The Surprising Astro-Indicators Of Top Surgeons

There has been more than one Oscars scandal this year. The actor Andrew Garfield (Spiderman, The Eyes Of Tammy Faye), a Leo with Pisces Rising, declared Virgo his “least favorite sign.”

To be fair, it wasn’t a spontaneous declaration – Responding to a red carpet question from TikTok’s Emily Uribe and Juju Green, he was super-nuanced:

Oh no, you can’t ask me that,” he said. “I have some Virgo in my chart but my brother’s a Virgo and – god, I love him – but you know, he’s a mathematician. He’s a control freak and I have that in me as well. He needs to be because he’s a doctor. He’s a lung doctor back in the UK, so you want someone who’s a Virgo opening you up and stitching you up.”

This is fascinating because it is a common perception, and you can see why. Virgos are renowned for their precision and attention to detail. Garfield, whose “some Virgo” is Venus and Mercury, is correct to a degree.

But I have always gathered that Mars-Saturn aspects are the most frequent astro-signature in the birth charts of surgeons. The idea is that you can ideally select the date of elective surgery and find a good astrological fit. To really astrologically finesse it, get the birth data for the surgeon. And – as the old maxim goes – ensure they have a good Mars-Saturn link.

I was taught this years ago and I see it quoted a fair bit. Rather than trying to find the source, I decided to do my own research* and the results may surprise you.

Mars conjunct Saturn was the most common Mars aspect among the elite surgeons, and nearly all of them had some form of Mars-Saturn alignment but the runner-up? Mars square Uranus!

Mars conjunct Saturn makes sense for various reasons: Symbolically, Mars is the knife – or laser – and the concept of healing through something that is technically “invasive.”

Saturn blends well with Mars, tempering hothead impulses and prioritizing self-command over raw audacity. It is the desirable ‘steady hand.’

But Mars square Uranus is most often connected with restlessness, rebellion and unconventional ingenuity. It seems incongruent with a hierarchical workplace, let alone a profession laden with regulations, board certifications, and hospital politics.

But still, there it is. Could Mars-Uranus also be the signature of people who want to effect radical, drastic change via surgery?

Interestingly, one of the Mars square Uranus people, Piscean Bernard Dechauvelle, pioneered face transplant surgery in November 2005. Uranus was crossing his natal Mercury at the time, a once in a lifetime transit of extreme innovation.

In an interview with The Lancet, he describes the least pleasurable part of his work as “red tape, protocols and having to justify actions and decisions.” That is textbook Mars-Uranus, any aspect.

Cancer was way ahead in terms of Sun Signs, followed by Aquarius. The most common Mars signs? Cancer and Scorpio. Gemini and Pisces were the least common Sun and Mars signs in this sample.

Aquarius and Scorpio seem like a good fit – the Aquarian detachment and the Scorpionic surgical approach to nearly everything but lunar, instinctive Cancerians? Interestingly, many of them speak of altruism and art: the cosmetic surgery “that is as much for the soul as the body” style of patter.

Pier Cristoforo Guilianotti – the founder of robotic surgery, has the Sun, Mars, and Uranus conjunct in Cancer square Saturn + Neptune in Libra – and told the New Yorker that as a medical student, he’d faint at the sight of blood. Overcoming his squeamishness to become a surgeon, he was driven to innovate: “I am Tuscan—anatomy is painting,” he said. “Surely, there is a more artistic way to interact with the human body.”

Thoughts?

*My methodology was simple. I trawled through online lists of the world’s most renowned surgeons and ended up with 70. I wanted 100 but needed to reject those without a birthdate on record for obvious reasons.

68 thoughts on “The Surprising Astro-Indicators Of Top Surgeons”

  1. Interesting article thank you! I am preparing a workshop on planets on AC and looking for examples of charts od of renowned surgeons and doctors to see if any have planets conjunct Ascendant. Can you suggest any examples?

