Marriage Research, 2005

The Astro Investigators’ Marriage Synastry Research Project

By Alphee Lavoie, Janet Booth, Deborah Corkindale,

Denis Picard, Peter Standaart, and Kathy Jo Stefanik

Published on the web April 6, 2005 at The Astro Investigators’ Website

For a PRINTABLE version click here.

 December, 2016 NOTE:  This is the original presentation, and was one of our first.  It is both long and sometimes wordy, but the results remain valid.  We are discussing redoing.

Our Hypothesis

The Astro Investigators, a.k.a. the “Gators,” have undertaken this research in the interest of beginning to unravel the complex astrological chemistry of synastry in birth data between two persons who make a commitment to “officially” marry each other. In this particular study, we have defined “marriage” as a legal pronouncement of marriage occurring between a man and a woman, regardless of how long their marriage may or may not have lasted. Our hypothesis is that there is much more to observe statistically through researching Marriage Synastry than what can be described in simple, common statements like, “There must be a Venus-Mars or Sun-Moon-Angle contact or a strong 7th house between two people for a marriage to occur.”

Data and Research Considerations

Our birth data comes from various verified sources: data that is readily available to the astrological community, data solicited by us through the questionnaire on our Gators’ website [www.astroinvestigators.com], and data donated to us. We would like to thank all of the people who have contributed data to this project.

The research program that we are employing for all of our research is “Astro Investigator” by AIR Software. The current design of the software uses a precisely timed Natal chart for the reference or “inner” chart. The synastry or “outer” chart is treated as a “noon chart” in relation to the reference chart. Using the analogy of looking at a bi-wheel chart, we use the reference chart and its house cusps as the central chart, and place the planets of the synastry chart, calculated for noon, around the outside of the reference chart. Thus it is possible to research aspects and other events involving faster moving points like the angles (Ascendant and Midheaven), Vertex, Part of Fortune and Moon in the reference chart without using those points in the synastry chart. We can accomplish an accurate synastry study even if an exact time is known for only one of the two partners by putting the untimed chart around the outside of the chart with a known time.

We are using the following astrological points in this study of Marriage Synastry:

  1. For the inner, reference charts: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Lunar Mean North Node (hereafter referred to as the North Node), Chiron, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Ascendant, Descendant, Part of Fortune, East Point and the Vertex (21 total)
  2. For the outer, synastry charts: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, North Node, Chiron, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta (15 total)

Other parameters we have defined for this study are:

  1. Using only the 5 Ptolemaic aspects (conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition)
  2. Using a 7-degree orb in our aspect studies
  3. Using the Placidus House System when incorporating houses
  4. Setting the critical limit for chi-square at 2.0 or above to be considered as having a statistically significant influence
  5. Setting the critical number of occurrences in our analyze group at 20 or above in order for an aspect to be considered as having a statistically significant influence
  6. Using a large number of control groups, generated using a random distributed age algorithm, to compare against each of our two data files being analyzed – 15 initially and later 20 for a second run of the study

We used two gender-specific data files to create our “analyze group” (the group of files to be tested). One file contains 749 charts of men (Rodden Rating “B” or better) with birth dates ranging from Jan 29, 1874 – July 13, 1978, coupled with their female partner’s charts, calculated for noon, whose birth dates range from Nov. 28, 1873 to May 13, 1987. The other data file contains 829 charts of women (Rodden Rating “B” or better) with birth dates ranging from Mar 20 1831 – July 21, 1983, coupled with their male partner’s charts calculated for noon, whose birth dates range from May 22, 1813 to June 24, 1980. Both data files include instances in which persons may have been married more than once and may therefore be coupled with more than one spouse in the study.

Sharing our Results

One of our goals is to share our research results with the community at large in order allow astrologers and other researchers to view our findings to see whether or not they support common astrological axioms with statistical validity.

