Considering the glass slipper quest

Intro

As you well know, I am re-forging my body in the fiery furnace of my will. If the documentary evidence is any indication, the effort is producing results. I have some limitied anecdotal evidence that this is having an impact on members of the opposite sex.

With the understanding that this was not the reason why I had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, I can see no reason why I shouldn’t take advantage of the other positive side-effects of this arthritis remedy. But when? When shall I go forth on this quest?

Setting the time frame

Saint Augustine of Hippo was famous for saying: da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo. Give me chastity and continence, but not yet! My perspective is quite the opposite. Give me a high-end dating service and the nightlife, but not yet!

As far as I am concerned it is still the preseason. I am not ready for the regular season. I am not in playing shape just yet. Just when will this moment come?

Well… to be quite frank with you, I would at the very least like to have a healthy body fat percentage, before being placed in any situation where I might eventually need to disrobe. Does that make any sense to you? I hope it does.

The last visit to the Bod Pod indicated that I had 32% body fat. If you have looked carefully at any of the photographed Bod Pod documents I have posted on this blog, you may have noticed a box of information called “Body Fat Ratings”. There are a series of check boxes for different ratings. My rating is currently “High Risk: High Body Fat”. This is because my body fat percentage is still higher than 25%.

Now I fully understand that these ratings are statistical. They may not describe me at all. I may well be able to beat the crap out of their benchmark-expectations for a guy with 32% body fat. If they tested me now, I might well beat their chemical and cardio respiratory benchmarks by several hundred percentage points. That’s no joke. I probably can.

Still, I see reason in what they are saying. I have not obtained a healthy body fat percentage, or arrived at my goals, but I press on to take hold of that for which the surgeons took hold of me. This one thing I do: I forget what is behind and battle towards that which is ahead. I press on towards the prize.

I won’t be officially healthy until I reach 20%. Now when will that be? One week ago I was 12% off the mark. Due to the massive surge I have experienced this past week, I have reason to believe my BFP is now below 30%. If so, I am now less than 10% away from the mark. By next Friday, I could well BFP of 28.275%. This will leave me 8.272% away from the mark.

Of course, this extraordinary drop is courtesy of busted set-point, and a massive surge. Through this long process, the secular trend has been a 1% drop in BFP per week. If I should happen to hit my immediate goal this Friday, It must be understood that these results are not typical.

Rationally speaking, I should not expect a healthy BFP for 9 weeks, that is, 8 weeks from next Friday. Rationally speaking, this means October 14 is the logical date for Healthy BFP day. Rationally speaking, this means I should target Halloween as the season for my debutant ball.

Oh jeeze… I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween. I’ve never exactly hated it either, but this is when the freak flags fly. I don’t particularly love this notion, but you have to play the cards you are dealt.

The Game plan

The incidental moments with women in public are entertaining and delightful, but I have little or no confidence in theory that this is how I will meet my prize. No, no, no. I am far too exacting, precise, perfectionistic, and goal-oriented to do things in this random and haphazard way.

As you know, the objective is to meet women born on 3/12/1986. Sirus 1.1 claims this is the optimal solution date. Women born on this date have the highest of all possible total combined scores versus men born on 9/2/1966. Incidentally, it works in reverse also. Men born on 9/2/1966 have the highest of all possible combined scores versus women born on 3/12/1986. They can’t do better. We can’t do better… according to the match maker software in Sirus.

Incidentally, you should be able to reverse the sexes also. According to this logic, my birthday buddy Salma Hayek should go after Danny Jones, singer of the band McFly. He will blow her head off, and visa-versa.

Now, if I happen to finish my synastry engine before October 14, I may have a better target. I doubt this will be the case. I’m juggling far too many balls in the air right now to finish by October 14^th. Even if I should finish my project, and even if it chooses a different optimal solution, my curiosity has been piqued. I am going to have to meet at least one female born on 3/12/1986 just to see what it is like. I have to put Sirus to the test.

The plan calls for the use of Zoosk at the moment, but this may change. I may find a better solution.

The Chess Master: My first original and brilliant idea

Intro

In any scientific software project, there are two paths you can take.

You can take a purely empirical approach in which you perform open-ended research without any assumptions about what the data is going to tell you. This is what statisticians do when they perform endless linear regressions through piles of numerical data. You just try to find the patterns in the data. This is how baseball geeks discovered that on-base percentage was the ultimate predictor of a player’s value to his team. This is how I discovered I have a thing for Venus or Mars in Scorpio. This is how I discovered my magical little 3/12/1986 date. Incidentally, she does not have Mars or Venus in Scorpio.

The other path is the logical, abstract, theoretical approach. In this approach, you use key theoretical principles to reason-out the best possible hypothesis. You then devise a test for that hypothesis. This is how a guy like Bill Walsh reasoned out the theory that a bunch of short triangle rub-off passing patterns could win you the Super Bowl back in the 1980s. This is also how Bill Bellichick reasoned out the notion that two-zone 40 yard defense could stop those short triangle rub-off patterns. Of course, they put these theories to the test in battle. They both won their gambits.

Let’s look at the astrological wheel as a chess board

To the best of my knowledge, there is no piece of software in the astrological world that resembles a chess engine. There is no piece of software that will consider the contents of your chart the way a chess engine would consider the placement of pieces on a chess board. There are plenty of chess engines out there, and most of them will allow you to set up a scenario of pieces. Those engines are then capable of determining that specific arrangement of pieces opposite your pieces would be the best possible counter-position.

In the world of astrology, such an engine should be able to consider the placement of planets on a wheel and then say, the following arrangement of planets on a second chart would be the theoretical optimal solution as your soul-mate. Of course, the next problem is computing the date when that theoretical optimal combination of planets occurred. Unfortunately, due to the complexities of celestial mechanics, that perfect combination might have a date in the year 987 BC, or maybe it won’t occur until 2365 AD. You never know until you compute the date. The perfect mate may be, practically speaking, impossible to obtain.