    I had a complex myomectomy surgery in 2021 in Moscow, Russia, the surgeon as they say had golden hands with nearly 40ys of experience of gyn surgeries. She agreed to do the surgery which was out of question in Canada and did an excellent job. However refused providing her birthdata for my research 😎😆. I think we had venus-pluto connection possibly as I felt deeply attached to her lol and slightly bothethered by her progessional detachment 😂. It was funny to notice but I guess common if someone really gave you a 2nd chance for something important, life and uterus health in this case.

  2. Wow my niece, has learning issues as in no concept of numbers and time, has this placement in her 10th house. She absolutely adore BTS and has taught herself fluent Korean by listening to their music. She is about to turn 18 and I was researching her rising sign for clues.

  3. Mystic this is awesom, and a random sample for sure. I thought perhaps you’d worked your magic on ome Board of Registered Surgeons..
    maybe it’s worth doing a sample of those who were struck off in comparison 😳🤨😂

  4. Fascinating, my surgeon for my upcoming procedure in 2 weeks is a Cancer! Her Saturn aspects are only Mercury trine Saturn and Venus trine Saturn, and the Mars aspects are both Mars squares — to Uranus and Pluto.

    The Mercury trine Saturn is pretty apt for her as she invented a new method and has been a pioneer in her field.

  5. I can hardly believe it, but as synchronicity would have it, I was assigned a neurosurgeon who is a Cancerean (like me) with a Gemini moon and, Venus (like me), but his Saturn is in Gemini and Mars is in Aquarius. Not going to have surgery anytime soon, but I trusted him immediately, as I also did with the neurologist I was assigned, an Aquarian female with Mars conjunct Saturn in Capricorn.

    In a previous post I wrote that their birth data was difficult to come by but that was completely wrong.

    I probably would have been a good doctor/surgeon. I just didn’t have the ambition and maybe the ego required.

  6. Corduroy jeans

    Completely off-topic, but I just wanted to say I said thanks and hi to a couple of the stellar ladies that hang around these haunts being magical and sparkly, back in the Machiavellian post?? If you have time to check it out.. (Invicta, Pegs, Calcifer, Wish, Chrysalis, plus any good, incorporeal, spirits who also read this website). Have been totally living in my head/in the sand/Ostrich style.
    Back on-topic – all Cancerians I have known and still love have an unbeatable sixth sense. I’d say this is essential for any process with another human being, like (duh!) surgery. Haute Mars is of course indispensable for cutting out the unnecessary/harmful/toxic. Saturn=Stamina, sure as eggs. And haute Uranus unemotional-decision-making essential for anything where you need the amygdala/primitive part of the brain to silence itself, and instead engage the prefrontal, rational lobes. Astrology is scary as to how it correlates to certain things. xoo

      1. Corduroy jeans

        Heya Wish. Xoo Thanks so much for asking. More to the point – how are all the Asc and Solar Pisceans of the world, doing, on the eve of the Neptune & Jupiter tango?? 🙂 I hope you are having beautiful Divine insights, and lots of help if the insights are not so cosy (that’s never easy!!)
        Did you have your operation recently?? Your surgeon sounds like a rare gem. Hope you getting ever-stronger. XOO

        1. Corduroy jeans

          *Also MM – the Weekly ‘scopes are spectacular, as per uwge. Synchronicity everywhere = thanks again for channelling it for us with the shorter antennas. XOO

        2. Wish Upon a Star

          I am having Divine insights but it is the not so cosy one ( Saturn and Mars hey) that are jolting me back to my strong self. It is resolve that is coming back. Fuq it’s been decades.