We are making the following tools available for free on The Gators’ website so that everyone can easily sort and analyze all of our results for themselves:

  1. an EXCEL spreadsheet  (zipped) containing all of our result data
  2. a link to download Microsoft’s free EXCEL Viewer, in the event that you don’t have EXCEL installed on your computer
  3. AIR Software’s AlmaFont to be able to view the astrological glyphs present in the EXCEL sheet, in the event that you don’t have an AIR program installed on your computer.
  4. a 20-minute NetU2 MediaCam video showing the numerous ways you can filter and sort through the results in our EXCEL spreadsheet to find the statistical information in which you are interested
  5. a link to download the NetU2 MediaPlayer, in the event that you don’t have this player installed on your computer

Introduction to Our Observations

The Astro Investigator program, developed by Alphee Lavoie and Sergey Tarasov, allows for a vast variety of chart factors to be analyzed and compared to a number of test groups that the program generates. Comparing to each group is like a “roll of the dice.” In assessing what factors occur more often, or more seldom (which is also telling) to an extent which is “greater than chance” for a given population, those rolls represent “chance.” The program lets you choose how many times you want to roll the dice. We ran the program’s calculations on our file of married people initially with 15 rolls. Some of the Gators had already reported their observations based on those results before the study was run a second time with 20 rolls. We present results from both studies, noting whether the source of the findings was the15-roll or 20-roll set of results. At the conclusion of our reports, you’ll see a discussion of the differences between the results of the two studies in the section entitled Duplicating The Study.

What we look for are not merely phenomena that occur with a high frequency, but a high frequency compared to what would be expected in a random population. That’s what constitutes “statistical significance,” or “greater than chance” occurrences. The extent to which a factor is present in a certain test population versus the control group(s) to which it is compared is measured on a scale known in statistics as “chi-square.” The higher the chi-square number, the greater is the likelihood that the factor didn’t occur coincidentally.

The Astro Investigator program generates random control groups by creating fictitious birth data from the same range of dates and places as the births of the data file of the group of charts being tested, referred to as the analyze group.

The program reports the results as the number of occurrences in the analyze group and then lists the average for the control groups as well as the range of occurrences in the control groups. For instance, the husband’s Juno conjunct the wife’s Juno occurred 61 times in our test group and on average 41 times (with a range of 31 to 52 times) in the 15 control groups. The program also designates whether the test group’s occurrence number is considered “Often”, “Seldom” or of “No Influence” and what the chi-square number is. We can have high chi-square numbers for either Often or Seldom occurrences, but No Influence would, by definition, have a very low chi-square number. The program also expresses the degree to which an occurrence (whether Often or Seldom) is greater than chance in terms of a percentage. There is a direct correlation between the chi-square number and the Percentage Above Chance. The percentage is just another way of expressing the same concept, in terms that the average person can understand better. Chi-square is something that statisticians use but not usually the lay public. In the example above, it would say “Often” with a very high chi-square number of 9.8, for a “percent greater than chance” of 99.8. Thus we know it’s much more than chance for that synastry aspect to occur in married couples.

The program lists the results but is not at present designed to allow sorting of the results by individual criteria. For that, we export the results into a spreadsheet.

We purposely set aside aspects between slow moving planets such as Neptune sextile Pluto, which was present in the charts of people born for decades from the early 1940s through the remainder of the 20th Century. Using a 7-degree orb and considering that many people marry partners fairly close in age, the extremely high frequency of this aspect renders it less meaningful as a significant personal factor in synastry. For example, in our second running of the study (with 20 control groups), the wife’s Pluto sextile the husband’s Neptune scored Often with a whopping 27.7 chi-square, reflective of the high number of people born in that date range. Also due to generational aspects, the husband’s Pluto conjunct the wife’s Neptune is in the Seldom category with a high chi-square of 8.4.

The vast majority of the aspects from one partner’s chart to the others that we analyzed (2,338 of 3,126 = 75% in our first running of the data) showed NO INFLUENCE. Their occurrences were not significant statistically on either an Often or Seldom basis. But that leaves the other 25% to analyze.

As we went into this study, we hoped to see which of traditional astrology’s expectations for synastry hold up under the scrutiny of statistical analysis. Is there a strong likelihood for couples to have aspects between their Suns and Moons, or between their Mars and Venus placements? Do the Nodes factor in? What about the Ascendant (and thus the Descendant, by implication), or the Vertex? (That’s the intersection in the west of two Great Circles, the Prime Vertical and the Ecliptic, thought by L. Edward Johndro and Charles Jaynes to indicate relationship circumstances that seem beyond one’s personal control.)

