KEishin
March 24th, 2006, 10:48 AM
So I was thinking about this last night, and I realized we’re always sending people off to www.astro.com (http://www.astro.com/) (Astrodienst) to get charts, but never once have we told them how to use it!
First off, it’s pronounced ahs’tro’dee’nst, for all of you who were wondering. (It means 'Astro Service'; 'dienst' is the German). Now that we’ve got that out of the way . . .
Really Basic
When you get there, you want to go to the ‘Free Horoscopes’ link at the top. (See attached image)
From here you have a lot of choices. If you simply want to find out what your rising sign or what house your Moon is in, go to ‘Chart Drawing, Ascendant.” That’ll give you a down and dirty image. You can also grab additional information like planetary declinations or aspects by going to the “additional tables” link. (See attached image)
A Little Deeper
The interactive horoscopes can be fun if you want to see how each part of your ‘scope relates to the other. Click on the different parts of the chart and descriptions will come up in the floating box. (See attached image) The short statements are still very general however . . .
Down the Rabbit Hole
Extended Chart Selection is the page where I spend most of my time. There’s a lot to take in, but that’s because this has nearly everything the novice astrologer could want and some pros too! (See attached image)
You’ll default to Astrodienst Round. ‘Pullen/Astrolog’ will give a chart like what comes out of the Astrolog program – functional, but not always pretty; ‘Astrodienst Special’ gives you such things as declination charts (the football looking ones), astrocartography and graphical ephemeredes.
1: Use the pull down box to select the profile you want a chart for. To compare two people, you need to put a name in the ‘partner’ box.
2. Select the chart type (natal, synastry, progressed, etc)
3. 'Web default style' is almost always appropriate for a basic natal chart. Play with the other options if you wish.
4. House system: only change this if you know what you’re doing. Most natal charts are cast with the Placidus or Koch systems (‘default’ is Placidus).
5. Additional objects can be included, such as asteroids, hypothetical points, Arabic parts and such. The default chart will show the 10 planets.
6. Here is where you can set some of the less used options:
§ Always use True Node – Lunar Node positions are usually averaged. This forces it to be exact.
§ Always use day formula for Pars Fortunae: Back in the day this part was calculated the same whether the chart was an AM or PM birth. These days it's changed. But you can still relive the old days!
§ Aspect lines to all: draws bolder aspect lines in the chart diagram
§ Add some fixed stars: Shows any fixed stars that aspect planets or points in your chart (usually just by conjunction or opposition)
§ Topocentric: use coordinates based on the Earth’s surface as opposed to the center of the planet
§ Draw no aspect lines: exactly what it sounds like
§ Additional asteroids or "hypothetical" planets: these each have a code, like h333 or 2867, and a link to the list is provided. See below
§ List of over 10000 named asteroids: that asteroid belt is pretty populated
§ List of "hypothetical" planets: access the Uranian planets here, among others
7. If you prefer using a sidereal chart instead of the standard tropical, you can access those settings here. The drop down box allows you to pick your ayanamsa (if you don’t know what that is, choose Fagan/Bradley). WARNING: a sidereal chart, whether heliocentric or geocentric will not match your regular or tropical chart. That’s on purpose. Don’t mess with this setting if unless you REALLY need to.
8. If you choose any charts based on a second date (transits, progressions, returns), you need to enter the second reference point here. If you were born January 1, 1990 and want to progress your chart to March 24, 2006, you enter the latter date in the box and the computer will calculate the rest.
Voila, the down and dirty how-to.
There is a LOT more to discover on this site. Go back out and click on some more of the free horoscope options. There's lots to keep you entertained!
First off, it’s pronounced ahs’tro’dee’nst, for all of you who were wondering. (It means 'Astro Service'; 'dienst' is the German). Now that we’ve got that out of the way . . .
Really Basic
When you get there, you want to go to the ‘Free Horoscopes’ link at the top. (See attached image)
From here you have a lot of choices. If you simply want to find out what your rising sign or what house your Moon is in, go to ‘Chart Drawing, Ascendant.” That’ll give you a down and dirty image. You can also grab additional information like planetary declinations or aspects by going to the “additional tables” link. (See attached image)
A Little Deeper
The interactive horoscopes can be fun if you want to see how each part of your ‘scope relates to the other. Click on the different parts of the chart and descriptions will come up in the floating box. (See attached image) The short statements are still very general however . . .
Down the Rabbit Hole
Extended Chart Selection is the page where I spend most of my time. There’s a lot to take in, but that’s because this has nearly everything the novice astrologer could want and some pros too! (See attached image)
You’ll default to Astrodienst Round. ‘Pullen/Astrolog’ will give a chart like what comes out of the Astrolog program – functional, but not always pretty; ‘Astrodienst Special’ gives you such things as declination charts (the football looking ones), astrocartography and graphical ephemeredes.
1: Use the pull down box to select the profile you want a chart for. To compare two people, you need to put a name in the ‘partner’ box.
2. Select the chart type (natal, synastry, progressed, etc)
3. 'Web default style' is almost always appropriate for a basic natal chart. Play with the other options if you wish.
4. House system: only change this if you know what you’re doing. Most natal charts are cast with the Placidus or Koch systems (‘default’ is Placidus).
5. Additional objects can be included, such as asteroids, hypothetical points, Arabic parts and such. The default chart will show the 10 planets.
6. Here is where you can set some of the less used options:
§ Always use True Node – Lunar Node positions are usually averaged. This forces it to be exact.
§ Always use day formula for Pars Fortunae: Back in the day this part was calculated the same whether the chart was an AM or PM birth. These days it's changed. But you can still relive the old days!
§ Aspect lines to all: draws bolder aspect lines in the chart diagram
§ Add some fixed stars: Shows any fixed stars that aspect planets or points in your chart (usually just by conjunction or opposition)
§ Topocentric: use coordinates based on the Earth’s surface as opposed to the center of the planet
§ Draw no aspect lines: exactly what it sounds like
§ Additional asteroids or "hypothetical" planets: these each have a code, like h333 or 2867, and a link to the list is provided. See below
§ List of over 10000 named asteroids: that asteroid belt is pretty populated
§ List of "hypothetical" planets: access the Uranian planets here, among others
7. If you prefer using a sidereal chart instead of the standard tropical, you can access those settings here. The drop down box allows you to pick your ayanamsa (if you don’t know what that is, choose Fagan/Bradley). WARNING: a sidereal chart, whether heliocentric or geocentric will not match your regular or tropical chart. That’s on purpose. Don’t mess with this setting if unless you REALLY need to.
8. If you choose any charts based on a second date (transits, progressions, returns), you need to enter the second reference point here. If you were born January 1, 1990 and want to progress your chart to March 24, 2006, you enter the latter date in the box and the computer will calculate the rest.
Voila, the down and dirty how-to.
There is a LOT more to discover on this site. Go back out and click on some more of the free horoscope options. There's lots to keep you entertained!