          1. Decades, huh?? Well done, Wishstar. Maybe, it was there all along, but you are just identifying it now..? Xx Yeh Saturn Mars, a bit of a drag, phew. Spinning bogged wheels, when really, the Universe is detouring you, or getting you to parse .. going slower? Hope you feel more gentle insights soon..x

            1. Wish Upon a Star

              I think Hekate helped.
              The Key
              Hekate crossing the degree of your natal Moon is like a magical raven in a fairy tale, slipping you a golden key that frees you from jail or a bad spell. Will you recognize the liberating moment? 
              Transit Hekate conjunct natal Moon

              1. Wow, applauding your gift!!😃 Yes, “heka” fascinates me. Because we live in a society and culture (speaking from a Western centric perspect, being in metro Oz) that doesn’t have the tools to recognise this energy, much less work with it. The ones who do (like yourself, and most ppl who subscribe to MM, i’d imagine) feel it, but *at a loss how to integrate it (integrate a poor word, but better than the corporate “apply” – heka is not like an SKA criteria you can “employ”, lol – but then, I don’t know anything). XOO XOO

                1. * ‘at a loss’ until you read MM’s Daily Mystic, oracles or general website, that is – but even then, heka announces itself uniquely..💖

                2. Wish Upon a Star

                  Well to find the key I had to follow a hunch. Instead of going for a walk I lay down on the green grass in my backyard amongst the bats and trees. I spent time doing a grounding meditation. It was dusk so I also slowed down to watch the trilling parrots fly past and the Ibis.

                  I think for the next week I will go into my cave (bat cave LOL !) and integrate everything.

                  So I will see you on the flipside.

                  Stay well!

                3. Corduroy jeans

                  Ah am well au fait with the lyssa virus? risk, being a former Brisbanite, Wish Xx Glad the bats were doing their thang. Thanks for the heads-up on How to Find Heka Insights!! xx
                  Also, this for you – and everyone – heard on the car radio on way home from acupuncture – Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s “Can’t Stop” – the last two lines of song lyrics:
                  Can’t stop the spirits when they need you
                  This life is more than just a read-through

                  Stay safe, love & care. x

  7. Oooh interesting! I’m going to reflect and digress on this intriguing post.
    My dad was a Sag veterinary surgeon, his mother a Taurean ophthalmologist, and her father a doctor and surgeon in WWI who stitched tapestries in retirement. I need to check out their charts and report back!
    I helped dad with countless surgeries, and I have his collection of surgical instruments. I’ve also got a few pieces from my grandma and great-grandfather.
    My Gran was an amazing quilter, knitter, and taught me how to crossstitch. I stitch abstract embroidery, my latest piece being my birth chart!

  8. Mystic this is super topical for me currently as I have just scheduled surgery for 25 May (mercury retro, which I realised after the fact) and have read this is a no no. Venus I know is a no no, but Mercury also? I am having a repeat surgery (exact same surgery on the opposite side of my body) from my wonderful Taurean surgeon. Will this cancel out some merc rx trickery?

    I also learned (University of Google) you should schedule surgical ‘additions’ for a waxing moon and ‘removals’ for a waning. If I postpone to early June I will better meet these conditions – technically a surgical addition, but this has been hanging over me for a while so would like to just get it done. I would love your hot take. I am also not above asking my surgeon for his birth deets to add to your cohort!

  9. My freinds father was a very well known doctor in the affluent area of Sydney .He was doctor an alcoholic and a brute at work and at home..People complained about him but nothing happened he continued working until he retired.

  10. I has another theory about the Aquarius/Uranus link to surgery. Our bodies are like an organic computer to them. Computers emulate our neural pathways; the heart is like a generator & blood is a good conductor of electricity, plus it’s the one tissue that comes into contact with every other tissue of the body. It’s through blood that our different parts communicate & our organs cooperate – i mean let’s face it, it’s like an enormous communications network. How can surgery not be attractive to Aqua-Uraniac types?

    1. Completely agree, Skarab! That’s what I felt too, but couldn’t have articulated it as well as you do!

    2. My dad was a great surgeon and a brilliant diagnostician. He ALWAYS intuited what was wrong with someone’s body. He was a very Uranian Aquarian. I always felt in safe hands with him. When he gave an injection you didn’t even know. I do miss him. Today’s docs aren’t quite the same sadly. Some are even unkind which is not allowed in my book.

  11. Not me Saturn square Vertex Mars embedded in 4th house not in sterile gadget filled workplace. Fascinating research, 70 surgeons? Clearly we only see the tip of the iceberg of MM research benders, cream of the crop, if you like cliches like I do.