Our observations from our initial round of research are listed below. We plan to continue with follow-on studies. For instance, we did not check placements of one spouse’s planets in the other spouse’s houses, so that will be in the next round. This first project focused specifically on the Ptolemaic aspects between marriage partners’ natal planets.

Gators’ Observations of Ptolemaic Aspects in Marriage Synastry

Most Aspected Chart Points (based on the 20-roll study)

  1. After Pluto, the ASC was the most “OFTEN” aspected point in the Male Natal Chart File.
  2. The trine occurred as the most “OFTEN” aspect in our Male Natal Chart File.
  3. The 3 most aspected “SELDOM” points in our Male Natal Chart File, in order, are: Uranus, North Node and Mercury.
  4. The square occurred as the most “SELDOM” aspect in our Male Natal Chart File.
  5. The top 4 most “OFTEN” aspected planets in our Female File were: Neptune, Sun, Jupiter and Saturn.
  6. Sextile and Trine were the top 2 most “OFTEN” aspects in female natal charts.
  7. The infamous “marriage” asteroid, Juno came in as the lowest of the most “SELDOM” aspected points in our Female natal chart file. The Sun came in the highest.
  8. The square was the highest of the most “SELDOM” aspects in the female file, followed by the sextile.

Sun – Overall, there are more aspects to the Sun than to any other planet. 1 There are 15 Often aspects and 13 Seldom aspects. Of these, there are 11 Often occurrences to the wife’s Sun and 9 Seldom occurrences to the wife’s Sun, compared to 4 Often occurrences to the husband’s Sun and only 4 Seldom occurrences to the husband’s Sun. It would appear therefore that the Sun is more significant an indicator for marriage in a woman’s chart than in a man’s. Neptune, Mercury and Juno are involved in the greatest number of aspects to the wife’s Sun. Mars, Uranus and Pallas are involved in the fewest number of aspects to her Sun.

Juno – After the Sun, Juno is the next most aspected heavenly body. There are 10 Often occurrences and 5 Seldom occurrences. The occurrence frequencies are divided more evenly than the Sun’s; Juno is a significant indicator of marriage for both men and women. The wife’s Sun and Mars Often oppose the husband’s Juno; the husband’s Venus, Mars and Mercury Often trine the wife’s Juno.

Jupiter – The planet receiving the third greatest number of aspects is Jupiter. There are 12 Often occurrences, 9 aspecting the wife’s Jupiter. And there are 12 Seldom occurrences, 7 of which are aspects to the husband’s Jupiter.

Moon, Mars and Venus are all significant in the husband’s chart, more so than the wife’s, as indicators of marriage: 6 of 8 Often occurrences for the Moon, 7 of 10 Often occurrences for Venus, and 8 of 10 Often occurrences for Mars are aspects to the husband’s natal planet.

1 Neptune-to-Neptune and Pluto-to-Pluto conjunctions are excluded here.

Top Often and Seldom (based on 15-roll study)

