ram wrote:All I can say is there may be some truth to it all… I mean for each and every one of us the stars and planets are at a unique position at the time of our births, probably never to be seen again. But what amuses me is that supposedly similar mathematical data is used to come up with the ‘scopes; and yet two different astrologers can come up with some very different things. My attitude has always been – pick the one you like the best and go with that.
I didn't intend for this thread to be more than a poll... but so it goes!.
There are actually scientifically provable correlations between some traits and planetary ascpects (planet in a specific house). I won't go into too much detail here, but there was a French astronomer by the name of Michael Gauquelin (if I remember the name correctly) who, as a member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims Of the Paranormal (CSICOP), an international organization of "scientific" debunkers, was assigned the task of debunking astrology by choosing a trait (IIRC, it was sports/athleticism or something to do with sports) which supposedly was associated with a planetary aspect (IIRC, Mars was involved, as this was called "the Mars effect" in the original article I read it in) and showing by statistics that the correlation was no better than chance. Michael picked a representative sample of people, both sports-oriented and the general population, with sufficient numbers to have the statistics be valid. He cast the charts of the people in the samples (having learned how to do this correctly) and then checked the trait against the aspect. To his total surprise, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the trait and the aspect, far greater than just random. Thinking he inadvertently skewed the sample in favor of athletes, he did another random sample, making sure it was general population and not athletes, and cast those people's charts. Again, same result, positive correlation!
Michael reported his findings, and the powers-that-be in CSICOP were appalled. They had someone else repeat the work, and this researcher found the same correlation (!), to their dismay. Things then got ugly. Rather than publish the truth (something positive about something paranormal), the powers-that-be first doctored the statistics by removing all of the athletes (no longer a random sample, scientifically and morally WRONG), and reworked the data until they got what they wanted to show, no correlation.

They prepared to publish that version (these are supposed to be highly respected scientists and the like

...) , but somebody in the rank-and-file of CSICOP blew the whistle on that scheme, and CSICOP wound up with major egg on its face. Unfortunately, CSICOP chose to crucify Michael (who did nothing but perform valid scientific research and report the actual results), and his funding dried up through the coercion of CSICOP on the various grant agencies, and CSICOP exerted pressure on any academic institution or business venture not to hire him. The whole matter weighed too heavily on Michael, and it took its ultimate toil when he committed suicide.
My own personal view is more akin to a Taoist (and a quantum physicist) view: there can exist connections between things that cannot be seen. I will not say that there are none simply because I don't see them.