  12. Wonderful post. But so many Crab surgeons? Then i thought that being creatures of the ocean & ruled by the Moon they would understand & have an affinity for the interior of our bodies & the ebb & flow of our inner ocean – blood – & it’s many rivers & tributaries. The watery portion of blood, the plasma, has a concentration of salt and other ions that is v similar to sea water….Well, it’s a feory, innit?

      1. True that, v important! Cutting, slicing, clipping, snipping, pinching, squeezing & tweaking . And when caught they can leave their pincers behind (hopefully not in patient’s body😬) & grow some more.

    1. Corduroy jeans

      “Well, it’s a feory, innit?” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💛💛
      If EVER i get a tattoo that purports to sum me up – this phrase is it!!! Crikey you crack me up, Skarab – hugs and Garys to you, mmaaaaattee ✨✨🌞

  13. I love this too Mystic. How fascinating. My Cancerian Brother in Law has a Mars Pluto Venus conjunction in the 9th trining Saturn and a Capricorn Ascendant. He is a highly regarded surgeon. He also has Mercury conj Uranus, so it all fits. I was looking for an indicator for his specialisation which is feet and ankles?

  14. Love this Mystic, thank you for the research! I do understand about Cancer being prevalent among surgeons. It is a healing sign, but a cardinal sign as well (directed towards action in the outside world). Mars-Saturn I understand too, action (Mars) applied in the most deliberate and concrete way (Saturn)

  15. This is such an interesting piece Mystic! Do you think we’ll ever get to a place where submitting your natal chart will be as important as a CV/resume? I mean I have Mercury in Virgo which gives me incredible attention to detail, but since it’s home is in the 12th you wouldn’t want my narrow-window-for-precision-like-focus operating on you lol.

  16. Married to a surgeon once and had a lover of the same profession. Very very high on the intellect scale and ego scale. But then one would need a sturdy ego to take a life into your hands. The husband was Virgo but lacked the real cut and thrust required to go far. The other a Pisces and a fantasist to boot. Having hung out with so many I can really see the Mars Uranus thing. Pushing boundary and having flashes of insight Genius one might say. And the I also remember those same men being incredulous and scoffing at Evidence Base when it was brought in. There is the limit of which you speak and the red tape in action. They hatred it just as I did. It created glacial progress and was utterly ripe for corruption. Bring back the Uranian surgeons and applaud them for their Martian skill and Uranian genius.

  17. Too funny, my droll little Crab boy announced casually he ‘might’ become a surgeon the other week! He also has Venus/Eros exact in Cancer conjunct his Sun/Ceres in the 8th House. And ..Crabby has Mars EXACT conjunct Saturn in the 10th H in Virgo. Loosely opposing his Uranus in Pisces. Gotta say, this information helps me understand his natural orientation, regardless of his future occupation. Though Crab boy is quite Neptune/H20 heavy, guess this softens what I see as quite a severe aspect in his chart, but then I think he needs it. Cancerians are tough minded, even if their heart is a bit melty, so I am not so surprised to see a surgical bent. They give Caps a run for their money!

      1. Hahaha, I don’t think he is surgical type, despite the astrological chart. He has Moon in Libra which makes him far too agreeable to be a surgeon? Or perfectly cool as a cucumber, I don’t know! I read an article about a boy who became a different person after he got brain damaged in a rugby match. He became extrovert, aggressive and lacking in emotional sympathy, eventually succeeding as a neurosurgeon – because of these qualities! I wish I knew the name of this Doc as I really wanted to read the book!

          1. BLESS you Skarab! I tried any number of keywords but couldn’t find it! Checked Westaby’s chart, he is Mercury in Cancer, an early Leo Sun with Pluto/Saturn in Leo trining Jup in Sag (a likely Moon in Aries). He has Mars/Neptune conj in Libra SQUARE Uranus/Venus in Gemini. Tick!

