AstrolDeluxe 8.0John Halloran's AstrolDeluxe Report Writer provides a comprehensive range of chart calculations, research features, powerful report writing engine, and a very fine selection of add-on reports. The latest major update enhances the program in many ways, including a new 400 page PDF program manual, progressed-to-progressed aspects in the hit listing, and a "Reports Express" menu that allows you to generate interpretive reports very quickly. The new Transit Calendar is actually a transit graph that depicts transit-to-natal aspects for two months at a time. The dates are shown at the top of the screen, with asterisks for exact hits and greater than and lesser than symbols (>>> and <<<) indicating when the event is within orb. One nifty feature is that the program actually calculates the transits for a two year period, and you can move forward or backwards two months at a time via buttons. Another unique feature is that it shows an R instead of an * when a station occurs before exactness. For more advanced astrologers, version 8 adds three types of Primary Directions: Classical Primary Directions without Latitude, Classical Primary Directions with Latitude, and the new "Rational" Primary Directions. Rational Primary Directions converts all points to Oblique Longitude before directing them. Therefore, two of the three Primary methods built into the program take into account the Celestial Latitude of each planet, not just its Celestial Longitude. The program's author finds this gives more accurate results. The powerful search features of AstrolDeluxe have been significantly enhanced by adding the ability to search chart files for out-of-bounds planets, planets near the equator, quadrant and hemisphere emphasis, aspects from planets to asteroids and Eris, and the dominant planets, signs, and houses in charts. Because you can conduct additional searches on any search results, the many types of search parameters become a very potent set of tools. AstrolDeluxe Report Writer 8 enables those with true type astrology fonts to use them in chart wheels and text listings, adds better chart rotation tools, and overall is a notable and worthwhile update. AstrolDeluxe 7.0[Note: This review appeared in Aug/Sept 2008 issue of The Mountain Astrologer in the Little Giants article.]Little Giants Introduction: Many astrologers and students of astrology neither need nor want the most extensive (and most expensive) astrology programs. Whether they are on a budget, or just want simpler-to-use software, many flock to programs in the under $200 price range. The programs reviewed in this article offer excellent accuracy, and have full time-change atlases (which automatically call up the longitude, latitude, time zone, and time changes for over 250,000 places in the U.S. and around the World). They run under the Microsoft Windows operating system. (Note: TimePassages Advanced is also available for Macintosh computers running OS X.) All three offer many of the basic astrological functions, including creating chart wheels with aspect lines as well as biwheels & triwheels, calculating progressed and Solar and Lunar Return charts, chart and biwheel animation (seeing charts move forward or backwards in time, by a user-specified time interval ), and the option of showing the four major asteroids. They all have birth chart interpretation reports built-in, also offer interpretive report add-ons. AstrolDeluxe Report Writer is actually several programs in one. It is a full-featured calculation program offering graphical chart wheels, a large selection of listings and tables (including progressed-to-natal and transit-to-natal hit lists), and Astro*Carto*Graphy maps. It is also a complete report generation program for creating ones own astrological reports, e.g. for natal interpretation, transit delineation, etc. AstrolDeluxe Report Writer also is a fine research program, wherein you can search chart files for a large number of astrological factors. Finally, AstrolDeluxe Report Writer includes a full natal report. [Note: You can read my earlier TMA review of AstrolDeluxe Report Writer Version 6.0 in the next section of this web page.] The major enhancement in Version 7 of AstrolDeluxe Report Writer is its recognition of and interpretation of aspect patterns. Aspect patterns are configurations of three or more planets, e.g. Grand Trines and T-squares. In recent decades, many astrologers -- most notably the Hubers -- have discovered and delineated many more types of patterns, with excellent results. In its Chart Analysis table, AstrolDeluxe Report Writer identifies aspect patterns found in individual charts, and in its natal report, the program provides excellent interpretations for each of the patterns present in a chart, with special attention to the focus planet for each pattern. It evaluates charts for over 30 different aspect patterns. In its Graphic Aspects chart wheel display, you can view each of the aspect patterns present in a chart, one at a time. See Figure Three aspect patterns. You can customize orbs for determining patterns, in 3 degree increments, and choose to include or exclude the Ascendant and M.C., the nodes, asteroids, and outer planets in patterns. Additionally, in its research module, you can search chart files to find charts containing specific aspect patterns, and even specify what planets must be present in each pattern. There are many other enhancements that have been added since the 6.0 review. The program can now create quad-wheels, and it's easy to control which charts show up in each ring. It can create progressed charts using the Hermetic Minor Progression method, list planetary placements in