CREDIBILITY ISSUES, Astrology SCAMS
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   Unlike most other software, where "features" may mean quality, an astrology
   software, first and foremost, MUST rely on a defensible premise and
   credible techniques, for otherwise all the rest (i.e., Win95 platform,
   nice graphics, long reports, etc.) automatically become USELESS, indeed
   garbage.  For example, what good is a beautifully-drawn PROGRESSED Circle
   when Progressions, a very popular predictive technique, assume that each
   DAY of life is equal to a YEAR of life.  WHY SUCH AN ASSUMPTION WAS
   NECESSARY IN THE FIRST PLACE, WHEN ONE CAN AS EASILY COMPUTE THE REAL
   PLANETS AT ANY YEAR, IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION, except that people who
   concocted this thing made money from it.  Suffice it to say that indeed
   the credibility of most astrology software, among them well-known names,
   is lacking.

a) TRADITIONAL ASTROLOGY.  For ages, the astrology that attracted all of us
   ---------------------   to this field was/is the TRADITIONAL ASTROLOGY
   that has relied on TROPICAL Zodiac, GEOCENTRIC Coordinates, and EQUAL
   or PLACIDUS Houses.

   ASPECTS.  In the days of hand computations, the ASPECTS between the planets
   -------   were computed as LONGITUDINAL differences ONLY, without the
   differences in LATITUDE.  For example Sun at 0 Cancer 0 and Pluto at 3
   Cancer 0, were CONJUNCT at 3 degrees, regardless of the fact that Pluto
   may have been (say) at 4 degrees Northern Latitude.  In the latter case,
   Sun and Pluto are still conjunct, BUT at 5 degrees (SQR (3*3 + 4*4 = 25)).
   AsterPro computes ALL aspects as true CELESTIAL (NOT Longitudinal)
   differences.  So if you see Sun at 0 Cancer and Pluto at 8 Cancer NOT
   shown as conjunct, this is because the Latitude of Pluto has PUSHED the
   separation between the two beyond the +/- 10 degrees of ORB allocated to
   the Conjunction.  (IF YOU INSIST, YOU CAN ADJUST THE BUILT-IN
   ORBS IN THE UTILITIES MODULE.)

b) MODERN STUFF.  Obviously there are/were many gray areas and unknows in
   ------------   astrology, and there were also exogeneous (external to
   astrology) "CLUTTER" influences. In time, increasing numbers of astrologers
   became frustrated with the incomplete results they were getting from
   Traditional Astrology and started to develop overnight concoctions,
   supposedly to IMPROVE astrology, but often POLLUTING it with SUPERSTITION,
   WISHFUL THINKING, AND downright SCAMS instead.  These efforts accelerated
   as computers became popular, so much so that (one can argue) computers
   became the worst enemy of astrology, THOUGH they also helped a lot with
   the computations.  Be as it may, since the 1970s, astrology has been
   burdened with several Zodiacs, Coordinate systems, at least a dozen House
   Systems, AND SEVERAL IDIOTIC TECHNIQUES/SCAMS.  So do the astrologers of
   today know more about people?  I seriously doubt this. They are probably
   much more frustrated and confused.  

   * SEE MY PAPER, "ASTROLOGY and REALITY," also included on this Menu.
     ==================================================================

c) ASTERPRO.  YES, as a comprehensive RESEARCH tool, AsterPro has these
   --------   dubious techniques also built-in, THOUGH I DO NOT PROMOTE THEM.
   I USE and PROMOTE Traditional Astrology, BECAUSE I GET VERY GOOD RESULTS
   FROM IT.  So to summarize:

   1) "POPULAR" TECHNIQUES I do NOT Recommend (Click the topics for details).
      =======================================================================

      1. PROGRESSIONS.  AsterPro has 3 varieties of very comprehensive
         ------------   Progression analyses, NONE of which I recommend,
         because this predictive technique is based on the (STUPID)
         assumption that each DAY after life = to a YEAR of life, which
         is ALSO entirely wrong when a planet is retrograde.  Ah, things
         people sell as astrology . . .

      2. SOLAR RETURNS.  This is also a nonsensical predictive technique.
         -------------   A Solar Return chart is computed EACH year FOR the
         time of Birth.  So mechanically it is a Transit run for a given
         moment.  Why then non-thinking astrologers insist of extrapolating
         these results to the entire year is beyond comprehension.