Nevertheless, I think there is great value in devising an engine that will reason out the perfect theoretical mate. Just presenting this information in a simple grid would be extremely informative. A guy like me could easily memorize what that theoretical ideal looks like. Given five minutes to compare a real chart to that theoretical chart, it’s easy to see how closely it resembles or how far it deviates from that theoretically perfect chart.

More importantly, there is a chance—no matter how remote—that you just might get lucky. Your perfect mate might have been born 4 years before or 6 years after you. You might have a lucky chart that’s easy to match. If so, you might not need my help, but what the hell.

What is this ‘perfect’ crap you’re talking about?

The Star Goddess Janet Scialis is fond of saying “If you ever hear the word perfect, it came out of the mouth of a Virgo.” Yes, I am a Virgo, and a damn good one. I have a high concentration of powerful planets in my first house, and that first house just happens to be located in Virgo. We have a killer reputation for being perfectionists. With that said, our rep is vastly overstated.

We know the difference between a theoretical ideal and reality. I am very pragmatic and utilitarian in looking for optimal solutions. I begin with the notion that perfection is un-obtainable. Furthermore, perfection is the enemy of the possible, as my dad likes to say. We strive for perfection, but we do not attain it. We go after it, and get as close as possible, but you need to know when to stop and accept an expedient compromise.

Nevertheless, perfection is a very useful abstract concept. The meter, the kilogram, and the liter are all purely abstract concepts. No one has ever measured a perfect meter, kilogram or liter of anything. Nevertheless, these abstract concepts of perfection are incredible important units of measure in our practical world of engineering. We would be utterly fucked to the gills without perfect units of measure. No technological progress would ever be possible without such units of measure. You can’t put a man on the moon without these perfect units of measure.

Likewise in synastry, I don’t think you can really make a recommendation about what a guy or a girl should look for until you come up with a sharply honed notion of what the perfect mate would look like.

So how the hell do you compute a theoretical ideal mate anyway?

It’s pretty easy actually. We start with the following presuppositions based on theory:

1. The 5 personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) are the key pieces that have to line up with good angles.
2. The Conjunction is the most powerful angle in just about all cases, but it is unpredictable. Sometimes it produces great affinity and sometimes it produces great hatred. It depends on whether you identify strongly with that individual, or if that individual reminds you of everything you hate about yourself. Despite its tremendous power, we discard the Conjunction as a candidate for the optimal solution. It is just too unpredictable.
3. The Opposition is the most powerful angle for attraction, but opposition contains… er… well… opposition. If you are opposites, you don’t have a lot in common. You may complement each other well and complete each other, but you don’t agree much on the particulars of the matter. We discard this as a candidate for the optimal solution because it strongly implies conflict as well as balance and attraction.
4. The Sextile, or 60 degree angle, is the angle of good fortune. It denotes different, but highly compatible elements. In the case of Earth signs the Sextiles will be water signs. In the case of Fire signs, the Sextiles will be Air signs. We regard this as an excellent angle, but only second best overall. It is not the optimal solution, although it is a very good solution.
5. Almost everyone is in agreement that the Trine, or 120 degree angle, is the best of all possible angles. This denotes one of two possible signs that are of your specific gender, energy and element. This implies strong compatibility and an easy flow; getting together is both natural and fun. The Trine is the optimal solution.

Let’s Trine out

So the notion is simple.

1. Take the orbital position of the five personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars)
2. Compute the two trines of each planet by adding or subtracting 120 degrees to that orbital position.
3. Collect up the results and Lay them out in a grid next to client chart.
4. Try to compute the actual date on which this combination planet positions occurred.
5. Determine whether this date is, practically speaking, out of range and unobtainable.
6. Look for some near misses.

Critique

I am aware of the fact that the astrological literature warns that too many trines make for a lazy, careless and easy life. I am aware of the fact that many authorities suggest that squares and oppositions create challenges that are important for personal growth and change.

These chaps obvious haven’t met Tim Tebow. As I have mentioned before on this blog, the kid is almost entirely fire. His chart is utterly dominated by Leo, Aries and Sagittarius. Tebow is a bunch of Trines. You ought to see the magnificent equilateral triangles in his chart. This is one of those charts that makes the Magi come from east and say show me where the new born king of the Jews lies. It doesn’t surprise me that the kid is great, and I don’t doubt he will become a great NFL QB. There ain’t nothing lazy, careless or easy about this kid.

In short, I don’t buy this critique. I reject it. I think it is good to trine out the five internal planets. I can see no downside to taking a stab at this objective. I think this represents the best of all possible abstract goals. Of course, real mileage will vary.

There are always (at least) two candidates

So let’s remember that there are 12 signs and 4 elements. Each element has three signs. Each one of your planets is going to reside in one of those signs. For each possible position of any planet in your chart, there are two possible Trine companions. In the case of Virgo, both Taurus and Capricorn are equal Trine companions. In the case of Scorpio, both Cancer and Pisces are equal Trines. In the case of Leo, both Aries and Sagittarius are equal trines. In the case of Libra, both Gemini and Aquarius are equal trines.

Logically, this means that for any given individual there are two equally good theoretical perfect matches. I have two theoretically perfect matches. You have two theoretically perfect matches. The implications of that statement are fairly staggering. What if you had to choose between two theoretically perfect mates? How would you go about making that decision? How could you disappoint either one of them? Would it not kill you to make that choice?