            Then I created an event chart for his accident, but not having the exact date, I guessed for rugby season dates so it won’t be close to precise, however, even given that, it was a interesting that transiting Mars was likely close conjoining his Pluto/Sat. Transiting Pluto Uranus, Merc, Venus, Sun, Jupiter was all in Virgo opposing his natal Chiron & SQUARING his Uranus & potentially some of that cluster, his vertex. Looks like an astro storm was brewing around that time for him for sure!

            1. It’s funny coz with that Leo Sun & Aries Moon you would have thought he would have been a fiery go-getter from the start, huh? Looks like the kick to the head was like a jump-start to his fete. I was curious & i too did the accident event chart. I gleaned from an article (i posted it yesterday but it still hasn’t cleared) that the rugby game took place during the med school winter break of 68 (i checked: 15th Dec – 13th Jan) so the Jupiter-Uranus-SN conjunction happening at the time would have been conjunct his Mars (!) during those dates in Dec. AND square his Uranus – that’s a hell of a Uranus sq Uranus event! Not to mention ramping up his Mars, i mean Jupiter/Uranus on his Mars!!: “I had just prevented an opposition try with an outrageously high tackle – and that inevitably provoked retaliation”… Like a kick in the head, LOL…. Like i always say, mind your Mars. Though in this case it turned out beneficial all round, it seems. Such a fascinating story & person – thanks for that, sphinx.

              1. Thank you Skarabcita! I mean I was only out by 8 months on the Rugby event 🤣. It is amazing that Mars and Uranus figure as TRANSITS as well as natally to the brain damage that caused him to become a surgeon? As to the Moon in Aries, it could possibly be in Grand Trine to his Jupiter and Pluto, Saturn or Sun.
                Now I grew up with Moon in Aries parents, one extrovert & introvert and I can tell you my introvert mum is one kick in the head away from being a narcissistic sociopath. She is a Scorpio but I think she is burdened by inordinate shame response and also is highly reactionary to exclusion or rejection. They are genetic responses to an extent, but without those qualities she would be an entirely different personality with an incredibly different life.
                Look forward to reading the book, but his tenacious dream of escaping the drudgery around him via medicine was pretty firey? My Moon in Aries dad managed to pull himself by his bootstraps similarly, but his narcissism was less from a physical boot than from a metaphorical one in the form of PTSD (WW2 refugee etc). Interesting MM’s studies are so on point for Dr. Westaby, sometimes I get disillusioned with astro and then a pattern like this gets me all excited again.

                1. Oooh, both your parents Aries Moons! Mine aren’t, but in the same vein they both had fierce Mars placements. First of all though, i want to say that i wish i hadn’t been drinking a hot drink while reading “I can tell you my introvert mum is one kick in the head away from being a narcissistic sociopath” … that is hellish funny!

                  There is no accurate birth time for my mother other than she was born during a morning bombing raid, which were generally carried out between 6 & 8 am according to my grandma. This would make her an Aries/Mars Rising which makes total sense of her MO – attack first, sod the consequences. She’s got an infamous reputation for being a tough & feisty character in her village – as in people take a step back from me when i tell them who my mother is. But she also has phobias that would keep a psychoanalyst busy for life trying to unravel. Perhaps the bombing had the reverse effect on her baby brain than the kick did to Dr Westaby. it’s all in the timing, as they say.

                  And yes, you’re right re Westaby, his burning desire to escape his background was like an internal combustion engine that got him to med school, that’s for sure. Anyways, here’s to crazy mamas & Mars manoeuvres. 

                2. Ha, I cannot imagine a more perfect Asc for a person born during a bombing raid than Aries… Mars in action. It makes me think of Tesla being born during a lightning storm. (Though he was Taurus Asc? Well his Uranus was in Taurus too I guess!). I try to remember Ram Dass when it comes to my family, “We’re all just walking each other home”. Eek!

  18. Another fascinating post, Mystic!

    I’m a Mars square Saturn here. I guess the square kills the synergy? I’m pretty rubbishy with both knives and blood.

