Astro-Recruiting (5/2001)

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(article written for a book published by the International Society of Business Astrologers)

Introduction

Basics

Astro-recruiting refers to astrology assisting organizations in recruiting personnel to achieve the goals of the corporate human resources management. At present, the dominant philosophy in recruiting is the "fit-approach" aiming at filling a vacancy with the most fitting person. A more progressive post-tayloristic philosophy would be "The people make the place" trying to bring the job into agreement with the applicant. However, you find this approach rather in textbooks than in the real world.

The connection between astrology and recruiting (or vocational questions in the broader sense) is stronger than one would suspect at first sight:

• Forecasting future events:
  The ultimate goal of all personnel selection systems is to forecast the future performance of an applicant, to figure out how he or she will be doing and to select the best to fit the human resources strategy. At any rate, it's the future that counts, not the past and not even the present. Predicting the future has always been the main task of astrology.
• Decisions under uncertainty:
  Making recruiting decisions is quite complex. The quality of this type of decision can hardly be quantified and even the most scrupulous staff manager always runs risk of being completely wrong. That's one reason why human resources management will always require intuition. Astrology has traditionally been applied to this type of elusive problems.
• Shared history:
  Astrology was used for vocational guidances already some 2,400 years ago as a horoscope cast for a boy to find his profession demonstrates.

Empirical surveys investigating selection methods usually come up with about 1% of all corporations employing astrology. Beyond doubt, this number is far too low. I estimate the real number is at least 3-5%, and this still is a conservative estimation. The clients of business astrologers are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises where the boss of the company decides to consult an astrologer. Frequently the person who decides to consult an astrologer is interested in astrology himself or is at least regularly seeing an astrologer for private affairs.

Nowadays, the biggest problem is the lack of acceptance of astrology in business. It‘s somewhat different in politics because in contrast to the businessworld politics is not perceived as a rational endaveour. A manager always has to defend the rationality of his decisions with regard to the goal of profit-maximing. Serious appraisals are telling us that about one third of all politicians are regularly seeing an astrologer for consultations. Ronald REAGAN didn't make important decision without having consulted his astrologer Joan QUIGLEY before (acutally it was Nancy REAGAN doing that job). While not officially acknowledged it is rumored that Boris YELTSIN made use of astrology, too. In France, Francois MITTERAND was seeking the advice of Elizabeth TEISSIER; and Edith CRESSON, the former EU commissioner, had her dentist cast her horoscope.

The "astrology-taboo" has an almost ridiculous power. I know of an Austrian mutual fund manager who wouldn't even tell his wife he is making use of astrology! I don't know a multinational company having publicly admitted to rely on heavenly guidance, only Sony does confirm it had a research group on ESP (extra-sensory perception) until 1997. Fortunately, a lot of astrologers worldwide are reporting a shift in the attitudes especially of the younger generation. I will now give a short overview about the situation on the different continents.

Around the Globe

Let's start with the most astrology-friendly part of the world, Asia. Astrology is common practice in India because this country is looking back on a long astrological tradition with Vedic Astrology being quite different from Western Astrology. A lot of Vedic astrology practitioners claim their approach is much more eligible to make concrete predictions. China also has a remarkable astrological history, especially with Feng Shui including many elements from Chinese astrology. In Hong Kong, the most famous Feng Shui and astrology practitioners charge an hourly fee of about US$ 5,000-10,000. Japan is surprising us with the Bank of Japan insinuating on their website (http://www.boj.or.jp/en/) they are employing astrology. In some Asian countries, the birth dates are omitted in the CVs to prevent the company to calculate the natal chart.

Now to Europe. Astro-recruiting is the most important task of European business astrologers. France and Switzerland are the strongholds of another unconventional recruiting method, graphology (handwriting analysis), which may account for these countries to be also more astrology-friendly. Great Britain is the European country with an almost unbroken occult tradition having its roots in the 19^th century. In the German-speaking countries the situation is not as good. Recently, astro-recruiting has become a topic in the public discussion in Italy.