The decision would be greatly complicated by the fact that these two would also be equally perfect for each other. They might be as close as blood brothers, or virtual sisters. I wonder if this is the reason for the great popularity of the archetypal romances in which a man or a woman is forced to choose between two perfect candidates. There are many thousands of mythical tragedies in which two blood brothers fall in love with the same woman and wind up killing each other over her. They kill each other because neither can live without her.

You can take solace in the fact that you probably won’t ever have to make this choice. Whether either one of your two perfect candidates lives today is in doubt. Whether either one of them is old enough or young enough for you is equally in doubt.

Still, we can afford the time to look around for these candidates.

Take me, for an example

So if we use an example I happen to know well, namely me, we can see how this works in action. A grid displaying my 5 personal planets and there two perfect Trine companions.

Num	Planet	Me	Candidate A	Candidate B
1	Sun	Virgo 9:37	Taurus 9:37	Capricorn 9:37
2	Moon	Aries 7:13	Leo 12:20	Leo 12:20
3	Mercury	Virgo 2:09	Taurus 2:09	Capricorn 2:09
4	Venus	Leo 22:04	Aries 05:02	Sagittarius 05:02
5	Mars	Leo 05:02	Aries 22:04	Sagittarius 22:04

As you can see clearly in this grid, my Virgo Sun has two perfect trines. One can be found at 9 degrees 37 minutes Taurus. The other can be found at 9 degrees, 37 minutes Capricorn.

In the case of the Moon, I choose Leo twice. I do not choose a Sagittarius moon. Why discriminate against Sagittarius? In theory, you could choose Sagittarius in both cases. Both females would still make excellent mates. As a matter of practical expediency, I might be forced to switch to Sagittarius in order to be able to find a living prospect.

What I am doing in this case is putting an optimizing wrinkle in the compiler. I want to construct a near-conjunction between my Venus are her Moon at the same time that I create trine between my Moon and her Moon. This effectively doubles down the score. A conjunction between Venus and the Moon is seen as one of the most positive aspects for marriage. This is what a compiler designer would describe as a discrete optimization technique.

Since celestial mechanics allow the moon to be anywhere vis-à-vis the position of the Sun, I am going to take advantage of this fact to construct a better match up. For this reason, I chose Leo twice, and I bump it’s position over 5 degrees to aspect better with both my Moon and Venus at the same time.

In the case of Mercury, it is the same story as the Sun. I want a simple Trine by adding or subtracting 120 degrees. All three Earth signs have practical, level-headed, expedient, pragmatic, utilitarian, skill-based intelligences. We’re all a bunch of feet-on-ground types, although some would question that in my case. Just in case you were wondering, the laws of celestial mechanics dictate that Mercury can never be more than 28 degrees away from the Sun. Ergo, the simple Trine is best you're ever going to do here.

You have to remember, I am an air adept. I can get pretty theoretical and abstract if I want. I haven’t lost that ability.

Notice that neither of my theoretically perfect candidates has a Venus or Mars in Scorpio. I would be willing to accept that as a substitute if no closer match could be found in reality, however, we should not go looking for 90 degree square problems.

In the case of Venus and Mars, I’m going to put in another discrete optimization technique. As I have mentioned many times on this blog, the Conjunction of Mars and Venus between two charts is the most significant predictor or sexual attraction and sexual compatibility. Whenever you can find a conjunction between his Mars and her Venus, you can be sure they want each other badly.

It’s a similar story for the Trines, just not as overwhelming. When his Mars trines her Venus, you will find a smooth, easy, fun blend of the male and the female principles. Most failed couples will tell you that the smooth blend of the masculine and feminine is the toughest possible task to accomplish. You want this principle working for you, not against you. It is even better if her Mars trines his Venus at the same time. You can be sure they will both be crazy about each other then.

The formula is simple. You take his Venus position add or subtract 120 degrees, assign that to her Mars. You take his Mars position, tack on 120 and assign it to her Venus. Of course, the same technique works fine if you have a female client.

Questions

Q: Why pick Aries twice for the Taurus candidate?

A: Because my Mars and Venus are conjuncted, I figured it would work better if my perfect match were also conjuncted. Further, celestial mechanics dictate that the position of Venus can never be more than 48 degrees away from the Sun. Because Venus cannot be more than 48 degrees away from the Sun, a Taurus woman cannot have her Venus in Leo or Sagittarius. Aries becomes the only choice.

Q: Why pick Sagittarius Twice for the Capricorn candidate?

A: Same reason. A Capricorn cannot have her Venus in Leo or Aries. Given a Capricorn Sun, the only choice for a conjunction of Venus and Mars in Fire is Sagittarius.

Q: Wouldn’t a Taurus with Venus in Aries and Mars in Sagittarius be a great trine candidate?

A: Absolutely, but she wouldn’t be conjuncted as I am. This would make her a little less consistent, and a little more complicated. She would probably still drive me crazy. I would probably still love her to death.

Q: Wouldn’t a Taurus with Venus in Aries and Mars in Leo be a great trine candidate?

A: Yup, same deal as before, but possibly better. We might make her Mars conjunct my Venus in this case. That should drive her crazy. Incidentally, a batch of females like this were born on 5/10/1963. You can also find these split combos with Capricorn. The results will probably be equally good.

Q: Rather than picking Moon in Leo, shouldn’t you select Moon in Sagittarius in order to produce Trines between your Venus and her Moon?

A: You make a very good point. If we go consistently with Trines everywhere, her Moon should be in Sagittarius. This would probably produce fantastic results. Once again, I am putting in a discrete optimization wrinkle here. I’ve heard too many good things about Moon conjunct Venus to pass on this aspect without trying. I am prepared to adjust this Moon position to Sagittarius if no Moon in Leo candidates are alive and within practical age boundaries.

So do you know anybody resembling this profile?

