Astrology is no longer regarded as a science by many, because its claims are almost impossible to test empirically in controlled laboratory conditions and it cannot meet the scientific need to be reproducible. However, the majority of those who read their “star signs” can identify aspects of their personality in what they read and it is possible that this may influence their attiudes and actions. The literture has neglected astrological signs as a possible predictor of suicide ideation. To see whether astrological birth signs are associated with suicide and the method used, data was collected from the Public Hdalth Department in North Cheshire representing all the Cheshire Coroner’s verdicts of suicde, and open verdicts, in all deceased aged 60 and above between 1989 and 2000. The observed occurence of deaths due to natural causes and suicide, in relation to birth signs did not differ from what would be expected from chance. However, the distribution of suicide by hanging appeared significantly higher in those with a birth sign of Virgo and lowest in Sagittarius and Scorpio. The distribution of violent and non-violent suicides in relation to star signs showed higher occurence of violent death in persons born in the summer months.

There has been a great deal of recent interest in popular health care in early modern England, resulting in studies on a range of topics from practioners through remedial treatment. Over the past decade, the history of books has also attracted growing interest. This is partiularly true for the seventeenth century, a period marked by a dramatic rise in all types of printed works. The 1640s are especially significant in the evolution of printed vernacular medical publications which continued to flourish during the rest of the century. While recent studies on popular medical books have contributed greatly to our understanding of contemporary medical beliefs and pratices, they have failed to properly recognise the effect that almanacs had on early modern medicine. Although their primary function was not to disseminate medical information, most provided a great deal of medical informaton. Furthermore, these cheap, annual publications targeted and were read by a wide cross-section of the public, making them the first true form of British mass media. This article is based on the content of 1,392 almanacs printed between 1640 and 1700, which may make it the largest comparative study of the medical content of any early modern pritned works. The project has resulted in two major findings. First of all, almanacs played a major part in the dissemination, continuing popularity, and longevity of tradtioinal astrologial and Galenic beliefs and practices. Secondly, at the same time, almanacs played an important early role in the growth of medical materialism in Britain.

Rather than speaking broadly about the determinants of the nurse-patient realtionship, as I did in my book, in this article I have focused more narrowly on psychiatric mental health nurses and their patients. I cited, as the chief influence on the context of the relationship between the two, the psychological changes concomitant with the stellar transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age and the burdens these changes impose on the psyche of the individual. I talked a bit about the paradoxical nature of the psyche and how it relates to paradoxical psychotherapeutic approaches. I mentioned win, win negotiations as being skills necessary for coping in the Aquarian Age. I also mentioned that our own value system, although absolute for us, is not necessarily binding on the other unless it is mutually agreed upon beforehand. In addition, I spoke about the possibility of many theories and methods, each equally valid and workable in the solution of a particular problem. I said our approach to the patient will depend on our role conception as psychotherapist, our typology, and concomitant with that, our model of psychological processes and the theoretical framework in which it is couched. I have stated what I consider the four key points for all of us to be aware of in order to negotiate the new psychology. We need to differentiate between needs, wants and entitlement: we are entitled to our needs, but we are ultimately responsible for their fulfillment (whicih does not necessarily mean that we have to fulfill them ourselves). We need to be aware of the two-pronged aspect of every bit of communication; i.e., the simultaneous factual and directional message contained in each, and yet the selectivity of the tuning in by the receiver. We also need to be aware that any communication can imply a message about the object discussed or about one’s subjective relation to it, as well as the confusion and rage that can be caused by ambiguities and the misunderstanding of which of the two has been meant. We have to learn to live with the fact that all of us have one area of our personality that is reasonably well adapted and another that is still young and needs all our (and others’) help that it can get.

This paper documents my research into the working practices of astrologers and to discuss the methodology I have employed. For the purposes of this research, I have conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with practising astrologers based in Glastonbury in Somerset, all of whom work face-to-face with individual clients. I am attempting to ascertain how they approach their work, the steps taken in preparing for a consultation, the nature and extent of any ritualised activities undertaken in the process and the importance that they attach to these. Through this, I hope to discover something of the motivations behind the astrologers’ approach, what it is that astrologers consider they are doing and why, and the role they believe themselves to be playing in the client’s life.

