I read about this extraordinary correlation in 1997 when it was due to be published in the Journal for Scientific Exploration. Whether it was subsequently published or not, I don't know.

The phenomenon was discovered by James Spottiswoode, a physicist and British-born director of research at the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory in Palo Alto, California. In 1,468 laboratory experiments of ESP in the US and Europe, Dr Spottiswoode found that subjects were significantly more successful at around 13.30 sidereal time. The tests primarily involved parapsychologists asking subjects in locked rooms to guess what other subjects also in locked rooms, but miles away might be looking at. Whether this effect is telepathy, mind reading, remote viewing, clairvoyance or some other phenomenon, is not speculated. As Dr Spottiswoode says "Don't ask me what it is, but it is real!"

How does this result link to astrology and the sign of Libra?

This information came to me through an article in the Guardian [UK] (1st July 1997). The Science Editor appears to have misquoted the Royal Greenwich Observatory as saying that that "at 13.30 local sidereal time Virgo is on the ecliptic". In fact, the constellation of Virgo is always on the ecliptic, but at 13.30 l.s.t. the constellation on the ecliptic at the Midheaven is Virgo. In fact, for western astrologers it is exactly 24 degrees of Libra in the tropical zodiac. Though I don't consider myself especially good at this kind of ESP, the results interested me as my exact Mercury/Neptune conjunction falls at 26 degrees of Libra. I knew my absent-mindedness could be put to some good use :-)

What happens at 24 degrees Libra?

I checked out Lynda and Richard Hill's excellent publication The Sabian Symbols as an Oracle published by White Horse Books. 25 Libra (the correct reference for > 24 degrees) says:

"The sight of an autumn leaf brings to a pilgrim the sudden revelation of the mystery of life and death." The commentary adds "...you may have grown tired of seeking information for life's understanding through conventional channels.... Fleeting inspiration."

Food for thought! [Thanks also to Dr Marc Edmund Jones and Dane Rudhyar for the legacy of the Sabian Symbols]

Is this whole experiment an early April fool?

In this one result alone both astrology and psychic phenomena are shown to be valid under scientific conditions. If it can be replicated, it would unsettle a lot of sceptics and they would be desperate for a mundane explanation for what appears to be a supernatural effect. The scientific work of Michel Gauquelin preoccupied them for two decades. Their best attempts at debunking him was a test that unfairly included a large number of basket ball players to negate the Mars effect. I admire some sceptics for their almost painful honesty. Shame on the bad apples for letting emotional prejudice get in the way of truth!

Personally, I am very sceptical of all scientific tests involving human beings as it is impossible to isolate the innumerable factors. But the main reason, I am intrigued by these results (I have to admit some bias) is because I have long felt intuitively that in this Millennium, mankind will get solid evidence of what is known as the paranormal. It is only fitting as we enter the Aquarian Age, that there should be a meeting point between physics and metaphysics or science and spirituality. But I also sense that this step can only come when humankind is ready. During the last decade the excitement of the transition into a new era, has led to this essential change in consciousness in the western world (who are largely dominated by the Gregorian calendar). And as a result we are nearing the required a critical mass.

Robert Currey, astrologer.

Footnote: 13.30 sidereal time is not the same as 13.30 clock time. Sidereal time or star time, changes by approximately four minutes each day from clock time. So 13.30 l.s.t. can occur at night time for some periods and by day at other periods.
Footnote 2: Someone is going to make a fortune with a watch that calculates and beeps when 24 degrees Libra is overhead.
Footnote 3: In Sept 2002, the British Astrological Association conference delegates took part in a group visualisation experiment using the Libra Effect for the UK Lotto. For more details contact the organiser Mick at lottomon@hotmail.com