The presupposition that guided this investigation is one that guides every horoscope analysis: the horoscope contains patterns that explain human behavior. The specific behavior in focus for this research endeavor was alcohol abuse. Three goals guided this project: to retest the astrological factors that previous researchers found to be associated with alcohol abuse; to identify additional astrological factors that also contributed to the behavioral trait of alcohol abuse using the AstroDatabank factor analysis feature; and to develop an AstroSignature for alcohol abuse that, when tested, would award the highest scores to sixty percent of the alcohol abusers and only forty percent of the control group. The signature that was developed proposes twenty astrological rules or markers to identify alcohol abuse and was tested on two distinct data sets (the Anonymous group and the Performers group). Both data sets were composed of an experimental group with a history of alcohol abuse and a control group ten times larger than the size of the experimental group. After testing the signature, the study achieved its aim of ranking one of the groups, (the Anonymous experimental group), in the top sixty percent while only 25.8 percent of the Anonymous control group scored that high. The 60/40 split was nearly achieved with the Performers data set. The scores that ranked the Performers experimental group in the top 60 percent also ranked 45.1 percent of that control group in the top 60 percent.
INTRODUCTION
Healing
behaviors that prevent us from living at our fullest potential or which
interfere with a healthy relationship with ourselves or our environment, begins
with identifying the dynamics that motivate the behavior. As astrology
teaches, the key to discovering these motivations is found in a repetition of
the factors that contribute to the particular behavior in question. One
astrological factor alone does not account for a dominant behavior. However,
it's difficult to answer questions of who, what and how with the plethora of
interacting variables and the abundance of possibilities for their expression.
Where are the guidelines to help the practitioner answer these important
questions? Questions such as, who is most at risk for developing a particular
dysfunctional behavior? What are the combinations of independent factors which
account for the appearance of that behavior? How many of the factors that
contribute to the behavior are necessary to elicit the behavior?
AstroSignatures are designed to help us answer these questions. With the
abundance of interacting factors found in every horoscope, the range of
behavioral possibilities can be difficult to ascertain, especially if the
factors have not been tested to prove they are valid indicators for the
behavior. Too often, astrological practitioners base their judgments on
erroneous generalizations that have been simply passed along from one generation
of astrologers to another. One of the most discouraging facets I've
confronted in my astrological practice is hearing a client repeat a discouraging
interpretation of their chart dynamics. For example, I've had clients tell me
they were told by other astrologers that they will never find happiness in
marriage, or that health problems or financial struggles will plague them all
the days of their life. While I could identify the chart dynamics that led to
such statements, I absolutely didn't agree with the strictly deterministic
interpretation of those dynamics. Having clients share these discouraging and
disempowering experiences convinced me of the necessity to research astrology.
We need to know what works and what doesn't. We can't afford to make faulty
judgments. Our clients grant much credence to what we say. I envision
AstroSignatures becoming the standard of astrological diagnostic criteria,
serving a purpose similar to the one DSM-IV serves for psychotherapist.
The AstroSignature provides criteria by which to judge the various factors found
in the horoscope. It advises us of those astrological factors that appear in the
charts of the people most likely to develop a particular behavior trait as
defined by the signature. In this specific research endeavor, one of my goals
was to identify those factors that account most profoundly and with greatest
frequency to the tendency for alcohol abuse. While that might sound like a
formidable task of testing one variable after another to find out which factors
actually show up more frequently in the charts of alcoholics than they do in the
charts of non-alcoholics, we now have the technology that does this computing
for us. In this research project, I used the factor analysis reporting feature
of the AstroDatabank 4.0 software to identify those factors that do occur more
frequently in the charts of alcohol abusers.
