Astrology on your computer, is it worthwhile?

[whisper54]

I'm considering a software astrology program and I was wondering if anyone has experience here or knows of a good product. also wondering if this is 'cheating' or maybe a dirty word with traditionals. I welcome any opinion

[Fluffmeister]

I certainly don't think it's cheating to use a computer program to calculate the planets' positions (after all, even looking them up in an ephemeris is "cheating" because someone had to calculate them in the first place!) or draw the chart.

However, using a program to churn out interpretations is very limiting. I think humans make a much better job at "integrating" a chart than computers. Computerised reports tend to be very big, but full of contradictions ("you are fiercely independent and hate to be pinned down" "you are very clingy in relationships and need the attentions of others" sort of stuff) - whereas the art of astrology is reading the story in the chart and making sense of it.

If you've got plenty of money, then I would whole-heartedly recommend Solar Fire. It is amazingly flexible - you can design your own chart wheels, it does every technique I've ever heard of and quite a few I haven't heard of and it's easy to use. The support you get if you have a query is really good too. You can get it to churn out interpretations if you really want to, and you can edit them (so you can put your own interpretations for Neptune transiting Mars, for instance). Also, on any chart you can just click on one planet then another, and it brings up a pop-up box with a brief interpretation for that aspect. On transit lists, it does the same for transits. Wait until next week before buying it, though, as they're bringing out their latest version!

However, it does cost $289 so it's not cheap.

At the other end of the scale is Astrolog32. It's completely free, and does most things - I managed for many years with Astrolog before finally biting the bullet and shelling out for Solar Fire. You can download Astrolog32 from http://uk.geocities.com/astrolog32/

[whisper54]

Thanx fluffmeister, I had no idea a software of this nature could be so expensive. I'll have to put it on my wish list, I'll check out the other one soon.