There was a French study I learned about years ago from astrologer Chris Brennan (The Astrology Podcast) called “The Mars Effect”. A husband and wife team of statisticians, Michel and Francoise Gauquelin, analyzed the data of about 100,000 birth charts to prove a theory they had about the angles of the natal chart and their relationship to particular planets. There was enough data to prove that certain professions were prominent in specific planet/angle aspects in the natal chart.

The Mars Effect, a book the Gauquelins published in 1969, posited that famous athletes often had Mars close to the Ascendant (1st house angle) or Mars close to the Midheaven (10th house) in their astrological birth charts. While it was true in a number of cases, from a statistical point of view it wasn’t astoundingly accurate.

Honestly, this is often the case in data research. Even “double blind” medical research studies are rarely all that remarkable. This is because every human being will inevitably be varied in biology and life choices. Certainly a study of this magnitude had never been done before in attempting to prove or disprove astrology.

Of course as soon as I learned of this, I thought of the best athletes I knew and immediately looked up their charts. Sure enough, the first three I thought of had it: two of them had Mars very close to the Midheaven and one had Mars close to the Ascendant. While they didn’t pursue athletic careers, two of them went to college on athletic scholarships and the other was a ranked wrestler in high school. Then I remembered another good friend, a competitive swimmer, who had given up a potential athletic career to be a concert pianist. A different angle, but still noteworthy: Mars tightly conjunct the Descendant (7th angle).

The problem with analyzing the data of only famous people is that there is an entire swathe of the human population to which this could apply. I mean, four of the best athletes I knew personally had Mars on the angles. If every astrologer compiled an honest list of everyone they knew who were talented athletes, the probability of Mars near the angles would likely be high.

Mars on the angles is maybe too restrictive, though. What about Mars-Pluto hard aspects? Mars-Uranus? Or maybe too, because Pluto shares similar traits as Mars, we could look for Pluto hard aspects/angles?

I looked up the charts of a few famous athletes out of curiosity. Hank Aaron, for example, had Mars in Pisces in the 6th house, making no aspects to the angles. Mars in the 6th usually means having a demanding job, but Mars in Pisces is often motivated by aesthetics – like dancing for example.

Aaron did have an exact square between Uranus and Pluto (23 degrees Aries and 23 degrees Cancer), with Uranus in the 8th house and Pluto in the 10th house of career. The Uranus square Pluto generation of the early 1930s were unusually hard working. Someone who immediately leaps to mind is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the famous Supreme Court justice who slept maybe 3-4 hours a night for most of her life.

Jackie Robinson had Mars very close to the Descendant, which would be ideal for team sports. Mars on the 7th house angle needs others to inspire a feeling of competition. Robinson also had Jupiter conjunct Pluto. Jupiter-Pluto natives are driven to achieve in any field they choose, really. I think of Anthony Bourdain.

Kobe Bryant had a tight Mars-Pluto conjunction: the ultimate drive indicator in a natal chart. Lance Armstrong has a variation. Exact conjunctions between Mars and the north node and Uranus and Lilith.

Many celebrities and politicians have Mars-Pluto hard aspects. Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Kevin Spacey, Woody Harrelson, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, Franklin Roosevelt, Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Lee, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, John Hamm, Johnny Depp, Osama Bin Laden….the list is endless. You can see how differently Mars-Pluto expresses itself in these examples, but its always powerful in some way.

I do think the Gauquelins were right – they just needed to expand the parameters a little. Mars and Pluto are the power planets. We know this to be fact. Competition, drive, athleticism and aggression are Mars and Pluto’s domain. I’m trying to think if I know any natal Mars-Pluto or Plutonian/Martian couch potatoes. I can’t think of any. Seriously, if you think of any, let me know. You’ve been given the task of debunking astrology.