I was surprised by some of the factors that both did and did not show up more frequently in the charts of the alcohol abusers. Subtle interactive factors were at play that I would not have considered if the factor analysis report had not brought them to my attention. For one example, a sesquisquare or quincunx between the Ascendant and the Moon, Sun, Mercury, Uranus, or the dispositor of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Pluto, North Node or MC was found to be a combination of factors which proved significant, while a square, opposition or semisquare between any of these planets or dispositors did not. Nor did a quincunx or sesquisquare from Venus, Mars, Neptune, or Pluto to the Ascendant occur more frequently in the charts of the experimental groups, although such an aspect from Venus or Pluto's dispositors did have significance. Neither the signs nor the major hard aspects contributed as strongly as I reasoned they might and which the literature suggests they do. Moreover, rulers of houses and dispositors played a more dynamic role than I assumed. Over and over again I found myself asking, "Why this and why not that?" It reminded me of something I'd read in one of Rob Hand's books many years ago, about how a person could spend a lifetime studying astrology and still not learn all there is to learn about it.
This research endeavor convinced me that AstroSignatures will contribute greatly to advancing our understanding of the nature of the interaction between the various astrological symbols. Quoting Mark McDonough, We won't just prove astrology, we'll improve astrology. Indeed! Research is the direction and AstroDatabank software provides the means that makes it possible for every astrologer to test what works and what doesn't.
RESULTS OF RETESTING GIBSON'S
ASTROLOGICAL MARKERS FOR ADDICTIVE
DISORDERS
The
first study of alcoholic patterns I attempted to replicate was designed by
Mitchell E. Gibson, M.D. and published in his book,
Signs of Mental Illness.
While it is beyond the scope of this particular project to review the composite
of his techniques and methodology for measuring and postulating astrological
markers for mental illnesses, he has designed an intriguing model to evaluate
the horoscope for significators of psychological imbalance. It is Gibson’s
astrological markers for addictive disorders that were retested in this project.
While there are 26 markers, only 25 of his markers were retested. One proposed
marker, Uranus trine Neptune, was not included in the retesting because it is a
generational marker.
Gibson's study consisted of an experimental group of thirteen patients who had
been in treatment for addictive disorders, (including alcohol, cocaine and/or
amphetamine abuse). His control group consisted of 24 people with no history of
mental illness or psychiatric treatment. The data set I used to retest his
markers consisted of the 85 anonymous alcohol abusers with a control group of
850. The results of the retest are shown in Table 1. The markers that showed up
with greater frequency in the experimental group of alcoholics have their
percentages presented in bold type.
Table 1: Retest Findings for Gibson's Addiction Markers
Astrological Markers |
%
Non-Zero Alcoholics |
%
Non-Zero Control |
Jupiter
conjunct Pluto |
9.46 |
7.1 |
Jupiter
conjunct Uranus |
2.4 |
4.2 |
Moon
trine Pluto |
6.1 |
8.3 |
Sun
trine Uranus |
10.6 |
7.6 |
Saturn
Trine Pluto |
7.0 |
6.2 |
Sun
sextile Jupiter |
3.9 |
4.0 |
Mars
sextile Uranus |
1.2 |
3.9 |
Jupiter
sextile Neptune |
5.9 |
3.6 |
Venus
square Saturn |
3.5 |
4.9 |
Sun
square Neptune |
5.9 |
7.1 |
Sun
square Mars |
9.4 |
7.3 |
Jupiter
opposition Mars |
5.8 |
4.6 |
Moon
opposition Venus |
5.8 |
3.0 |
Moon
opposition Uranus |
1.2 |
4.3 |
Moon
opposition Neptune |
8.2 |
4.0 |
Jupiter
parallel Uranus |
3.5 |
5.8 |
Saturn
parallel Mercury |
1.7 |
5.4 |
Moon
contraparallel Mercury |
3.5 |
4.1 |
Saturn
contraparallel Mars |
1.7 |
4.4 |
Pluto at 21-23.30 N/S declination | 54.1 |
54.6 |
Mercury
at 21-23.30 N/S declination |
8.2 |
13.3 |
Moon
at declination > 23 deg 30' |
14.1 |
15.5 |
Mars
at declination > 23 deg 30' |
17.6 |
18.8 |
Jupiter
conjunct AND parallel another planet |
11.8 |
22.8 |
Therefore, one of the
first goals set for this project, was to discover other planets or points that
could be grouped with the retested factors that showed the most statistically
significant promise. It became apparent while retesting Gibson's markers that
different aspects couldn't be grouped together before first analyzing which
aspects actually contributed positively as a marker. Frequently, the aspects I
felt would contribute with the greatest variance did not. For example, I learned
from retesting Gibson's markers that Moon opposite Venus or Neptune was found
more frequently in the charts of the alcoholics, but what about the square,
quincunx or other aspect possibilities? I felt that the more stressful aspects
would be suspect. However, I was wrong. The square, quincunx, and conjunction
either occurred equally in both groups or more often in the control group. In
order to identify which aspects occurred with greater frequency in the charts of
the alcoholics, they would need to be evaluated individually. This would have
been a formidable task if it had not been for the AstroDatabank 4.0 factor
analysis feature. I was able to use the factor analysis report to identify which
aspects had positive effect with greater frequency in the experimental group as
well as the potential for combinable factors. For example, it was already known
that Moon opposite Venus or Neptune occurred with greater frequency in the
charts of alcoholics. The next task was to determine if there were other Moon
oppositions or other aspects from the Moon to either Venus or Neptune of
significance that could be combined into one signature rule.
