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.