Gauquelin sectors, and display a K.T. Boehrer's declination graph. AstrolDeluxe Report Writer allows astrologers to use Charles Jayne's precise method of ascertaining aspect orbs in declinational aspects. Two new features in the software work very well together. The Rotate/Rectify chart feature allows you to manually or automatically move charts forward or backward in time by not only increments of date and time (e.g. months or seconds) but also by Ascendant or Midheaven sign, degrees, or minutes. While using this feature (for rectification, choosing a good time for a class, etc.) you can also view changes in the Planet Strengths graph (see Figure Four: Planet Strengths graph) which displays the relative strengths of all of the planets, the Ascendant, and Midheaven. In the research module, you can now search for a planet in specific Gauquelin sector, find charts with a planet out-of-bounds in declination, and search for a person's first or last name, the data source, or the Rodden rating. Finally, Halloran Software has a new add-on Geo Atlas ($100 list) with coordinates for over 3 million cities. This is a great resource if you are creating charts for people born outside of the U.S. as it has 20 times as many cities as the ACS atlas. The Famous Charts collection ($59) of 4,622 famous people is also a worthwhile add-on. AstrolDeluxe Report Writer version 7.0 adds valuable features to an already remarkably versatile and powerful astrology program. AstrolDeluxe 6.0 and earlier versionsNote: I have included the older review of AstrolDeluxe after this review. AstrolDeluxe is a program that is in a class by itself. At about half the price of the large professional programs, it nevertheless offers an amazing number of calculation and research functions, is very stable, and has a full suite of optional add-on inexpensive interpretive reports. It has been developed and enhanced consistently over many, many years and is a very solid and stable program.AstrolDeluxe has an 8,000 year date range of planetary calculations (with 1' of arc precision from 1800 - 2100), 70 asteroid positions (for dates from 1800-2100), and the full ACS U.S. and World Electronic Atlases and automatically looks up the correct longitude, latitude, and time zone for more than 250,000 places. What it doesn’t include are a graphic display of transits & progressions, TransNeptunian points, fixed stars, and Vedic calculations. The software makes it easy to select your default house system, local coordinates, points displayed in charts, glyph colors, and seven different sets of aspects and orbs (for natal, transit, progressed, synastry, midpoints, arabic parts, and asteroids). I wish all programs were this simple to customize. Its help screens are exceptionally complete and well written; you can learn to use any function without going to the manual. AstrolDeluxe performs all of the standard basic calculations, including natal charts, Solar and Lunar Returns; Secondary, Solar Arc, Tertiary, Minor and User-defined Progressed Charts; Composite charts, harmonic charts, transit and progressed hit lists, aspect and interaspect tables, and bi-wheels & tri-wheels. AstrolDeluxe’s method of displaying aspects in a bi-wheel is exceptionally easy to read. See Figure One (Title: Bi-Wheel with Aspect Lines --file name halbiwheel.jpg) (Note: While the program displays glyphs in chart wheels, in order to see astrological symbols instead of three letter abbreviations in tables and hit lists, you have to either: 1. Purchase the Halloran TrueType Astrological Font disk at $49 which includes over 80 astrological glyphs and a second font set of glyphs for 51 asteroids; or 2. Use the free Font Mapper included in the program to re-map the astrological symbols from an astrological font you already own for use in this program, which is quite easy to do.) The software has many advanced features, including the ability to create any number of additional Arabic Parts, to copy charts to the clipboard, to save charts as image files (e.g., for sending to others via email or pasting into articles or other documents), an animated astro-clock (an updating chart wheel showing the present positions), a rectify tool to move the birth time forward or backwards by time and date or by Ascendant or M.C. position, wheels showing planetary nodes, Prime Vertical charts, Tobey Secondary charts, longitude equivalent charts (that show planets' declinations so that they can be viewed visually on the circle and analyzed for aspects), and novien charts. Upon viewing any graphic wheel, you can easily see aspect lines for major and/or minor aspects, and use a slider bar (See Figure Two) [Title: Chart with Slider Bar set to 60% -- file name halslider.jpg] to adjust the allowable orb to hone in on just exact aspects or see ones with varying degrees of wider orbs. This is a truly innovative and excellent feature. The program also allows you to synchronize your computer’s internal clock with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, import files from a wide variety of programs including Nova, Blue*Star, Quick*Charts, Compact Data, Solar Fire, JigSaw, Kepler, and AAF formats, and export chart files to dBase format or XML format files. AstrolDeluxe also imports AstroDatabank files that have been exported to the Solar Fire format. One of the more unusual, and very useful, additions to AstrolDeluxe is its Sensitive Points/Planet Aspects table. This table lists all of the planetary pictures (A + B - C) that aspect natal planets. Double-clicking on any line pops up Witte's delineation of that particular planetary picture. AstrolDeluxe offers in-depth harmonic analysis of the sensitive points, showing