Most introductory books about astrology will include a reference to the typical jobs associated with each sign. You know the thing, Aries – military or sportsman, Taurus – artist or singer, Gemini – writer, Cancer – estate agent, that sort of thing. But does it work ? Is there any connection between the Sun in a chart and the type of career the person will follow ? Are there really more heart surgeons born in August ?

Capricorn Research has over 23,000 charts on the database that fit into particular career types so is well placed to give some sort of answer to these questions.

The simple answer seems to be yes in some cases and no in others.

When Capricorn Research was at school, careers advice was pretty thin on the ground. The one decision you had to take fairly early on was whether to do arts or science, but no guidance was given and arts was chosen purely because of a loathing of the physics teacher.

In fact predicting whether to do arts or sciences seems to be something that Sun signs are quite good at.  It is a simple division between Water and Air signs. Of all the Water signs, the one most astrologers would connect with the artistic temperament would be Pisces. Of the Air signs, Gemini is probably the one most typical of the scientific approach, but science is also linked with the planet Saturn so perhaps Capricorn would figure strongly.

The charts of 783 Artists and 737 Scientists confirm this.

In the artists group, the highest scoring sign is Pisces with 156 % of the expected figure. It also seems most appropriate that the least artistic should be Virgo with only 63% . So according to these samples an artist is 2.5 times more likely to be a Piscean than a Virgoan.

The statistical ” p ” figure for this distribution is  0.0000291, anything lower than 0.05 is considered to be very significant, 0.003 is an indication of an almost certain link.

Of these artists, 393 are Painters and the figures here are even more accentuated with 171 % in Pisces and 49 % in Virgo.

In the scientists charts, Gemini and Capricorn are the leading Sun signs with 138 %. Sagittarius scores the lowest with 57 %. This distribution has a p figure of   0.0000161.

Another area where Sun sign astrology gets it right is with Singers. This group of people would be clearly connected with Taurus and in the charts of 1120 Singers, the Sun scores highest in this sign with 130 % and lowest in the opposite sign Scorpio with 77 %. This gives a p figure of 0.017

The same kind of distribution is found in the group of 1220 Musicians with Taurus peaking at 129 % and Scorpio lowest at 84 %.

There does seem to be a difference between pop and classical  as Pisces is the highest scoring for opera singers at 141 % and Aries the lowest at 64 %.

Another career where Sun signs seem to get it broadly right is politics. Political activity is said to be ruled by the 11th house and sign Aquarius and in the charts of 1473 Politicians, Aquarius is the highest scoring sign with 124 %, Scorpio the lowest with 77 %. The p figure for this distribution is an acceptable 0.0531.

When it comes to political leaders, prime ministers, presidents, heads of state etc, the leading sign changes but it does so into one that astrologers would expect. In 299 political leaders, Leo is the most frequent Sun sign with 132 %, occurring more than twice as often as Gemini, the least with 64 %.

Another career where Sun sign astrology would be correct is acting, where Gemini’s ability to imitate would come in handy. In the sample of 2566, the Sun is highest in Gemini at 113 % and lowest in Virgo at 87 %. The p figure for this is an interesting 0.075.

Dance also works quite well where a combination of artistic sensitivity and movement would point to the Mutable water sign Pisces. In the charts of 369 Dancers, the Sun is highest in Pisces at 140 % of the expected figure and lowest in Aquarius at 78 %.

In the charts of 149 Engineers, Aries scores highest with 137 %, more than twice the figure for the lowest, Libra at 64 %.

Whilst being a sex symbol is not specifically a career, it is certainly an ambition of many young people. It is not surprising that the highest scoring Sun sign in a sample of 288 of them is Libra with 129 % and lowest Sagittarius with 71 %.

It doesn’t usually come up in astrology books, but a career in comedy would be a reasonable choice for an Aquarian as 328 Comedians show the Sun highest in the sign at 150 %, again more than twice the score of the lowest, Cancer at 70 %. This distribution has a significant p figure of 0.053.

There are also a number of groups where the top scoring sign is not the one you would expect but makes sense any way. One of these is the sample of 245 Teachers, where Virgo comes top at 142 % more than twice the figure for the joint lowest signs of Leo and Scorpio at 69 %.

A career in the Armed Forces  possibly comes into this category as well. It’s not Aries as the astrology books would suggest, but Aquarius that scores highest with 134 % in 459 charts and Sagittarius lowest with 71 %.

Prostitution would not be considered by many to be an actual career choice, and is hardly likely to be suggested as an option except by one of those tired, sarcastic teachers in TV sitcoms but its interesting that the sign that seems most likely to fall into this way of earning a living is Capricorn. On the face of it, not the one you might expect imagining possibly Scorpio but this might come from a misunderstanding of what it is that pushes people into this work. Its not sex thats the motivation, more an appreciation that life is tough and its a choice that someone who is a natural pragmatist who expects to suffer, would more able to make.