In the United States, astrology-inclined enterprises are facing a special problem. Every business can use whatever recruiting methods it wants but it must assure it is not discriminating. Federal laws prohibit employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, and disability. When a rejected applicant files a charge for discrimination the company has to prove the methods employed are comprehensible and can't be abused to disriminate against minorities. I doubt this scientific prove can be supplied at present. The way out of this trap is to apply quotas which, however, are very unliked, so a US company declaring it is making use of astrology is not only facing the loss of credibility but also a lawsuit. South America is a better place for business astrologers, especially Brazil has a strong occult tradition.

How to Use It

What should you know before integrating astrology into recruiting?

• Get a basic understanding of the concept of astrology because astro-recruiting is quite different from other methods. Astrology does not only mean natal astrology but also horary astrology.
  Natal astrology based on a prospective employee's date, time, and place of birth is merely detecting his or her soft skills. It is giving a picture of the personality, particularly of his or her motivation and potentials which makes it a terrific supplement to the behaviour-based methods such as the job interview and the assessment center. While the other tools stress the status quo, natal astrology focuses on the future and is more dynamic and development-oriented. A unique perpective offered is to look how someone will fit into a team, and if the role he or she is supposed to play agrees with the role indicated by the stars.
  In contrast, horary astrology solely looks at the time and place of an event or of a question to get to know the future. Because the concept is rather unknown to laypeople it is covered in greater detail in the next chapter.
  I highly recommend to look for a business astrologer who is doing both horary and natal work.
• There are two ways to employ astro-recruiting: either as a standard-method for every vacancy or only under certain conditions, e.g. when a second opinion is needed because the decision-maker(s) can't arrive at a decision, or astrology is reserved to hiring executives.
• Never use astrology as a stand-alone tool. To make the right decision, one needs a holistic view of the applicant which can't be achieved by astrology alone. It is best to use astrology to prepare the decision and not to make it. In other words, the report of the business astrologer shall only be one factor considered and not the decision itself. Job interview plus astrological advice seems to be a reasonable combination, with more tools (tests, assessment center) etc. added for higher jobs.
• Never use astrology to preselect among the dozens or hundreds of letters or emails of application you get. In particular, do not sort out applicants using sun-signs, this would be unfair to applicants and could cost you the best people. Stick to the hard facts, separate applicants out that don't live up to the must-criteria of the job specifications, this will throw out the bulk. However, you can write down the exact time the letter or e-mail of application was opened if your astrologer wants to use this data for a horary interpretation.
• Whenever possible, work with time and place of birth because the lack of these data means a lot of valuable data is not available, thus reducing the significance of the astro-analysis noticeably. Therefore, a lot of business astrologers think it is not serious to cast a horoscope without place and time and refuse to work under such conditions. You obviously can't get time and place when you don't reveal you are using astrology because asking for these data would make many applicants suspicious. This leads to the next point.
• Whenever possible, don't make the use of astrology a secret. Your applicants have the right to be informed in which way they are screened.
• Choose your astro-consultant carefully. He or she should have knowlege and experience in both astrology and business. A successful astro-recruiting needs a lot of preparation. Before starting to work with a company he or she should get to know the company and especially its human resources management, both from a hard facts and astrological perspective.

Horary astrology

This form of astrology is much older than natal astrology (see references (1)). The basic assumption of horary astrology is that the time something happens or a question is asked allows conclusions about the future of the matter. After having interpreted several hundred questions and events I am still fascinated by the simplicity and accuracy of horary astrology. The biggest drawbacks are the limited time horizon (3-6 months) and that not all questions can be answered. From my point of view, horary astrology is better suited for wordly affairs while the strength of natal astrology is the psychological and spiritual side of life.

In recruiting the concept implies that the time of the first contact between the applicant and the company contains valuable insights, as well as the time of the job interview or other important events in the recruiting process. Moreover, in the last stage of the recruiting process you can ask a question of this type, "Shall I hire applicant A or appliant B?". You can do horary work without knowing anyone's birthdate, or you can combine it with natal astrology. So the big advantage is to avoid the birth time problem.