Analyze Group Control Avg.(Range) Chi Sq. %

OFTEN – top 10 from husband’s chart to wife’s chart

his Vertex conjunct her North Node 41 23 (15 .. 28) 14.1 100.0

his Asc square her Ceres 68 45 (29 .. 59) 11.8 99.9

his Juno conjunct her Juno 61 41 (31 .. 52) 9.8 99.8

his Pluto trine her Ceres 81 58 (50 .. 69) 9.1 99.7

his Pallas conjunct her Pallas 56 38 (28 .. 52) 8.5 99.6

his East Point sextile her Neptune 63 44 (30 .. 52) 8.2 99.6

his Saturn sextile her Ceres 75 55 (45 .. 69) 8.0 99.5

his Pallas sextile her Jupiter 77 56 (42 .. 65) 7.9 99.5

his Sun conjunct her Sun 45 30 (20 .. 37) 7.5 99.4

his Pallas conjunct her Sun 41 27 (20 .. 38) 7.3 99.3

OFTEN – top 10 from wife’s chart to husband’s chart

her Vesta sextile his North Node 87 62 (53 .. 71) 10.1 99.8

her Pluto opposite his Chiron 66 45 (37 .. 55) 9.8 99.8

her Vertex opposite his North Node 39 24 (17 .. 36) 9.4 99.8

her Ceres conjunct his Ceres 50 33 (17 .. 41) 8.8 99.7

her Part of Fortune conjunct his Pluto 41 26 (18 .. 37) 8.7 99.7

her Vesta opposite his Pluto 51 34 (29 .. 43) 8.5 99.6

her Venus conjunct his Pallas 47 31 (24 .. 47) 8.3 99.6

her Saturn trine his Vesta 83 61 (50 .. 74) 7.9 99.5

her Saturn square his Pallas 85 63 (54 .. 73) 7.7 99.4

her Moon sextile his Sun 87 65 (52 .. 83) 7.4 99.4

SELDOM – top 10 from husband’s chart to wife’s chart

his MC conjunct her Sun 7 23 (13 .. 32) 11.1 99.9

his North Node sextile her Saturn 36 57 (48 .. 66) 7.7 99.5

his Mercury square her Juno 39 60 (40 .. 72) 7.4 99.3

his Uranus sextile her Vesta 40 61 (44 .. 76) 7.2 99.3

his Saturn opposite her Mars 15 29 (20 .. 38) 6.8 99.1

his East Point square her Sun 29 46 (37 .. 61) 6.3 98.8

his Jupiter conjunct her Uranus 18 32 (21 .. 40) 6.1 98.7

his East Point opposite her Saturn 12 24 (15 .. 33) 6.0 98.6

his Saturn square her Saturn 35 52 (42 .. 69) 5.6 98.2

his MC square her Pallas 32 48 (37 .. 59) 5.3 97.9

SELDOM – top 10 from wife’s chart to husband’s chart

her Saturn sextile his North Node 41 66 (48 .. 82) 9.5 99.8

her Vesta opposite his Vesta 15 32 (20 .. 39) 9.0 99.7

her Asc square his Jupiter 29 50 (39 .. 65) 8.8 99.7

her Vesta sextile his Uranus 44 68 (54 .. 76) 8.5 99.6

her Vesta opposite his Pallas 17 33 (24 .. 47) 7.8 99.5

her Saturn square his Mercury 42 64 (51 .. 78) 7.6 99.4

her Sun opposite his Chiron 19 35 (28 .. 45) 7.3 99.3

her Venus opposite his Neptune 17 32 (23 .. 39) 7.0 99.2

her Jupiter sextile his Mars 45 66 (59 .. 79) 6.7 99.1

her Mars opposite his Saturn 16 30 (21 .. 38) 6.5 99.0

Comparing Our Results to Classic Assumptions (based on the 20-roll study)

The classic assumption in astrology is that there must be a combination of Venus and/or Mars contact to one another’s charts for good synastry between two people. The Gators study found only three Venus-Mars combinations with a chi-square of 2.0 or greater (our cut-off point) and they were either a sextile or trine:

 

Analyze Group Control Groups Chart 1 (Primary) Aspect Chart 2 (Synastry) Occur-rence ChiSq % above chance
75 58 (46..72) Husband’s Venus sextile Wife’s Mars Often 5.0 97.50%
67 55 (43..72) Husband’s Mars trine Wife’s Venus Often 2.6 89.40%
77 65 (56..78) Wife’s Mars sextile Husband’s Venus Often 2.2 86.30%

The late John Willner was one of many astrologers who was quite outspoken about the absolute necessity in synastry for there to be at least one strong conjunction of either Sun-Moon-ASC in one chart to the Sun-Moon-ASC in the other. Since the set up for this research project cannot use fast moving points like the Ascendant, the Midheaven and the Moon in the second chart, let’s take a look at the results for the second chart’s Sun making a conjunction to any point in the primary chart. Here are our findings in order of the highest chi-squares:

Analyze Group Control Groups Chart 1 (Primary) Aspect Chart 2 (Synastry) Occur-rence ChiSq % above chance
38 24(18..32) Wife’s Vertex conjunct Husband’s Sun Often 8.2 99.60%
41 28(18..36) Husband’s Pallas conjunct Wife’s Sun Often 6 98.60%
45* 32(23..45) Husband’s Sun conjunct Wife’s Sun Often 5.3 97.80%
42* 31(24..40) Wife’s Sun conjunct Husband’s Sun Often 3.9 95.20%
33 24(20..30) Wife’s ASC conjunct Husband’s Sun Often 3.4 93.40%
33 24(16..34) Wife’s East Point conjunct Husband’s Sun Often 3.4 93.40%

* See the Data and Research Considerations section above for the explanation of why the results for husband’s Sun conjunct wife’s Sun can differ from those for wife’s Sun conjunct husband’s Sun.

