The Mac and Astrology Software
by Hank Friedman
In the early days of micro-computing (as it was then called), a generous client donated to me enough money for my first computer system: an Apple II. Since then, the PC world has exploded, with a huge assortment of personal computing products including desktops, laptops, phones, and tablets.
In 1984, when the IBM PC and its clones were being produced in earnest, personal computing became inexpensive enough for astrologers to begin getting their own PCs. Astrology software creators like Matrix Software began writing PC astrology programs, and many companies soon followed suit.
When the Mac first came out, it was unfortunately too expensive for most astrologers to afford, and so they flocked to PCs, and astrology software really took off on the PC side. Only Time Cycles Research wrote astrology programs for the Mac for many years, and even then it took a bit of time before techniques like progressions became available on the Mac.
Nowadays, the price of Macs has come down, and their popularity has increased, so that now one out of every ten computers sold is a Mac. Macs appeal to people because they are very well constructed, easy to use, and are – at the present time – much safer than PCs. (Macs are actually easier to hack than PCs, and malware is just beginning to appear on the Macs, but most cyber-criminals still go after PCs.)
Because the vast majority of astrologers still use PCs and not Macs, there are a much wider range of astrology programs for PCs. In fact, there are only two Western astrology programs written in English for the Mac: TimePassages and the IO Edition and its add-on modules. (TimePassages has identical versions for both the Mac and the PC.) [Note: this article does not address programs written for Vedic astrology.]
How to do astrology on the Mac There are three ways to get astrological calculations performed on your Mac:
1. Using programs written specifically for the Mac, these are called Mac-native programs. As aforementioned, TimePassages and the IO Edition (and its add-ons) are the two Mac-native astrology programs.
Or
2. Installing Windows on a Mac, and running Windows programs on your Mac. You can run Windows on your Mac by either using:
A. The Boot Camp program that comes with Macs running OS X v10.5 and later. Boot Camp has the advantage of running Windows programs at full speed, but requires a reboot every time you want to switch between the Mac and Windows operating system, i.e. you have to a reboot each time you want to run a program that uses the other operating system.
Or
B. Purchasing Parallels, which allows you to run Windows and Mac programs side-by-side.
Or
3. Using a Windows emulator to run Windows program on your Mac. If you are very skilled with computers and want to save money, you can get the free WineBottler, or the inexpensive Crossover Impersonator, which can be installed on a Mac and then configured to run Windows programs without installing Windows itself.
If you go this route, be prepared to put a lot of effort into getting your Windows program to run on the Mac. Apparently, Kepler and Sirius will run using Crossover, but with a few quirks.
The advantages of using Mac-native programs are complete compatibility with the Mac, greater speed, and the unlikelihood of installation problems, printing issues, etc.
The primary advantage of using a Windows program on a Mac is having a much wider range of programs and functions at your disposal. There is, of course, the added cost of Windows (and Parallels, if you purchase it too).
The capabilities of Mac-native programs
As aforementioned TimePassages and IO software have a wide range of capabilities and will meet the needs of most astrologers. The following table shows most of the features available in these programs.
Astrological Functions of Mac Native Programs
Astrological Function
TimePassages Advanced
IO Edition
IO ProPak
Charts
Natal
yes
yes
Heliocentric charts
---
yes
Sidereal charts
---
yes, 12 ayanamshas
Progressed
secondary, solar arc
naibod, secondary, tertiary, tertiary/SA , minor, quotidian q2
Solar & Lunar Return
yes
yes
Composite + Davidson
composite
composite and davidson
Wheels
Bi-Wheels
yes
yes
Tri-Wheels
yes
yes
Quad-Wheels
---
yes
Animated Bi-Wheels
yes, and TriWheels
---
Biwheels via IO Sprite
Interpretations
Point-and-Click
yes
---
Built-in reports
yes, natal, transit, progressed
---
Add-on reports
compatibility, composite, astromapping, Solar Return
natal, transit, compatibility, health, child
Are reports editable
---
yes, for add-on reports
Additional Calculations
Midpoints
yes, trees, axes
yes, trees, axes, sorts
Time adjusting
yes
?