It just so happens I do. As I mentioned once before on this blog, there is a certain Brazilian Taurus woman I know at work who was born on 5/8/1979. If we compare her to the abstract notion of perfection called Candidate A, we see some very interesting corollaries and differences.

Num	Planet	Me	Candidate A	Brazilian Taurus
1	Sun	Virgo 9:37	Taurus 9:37	Taurus 17:14
2	Moon	Aries 7:13	Leo 12:20	Libra 03:51
3	Mercury	Virgo 2:09	Taurus 2:09	Aries 25:52
4	Venus	Leo 22:04	Aries 05:02	Aries 18:24
5	Mars	Leo 05:02	Aries 22:04	Aries 24:09

I don’t want to sound like Meatloaf, but 3 out of 5 ain’t bad. Her Sun position is off by less than 8 degrees. My Mars doesn’t precisely Trine her Venus. Her Mars is just 2 degrees away from a perfect trine with my Venus. We would always treat that as a Trine. According to the legend and lore, this would indicate that she is the pursuer and the party with cravings.

What about the Moon? Her Moon is just about perfectly opposed to my Moon. As you know, opposition is the most powerful aspect for attraction. However, opposition means opposition. She is a balanced peacemaker, emotionally speaking. I am a military war machine, emotionally speaking. Still, these two forces are powerfully attracted to each other. In terms of attraction, this will be stronger than a Trine. You might want to count this in her favor. It shouldn’t count against her.

The big problem is the Mercury sign. Mentally, the two of us a have a 130 degree sesquisquare. This would suggest a tremendous imbalance intellectually speaking. This could be the one and only big issue. She almost had a Taurus here, which would have been perfect. She missed the ideal by just 6 degrees.

Notwithstanding, you have to look at that grid with amazement. Any reasonably mature Astrologer would look at our two charts, raise an eyebrow, and wonder if she isn’t a God-given, custom tailored playmate for me. It is astounding that Sirus only grades her as a 231 point prospect. I still wonder why the score isn’t 639. Surely her score should be higher.

It is like a Finger Pointing Away to the Moon…

Don’t get hung up on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory. Don’t get hung up on the case of Dave and the Brazilian Taurus. Focus on the software engineer constructing his own synastry engine. The take home message is as follows

1. Understand that I am designing and constructing of a logical expert system that will arrange planets on a chart to make a pair of theoretically perfect Trine companions for you, or anyone else.
2. These two abstract charts are useful for comparison purposes. You can compare real-world charts to these two measuring sticks to see how closely the individual in question conforms to your theoretically perfect mates.
3. You might not be able to find an exact match for either of your two theoretically perfect charts, but you should be able to get reasonably close.
4. Understand that this abstract notion of perfection will resemble people who are alive and well today. You might even know someone who strongly resembles one of these two abstract charts, just as I do. With an adjustment here and there, said individual might be your most perfect available match.
5. With some very hard work on the mathematics of celestial mechanics, it should be possible to compute the exact date when your theoretically perfect mates were or will be born. This does not mean they will be within striking range of your lifetime, but you just might have a lucky chart.

I think this will be a useful tool, and worth building.

I figured out what's wrong with the Sirus Engine

So, it took some time for 5,005 facts to coalesced in my mind, and for all this information to snap into a coherent conclusion, but the magic moment finally arrived this morning. I finally tweaked on the fundamental problem of the Sirus engine.

As I mentioned in previous blog posts, some professional astrologers have criticized the Sirus engine for mechanistically measuring angles between planets. From their perspective, this just isn' the right way to go about process of synastry analysis.

It took awhile for me understand precisely what they were saying, but now I think I understand them perfectly. Furthermore, I can honestly say I agree. I agree because of my own test cases, not just because of abstract philosophical reasoning.

First, understand that I (personally) have been troubled for sometime by a number of false positives and false negatives that Sirus has declared between me and an assortment of women. In some cases, Sirus has insisted that we should be attracted. In some cases, it says we shouldn't. In either case, I have immediately known that the predictions were wrong.

Consider the case of Claire Danes. Claire Danes is an Aries born on 4/12/1979. As I have mentioned several times on this blog, my maximum theoretical hot date is 4/13/1979. Claire Danes was born one (1) day early. She still has a blistering romance score of 508 versus me.

Folks, I don't want to play coy with you. I have known about Claire Danes for some 17 years. Never once did I suspect she would be a match for me. I should have been stalking her and fantasizing incessantly about her if these scores are actually legit. Nope, not even one time. I just don't feel it.

Of all the troubling false-positives I have encountered with the Sirus engine, the case of Claire Danes has been (by far) the most problematic. Her sun is in Aries. This is a bad match for my Virgo Sun. Her Mars is in Aries, which is a good match for my Leo. Venus is in Pisces. Her Venus is a very bad match for my conjuncted Leos.

Why does Sirus declare a match? Why is the score 508? Because of a fluke of celestial mathematics, the Davison Harmonic Means chart shows a conjunction of Mars and Venus, hence our score shoots right through the frickin' roof. Forget the fact that her Mars/Venus is Fire/Water and mine is Fire/Fire.

Most pros would weigh the elemental conflict of our Sun, Venus and Mars, and declare that there is no match here, despite what the Davison chart says. Given this elemental conflict, I understand fully why I feel no connection to this fine woman. There's nothing wrong with her. She just isn't for me.

Now consider the case of a woman from Thousand Oaks I will code-name CC. CC was born on 5/11/1985 in Ventura California. I am wildly attracted to her. Given the option to pounce on her I would do so immediately. Rightfully so. She is a Taurus woman, I am a Virgo man (trine). Her Venus is in Aries (Trine). Her Mars is in Gemini (Sextile). Looking at it from a purely elemental perspective, she is a fine match for me. No professional astrologer would be surprised to hear that I am attracted to CC. On the contrary, it is to be expected. They would be alarmed if I was not.