The objective of this study was to determine whether there are significant circadian, weekly or lunar variations in self-poisoning presentations and whether patients’ names or dates of birth have an influence on the likelihood of self-poisoning by analysing biorythms, numerology and star sign. Setting: Hunter Valley, Australia. Subjects Consecutive adult patients admitted with self-poisoning between January 1987 and June 1993. Results: there were 2215 patients admitted. There was a marked circadian variation. Over 6% of all admissions occurred in each of the hours between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. compared with less than 2% per hour between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. This pattern was not different for patients with a diagnosis of depression. Numerology, biorhythms and star signs had no significant correlations with self-poisoning, nor was there a significant weekly or yearly variation in presentations. There was a small but statistically significant sex difference in presentations analysed by lunar phases. At the new moon 60% of self-poisonings were in women, compared with 45% when the mooon was full. The odds ratios (OR) for women to be admitted at full moon and at new moon were 1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-1.66: p value not significant) and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.57-0.92: p = 0.009) respecively. The mean illumination of the moon at the time of overdoes was 50.63% =/- 0.91% for men, compared with 47.45% =/- 0.85% for women (p = 0.014). Conclusion: the circadian cycle (but not weekly, yearly or mystical cycles) should be taken into account when determining staffing levels for poison information and casualty service. The full moon is protetctive for women.

The lunar hypothesis, that is, the notion that lunar phases can directly afffect human beharior, was tested by time-series analysis of 4,575 crisis center telelphone calls (all calls recorded for a 6-month interval). As expected, the lunar hypothesis was not supported. The 28-day lunr cycle accounted for less than 1% of the variance of the frequency of crisis center calls. Also, as hypothesized from an attribution theory framework, crisis center workers reported significantly greater beleif in lunar effects than a non-crisis-center-worker comparison group.

Since antiquity, people in several East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, have believed that a person is destined to possess specific characteristics according to the sign of the zodiac under which he or she was born. South Koreans, in particular, have traditionally considered that the year of the Horse bears inauspicious implications for the birth of daughters. Using monthly longitudinal data at the region level in South Korea between 1970 and 2003, we found that, in the year of the Horse, the sex ratio at birth significantly increased while fertility decreased.

The tendency for the same planet to be near an angle in the horoscope of parents and their children is stronger when the earth’s magnetic filed is most greatly disturbed. The author discusses other work in this area and presents a detailed review of: “The geomagnetic activity around conjunctions and oppositions of planets by J. Houtgast and A. van Sluiters, and “Planetary Modulation of geo-magnetic activity” by J. A. Jacobs and G, Atjubsib, It is concluded that Venus and Jupiter are associated with the strongest geo-magnetic effects.

The annual total of births in Hong Kong SAR fell substantially in the past 20 years: hence the total fertility rate (TFR) followed the downward trend and dropped to a low of 0.9 below replacement level in 2000. Despite the long-term downward trend, short-run increases in the annual total of births and the TFR were exhibited. Such temporary fertility increases are identified in the Dragon Years of 1988 and 2000. The phenomenon of fertility changes associated with zodiacal animal years is examined in this paper with a view to gaining some insight into whether Chinese cultural preferences and folklore beliefs might have influenced prospective parents’ reproductive behaviour. The paper explains the underlying philosophy of the Chinese astrological tradition and discusses how zodiacal preferences affect fertility between 1976 and 2000. The paper also explores why zodiacal influences on Chinese fertility before 1976 did not exist. It is unquestionable that the Dragon Year preference exerts an influence on fertility of modern Chinese populations through zodiacal birth-timing motivations. Birth rate rise in the Dragon Year is due to changes in timing of births that will have little effect on cumulative fertility.

This is a sumamry of the factual substance of an article published in full in American Astrology, August 1968. The paper discusses various phenomoena such as: the Moon and hurricanes, and planets and ocean tides, including eather patterns (e.g. rainfall) and various planetary associations.