This is certainly backed up by the findings in the charts of 166 Prostitutes. Capricorn is by far the most common Sun sign at a staggering 195 %, appearing over 4.5 times more frequently than Taurus at 43 %. This distribution has an astonishing p figure for such a small sample at 0.00558.

Taureans we are told, like to be surrounded by beautiful things, Capricorns couldn’t care less what kind of environment they work in as long as it pays.

When it comes to Writers, Sun sign astrology is rather ambivalent. In the charts of 2048 Writers, Aries scores the highest with 116 % and Scorpio lowest with 89 %.

If we break this down into smaller groups, for 581 Novelists it’s reasonably predictable that Pisces would occur most frequently  with 120 %. Taurus is the least frequent with 74 %.

For 448 Journalists, the top scoring sign is Leo with 121 % and lowest is Scorpio with 78 %. This is unlikely to have been predicted but given the confidence in expressing their own opinions, its perhaps not entirely surprising.

Its unlikely, however that any astrologer would have expected Capricorn to be the highest scoring sign amongst Poets but it is with 117 %. The lowest scoring is more predictable with Virgo on 85 %.

It seems that Sun sign astrologers are not that good at predicting their own futures as a sample of 953 Astrologers show Aries to be the most common at 117 % and Pisces least at 81 %.

They are not very good with Psychologists either as 206 of them show Leo to be the most prominent with 151 % and Aquarius least with 64 %.

But there are a number of areas where Sun signs get it spectacularly wrong.

Astrology indicates that the most financially conscious sign is Taurus, but the charts of 159 people working in this world say otherwise with this sign scoring by far the lowest with a mere 45 %. Virgo scores highest with 136 %.

This extends to the general area of Businessmen, where we would expect Capricorn to be strong. In 491 charts it scores the lowest with 81 %, the highest is Gemini with 125 %.

Its perhaps not easy to guess which would be the most frequent sign for 543 Film Directors, but surely no astrologer would pick Capricorn at 128 % with Sagittarius scoring lowest at 81 %.

Equally, noone in their right mind would say the Law is an obvious profession for Pisceans, yet in the charts of 359 Lawyers it is by far the highest scoring with 150 %. If anything we might expect Gemini to be prominent and we would be very wrong as it scores lowest at 77 %.

These days a career in the Church does not have quite the appeal that it used to but rather bizarrely it seems to work for Ariens who score highest at 128 %. The astrology books would be way out here as Sagittarius, the favourite comes in last at 68 %.

Sport seems to be an area that Sun signs get significantly wrong as no one would have expected Pisces to be the most frequent sign in 2680 charts at 114 %, with Sagittarius the lowest at 80 %. This distribution has statistical significance as well, wit a p score of 0.0315.

The most bizarre finding in Sport is that the charts of 239 Boxers make Pisces by far the most common sign with 150 % and Leo merely 60 %.

Oddly enough American sports seem to reverse this with Leo scoring the highest in American Football and Baseball with 154 and 142 % respectively.

So what to make of all this ?

Perhaps the simplest thing would be to list the Sun signs with the careers most suited to them as shown by the research.

 

Aries              –  Astrologers, Engineers, Religion, Writers

Taurus           –  Singers and Musicians

Gemini           –   Actors, Scientists, Business

Cancer

Leo                  –   World Leaders, American Sports, Psychologists

Virgo               –   Finance, Teachers

Libra                –   Sex Symbols

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn       –   Scientists,  Film Directors, Prostitutes

Aquarius         –   Military, Comedians, Politicians

Pisces               –   Artists, Sports, Dancers, Lawyers

 

On this basis we should give Sun sign astrology a score of about 7 out of 10. It seems to be quite good at the basic Arts / Science division.

It’s likely that most Sun sign astrologers would be reasonably pleased with these results. They would no doubt agree that Pisces is the most unpredictable of signs and the feeling that it includes the experience of all the other 11 seems to be verified by its wide connection with different careers.

Obviously there are many factors in astrology that would indicate a person’s choice of a career. Planets both in and ruling the 10th house should be considered. Some astrologers may consider the sign that Mars is in would be a better guide than the Sun.

The most famous astrological research ever done by the Gauquelins pointed to planets in certain sectors around the 12th and 9th houses to be key in career choice. Capricorn Research will continue to explore these directions and will publish the results in time.

The research shows that Sun signs do generally point in a useful direction when we consider career choices. If such advice had been available at school, Capricorn Research would have been encouraged to study science and maybe this background would have made it easier for other scientists to take the astrology research seriously. On the other hand I could have turned into a Richard Dawkins clone so perhaps its a lucky escape.

 

 

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