted in statistical significance in this group of astrologers. But are you curious about the flip side of this coin? That is, what might we learn from considering what wasn’t found in the charts of the experimental group but was found with statistical significance in the control group? In this study, there weren’t any factors concerning signs, houses, dignities, or declinations but there were several intriguing aspect combinations that were found in 6-7% of the control group but were not found in any astrologer’s chart. They all involve a major aspect. They are:

• Mercury conjunct Jupiter’s dispositor
• Moon square Ascendant
• Ruler of the fifth house square ruler of the twelfth house
• Mercury’s dispositor square the ruler of the ninth house
• Venus’ dispositor conjunct the ruler of the ninth house

Allow me to leave you with one final result. As I was writing this article I decided to test this AstroSignature on a group of people in an occupation quite unlike astrology. The Military came to mind. Therefore, I also ran the signature on a group of 176 people categorized in AstroDatabank as having a military career. They scored slightly lower than did this control group. Four percent of the military professionals scored 18 or greater while 7% of this control group scored greater than 18 (50% of the astrologers tested scored 18 or above). The average score earned by the military was 11 (the same as this control group) and their scores ranged from 3-23. Research is the direction and AstroDatabank software makes it easier to research than ever before. I hope you are inspired to join me in discovering what works best!

The Vedic AstroSignature

Abstract

AstroDatabank’s release 4.0 with its factor analysis module was used to develop an AstroSignature for Astrologers from the Vedic perspective. The chart dynamics of an experimental group of 100 professional astrologers (the same group of astrologers used to develop the Western signature) were compared those of a control group of 1000 generated by the AstroDatabank software. Included in the signature are only those factors found in at least 20% of the experimental group and demonstrating a positive difference frequency of 50% or greater when compared to the control group.

Introduction

After developing the signature for astrologers from the Western perspective using the tropical zodiac, I felt it would be informative to develop a signature from the Vedic perspective using the sidereal zodiac. I was curious if one would work better than the other.

A literature review of Vedic texts was conducted to identify what has been asserted to be found in astrologers’ charts. For the most part however, this might be termed assumptionless research. I allowed the factor analysis reports to tell me what was found with significantly greater frequency in the charts of the astrologers as compared to the charts of the control group. It was the astrological factors that showed up in the charts of at least 20% of the astrologers and at frequencies 50% or greater than they were found in the control group that were included in Vedic signature for astrologers presented here.

• Moon through Saturn, Ascendant, MC, house rulers and planetary dispositors in signs and houses.
• Moon through Saturn, Ascendant, MC, House rulers and planetary dispositors in their placements by degree.
• Benefics and malefics by house placement and rulership.
• Placements in friendly, neutral or enemy signs.
• The Vedic full and special aspects.⁴
• Placements in the lunar mansions or nakshatras.⁵
• Essential and accidental dignities.

Methodology

The source of the data used in this project was supplied by AstroDatabank. Its release 4.0 contains the birth data for 2222 astrologers with a Rodden rating of “A” or above. From this group, 100 astrologers were hand selected for this research project. The astrologers selected have either contributed to the general advancement of astrology in some manner and/or make their living practicing astrology. Therefore, the experimental group for this study is composed of 100 successful astrological authors, organizational leaders, teachers, lecturers and/or consultants.

A control group of 1000 records was created using AstroDatabank’s control group generator. While the control group generated by AstroDatabank does not represent birth charts of real people (and therefore might generate a chart perfect for an aspiring astrologer), the greatest advantage of this control group is it helps us quickly identify what astrological factors occur more frequently than by chance in the charts of astrologers as compared to a group of charts ten times greater than the number of records in the experimental group. In creating the control group, the year, time and place were replicated while shuffling the data independently.

The sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsa⁶ and the whole house system were used to calculate each horoscope.

The factor analysis feature in AstroDatabank 4.0 was used to assist identification of the significant single factors that could be combined to build one multifactor AstroSignature rule. Those signature rules that included factors found in at least 20 % of the astrologers’ charts and at frequencies 25% or greater than they were found in the control group were included in the AstroSignature.