 

Since the publication of The Key to Success in Love and Money by the Magi Society, there has been much curiosity about Chiron’s role in marriage synastry. Here are the significant aspects in our results between Chiron in both charts and those points moving quicker than Chiron (in order of the highest chi-squares):

Analyze Group Control Groups Chart 1 (Primary) Aspect Object 2 (Synastry) Occur-rence ChiSq % above chance
36 25(18..32) Wife’s Part of Fortune opposition Husband’s Chiron Often 4.8 97.20%
72 57(44..67) Husband’s Chiron square Wife’s Ceres Often 3.9 95.30%
67 53(41..69) Husband’s Chiron trine Wife’s Pallas Often 3.7 94.50%
76 62(51..76) Wife’s Pallas trine Husband’s Chiron Often 3.2 92.40%
41 31(21..41) Wife’s Vesta conjunct Husband’s Chiron Often 3.2 92.70%
67 54(33..64) Wife’s Chiron sextile Husband’s Saturn Often 3.1 92.30%
69 56(41..68) Husband’s Chiron sextile Wife’s Sun Often 3 91.80%
70 57(47..70) Wife’s Saturn square Husband’s Chiron Often 3 91.50%
71 58(46..70) Husband’s Vesta trine Wife’s Chiron Often 2.9 91.20%
67 55(46..66) Husband’s Chiron trine Wife’s Jupiter Often 2.6 89.40%
58 47(36..65) Wife’s ASC sextile Husband’s Chiron Often 2.6 89.10%
82 69(55..85) Wife’s Chiron trine Husband’s Vesta Often 2.4 88.20%
73 61(45..84) Wife’s Mercury sextile Husband’s Chiron Often 2.4 87.60%
77 65(54..82) Wife’s Sun sextile Husband’s Chiron Often 2.2 86.30%
80 68(56..87) Wife’s Chiron trine Husband’s Mars Often 2.1 85.40%
39 31(18..40) Wife’s Chiron conjunct Husband’s Venus Often 2.1 84.90%
39 31(21..42) Wife’s Chiron conjunct Husband’s No. Node Often 2.1 84.90%
31 24(17..38) Husband’s Chiron conjunct Wife’s Mars Often 2 84.70%

 

 

 

 

From the study using 15 rolls:

Seldoms that defy conventional astrological teachings (although not very high chi-square):

his Venus conjunct her Sun 23 31 (25 .. 36) 2.1 84.9

his Venus trine her Mars 47 60 (48 .. 80) 2.8 90.7

Astrology has taught us that strong synastry should exist with aspects like the following. How did they stack up? (O = Often, S = Seldom, N = No Influence)

his Moon conjunct her Sun N 32 29 (22 .. 36) 0.3 42.3

her Mars conjunct his Venus N 29 32 (22 .. 37) 0.3 40.4

her Mars trine his Venus S 52 67 (54 .. 77) 3.4 93.3

her Mars sextile his Venus O 77 63 (46 .. 79) 3.1 92.2

his Venus conjunct her Venus N 32 33 (21 .. 43) 0.0 7.5

her Venus conjunct his Venus N 38 32 (23 .. 43) 1.1 71.1

her Mercury conjunct his Mercury O 39 29 (23 .. 38) 3.4 93.7

his Mercury conjunct her Mercury N 31 30 (23 .. 42) 0 8.3

his Asc opposite her Sun N 23 23 (14 .. 37) 0.0 0.0

her Asc opposite his Sun O 32 26 (21 .. 33) 1.4 76.1

his Asc opposite her Mars N 22 20 (13 .. 34) 0.2 34.6

her Asc opposite his Moon (2nd person’s chart isn’t timed, so can’t compare*)

her Asc opposite his Venus N 22 26 (18 .. 35) 0.6 56.5

her No. Node opposite his Moon (can’t compare, see above)

