Michel Gauquelin (November 13, 1928 - May 20, 1991) was a French psychologist and statistician who, along with his first wife Françoise, conducted serious statistical research into astrology.

Although he was highly critical of certain areas of the art, Gauquelin showed an interest in astrology from an early age; it is said that he could calculate a birth chart at the age of ten and earned the nickname of Nostradamus at school because of his astrological readings. After his scientific education at the Sorbonne, where he graduated in psychology, he devoted much of his life to researching the scientific validity of astrology.

Gauquelin set himself the task of analyzing astrology statistically by studying various correlations using very large samples of birth data. An example from one of earlier books in 1967 is what he called the "test of opposed destinies" which entailed astrologers being asked to separate the birth charts of twenty well-known criminals from twenty non-criminals. They did no better than chance. (The Cosmic Clocks, 1967)

His own conclusions were subject to change throughout the course of his life due to his research over several decades, and in the beginning after his initial studies he was very critical of certain widely accepted beliefs in astrology, particularly the zodiacal signs, which he extensively tested without finding results:

"It is now quite certain that the signs in the sky which presided over our births have no power whatever to decide our fates, to affect our hereditary characteristics, or to play any part, however humble, in the totality of effects, random or otherwise, which form the fabric of our lives and mould our impulses to action." (The Scientific Basis for Astrology, 1970)

Although he always remained highly critical of astrology in general, his attitude towards its existence changed as his studies progressed in the study of the diurnal cycle, which is related to the astrological houses.

"Subsequent results only confirmed and amplified my initial discovery about the physicians. On the whole, it emerged that there was an increasingly solid statistical link between the time of birth of great men and their occupational success. ... Having collected over 20,000 dates of birth of professional celebrities from various European countries and from the United States, I had to draw the unavoidable conclusion that the position of the planets at birth is linked to one's destiny. What a challenge to the rational mind!" (Neo-Astrology, 1991)

The computerized analysis of the natal charts of the famous and less renown in various career fields was done on the computers of Niel Michelsen's Astro Computing Service, in the late '70s, in San Diego, California.

Towards the end of his life he tried to reform astrology by suggesting that astrologers should cast aside the majority of their tradition and build a new astrology based only upon the foundation of that which could be proven to be statistically accurate and testable. He called this 'Neo-Astrology', which was also the name of his last book in which he summarized his previous statistical studies and proposed this new system. He is often cited by astrologers as having provided evidence in favour of astrology.

The most famous result of Gauquelin's studies was the controversial Mars effect, wherein there is an apparent correlation between the rising and culminating of the planet Mars at the birth of eminent athletes in various fields. If true this would provide scientific evidence for an astrological correlation between the positions of certain heavenly bodies and human affairs. While some claim that the Mars effect is unknown within astrology (ie prior to the statistical finding), there is actually a long tradition that goes back to the earliest strata of horoscopic astrology which holds that planets in the angles (i.e. rising, culminating, setting, and anticulminating) are said to be more active and signify the prominence of the specific archetype which is associated with the planet in question.

Away from astrology, Michel Gauquelin was an accomplished cyclist and was ranked among the top 50 tennis players in France, reaching the semifinals of the French over-50s championship. Following his divorce from Françoise, he married Marie Cadilhac in 1986. His death was the result of suicide.

References

• Michel Gauquelin The Scientific Basis for Astrology. Stein and Day Publishers. New York, 1969. Paperback version: Natl Book Network, 1970 ISBN 0812813502.
• Michel Gauquelin The Cosmic Clocks. Henry Regenery Company, Chicago, 1967. Paperback version: Grafton Books, 1998 ISBN 0586081585.
• Michel Gauquelin Neo-Astrology : A Copernican Revolution. Arkana, Penguin Group. London, 1991 ISBN 0140193189
• Michel Gauquelin Neo-Astrology : A Copernican Revolution. Arkana, Penguin Group. London, 1991 ISBN 0140193189. Pg. 24.
• Michel Gauquelin Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior. from the French by Joyce E. Clemow. Aurora Press. Santa Fe, NM, 1994.
• Michel Gauquelin Planetary Heredity. French edition, 1966. English edition: ACS Publications. San Diego,CA, 1988.
• Michel Gauquelin Birth-Times: A Scientific Investigation of the Secrets of Astrology. from the French by Sarah Matthews. Hill and Wang. New York, 1983. (Published in England as The Truth About Astrology)

External links

• Planetos is an online journal that contains many resources and papers that discuss Gauquelin's work as well as the Mars Effect controversy http://www.planetos.info/
• The full text of The Cosmic Clocks is available online at: http://www.astrologer.ru/rarebooks.html.en (in DjVu format - requires plug-in from http://www.djvu.com )

French astrologers | French psychologists | 1928 births | 1991 deaths | Astrologers

Michel Gauquelin | Michel Gauquelin