Results & Discussion

I reviewed Vedic texts to identify some of the yogas asserted to be found in the natal charts of astrologers. In essence, the yogas are analogous to the astrosignature because both refer to specific chart dynamics that define specific orientations or conditions—such as the inclination to earn a living as an astrologer. Additionally, Juliana Swanson, an astrologer in Massachusetts, was kind enough to email me some unique yogas asserted by Vinay Aditya in his book, Dots of Destiny: Applications of Ashtakavarga⁷. Vedic astrologers use several different systems to determine planetary and/or house strength because it is a critical consideration in chart delineation. Ashtakavarga is one such system that evaluates strength by using a complex system of assigning points called bindus.

Following is an example of one of the passages Juliana quoted from Aditya’s text (pp. 69-70)

If Mercury is 4th or 6th from Saturn, associated with 5 or more bindus and the 2nd house from the lagna (ascendant) is aspected or occupied by Jupiter, the native becomes an eminent astrologer. There may be exceptions, for example, if Mercury is in its exalted sign, it may have less bindus.

The ADB software does not include a system for scoring strengths as one of its features, so I was unable to test this assertion. Nor was I able to test any of the yogas that referred to placements in houses derived other than from the Ascendant (such as stated above: Mercury is 4 or 6 houses from Saturn or in the case of placements referenced from the Moon’s--which are quite common in the Vedic discipline). Additionally, I did not test yogas that referenced the navamsa chart (the ninth harmonic chart).

I was able to evaluate other assertions. For example, Juliana sent me another quote from Vinay Aditya that guided my investigation (just as Uranus and the ruler of the 11th were closely examined while analyzing the tropical data). It is:

In Vedic astrology, Mercury is the planet of astrology, along with Jupiter, due to their rulership of intellectual reasoning, intelligence, speech, computation and knowledge of scriptures.⁸

Similarly, James Braha asserts that it is common for the greatest Hindu astrologers to have been born with a powerfully disposed Moon (memory) and 2nd house (knowledge).⁹

Based on the above information, we’d expect Mercury Jupiter, Moon and the 2nd house to be strong. It was difficult to determine the overall strength of the second house. What was evaluated in this study were placements in the 2nd house, the placement of the ruler of the 2nd house and aspects to and from ruler of the 2nd house. The only factor found in at least 20% the charts of the astrologers and more frequently than it was found in the control group was Jupiter or the ruler of the 9th house in the 2nd (21% of the astrologers versus 16% of the control group).

Another common technique used by Vedic astrologers to evaluate planetary strength is called Shad Bala. Like Ashtakavarga it is a complex system that evaluates planetary strength. Shad Bala is based on six criteria: natural strength, motion, position, aspect, direction and time. Evaluation of the positional strength of a planet includes analysis of its dignity by sign. In this study, Moon, Mercury and Jupiter were analyzed for placement in their rulership, exaltation, fall and moolatrikona sign and degree.¹⁰ The following table displays the totals derived from this analysis.

*None of the 100 astrologer had Mercury or Jupiter at their degree of exaltation (Mercury is exalted at 15 degrees Virgo and Jupiter is exalted at 5 degrees Cancer).

As the table shows, having the Moon in Taurus is found significantly more often in the astrologers charts and this is included in the Vedic signature along with Moon in Aquarius, the only other sign where the Moon demonstrated significance by placement. Mercury did not demonstrate significance by dignity but it did demonstrate significance in sidereal Libra, Scorpio and Capricorn. Jupiter demonstrated no significant difference with its placement by sign. While 12% of the astrologers had Jupiter dignified in Sagittarius as compared to 9.5% of the control group, this was not a large enough difference to establish statistical significance. Therefore, it would be salient to investigate further to determine if Mercury and/or Jupiter demonstrate significance using the Ashtakavarga or Shad Bala systems to determine their strength in both the natal and navamsa charts.

Additionally, to determine the quality of a planet’s influence (whether it is a benefic or malefic influence in the natal chart) involves an evaluation of the house or houses it rules. The rules governing this evaluation must take into consideration that both Jupiter and Mercury are able to rule two houses and one might be a benefic house and the other a malefic house. In general though, any planet ruling the 1st, 5th, or 9th house is considered a beneficial influence in the chart and that can be determined quite simply by rising sign. For example, the Moon rules house 1, 5, or 9 when one of the water signs is rising and would be treated as a benefic in the natal horoscope. Mercury is a benefic for Taurus (rules 5th), Gemini (rules 1st), Virgo (rules 1st), Libra (rules 9th), Capricorn (rules 9th) and Aquarius (rules 5th) Ascendants. Jupiter is beneficial for Aries, Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Pisces rising. The table below shows the result of determining whether Moon, Mercury and Jupiter carry a beneficial influence more often in the charts of astrologers than they do in the control group. Since none of the rising signs demonstrated significance on their own, I treated the rising signs in groups for this analysis.

Note that both Moon and Jupiter are beneficial for individuals with Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces rising and Jupiter is also a benefic for Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius rising and having any one of these six signs rising does occur more frequently in the charts of the astrologers.

Additionally, the review of yogas uncovered a few other assertions I felt were pertinent to the practice of astrology. All of the following were taken from James Braha’s text.¹¹

• The 12th lord in the 3rd house gives enormous intuition. Astrologers 6%--Control 8.4%
• In Hindu mythology Mercury is the son of the Moon. Both planets are mental influences and therefore whenever they aspect each other in any way an extreme intellectual nature is conferred. (This was tested this using the mutual or full aspect (conjunction and opposition with no orb of influence): Astrologers 22% --Control 15.5%
• Mercury in a sign of Mars or Mars in a sign of Mercury is said to be good for intelligence. Astrologers 27%--Control 30% (Additionally, I tested for a mutual reception between Mercury and Mars, and 2% of the astrologers has such while 3.4% of the control group did.)
• If Mars and Saturn aspect each other, the person excels in any technical field. (This was tested using the special aspects Saturn and Mars are able to make and evaluated separately, i.e. Mars in aspect to Saturn and Saturn in aspect to Mars) Mars in aspect to Saturn: Astrologers 30%--Control Group 31.3%. Saturn in aspect to Mars: 23% versus 27.8%
• The lord of the 10th house conjunct with or aspected by Mars gives a career involving …any technical field.¹² Astrologers 24%--Control 25.4%
• Venus aspected by Jupiter indicates excellent research ability. Astrologers 38%—Control 33.2%.

The Astrosignature

The Vedic signature for astrologers includes 30 rules and is presented in Table 1. The tropical signature contained 40 rules and therefore the scores on that signature are higher than the scores earned on this Vedic signature. This difference is primarily a result of a reduction in the number of rules referring to aspects because there were many more aspects to consider from the tropical perspective.

The average score earned by the astrologers on the Vedic AstroSignature was 9. The average score achieved by the control group was 5.3. Therefore, the astrologers scored on average 70% higher than did the control group (9-5.3)/5.3 = 69.8%). The astrologer scores ranged from 1-19 and 17% of the astrologers scored 5 or below (the average score for the control group.) The control group scores ranged from 0-15 and only 8% of the control group scored 9 or above (the average score of the astrologers).

AstroSignature Legend:

D=Dispositor; R=ruler; H=House; N=Nakshatra

Summary

When we compare the two signatures, the Vedic signature demonstrates a slightly greater difference in average signature score (69.8%) than did the tropical signature (63.6%). However, the tropical signature did a better job of distinguishing the experimental group from the control group. With the tropical signature, only 8% of the control group scored the average astrologer signature score or above (a score of 18+) while 12.2% of the Vedic control group scored the average astrologer signature score or above (a score of 9+). Similarly, 17% of the astrologers scored the average control group score or below using the Vedic signature while only 3% of the astrologers scored below or equal to the average control group score using the tropical signature.

