There’s a lot of astrological material on the internet, some of it useful, some of it rubbish. And in this article I want to give a brief overview of what’s available.
One of the amazing things about the internet is that complex calculations can be done through a web page. So if you want a copy of someone’s horoscope, with the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the planets accurately calculated, you no longer need to buy an astrology program.
The prime site for chart calculation has got to be Astrodienst. They have loads of stuff, including a page where you can enter your birth details, including the time and place of birth, and get an instant drawing of your horoscope.
This is great not just for astrology obsessives, but also for people who are ‘born on the cusp’. Many people, who are born around two-thirds of the way through a calendar month, don’t know what their star sign is. For example if you’re born on January 20, you don’t know for sure whether you’re a Capricorn or an Aquarius, because the time of the sign-change will vary from year to year. Thanks to the calculation service offered by Astrodienst, you can plug in your details and find out exactly what your star-sign is.
You nonetheless need to be careful when using computers to calculate horoscopes. If you don’t understand what’s been calculated, some major errors could pass you by.
It’s easy to enter the wrong time, for example putting in 1 am rather than 1 pm. However a 1 am chart will have the Sun towards the bottom, a 1 pm chart towards the top, so the mistake should be spotted pretty quickly – unless you’re a beginner, who relies entirely on computers.
Another interesting feature offered by Astrodienst is a 6000 year ephemeris. An ephemeris is a table of the planets’ positions, usually calculated daily, for either midday or midnight. Astrodienst’s website allows you to download a PDF file for the year of your choice, for free.
So if I want to know what was going on in December AD 37, I can download the ephemeris for that year. I can then see that December 15 AD 37, the birth date of the Emperor Nero, was a Sunday, and the Sun was making a close conjunction to Pluto, in the sign Sagittarius.
Continuing on a Roman theme and there’s the question of forums. There are obviously a lot of astrology forums on the internet, and they can be very useful.
If you’ve got a horoscope that needs analysing, you’ll find plenty of sincere and knowledgeable people to help you out. Though watch out for self-proclaimed gurus, who think they know all the answers.
Also, if you’re into political astrology, bear in mind that most astrologers are pretty liberal. I discovered this in the 2008 Presidential elections. Just about every astrologer I came across, on internet forums, thought that Obama was wonderful, and was going to make the world a better place.
For many people the most important question will be about consultations. How does one find an astrologer worth consulting on the internet?
Well, if you’re looking for an astrologer, I would suggest that you don’t answer mass, internet advertising. That’s indeed one of the reasons why I am reluctant to have advertising on my website, because the advertisements would probably relate to astrology, but the kind of astrology I wouldn’t necessarily endorse.
Another way of getting a reading is via a ‘live psychic’ service. Usually these services will have astrologers on the their books, and you’re typically paying a few dollars a minute.
On the face of it this service sounds attractive. You can stop the reading whenever you like, and if you’re only on the phone for a few minutes your financial outlay won’t be very much.
However if you want a full reading, lasting 45 minutes or more, the cost could quickly mount up. Also, it might be difficult to know who you’re dealing with and how they’re reaching their conclusions.
Yet the internet does have advantages. A lot of astrologers have their own websites, where they showcase their work. You can visit the website, and get an insight into both their methods and their style. If you decide to pay for a reading, you can then be reasonably confident that the astrologer will do their best to give you a good service.
You should nonetheless appreciate that chemistry plays a big role in any reading. Sometimes, however hard an astrologer tries, the reading doesn’t work. It’s not necessarily connected with the astrologer’s skill, but instead with the way two people interact with each other.
You should also bear in mind that astrologers aren’t magicians. They describe what’s going on in your life, they advise you on the best strategy, but they can’t change the future. This is especially true when it comes romance, as I describe in my recent article Astrology, Love and Magic.
However if you are genuinely unsatisfied with your reading, any self-respecting astrologer will be happy to give you a full refund.
Copyright © 2010 Archie Dunlop
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