Astrology and the single
woman
Swedish astrologer Gun Hansson shares her latest research on whether there’s a
horoscopic ’signature’ for women who never marry. Does the chart condition of Venus
hold the key? The results may surprise you
For more than 35 years I have had the privilege of working
as an astrologer in Sweden. I have worked with both pr ivate
individuals and management executives, and have made
a number of appearances on national television and radio
programmes in which I have read celebrity horoscopes using
only the requisite astrological data. On three occasions I have
lectured at Lund University, and have also held a number
of courses and talks throughout Sweden. In recent years,
my interest in astrological research has grown. My latest
research, which I would like to present to you here, compares
two groups: women who never married and women who
were married at one time or another. Might there be some
interesting differences descriptive of marital status in the two
groups’ horoscopes?
The answer is yes. My research produced eight statistical
significances including one strong and two bordering
significance, by standard criteria.
And before I begin, I should point out that I am sensitive to
social changes, and that our understanding of ‘marital status’
has altered or widened in recent times. Much of the research
below is rooted in past times of different values concerning
sexual orientation/identity, disability and marital union –
though the fact of these changes alone does not invalidate
certain research outcomes here.
Selection
Data were taken from the CD Swedish Death Index 1901-2013.
For each group I took 60 women per year, from and including
1910 through 1929 (a 20-year period). The total is thus 1,200
in each group.
In both groups, I included the first 10 with the surname letters
A, D, G, J, M and P. For research purposes, I included only
Swedish women, and therefore ruled out everyone whose
surname began with ‘Aa’ and others with a foreign first name.
Some Swedish women, of course, were married to men from
other countries. To include them in the research, I used only
women with completely Swedish first names; of these, any with
foreign surnames (very few people) were included only after
verifying their birthplace and finding it to be in Sweden. The
sampling method is approved by statistical expertise.
Unfortunately, time, latitude and longitude of birth are
unavailable – this is classified information in Sweden –
meaning of course that important details might be lost. In this
study, for instance, it would have been exciting to look at the
7th house.
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Sep/Oct 2015 The Astrological Journal
I looked at the sign positions of Sun, Mercury, Venus and
Mars, as well as their aspects to each other and to Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The aspects used are
conjunctions, squares, trines and oppositions. The orb is 9°.
Possible pitfalls
Of course, there may be pitfalls. Some women who never
married might have been inhibited or restricted by narrow
social attitudes, severe physical impairment, or sexual
orientation. In all astrological studies it is important to examine
various kinds of difficulty that might make an overweighting
‘natural’. An important anomaly can involve the percentage
differences between the two groups in question. For example,
a temporarily high percentage difference at the beginning of
the study period can distort the overall result.
Let’s say, for instance, that in the unmarried women group,
a high number of women were born under a particular
astrological sign just in the first three years – but thereafter the
figure dropped and equalled the number in the second group
and remained constant. In that case, the high percentage
difference in the first three years would give an unbalanced
impression of the overall reality. It is therefore useful to
compare the two groups’ increase in the significant signs,
something I have done here, every four years. I call them ‘fouryear trends’. By this I mean only the number (of each aspect)
right between every fourth year. A continuous trend here may
be able to ‘reinforce’ the results.
However, I must point out that ‘trends’ may not always
prove entirely reliable. Sometimes an overweighting or
underweighting in an entirely different star sign ‘takes over’,
so that a trend in another sign correspondingly decreases.
Perhaps more of one group are born at the end of the year and
fewer at the start of the next year. Or the opposite could be
true. But despite these problems, the trends touch upon an
important point.
Of course, other pitfalls also exist. For example, a woman born
in 1929 perhaps does not marry for the same cultural or social
reasons as one born in 1910. Societies change over time along
with perspectives.
Results
So, which results turned out to have statistical significance?
One thing that many astrologers would certainly be curious
about in a study involving relationships is the planet Venus.
Venus, of course, represents love and relationships. And here
we find something that piques our interest.
Astrology and the single woman
The unmarried women’s significant aspects and planetary
placements (overweightings):
Venus conjunct Saturn – bordering strong
significance
Venus opposite Uranus
Venus in Virgo
Mercury conjunct Neptune
Mars conjunct Neptune
The significant overweightings (aspects/planetary placements)
of the women who married:
Sun in Capricorn
Bordering significance:
Venus trine Saturn
Mercury in Taurus
Curiously, three out of the six significances – and four of the
eight (if you count those on the border of significance) – are
Venus placements.
I’ll start with the overweighting of the unmarried women
who border on showing ‘strong significance’, namely Venus
conjunct Saturn. Here, the unmarried women have 79 of this
aspect while those who married have 51. This means that the
unmarried women have an overweighting of 54.9%.
In my work as an astrologer, this is one of the most problematic
aspects to overcome. It often involves having experienced
being the unloved child. This aspect can signify over-caution
in relationships due to fear of abandonment. Feelings may be
stifled, leading to sadness stemming from a lack of love. One
can also display a tendency to choose the wrong partner, as
Margaret Hone writes in her book The Modern Text-Book of
Astrology. Robert Hand attributes the avoidance of, or delay
in, marriage to th is aspect. A person with this conjunction may
feel alone. Some have strong feelings of duty and may take care
of their parents or other relatives.
So what do the four-year trends (or occurrences) look like for
Venus conjunct Saturn? Well, we find the following:
Period
Unmarried
Married, divorced and widowed
1910-1913
13
4
1914-1917
31
20
1918-1921
21
15
1922-1925
10
10
1926-1929
4
2
The unmarried women group show overweightings in all trends
apart from the fourth (1922-25), where the numbers are equal.
According to statistical expertise, this could strengthen the
result. (For the sake of brevity, I do not give a detailed account
of the four-year trends for other significances; however, I have
submitted the exact findings for all four-year trends to the
Astrological Journal.)
Next, we come to Venus opposite Uranus. Here, the
unmarried women have 60 of this aspect while those who
married have 40. What does it mean, then, to have that
opposition in one’s horoscope?
It can often indicate quirky romantic relationships that tend
to break up suddenly and unexpectedly. One party may crave
freedom, be a bit erratic and wayward or display nervous
tension – something that easily makes a relationship unstable.
Not infrequently, the partner is the one who exits.
(As an aside, I would also like to mention Venus square
Saturn. Many astrologers will wonder about this result.
The meaning of that square is, in short, “disappointments
in romantic relationships, discord in love, fear of being
abandoned”. Here, too, the unmarried women show an
overweighting. They have 128, while those who were married
have 105. This is interesting but does not reach statistical
significance.)
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