her North Node opposite his Venus N 29 30 (20 .. 39) 0.0 8.3

his North Node opposite her Sun N 24 30 (22 .. 41) 1.2 72.7

his North Node opposite her Mars N 35 29 (22 .. 36) 1.2 73.5

his North Node opposite her Juno N 24 29 (20 .. 37) 0.9 64.7

her North Node opposite his Juno N 39 34 (24 .. 47) 0.7 60.9

his Venus conjunct her Mars N 24 29 (19 .. 37) 0.9 64.7

his Mars conjunct her Venus N 27 28 (18 .. 41) 0.0 8.9

her Saturn conjunct his Venus O 39 30 (19 .. 40) 2.7 90.0

his Saturn conjunct her Venus N 30 29 (14 .. 36) 0.0 8.6

* The Moon moves 12-15 degrees in a day, so with a “noon chart” for the second person and a 7-degree orb, we do pick up aspects for the Moon throughout the day, but we don’t want to treat them as definitive.

Here are the results for some aspects classic astrology would expect to occur Seldomly (none turned out to be Seldom):

his Saturn square her Venus N 54 56 (48 .. 69) 0.1 17.7

her Saturn square his Venus N 59 67 (58 .. 75) 1.0 67.1

her Chiron conjunct his Sun N 33 30 (19 .. 40) 0.3 41.7

his Chiron conjunct her Sun N 28 28 (19 .. 37) 0.0 0.0

her Chiron conjunct his Venus O 39 30 (22 .. 39) 2.7 90.0

his Chiron conjunct her Venus N 30 26 (18 .. 33) 0.6 56.5

The Descendant (opposite the Ascendant) represents marriage and one’s partnership potential. What factors scored high?

her Asc opposite his Pallas O 39 27 (17 .. 33) 5.3 97.9

her Asc opposite his Pluto S 14 23 (17 .. 30) 3.5 94.0

his Asc opposite her Ceres O 33 24 (17 .. 32) 3.4 93.4

her Asc opposite his Chiron S 19 28 (13 .. 37) 2.9 91.1

his Asc opposite her Jupiter S 16 23 (16 .. 29) 2.1 85.5

The asteroids seem to warrant a place in synastry!

Juno (mythologically the wife of Zeus) is said to be a marriage indicator. Is it?

his Juno conjunct her Juno O 61 41 (31 .. 52) 9.8 99.8

her Juno trine his Venus O 85 66 (56 .. 82) 5.5 96.1

her Juno conjunct his North Node S 20 32 (23 .. 39) 4.5 96.6

her Juno trine his Mars O 77 61 (47 .. 79) 4.2 95.9

his Juno trine her Vesta O 69 55 (49 .. 67) 3.6 94.1

Juno holds up to its traditional reputation well.

Uranian astrologers see the Nodes as points of association or connection between people. What are the most significant Node aspects in our study?

his North Node sextile her Saturn S 36 57( 48 .. 66) 7.7 99.5

his No. Node square her No. Node O 46 31 (19 .. 40) 7.3 99.3

his No. Node opposite her No. Node O 32 20 (15 .. 25) 7.2 99.3

his North Node square her Uranus S 43 61 (52 .. 79) 5.3 97.9

his North Node sextile her Vesta O 75 58 (46 .. 65) 5.0 97.5

her North Node sextile his Pallas S 50 68 (54 .. 75) 4.8 97.1

her North Node trine his Venus S 41 57 (44 .. 70) 4.5 96.6

his North Node conjunct her Juno S 18 29 (24 .. 41) 4.2 95.9

her North Node square his Juno O 79 63 (53 .. 75) 4.1 95.6

It is interesting to note that although his North Node square her North Node occurs significantly Often, the reverse is not true!

her No. Node square his No. Node S 54 69 (57 .. 91) 3.3 92.8]

North Node Often

In looking at the highest chi-square, we find the husband’s Vertex conjunct the North Node of the wife, with chi-square of 14.1. The opposite – the wife’s Vertex opposing the husband’s North Node – was the third highest nodal chi-square at 9.4. The North Node of one partner square or opposite the North Node of the other partner score high, 7.3 and 7.2, respectively. (This study did not discriminate between waxing or waning in the square aspect.)

North Node Seldom

The top five chi-squares are trines and sextiles to the Node: Saturn sextile 9.5, East Point sextile 5.6, Vertex trine 5.4, Uranus sextile 5.2, North Node trine 4.5. The North Node’s highest Seldoms – three of which are Vertex, North Node and East Point – involve contacts with points derived from Great Circles.