the strongest harmonics for any chart. AstrolDeluxe can also create ephemeris pages. By the time you read this, the program should also have basic Astro*Carto*Graphy mapping capabilities. AstrolDeluxe has many useful and powerful tables, such as those for Arabic Parts, aspects to Arabic parts, midpoints, aspects to midpoints, sensitive points (a combined list of midpoints and A + B - C positions), aspects to sensitive points, asteroids, aspects to asteroids, declination aspects (i.e., parallels), aspects to house cusps, planetary coordinates (latitude, declination, R.A., M.D., S.A., Cuspal Distance), parans, primary directions, times of rising, setting, culminating, and anti-culminating for the date of birth, and a chart analysis table showing dignities, dispositors, chart ruler, hour lord, proportions for sign and house modes and elements, critical degrees, Lunar data (phase, latitude, distance, speed, and Void-of-Course indicator when true), out of bounds declinations, and dominant chart harmonics. There are also a very fine assortment of synastry tables. You can look at the aspects between either person’s planets and the second person’s midpoints, Arabian parts, asteroids, planetary pictures, house cusps, as well as declinations (parallels) between both people’s planets. If the comparison chart is a Current Transits chart (generated by clicking on the Here & Now button), one can quickly examine a sorted list of what transits are presently applying or separating to a native's chart. One of the most outstanding features in AstrolDeluxe, and my favorite, is its great set of research functions. You can search any set of charts, with the greatest of ease, for a specific birth date or day, month, or year; planets by house, sign, decan, degree range, aspect, or retrograde; for intercepted signs or planets, for signs on house cusps and linked houses (houses with the same sign on both cusps), for house rulers by aspect or house, void-of-course Moon, strongest harmonic, remarks, client notes, or unlimited multi-paragraph memos about the chart (which can include imported biographical or classification details from AstroDataBank), and for midpoints in aspect to any planet. The research module can even create control groups to compare your results with (to eliminate spurious findings). See Figure 3 (Title: Research Screen – file name halresearch.jpg) One phenomenally powerful feature of the research module is its ability to search only derived charts, i.e., return, progressed, composite, directed, declination equivalent, planetary node, and/or Solar and Lunar Parts charts. This enables you to explore who, for example, has a T-Square in their progressed chart. (Note: you can only search derived charts that you have previously created and saved.) AstrolDeluxe has a $59 Famous Charts add-on that has been expanded to more than 4,000 charts and is an excellent data collection for those interested in the latest movie stars, etc. Another truly exceptional feature of AstrolDeluxe, and the reason why the full name of the program is the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, is its amazingly powerful astrological report designer. For astrologers who want to create their own natal, transit, progressed, solar return, or relationship reports, the software provides a complete set of tools and superb formatting controls. You can create boilerplate blocks of text that automatically are inserted at specific places in each report, put the client’s name in the body of the text, include interpretations for decanates, transfer the output to your word processor for additional formatting (e.g., adding a watermark), and include sign pictures in reports. Of course, the software makes it easy to enter text for planets in signs, houses, and aspects (in order of strength), and allows you to select from different report formats: e.g., for natal reports, in addition to more conventional formats, you can choose a format that focuses on the sign on the cusp of each house, and the ruler of that sign by sign, house, and aspect. AstrolDeluxe ReportsYou can see full samples of all of the AstrolDeluxe reports here.AstrolDeluxe comes with the Spirit Success natal report built-in (see below) and also offers a wide range of very inexpensive add-on interpretive reports, that are fully licensed for resale. In fact, using AstrolDeluxe is the least expensive way there is to get your own complete suite of saleable interpretive astrological reports. The Spirit Success report by Carolyne Lacy produces a report of about 18 pages. Each paragraph begins with a thematic keyword. Here’s a sample: Moon opposite Venus (Strength: 03.26) (The Mirage) You believe in pleasures of the moment, but must be careful that you can pay your debts "tomorrow." You feel that you can have your own way just by being "you," not from conceit, but that in some way you have a special birthright and the world owes you a living. Much of what you fantasize may come about because of your positive attitude of expectation, but be prepared for those times when only the sweat of your brow will produce the results you desire. The Spirit Success natal report is very well written, and it's wonderful that AstrolDeluxe now bundles it with the program. Add-on Reports()Available through me for 10% off, contact me about the price for the program plus the reports you want.)1. The Natal Reports: Using the standard template, all of the natal reports first delineate planets (and the angles and the nodes) in signs and houses, and then in aspect (and assign a weight to each aspect), and then conclude by interpreting elemental and modal predominances. You can also select other templates