One big problem for any kind of research is objectivity. Many scientists claim to have it but it’s unlikely that the individuals concerned have any more than the rest of us. At least astrologers acknowledge their subjectivity, that they see things through the prism of their own birth chart.

It would be interesting if all researchers were compelled to provide information on every financial contribution to their budget. Then we could see if there was any connection between papers that confirm the health benefits of red wine, coffee and any number of things from avocados to chocolate and people who might gain financially from these findings.

Capricorn Research would like to state that my work has never been sponsored by any person or organisation that would stand to gain or lose by any possible findings. Having said that, if any such person would like to send a brown envelope in my direction, it would be most gratefully received.

This is not to say that research conducted by subjective people has less validity. Once a subject is chosen and a method established, the vast majority of research is sound. An interpretation of the results may be open to question but the data speaks for itself.

It is only fair to acknowledge a personal interest. As an astrologer of 40 years standing, I naturally have an interest in proving the subject scientifically. This does not extend across the astrological board however.

There are many things that are postulated by astrologers that I believe to be absolutely absurd. I would even set about a research project with the desire to disprove them.

As a triple Capricorn, my approach to astrology and life is an entirely pragmatic one. I will not accept things because other people have said them, everything has to be proven to me. If something works I will accept and use it, if it can’t be shown to work, I’m not interested.

The famous researcher Michel Gauquelin first approached astrology because he wanted to disprove it, but he was convinced by his findings that there was something in it.

I am prepared to admit that my choice of the Moon’s Nodes as a subject for this article was because I want to show that they have no effect whatsoever, but if an effect is proven I will accept that they have a place.

One of the reason’s for my prejudice is that these days its almost impossible to find anything about the nodes without some kind of reference to the soul’s path and karma from past lives.

This is not because I don’t accept reincarnation. In many ways it is the one religious view of life that sits most comfortably with the astrological premise of circularity.

My resistance to the use of the nodes in this way is because I feel that whenever astrologers venture down this track they are on dodgy ground.

A chart relates to a life because it is constructed for the moment that life began. We can see the manifestation of the chart in the life and behaviour of that person during that life. I feel that some astrologers use past life stuff in their interpretations to compensate for a lack of clarity in their observations about the current one.

This focus on the Moon’s nodes and the soul’s path is a relatively recent one in western astrology. When Capricorn Research first studied the subject, the Dragon’s Head was simply a benefic influence and the Tail was a relatively malefic one.

If the North Node was strongly placed particularly to major planets it would be a generally auspicious influence, if the South Node, the opposite would be true.

As people have became for psychological about their approach to astrology, or more vague as Capricorn research would see it, these views have metamorphosed into the idea that if you focus on the North Node you will be following the path your soul needs for its own development, whereas the South one will tend to reinforce its old habits.

It is very difficult to construct a piece of research to test the path a soul needs for its own nourishment so I have decided to simply look at the old view of the nodes to see if they are auspicious or not.

A simple way to do this is to look at the Capricorn Research Project collection of 20,000 plus chart of public figures. As they are all people who have achieved a level of fame for some reason, either through birth or achievement or action of some sort, the assumption would be that if there is anything in the nodes, this should show up in some way in this grouping.

The first thing to say about the results of this research is there is a significant distribution of the Nodes by sign.

The expected average figure would be 1720.25 per sign.

The scores are as follows

Aries            1854

Taurus         1694

Gemini        1853

Cancer         1810

Leo               1756

Virgo            1790

Libra            1704

Scorpio        1667

Sagittarius  1609

Capricorn    1554

Aquarius      1650

Pisces           1702

For a graphic representation of these figures see  Moons North Node Sign

This distribution is statistically very significant as the p figure is a stunning 2.78E-08, which means that the likelihood of it occurring by chance alone is 0.000000278. The standard figure for significance is anything lower than 0.01.

So what to make of it ?

There is a much greater likelihood of the Moons North Node occurring in the first 6 signs of the Zodiac and of course the South Node appearing in the last 6.

Aries and Gemini are the highest scoring by some distance and Capricorn is by far the lowest.

The distribution by house gives the highest score to the 4th house and lowest to the 2nd, but all of these figures fall well within the range of chance so there is no point in showing them.

In terms of aspects to the major planets the findings are quite odd.

The Sun is conjunct the North Node 1196 times but it is also conjunct the South Node 1195. Both of these scores are about 4 % above the expected figure but again this is within the range of chance.

There are slightly higher figures for the conjunctions of NN with the Moon at 106.5 % and Venus at 106 % but they are still not that significant.

From an astrological perspective the aspects that are statistically significant are not ones that you’d expect.

The lowest scoring for the North Node is the conjunction with Jupiter at only 81.5 %

The highest is the opposition with Mercury at 117.5 %

The opposition with Saturn also scores highly with 110.4%

The only really significant aspect score that might fit with astrological expectations is that in the sample of 20,000 + public figures, Saturn is only conjunct the North Node 85.1 % of the time.

If we were going to use this as evidence of a link, it would be completely overruled by the even lower score for the conjunction with Jupiter.

What to make of all this ?

Well there does seem to be a link of some sort to the sign position of the Moon’s Nodes.

For public figures it would make sense that the North Node would fall in the assertive Aries with the South Node therefore in the cooperative Libra.

Some astrologers might wonder why the Dragon’s Head scores so lowly in the career oriented Capricorn but this could be a consequence of the Tail scoring very low in Cancer, which would make sense for public figures as they are less likely to stay at home than the rest of us.

For Capricorn Research this project has given food for thought. I am now prepared to accept that the sign position of the Moon’s Nodes does have some influence. More research would be needed to find out exactly what kind of effect they have but I shall not be so dismissive in future.

For me personally I have the North Node in Capricorn, which is another reason to accept that I won’t achieve much fame this time round. But I do have it closely conjunct my Sun, so whatever it is that I do, I’m pleased to see that it fits very neatly with the path that my soul should be taking.

So I now officially love the Nodes. Like most people, I’m happy to believe anything that confirms that I’m on the right path.

DOES THIS PROVE ASTROLOGY ?

The Turning Point in Your Life ?

Astrology and Celebrity – all in the timing

Home