    It’s fascinating seeing the patterns in different professions. Thanks, Mystic!

    1. Or you could say, the square challenges the synergy?! I’m really reinforcing this for selfish reasons lol.

        1. Mars square Saturn is a brutal aspect, I know….I’ve had to reframe my most challenging relationships to realize that the lessons which seemed cruel, were extreme lessons on self expression/actualization.

  19. How about this: cancer rising, aqua sun-mars-mercury conjunct exact in the 8th house, moon aqua but not conjunct. (I might have the conjunction mixed up but it’s a triple, and among those planets. ) Saturn in Leo. Specialist gynaecological surgeon. Detests convention, mega feminist, getting a bit judgey with a life among doctors perhaps but not unexpected

  20. What a fascinating work, Mystic! Not the same scale but as deeply impressive as Westran’s research on Progressed Sun-Venus aspects for couples. I love it when Astrology is correlated and double checked statistically through scientic methods. It’s as much a science, as art. 🙂 Many thanks for doing this for us! I just have one quibble/curiosity rooted in bias from my natal chart.

    I have Mars Conj Saturn in Scorp, Virgo Asc, Aqua Sun and Cap moon. I couldn’t have passed the tough medical entrance exam to save my life (I tried), let alone be a top surgeon. I think house placements would matter, Mystic. My Mars Saturn is in 3rd. I am known to be sarcastic, turn out appropriate documentation at work with seemingly little effort, and as I get older, speak less but more effectively.

    I would think that surgeons would have a prominent 6th, 8th or 10th? Of course, cosmetic surgeons could have it in 7th or 5th too. Neurosurgeons in 12th?

    Like you say….Thoughts? 😀

  21. Thank you for this. I’m a dentist, and a Cancer Sun with Mars-Saturn conjunct in my 6th house. A recent encounter with an angry patient has left me feeling some doubt and uncertainty, and I feel a bit better that at least my astro suggests some aptitude. As for why the Cancer Sun is common for surgeons…. hmmm. Maybe it’s the calmer cardinal sign, a sun sign redundancy to the Mars-Saturn aspect? We know there’s some things that just have to be done and have the steadiness to do it? (Isn’t this a lot of what parenting is all about, too? Maybe why Cancer is often associated with the Mother.) I don’t know. I’m interested to hear others’ thoughts.

  22. Wish Upon a Star

    Interesting Mystic !

    When I had my latest surgery I think I relied on my Pisces Rising and Taurus Moon for guidance. When I was introduced to my surgeon it was his voice and deft touch when he gave me a reassuring back pat. It may seem minor but that touch transmitted so much information. And then there was the light that was going off and on , spooky. It was just my passed over mum letting me know that she was there for me. The nurse gave me a knowing look.

      1. Glad to hear your surgery went well, Wish! Yes – a little touch on the shoulder can transmit so much. Funny as I was just musing about that today and then read your post.

  23. This is the type of information we should be given when consulting a surgeon. I don’t care where you went to university, just hand over your chart.

    I’m Mars conjunct Saturn in Virgo 6th House (also Jupiter in Virgo 6th House). Most of my family are nurses, even all my siblings except me. I don’t like blood, trauma, life/death scenarios, I’m a mess. Having said that, I get it. I’m good at understanding how things work & what needs to go where. So if you hurt yourself around me, I’d know how to help.

    1. You sound like paramedic material with the Gemini expression! Roaming around the neighbourhood, Virgo-ing everyone with your laser keen smarts and then disappearing like smoke…

  24. Fascinating! I was just reading up about this last month, thinking that next time someone sticks a knife in me, I want to have more control over the outcome.

    In the case of accidents, for example, there’s no chance to choose your surgery time. Where I live, you can barely get any info at all about a surgeon, let alone their time of birth.
    It’s also nearly impossible here to decide or choose a date for regular surgery.

    I suppose elective surgery is different but still difficult to find a surgeon’s birth info. If I were to have surgery, I would have to rely on my own birth data and the moon, I think.

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