The Astrology of

Astrologers
By
Terri McCartney, USA.
The Vedic AstroSignature
Welcome to my first AstroDatabank
research post. I intend to post research
articles regularly to whet your appetite for
research and to keep you abreast of what
were working on using AstroDatabanks
powerful research capacity built into
version 4.

Terri

For this first column, I thought it would be

fun to advance an AstroSignature for
astrologers. Arent you just a bit curious to
discover what is found in the charts of
successful astrologers? We all know what
weve observed and we have ideas about
what wed expect to find but can we really
show some evidence to support our
theories and observations?

McCartney is a teaching and

consulting astrologer. She served on the

NCGR Board as Research Director for two
years. Terri organized the 2007 NCGR
Research Symposium in Baltimore. She also
joined the AstroDatabank team as its
Research Facilitator in 2004 and held that
position for four years. Her web address is
www.astroresources.com. Widely respected
among international astrologers and very
helpful, we have observed her for years and
we recommend readers to contact her for
lessons on how research is to be conducted.
There can be no better teacher than her into
the ever confusing area of research
astrology.

In this project, I used AstroDatabanks

new release 4.0 with its awesome factor
analysis
feature
to
develop
an
AstroSignature for Astrologers. I wanted
to test the common assumption that
Uranus, Aquarius and/or the 11th house
would be thematically linked to the
vocational indicators in the charts of
astrologers and I wanted to use a control
group to validate my findings.
I found many of the statistically
significant findings quite intriguing. Here
are just a few of the interesting things I
found in the charts of the 100 astrologers
tested:

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38% had the Sun in Scorpio, Sagittarius or Capricorn and these placements were
found in the astrologers charts twice as often as they were found in the control group.
Sun, Moon or Mercury was found in a fixed house for 70% of astrologers and Venus,
Mars, Jupiter or Saturn were placed in an air house for 71%.
Sixtythree percent of the astrologers had the ruler of the eleventh house direct.
None of the astrologers tested had a mutual reception between Sun and Uranus.
Pluto, Chiron or the North Node was placed in one of the Gauquelin power zones in
66%.
Uranus was found aspecting the vertex in the control group more often than it was
found aspecting the vertex in the astrologers horoscopes.
Nothing was found in 100% of the astrologers charts.

The Vedic AstroSignature

Abstract
AstroDatabanks release 4.0 with its factor analysis module was used to develop an
AstroSignature for Astrologers from the Vedic perspective. The chart dynamics of an
experimental group of 100 professional astrologers (the same group of astrologers used to
develop the Western signature) were compared those of a control group of 1000 generated by
the AstroDatabank software. Included in the signature are only those factors found in at
least 20% of the experimental group and demonstrating a positive difference frequency of
50% or greater when compared to the control group.
Introduction
After developing the signature for astrologers from the Western perspective
(http://www.astrodatabank.com/as/ASAstrologyOfAstrologers.htm) using the tropical
zodiac, I felt it would be informative to develop a signature from the Vedic perspective using
the sidereal zodiac. I was curious if one would work better than the other.
A literature review of Vedic texts was conducted to identify what has been asserted to be
found in astrologers charts. For the most part however, this might be termed assumption
less research. I allowed the factor analysis reports to tell me what was found with
significantly greater frequency in the charts of the astrologers as compared to the charts of
the control group. It was the astrological factors that showed up in the charts of at least 20%
of the astrologers and at frequencies 50% or greater than they were found in the control
group that were included in Vedic signature for astrologers presented here.
Following is a list of the factors evaluated for this project using the AstroDatabank 4.0
software:

Moon through Saturn, Ascendant, MC, house rulers and planetary dispositors in signs
and houses.
Moon through Saturn, Ascendant, MC, House rulers and planetary dispositors in
their placements by degree.
Benefics and malefics by house placement and rulership.
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Placements in friendly, neutral or enemy signs.

The Vedic full and special aspects.1
2
Placements in the lunar mansions or nakshatras.
Essential and accidental dignities.