What does Sirus have to say about me and CC? Sirus says our romantic and sexual attraction score is ZERO (0). Yep, that's right. Sirus says the score is ZERO. Of all the false negatives I know of, the case of CC has been the most troubling to me. I know for a fact the score isn't Zero. My gut tells me the score is very high. I think she's fantastic. She's been smiling at me in the gym, too. This girl excites the hell out of me.

I could give you many more false positives and false negatives, but Claire Danes and CC are all we need to form a working hypothesis. The absolute bottom line is that the Sirus engine does not respect elemental compatibility enough. It places far to much stress to the exact numerical quantity of the angle.

For instance, a 60 degree angle is a 60 degree angle, even if it violates the ideal of elemental compatibility the 60 degree angle is supposed to represent. A 107 degree angle is not a trine, even her Sun is located at 21 degrees Taurus and my is at 9 degrees Virgo. Evidently, a 115 degree angle is not a trine, even if her Venus is located at 10 degrees Aries and my Mars is located at 5 degrees Leo. Above all examples I have seen, this is the most puzzling. Every resource I have read indicates 115 degrees should be counted as a trine. The score should not be zero (0).

Most philosophers of astrology would object to this hard 'n fast quantitative evaluation as a type of putting the cart in front of the horse. The mathematical angles are a useful shorthand denoting that the signs are compatible. The absolute angle is not as important as the sign. When you disregard the sign in favor of the angle, you just flipped the priority system upside down. You have your priorities in reverse order.

More importantly, you actually obtain bad results. You will introduce error into your synastry engine if you take a hard-angular approach. This error will be expressed as false positives and false negatives.

The moral of the story is clear: Don't favor the angle over the element. Elemental compatibility is the thing that really matters. The exact quantity of the angle is of secondary importance.

Sirus also gives far too much weight to the Davison chart, a chart I consider more and more dubious, suspect and doubtful every single day. I, myself, am thinking about dropping this chart from my scoring system. I will still provide the Davison chart as a secondary resource, but I will do so with red-flag warnings. I intend to warn people that the Davison chart is a doubtful and very recent innovation. I will mention the fact that it produces suspect results. It should never be favored over straight elemental analysis.

After making this discovery, I went through a list of 107 troublesome names. The list contains both false positives and false negatives. These are women Sirus says I should love, but I don't. These are women I do love and Sirus says I shouldn't. When I made this list, I was smart enough to write down their Sun, Venus and Mars signs. I already knew these bodies were critical in synastry analysis.

As I went down this list, I was impressed by how much my simple elemental approach would clear away the cob-webs of confusion and error. Most of the women I liked had Fire combos or Fire/Air combos on their Venus & Mars. Isn't that just perfect for a Leo/Leo guy like me? Most of the women I didn't like had Water/Water or Water/Earth Combos on their Venus and Mars. A few also has Earth/Earth combos.

There is still one series of problems that must be dealt with. There are a small minority of cases where I am massively attracted to women who have water on Venus or Mars. Most of these case involve the presence Mars or Venus in Scorpio.

It would seem that I like a lot of women with Mars in Scorpio and/or Venus in Scorpio. And why not? This is the absolute highest sex-drive setting in the zodiac. It is hard not to like women who exude that much raw sexual power.

Nevertheless, there is a difference between what you like and what's good for you. You may like Hostess Twinkies. They aren't good for you. By the same token, I may be turned on my the Scorpionic Mars, but that isn't necessarily good for me.

Mathematically speaking, Leo is squared against Scorpio. That is a fire/water conflict, which is the most incompatible thing in the Zodiac. Still, there are all these weird cases in politics lately where Leos and Scorpios have married and had rocky roads on the way to great political power.

I am going to have to figure out what I do with the Squares. They do seem to produce attraction, but this attraction is not necessarily good in the long run.

One more key question: How does this new realization affect my own private goals in life? Specifically, will this change the plan to find the 3/12/1986 Pisces code-named La-La? Actually, the answer is No, the goal will not change. I still plan to go looking for this woman. I took another look at La-La's chart after making this discovery and she does appear to be fully elementally compatible with me.

Specifically, La-La's Sun is in Pisces, her moon is in Aries, her Venus is in Aries, and her Mars is in Sagittarius. We have an opposition, a conjunction and a pair of trines there. Those are true angles and true elements. She still looks like an excellent match up. This appears to be one (among many) that Sirus got right.

Some stunning proofs that the Sirus Engine actually works.. but not perfectly.

As you know, one of my recurring themes on this blog (lately) has been my desire to test the accuracy of the Synastry Engine found in Sirus 1.1. I have my reservations about the specific design parameters of this software, but are the ideas behind it sound? How sound are they? Can they be tested? If they are tested, will they pass any tests?

Looking for proof is getting easier and easier these days. Suddenly, I am finding all manner of evidence... at work. With my weight now down to 240.4 pounds, and paltry 10.4 pounds away from the magic 100 pound weight loss figure, females are beginning to surface. Furthermore, several previously known candidates have had there birthdays in the past 45 days.

Let me explain it to you.

Case #1: The Young Lioness

Just a few weeks ago, a young lady from USC joined our ranks. The two of us hit it off rather immediately. It turns out her birthday is 8/19/1990. Yes, I know. This means that I am very nearly 24 years older than she is. I am quite literally old enough to be her father. For all I know, I just may be older than her father.

Nonetheless, this is the one circulating rumors in the office that I look like Gerard Butler. She has shown an assortment of other signs of interest (such as inviting me to a USC Sorority party) that I won't go into.

