Towards a Proof of Astrology

An AstroSignature for Mathematical Ability

by David Cochrane

Preliminary Discussion of Astrological Research

There are several extremely important keys to conducting astrological research. The following rules are my
own based on my experience as an astrologer, conducting astrological research, and knowledge of the
scentific method. All of the rules may not apply to your style of reesarch, and the following rules are my
personal rules, and it is possible that you can conduct research in some other manner that will succeed. I
am listing these rules here because a huge amount of research, in my opinion, fails because these rules are
not followed.

(1) The experimental group, i.e .the group of people who have a trait that you are studying, should be highly
homogenous. Consider, for example, a study of athletes versus non-athletes. Athleticism is the trait to be
studied, and the control group is the athletes, and the control group is the non-athletes. Athleticism is not a
good trait for astrological research because it is too broad. A soccer player, baseball player, and tennis
player utilize very different skills. Even the category of baseball players is very broad. One baseball player
runs fast and relies more on agility and speed and may like to take more risks, while a different player may
be a power hitter and not particularly fast. Different positions require different skills. A pitcher, for example,
does different things than an outfielder.

(2) The trait being studied preferably is one of the most important and conspicuous traits of the person. A
study of people who are in the military, or people who have advanced college degrees, is not likely to yield
positive results because people make these kinds of decisions for many different reasons, and the variation
in colleges and military service makes it difficult to define a particular trait which all of these people have in
common, and the most important and conspicuous characteristics of many of the people being studied may
have little to do with the fact that they served in the military or received advanced academic degrees.

(3) The trait should be one that is not primarily defined by non-astrological influences, such as heredity or
the environment. How does a person become a great baseball player, or a great mathemetician? A complete
scientific answer to these questions is not available, but you should use common sense, intuition, and
research to figure out what kinds of behaviors are likely to have a strong astrological indicator.

(4) Your chances of being successful in research are greater if you are, or were, an astrological consultant,
or in some other way have worked intensively with the language of astrology. You have a much better feel
for how to interpret results, and come up with hunches for what to pursue if you do. Progress in science is
generally achieved by people who are intensely devoted to the research, not by people who have a passing
interest in the subject. Dedication to a field of study and research over a period of time brings wisdom and a
sensitivity to subtle issues that others will miss.

(5) If possible, study an area that you have some knowledge of. Perhaps in your astrological consultations
you worked with many people who had a particular psychological problem, and suupose also that you have
studied the literature on this psychological problem . A research study in this area is hopeful. There are
some areas that we all have at least a fairly good sense of what is involved. For example, you can study
athletes in various kinds of sports without actually having much direct experience in the area. Obviously,
boxing requires physical endurance, strength, and aggression. However, consider an area like alcoholism. If
you have read the literature on alcoholism, and have some experience with alcoholics, you will have a much
better sense of what kinds of dynamics are involved than if you are almost completely unacqainted with the
area.

(6) Conduct pilot studies and informal investigations first. Keep an open mind and explore many possibilities.
If you jump into the research with a narrow set of expectations, you are likely to have little success. For
example, if you expect that boxers will have Mars and Uranus in square aspect with a 5 degree orb, you are
likely to obtain disappointing results. Astrological influences work through much more complex means and a
more integrated view of the chart is needed, rather than one or two simple factors. Do some exploration by
looking at charts of people who have this trait first.

(7) Choose an area for which there is lots of available data. Obviously, if you study boxers, then you need
charts of boxers. This requirement, unfortunately, can almost never be met, so we have to make due with
the data that is available to us. Also, if possible, do not study all of the charts during your initial studies. Keep
some charts untouched so that they can be used later, as explained below.

(8) You must devote a great amount of time to the research project. Tremendous perseverance is needed.
Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb after one or two attempts. Proof of astrology is very elusive, so
elusive in fact that a great many highly respected and excellent astrologers do not believe that astrology is
amenable to scientific proof or that astrology can function in a manner similar to other scientists. Any
advance in moving astrology towards a scentific discipline is a historical achievement, and one that many
astrologers and non-astrologers are skeptical is even possible.

