During a panel discussion in which astrologers were asked to predict the 2012 election outcome astrologers Chris Brennan, Gary Christian, Edith Hathaway, Nina Gryphon and Claude Weiss described the substantively different astrological predictive techniques they used to independently arrive at similar conclusions. Though some suggested the race might be close, all of the panelists insisted the challenger’s chances were slim to none.

Lucky guesses?

The astrologers made their predictions in May before the political conventions and debates could sway public opinion. At a similar event four years earlier, six astrologers unanimously predicted then Senator Obama would become the first African American President in U.S. history.

The United Astrology Congress (UAC) event is held every four years and dates for the last two events have coincided with election years in the U.S. For those keeping score, astrologers predicting the election outcome at these events are currently batting 1,000 with eleven hits and no misses.

Of course, this doesn’t prove anything.

The exact number of astrologers who made 2012 election year predictions isn’t known but is presumed to be a sizable number. Astrologer Chris Brennan, one of the UAC panelists who got it right, scoured traditional and online media sources to find 49 separately published election year forecasts by astrologers.

In his survey, Brennan found that astrologers favored President Obama by a two-to-one margin with a small hand full claiming the election was too close to call. In other words, astrologers did a better job of predicting the outcome than some biased political pollsters for the losing side were able to do.

But there may be more important take-away lessons. Like weather patterns and investment cycles, election outcomes produce testable data. In democratic countries, a voluminous amount of historical election year data is available to test the veracity of the various predictive methods astrologers use when making these predictions. Simply, one candidate in every race usually emerges with a discernible astrological edge, i.e., seems favored by astrological indications.

In an ANS newsmaker interview Nina Gryphon describes a unique study that analyzes outcomes in U.S. Presidential elections dating to 1880. Using traditional techniques first set down by ancient Sumerians four millennia ago, Gryphon was able to use this data to predict winners and losers in past U.S. elections with uncanny accuracy.

The various approaches used by other astrological forecasters might as easily be tested in the same way.

That’s the word from the last day of an astrology conference here that also forecast earthquakes, explored the impact of lunar cycles on U.S. stocks and demonstrated how to use planetary charts to find a job.

The United Astrology Conference meets every four years and is the largest gathering of astrologers from around the globe, says David Railey, a conference spokesman and an Atlanta-based astrologer. This year’s conference included, for the first time, a contingent from China, where astrology is rapidly gaining popularity.

“Everybody sees astrology a little differently,” says Ingrid Zhang, 50, an astrologer from Beijing. “It’s important to have astrologers from around the world in the same place.”

The highlight of each conference is the presidential prediction. At the last conference, in May 2008, six panelists unanimously predicted Obama’s win over Sen.John McCain.

This year’s panelists used an array of different techniques to reach their predictions. One panelist inserted the candidates’ birth information into winter solstice charts and directed the information to the swearing-in location, Washington, D.C. Another looked at planetary charts dating back to 1880. All chose Obama to win.

The astrologers also warned that a Mercury retrograde — an alignment of Mercury, the sun and Earth — begins on Election Day and could lead to voting irregularities. The last time a Mercury retrograde appeared on Election Day was on Nov. 7, 2000 — and it took a Florida recount and Supreme Court decision to finalize a winner.

Besides bringing astrologers together to exchange ideas and techniques, conference organizers say the gathering adds legitimacy to a field often grouped with palm readers and horoscopes.

Unlike astronomy, the science that deals with the physical study of planets, astrology explores how the positions of planets and suns affect human behavior.

Workshops included “Better than Prozac: Astrology and Mental Health” and “Finding the Gypsy Within.”

A marketplace offered everything from astrology iPad software to Brazilian energy crystals to $3,000 astrology retreats to Bali.

“An astrologer is showing you a map to things that you are living in your life,” Railey says. “It makes for a more fulfilling life.”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-29/astrology-conference-predict-future/55272842/1