posted January 16, 2006 08:59 AM
by Didier Castille
...56 million French people, as estimated in 1990 from the General Population Census, have been analysed in a descriptive way according to the signs transited by the Sun, the Moon and each of the eight planets at birth. Very large demographic concentrations appeared in most of the distributions. Some have sociocultural origins, others are due to the retrogradation phenomenon. Beyond its general interest, this empirical study may mainly serve as a universal base for astrological research to avoid unexpected traps (e.g., demographic structures) or to build experimental statistical samples.
Comment from AstroDatabank president Mark McDonough:
In this article, we feature the research of French astrologer Didier Castille. Castille has done a fascinating study of planet-sign placements among the 56 million people listed in the 1990 French census. He found that seasonal and retrograde phenomena created unexpected non-uniformities in sign distributions that must be taken into account in any research study. Otherwise, if you found this "anomaly" in your own study you might conclude that these variations were significant instead of realizing they were just normal. Here are some of the unexpected results he found:
Sun: The differential between Taurus and Scorpio is equal to 736,000 people, or 15% of the Taurus frequency. As you might expect the seasonal fecundity rhythm varies widely according to the birthplace latitude and reverses in the southern hemisphere.
Mercury: Given that the Sun was most frequently in Taurus one might expect that Aries, Taurus or Gemini to be the most popular sign for Mercury. But in fact, due to retrogradation the most popular sign for Mercury is Aquarius.
Venus: Again due to the astronomical effects of retrograde motion, there were twice as many people with Venus in 3rd decan of Aries than the 3rd decan of Sagittarius.
Mars: There is a 31% differential between Mars in Virgo and Mars in Pisces.
Jupiter: the 3rd decan of Scorpio was 63% more popular than the 1st decan of Taurus...
http://www.astrodatabank.com/AS/Castille_FB.htm