(9) Zodiac signs and house placements are less likely to give fruitful results than aspect patterns.

(10) Study an area that has a clear operational definition (measurable manifestation) of the trait or energetic
property being studied. For example, consider whether a study that compares astrology charts to people
who get certain scores on an IQ test or Myers-Briggs introversion-extroversion scale, or who are great
mathematicians. I am more inclined to study the mathematicians because the need for mental concentration
and studiousness is a trait that, to me, is more tangible and specific than a score on a psychological or
intelligence test. However, my determination of this is largely based on my own common sense and intuition
and experience in analyzing birth charts. You must find a measurable way to study an intangible trait. From
my experience as a teacher and from charts I studied, I am inclined to use mathematics as a relatively good
operational definition for mental concentration, studiousness, objectivity, and intensity of thought. There are
other operational definitions for these traits that may be even better.

(11) If you can develop a theory based around a consistent and simple astrological principles, this is much
more likely to be repeatable in future astrological studies. For example, suppose you find that boxers have
Mars-Uranus in square, sextile, or sesquiquadrate aspect, but they do not have Mars and Uranus in trine or
semisquare aspect. Such a finding may be vaild, and you do not need to discount it. However, there is little
precedence in astrology for including in a seemingly arbitrary manner some hard and soft aspects and
leaving out others. Such a finding should not be thrown out! However, when you attempt to duplicate the
study with another group of boxers, there is a good chance that the aspects that you found in the first group
do not show up in the second group. I am giving you this advice based on personal experience! You should
be a little more skeptical of your findings if there is little conssistency to them. On the other hand, these
findings should not be ignored, and should simply be analyzed again with a new set of data to see if there
might be validity to the theory.

(12) To prove astrology, you must eventually conduct a study using the scientific method. The most critical
features of the scientific method is that you must clearly state your hypothesis before you look at any of the
chart data! Then you collect the data, compare the experimental group (the charts that have the trait) with
the control group (charts that do not have the trait). There is a great deal of astrological research that is very
interesting and impressive, but has not followed these strict rules for scientific research, and therefore the
findings should not be construed as scientific proof, but they do offer exciting and hopeful theories. The Magi
Astrology books and a recent book by Dr. Mitchell Gibson are examples of these kinds of works. They
provide some exciting findings but do not quite meet these strict requirements for research. The proof of
astrology will come when a study can be replicated numerous times with success. This is the gold standard
for scientific research. There are other required details of scientific research to ensure objectivity of the
study, and peer review is required, etc. but this simple requirement to state the hypothesis clearly, and then
conduct the study is a basic tenet of the scientific method that has not been followed in most astrological
research, so therefore most astrological research is of a "piolot study" or "exploratory research" level, and
not a final scientific study. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, I have already emphasized that
exploratory research should precede final studies. The only problem is in misidentifying exploratory research
as a finished experimental validation of astrology.

SUMMARY:
Below I will summarize the research that I did on mathematicians, physicists, and alcoholics. This research
is weak in regard to items #7 (large amount of available data) and #11 (final research phase) above.
Nevertheless, I am describing this research here because I think it is among the most important research
studies ever done in astrology. I know that such a claim sounds grandiose to an extreme, and furthermore I
believe that in time this kind of research will lead to repeatable experimental studies as described in #11
above, an even more grandiose claim! In other words, we are approaching the ability to validate astrological
theory, which is of such immense signficance as to be history-making. Advances in science are almost never
the work of one or two people. Hopefully the publication of this research will inspire others to continue along
similar lines and eventually lead to the transition of astrology from a sea of theories and conjecture to a
science.