A important concept in horary astrology is the void of course moon which I am going to test in my doctoral thesis (see last chapter). The moon needs 27.3 days to revolve once around the earth (360°), so it stays about 2-2 ½ days in each of the 12 zodiac signs (30°). On its journey the moon is forming certain angles (aspects) to the other planets, for the traditional defintion of the void-of-course moon we use the aspects 0°, 60°, 90°, 120°, and 180°. They are only valid when the moon and the planet are in the same sign. After the last exact aspect in a sign the moon is void of course until it enters the next sign. I estimate that the moon is void of course about 20% of the time but this varies much from month to month and from year to year. In the appendix you find a table with the void-times from September 2001 to March 2002.

The void-of-course moon indicates a cosmic out-time and is best used to exlore the inner resp. the other world through mediation, prayer, dreaming, psychotherapy, or sleeping. This is the time for the soul to fly, not to stay on earth. Endevours in the outer world are seldom fruitful, in most cases nothing will come out of it. This time is usually not conducive for business activities (some exceptions do exist): decisions are unrealistic, judgment is more fallible, agreements and contracts don't turn out as intended. When you buy something for the first time, you probably won't buy it again.

I want to demonstrate the value of horary astrology on the example of the US presidential elections. During the year 2000, natal astrologers in literally hundreds of articles and boards discussed the question who would be elected next president, Bush or Gore. It is safe to say that the natal astrologers were not able to arrive at the consensus despite having applied dozens of techniques, both known and unknown, simple and sophisticated, and from Eastern and Western astrology. The astrologers‘ predictions were split roughly 50:50 mirroring pretty much the later election result.

It was much easier with horary astrology. You simply had to look at the times when the two candidates were nominated. In every presidential election from 1900 through 1972 one of the two major party candidates was nominated with the moon void of course, and these were always the losing candidates. Al Gore was nominated on August 16, 2000 under this cosmic signature, and so he suffered defeat.

Now to part two of the the presidential-story. Since 1945 only four US-presidents were inaugurated under this constellation:

• Franklin Roosevelt (January 20, 1945): died a few months later
• John F. Kennedy (January 20, 1961): assassinated in November 1963
• Richard Nixon (January 20, 1973): resigned in disgrace in 1974
• Bill Clinton (January 20,1997): was close to resign early, could barely stay in office

Note for astrologers: during the inauguration of Clinton the moon was only "semi-void" because there still was a quincunx with Jupiter and the chart was boosted by four planets in conjunction with the MC. This seemed to have saved Clinton.

So how can you apply this knowledge to recruiting and business life? Do not sign employment or other important contracts, do not plan decisive meetings, and do not meet far-reaching decisions during these times. If possible, take an out-time or do routine work. I have to add that, of course, it is not as simple as outlined here. Certain factors in your personal horoscope may strengthen or weaken the effects. When you have a strong moon/ Cancer-influence (e.g., I have both sun and ascendant in Cancer, that's why I am fasinated by the concept) you will react stronger to the moon. Other factors can almost eliminate the effects. It is best to discuss this with your astrologer (if you are not an astrologer yourself).

Besides, the simple equation "void of course = bad for business" is not valid. In 1974, Michael Munkasey (see references (2)) empirically demonstrated that high-flying stocks tend to start trading with a void of course moon. The most prominent example is Microsoft which is listed on the Nasdaq since March 13, 1986. In this article it is also shown that when the markets open with this special astrological signature they tend to rise significantly more often than expected by chance. Why? For the same reason the first two dozen successful spaceshots are going back to this time - because stocks and rockets can easier leave the ground under this constellation!

A Critical Examination

Performance criteria

The performance of a selection tool is very important, both for the lives of the applicants and for the company. Some models have been developed to estimate the costs of a flawed hiring decision, you can take roughly US$ 20,000 for a normal employee and a minimum of US$ 40,000 for executives. These numbers support the conclusion that even a slight improvement in the quality of hiring decisions will soon pay off. Can astrology contribute to improve the quality?

The academic psychology dominated by behaviourism is adoring tests and has conducted a vast amount of research on how to design and evaluate tests. These criteria are usually adopted in human resources management to evaluate selection instruments. However, the astrological paradigm is not compatible with the behavioristic paradigm that's why we can't use these criteria without modification. In the following I distinguish between social validity, technical validity, reliability, and objectivity, and rank them according to their importance.