to interpret the chart house-by-house, or with other formats. A. The Personal Path Report by Janice Barsky ($100 list) creates about a 30 page report with more extensive interpretations. Here’s a sample: Moon opposite Venus (Strength: 03.26) It may seem that you encounter opposition from others in life no matter what you do. This is partially because of your overwhelming need to earn others' good favor. You always feel compelled to prove your sincerity and loyalty to others, but they often suspect you when you do. You can be extravagantly generous in your efforts to win friends and influence others, and yet people don't show appreciation for your gifts. Those you love most may even misunderstand you. Conflicts with family members and lovers are common. They may be defensive and suspicious of you, wondering what it is you want from them in return for your generosity. You must learn to accept yourself as you are, and then you will know that others can accept you too. Until then you will relate to others with such a sense of desperation and urgency that they become agitated by your energy and reject you. Form solid friendships with those you care for. Get to know them on an intellectual level before becoming emotional. Be companion and confidant to them without expecting anything in return. You'll be surprised at how much you receive from others once you stop demanding it. Learn to give people their own private space and to keep your nose out of others' business. Be careful in spending your money--you do have a taste for the finer things in life. At times, however, you may have a "champagne appetite and a soda pop pocketbook." Learn to cut corners when necessary. In love relationships you may learn to use sex to acquire expensive gifts and special treatment. Just be careful that you don't end up paying handsomely in the end. The Personal Path Report goes into much more depth than the Spirit Success report, and often offers excellent suggestions for working with chart factors. Occasionally, however, the delineations don’t quite fit. Nevertheless, the report is a bargain and worth exploring. B. The Journey Career Report by Anthony Louis ($100 list) interprets natal charts for career indications. This report is surprisingly sophisticated and delineates planets in Gauquelin sectors, famous people who have the same Ascendant and Sun positions, decanate interpretations for the Ascendant, M.C. and Sun, the Second and Sixth house cusps, Saturn's career cycle, planets by house and sign, predominances of planets in elements and elemental houses (e.g., a predominance in 2, 6, 10), and a focus on the most active planets, signs, and houses. Here’s a sample: Moon opposite Venus (Strength: 03.26) Moon/Venus contacts indicate popularity, optimism, refinement, and elegance. They lend balance, steadiness, and perspective to your thinking. Your ability to remain calm and collected under pressure can lead to success as a politician, military leader, statesman, filmmaker, entertainer, or athlete. You do well in adversarial or competitive situations because you keep your cool and are able to make the right move at the right time. Your sense of balance, form, and harmony favors any kind of musical or artistic pursuit. You have a knack for perceiving inter-relationships and abstract connections, which may lead to an interest in mathematics, physics, philosophy, musical composition, chess, or similar intellectual pursuits. There is often considerable literary talent. Stressful Moon/Venus aspects suggest that you may suffer through your affections or have unfortunate experiences in associations and partnerships. You may also have a tendency to deal with stress by escaping into self-indulgent behaviors. The Journey Career Report is a comprehensive and carefully crafted analysis of each astrological factor’s influence upon career. As such, it will present you with a great deal of information to digest and synthesize. It is one of the best career reports that I’ve seen. D. KidZone Child Reports by Marise Payne ($100 list) delineates birth charts for children. I like the writing in this report. It is balanced, thoughtful, and quite useful for the parent. Here’s a sample: Venus in the Tenth House 10th House: The dominant parent. Parental expectations, attitudes and ambitions for the child. The outside world. Hank has Venus in the 10th House so will definitely be ambitious and quite serious. These kids will always seem to be very mature for their age. They are diligent and will work hard to get results but they do need recognition for achievements. In fact, that recognition is often their greatest motivator. Venus in the 10th House often indicates a person with a good voice. Who either speaks beautifully or perhaps with singing ability. Venus in the 10th House often suggests a warm relationship with the father-figure, or with the mother if she has taken a fatherly role in their life. In either case, that parent has a positive and good influence on the child. These kids see the world through optimistic eyes. They see it as a place where they can live and enjoy themselves with confidence, rather than as a rat-race that has to be overcome. But, to feel good about the world, this child very much needs their parents' support. If this is missing, Hank could suffer very badly throughout childhood. With maturity, Hank will probably be attracted to sophisticated entertainment - like the arts for example. The actual career could well involve working with people in a diplomatic, or counseling type capacity. Hank will probably be interested in the world at large rather than just the local environment. This child should definitely succeed and