      3. CARTOGRAPHY.  Take away the MAPS of other programs, AsterPro does
         -----------   offer the most comprehensive Cartography module in
         astrology.  AND what AsterPro has is CREDIBLE ASTROLOGY that ONLY maps
         a person's chart in a State or Country, whereas ASTRO*CARTO*GRAPHY
         promotes SUPERSTITION.  That is, ever since "astrologers" like
         Noel Tyl began assigning signs to rocks and plants, other astrologers
         thought what is good for plants must be also good for rivers,
         mountains, cities, countries, etc.  THIS IS UTTER NONSENSE, for
         SUPPOSEDLY some places are GOOD for you, others NOT.  While
         LOCATION may be a factor in defining CYCLES using Transits, it is
         never a factor as "Cartograpgy" suggests it is.   I have lived in
         several cities on 3 continents, coast to coast in USA.  I can
         assure you that I had GOOD, VERY good, and BAD days in everyone
         of them.  And let us be practical.  Suppose a person is assigned to
         Rome, Paris, Madrid, etc.  Should or would this person really decline
         the offer because Rome just does not agree with his or her chart?
         If so, frankly, this poor soul would qualify better as an idiot
         than astrologer - as also the "creator" of this thing.

         Note: After reviewing these, see Iraq War, 1991 under "Application"
         ====  heading to see how events should be analyzed.

      4. CHINESE, I CHING and 5. HINDU ASTROLOGY, Harmonics.
         Yes, we can program everything.  BUT to make sense of these
         apparently one must be a Chinese - or Hindu for the latter.  As
         far as I am concerned, these two belong in the realm of
         superstition or wishful thinking.  They are so cumbersome that
         one can draw ANY conclusion based on them and still claim the
         predictions were right.  This is probably how old Hindus and
         Chinese impressed their neighborhoods in the good old days
         - and now apparently also modern America.

      6. TransNeptunian, Uranian, VEDIC ASTROLOGY.
         Without going into details, let me say that I could not see more
         from Vedic Astrology that I could already from Traditional Astrology.
         This is a relatively new concoction that is seemingly designed to
         sell books and software than contribute to astrology.  (I do NOT use
         VEDIC Astrology for the same reason that I do NOT call psychics.)  And,
         the exogenous factors, which are the primary obstacles to Traditional
         Astrology, do NOT go away because of Vedic Astrology.  So out
         goes Vedic, Aztec.

      7. MIDPOINTS.  AsterPro has, for both Transits and Progressions, the
         ---------   most detailed Midpoints analysis. It also includes them
         in Natal reports (in the MANUSCRIPT Option on the Natal Menu.)  Do I
         follow them?  I did for about 3 years and then decided that
         Regular Transits are more than sufficient.  So I do NOT reject
         Midpoints outright, though I do for practical reasons.  After all,
         ONE SHOULD LIVE LIFE, NOT PLOT IT CONTINUOUSLY using every method.
         I rely on Regular Transits, peeking at my daily output perhaps
         for 5 minutes once or twice a month, making mental notes about my cycles.

      8. Dubious Relationships Techniques.

      9. Astrology of Twins.

      * Note: AsterPro software includes all of these and several books.
        ================================================================

   2) MY PREFERENCES.  I use only PLACIDUS or EQUAL for all my Natal and
      ==============   Relationship runs. (Indeed, AsterPro does NOT offer
      any other alternative for Relationships.) I studied relationships for
      2 years, with more than 100 couples.  THEY chose the EQUAL House results
      from reports; I concurred.  I also DISCARDED the Sidereal Zodiac and
      ALL (incl. Heliocentric) BUT the traditional GEOCENTRIC coordinate
      system that has survived for ages, that attracted ALL OF US to
      astrology in the first place, whereas the new stuff, like the KOCH
      Houses, came into being after computers became popular and people
      could "INVENT" things overnight.  Let me point out again that I did
      NOT see anything NEW from Koch, etc. Houses than I could already from
      Placidus or equal.  (And, again, exogenous factors, the primary obstacles
      to astrology, do NOT go away because of Koch houses.)  For Transits,
      I use ONLY Equal Houses, with SOLAR, NATAL, and LOCATION components.
      (When the present habitat is specified, AsterPro will include all 3
      components in the output.)