One last note before summarizing the research study: the word "science" conjures up different emotions,
attitudes, and even meanings to different people. The extraordinary advances in science in the late 19th
century, the 20th century, and no doubt continuing also in the 21st century which we have just entered, have
brought wondrous miralces to us. At the same time, the heart and soul of the sciences has been trampled
upon by a disregard for the spirit of the people who developed these disciplines. Our schools and academic
institutions often emphasize only the final result of the work, a kind of "bottom line", and leave the student
with only the husk or shell, and leave out the wonder, awe, beauty, inspiration, and magic of the process of
discovery, and of the formulae and the functioning of creation. For example, there is not time to wonder in
amazement that the circumference of the circle is always proportionately larger to its diameter in a non-
repeating real number value, but we just memorize that Pi equals 3.14 and plug it into the formula to pass
the test. The lives of Euclid, Newton, and Einstein are fascinating, but there is no time for that either in our
rush to pass the exam and produce the correct answer to the formula. I hope that the soul of astrology and
the soul of astrology students is not sacrificed in the march forward, as has happened in many other
disciplines.

Theoretical Basis for the Research:

In the 1970's as a counseling astrologer I became amazed at the accuracy of information that could be
obtained about clients by analyzing their birth charts using a system of harmonic analysis and midoint
analysis that evolved over about a 10 year period. I became convinced that the accuracy is so impressive
that scientific studies validating the accuracy should be possible. I was highly influenced by the writings of
John Addey, and also other astrologers like Reinhold Ebertin. The specific theories that I used were
developed from personal observations in consultations with clients. This clinical and anecdotal evidence was
not controlled or quantified in any manner, but did inspire a highly detailed and intricate system of
astrological analysis to evolve.

Tools Used:
I used the Kepler astrology software program to analyze the data. The birth data of the alcoholics is
provided in the Kepler program, and the birth data of the physicists and mathematicians was imported from
the AstroDatabank astrology research program into Kepler. For exploratory research I used AstroSearch
options F, M, and R in Kepler 4.7 and 5.0, and I analyzed primarily the 1st, 5th, 7th, and 8th harmonic chart
wheels (style HJJ in Kepler 5.0) and I also looked at 3-planet and 4-planet harmonic patterns using Kepler.
First Stage of Research: Exploratory Research of Physicists
In the first stage of exploratory research in the early part of 2001 I looked at 3-planet harmonic patterns of
the charts of physicists. I later developed a 4-planet analysis capability in Kepler 5.0 and used this as well. I
I looked for consistent astrological patterns in the charts of the physicists. Results were very interesting and
promising, but always there were a number of glaring exceptions to the rule. After hundreds of hours of
work, I had some positive indications, but not completely adequate results.

Second Stage of Research: Exploratory Research of Alcoholics

In the summer of 2001 I applied similar methods to the study of alcholics. The excellent books Astrology and
Alcoholism by Ann Parker and Astrology: A Statistical Approach by Mark Urban-Lurrraine provided excellent
foundations for a study on alcoholics. There are 163 charts of alcoholics in the Kepler program database,
and this data is taken from these 2 books with permission of the authors. As with physicists, the results were
promising, but not completely satisfying. For example, I found a higher than expected number of charts with
harmonic patterns of Venus to Neptune (particularly the 5th, 10th and 20th harmonics) and 4-planet patterns
with Sun, Uranus, and Neptune, but these were isolated discoveries after analyzing many hundreds of
possible contacts. If you study hundreds or thousands of possible combinations, then you will always find a
few patterns that stand out! I did some studies on about 50 charts, and then duplicated the study on the next
50 charts, sometimes with moderate support for the theory, but not a striking and clear deviation from the
expected norm.

Third Stage of Research: Exploratory Research of Mathematicians

In the summer of 2001 I received AstroDatabank 2.0 and I imported the data of mathematicians into Kepler.
There are 27 charts of mathematicians with AA accuracy (timed data). Instead of analyzing 3-planet and 4-
planet harmonic patterns and midpoint structures, I created a new chart wheel style (style HJJ in Kepler 5.0)
and decided to simply view the charts. I decided that mathematicians was a much more homogenous group
than physicists. The physicists were actually a diverse group ranging from theoreticians and more abstract
thinkers to individuals who applied persistent effort towards specific discoveries, etc. I conjectured that
mathematics was a more consistent trait. From the work on physicists, I expected, strong aspect patterns
from Mercury to Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto. In my work on physicists I tried a myriad possibilities,
looking at 3-planet and 4-planet patterns up to the 360th harmonic, with varying orbs, etc.

I decided to start over with an approach similar to the analysis I used in the 1970's as an astrologer, but with
the improved software available now. I looked at harmonic charts 1 (the "normal" chart), the 5th, 7th, 8th,
and 64th harmonic charts. The 8th and 64th harmonic charts are particularly important because they are
"octave harmonics" or "hard aspects". Hard aspects are harmonics 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. In the harmonic
chart wheel are drawn the following aspects: opposition, square, trine, sextile, semisextile, quincunx,
semisquare, sesquiquadrate, 1/16, 3/16, 5/16, and 7/16 aspects. A semisquare or sesquiquadrate aspect
appears as a conjunction in the 8th harmonic chart, and similarly a semisquare or sesquiquadrate aspect in
the 8th harmonic chart appears as a conjunction in the 64th harmonic chart. By looking at the hard aspects
in the 1st, 8th, and 64th harmonic charts I can actually see all octave harmonic patterns up to the 1024th
harmonic very quickly. I can also see the soft aspects (semisextile, sextile, and trine) as well as quincunx as
well.

I also included the 7th harmonic because I associate the 7th harmonic with discipline, chronic situations or
determination, sobriety, and deep inner probing, a liking for things that are humble and ponderous,
sometimes almost mystical or ancient. From my experience teaching math to children and adults, the 7th
harmonic pattern seemed very likely to be strong in the charts of mathematicians. I found some evidence of
this in the chart of physicists but not as strong as I had hoped, and other harmonics, like the 17th and 19th
were often stronger.

The 5th harmonic is the harmonic of culture, play, dislike of tedium, creativity, and freedom. While the 7th
harmonic loves discipline and knows that practice makes perfect,the 5th harmonic excels in creativity and
play. The 7th harmonic likes to work and the 5th harmonic likes to play. The 7th harmonic is ponderous and
deep, while the 5th harmonic is light and exuberant. I doubted that the 5th harmonic would be strong in the
charts of mathematicians but the creative freedom of the 5th harmonic gives it an intelligence which more
mundance and steady types typically lack, so it would not be impossible for the 5th harmonic to be important
as well.

The first 12 harmonics can be seen in the harmonic charts I constructed as follows:
1st (conjunction): conjuntion in 1st harmonic chart
2nd (opposition): opposition in 1st harmonic chart
3rd (trine): trine in 1st harmonic chart
4th (square): square in 1st harmonic chart
5th (quinitle): conjunction in 5th harmonic chart
6th (sextile): sextile in 1st harmonic chart
7th (septile, biseptile, triseptile): conjunction in 7th harmonic chart
8th (semisquare, sesquiquadrate): semisquare and sesquiquadrate in 1st harmonic chart AND conjunction
in 8th harmonic chart
9th: (novile, binovile, quadnovile): cannot be seen, except in aspect grid (not visible in aspect lines)
10th (decile and tridecile): opposition in 5th harmonic chart
11th (1/11, 2/22, 3/11, 4/11, 5/11): not visible
12th (semisextile, quincunx): semisextile and quincunx in 1st harmonic chart.

Many other harmonics can also be seen. For example, the octaves of the 7th (7th, 14th, 28th, 56th etc)
appear as conjunction, oppositions, squares, semisquares and sesquiquadrates, etc.) respectively in the 7th
harmonic.