The factor analysis feature in AstroDatabank enabled me to sort the results by
aspect type (i.e. all oppositions) or by planet or point (i.e. the Moon, or a
ruler of a particular house, or the dispositor of a particular planet or point).
I was also able to determine the way the data was viewed (for example, I could
select to view the top 200 factors demonstrating an absolute non-zero two
percent positive differential). Numerous factors were discovered that could be
combined and included in a new AstroSignature. Before the results of testing the
new signature are presented, allow me to review the results achieved from
retesting Mark McDonough's AstroSignature for Alcoholism.
RETESTING
MCDONOUGH'S
ASTROSIGNATURE FOR ALCOHOLISM
Mark McDonough
inspired Internet readers of the AstroDatabank Newsletter to join him in his
quest to discover an AstroSignature for Alcoholism by initiating a study which
tested for Pisces and Neptune themes in the charts of alcoholics. This first
attempt wielded a few factors that appeared to have a significant influence
toward contributing to alcohol abuse. A testing of C.E.O. Carter's formula for
alcoholism followed the first investigation and five new markers were found with
at least a six point differential between the alcoholic group and the control
group. Following that, McDonough requested readers to give their input about
what they believed to be contributing factors. In response, readers offered
another fifty suggested factors to test. The final result was an AstroSignature
with eleven markers or rules that demonstrated the potential to be contributing
factors to alcohol abuse.
In contrast to Gibson's markers for addiction, which involved 26 single factors,
McDonough's signature for alcoholism combined multiple factors (both planets and
aspects) into one rule. In fact, so many independent factors were built into one
signature rule that I had to question if each of the factors had been tested
independently to determine if all of them did contribute with positive
frequency. If only some did, then it meant that some did not, and those that did
not would decrease the effectiveness of the rule. Only those factors which
contributed with positive variance should be included to ensure that each rule
of combined factors was effective. It was apparent to me after reviewing the
factor analysis report that it was rare for all the planets or all the major
aspects or all the "difficult" aspects (or all the harmonious aspects for that
matter), to contribute consistently and equally in either frequency or
direction.
Moreover, I wondered if the scores received by the experimental group used in
the study would reflect the fact that a great number of those people were famous
personalities. While I doubt any astrologer would debate the logic of expecting
to find a strong Neptune, Jupiter or Pisces influence in the charts of
alcoholics, I also felt that such influences might also be found with greater
frequency in the charts of people employed in any of the arts but most
specifically those employed in the performing arts or film industry. With this
thought in mind, I chose to use two distinct data sets to test the signature I
developed: one composed of performers with alcohol abuse and the other composed
of a group of anonymous alcoholics.
Table 2 outlines the results of retesting the McDonough AstroSignature for
Alcoholism on the anonymous group of alcoholics. The average signature score
achieved for the experimental group was 7.51 and 7.52 for the control group.
Overall, the two groups scored equally. The percentages for the rules which
showed up with greater frequency in the alcoholic group are presented in bold
type.
TABLE
2. Retest
Findings for McDonough's Study
AstroSignature Rules |
%
Non-Zero Alcoholics |
%
Non-Zero Control |
1.
