A sample of 175 mixed adults completed a 36-item questionnaire addressed to likely Pluto meanings, namely intensification, exaggeration, social power, transformation, and suppression. A comparison with Pluto aspects in the natal charts found no evidence to support any of these meanings.

Each of the authors addressed a subset of the issues raised by Dean and Loptson in Discourse for Key Topic 2: some philosophical problems of astrology (Correlation 14(2) pp32- 44). Among the points: (1) The metaphysical principle “as above, so below” can only be understood within a classical cosmology (Pierce). (2) We must be clear about our definitions of “astrology” when formulating criticisms of it. Is the critic addressing the “study of the relationships between the stars and human affairs” or the activities of astrologers? Use of the dichotomy of satisfaction versus accuracy as a way of differentiating astrology from established sciences results from blurring this distinction (Iriving). (3) As positivism became a dominant philosophy, the misapplication of the methods of natural science to other domains was a category error (Urban-Lurain) (4) The evaluation of a discipline on the basis of scientific evidence requires an understanding of the nature of such evidence and its proper interpretation. A lack of physical mechanism for phenomena in any given domain of inquiry does not preclude scientific status for the inquiry. Fate, as understood in the context of astrology, limits freedom to a lesser degree than determinism. Prediction in the context of science must not be confused with prognostication; the latter is irrelevant to evaluating the validity of scientific theories (McPherson).

Further analyses of Dwyer’s data, using aggregation to improve reliability, confirmed the conclusions of Part 1. No evidence was found that Pluto by aspect or angularity means power, suppression or transformation. The sensitivity was more than adequate to detect a worthwhile effect.

The author challenges the supposition that the belief systems proposed by Dean (2000) should be more pronounced in rural than urban areas and uses empirical data to demonstrate the validity of that challenge. Rural-urban disparities in the percentage of people who agree to the item “Good luck charms sometimes do bring good luck” (results based on answers from n = 14395 respondents from 12 different countries) suggest that rural people are not more superstitious than those from urban areas. The implications of this are discussed.

Leo Knegt (1882-1957) was one of the Netherlands’s most eminent astrologers. When tested in a 1933 blind trail by the lawyer Cornelis van Rossem, his interpretations were found to be both accurate and at times amazingly specific, certainly more specific than most astrologers today would consider possible. In effect, Knegt seems to have been an astrological white crow, living proof of the impossible. So the big question is how did Knegt do it? What was the secret of his success? The author suggests that this is simply not known and goes to state that if it were, it could revolutionise astrological practice and research. In this article, the author looks at the blind trial in detail, giving examples of Knwegt’s specific interpretations and the charts they were based on, and asking the readers of Correlation for help in trying to find out how Knegt did it.

The author scrutinises the results of the Mars – Redhead project coordinated by Hill and Thompson in the United States where birth data from nearly one and a half thousand redheads were gathered and tested to see if the position of Mars in the zodiac correlated with the colour of their hair. In this critique of that paper, suggestions are offered on alternative ways of testing future replications for clearer significance levels.

The relevance of character traits to extreme pathological subjects is discussed. Evidence is presented for a Gauquelin Effect in a sample of habitually violent criminals. The distribution of Mars positions is significantly different from the typical professional data for Mars, previously reported by the Gauquelins.

The claim based on a study by James David on Alice Bailey’s theory of “Seven Rays” that, using this theory, photographs of people could be accurately matched to their sun sign is tested in this paper.200 photographs were sent to James David of which he chose 58. After subjecting the choices made by James David to analysis the author concluded that they were no better than chance. James David’s response arguing that the author’s method of analysis could be disputed is included in the paper with a discussion of the grounds for that dispute.

Dr. Theodor Lanscheidt claims to have discovered effects by Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and the Sun on birth distributions of Gauquelin professionals. His result, however, a smoothed cyclic curve, was replicable by random numbers. Landscheidt also holds that Gauquelin planetary effects obtain their pattern by the “golden Section”, i.e. peaks and troughs of birth distributions are allegedly governed by the proportions .382 and .618. It was shown that many other proportions, e.g., .202 fit better than the “golden” proportion but even the best-fitting “non-golden” proportions lack explanatory import.

Dr.Landscheidt rejects Professor Ertel’s dismissal of the golden section link with the Gauquelin “professionals” effect and discusses his reason for so doing.