climb the social ladder with ease. As Hank reaches adulthood the word “sophisticated" will become an apparent word to describe this young person. E. The Kid Zone Combo Natal Report also by Marise Payne ($249 list) is a truly exceptional and extensive natal report, good for both kids and adults. You can read about it here. 2. The Predictive reports. There are three predictive reports available as add-ons. A. The LifeTrends report by Deanna Christensen and Janice Barsky ($100 list) delineates transiting-to-natal aspects. For the inner planet transits (e.g., by the Sun through Mars) the delineations are very brief. For the outer planets, however, they can span several paragraphs. Pluto square Saturn: 11/11/01, Exact enters orb: 9/18/01, 1.43 deg. orb - leaves orb: 1/3/02, 2.00 deg. orb This once-in-a-lifetime transit will bring strong challenges to the structures you have created in your life. It may seem that you must make drastic changes now in order to preserve your sense of security. What is happening is that you are rearranging your internal energies to such an extent that your outer world must reflect these changes. This may bring circumstances into your life which will seem at first to be overwhelming and out of your control. In actuality, you are only experiencing an outer reflection of the changes occurring within you. It may seem at this time that the entire world is against you. You will feel pressured into doing things which you do not want to do, and you will vigorously resist. If resistance does not produce the results you seek, you will be forced into changing the situation. Either way, you need to watch your health, since you will expend a great deal of psychological and physical energy now. Problem areas include taxes, insurance, divorce settlements, corporate affairs and inheritances. You may lose resources which you have come to rely on during this transit so that you have to become creative with your finances and other material resources. Now is not a good time to start new projects, but rather it is the time to put old ones to the test of endurance. Many people and situations may pass from your life now because they cannot withstand this test. It is best to willingly let them go, for they are no longer appropriate to who you are becoming. Now is the time to honestly evaluate all aspects of your life and voluntarily relinquish whatever you no longer need, such as things or people which make you feel secure but do not add to your personal growth. If you do not do this willingly, circumstances will force you to do it, so it is better to cooperate in the process. When this transit has passed, you will be able to understand why these people and things had to be eliminated in order to accommodate your new sense of self. You are going through a transformation now and will hardly recognize the old you once it is completed. B. The Journey Progressions report by Anthony Louis ($100 list) does a good job of delineating secondary progressed planets by sign, house, and aspect. It shows when progressed planets enter new signs and degrees, and when progressed aspects complete. Be careful, though, because some of the readings are a bit negative. Here’s a sample: Progressed Ascendant conjunct Mars: 19-Sep-2001, 0.27 deg. orb enters orb: 19-Sep-2001, 0.27 deg. orb - leaves orb: 06-Aug-2002, 1.00 deg. orb The year before and after this date will find you being more assertive, independent, and enterprising. You can take the lead in initiating new projects and pursuing personal goals. Others may see you as too pushy and self-interested at this time. This can sometimes indicate a marriage or the birth of a child. Events occur involving the young men in your life. If this conjunction makes stressful aspects, there is a risk of divorce, injury, accident, inflammation, infection, burns, or a need for surgery. C. Journey Solar Returns by Anthony Louis ($100 list) explores, in great detail, the dynamics of a person’s Solar Return. This extensive report covers the planets, angles, and aspects within the return chart and between the return chart and the natal chart. It is not only comprehensive but very carefully written and a valuable report to own. Here’s a sample: Return Ascendant in the Natal 2nd House The Natal House placement of the Return Ascendant shows where you are most likely to take personal action during the coming year. Your dominant interests and activities will center around 2nd House matters such as income, finances, money, resources, belongings, and personal values. This is a year to get your financial House in order. Review your budget, plan your savings, make a will, and do what you must to provide for yourself and your loved ones. You may have the opportunity to improve your economic outlook, perhaps by seeking a raise, settling old debts, or pursuing new sources of income. If the planet(s) that rule or occupy the Return 2nd House are afflicted, there is a risk of monetary loss or financial difficulty. The Return Ascendant-Descendant axis also highlights 8th House issues such as shared resources, taxes, loans, investment income, joint finances, sexuality, mortality, spirituality, the afterlife, crises, healing, personal transformation, and occult interests. On occasion this can signify a need to deal with a legacy, the goods of the dead, or the passing of someone in your family or in your circle of acquaintances. You could also spend considerable time this year on matters related to your own health and mortality. 