After 1700, astrology lost the respect it once commanded in medical circles. But the belief that the heavens influenced bodily health persisted – even in learned medicine -until well into the nineteenth century. The continuing vitality of these ideas owed much to the new empirical and mechanical outlook of their proponents. Taking their cue from the work of Robert Boyle and Richard Mead a number of British practioners amassed statistical evidence which purported to prove he influence of the Moon upon fevers and other diseases. Such ideas flourished in the colonies and in the medical services of the armed forces, but their exponents were not marginal men. Some, like James Lind, were widely respected and commanded support for their views from such influential figures as Erasmus Darwin.

This comment is an additional piece relatling to “Some Extreme Character Types” by Graham Douglas, an abstract of which can be found on this database. (See also “Developing the Geophysical Perspective” by the same author.)

Byzantium inherited the rich astrological tradition of Late Antiquity, especially that of Alexandria, where even in the 6th century A.D., astrology was taught in philosophical schools. The great number of Byzantine astrolgical MSS, which preserve works of famous authors and many anonymous treatises, shows the survival and continuity of astrology in Byzantium. Through medical astrology pysicians can better understand the temperament of an individual man and find out about his bodily constitution and psychic faculties, his inclination to chronic and acute diseases, the possibilities of curable or incurable cases, and finally the periods of lmajor danger for his health. They can conjecture about the evolution of a disease, choose a favourable time for an operation, or initiate a cure.

The objective of this study was to analyse whether the number of admissions for gastrointestinal bleeding to our bleeding unit increases during the full moon. In a propsective study, we included 447 consecutive patients with gastrointestinal haemorrhage admitted to our bleeding unit during a period of two years. The number of admissions was allocated to the corresponding day of the lunar cycle, and full moon and non-full moon days were compared. A wide variation in the number of admissions throughout the lunar cycle was observed. There were 26 admissions on the 25 days of full moon and 421 admissions in the remainng 713 days of non-full moon. This difference was mainly related to a higher incidence of haemorrhage in men and variceal haemorrhage at full moon. The results of this study suggest an increase in the number of admissions related to gastrointestinal haemorrhage in our bleeding unit during the full moon, especially in men and in patients experiencing variceal haemorrhoage. However, the wide variation in the number of admissions throughout the lunar cycle could limit interpretation of the results. Therefore, further studies are needed to clariy the possible influence of the moon on gastrointestinal haemorrhage.

Anecdotal and historical evidence suggests that solar eclipses have a powerful effect on those who experience them. This qualitative study, conducted by email, used emailed questionnaires and semi-structured personal interviews in order to record first-hand testimony from eclipse-watchers. The results support the propo-sition that the direct observation of a solar eclipse tends to be an emotionally profound experience

Taking the proposal that all astrology is divination as a basic hypothesis, this pilot study explored the phenomenology and experience of divination during the consultation between the astrologer and the client. The study collected qualitative data in ninety-minute taped interviews with six experienced astrologers. The in-terview schedule was semi-structured so as to allow the subjects to explore their experiences at length. The results showed a very rich and varied experience of divinatory features with altered states of consciousness in the consultation being common. All the subjects acknowledged that divinatory processes play a part in astrological practice. The high level of use of intuitive processes reported in the interviews led to a sample of astrologer delegates at an Astrological Association conference being given a short questionnaire asking them about the use of intuition in their practice. 80% of a 26% sample of 246 delegates often used intuitive processes in their astrological work and 20% did not. The results of this pilot study are discussed in terms of the current literature and the possibility of further work to test the hypothesis.

This paper documents my research into the working practices of astrologers and to discuss the methodology I have employed. For the purposes of this research, I have conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with practising astrologers based in Glastonbury in Somerset, all of whom work face-to-face with individual clients. I am attempting to ascertain how they approach their work, the steps taken in preparing for a consultation, the nature and extent of any ritualised activities undertaken in the process and the importance that they attach to these. Through this, I hope to discover something of the motivations behind the astrologers’ approach, what it is that astrologers consider they are doing and why, and the role they believe themselves to be playing in the client’s life.

The objective of this study was to determine whether there are significant circadian, weekly or lunar variations in self-poisoning presentations and whether patients’ names or dates of birth have an influence on the likelihood of self-poisoning by analysing biorythms, numerology and star sign. Setting: Hunter Valley, Australia. Subjects Consecutive adult patients admitted with self-poisoning between January 1987 and June 1993. Results: there were 2215 patients admitted. There was a marked circadian variation. Over 6% of all admissions occurred in each of the hours between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. compared with less than 2% per hour between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. This pattern was not different for patients with a diagnosis of depression. Numerology, biorhythms and star signs had no significant correlations with self-poisoning, nor was there a significant weekly or yearly variation in presentations. There was a small but statistically significant sex difference in presentations analysed by lunar phases. At the new moon 60% of self-poisonings were in women, compared with 45% when the mooon was full. The odds ratios (OR) for women to be admitted at full moon and at new moon were 1.27 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-1.66: p value not significant) and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.57-0.92: p = 0.009) respecively. The mean illumination of the moon at the time of overdoes was 50.63% =/- 0.91% for men, compared with 47.45% =/- 0.85% for women (p = 0.014). Conclusion: the circadian cycle (but not weekly, yearly or mystical cycles) should be taken into account when determining staffing levels for poison information and casualty service. The full moon is protetctive for women.

The lunar hypothesis, that is, the notion that lunar phases can directly afffect human beharior, was tested by time-series analysis of 4,575 crisis center telelphone calls (all calls recorded for a 6-month interval). As expected, the lunar hypothesis was not supported. The 28-day lunr cycle accounted for less than 1% of the variance of the frequency of crisis center calls. Also, as hypothesized from an attribution theory framework, crisis center workers reported significantly greater beleif in lunar effects than a non-crisis-center-worker comparison group.

Since antiquity, people in several East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, have believed that a person is destined to possess specific characteristics according to the sign of the zodiac under which he or she was born. South Koreans, in particular, have traditionally considered that the year of the Horse bears inauspicious implications for the birth of daughters. Using monthly longitudinal data at the region level in South Korea between 1970 and 2003, we found that, in the year of the Horse, the sex ratio at birth significantly increased while fertility decreased.