In this article the concepts of symbolism, chronicity and archetype are reviewed with a rational and critical eye; we show that they have no sound scientific basis and rather constitute fashionable, literary notions, which eventually undermine astrology and strengthen its opponents’ arguments.

The breadown of the French population according to the culminating and rising degrees at the time of birth is strikingly uneven. Out of 56 million population, we show that the most frequently observed combination is Sun in Cancer with Leo rising (617,000 occurrences) versus the less frequently observed Sun in Saggitarius with Aries rising (155,000 occurrences). In a similar wein, it is estimated that 3 million French people living today are born with Pluto in their descendant, while 6 million of them are born with Pluto rising. A degree of disparity had been anticipated, but not to that extent. In this respect our study brings a valuable contribution. The results are disconcerting to both the statistician and the astrologer, and they lead to several questions. For instance, are these disparities taken into account in the samplings used by astrological research? Our study could also lead to the determination of a national astrological collective profile, refelcting the seasonality of births as well as astronomical factors.

C. G. Jung devoted his entire life to exploring the human psyche. To this end he carried through a variety of experiments. During the fifties, he performed an original study associating astrology and statistics, aiming at establishing an empirical basis for the principle of synchronicity. Does this mean we have to count C.G. Jung as one of the precursors of scientific astrology? We analayze the study and conclude ngatively.

This is a reply to Jan Ruis’s comments on the author’s replication of Ruis’s earlier synastry study. It reveals some more results based on Ruis’s comments. It also suggests that articles which claim positive findings for novel investigations should include clear statements of hypotheses to facilitate replication. In this respect, it also discusses the issues involved and the problems encountered when trying to form unambiguous and non-overlapping hypotheses.

This article is a synopsis of a talk given at the Astrological Association Research Conference in London on 25th November 2000. It deals with the possibility of using the position of the Moon and Sun at the time of the moon’s maximum declination, in terms of geographical longitude, as an indicator of the location of hurricanes and tropical revolving storms.

In this article, the author looks at some of the functions of computers that can be used to lighten the load of the astrological researcher. Consideration of statistical techniques are excluded. For planetary orbit calculations the author refers to the work of “Matrix” publications. Data Management and Data Presentation are covered. The author asks the question: with a large chart collection and some ideas of what one may want from it, how can one organise it so that there is the smallest amount of programming to do?

Studies of crop yield in relation to the Moon’s position at sowing show that 27.3 day sidereal rhythms may be present. A wave-harmonic approach to such rhythms in three years of sowing data is presented. Estimates of the amplitude and phase of the rhythms are discussed. The latter indicate that the ancient sidereal zodiac, rather than the more widely used tropical zodiac, best fits the existing data.

This article presents a re-analysis of some recently published data from a study of astrologers’ keywords. The study was by Francoise Gauquelin who, it is argued, seriously underestimated the significance of some of her results. It is shown that chi-squared analyses of the agreement between 14 astrologers and the Gauquelins’ independently derived lists of planetary traits for four of the planets, yield extremely significant results for all of the astrologers, both ancient and modern. In addition, the data are analysed by means of Cohen’s kappa to give measures of agreement which are appropriately corrected for chance expected agreement. Finally, kappa is used to make a comparison between the reliability of astrological diagnosis of the planets’ effects and a related field, psychiatric diagnosis of clinical syndromes. See also Letters, “Statistical significance tests” Vergo Correlation Vol, 2 Issue 2 pages 38 – 40 and Letters Statistical significance tests” Startup Correlation Vol.3 Issue 1 1983 page 51.

The need for change in the approach to astrological research is urged and the value of considering astrology as based on the harmonics of cosmic periods is suggested as the key to clearer scientific results. Michel Gauquelin’s much discussed study of Mars in the nativities of sports champions is used as an example. This study has now been successfully replicated at least twice, but the “content” of the results has never been fully explained. It is shown that the distribution of Mars in that study is determined by two distinct factors, each with its own meaning. These two factors are explained and their meanings illustrated via the “character trait” method. The same principles and the same methods of harmonic analysis have already been shown to produce good results in terms of ecliptic positions and aspects and, in the author’s view, they offer the best avenue of advance for astrological research.

This is a report on a study undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere which looked at personality in relation to date of birth in a predominantly female sample population. The findings are consistent with those of similar studies carried out in the Northern Hemisphere. The author states that prior knowledge of astrology could account for most but not all of the findings of these studies and suggests that media exposure to astrology could be a significant and as yet unexplored area of self-perception.