I changed the color of Mercury to red in the chart wheel, and left the other planets black, so that I could
quickly see Mercury in each chart as I browset through them. My theory was that I would see many aspect
lines to Mercury from Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto. This was what I had found in the study of physicists
but there were too many exceptions to the rule to be really impressive. As I browsed through the charts of
the mathematicians I was amazed and delighted to see that in almost every 7th and 8th harmonic chart the
aspects appeared. Now, at last, the expected patterns appeared conspicuously in almost every chart of
mathematicians! However, having spent hundreds of hours of research this year, and countless hours
researching before this, I have learned not to jump to conclusions. There are a seemingly endless number of
perils in the quest to validate astrological theory!

The importance of the 7th and 8th harmonic charts was exactly what I expected. In my work with clients in
the 1970's I did not expect a great deal of information from the normal astrology chart! I know that this
sounds strange, but every astrologer has his/her own unique way to analyze charts, and I rely on a number
of harmonic charts and midpoint patterns to analyze the chart. The 8th harmonic chart, in many ways, is
more fundamental than the 1st harmonic chart because it reveals the inner dynamic patterns within the
person. Each harmonic chart fills in the coloring of the chart; the basic personality is built on a structure of
the octave harmonics.

One additional note on harmonic charts: the orbs used are different from other forms of astrology. A 16
degree orb is used for conjunctions, 8 degrees for oppositions, 4 degrees for squares, 5 1/3 degrees for
trines, etc. The orbs must be proportionate. If you change one orb, you must change them all. An orb greater
than 2 degrees is not very strong because it is above the 8th harmonic level which is a threshold point for
digging deep within the core of the person's personality and energy dynamics.

I then created an AstroSignature for mathematical ability. I gave 1 point to a conjunction, opposition, or
square in the 7th or 8th harmonic charts for each of the following planetary patterns: Mercury-Saturn,
Mercury-Uranus, and Mercury-Pluto. I dropped Mercury-Mars, which was in my original hypothesis, because
it did not show up nearly as strongly as the 3 other planetary pairs. I also refined my original hypothesis to
be specifically these 3 aspects (conjunction, opposition, and square) in these 2 harmonic charts only.
Additional analysis showed that trines, sextiles, semisextiles, and quincunxes also occurred frequently in the
charts of mathematicians in the 7th harmonic chart, so these were also added.

Hypothesis reformulated and restated from this exploratory study

An equivalent way of stating the hypothesis, and perhaps an even simpler way of stating the hypothesis is
this: Mathematicians are more likely to have conjunctions within a 16 degree orb between Mercury and
Saturn, Mercury and Uranus, and Mercury and Pluto, in the following 9 harmonic charts: 8, 16, 32, 7, 14, 21,
28, 42, and 84.

The beautify of this hypothesis, as compared to the hypotheses that I had earlier created for physicists and
alcoholics, is that it is very consistent, as described in rule #11 above. I use all traditional aspects (the
multiples of 30 degrees or 12th harmonic, or in other words conjunction, opposition, square, trine, sextile,
seminsextile, and quincunx) in 2 harmonic charts between Mercury and the planets Saturn, Uranus, and
Pluto. This is very consonant with astrological theory. I hypothesized that Mercury would aspect thse planets
because this was my observation as an astrologer, in my rsearch with physicists, and the choice of these
planetary pairs conforms reasonably with the expectations of most astrologers. The orbs used and
harmonics used does not conform with what most astrologers expect but it does conform with my
hypothesis.

RESULTS OF THE STUDY:

The results of the study were stunningly more consistent than any other research that I have done. In the
table below if the percentage of charts that have each of the 3 planetary pairs conjunct in each of the 6
harmonic charts:

Percentage with conjunctions of 3 planetary pairs in 6 harmonics:

Mathematicians Alcoholics
Harmonics 8 16 32 7 14 28 21 42 84 8 16 32 7 14 28 21 42 84
Mer-Sat 11 11 4 15 15 11 6 6 4 9 9 11
Mer-Ura 11 11 7 11 19 15 8 9 10 8 9 11
Mer-Plu 7 11 7 11 22 22 9 6 8 10 10 9
TOTAL 29 33 18 37 56 48 48 52 70 23 21 22 27 28 31 28 25 21

The individual totals for the planetary pairs were not calculated for the 21st, 42nd, and 84th harmonic. These
harmonics were added later and by this time it was decided that all 3 planetary pairs would be used, so
individual totals were not needed.