3. Synastry Reports. A. The Star Match compatibility report by Janice Barsky ($100 list) compares two charts by delineating each person’s Descendant (7th house cusp), Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars (to describe their emotional needs) and then interpreting the mutual house placements and the interaspects between both charts. The software assigns a positive or negative weighting to each aspect, depending upon how strong it is, and at the end of the report gives a total of all of the weightings and the ratio of positive to negative factors. Here’s a sample for Warren Beatty and Carly Simon: Warren's Mercury square Carly's Mercury (Strength: -836.1 ) There is a tendency here to criticize each other. This combination can be difficult to work with in romance unless other aspects provide the missing element of companionship. There is a danger of disagreements and misunderstandings-- and of course this is exacerbated by one or both partners taking a stubborn position. You must each learn to compromise with the other in order to achieve harmony. I find both the format and interpretations of the Star Match report to be well done. B. Composite Couples report ($100 list) delineates the Composite chart created for a couple. (I am not a fan of the composite chart method myself, and so do not find the report as useful as the previous one.) Here's a sample -- of the strongest aspect in the chart -- for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who had a very stormy relationship: Sun square Moon (Strength: 6.85) There may be a powerful attraction between you - you may see in each other the balance and completion for which you are searching. Yet, you find that somehow you do not seem completely compatible. Your collective creative will is at odds with your individual emotional natures. There can be a palpable mental tension between you that gets in the way of completely settling into a restful comfort zone in your union. If you embrace this tension as a learning process, you can bring your creative wills into a harmonious embrace with your emotions. Once you are able to achieve the harmony promised by this energy, your relationship can become a very dynamic union for you. You will be forced to work on your relationship in creative ways in order to get out of ruts that can occur between you. This helps you become more productive together, thus furthering the goals of your partnership. You will also have differences of opinion and points of view that can cause some conflict. Things that each of you do or think might not feel good or right to your partner. The solution is to deal with these differences as they arise rather than repressing your feelings. The natural energies of the Sun and Moon are presented in myth and literature as being side-by-side as equals in a dynamic team, and it is this potential that you are working towards in your relationship. Remember to see each other as equals, each bringing valuable insight and energy to your relationship. Learn from each other. You will expand each other's creativity if you embrace what your partner offers. If difficulties arise, attending counseling or relationship workshops may prove to be beneficial for your relationship. As you focus on improving your relationship, you will find that you both grow tremendously from your union. AstrolDeluxe is amazingly powerful, and offers a surprisingly diverse set of capabilities in a very inexpensive package. It has outstanding research functions, and many unique types of tables and charts. Its built-in report designer and fine natal report, and optional inexpensive report add-ons allow astrologers to create their own reports and market high quality astrology reports to others easily and economically. I can see why so many astrologers are happy that they own AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter. AstrolDeluxe for Windows Version 2.1Price: $149 AstrolDeluxe provides a wide range of astrological features for a very reasonable price. It comes with an 8000 year ephemeris and the ACS Mini Atlas, which automatically retrieves the longitude, latitude, and time zones and changes for 10,000 cities & hospitals. The program can also use the full ACS electronic atlases, and unlike other programs, it allows you to add new cities to the atlas for later reuse. (The program attaches the time zone tables for the nearest city to the new entry.) AstrolDeluxe also allows you to select a birthplace by moving a pointer over a world map. The program shows you the longitude, latitude, and time zone of any place under the pointer. This can be very valuable when you know approximately where on a map the birthplace is without knowing its precise name. AstrolDeluxe imports charts from eight other astrology programs, including Nova, Blue*Star, QuickCharts, and Solar Fire 3, as well as to and from Halloran Software's DOS-based programs. AstrolDeluxe does all of the basic astrological functions: birth charts, Solar and Lunar returns and demi-returns, and secondary, solar arc, minor, tertiary, quotidian, converse, and user-defined arc progressions. It offers 10 house systems, and calculates the planets, ascendant and Midheaven, the four major asteroids, the comet Chiron, the Vertex, East Point, the Part of Fortune (with the option to use the new day/night formula), and the true and mean Lunar nodes. At the push of a button, you can calculate a chart for here and now, or for Sunrise. You can copy all charts and tables to the clipboard, for pasting into other programs, and can store additional data with each chart, including important dates with notes on major life events, addresses and telephone numbers, up to three notes, a multi-paragraph memo about the chart, and the source of the chart data with an accuracy rating. AstrolDeluxe can even call the National Institute of Standards and