Extra Points
4 asteroids, 4 Centaurs,
4 TNOs, Chiron + 7 others4 asteroids, Chiron + 3 others
Graphic Ephemeris
yes
yes
Predictive hit lists
transit only, 7 planets
transit-to-natal, transit-to-transit, progressed-to-progressed, progressed-to-natal, sign ingresses, eclipses, lunar phases
all 10 planets
Chart Search
---
---
via IO detective
Time Search
---
---
via IO Sprite
Additional Functions
Page Designer
---
yes
import-export chart file
yes
---
export chart images
yes, jpg format
yes, pict and jpg formats
print ephemeris pages
---
---
via IO Midnight Ephemeris
included chart collection
273
---
3,000 with IO Detective
Atlas
ACS Atlas
Infinite Atlas
astromapping features
astro*carto*graphy
---
in IO Cartography:
astro*carto*graphy
+ square and trine lines
plus Local Space mapscalculation range for planets
0 to 3000 AD
102 AD to 2999 AD
drag and drop
---
yes
yes, to IO Sprite and IO Detective
customize colors, etc.
yes
yes
The additional capabilities of Windows programs.
Important Note: The functions available in Windows programs (listed below) are not currently present in Mac-native programs. But since Mac astrology software keeps improving, some of the following features may become present in future versions of TimePassages and IO.
1. Traditional Astrology
There are no Mac programs that offer Hellenistic or Medieval or Horary features.
2. Alternative Schools of Astrology
Those who want to explore different astrological approaches such as Mayan, Chinese, Huber, Cosmobiology, or financial astrology need to use astrology software written for Windows.
3. Transit Graphs
One of the two Mac programs -- TimePassages -- offers a very basic graphical depiction of some transiting aspects (see TimePassages timeline below), for transits from the outer 6 planets and Chiron to the natal planets.
Most astrologers want to be able to see transits, progressions, directions, and declinations over time in a graphical format that shows entering, exact, and leaving dates, because it helps them see interacting cycles, the duration of each event, stations, and the number of times cycles recur -- all much more easily than from a text listing (See Solar Fire Time Map below).
Among the many features available only in the predictive graphs running under Windows are:
transit to transit transit to progressed transit to directed
progressed to natal progressed to progressed
using Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and/or Minor Progressions
house and sign ingresses
parallels of declination and latitude
Solar and Lunar eclipses, Super Moon, and Lunar Phases
Void of course moon and planetary stations
Converse and precessed events
and the use as moving and natal points:
midpoints, fixed stars, arabic parts, nodes, asteroids, and house cusps
To create these kinds of graphics, a Windows program is needed.
TimePassages Timeline:
Solar Fire Time Map:
4. Rectification
There are effective rectification modules in a few PC programs, where you enter major life events for a person and the software helps you to narrow down likely birth times.
5. Astrological Calendars
Many PC programs can print weekly or monthly astrological calendars, both personal calendars showing transits, progressions, and directions to a natal chart, and mundane calendars showing events occurring in the sky itself (and even both at the same time).
6. Eclipse Maps, Theme Maps, etc.
Cyclo*Carto*Graphy functions are available in Windows programs, showing changing map influences over time.
One cannot search for eclipses in Mac-native programs, nor generate eclipse maps.
Astromapping on the Mac is quite basic, with only the TimePassages Astro Map add-on offering interpretations of Astro*Carto*Graphy lines. There are no theme maps (i.e. maps that show you where to go for love or inspiration, etc.), and no depicting of (nor interpretations for), sextile and minor aspect lines nor Paran, asteroid, Fixed Star, or midpoint lines, or Paran tables.
7. Research Tools
On the PC side, there are an incredible number of great research tools available. (To read the article that I published in the ISAR journal on research tools for Windows click here.). You can search for people born on a specific date, time, or place, or by name, chart notes, or biographies, or even construct "astro-signatures", i.e. astrological models of a life pattern (like depression) with your own sets of rules and weightings.
On the Mac, using the IO Detective add-on to the IO Edition, you can search chart files for these basic factors: planets in signs, houses, aspects, specific degrees, qualities, and elements, but that's all. You cannot search files for aspect patterns, minor aspects, midpoints, chart shapes, dignities, retrogrades, or many other factors, nor can these searches be combined.