Sun
or Moon sq, opp, semisquare, quincunx, sesqui Mars, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune or Pluto |
84.71 |
91.29 |
2.
Sun
or Moon in water sq., opp, semisq, quincunx, sesqui Mars, Saturn
Uranus, Neptune or Pluto AND Sun, Moon, Mars, Saturn, uranus, Neptune
or Pluto in water |
24.71 |
28.35 |
3.
Jupiter
conjunct, sextile, square, trine, quincunx or opposed house ruler 9 or
house ruler 12 (both rulers) |
34.12 |
44.00 |
4.
Neptune
conjunct, square, opposed or quincunx Sun, Moon, Asc, or Asc ruler |
56.29 |
52.94 |
5.
Mars
square, opp, semisq, quincunx, sesqui by any planet in Pisces |
15.29 |
15.88 |
6.
Jupiter
conjunct, sextile, square, trine, quincunx or opposed Sun, Moon, Asc,
or Asc ruler (both rulers) |
75.10 |
71.51 |
7.
Jupiter
conjunct, sextile, square, trine, quincunx, or opposed ruler of house
12 (both rulers) |
38.82 |
42.82 |
8.
The
ruler of the fifth house or the fifth house cusp square, opp, semisq,
quincunx or sesqui Sun through Pluto AND Sun through Pluto in water |
57.65 |
56.94 |
9.
The
ruler of the 5th or the 5th house cusp square, opp, semisquare,
quincunx,
or sesqui Neptune |
31.76 |
34.35 |
10.
Mars
square, opposed, semisquare, quincunx or sesqui Neptune |
14.12 |
13.88 |
11.
Any
planet, angle or Moon's nodes at 11 deg. of a Cardinal sign |
19.10 |
16.10 |
Additionally, one of the strengths of McDonough's signature was that he was achieving the distribution frequencies I sought in this project. Eight of his eleven rules occurred greater than 20 percent of the time for the experimental group. Granted, such a distribution also meant that the percentage of the time it occurred in the control group rose as well, but it would be difficult if not impossible to find an astrological pattern that would be found only in the charts of people sharing a particular behavior trait. Astrologers know that the more a particular theme is repeated in the chart, the greater the likelihood the behavior associated with that theme will exist as well. This is why it was felt that a signature for alcohol abuse that fit 60 percent of the experimental group and only 40 percent of the control group would be a workable signature.
THE ASTROSIGNATURE
In the end, I
adopted 20 rules to compose an AstroSignature for Alcohol Abuse and tested the
signature with both the Anonymous group and the Performers group of data sets.
Table 3. shows the results for both groups. The average signature score
achieved for the Anonymous experimental group was 12.59 and 8.28 for the control
group. The average signature score achieved for the Performers experimental
group was 10.88 and 8.00 for the control group. Overall, the signature works
with greater effectiveness with the Anonymous group than it does the Performers.
All of the rules worked with greater frequency in terms of both distribution and
variance for the experimental groups. The Anonymous group consisted of 85
experimental/850 control and the Performers group consisted of 100
experimental/1000 control.