1. Technical validity:
   * Is astrology working in selecting employees or not?
   * Is the use of astrology meaningful, useful, and appropriate?
   * Is astrology measuring what is supposed to measure so that the results mean what they imply?
   I believe the answer to these questions is basically "yes, with some restrictions".
   ---
2. Social validity:
   Does the use of astrology create a socially acceptable situation for the applicants?
   
   (a) Face validity:
   Is astrology a good selection instrument in the eye of the applicants (and to some degree, in the eyes of all stakeholders)
   How do they appraise it?
   In the Western countries about two third of the population believe there is something in astrology. About 50% of the US citizens think astrology represents scientific knowledge. These quite high numbers have to be corrected for the "fun factor": the widespread attitude towards astrology is primarily based on entertainment and people are tolerant because it is not taken too seriously. But when it comes to jobs and money people will look at it much more critical, so maybe only 20% of the applicants are really satisfied with astrology.

   (b) Information:
   In practice, the candidates hardly ever get to know their horoscopes are screened - which is quite bad. Whenever possible, the company should tell right at the beginning what their procedure includes, trying to address the common prejudices, e.g. "We don't hire Leos" is not the way it is working.

   (c) Participation and control:
   It is certainly quite problematic that the applicant can't control how the astrologer arrives at his conclusions and how the data are processed (unless he has good astrological knowledge). While you can explain the principles applied there is no way to make it fully transparent to laypeople.

   (d) Communicating the decision:
   This is possible without restriction. As suggested above, I don't recommend to make a decision with astrology but only to prepare it.
   ---

3. Reliability:
   * Is astrology free from measurement and random errors?
   * Can the results be reproduced successfully and are they consistent over time?
   It is hard to judge the reliability of astrology. I believe astrology is somewhat less reliable then the best other methods (above all, the assessment center)
   ---.
4. Objectivity:
   Are the results independent from the performing astrologer?
   Unfortunately, the answer to this question is an unequivocal "no", the results are not independent from the astrologer because are so many different approaches to astrology, so many different schools, hundreds of factors to consider, and every astrologer has his own way. The astrological community is well aware of this problem and there are serious attempts to solve it, e.g. the certification programs of the International Society of Astrological Research (ISAR) and of the Deutscher Astrologen-Verband (German Astrologers‘ Association; DAV). However, it will take decades to integrate everything into a standard astrological theory. So for the near future I don't expect this criterion to be fulfilled.

To summarize, we have big problems with the social validity and objectivity, while technical validity and reliability are on firmer ground.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

• Astrology at its best is an instrument that respects the applicant's dignity without reducing him to an input factor (a lot of people feel their dignity is threatened an assessment center environment with participants being observed like mice in a cage).
• cost-efficient:
  comparatively low direct expenses and no opportunity costs arise (as opposed to assessment centers with executives participating as assessors)
• workable, easy to handle:
  little effort (preparation, implementation) for the corporation
• Compared to personality tests, astrology does not create an exam-like test-situation and therefore the results are not influenced by the test situation, different test-experiences (e.g. some applicants are test-trained), the self-image of the participants, impression-management, and so on.
• enhanced (higher) perspective:
  Applicants are viewed from a totally different (cosmic) perspective, this prevents group thinking, acts as a second opinion, and complements the behavior-oriented instruments.
• supports a to date, post-tayloristic philosophy ("The people make the place"): holistic, future- and development-orientiented
• Astrology can be utilized in a broad spectrum of cases because the horoscope is an oracle answering questions.
• almost no mental (stress), financial (no off-time from work, no travel), and time (physical presence not required) burden on the applicant
• Predications on questions that can hardly be accessed by other means, particularly about team-building
• apt for special cases, e.g. remote applications without the possibility of personal contact
• The applicant can be unhided to some extent, easening the fear of personnel managers of being tricked and reinforcing the position of the company (ethically problematic)

Disadavantages:

• Reactance problems: resistance from applicants (and stakeholders), negative effects on the corporate image because of the negative reputation of astrology
• Lack of scientific proof, wrong decisions:
  Almost no evidence from empirical research supporting astrology as a selection tool is available. Wrong decisions are costly and unfair to the falsely rejected applicants.
• Astrology can't be used as a stand-alone tool, it is always relying on other tools
• legal and ethical problems
• For natal astrology time and place of birth are needed:
  These data are not always available, and when they are, they can be inaccurate or completely wrong, either because the applicant does not know better or he/ she is intentionally submitting false data (covert resistance against astrology).
• Preselection with astrology can not be recommended.
• The quality of the astro-consultant can't be examined immediately, only in the long run.
• A disadvantage of both personality tests and astrology is their possible invasion of the privacy of applicants. It lies solely in the hands of the astrologer and his ethical standards to protect the privacy of the persons examined.

Introduction

Research

An astonishing number of astrologers is quite sceptical about the need for research and its value. I am strongly convinced that within business and financial astrology research is absolutely necessary. When someone is seeking starry advice because of heartsickness (relationships are issue number one in private counselings) the major task of the astrologer is of psychological and not astrological nature, mainly being supportive. Being accurate about the future is of secondary importance in such a setting.

The opposite is true in business astrology, here the hard facts do count thus touching the core of astrology, and that is forecasting the future. Moreover, decisions in personnel management are normally met for other persons, not for the person seeking advice. These decisions have a major impact on other people's lives and careers so it has to be justified. Yet when astrology neither in the public nor in the scientific opinion is considered a valid seleciton approach, the criticism of unfairness and arbitrariness raised by rejected applicants is justified, especially when considering that a lot of other other instruments have proven to work satisfactorily. In short, in business astrology it is not enough that some astrologers agree that "somehow it works".

Research Results

After searching in libraries and databases and on the net I only could find two (!) studies on astro-recruiting. The one is a matching experiment conducted by Prof Alexander Bergmann from the University of Lausanne, HEC, Switzerland, the other a Bachelor of Science dissertation at the University of Manchester, Manchester School of Management, Great Britain (see references (3)). Neither of the two supports the astrological hypothesis.

The first one is more or less a leisure time experiment of a university professor, comprehending only a few pages. Actually it is a personality test, not a recruiting study. A staff manager of a large hotel and an astrologer rated employees on five personality traits, the manager based on his personal contacts, the astrologer based on the natal charts. Not surprising, no significant correlation could be detected. I tried to retrieve more information about the BSc dissertation but I did not succeed. I only know the results were not positive.

To conclude, scientific research on the topic of this article is practically zero. However, quite a lot of work has been dedicated to related topics, the astrology of professions and astrology vs. personality tests. Rather arbitrarily; I have picked two studies to give you an impression. I start with the Gauquelin studies which are the most famous, and move on the investigations by Smithers, in my opinion the best in the field.

Gauquelin

In the 50ies the French couple Michel and Francoise Gauquelin initiated one of the most impressive research programs in the social sciences. Over the decades their bold hypotheses were examined by hundreds (!) of scientists and committees of scepticcs all over the world. The story of the so-called Gauquelin-effect is more thrilling than a mystery story involving all human emotions you can think of, and manipulations and even fraud both from believers and sceptics. It also ended like a thriller with the death of one of the protagonists: Michel Gauquelin committed suicide some years ago. The Gauquelin studies are relevant here because they are examining astrological factors for professional success.

Michel Gauquelin claimed he had found recurring significant planetary positions at the time of birth of celebrities. Certain planets occupied the key-sectors more than expected by chance. The nature of the planets in the key-sectors was in accordance with astrological theory, e.g. famous sportsmen and entrepreneurs had the planet Mars in this area, actors Jupiter and so on. It is almost unbelievable but the more research was done on the subject the more blurred the picture became. The Gauquelin studies are the most voluminous within the field of astrology but certainly not the best, these are the major drawbacks:

• The core hypotheses have been replicated dozens of times, yet not always successful. Even in the successful replications the reported effect sizes are very small and need a large sample to be detected.
• Too many crucial questions have not been answered, e.g. why only some planets seem to work while others don't. The results are not 100% in accordance with astrological theory, for instance, the key sectors are not the cardinal houses as most astrologers would suppose.
• Replications are almost impossible nowadays because the universe of celebrities is rather exhausted.
• The central protagonist in the drama, Michel Gauquelin, remains dubious. It has been proven that at least at a few occasions he was cheating. In his last will he determined all documents should be distroyed, so much of his work is lost forever.

To summarize, the vast amount of materials available on the Gauquelin effect have irrefutably proven only one fact: that research into astrology is not an easy task, that astrologers and scientests are fallible human beings and that the truth is always much more complex than we are able to comprehend. Morever, it enabled the research community to avoid some of the most annoying pitfalls. In the next chapter I want to treat what I think is the best single work in the field of vocational astrology, the studies by Smithers on sun-signs.

SMITHERS

In the 70ies and 80ies professor Alan SMITHERS from Manchester University conducted empirical research on the influence of the season of birth which he published in the renowned Journal of Social Psychology (see references (4)). In which way are these investigations different?

• They were not conducted by an astrologer but by a professor for education.
• The goal was not to prove astrology.
• The inital results were successfully replicated twice with the same results.
• The samples used are very large.
• The data quality is excellent since the birthdata were taken from official files not gathered for this purpose and there is no doubt on the accuracy of the birthdata, in contrast to the questionable birth times from the Gauquelin approach.
• It tests a very popular concept (sun-signs) that is easily understood by laypeople.
• The statistical analysis is free from errors.
• These studies are almost unknown in the astrological community.

How did he proceed? Smithers (partly supported by HJ Coopers) gathered the birth data from soldiers from different countries (GB and USA), different years (ranging from 1909 to 1972), and different sources (army statistics and Who's Who). Then he calculated the expected value with the aid of the official birth statistics and checked if the observed numbers significantly diverged from the expected numbers (= effect sizes). He came to the conclusion that the distribution could by no means be attributed by chance (p<0.001). The effect sizes are surprisingly large, up to 24%!

As you can see, in all three samples Scorpio is the most frequent sign and Taurus, the opposite sign, the least frequent. In every sun-sign book you can read that the Mars-ruled Scorpio, this sign is associated with death which is playing a major role in the life of a soldier. The Venus-ruled Taurus is (together with Libra) the most peaceful in the zodiac because the Venus-principle is to enjoy life, not to fight. In accordance with the celebrities-based Gauquelin-effect the effect sizes are stronger for officers taken from the Who's Who compared to the normal soldier.

You can also see a strong seasonal pattern. The spring signs Aries - Gemini are underrepresented and the fall signs Virgo - Sagittarius overrepresented. That's because spring is the time where life is created whereas in fall (approaching winter) life vanishes. The spring signs want to live their own will, the fall signs are ready to accept an extrinsic power. To sum it up, the consistency and strength of the patterns are astonishing.

Doctoral Thesis "Astrology in Personnel Selection?"

I am working on a doctoral thesis on "Astrology in Personnel Selection?" at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria. My first supervisor is Prof Dudo von Eckardstein (same university), the second is Prof Heimo Adelsberger, University of Essen, Germany. The research question of the experimental study is, "Can employee turnover be predicted with astrology?". More precisely, it examines whether astrology enables to identify those employees that leave the company within the two years of employment. Two approaches are used, the first is to have astrologers predict who fluctuated, the other one is to use the void of course moon as a predictor.

Some astrologers would criticize that this design is not testing the real strengths of astrology. That's true. But I think the current situation can be compared with a 6-year old child starting with elemenary school. The pupil starts with the letter A, not with "Hamlet". It is good to do this pionier-work with a design as simple as possible. That's why fluctuation is to be predicted, not the performance of an employee or how a team is cooperating because there are no measurement problems, the data is easy to get and there are no data security concerns. Horary astrology seems to be best suited for testing purposes, and as far as I know, it has never been subject of a scientific study before.

Corporations provide the following data from personnel files:
(The asterisk * for #1 - #5 means "with time and place if available", the brackets for #3 - #5 mean these data are not absolutely necessary, it shall be included when available)

1. * Birthday of employee
2. * First working day
3. (* Date the employment contract was signed)
4. (* Birthday of the superior)
5. (* Formation date of company)
6. Job description
7. Fluctuation: yes/ no (information if the employee has left the company within the first two years with the company)

Test of Astrological Practice

The hypothesis tested at a significance level of p<1% is:

Astrologers are able to pick those employees who fluctuate within the first two years of employment.

Astrologers knowledgeable in both horary astrology and astro-recruiting receive data #1 - #6 and try to predict #7 (fluctuation). Some suggestions for the astrological interpretation:

• Natal chart of the employee: Who tends to fluctuate more often and who tends to stay longer?
• Transits and progressions to the natal chart of the employee within the first two years of employment: Is there a tendency to change the job or to stay?
• Synastry chart between the employee and the superior and/ or the company: Is it a supportive or stressful relationship? (the latter may encourage fluctuation)
• Horary chart for the first working day and the signing of contract: the ascendant and the 6^th house are crucial.

For documentation purposes the participating astrologers shall provide the following information:
(desired but not required)

1. Short cv:
   including date, time, and place of birth
2. Astrological education and practice:
   Which astrological and business education have you received?
   How much experience with astro-recruiting do you have?
   Do you belong to an astrological school?
   What is your professional philosophy?
3. Comment on the design of the study:
   Is it good/ bad, realistic/ unrealistic, strong/ weak?
4. Description of the problem solving way:
   Which techniques did you apply?
   How much time did it take?
5. Subjective rating:
   How safe do you feel with your forecast?

Test of Astrological Theory

The hypothesis to be tested (p<1%) is:

Employees with the employment contract signed with a void of course moon or the first working day starting under this constellation fluctuate more frequently within the first two years compared to those without.

Moreover, I am testing three modified definitions of the void-of-course moon:

1. Signs: In the signs Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius, and Pisces the moon is not void of course.
2. Aspects: The quincunx (150°) prevents the moons from being void of course.
3. Last degree: In the last degree of a sign the moon is always void of course.

Appendix

Smithers Tables

Explanation

n	sample size
df	degrees of freedom in the chi2-test
Obs.	observed number
Exp.	expected number
Dev.	deviance observed/ expected number
Chi2, Z	values of statistical tests
1%	significant at p<1%
0.1%	significant at p<0.1%

Table 1: UK 1923, 1963
Sun-signs of high-ranking British army officers
n=2186, df=11
source: Who's Who from 1923 and 1963

Sun-Sign	Obs.	Exp.	Dev.	Chi2	Z	1%	0.1%
Aries	200	186	7.5%	1.05	1.03
Taurus	169	193	-12.4%	2.98	1.73
Gemini`	192	203	-5.4%	0.60	0.77
Cancer	190	190	0.0%	0.00	0.00
Leo	208	185	12.4%	2.86	1.69
Viro	182	189	-3.7%	0.26	0.51
Libra	191	178	7.3%	0.95	0.97
Scorpio	204	164	24.4%	9.76	3.12	X
Sagittarius	163	159	2.5%	0.10	0.32
Capricorn	159	169	-5.9%	0.59	0.77
Aquarius	162	180	-10.0%	1.80	1.34
Pisces	166	190	-12.6%	3.03	1.74
	2186	2186		23.98		X

Table 2: GB 1909
Sun-signs of British army soldiers
n=12000, df=11
source: army files from 1909

Sun-Sign	Obs.	Exp.	Dev.	Chi2	Z	1%	0.1%
Aries	1084	1033	4.9%	2.52	1.59
Taurus	965	1067	-9.6%	9.75	3.12	X
Gemini`	1002	1134	-11.6%	15.37	3.92	X	X
Cancer	968	1017	-4.8%	2.36	1.54
Leo	1060	1017	4.2%	1.82	1.35
Viro	1153	1017	13.4%	18.19	4.26	X	X
Libra	1001	967	3.5%	1.20	1.09
Scorpio	1076	933	15.3%	21.92	4.68	X	X
Sagittarius	917	883	3.9%	1.31	1.14
Capricorn	883	983	-10.2%	10.17	3.19	X
Aquarius	931	983	-5.3%	2.75	1.66
Pisces	960	966	-0.6%	0.04	0.19
	12000	12000		87.38		X	X

Table 3: USA 1972
Sun-signs of American soldiers
n=12000, df=11
source: army files from 1972