Technology, via your computer's modem, to reset your computer clock to the exact time. In the copy I reviewed, the transit feature listed only exact hits to the nearest day (and AM or PM), but by the time you read this, entering and leaving orbs, to-the-minute timing, and progressed hits should all be added (at no extra cost). AstrolDeluxe allows you to do transits for the five major aspects or for all of the aspects you've specified, for any time range, and for any or all of the ten planets. I found it very easy to learn and to use AstrolDeluxe, and in fact only looked at the excellent 200 page spiral bound manual after I'd explored the program extensively without encountering any difficulties at all. Its context-sensitive help is well done and effective, too. All programs should be this simple to operate. Customizing the program is just as effortless. You can select the house system, your local coordinates, what points are displayed (but all displayed points have aspect lines drawn to them), use modern or traditional rulerships (or define your own), and set the aspects and aspect orbs for the lights and the planets, with separate orb settings for natal, transits, synastry, midpoints, and Arabic Parts. You can easily change the color of the chart wheel and planets, and whether to display a chart wheel with or without aspect lines drawn in upon startup. You can create your own set of Arabic Parts (the program comes with 7 sets, including one with 260 Parts). AstrolDeluxe offers many tables of data for each chart, including an aspect table with the ability to sort by orb, an angular separation table, two midpoint tables and two Arabic Parts tables (sortable by location) including a table of the aspects that Parts (or midpoints) make to planets. The chart analysis table includes rulerships, parallels, receptions, dispositors, chart and hour ruler, planets at critical degrees, sign and house modes and elements, plus lunar phase, latitude, speed, and distance, with comments on whether the Moon is faster or slower and closer or further than average. If you own an astrological font set, or purchase the optional Halloran TrueType astrological font ($49), you can view all of the tables with glyphs instead of three letter abbreviations for each planet and aspect. One of my favorite functions in AstrolDeluxe is a feature I've wanted to see implemented for a long time. While viewing a chart wheel with the aspect lines drawn in, you can move a slider bar to gradually increase (or decrease) the aspect orbs. This makes the aspect lines form and disappear, with the stronger lines visible at tighter orbs and the weaker lines appearing as you widen the orb. This is a wonderful tool and creates a beautiful display. Its usefulness is further enhanced by clicking on the provided buttons, which allow you to toggle on and off the harmonious major, the harmonious minor, the discordant major and the discordant minor aspects. In other words, you can watch only the trines and sextiles form, if you want, or just the major hard aspects, for example. If you click on any point in a displayed wheel, it shows the aspects to that point with the angular separations and orbs. Among the program's synastry features are biwheels, composite charts, interaspect tables with compatibility totals, and tables of aspects to the midpoints and Arabic Parts of the second chart. If your comparison is to a Here and Now chart, you can quickly see which are the most exact transits and which are applying or separating. AstrolDeluxe's most powerful feature is its search charts function. You can search for any point by house, by sign, for a range of degrees, by aspect for a specified orb, by birthday, by remarks, by ruler in an aspect or in a house, by midpoint in aspect. You can do multiple searches, i.e. search the charts that have already met your first (or second) criteria again, and if you click on any person's name in the listing, the program pops up their chart. The searches are fast, unbelievably easy to perform, and very effective. This is a very well-designed feature. Searches are even further enhanced by using Halloran Software's Famous Charts collection ($59) . This is an excellent collection of about 2700 charts (1600 timed) of famous people, complete with detailed notes on each person's career, etc. You can search the Famous Charts file and conduct research without having to enter charts by hand. The program also includes a compatibility module that can search databases for charts that are compatible with each other. AstrolDeluxe is a solid, economical, easy to use, and capable astrology program that will meet the needs of many astrologers and students of astrology. Its unique features are very valuable, and its standard features are completely dependable. Its authors are continuing to develop and enhance the program, and by the next version, you'll be able to print in-depth interpretation reports directly from AstrolDeluxe for Windows for natal, compatibility, transiting, and progressed aspects. The Kid Zone Combo Natal ReportI have examined virtually every natal report written for sale in the U.S., and understandably, they vary greatly in quality. I have also practiced Western astrology for 36 years and seldom encounter delineations in software that give me new insights.I was therefore very surprised when I prepared a Kid Zone Combo natal report for my chart. The author, Marise Payne, has an amazingly deep understanding of astrology, and has done a truly stunning job in preparing this new version of her Kid Zone interpretive report. Don't be put off by the fact that it was written for delineating children's charts. Many of it's interpretations