Methodology
The source of the data used in this project was supplied by AstroDatabank. Its release 4.0
contains the birth data for 2222 astrologers with a Rodden rating of A or above. From this
group, 100 astrologers were hand selected for this research project. The astrologers selected
have either contributed to the general advancement of astrology in some manner and/or
make their living practicing astrology. Therefore, the experimental group for this study is
composed of 100 successful astrological authors, organizational leaders, teachers, lecturers
and/or consultants.
A control group of 1000 records was created using AstroDatabanks control group generator.
While the control group generated by AstroDatabank does not represent birth charts of real
people (and therefore might generate a chart perfect for an aspiring astrologer), the greatest
advantage of this control group is it helps us quickly identify what astrological factors occur
more frequently than by chance in the charts of astrologers as compared to a group of charts
ten times greater than the number of records in the experimental group. In creating the
control group, the year, time and place were replicated while shuffling the data
independently.
3

The sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsa and the whole house system were used to calculate
each horoscope.
The factor analysis feature in AstroDatabank 4.0 was used to assist identification of the
significant single factors that could be combined to build one multifactor AstroSignature
rule. Those signature rules that included factors found in at least 20 % of the astrologers
charts and at frequencies 25% or greater than they were found in the control group were
included in the AstroSignature.
Results & Discussion
I reviewed Vedic texts to identify some of the yogas asserted to be found in the natal charts
of astrologers. In essence, the yogas are analogous to the AstroSignature because both refer
to specific chart dynamics that define specific orientations or conditionssuch as the
inclination to earn a living as an astrologer. Additionally, Juliana Swanson, an astrologer in
Massachusetts, was kind enough to email me some unique yogas asserted by Vinay Aditya
4
in his book, Dots of Destiny: Applications of Ashtakavarga . Vedic astrologers use several
different systems to determine planetary and/or house strength because it is a critical
consideration in chart delineation. Ashtakavarga is one such system that evaluates strength
by using a complex system of assigning points called bindus.
Following is an example of one of the passages Juliana quoted from Adityas text (pp. 6970)

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If Mercury is 4th or 6th from Saturn, associated with 5 or more bindus and the 2nd house from the
lagna (ascendant) is aspected or occupied by Jupiter, the native becomes an eminent astrologer. There
may be exceptions, for example, if Mercury is in its exalted sign, it may have less bindus.
The ADB software does not include a system for scoring strengths as one of its features, so I
was unable to test this assertion. Nor was I able to test any of the yogas that referred to
placements in houses derived other than from the Ascendant (such as stated above: Mercury
is 4 or 6 houses from Saturn or in the case of placements referenced from the Moonswhich
are quite common in the Vedic discipline). Additionally, I did not test yogas that referenced
the navamsa chart (the ninth harmonic chart).
I was able to evaluate other assertions. For example, Juliana sent me another quote from
Vinay Aditya that guided my investigation (just as Uranus and the ruler of the 11th were
closely examined while analyzing the tropical data). It is:
In Vedic astrology, Mercury is the planet of astrology, along with Jupiter, due to their rulership of
5
intellectual reasoning, intelligence, speech, computation and knowledge of scriptures.
Similarly, James Braha asserts that it is common for the greatest Hindu astrologers to have been
6
born with a powerfully disposed Moon (memory) and 2nd house (knowledge).
Based on the above information, wed expect Mercury Jupiter, Moon and the 2nd house to be
strong. It was difficult to determine the overall strength of the second house. What was
evaluated in this study were placements in the 2nd house, the placement of the ruler of the
2nd house and aspects to and from ruler of the 2nd house. The only factor found in at least
20% the charts of the astrologers and more frequently than it was found in the control group
was Jupiter or the ruler of the 9th house in the 2nd (21% of the astrologers versus 16% of the
control group).
Another common technique used by Vedic astrologers to evaluate planetary strength is
called Shad Bala. Like Ashtakavarga it is a complex system that evaluates planetary
strength. Shad Bala is based on six criteria: natural strength, motion, position, aspect,
direction and time. Evaluation of the positional strength of a planet includes analysis of its
dignity by sign. In this study, Moon, Mercury and Jupiter were analyzed for placement in
7
their rulership, exaltation, fall and moolatrikona sign and degree. The following table
displays the totals derived from this analysis.
*None of the 100 astrologer had Mercury or Jupiter at their degree of exaltation (Mercury is
exalted at 15 degrees Virgo and Jupiter is exalted at 5 degrees Cancer).
Moon in Cancer
Moon in Taurus
Moon exalted deg. (3 Tau)
Moon in moolatrikona deg.
Moon in Scorpio
Mercury in Gem
Mercury in Virgo
Merc in moolatrikona deg.
Mercury in Pisces
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10%
14%
3%
12%
5%
8%
6%
0%
7%