And, as one more tidbit of food for your mind to digest, consider this: some of the astrologers scoring highest on this Vedic signature scored at the lower end of the tropical signature and vice versa. This realization led me to consider if a composite average might be a useful measure for those aspiring astrologers scoring below the average on either of the signatures. That is, the average signature score for both the Vedic and Tropical signatures could be added together and then divided by two to compute a composite average signature score. For example, the average signature score for the tropical signature was 18. Add to that the average score of 9 earned on the Vedic signature and the total is 27. We divide that by two to get an average composite signature score of 13.5 for the astrologers. That is, an individual’s score on both signatures could be added together in this way to derive an individual composite score and if it is 13.5 or above we could deduce that individual resonates strongly with others in the astrological community.

References & Endnotes

¹ Gauquelin, Michel. Birth-Times: A Scientific Investigation of the Secrets of Astrology. New York, NY. Hill and Wang, translated by Sarah Matthews, 1983.

² I was unable to test Uranus as most elevated planet, leading planet, handle of a bucket chart pattern, or first planet to rise ahead of the Sun.

³ The aspects tested in this study were: conjunction, opposition, square, trine, sextile, quincunx, semi-sextile, semi-square, sesquisquare, quintile, biquintile, septile, biseptile, triseptile, parallel and contraparallel.

⁴The aspects are evaluated differently in the Vedic discipline then they are in Western tradition. First, aspects exist within the 30 degrees of the whole sign—there is no orb of influence. Additionally, not all aspects are mutual. Planets are considered to be in mutual or “full aspect” if they reside in the same sign/house or the opposite sign/house. Only Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are able to make additional aspects: Mars also aspects the 4th and 8th sign/house from itself, Jupiter is able to aspect the 5th and 9th sign/house from itself and Saturn can cast aspects to the 3rd and 10th sign/house from itself. Some Vedic practioners also allow the north and south node (Rahu and Ketu) to aspect the 5th and 9th sign/house from their placement. These were the only aspects analyzed in this project.

⁵The lunar mansions or nakshatras are another critical facet of Vedic chart analysis and the nakshatras provide the basis for the dasa and bhukti system of prediction. The 27 nakshatras represent the division of the zodiac into three groups of nine sections of 13 degrees, 20 minutes each. Placements by nakshatra were included in this investigation.

⁶The ayanamsa represents the longitudinal difference in degrees between zero degree Aries in the sidereal zodiac and zero degrees Aries in the tropical zodiac. There is a wide variety of different ayanamsa’s used by Vedic astrologers because there is disagreement about when the vernal equinox coincided with zero degrees Aries. The Lahiri ayanamsa is one of the commonly used ayanamsas.

⁷Vinay Aditya, Dots of Destiny: Applications of Ashtakavarga, pp. 69-70.

⁸Personal correspondence with Juliana Swanson on May 27, 2005.

⁹James Braha, Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer, Longboat Key, FL; Hermetician Press: 1993, p. 239.

¹⁰Ronnie Dreyer, Vedic Astrology: A Guide to the Fundamentals of Jyotish, York Beach, Maine; Samuel Weiser, Inc.: 1997, p.140. A planet’s moolatrikona is either the sign of its rulership or exaltation. The Moon’s moolatrikona is Taurus and it is considered strongest at 3-30 degrees. Mercury’s moolatrikona is Virgo and it is considered strongest at 16-20 degrees. Jupiter’s sign of moolatrikona is Sagittarius and it is considered strongest at 1-10 degrees of that sign.

¹¹James Braha, Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer, Longboat Key, FL; Hermetician Press: 1993, pp. 241-243.

¹²The full statement reads: The lord of the 10th house conjunct with or aspected by Mars gives a career involving the military, police work, mechanics, engineering, or any technical field.