The octave harmonics (8, 16, 32) showed a mild correlation with mathematical results. 29% of
mathematicians have Mercury-Saturn or Mercury-Uranus or Mercury-Pluto in 8th harmonic as compared to
23 percent of alcoholics. In the 16th harmonic the percentage is 33% for mathematicians and 21 percent for
alcholics. The 32nd harmonic, however, showed no correlation, in fact a slightly inverse correlation with only
18 percent of mathematicians having the planets in 32nd harmonic.

The incredibly impressive results are in the 7th harmonic. Not a single planetary pair occurs less often in
conjunction in the 7th, 14th, and 28th harmonic charts of mathematicians than in the chart of alcoholics. A
comparison of the total for all 3 planetary pairs in each 7-based harmonic is amazingly consistent:

Harmonics 7 14 28 21 42 84
Alcoholics 27 28 31 28 25 21
Mathemaicians 37 56 48 48 52 70

By adding the harmonic totals for alcoholics (23+21+22+27+28+31+28+25+21) and dividing by 9, we obtain
the average percentage for a harmonic for alcoholics = 25.1%. This value is precisely what is expected
because a 16 degree orb for the conjunction aspect was used, so there is a 32 degree area (16 degrees on
either side of a planet) where Mercury would be conjunct the other planet, or, in other words, 32/360, or
8.8% of the zodiac. Three pairs are used and 3 x 8.8 = 26.67 so mathematically we calculate the random
probability of any aspect pair being conjunct in one of the 3 harmonics as 26.67%. The actual probability of
alcholics for all 9 harmonics is 25.1%, very close to the mathematical random expectation of 26.7%. The
distribution of these 3 conjunctions in these 9 harmonic charts in the 167 charts of alcoholics was random.
The minimum value was 21% (16th harmonic) and the maximum value was 31% (28th harmonic). These
values appear to be random fluctuations around the expected averageof about 26.7%. Note that planetary
motions are not linear and are complex due to retrogradataion so this calculation of an expected mean of
26.7% may not be the actual expected mean, and is only a rough estimated value. Note, however, that in
harmonic charts, the actual random distribution of planetary angles is much more evenly distributed than in
the 1st harmonic, or normal chart, and typically the obtained average from a control group is close to the
expected mean calculated by this overly simplified formula, and in this case, as usual, the obtained average
score of 25.1% was close to the calculation of an expected average using this rough estimated value of
26.7%. The fact that the rough estimate from calculation and the alcholic data produce similar results
confirms these values of 25% to 26% to be an accurate estimate.

Analysis of Numeric Totals:

Note that there were 167 charts of alcholics and 27 charts of mathematicians. Because of the smaller
sample size of mathematicians, greater fluctuation in scores is expected in the charts of mathematicians. As
expected, the flucutation is greater, but the smaller sample size does not account for the consistently higher
scores of these aspects in the charts of the mathematicians.

The lowest 7-based harmonic value for mathematicians is 37% and the highest value is 70%, with an
average percentage of 51.8 (37+56+48+48+52+70 divided by 6).

Therefore, of the six 7-based harmonics, the highest percentage for alcohlics (31) was less than the lowest
score for mathematicians (37), and the average for mathematicians (51.8) compare to the percentage for
alcoholics (25.1%) is about twice as great! The consistency of the result across all 3 planetary pairs for all 7-
based harmonics analyzed is even more impressive.

A statistical analysis of the results is not necessary because this study does not meet all of the criteria for
scientific study in that the hypothesis was formulated only in general terms, but not articulated in detail. The
hyothesis has now been articulated in detail, and a subsequent study can be carefully carried out, and
results can be analyzed statistically to test the null hypothesis.