The feeling is mutual. I love her to death. Frankly, I'm losing sleep over her. I am greatly saddened by the fact that I am just to damn old for her. If I were 10 years younger, there is no doubt I would be after her like a dog after a bone.

Nonetheless, the notion of hurting this girl is absolutely out of the question. I would shoot myself before injuring her. Because I cannot see a happy conclusion to this thing for her, I believe I have to leave well enough alone. This makes me very melancholic, but it has to be this way.

What does Sirus say?

1. Romantic and Sexual Attraction: 241

2. Similarity of Interests and Temperament: 0

3. Mutual Success and High Achievement: 39

4. Problem Solving, Communication, and Mutual Understanding: 115

5. Mutual Kindness, Friendliness, Pleasantness, and Peace: 150

6. Aggressiveness, Competition, Power, Success, or Violence: 0

7. Adventurousness, Surprises, Disturbances: 163

8. Shared Creativity, Imagination, and Inspiration: 115

The one ranking I would seriously dispute is line 2. She actually has a keen interest in football. We have already talked football a few times. I also made her Chicken Gumbo and Risotto. This triggered a 3 day running debate between her and some other office girls on the topic of how much older can a guy be before he's too old to date? I bullshit you not.

Anyway... the mere fact that 20 year old girl would bond with a 44 (nearly 45) year old guy at work is extremely improbable at best. Why would this happen?

If you look at the two charts, it's pretty straight-forward. She is mostly Fire and Earth, with little Water and no Air. I am mostly Fire and Earth, with little Water and no Air. She is an Air Adept. I am an Air Adept. It get's better. Her Mercury is in Virgo. My Mercury is in Virgo. Her fire is entirely Leo. My fire is mostly Leo. Her Venus is in Leo. My Venus is in Leo. My Mars is also in Leo. My Mars conjuncts her Venus EXACTLY.

As you know the conjunction of Mars and Venus is a dead-sure sign of attraction.

I could tell you more about my sorrows in this case, but this would be off point. The key point is that there was a fairly massive synastry reaction, and computer said it would be so. It also gives clear-cut reasons why this would be true. You may not agree with any of the precepts, but the system obtained reasonably accurate results.

Case #2: The Cancer Girl

About a year ago, our company hired a new graduate Cancer girl straight out of U.C. Berkeley. She took a fairly immediate interest in me, even when I weighed 330 pounds. It was a terrible time for me as I was suffering a lot from arthritis, and prepping for gastric bypass, which I thought was immanent, so I didn't do anything about it. I think she understood I was not in the best of health, and she kind of backed away... for a time.

Lately she has been coming straight at me, which is most unusual for a Cancer girl. These are extremely femme and maternal women, who are usually very indirect. The word associated with Cancer women is circumambulation. They kind of move around the object of their affections. They don't go straight at 'em. If you have ever seen crabs do the mating dance, they kind of circle around and around each other like a couple of boxers in a ring. This is what Cancer women are know for.

Not this one; not by a long shot. You might say she circumambulated in the beginning, but not anymore. Perhaps she has tired of the indirect approach (because it is not producing the results she wants) and she's going direct now.

It just so happens that her birthday 6/25 of an unknown year. I could ask, but she would certainly know why I am asking. She would want to know the scores. Given her physical age, and the fact she just graduated from college about 1 year ago, there are a limited number of years she might hail from. The only thing I needed to do was look up 6/25 in each of the possible years and compare them to my chart.

Based on my research, I would say the year has to be 1985. She could very well be turning 26 this year. Also, there really isn't another workable option. No other 6/25 score produces much of anything in terms of synastry. Her birthday is coming up in just 8 days. I will find out for sure then. I am laying down the prediction that her birthday is 6/25/1985.

Suppose it is 6/25/1985? What does Sirus say?

1. Romantic and Sexual Attraction: 227

2. Similarity of Interests and Temperament: 200

3. Mutual Success and High Achievement: 59

4. Problem Solving, Communication, and Mutual Understanding: 148

5. Mutual Kindness, Friendliness, Pleasantness, and Peace: 291

6. Aggressiveness, Competition, Power, Success, or Violence: 41

7. Adventurousness, Surprises, Disturbances: 88

8. Shared Creativity, Imagination, and Inspiration: 157

With scores like that, I aught to be crazy about her. Why don't I feel monster magnets hauling me in? Perhaps it is because she is a woman of fairly strong religious and cultural attachments... Attachments I don't share. At age 44, I have been down that road before in an assortment of different ways. Never once has it worked out. It has always turned out badly.

I know why match makers claim that there needs to be a commonality of culture.

Perhaps I wrote this one off immediately due to these attachments. Nevertheless, I am suspicious of this hypothesis. If the scores really are that good, I should feel the temptation. There would be a magnetic pull. I really don't feel those monster magnets pulling, as I have in the past. I like her just fine. I think she's great in her own way. I think the pleasantness and peace score is reasonable.

Much depends on her birth year. We shall see.

Case #3: The Brazilian Taurus

A couple of years ago, a girl from Brazil joined our deposits section. The first time I saw her in the company kitchen, I had an immediate synastry reaction to her. WHO IS THAT GIRL!?!? I tried not to stare at her. Most of you would not find her beautiful. That didn't matter to me. I was immediately attracted to her. The monster magnets were pulling.

It turns out she was born 5/8/1979 at 7:35 AM in Curitiba Brazil. How do I know that? She gave me that information personally. It turns out her score is 231. If you were to simply examine our two charts, you would say that score is preposterously low.

• Her Ascendant is Taurus, mine is Virgo (Trine)
• Her sun is in Taurus, mine Virgo (Trine)
• Her moon is in Libra, mine Aries (180 degree opposition)
• Her Venus is in Aries, mine Leo (Trine)
• Her Mars is in Aries, mine is Leo (Trine)

Frankly, I am not sure why the score isn't 639. Four trines and an opposition in the personal planets??? Give me a break! That is a nuclear fuel cocktail. 231 looks bloody low given that lineup. A professional astrologer would look at that lineup and declare "You two were made for each other."

The problem was, at the time, she was married and getting divorced. I was not in the best of health. I am getting healthy at a rapid pace. She's healing up and getting over it.

I like her very, very much. I think she is extremely cool. She has signaled me with her interest. The only reason I hesitate is because I know it will work out. Does that sound odd to you? Before I start that big bolder rolling down the hill, I better make damn sure I want to let it smash everything in it's path. There ain't going to be no stopping it if it starts rolling.

This could be crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, off the hook crazy.

Case Four: Top Gemini Discovered

Just a week or so ago, I wrote a blog called "I ain't feeling you, Gemini". In that blog entry, I mentioned that my top Gemini score was born on 6/16/1982.

It just so happens that there is another Brazilian girl in our company who was born on 6/16/1982 in Sao Paulo... and she is best buddies with the Taurus... and I had no idea she was Top Gemini until today.

I have to tell you that this news came as a great shock to me. This girl has been trying to get my attention for four years now. She has sent me about 301 signals that she is interested. She has always gone out of her way to be extraordinarily nice to me. Although there is some attraction there, I never suspected for one moment that she was Top Gemini.

So why haven't I taken the bait? I hate to sound like a chick, but I have a deep and abiding sense that it just would not work out. I believe it would end, and I believe it would end messy, not clean. I don't know why I am so certain without evidence that this is true. This certainty arises from unknown sources.

If I can put my finger on anything, I can only tell you she reminds me a little of my older sister. My older sister and I are infamous advasaries. Our aggression score is 650, and that is no exaggeration of the real facts. Just ask our mutual parents. Anyone who reminds me at all of my elder sister immediately reminds me of an ancient enemy, and immediately gets a red flag warning.

Now, Top Gemini happens to have an aggression score score of ZERO, and I think that just may be accurate. I doubt I would fight with her.

I have to say that this discovery has disturbed me greatly today. It forced me to wonder if I have been unfair to her, and if I have been missing out on a very good thing. She would certainly say the answer is YES. One thing is for sure: If I were to construct a leader board of the girls with the top score in the building, Top Gemini would be at the #1 spot, and she would have an 86 point lead on her next closest pursuer.

Discussion

If I were to summarize the performance of the Sirus 1.1 synastry engine in this case I would say two things about it: It's stunning, but still somewhat inaccurate. It produces remarkable results, but they are still off my significant margins in an assortment of ways.

If we were to rank these four office girls according to Sirus engine, they would order in this fashion:

1. Top Gemini 327
2. Little Leo 241
3. Brazilian Taurus 231
4. Cancer Girl 225

If I were to rank them according to my immediate reactions to them, I would order them this way:

1. Brazilian Taurus
2. Little Leo
3. Top Gemini
4. Cancer Girl

There is not much gap between 1 & 2. There is a big gap between 2 & 3.

If I were to rank them according to my current interest level, they would go like this:

1. Little Leo
2. Brazilian Taurus
3. Top Gemini
4. Cancer Girl

Yep, that's right. If Commissioner Goodell called this draft to order, put me on the clock, and gave me 15 minutes to make my decision, I would shock the world and draft the girl nearly 24 years younger than me. I am sure the critics would have a field day. My fans would be fulminating over my draft.

Mind you, I have never gone out with any one of these four females. Everything changes in the dynamics of a dating situation. You never know until you know. Still, this is how I currently see it.

The most important take away message from this blog entry is as follows: The Sirus engine is generally on track, but it isn't perfect. The arrow points in the right direction, but it is somewhat crooked. A real astrologer can look at two charts, such as mine and the Brazilian Taurus, and clearly see that the numerical score is way, way, way too low. The same dude could look at a chart like mine and Top Gemini and seriously question why the scores are as high as they are.

In reality, my experience as one of the two subjects in each of these real-world experience is close to, but not quite in line with the predictions of the system.

Final Word

I still believe we need a new engine that differentiates between good and bad types of attraction. It needs to distinguish between types of attraction that are durable and evanescent. Furthermore, there are clear cut signs as to which party will be more attracted, and which less. This also needs to be spelled out. The score is not the same for both parties involved, and evidence for this can be seen in the two charts.

A exciting discovery in the world of synastry

I have figured out a way to get Sirus to expose it's "thinking" and reveal more about how it calculates the final sexual attraction, problem solving, peace, and creativity scores. For those well versed in Microsoft T-SQL, this is tantamount to the "Show Plan" feature which forced the SQL engine to explain it's strategy for acquiring your result set.

Consider the following output from the from Sexual Attraction Match Maker.

(A) David A. Leon (B) Fire Ewe

9.53 Points, Ven cnj Mar in composite chart, Orb = 0°14'

4.28 Points, B's Ven opp A's Ura, Orb = 0°43'

1.79 Points, A's Ven sqr B's Ura, Orb = 2°01'

2.65 Points, A's Ven tri B's Nep, Orb = 1°41'

3.15 Points, B's Ven tri A's Nep, Orb = 1°04'

3.75 Points, Ven opp Nep in composite chart, Orb = 0°19'

5.17 Points, B's Ven opp A's Plu, Orb = 0°41'

0.26 Point, A's Ven sxt B's Plu, Orb = 4°22'

2.47 Points, Ven tri Plu in composite chart, Orb = 2°32'

TOTAL= 33.05 points times 16.090 is 532 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Theoretical Pisces

6.85 Points, A's Ven tri B's Mar, Orb = 0°07'

6.98 Points, B's Ven tri A's Mar, Orb = 0°01'

6.94 Points, Ven tri Mar in composite chart, Orb = 0°02'

4.78 Points, A's Ven tri B's Ura, Orb = 0°13'

3.28 Points, Ven opp Nep in composite chart, Orb = 0°54'

3.94 Points, Ven tri Plu in composite chart, Orb = 1°04'

TOTAL= 32.77 points times 16.090 is 527 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) The Big One

2.42 Points, Ven cnj Mar in composite chart, Orb = 3°47'

4.57 Points, B's Ven opp A's Ura, Orb = 0°26'

1.79 Points, A's Ven tri B's Nep, Orb = 2°46'

3.93 Points, B's Ven tri A's Nep, Orb = 0°05'

2.93 Points, Ven opp Nep in composite chart, Orb = 1°20'

3.79 Points, B's Ven opp A's Plu, Orb = 1°50'

1.34 Points, A's Ven sxt B's Plu, Orb = 1°39'

4.90 Points, Ven tri Plu in composite chart, Orb = 0°06'

TOTAL= 25.67 points times 16.090 is 413 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Lauren Bacall

4.77 Points, B's Ven cnj A's Mar, Orb = 2°37'

2.42 Points, A's Ven opp B's Mar, Orb = 3°29'

4.57 Points, Ven sqr Mar in composite chart, Orb = 0°26'

0.21 Point, A's Ven qucnx B's Ura, Orb = 2°41'

0.30 Point, Ven sxt Ura in composite chart, Orb = 4°30'

4.28 Points, A's Ven cnj B's Nep, Orb = 0°43'

5.86 Points, Ven cnj Plu in composite chart, Orb = 0°49'

TOTAL= 22.41 points times 16.090 is 361 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Kim Kardashian

6.56 Points, B's Ven cnj A's Ura, Orb = 0°19'

1.71 Points, A's Ven sqr B's Ura, Orb = 2°09'

2.82 Points, A's Ven tri B's Nep, Orb = 1°28'

1.99 Points, B's Ven sxt A's Nep, Orb = 0°01'

2.56 Points, Ven sqr Nep in composite chart, Orb = 0°44'

4.58 Points, B's Ven cnj A's Plu, Orb = 1°44'

1.96 Points, A's Ven sxt B's Plu, Orb = 0°05'

TOTAL= 22.18 points times 16.090 is 357 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Lexi Belle

4.11 Points, A's Ven cnj B's Mar, Orb = 2°56'

4.25 Points, B's Ven cnj A's Mar, Orb = 2°53'

4.18 Points, Ven cnj Mar in composite chart, Orb = 2°55'

4.04 Points, A's Ven tri B's Ura, Orb = 0°58'

2.16 Points, Ven tri Nep in composite chart, Orb = 2°18'

1.04 Points, Ven sxt Plu in composite chart, Orb = 2°24'

TOTAL= 19.78 points times 16.090 is 318 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Baby Doll

6.50 Points, B's Ven tri A's Mar, Orb = 0°22'

0.82 Point, A's Ven sxt B's Mar, Orb = 3°38'

0.99 Point, A's Ven tri B's Ura, Orb = 4°01'

0.98 Point, Ven sxt Nep in composite chart, Orb = 2°33'

4.70 Points, Ven cnj Plu in composite chart, Orb = 1°39'

TOTAL= 13.99 points times 16.090 is 225 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Sabine

4.24 Points, A's Ven sqr B's Mar, Orb = 0°46'

0.35 Point, B's Ven sqr A's Mar, Orb = 4°39'

2.30 Points, Ven sqr Mar in composite chart, Orb = 2°42'

4.96 Points, Ven tri Ura in composite chart, Orb = 0°02'

TOTAL= 11.85 points times 16.090 is 191 points

(A) David A. Leon (B) Capicorn

0.87 Point, B's Ven qucnx A's Mar, Orb = 1°41'

2.07 Points, Ven cnj Ura in composite chart, Orb = 3°31'

2.84 Points, A's Ven tri B's Nep, Orb = 1°27'

1.10 Points, A's Ven sxt B's Plu, Orb = 2°14'

TOTAL= 6.88 points times 16.090 is 111 points

Each one of these is a different female from a different Sun sign and a different year. As you can see, a number of different aspects are identified. Each one is given a score. Venus conjunction Mars in the composite chart is the big prime mover; this packs one hell of a whollop. Venus opposition Pluto also packs a whollop. Trines between Venus and Mars also shoot the score way up.

There are a number of lesser relations that can add to the score, including problem relations like Squares. In general, Squares are a bad thing. Yet a Venus Square Mars sends the score up for some reason. This may not be a good thing overall, but it does send the score up.

Obviously, the philosophy of the programmers is that attraction is a messy hot-salad. It's a tossed mixture of a bunch of odd ingredients: some agreeable, some not.

16.090 figure is a coefficient of normalization used to make the total aspects fit their 150 point scoring system. I am pretty sure that the decimal figure assigned for each relations is scaled on a bell curve, more points for a more precise aspect, fewer points for a less precise aspect.

The exciting thing about this discovery is that it should facilitate the creation of a better synastry engine. One which will allow us to distinguish between good elements of attraction, such as trines and sextiles, and bad elements of attraction, such as Squares and Oppositions.

More importantly, it should be possible to construct a search engine that will find specific dates for you that contain Mars conjunct Venus in the Davison chart, with Trines or sextiles between Mars and Venus. You could also toss in Venus opposite Pluto. The logic of the Sirus engine suggests that these are elements that send attraction shooting through the roof.

Why not construct an intelligent query engine that will immediately and automatically find such match-ups for any given individual?