are so well done that virtually any adult will benefit by reading their report, too. The Kid Zone Combo natal report is unique in its delineating the planets Sun through Saturn by their house and sign positions simultaneously (in other words, the author had to write 1008 sections just for this portion of the report alone) . The author also gives delineations for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and the Ascendant and M.C. plus aspects to all of these. Finally, she not only gives interpretations for the predominances and absences of elements and modes but provides, for the first time in any report, an examination of the strongest planets and strongest signs and strongest houses in the chart. Outstanding!! I simply consider this to be an astounding piece of work. Here's a sample section of The Kid Zone Combo Natal Report: Moon in Sagittarius, Moon in the Fourth House The Moon in Sagittarius in the 4th House is a child who places much importance on the home and the family. To function well, Hank will need a peaceful haven that is "home". This provides a real security blanket. When tiny, this child will probably prefer to have their friends "in" to play, as they love to show off "their house". Here they can be in charge and call the shots. These kids like to be in control of their environment and whilst "at home" this almost becomes non-negotiable. The home is also the castle of the Sagittarius Moon and that is how Hank will always view the official residence - the castle. Besides, they cannot possibly come home to any surprising changes if they stay put. The greatest fear is that one day they will turn around and all the familiar things will have gone. Having a very "best" friend will be vital for Hank. These kids are self-conscious and are quite afraid of big groups and unfamiliar territory. They badly want to be able to feel good anywhere with anyone, and they know they can, so they resent this lack of confidence. This insecurity brings on a panic attack and a very awkward mood. This needs careful handling because these kids truly do go to pieces. This reaction is not for show or attention, it is out of frustration and confusion. It is a grave fear, which will bring out a belligerent and dramatic mood. When these little people feel good within, they feel strong. They will be there for anyone that needs a bit of support or comfort, because they are extremely sensitive to other people's feelings. Hank will know when help is needed. However, when things are not going so well, this child feels vulnerable. Hank will lose confidence and cut off everyone completely. If these kids do not find confidence within the family and home environment, they can spend the rest of their lives looking for Utopia. Hank will have a very definite need for stable and dependable personal roots. The Mother is the most important person and Hank will need a truly solid emotional foundation here. The whole of the early family life will remain a blueprint for the future. It is highly likely that Hank will never want to go too far away from the original neighborhood that was an essential part of growing up. If this does happen, those childhood memories will always remain very clear. Hank will always remember the past even when it might be better to let the past go. But the 4th House Moon is all about the earliest conditioning. In fact, these kids will have a strong interest in history generally, and maybe, genealogy. Family photographs will be kept as a source of pride, being seen as indestructible proof of heritage and lineage. A strong intuition will develop with age, which will form a powerful part of the basic personality. These kids will instinctively "know" things and they should learn to trust this. It can be a very valuable tool. Note: in order to run The Kid Zone Combo Natal Report, you need to own the AstrolDeluxe Report Writer (which you can read about and purchase separately by clicking here). The normal list price of The Kid Zone Combo Natal Report is $249, but you can purchase this report, the AstrolDeluxe Report Writer, and/or any additional reports for a discount of 10% off and free U.S. shipping through this website. If you want to order AstrolDeluxe Report Writer and The Kid Zone Combo Natal Report for the sale price of $376 with free U.S. shipping, click on the following button: To order a bundle of any other reports plus The Kid Zone Combo Natal Report at 10% off and free U.S. shipping, contact me for the total pricing by clicking here You can support SoftStar News by: Telling others about our website. Sending us your insights and feedback on astrology software, Alerting us to new programs and astrological resources, Linking your website to ours, and by purchasing your astrological software through this site. Discounts on Software When you purchase astrology software through me, you will get: 1. My free expert guidance in choosing the right program. 2. The best pricing distributors are allowed to offer. 3. Free U.S. shipping, unless prohibited by the manufacturer, and for some programs, free Priority shipping. 4. Additional benefits. E.g. I offer a very inexpensive excellent transit report for purchasers of Kepler & Sirius, over 60 free beautiful extra artistic wheels for Solar Fire Gold, etc. 5. You are supporting my website, allowing me to continue posting astrology tutorials, software reviews, and much more. 6. Your software is fully registered to you and shipped to you directly from the manufacturer, with their full customer support as well as mine. To go to my secure astrology software order form, click here. Click to Return to 
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