9%
8%
4%
7%
8%
8%
8%
1.8%
9%

Jupiter in Sagittarius
Jupiter in Pisces

12%
4%

10%
6%

Jupiter in Cancer
Jupiter moolatrikona deg.
Jupiter in Capricorn

9%
4%
9%

8%
4%
9%

As the table shows, having the Moon in Taurus is found significantly more often in the
astrologers charts and this is included in the Vedic signature along with Moon in Aquarius,
the only other sign where the Moon demonstrated significance by placement. Mercury did
not demonstrate significance by dignity but it did demonstrate significance in sidereal Libra,
Scorpio and Capricorn. Jupiter demonstrated no significant difference with its placement by
sign. While 12% of the astrologers had Jupiter dignified in Sagittarius as compared to 9.5% of
the control group, this was not a large enough difference to establish statistical significance.
Therefore, it would be salient to investigate further to determine if Mercury and/or Jupiter
demonstrate significance using the Ashtakavarga or Shad Bala systems to determine their
strength in both the natal and navamsa charts.
Additionally, to determine the quality of a planets influence (whether it is a benefic or
malefic influence in the natal chart) involves an evaluation of the house or houses it rules.
The rules governing this evaluation must take into consideration that both Jupiter and
Mercury are able to rule two houses and one might be a benefic house and the other a
malefic house. In general though, any planet ruling the 1st, 5th, or 9th house is considered a
beneficial influence in the chart and that can be determined quite simply by rising sign. For
example, the Moon rules house 1, 5, or 9 when one of the water signs is rising and would be
treated as a benefic in the natal horoscope. Mercury is a benefic for Taurus (rules 5th),
Gemini (rules 1st), Virgo (rules 1st), Libra (rules 9th), Capricorn (rules 9th) and Aquarius
(rules 5th) Ascendants. Jupiter is beneficial for Aries, Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius and
Pisces rising. The table below shows the result of determining whether Moon, Mercury and
Jupiter carry a beneficial influence more often in the charts of astrologers than they do in the
control group. Since none of the rising signs demonstrated significance on their own, I
treated the rising signs in groups for this analysis.
Moon beneficCancer, Scorpio or Pisces rising
Mercury beneficTaurus, Gem, Virgo, Libra, Cap, AQ rising
Jupiter beneficAries, Leo, Cancer, Scorpio, Sag or Pisces rising

29% 26%
47% 53%
54% 48%

Note that both Moon and Jupiter are beneficial for individuals with Cancer, Scorpio or
Pisces rising and Jupiter is also a benefic for Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius rising and having
any one of these six signs rising does occur more frequently in the charts of the astrologers.
Additionally, the review of yogas uncovered a few other assertions I felt were pertinent to
8
the practice of astrology. All of the following were taken from James Brahas text.

The 12th lord in the 3rd house gives enormous intuition. Astrologers 6%Control 8.4%
In Hindu mythology Mercury is the son of the Moon. Both planets are mental influences and
therefore whenever they aspect each other in any way an extreme intellectual nature is
conferred. (This was tested this using the mutual or full aspect (conjunction and
opposition with no orb of influence): Astrologers 22% Control 15.5%
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Mercury in a sign of Mars or Mars in a sign of Mercury is said to be good for intelligence.
Astrologers 27%Control 30% (Additionally, I tested for a mutual reception between
Mercury and Mars, and 2% of the astrologers has such while 3.4% of the control group
did.)
If Mars and Saturn aspect each other, the person excels in any technical field. (This was
tested using the special aspects Saturn and Mars are able to make and evaluated
separately, i.e. Mars in aspect to Saturn and Saturn in aspect to Mars) Mars in aspect
to Saturn: Astrologers 30%Control Group 31.3%. Saturn in aspect to Mars: 23%
versus 27.8%
The lord of the 10th house conjunct with or aspected by Mars gives a career involving any
9
technical field. Astrologers 24%Control 25.4%
Venus aspected by Jupiter indicates excellent research ability. Astrologers 38%Control
33.2%.

