Free Astrology Software

Minderwiz

It is not suited to the interests of Minderwiz.

What not suited to Astrology??? :eek: :joke:

As long as a beginner can switch off the stuff that's only relevant to intermediate or advance students and Keep It Simple, I've no objections whatsoever. No, you can't take this very far in a traditional context but you can at least do the basics to understand the nature of a chart.

I started with the Halloran's Astrology for Windows, that Dave mentioned and that is not free (there's a registration fee involved to use all of the features) I found that very useful as a beginner and if Dave reckons it's better than that, then go for it.

A word of warning about included interpretations:

They can help the beginner in the very early stages of learning, but only if you are prepared to examine closely the reasoning on which the interpretation is based. By analysing the interpretation you can see why the author reached the conclusion that they did. That's a learning step.

However if you simply accept the interpretation and don't analyse it, you won't learn anything, indeed doing that will prevent learning, not aid it because you'll just take it as gospel. It's the same as copying out the keywords or phrases from a cook book without thought.

Once you've understood where the interpretation comes from, the next stage is to look and see if that interpretation is widely held and what other Astrologers would say. That's not a Modern v Traditional point, it holds for all approaches. Each Astrologer adds something of their own to their interpretations. You will find subtle differences and different nuances. Exploring them is a further learning experience but has to be done in an analytical way. Dissect the interpretation and then see if you can see how the bits fit together.

BTW Dave is giving copies of the program away free with each copy of his book :cool4: And I hope he does a post or two about it when it's up for publication.
 

daphne

BTW Dave is giving copies of the program away free with each copy of his book :cool4: And I hope he does a post or two about it when it's up for publication.

What program? An astrology software?

Yes, I would also like to hear about the book.
 

Minderwiz

Sorry daphne, that was a joke as the software is already free and all that is needed is the link that Dave supplied. I linked it to the book as Dave said that the technique he uses can be carried out using Starfisher.

I'm sure Dave will do several posts using his technique in order for students to get an idea of what it is. As the book isn't out till March (assuming he's running on time) I would expect mid to late February to the end of March being the likely period for him to post.
 

WolfyJames

Early in this posting, WolfyJames noted a freeware program, StarFisher. I had overlooked that as well as a review of the program in a 2014 issue of the Mountain Astrologer. What a nice program.

I'm glad to hear you like it :). Better late than never. ;)
 

dadsnook2000

A interesting idea

Once my book is ready to go, I will post charts that show how the book's ideas and this 'new' approach to lunar returns works. I will use StarFisher.

What I am thinking is to create a StarFisher blog site wherein I can post examples of how to use the various features, with examples. This program is just too good to be left someplace in a quiet graveyard. I don't understand the business model for pouring so much effort into a project like this and then leaving it as open-source freeware. I'm glad it was done. But, I don't understand it.

What I do understand is that for most new, beginners, early-studies and semi-serious astrologers who can't afford a high-end package such as Kepler (my favorite tool) or other high-functionality (and costs) software, this is the package that should be on everyone's computer. Forget the Internet, forget the other free stuff.

Dave.
 

Etene

I don't understand the business model for pouring so much effort into a project like this and then leaving it as open-source freeware. I'm glad it was done. But, I don't understand it.
It's probably using Swiss Ephemeris, which is free for free software (GPL style), but $750+ if you intend to market something that uses it. And if it's built on GPL code, it's a closed case already. Another reason may be, why not? Has humanity decayed so thoroughly that utilizing the nearly-zero marginal cost of distributing software to give a gift to anybody who wants it is questioned as a symptom of irrationality? And what better motivation can the marketed programs find to improve themselves and earn their keep than a free alternative that may eat their lunch if they don't? :D

It does little good for me, though. I tried StarFisher on Wine (Linux) and aside from the chart, everything else seemed to vanish after being visible for an instant, so somehow the program manages to draw text and boxes with aspect symbols in them in a way that Wine doesn't expect. That's a shame because it looked better than OpenAstro (don't get me started) and Maitreya (intended for Jyotish, okay for basic Western charts but little more).
 

dadsnook2000

For Etene

Sorry about the bad experience using Unix-derived systems. Thanks for your comments. When I can get to creating a StarFisher site I will include them and any other comments that can be offered. I'm not sure how popular such a site will be but the use of WordPress is free and it will be accessible. Perhaps even the software can be downloaded from there.
 

Etene

That Wine can't handle StarFisher isn't StarFisher's problem, it's Wine's insufficiency.
 

Minderwiz

Quick Test

It is not suited to the interests of Minderwiz.

Just to test if Dave was right, I downloaded and installed Starfisher. The first think I noted during the easy install (Dave was right about that) was that it offered a choice of primary approach, one of which was 'Traditional' (so was Dave wrong about my interests not being catered for?). I ticked that and completed the registration.

I cast my own chart, simply to compare it with other paid for programs. It came out with a spot on Ascendant. So that's it's first tick. Finding my place of birth required a search, as it wasn't on it's Quick List. That's not surprising at all. But once found, using the Atlas search function, it can be added to the Quick List. This approach is almost identical to Morinus, though StarFisher has a slight edge in terms of being able to select the country and search within it.

With the chart up, I went into Tools and selected my default bodies. This allowed me to get rid of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. and checking the list of possible bodies and points I found that most of the selections offered were fixed stars - great for horary. Very interestingly, it offered not only the Lot (Part) of Fortune (both day/night and day only) but it also offered the Lot (Part) of Spirit (again both day/night and day only). It took me an age to get Solar Fire to display that, so this is a very big tick. Even Morinus doesn't show it as a default option, it needs to be programmed in.

A test against Delphic Oracle showed both Lots to be perfectly calculated (OK DO shows seconds of arc, but I'm absoluely sure that Star Fisher has that accuracy held internally).

What it doesn't offer is the ability to add further Lots (as Morinus does) nor does it (as far as I can tell on a firs play) offer the other essential dignities.

I can see why Dave is over the Moon with the Returns feature. I haven't played with it yet, but will try it out.

Is it as good as Morinus (full edition)? For my usage,I would say not, and it's definitely not up to Morinus Traditional but it is a good program with useful features and something that a beginner should consider seriously.

Given that it's free, there's absolutely no reason why both Morinus and Starfisher could not be used together to analyse charts. Don't think of it as an exclusive choice. There are few Astrology programs that satisfy every user completely (indeed I can't think of one). But the Morinus (full version) and Starfisher combination would be a great one for the beginner and intermediate student.
 

CosmicBeing

Go to Lot of Fortune and make sure the second option is selected, that is giving a different calculation depending on whether it’s a diurnal (day) or nocturnal (night) chart.

May I ask what is the second option called?

I see Diurnal

The other check box is "Use whole-signs not degrees"

The option that is checked right now is diurnal.