Michel Gauquelin

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

Related Topics:
November 13 - 1928 - May 20 - 1991 - French - Psychologist - Statistician - Astrology

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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.

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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)

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His own conclusions were subject to fluctuations throughout the course of his life due to his research over several decades, and in the begining he was very critical of astrology:

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• "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)

Although he was always highly critical of astrology, his attitude softened as his studies progressed, and 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 on 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 (ie 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.

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Away from astrology, Michel Gauquelin was an accomplished tennis player, ranking within the top 50 in France. He took his own life.

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