The AstroSignature
The Vedic signature for astrologers includes 30 rules and is presented in Table 1. The tropical
signature contained 40 rules and therefore the scores on that signature are higher than the
scores earned on this Vedic signature. This difference is primarily a result of a reduction in
the number of rules referring to aspects because there were many more aspects to consider
from the tropical perspective.
The average score earned by the astrologers on the Vedic AstroSignature was 9. The average
score achieved by the control group was 5.3. Therefore, the astrologers scored on average 70%
higher than did the control group (95.3)/5.3 = 69.8%). The astrologer scores ranged from 119
and 17% of the astrologers scored 5 or below (the average score for the control group.) The
control group scores ranged from 015 and only 8% of the control group scored 9 or above
(the average score of the astrologers).
AstroSignature Legend:
D=Dispositor; R=ruler; H=House; N=Nakshatra
1) Rule 4 references Sun and ruler of the 9th in Detriment which in Vedic astrology is the
same as the sign of their fall in Western astrology. 2) A full aspect signifies that the planets
are either in the same sign/house or the opposite sign/house. 3) References to specific
aspects (such as the sextile, trine, square, etc) involve full signsthere is no orb of influence.
3) Rule 13 references Sun and Jupiter nakshatras. 4) Rule 14 references Jupiter and Rahus
(north node) nakshatras, 5) Rules 17 and 18 reference degrees in any sign.

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Summary
When we compare the two signatures, the Vedic signature demonstrates a slightly greater
difference in average signature score (69.8%) than did the tropical signature (63.6%).
However, the tropical signature did a better job of distinguishing the experimental group
from the control group. With the tropical signature, only 8% of the control group scored the
average astrologer signature score or above (a score of 18+) while 12.2% of the Vedic control
group scored the average astrologer signature score or above (a score of 9+). Similarly, 17% of
the astrologers scored the average control group score or below using the Vedic signature
while only 3% of the astrologers scored below or equal to the average control group score
using the tropical signature.
And, as one more tidbit of food for your mind to digest, consider this: some of the
astrologers scoring highest on this Vedic signature scored at the lower end of the tropical
signature and vice versa. This realization led me to consider if a composite average might be
a useful measure for those aspiring astrologers scoring below the average on either of the
signatures. That is, the average signature score for both the Vedic and Tropical signatures
could be added together and then divided by two to compute a composite average signature
score. For example, the average signature score for the tropical signature was 18. Add to that
159

the average score of 9 earned on the Vedic signature and the total is 27. We divide that by
two to get an average composite signature score of 13.5 for the astrologers. That is, an
individuals score on both signatures could be added together in this way to derive an
individual composite score and if it is 13.5 or above we could deduce that individual resonates
strongly with others in the astrological community.

References & Endnotes

1

The aspects are evaluated differently in the Vedic discipline then they are in Western tradition. First,
aspects exist within the 30 degrees of the whole signthere is no orb of influence. Additionally, not all
aspects are mutual. Planets are considered to be in mutual or full aspect if they reside in the same
sign/house or the opposite sign/house. Only Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are able to make additional
aspects: Mars also aspects the 4th and 8th sign/house from itself, Jupiter is able to aspect the 5th and 9th
sign/house from itself and Saturn can cast aspects to the 3rd and 10th sign/house from itself. Some
Vedic practitioners also allow the north and south node (Rahu and Ketu) to aspect the 5th and 9th
sign/house from their placement. These were the only aspects analyzed in this project.
2

The lunar mansions or nakshatras are another critical facet of Vedic chart analysis and the nakshatras
provide the basis for the dasa and bhukti system of prediction. The 27 nakshatras represent the division
of the zodiac into three groups of nine sections of 13 degrees, 20 minutes each. Placements by nakshatra
were included in this investigation.
3

The ayanamsa represents the longitudinal difference in degrees between zero degree Aries in the
sidereal zodiac and zero degrees Aries in the tropical zodiac. There is a wide variety of different
ayanamsas used by Vedic astrologers because there is disagreement about when the vernal equinox
coincided with zero degrees Aries. The Lahiri ayanamsa is one of the commonly used ayanamsas.
4

Vinay Aditya, Dots of Destiny: Applications of Ashtakavarga, pp. 6970.

Personal correspondence with Juliana Swanson on May 27, 2005.

James Braha, Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer, Longboat Key, FL; Hermetician
Press: 1993, p. 239.
7

Ronnie Dreyer, Vedic Astrology: A Guide to the Fundamentals of Jyotish, York Beach, Maine; Samuel
Weiser, Inc.: 1997, p.140. A planets moolatrikona is either the sign of its rulership or exaltation. The
Moons moolatrikona is Taurus and it is considered strongest at 330 degrees. Mercurys moolatrikona is
Virgo and it is considered strongest at 1620 degrees. Jupiters sign of moolatrikona is Sagittarius and it
is considered strongest at 110 degrees of that sign.
8

James Braha, Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer, Longboat Key, FL; Hermetician
Press: 1993, pp. 241243.
9

The full statement reads: The lord of the 10th house conjunct with or aspected by Mars gives a career involving
the military, police work, mechanics, engineering, or any technical field.

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