Sun-Sign	Obs.	Exp.	Dev.	Chi2	Z	1%	0.1%
^	952	1033	-7.8%	6.35	2.52
_	889	1067	-16.7%	29.69	5.45	X	X
`	966	1134	-14.8%	24.89	4.99	X	X
a	1087	1017	6.9%	4.82	2.20
b	1112	1017	9.3%	8.87	2.98	X
c	1102	1017	8.4%	7.10	2.67	X
d	997	967	3.1%	0.93	0.96
e	1071	933	14.8%	20.41	4.52	X	X
f	925	883	4.8%	2.00	1.41
g	942	983	-4.2%	1.71	1.31
h	1044	983	6.2%	3.79	1.95
i	913	966	-5.5%	2.91	1.71
	12000	12000		113.47		X	X

Void-of-Course Moon Tables

(time: EST/EDT; add 5 hours for UT/ GMT, 6 hours for CET)

SEPTEMBER 2001

Beginning				End				Sign
1	Sat	1:36	PM	1	Sat	8:32	PM	Pisces
4	Tue	4:37	AM	4	Tue	8:58	AM	Aries
6	Thu	6:31	PM	6	Thu	8:18	PM	Taurus
8	Sat	2:30	PM	9	Sun	5:41	AM	Gemini
10	Mon	9:42	PM	11	Tue	12:09	PM	Cancer
12	Wed	11:16	PM	13	Thu	3:16	PM	Leo
15	Sat	4:35	AM	15	Sat	3:39	PM	Virgo
17	Mon	6:27	AM	17	Mon	3:00	PM	Libra
19	Wed	12:38	PM	19	Wed	3:27	PM	Scorpio
21	Fri	5:09	PM	21	Fri	7:02	PM	Sagittarius
23	Sun	8:32	PM	24	Mon	2:48	AM	Capricorn
26	Wed	10:38	AM	26	Wed	2:05	PM	Aquarius
29	Sat	1:27	AM	29	Sat	2:50	AM	Pisces
30	Sun	9:02	AM	1 (Oct)	Mon	3:08	PM	Aries

OCTOBER 2001

Beginning				End				Sign
4	Thu	12:44	AM	4	Thu	2:01	AM	Taurus
5	Fri	6:33	PM	6	Sat	11:12	AM	Gemini
8	Mon	12:23	PM	8	Mon	6:19	PM	Cancer
10	Wed	1:47	PM	10	Wed	10:54	PM	Leo
12	Fri	12:34	PM	13	Sat	12:58	AM	Virgo
15	Mon	12:52	AM	15	Mon	1:26	PM	Libra
16	Tue	3:23	PM	17	Wed	2:03	AM	Scorpio
18	Thu	6:30	PM	19	Fri	4:47	AM	Sagittarius
21	Sun	7:42	AM	21	Sun	11:11	AM	Capricorn
23	Tue	4:11	PM	23	Tue	9:26	PM	Aquarius
25	Thu	3:32	PM	26	Fri	9:56	AM	Pisces
27	Sat	5:31	PM	28	Sun	9:15	PM	Aries

Eastern Standard Time begins 2 AM, Sunday 28 October

30

Tue

2:17

PM

31

Wed

7:48

AM

Taurus

References

1. http://www.accessnewage.com/
   http://www.mysticempowerment.com/
2. MUNKASEY, M 1974 Void-of-Course Market Phenomena, The Astrological Review Spring - Summer issue
3. BERGMANN, A 1992 L'astrologie, outil d'aide à la décision pour géstionnaires? Cahiers de documentation et de recherche en gestion de resources humaines. [Can astrology help in making recruting decisions?] Unpublished research paper: University of Lausanne, HEC
   About Prof Bergmann: http://www.eiasm.be/EdenMay7112001.html#Faculty
   KNOBIL, R 1995 The value of astrology in personnel selection. Manchester: BSc Dissertation, Manchester School of Management, UMIST
4. COOPER, H 1973 Occupation and season of birth. Journal of Social Psychology 89: 109-114
   COOPER, H & SMITHERS, A 1975 Birth patterns among American army officers. Journal of Social Psychology 97: 61-66
   SMITHERS, A & COOPER, H 1978 Personality and season of birth. Journal of Social Psychology 105: 237-241
   SMITHERS, A & COOPER, H 1984 Social class and season of birth. Journal of Social Psychology 124: 79-84