Table 3. New AstroSignature for Alcoholism (Only modern rulers were used) *Disp
= Dispositor; NN=North Node; SN=South Node
AstroSignature
Rules |
ANONYMOUS EXPERIMENT % Non Zero |
ANONYMOUS CONTROL % Non Zero |
FAMOUS EXPERIMENT % Non Zero |
FAMOUS CONTROL % Non Zero |
1) Asc Sesquisq or quincunx Moon, Sun, Merc, Uranus, Sun
Disp*, Merc
Disp, Venus Disp, NN Disp, MC Disp |
34.1 |
22.9 |
29.0 |
24.7 |
2) Sun Disp, Merc Disp, Venus Disp, Jup Disp, Nept Disp,
ruler of house 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, or 12 in Capricorn |
17.7 |
9.3 |
34.0 |
31.2 |
3) Venus, Jup, Nept, NN, SN, Merc Disp, Jup Disp, Nept Disp,
NN Disp, SN Disp, Vesta, ruler of house 1, 2, 4, 8, 11,12 in the 6th
house |
64.7 |
54.1 |
57.0 |
51.4 |
4) Moon, Nept, Sun Disp, Venus Disp, Mars Disp, Pluto Disp,
NN Disp, ruler of house 5, 8, or 12 in 5th house |
45.9 |
36.7 |
47.0 |
38.5 |
5) Ascendant in Aries, Taurus, Gemini or Virgo |
48.2 |
29.6 |
32.0 |
27.7 |
6) Moon in Virgo, Gemini, Scorpio, Capricorn or Pisces |
51.8 |
42.5 |
45.0 |
40.2 |
7) Sun, SN, MC, Sun Disp, SN Disp,
MC Disp, ruler of house 1, 2, 3, 5, or 6 in Aquarius |
54.1 |
39.3 |
50.0 |
46.1 |
8) Ceres square Moon, Neptune, Ascendant, Chiron, Nept Disp |
45.9 |
29.2 |
37.0 |
26.3 |
9) Jup Disp
contraparallel Sun, Uran Disp, Pluto Disp, Chiron, or ruler of 6th house |
28.2 |
10.4 |
14.0 |
12.3 |
10) Moon or Moon's Disp sextile Uranus or Uranus Disp. |
29.4 |
12.0 |
16.0 |
10.9 |
11) Saturn conjunct Neptune, MC Disp, or Ruler of house 6, 8, 9, or 11 | 35.3 |
24.8 |
34.0 |
26.8 |
12) Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, MC, Ceres, Ruler of house 5 or 12
at 28 degrees of any sign |
29.4 |
20.4 |
19.0 |
16.3 |
13) Jupiter
conjunct, semisq, or quincunx Moon, Sun, Asc, or Asc Disp. |
38.8 |
33.2 |
41.0 |
31.1 |
14) Neptune sextile,
quincunx, or parallel Moon, Sun, Asc, or Asc. Disp. |
42.4 |
29.2 |
39.0 |
28.4 |
15) Sun, Merc, Sat, SN,
Moon Disp, Mars Disp, Pluto Disp, NN Disp, Asc Disp, Ceres, Ruler of
house 3 or 11 in 4th house |
49.4 |
44.9 |
50.0 |
46.9 |
16) Moon opposition
Venus, Neptune, Moon Disp, Nept Disp, Vesta or Ceres |
27.1 |
18.8 |
25.0 |
18.8 |
17) Merc, Uranus, MC,
Sun Disp, Merc Disp, SN Disp, Vesta, or Ruler of 4th house at 1 degree
any sign |
29.4 |
22.9 |
26.0 |
19.0 |
18) Any planet, NN, SN,
Asc, MC, Ruler of 4th or 7th at 11 degrees Aries, Cancer, or Capricorn |
18.8 |
12.8 |
13.0 |
11.7 |
19) Mars trine,
semisextile, sextile or parallel Neptune |
21.2 |
14.7 |
19.0 |
13.1 |
20) Moon angular AND
semisq, sesquisq, square or quincunx Merc, Sat, NN or SN |
17.7 |
15.8 |
19.0 |
14.5 |
A workable AstroSignature was developed with practical application for identifying a tendency toward alcohol abuse in the horoscope. That is, if upon evaluation a horoscope receives a score of 11 or above using the criteria outlined in the AstroSignature, there is a risk of alcohol abuse. While this AstroSignature has set forth guidelines for identifying the tendency for alcohol abuse, it fails to answer some other very important questions. For example, if the behavior does surface, what factors in the chart represent strengths to draw upon to offset the behavior? How could those strengths best be tapped and cultivated? I feel this information is as equally important to identify, for it enables astrologers to empower their clients with options and choices. The great blessing of astrology is that it not only provides us with a means for understanding the dynamics underlying unhealthful behaviors, it also offers guidance about the means for healing such behaviors.
References
[1] Gibson, Mitchell E. MD, Signs of Mental Illness, St. Paul, MN, Llewellyn Publications, 1998.
[1] George, Demetra, Asteroid Goddesses, San Diego, CA, ACS Publications, Inc., 1986.
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