AstroSignature Analysis:
An AstroSignature for mathematical ability was created in the Kepler program. A weight of 5 points was
given for the 3 planetary pairs conjunct in the six 7-based harmonic and a weight of 1 point was given for the
3 planetary pairs in the three octave harmonics. Because the 7-based harmonics had stronger results, a
stronger weight was given to them. The weight of 5 for 7-based harmonics and weight of 1 for octave
harmonics are fairly arbitrary values selected to simply give much more emphasis to the 7-based harmonics.

After the AstroSignature is created, a Mathematical Aptitude score for any person can be produced. The
Mathematical Aptitude score for mathematicians using this formula calculated for the 27 mathematicians
was 16.37. The average score for the 167 alcohlics was 8.54. The ratio of these scores is 1.92. In other
words, mathematicians scored nearly twice as high as alcoholics.

Astrological Conclusions:
The 7th harmonic chart has been used for many hundreds of years in Vedic astrology, and is known as the
saptamsa chart. In Vedic astrology it is an indication of your area of training and which teacher or guru
should guide you. The 7th harmonic has also been associated with spirituality. I have given my interpretation
above, and based on this interpretation, hypothesized its relevance to mathematical ability. The hypothesis
was confirmed.

The octave harmonics (8, 16, and 32) showed promise of having some significance, but not as strong as the
7-based harmonics. This finding was not expected, but the positive indications of the octave harmonics were
consonant with the original hypothesis as well.

Indications for Future Research:

The hypothesis for this study was not articulated as clearly as it is now stated. If the results of this study can
be confirmed with another group of mathematicians, this would constitute validation of astrology, and upon
repeated duplication and peer review of the studies would constitute proof of astrology.

Current astrological literature consists of an almost endless number of possible variables, and a synthesis of
some of the most important variables into a coherent formula that can provide a platform for further research
is needed for astrological theory to make a transition from unverifiable hypotheses to supported theories.
This pilot study initiates the process of this transition. The synthesis of relevant variables into a supportable
theory is a daunting task, but this current pilot study shows great promise of providing this foundation for
further astrological research.

Note that the experimental group used in the current study was a group of highly accomplished
mathematicians. A study of less accomplished mathematicians or those who work primarily in pedagogical
pursuits or applications of mathematical theory may not have the exceptional qualities of mental discipline
and mental intensity that these noted mathematicians have, and therefore may not have the strong 7th
harmonic patterns that was found in the current research study.

I hypothesize that astrological influences represent a complex web of energetic patterns. These energetic
patterns develop in response to environmental stimulation and decisions made by the individual. Each
person is endowed with a wide range of capabilities and from this palette of potentials creates a life pursuit.
The astrological influences do not magically represent behaviors, but rather represent energetic patterns.
We are now at the initial stages of unraveling these complex patterns, and over time the capabilities of
astrology may prove as awesome as the advances of other sciences and arts. The interweaving of variables
is complex, and the interaction of astrological, environmental, genetic, and possibly other influences involves
a system of influences that cannot be fully appreciated by simple methods. Nevertheless, the domain of
astrological theory is tractable and amenable to scentific research, and with care and persistence, a
scientific pursuit of astrology can lead to successful advances, and this new body of supported theory is
applicable to a wide range of human conditions, and can prove to be a benefit to humanity.

No doubt further research would refine and expand the number of harmonics and planetary pairs used.
Inclusion of other astrological variables could further refine the formula, and finally a solid basis for further
research would begin, and the initiation of astrology as a field amenable to scientific analysis can begin.
Huge research group sizes of thousands of charts are not needed. However, all research is time consuming
and without the support of academic institutions and publicly funded research projects, progress in
astrological research, as with research in any other discipline, will be very slow. Hopefully, a paradigm for
future research has been established in this study. Only future studies will clarify the extent to which this
pilot study provides a robust and stable platform upon which to build a scientific study of astrology.

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Copyright 2001 Cosmic Patterns

Created 10/10/01 at 9:35:49 AM