The Vertex is said by some to be an important factor in synastry. What influence does it have? Here are the top 10 results:

his Vertex conjunct her North Node O 41 23 (15 .. 28) 14.1 100.0

her Vertex opposite his North Node O 39 14 (17 .. 36) 7.8 99.8

his Vertex trine her Ceres O 64 46 (36 .. 55) 7.0 99.2

her Vertex conjunct his Sun O 38 26 (18 .. 33) 5.5 98.1

her Vertex trine his North Node S 37 54 (44 .. 64) 5.4 97.9

his Vertex opposite Vesta S 13 24 (17 .. 32) 5.0 97.6

his Vertex sextile her Ceres S 32 47 (39 .. 63) 4.8 97.1

his Vertex conjunct her Uranus S 13 23 (18 .. 29) 4.3 96.3

her Vertex square his Venus S 40 55 (46 .. 63) 4.1 95.7

her Vertex opposite his Mercury S 15 25 (15 .. 35) 4.0 95.5

The Vertex-Nodal involvement appears to be significant with the conjunction and opposition aspects but not with the trine. With the Vertex, there is the Anti-Vertex opposite it, just as the South Node is opposite the North Node, so we’re dealing with an axis with their conjunctions and oppositions, whereas that is not the case with the trines or sextiles. Her Vertex opposite his North Node means her Vertex is conjunct his South Node, a point that we’re taught has to do with past life connections. The Often occurrence of her Vertex conjunct his Sun fits well with traditional teachings that Sun can represent a significant male in a woman’s life.

Duplicating the Study

For our initial study, we used a set of 15 random control groups. We re-ran the study using 20 random control groups, essentially duplicating our own study, to determine if our initial results were consistently repeatable using the same test group of charts and, if not, to determine how many random control groups are needed to achieve reliable results. Control groups are generated fresh for each running of the study, so the control group average and range numbers change from study to study, impacting the chi-square number and “percentage above chance.” If the second study’s results closely mimic the initial results, it indicates that the significant factors found in the initial study are indeed greater than chance since there were a lot more “rolls of the dice” to compare against.

Here are the top five husband and wife winners from the 15-roll study compared to the 20-roll study:

15 rolls ; 20 rolls

Chi Sq % Chi Sq %

husband’s Vertex conjunct wife’s North Node 14.1 100.0 14.1 100.0

husband’s Asc square wife’s Ceres 11.8 99.9 8.3 99.6

husband’s Juno conjunct wife’s Juno 9.8 99.8 41.3 100.0

husband’s Pluto trine wife’s Ceres 9.1 99.7 < 5.0

husband’s Pallas conjunct wife’s Pallas 8.5 99.6 5.5 98.1

wife’s Vesta sextile husband’s North Node 10.1 99.8 < 5.0

wife’s Pluto opposite husband’s Chiron 9.8 99.8 7.7 99.4

wife’s Vertex opposite husband’s North Node 9.4 99.8 7.8 99.5

wife’s Ceres conjunct husband’s Ceres 8.8 99.7 12.1 99.9

wife’s Part of Fortune husband’s his Pluto 8.7 99.7 11.6 99.9

While some of the chi-square numbers in this comparison differ quite a bit, their “percentage greater than chance” numbers are often quite close. For each gender, 4 out of the 5 top scorers in the 15-roll study are also highly significant in the 20-roll study, a good indication of the reliability of the results.

Conclusion 

As expressed in our hypothesis, our goal is to illustrate that synastry research is more than just studying aspects, which was just a starting point for us in this initial installment of our research.  There are many more pieces to the puzzle to examine before we can even consider writing up a conclusion.  We’ve already begun looking at aspects to house rulers (both classical and modern), planetary positions in houses, midpoints, planetary pictures and planetary phase aspects.  We intend to keep this project alive and active with regular additions to both this report and our EXCEL data results until we’ve exhausted the possibilities.  Please “stay tuned.”

Meanwhile, we invite you to view our first NetU2 MediaCam video, showing the numerous ways you can filter and sort through our aspect results, then use our EXCEL spreadsheet to find the statistical information that interests you. Have fun investigating!

Respectfully submitted by the Astro Investigators.

April 6, 2005

Alphee Lavoie, Peter Standaart, Janet Booth- Debbie Corkindale, Denis Picard and Kathy Jo Stefanik

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