The IO Sprite add-on to the IO Edition can search the past or future for planetary aspects, stations, returns, ingresses, and planets reaching specific degrees, but it cannot combine searches (with AND/OR statements e.g. find when Mars in Cancer AND Mars is conjunct the Sun), nor can it search for planets in aspect patterns, midpoints, dignities, or occultations, nor for chart shapes.
8. Custom Aspects, Primary Progressions, Fixed Stars, and More
There are many other calculations and functions unavailable in Mac-native programs (in fact, too many to list), but they include finding out-of-bounds planets, the inability to add aspects of your own (you can't explore minor aspects except the ones included in each program), or to use primary progressions, Arabic Parts (Greek Lots), or Fixed Stars, or view a Planetarium, or design new chart wheels, and you can't explore Vedic and Western astrology in the same program.
9. Interpretive Reports
Fortunately, there are natal, transit, progressed, compatibility, health, and child reports available on the Mac, by at least one author. If you want the widest choice of reports, and the best ones available, however, you will need to explore the reports written for Windows PCs.
For the Mac, there are no asteroid, Chinese, karmic, medical, fixed star, financial, horary, vocational, or midpoint reports, nor any reports written specifically for women, teens, pets, seniors, or gay people, or focusing on the themes of a specific planet.
10. Astrological Lessons and Glossaries
If you want your software to include either lessons in astrology or a glossary (or encyclopedia) of astrology, you will need to use Windows software.
11. Data tables, grids, and graphs
I was very surprised when an astrologer who had just switched to a Mac complained to me that neither Mac-naive program was capable of creating an aspect grid that showed applying and separating indicators. I researched this and found that one also cannot view aspect orbs in aspect grids in these programs:
[Note: In TimePassages, you can see applying & separating indicators on the transit to natal grid, and in the printed natal aspect grid.]
The IO Aspect Grid:
The Janus Aspect Grid:
The IO Edition allows you to add several basic tables to its user-designed pages, such as planets by house and sign, angles, planetary positions, and midpoints. However many Windows programs offer an incredibly wide range of tables not available in Mac-native programs including:
Planetary Rising and Setting Times
Closest Aspects
Gauquelin Sectors
Nearest Lunar Phases and Eclipses
Planetary Hours
Essential Dignities
Horary Considerations
Mutual Receptions
Planetary Sect
Temperament
Arabic Parts
Degree Meanings
30 degree sort
Fixed Star Aspects and Parans
Chinese Lunar Mansions
Nakshatras
Planetary Nodes
Asteroids (besides the major four)
Midpoint Weighting Analysis
Almuten scores
Firdaria
Harmonics
Midpoint Comparions
Astrodynes
Part Four: Conclusion
The Mac is a fine platform for many astrologers. All of the basic functions and many advanced astrological functions are available in Mac-native software. But it is important to review the features not available in Mac-native programs (above) to see if any of them are "must-haves".
Also, many of the astrological functions available in Mac-native programs are more completely developed on the PC side. E.g. The IO Edition has a page designer, for example, for creating pages with the charts and tables that you want, arranged to your liking. The page designers for Windows programs, however, offer many more tables (see #11 above), more chart styles, graphs, more charts per page, and more functions in general (e.g. like importing background images).
Similarly, one can view an animated biwheel or triwheel (or single wheel) on a Mac, but there are Windows astrology programs that show you when aspects change from applying to separating, animate quad-wheels, and even several biwheels at the same time (to watch progressions and transits in separate biwheels, for example, move around a natal chart).
In the future, the major advances in astrology software are most likely to appear in Windows programs before they arrive in Mac-native programs.
Postscript: How to install Windows and Parallels successfully on a Mac to run astrology software. In order to get many astrology programs to run on the Mac, you have to turn off File Sharing. Specifically, turn off shared profile, shared applications, shared folders, and shared options. This has resolved problems for many people trying to run Windows astrology software on their Macs.
Because Solar Fire Gold is the most Mac-like astrology program that runs on Windows PCs, and its graphical interface makes it easy to learn and easy to use, I usually recommend that Mac users who want many of the capabilities mentioned in this article, i.e. that are not available in Mac-native programs, purchase Solar Fire Gold. [Note, however, that if a specific astrological function is very important to you, please check with me to see if a program has this feature before buying it.]
You can learn more about Solar Fire Gold at my website devoted to it:
http://www.solarfiregold.com
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Copyright © 2011 Hank Friedman --- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED