Copyright: Copyright © 1993-2002 Halloran Software.
Citation: Information from AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter Help file, © 1993-2002 Halloran Software.


Help Contents
Contents

Help

Accessing Help

Installation

What You Will Need

What's On the Disks

Removing AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

Uninstalling AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

Using AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

Overview

Calculating a Chart

Send Charts By E-Mail

Charts and Tabular Reports

Comparing Two Charts

Create a Triple Wheel

Print Interpretation Reports

Finding Compatible Charts

Using the Atlas

Files

Entering or Editing the User Information

Updating the Table of Delta t Values

32-bit program enabled for Chinese, Japanese, & Korean plus Hebrew & Arabic Windows

Using the TrueType Font in Other Applications

Using the Astrodynes Program

Short Cuts

Natal Information Screen

Overview

Information Blanks

File Menu

Options Menu

Customizing AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

Atlas

Utilities

Date and Time Display

Command Buttons

Chart Information Screen

Overview

The Graphic Chartwheel

File Menu

Edit Menu

Display Menu

Interpret Menu

Edit Interpretations

Edit the Interpretations or Create Your Own

Appendix

Astrological Symbols

In Case of Problems

Introduction To Astrology

Bibliography


Accessing Help

Overview

Help on Help

The Help Menu

The Help Button

Context Sensitive Help


Help - Accessing Help - Overview
Overview

The Windows help system is a powerful on-line aid not unlike a magic book that always opens itself to the exact page to which you need to refer.

Upon installing AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, this entire manual (minus some introductory material and the tutorial section) is available on your hard disk in a hypertext file (winast32.hlp) allowing instantaneous jumps from any topic to any other related or unrelated topic.


Help on Help

If you are new to Windows, or if you are unfamiliar with the Windows Help system, you should know that your computer already has a complete help manual on using the help system which you received when you installed Windows.  You can access this information by clicking on the Help menu at the top of the Natal Information Screen.  When the menu selections drop down, click on Using Help.  You will be given complete instructions on using Windows help files.

It is worth spending some time exploring this information even if you consider yourself an experienced Windows user.  Some of the topics covered:  annotating the help topics with your own marginal notes, attaching bookmarks to frequently consulted topics to allow yourself even faster and easier access, browsing through help files in "book order", printing a help topic, resizing and moving the help window, making keyword searches, and accessing other help files by use of the help program's File menu.


The Help Menu

Most forms and windows in the program have a Help menu selection.  The Help menu on the Natal Information Screen is typical.  Clicking on the Help menu will reveal a drop down menu list of Help topics:

Using Help - As mentioned in Help on Help, calls up the Windows help file on the Help system.

Natal Information Screen - Calls up the topic that corresponds to the chapter "Natal Information Screen" in the manual.

Index - Calls up a list of topics covered, which can be accessed by clicking on the green topic title.

About AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter - Displays an "About Box" giving version and copyright information about the program.


The Help Button

Some forms or windows have a Help button instead of, or in addition to, the Help menu selection.  The Help button will usually take you to a help topic which pertains to the particular task that the current window or form accomplishes.  If you desire, you can jump to other topics once in the help file.


Context Sensitive Help

At any time while using AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, if you press the F1 key, you will be presented with a help topic pertaining to your current activity in the program.  For example, if, while you are filling out the Natal Information Screen, you pause with the cursor inside the Hours Difference from Greenwich box, unsure what is being asked for, you can press F1 and you will be shown a topic covering how to respond at that point.  Of course, you can also search the index or jump to other topics once in the Help file.


What You Will Need

System Requirements

To Install AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter


System Requirements

To use AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, ver. 6, you will need the following:

A 486DX, Pentium or better IBM-type personal computer with at least 8 MB RAM (preferably more);

•	Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP;

•	Graphics capable printer for hard copy output.

Recommended, but not essential, is the following:

•	Super VGA Display;

•	Laser or inkjet printer for professional looking reports and charts.


To Install AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

1.	Close any open programs that you may be running. If you have an older version of a common control or library file in your \windows\system directory, Setup cannot update such a file if a running program is using it.

2.	The normal distribution media for the program is a CD-ROM disk and a single 3.5 inch program diskette.  Place both of these disks in their appropriate drives.  (If your laptop computer requires you to take out the CD drive in order to put in the 3.5 inch floppy diskette drive, then you have two choices, you can  1) obtain for your laptop the Imation USB Floppy Drive - your computer will recognize this as drive A: when connected to your computer's USB port - it retails for about $75 - search for it at www.google.com; or 2) you can copy the entire CD contents to a new folder on your hard disk and run the setup.exe program from there, with the companion 3.5 inch diskette in drive A:.)

3.	The autoplay program on the CD should automatically start - it gives you a choice to Install or to Cancel.

3b.	If not, then click Start, or press Ctrl-Esc.  At the resulting menu, choose Run.  When the dialog box appears, type d:\setup where the letter d: depends on the drive in which you place the CD.  Click OK.

4.	For several seconds you will see a white box telling you Copying initialization files.  Then the setup program's screen will appear and will warn you to close any open programs that you may be running.  If you have already closed any open programs, click OK to continue.

5.	If it is not already present in drive A: or drive B:, setup will now ask you to place the companion 3.5" diskette in the removable diskette drive.  Setup should automatically find it if it is already present in either A or B drive.

6.	Setup will suggest drives and directory paths for the astrology application and for the bundled ACS atlas files.  I recommend that you keep the default c:\winastro drive and directory, but if you want the program or atlas files installed elsewhere, you can change the drive and path  (do not make the mistake of installing any program to a drive's root directory, such as c:\ or d:\).  Click OK.

7.	The setup program will now decompress and install the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter files on your hard disk.  Respond to the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.


What's On the Disks

The setup program copies files onto your hard disk.  The majority of the files are copied to the directory you have chosen as your application directory.  Some additional files are copied to the Windows System directory.  When you run the application program, it will create other files that it needs for keeping track of your program preferences and for your chart data.

More:

Installing a Program Update

Description of Files in the Program Directory

Files Placed in the Windows System Directory

Files Placed in the Atlas directory

Files created by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter


Installing a Program Update

Installing a program update or reinstalling from the distribution disks will not overwrite saved charts nor will it cause you to lose your customized user preferences.  If you think that you need to reinstall the program in order to fix a problem, you do not normally need to uninstall before reinstalling.  [Before reinstalling to fix a problem, first try the following simple step:  click on Start, Shutdown, Restart, and see if restarting your computer makes the problem disappear.  For more information, see the section In Case of Problems in the Appendix.]

With this version of AstrolDeluxe for Windows, the Setup program will not overwrite changes that you have made to the bitmap graphic files or to the formulas in the Arabic Parts files that are supplied with the program.  This is because, with the exception of the executable program file – winast32.exe, Setup will not overwrite files that have a newer date-stamp than the distributed files.

You don't have to worry that you will lose any changes that you made to the interpretations using the Edit Interpretations program, even if Halloran Software does update its interpretations, as you are editing a file copy ending with the letter C, not the original files that you install.  [It is still a good idea for you to back up your edited interpretation files by making copies to removable disks from time to time, as well as any chart files, which are files ending with the *.cht, *.ptr, and *.mdb extensions.]


Description of Files in the Program Directory

File	Description
WINAST32.EXE	The 32-bit program file.
USA.RLE EUROPE.BMP WORLD.BMP	Maps used in the on-screen atlas.
AUSCIT.WST CANCIT.WST CAPITALS.WST EUROCIT.WST USCIT1.WST USCIT2.WST USCIT3.WST WORLDCIT.WST	City lists which contain latitude, longitude and time zone information.
WA_ARI.BMP WA_TAU.BMP WA_GEM.BMP WA_CAN.BMP WA_LEO.BMP WA_VIR.BMP WA_LIB.BMP WA_SCO.BMP WA_SAG.BMP WA_CAP.BMP WA_AQU.BMP WA_PIS.BMP OLDTAU.BMP OLDGEM.BMP OLDLEO.BMP	Bitmap graphic files for each yellow zodiac sign image placed at the center of the natal chart.  These may be edited using Windows Paint.
WB_ARI.BMP WB_TAU.BMP WB_GEM.BMP WB_CAN.BMP WB_LEO.BMP WB_VIR.BMP WB_LIB.BMP WB_SCO.BMP WB_SAG.BMP WB_CAP.BMP WB_AQU.BMP WB_PIS.BMP	Bitmap graphic files for the black zodiac sign images placed in the body of the natal interpretation reports.  Starting with version 6, if at Customization, Chart Colors you select to apply customized sign colors to the chart center image, these black images are the ones that will have the customized colors added to them for the center image.
DRAGON1.BMP DRAGON2.BMP DRAGON3.BMP DRAGON4.BMP DRAGON5.BMP DRAGON6.BMP DRAGON7.BMP DRAGON8.BMP DRAGON9.BMP DRAGON10.BMP DRAGON11.BMP DRAGON12.BMP	Bitmap graphic files for the Moon's Node dragon's head and tail images which the program can place at the center of the natal chart depending on the node house positions.  These may be edited using Windows Paint.
BASICS.ARP COMPMOD.ARP CROPS.ARP HORARY.ARP MEDIEVAL.ARP ONLYWAY.ARP RELATIONS.ARP	Different collections of Arabic Part formulas.
STABBR.INI	State and country abbreviation translation table for use with the PC Atlas.
DELTAT.WST	A list of correction factors used in the planetary calculation routines.
DBASEHDR.WST	Header information copied to dBase® files created by the program.
TEMPLAT1.MDB CLNTINFO.MDB	Header information copied to Access® files created by the program.
WINAST32.HLP	AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter 32-bit on-line Help file.
HSC3032.DLL HST3032.DLL	32-bit astronomical calculation and transit/progression calculation libraries.
EDIT32.EXE	32-bit program to import edited interpretations from older programs or to enter/edit new interpretations.
NPRO0.TYP NPRO0C.TYP NPRO1.TYP NPRO1C.TYP SM.TYP SMCC.TYP LT.TYP LTC.TYP	Files used by the Edit Interpretations program during the process of converting older edited interpretations to the Windows program format.  They reference lists of delineation titles in the \HDRNP, \HDRSM, and \HDRLT subdirectories.
NPRO0.HNP NPRO1.HNP PPSP1.HNP CAREER.HNP KIDZON.HNP SMPRO1.HSM LTPRO1.HLT JPPRO1.HJP RETURN.HRC	Optional interpretation files for the ReportWriter: Spirit Success™ natal interpretations [512K], Personal Path™ natal interpretations [1.3 Mb], Spanish Personal Path™ natal interpretations [1.3 Mb], Journey Careers™ career analysis interpretations [2.0 Mb], Kid Zone™ child report interpretations [2.0 Mb], StarMatch™ compatibility interpretations [608K], LifeTrends™ transits interpretations [1.2 Mb], Journey Progressions™ secondary-progressed interpretations [1.1 Mb], and Journey Returns™ solar return interpretations [1.6 Mb].
NATALDF.INI COMPATDF.INI TRANSDF.INI PROGDF.INI RETURNDF.INI COMPOSDF.INI	Files of default interpretation templates used by the ReportWriter.
FONTMA32.EXE	32-bit utility to map astrological font symbols.
WITTE.DAT	File of planetary picture/sensitive point interpretations.
RELEASE.TXT README.TXT	Notes of changes made to the program since the date of the manual.  There are clickable icons for these files in the Halloran Software program group under Release Notes and New Info.


Files Placed in the Windows System Directory

The system files required by Microsoft's Visual Basic for a complex program have become too numerous to list here.  The technically minded user will find them in the SETUP.LST file on the distribution disk.  To the \windows\system directory we install the important program files TER32.DLL and TER_HLP.HLP, which are the files for the ReportWriter's built-in word processor and its Windows help.  Also put here is the ACSATLAS.OCX, which is the ACS atlas lookup engine control.


Files Placed in the Atlas directory

FILE	DESCRIPTION	Directory
ACSTT.DAT ACSUA.DAT ACSIA.DAT ACSPA.DAT	ACS PC atlas files for time zone change histories, U.S. city and hospital data, international city data, and for saving your personal locations.  The location of these files is recorded in the ACSATLAS.INI file in the \windows folder.	Placed in the atlas directory specified at the time of program installation.
PACONVRT.EXE	Program to convert any personal city data that you saved with version 1 of the ACS atlas to the current version 2 (program requires vbrun300.dll).	Placed in the atlas directory.


Files created by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

FILE	DESCRIPTION	Directory
WINASTRO.INI	Where AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter stores user preferences.	Placed in the program directory.
EDIT.INI	Where Edit Interpretations stores user preferences.	Placed in the program directory.
NATAL.INI COMPAT.INI TRANS.INI PROG.INI RETURN.INI COMPOS.INI RETTRAN.INI RETPROG.INI	Files of interpretation templates automatically created from the default versions.  These files will contain any changes that you make to the supplied templates and any additional templates that you create.	Placed in the program directory.
USERCIT.WST	Your personal city list.  This list is created when you save geographical data from within the program.	Placed in the program directory.
*.CHT	Your file(s) of saved charts.	Placed in the program directory or whatever directory you designate.
*.PTR	The index to your saved charts.  If this file is corrupted or missing, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically restore it.	Placed in the same directory as the chart file.
*.MDB *.LDB	Microsoft Access® database files which save your More Chart Data entries of Life History events, Client Information, Notes, and a Memo.  The *.LDB files are created on the fly for file locking and can be disregarded. The first part of the file name will be that of whatever chart file the database supports.	Placed in the same directory as the chart file.
*.CI	Customization, Print Courtesy, allows you to save different courtesy information blocks to files that end with this extension.	Placed in the program directory or whatever directory you designate.
*.TLS *.PLS	Options, Transits & Progressions List, allows you to save different list settings to files that end with these extensions.	Placed in the program directory or whatever directory you designate.
*.LNP *.LLT *.LSM *.LJP *.LJR	Edit Interpretations, File, Create/Edit Label for Interpretation Set, allows you to save labels for customized interpretations to files that end with these extensions.	Placed in the same directory as the interpretation file.


Uninstalling AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter writes to the application directory [default is \winastro], to the atlas directory [default is \atlas], and to the \windows\system directory.  The only exception to this would be if you have placed chart files or text report files in other directories.  For more information on where each of the program's files is stored, see the table under the heading What's On The Disks.

You can automatically remove the 32-bit version of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter from your computer by using Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. You will find Control Panel in Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 at Start, Settings and in Windows XP directly at the Start button.  If you are returning the program for a refund, you would start by first looking for and removing the Spirit Success interpretations and any other interpretation sets that you bought.  Then you would select and remove AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.

Starting with version 6, customers returning the software during the 30-day money back guarantee period must run the proof.exe program from the \return subfolder on the CD.  This program will print a page to the printer verifying that the software has been removed.  Refunds will require this page.  Do not run this program if you are not returning the software for a refund.  You put the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter CD in the CD drive and click on Cancel when the start up screen displays.  Then you double click on My Computer and right click on the icon for the CD drive.  Select Explore.  You will see the Return folder on the CD and can double click on that where you will see the PROOF.EXE program.  Double click on that program in order to run it.  Make sure that you print out and mail to Halloran Software the page from that program, which proves that you have removed the software from your computer, together with all the disks and the manual in good condition.


Using AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter - Overview
Overview

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter gives the professional astrologer and the hobbyist the ability to perform many complex calculations on natal charts quickly and easily.  This chapter will outline how to perform each of these tasks.


Calculating a Chart

Calculating a Natal Chart

Saving a Chart to a File

How To Create a New Chart Based On Data From Another

How To Recalculate a Chart With Revised Birth Data

Calculating a Here & Now Chart

Calculating a Sunrise Chart

Calculating a Return Chart

Calculating a Progressed or Directed Chart

Calculating a Relocated Chart

See Astro-Map Lines for a Chart


Calculating a Natal Chart

To calculate a chart, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter needs two pieces of information:  time of birth and the location.  You supply these by filling out the information blanks on the Natal Information Screen.  For more information on filling out these blanks, see "Information Blanks.

Once the Natal Information Screen is completely filled out, click on the command button labeled Calculate.  The chart will be calculated and displayed on the Chart Information Screen.

More:

House and Zodiac Options

Planet Display Options

Calculation Accuracy

Delta t


House and Zodiac Options

By default, the program calculates a chart using the Tropical Zodiac and the Placidus House System.  These defaults can be changed through the Customization menu on the Natal Information Screen.  For detailed instructions on how to make these changes see the headings "Customization  House System" and "Customization  Zodiac".


Planet Display Options

By default, when you first run the program, the chart will display just the Sun, the Moon, and the planets Mercury through Pluto.  If you want to have the chart display the Moon's Nodes, the Part of Fortune, Chiron, the asteroids Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, or the Vertex, East Point (Equatorial Ascendant), or Black Moon Lilith, then you need to turn these on in the Display column at Customization, Planets.


Calculation Accuracy

The calculations are accurate to within a minute for all planets between 1800 and 2100 A.D. The sun is accurate to one second and the moon to within three seconds.  With the exception of Pluto, calculations for distant time periods will be accurate to within several minutes.  The program calculates reliably over approximately 8,000 years.  As of the First century, the greatest divergences for the sun through Pluto were 4 minutes for Neptune, 7 minutes for Jupiter, 29 minutes for Saturn, and 30 minutes for Pluto.  The Pluto calculations have one-minute accuracy for the 1600 to 2200 A.D period.  Pluto is accurate to 1/2 degree for the -150 to 1600 period.  Pluto has one degree accuracy for the -2000 to -150 period..  The most difficult of the regular planets to calculate, Saturn, is accurate to within one degree over the period that is plus or minus 4,000 years from the present.

If you will be comparing the results to other astronomical sources for the distant past, be aware that the greatest discrepancy is likely from different values for Delta T.  In other words, make sure that you are calculating the planets for the same Ephemeris Time.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter uses the most sophisticated formulae currently available for estimating Delta T prior to the 17th century.

The Ascendant and Midheaven calculations are also accurate to one minute.  The program ensures this level of accuracy by including nutation of the obliquity in its calculations.

Regarding the accuracy of the asteroid calculations, the asteroids Chiron, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta and the other 46 asteroids included with the program are accurate to within one minute over the three-hundred year period from 1800 to 2100 A.D.


Delta t

In calculating the planetary positions, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter uses a factor known as Delta t to take into account the difference between ephemeris time and universal time.  These differences occur because of minor fluctuations in the rate of the Earth's rotation.  Values for Delta t are published in the Astronomical Almanac and are continuously updated.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter ships with tables for the years 1620 through 2009.  For the years 2000 through 2009 the program comes with a combination of actual and estimated values.  Outside the range of the data table, the program uses a formula derived by Morrison and Stephenson for future years and two formulas derived by Stephenson and Houlden for the years before 1620 to calculate an approximate value.

As new values become known, the user can edit the file DELTAT.WST so that the program can use the new values.  For information on how to edit the table of values of  Delta t see  Editing DELTAT.WST.


Saving a Chart to a File

Once a chart is displayed on the Chart Information Screen, it can be saved as a record in a file for later recall.

1.	After clicking on the File menu, choose Save Chart to File.

2.	You will be presented with a standard file dialog box.

3.	Select a drive, directory and either choose an existing file or type in a new file name.  Normally, you would save a new chart record to an existing file, such as the default "charts.cht".  If you decide to create a new charts database, you can use a short or long filename, but the extension must be ".cht".  If you enter the name of a person, you are using the program in the wrong way, as a charts file is a database meant to hold many charts.

4.	Click on OK.

5.	The file will be saved and the word "Saved" will be printed at the top of the screen.

For more information, see File  Save Chart to File.


How To Create a New Chart Based On Data From Another

If you wish to calculate a new chart, based on data from another chart in the file, but you wish to leave the original chart intact, you can use the following procedure.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select the chart on which you wish to base the new one by clicking on the appropriate name in the chart list box.

2.	The chart's natal information will be placed in the blanks.

3.	Click on the button marked Copy.

4.	A copy of the information from the original chart will be placed on the Natal Information Screen, and the original chart name will be grayed out in the chart list box.  You may edit the data in the Natal Information Screen in whatever manner you wish.  The original chart is still intact.

5.	When you have made all your changes, click on the button marked Calculate.

6.	The new chart will be displayed in the Chart Information Screen.

7.	To save this new chart, follow the procedure listed under "Saving a Chart to a File"  Saving a Chart to a File.


How To Recalculate a Chart With Revised Birth Data

At times, you may wish to change or update the birth data on which a chart was based.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select the appropriate chart name in the Chart List Box.

2.	The birth data will be inserted into the information blanks.

3.	Edit the birth data to reflect the new information.  Make sure that you select or highlight the existing text in order to replace it, and do not just add to it.  The best way to ensure that you replace the existing data is to use the Tab key on your keyboard to tab to the field that you want.  If you need to move backward, you press Shift-Tab.

4.	Click on the button marked Calculate.  Do not click on Quick Display.  Quick Display will restore the old data.  To recalculate and save the chart without seeing it, click on the button marked Save Only.

5.	The newly calculated chart will be displayed on the Chart Information Screen.

6.	To replace the old chart with this new one, choose Save Chart to File in the File menu as outlined in "Saving a Chart to File"  Saving a Chart to a File.  The newly calculated chart will be written over the old chart in the file.

If you click on the button marked Quick Display after making your changes, the program will replace your changes with the originally saved birth data, and any new changes will be discarded.


Calculating a Here & Now Chart

You may wish to calculate a chart of the planets and houses at the present moment at your present location.  For example, if a client asks you a question to be answered through the rules of horary astrology, then you would want to calculate a Horary Chart for the moment that the question was asked.

More:

Steps to Calculate a Here & Now Chart


Steps to Calculate a Here & Now Chart

1.	Be sure that you filled in the User Information form when you installed the program or click now on User Information in the Customization Menu of the Natal Information Screen.

2.	With the Natal Information Screen in view, click on the button marked Here & Now.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will clear all the boxes and place the current time and location information in the correct spaces.

3.	Click on the button marked Calculate.

4.	The chart will be calculated and displayed in the Chart Information Screen.

For more information, see Here & Now.


Calculating a Sunrise Chart

Some astrologers find that they get good results forecasting for a client whose birth time is unknown by using the houses from a chart calculated for sunrise on the client's birthday.  To calculate a true Sunrise Chart, do the following:

1.	Enter all the birth information that you have, such as date, location, and time zone.

2.	In the Natal Information Screen, click on the command button on the right marked Sunrise or press alt-S.

3.	The program will calculate the time of sunrise for the date you have entered and insert it into the Time of Birth field.  For astrological purposes, the time is calculated to put the center of the Sun on the horizon.  Due to the sun's radius of 16' of arc plus the 34' caused by atmospheric refraction, the sun will appear to rise about 3.3 minutes before the time given.

4.	Click on the button marked Calculate.

5.	The chart will be calculated in a normal manner and displayed in the Chart Information Screen.  Unlike solar charts for an Unknown birth time which use the Equal House system, the chart will be calculated for your currently selected house system.


Calculating a Return Chart

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will calculate a Solar Return or Lunar Return for any saved chart.  These are usually charts calculated for the time in the present year or month when the sun or moon returns to the exact location that it had in the natal chart.  Astrologers analyze a return chart as a guide to the new cycle.  To accomplish this, do the following.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, click on the name of the chart for which you wish to create the Return Chart.

2.	The chart's natal information will be entered into the blanks of the form.

3.	From the Options menu, click on Return Chart or, from the Natal Information Screen,  press Ctrl-R.

4.	A dialog box titled "Return Chart Information" will appear on the screen.

5.	In the upper left hand corner of the screen, click on the option button indicating whether you want to calculate a solar or lunar return chart.

6.	Normally, you will leave the box marked Separation at 0°.  This will give the moment when the Sun or Moon has returned to the exact natal position.  However, there may be times when you wish to find the moment when the Sun or the Moon is at a specified number of degrees from the natal position.  For example, if you wish to know the moment when the Sun is at 90° to its natal position, you would enter 90 in the box.

7.	In the upper right hand corner, click on the option button indicating which Zodiac frame of reference you wish to use.  The default is Tropical.  If you select Sidereal, then precession since the birth date will be subtracted from the natal position.

8.	Next enter a date which is at least five days after the expected return date.  The program will have entered the present date.  Since the calculations proceed back from the indicated date, you should enter a date which is safely beyond the expected date.

9.	In the longitude box, enter or correct the Native's current longitude in degrees and minutes.  The program will have automatically entered the longitude for the astrologer's location from the User Information that you supplied when you installed the program.  If the client still lives in the birth location, which is different from the astrologer's location, you can conveniently click on the Birthplace button.

You can automatically insert a different longitude, latitude, and place name by clicking on the button PC Atlas... and selecting the native's current location.  As of version 6, if the place is known to the PC Atlas, the time of the return chart will be given according to the time zone in effect for that place and date.  If the PC Atlas does not know the place, the program will express the time according to the local mean time zone.

10.	In a like manner, enter or correct the Native's present latitude in degrees and minutes.  Again, the program will have entered the latitude supplied by you when you installed the program.  Use the option buttons to indicate North or South.

11.	If necessary, correct the City and State or Country.

12.	Click on the button marked OK.  The program will calculate the chart and display it on the Chart Information Screen.  The name assigned to the return chart is designed so that if you save the return chart, it will appear in the sorted list of charts next to the natal chart.

13.	The File menu option, Compare Return Chart to Natal Chart, will draw a biwheel showing the planets of the return chart in the houses of the natal chart.  If you want to swap the order of the two charts, there is a Swap Inner/Outer Charts option on the Edit menu.

14.	To see a list of aspects between the planets of the return chart and the planets of the natal chart, select Display, Synastry.  The aspect orbs used will be those set for Returns at Customization, Aspect Orbs.

15.	The astrologer Tony Louis has been writing solar return interpretations and working together with John Halloran in designing program functions for a solar return report.  As a result, version 6 has all of the logic needed to do a comprehensive solar return report at Interpret, Create Report and Interpret, Report Options.  The bundled Edit Interpretations program supports editing solar return interpretations.  The $100 Journey Returns™ set of solar return interpretations should be ready for sale before Summer, 2002.  With these interpretations installed, after calculating a solar return chart, you will just need to click on Interpret, Create Report to have the program automatically create a report for the year ahead.


Calculating a Progressed or Directed Chart

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select the chart that you wish to progress or direct by clicking on the appropriate chart name in the Chart List Box.

2.	The chart's natal information will be entered into the blanks of the form.

3.	From the Options menu select Progress a Chart or press Ctrl P.

4.	You will be presented with a dialog box titled "Progress Chart".

5.	The program will have entered the present date into the date box.  You can edit this to reflect whatever date for which you wish to calculate the progressed chart.

6.	On the right side of the dialog box select the Type you wish to use.  The default type is secondary progressions with the midheaven progressed by the Solar Arc in longitude.  For a discussion of the various Types see "Options   Progress a Chart...".

7.	The standard practice is to progress the natal chart for the birth location.  However, if you want to relocate the natal chart to the native's present location and then progress it, the program gives you two ways in which to do that.  If the native lives at your location, which you have entered at Customization, User Information, then clicking on Relocate will immediately change the natal chart longitude, latitude, and place name on this form to your User Information location.  If the native has moved from the birthplace to some place other than your location, then you can select that location by clicking on PC Atlas...  If the location is not in there, you can manually change the longitude, latitude, and place name to be that of the desired location.  Regarding the relocated progressed chart, understand that, just as with the natal chart, the relocated progressed chart must be considered of secondary importance compared to the birth location progressed chart.

8.	Click on the button marked OK.

9.	The chart will be displayed in the Chart Information Screen.  If you want to see progressed to progressed aspects, click on Display, Aspects List.

10.	To save the progressed chart to the charts file, follow the procedure listed under "Saving a Chart to File"  Saving a Chart to a File.

11.	The File menu option, Compare Progressed Chart to Natal Chart, will draw a biwheel showing the planets of the progressed chart in the houses of the natal chart.

12.	To see a list of aspects between the planets of the progressed chart and the planets of the natal chart, select Display, Synastry.  The aspect orbs used will be those set for progressed aspects at Customization, Aspect Orbs.

13.	To see lists of aspects from the planets of the progressed chart to the midpoints of the natal chart or to the Arabic Parts of the natal chart, select Display, MidPoint/Planet Synastry or Arabic Part/Planet Synastry.  The aspect orbs used will be those set for midpoint aspects or Arabic Part aspects at Customization, Aspect Orbs.

14.	The Journey Progressions interpretations are not designed to work with the progressed chart for a particular date that the above steps have generated.  Although you can force it to work, I do not recommend clicking on Interpret, Create Report here.  Rather, the Journey Progressions report is designed to be created after you have calculated a list of progressed aspects to the natal chart for a year or longer from the first choice on the Options menu, List Transits & Progressions.


Calculating a Relocated Chart

1.	On the Natal Information Screen, select the chart that you wish to relocate by clicking on the appropriate chart name in the Saved Charts List Box.  For example, from the Famous Charts collection, select Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem [April 16, 1947 6:30:00 PM, New York, New York].  Kareem was born in New York, New York, but relocated to Los Angeles, California where he played basketball for UCLA and the Los Angeles Lakers.

2.	The chart's natal information will be entered into the blanks of the form.

3.	Click on the Copy command button, as we do not want to change the original natal chart.

4.	If you will be saving the relocated chart, highlight and change the first name of the chart to indicate the new location, such as changing Kareem to Kareem-Los Angeles.

5.	Click on the PC Atlas Express.

6.	Enter or select the State and City, such as CA and Los Angeles.

7.	When you tab out of the City field, the new longitude and latitude will appear below it.  With the new longitude and latitude, you now have the only two items that change in a relocated chart.  The time of birth and time zone remain the same.  This will cause the planets in the relocated chart to be calculated at exactly the same zodiac positions as they have in the natal chart, but their relation to the chart angles and houses will be different.

8.	Click on the button marked Transfer To Natal.  The program will warn you that you have not clicked on Read Atlas, which you normally need to do, but not for a relocated chart.  So click again on Transfer To Natal.  Just the longitude, latitude, city name and state name will be transferred.  The time zone should remain as in the original chart, such as Eastern Standard Time for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

9.	Click on the button marked Calculate.    The only problem you could have is if the program warns you that the sign of the time zone no longer matches the sign of the longitude, but the program allows you to continue with the chart calculation.

10.	You can save the relocated chart as you would a normal chart.  If you followed the above steps, it will display in the saved chart listbox next to the original natal chart.

11.	You can do an interpretation report for the relocated chart as if it were a regular natal chart.  Astrologers look at the relations to the new chart angles of the planets, including natal, progressed, and transiting planets.

In the case of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, we note that moving from New York to Los Angeles changes his chart from one which has Saturn on the MC and Sun on the Descendant to one which has Uranus on the MC and Venus on the Descendant.  If you do Astro-Mapping on the Options menu for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's regular saved chart, it will show the planet lines for Saturn M with Sun D going through New York and Uranus M with Venus D going through Los Angeles.

The relocated chart is the basis of AstroCartoGraphy™, which advises people about the astrological influence of different places of residence.  To interpret the relocated chart, you can get a Penguin paperback book, The Psychology of ASTRO*CARTO*GRAPHY, by the late Jim Lewis with Kenneth Irving.


See Astro-Map Lines for a Chart

After selecting a saved chart, you can now choose Astro-Mapping on the Options menu and choose to have astro-locality lines for the selected chart drawn on either the United States map, the Europe map, or the World map.  These linemaps show where the planets rise, set, culminate, and anti-culminate, in your relocated natal chart, worldwide.

1.	On the Natal Information Screen, select the chart for which you will want to see astro-map lines — click on the appropriate chart name in the Saved Charts List Box.

2.	Click on Options and select Astro-Mapping....  You will have the choice of selecting color maps that interact with the mouse on screen or monochrome pattern-fill maps that are designed for printing.

3.	Select whether you want the lines to appear on a map of the United States, Europe, or the World.  The computer will think for a time that depends on your computer speed, and then will automatically display the map with astro-locality lines and planet glyph labels.

4.	The glyph labels for each planet's Midheaven (M) and Imum Coeli (I) lines will normally be placed at the top of the map, unless some lines are too close together, in which case the label for the second line will be placed at the bottom of the map.  The glyph labels for each planet's Ascendant (A) and Descendant (D) lines will be placed at the bottom of the map.  If the curving Ascendant and Descendant lines run off at the map sides, which they can do in the cases of the United States and Europe maps, the glyph labels will be placed at either side of the map.

5.	If you want to get a list of the locations that are near a particular planet's meridian line for someone's chart, right-click near the meridian line on the color screen astro map.  A form will pop up with a list of all the PC Atlas locations for that state or country that are near that meridian line.  You can expand the search to cover a wider radius in geographical minutes from the meridian line, and you can print the search results to the printer.

6.	The fastest way to see your relocated chart at a point along an astro map Asc./Desc. line is as follows:  click near the line for one of these bodies on your screen astro map to have the program find and list the nearby cities (if the computer finishes thinking and doesn't give you any cities for where you clicked, try a slightly different place). Then click on OK to insert the first Search Results city into the ACS Atlas Lookup form, click twice on Transfer to Natal (ignoring the message that you have not clicked on Read Atlas), and then do Calculate to produce your relocated chart for that city.  If you do this for a planet with significant ecliptic latitude, such as Moon, Pluto, or Chiron, do not be surprised if the Ascendant/Descendant axis does not exactly conjoin the planet - clicking on Display, Prime Vertical Chart will show the true rise/set situation.


Send Charts By E-Mail

You can send charts by e-mail either by pasting a text-based wheel into the body of the message or by attaching a graphic chart file to the message, so that the recipient views the chart by double-clicking on the address of the saved attachment.  For information about sending interpretation reports by e-mail, see Distributing Interpretation Reports as Files.

More:

ASCII Chartwheels for Pasting into E-Mail

Graphic Image Files


ASCII Chartwheels for Pasting into E-Mail

The program will make a chartwheel for you that is made of all ASCII characters, suitable for sending in the body of e-mail messages.  Asterisk characters make up the chartwheel circle and house cusps.  The subject's name and birthdata appears at the chart center, with the place coordinates, time zone, house system, zodiac type, name of birthplace, remarks, and source of the birth data if you have entered that at More Chart Data.  The ASCII wheel is 71 characters wide and 29 rows high.  If more than six planets need to print within a particular house, the remaining planet positions will print on an Overflow line at the bottom of the chart.

You will find ASCII chartwheel options at the Chart Information Screen's File menu and at its Edit menu, where you can copy to the Windows clipboard. The clipboard is the easiest way to transfer data from one Windows program to another Windows program. In this case, you will be transferring data from your astrology program to an already open message in your e-mail program.  Your e-mail program also has an Edit menu  - you use its Paste command to paste the current contents of the clipboard to your cursor location.

Windows e-mail programs tend to display in proportionally pitched fonts in which columns do not line up regularly because each character is a different width, with the space character being especially narrow.  You may change your e-mail program to display in a fixed pitch font such as Courier, but when you send text to another person, you cannot predict in what font they will be viewing that text.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter therefore gives you the option to copy two versions of the ASCII chartwheel to the Windows clipboard for pasting into e-mail.  The first version with spaces between the characters includes the following message underneath the wheel:

"In Windows, select the above wheel and do Edit, Copy.  Then start Clipboard Viewer in Accessories, maximize, and click on Display, OEM Text."

If you or your correspondent does this, the version of the wheel that uses spaces will display perfectly on the screen in the Clipboard Viewer.

The second version replaces the spaces with the underline character (_), which has normal width on Microsoft-supplied proportional fonts.  This gives you confidence that the person who receives the chart that you paste from the Windows clipboard will immediately see it as a round chart and be able to read it with minimal distortion.  This is fine for personal e-mail, but the robomoderator for the alt.astrology.moderated newsgroup is known to reject messages that contain so many underline characters.

If you know that the recipient of your message has their viewer set to a fixed pitch font such as Courier, then after you paste the first version into your e-mail, you can delete the advisory text below the wheel.  The two solutions above are designed to let your correspondent quickly see a round text wheel without the intrusion of having to change their viewer's font settings.


Graphic Image Files

Version 6 allows you to directly save graphic charts to compressed image format files for display at your web site or for attaching to e-mail messages to friends and clients.  The available image file format types can be seen at the Chart Information Screen, File menu option, Save Screen as Image File, Save as Type.  These types include: PNG (Portable Network Graphics); GIF (Compuserve Graphic Image File); JPG (JPEG); BMP (Windows BitMap); PCX (PCX); TIF (TIFF - Tagged Image File Format); and WMF (Windows Metafile).  The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image format that is listed first is not as well known as the GIF or JPG format, but it works fine with both the Netscape and Microsoft browsers.  I believe that for the PNG and JPG types to capture correctly, the number of Windows screen display colors needs to be set to at least 256 colors.  Be advised that inclusion of the GIF and TIFF formats is for your convenience only, it does not give you a Unisys license to use GIF or TIFF images.

The chartwheel images can be either the low resolution screen wheel or a higher resolution wheel - the Save Page as Image File option.  You can change the size of the saved screen wheel image by maximizing or resizing AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter's Chart Information Screen.  You can affect the appearance and file size number of bytes of this wheel by changing the screen resolution and number of colors in Windows at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, Settings.

The higher resolution wheel image is the best image file choice for a desktop publishing document.  It resembles a printed chartwheel page (at lower resolution than a printed page).  To create this wheel, you need to have Control Panel, Display, Settings for your Windows computer set to at least 1024 by 768.  You can also get the page format chart image file to work if you have your computer display set to higher resolutions, but the resolution of the image will not change.  You should have a fast computer to use Save Page as Image File because the computer takes longer to create it.  You can experiment with the different appearances of the page image file with Bold Glyphs checked On or Off on the Customization menu to see which appearance best suits your needs.  In order to have the page format image be in color, turn on color printing at Customization, Chart Colors.  If you need to clip the chartwheel into a rectangle, and the long birthdate line is intruding into this rectangle, you can turn off including the day of the week in your Windows long date format at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Regional Settings, Date.

The saved images are bitmap images, not vector images.  Even the WMF save option merely encapsulates a bitmap image in a Windows MetaFile.  The program uses the following 32-bit control to save these images:

TwistedPixel Imaging Control v0.95

Copyright Bananas Software Inc 1996-1998

All Rights Reserved.


Charts and Tabular Reports

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter produces a great deal of information about each chart it calculates, and is capable of displaying this information in a number of preformatted tabular reports.

More:

Printing Charts and Tabular Reports

Displaying Graphic Planetary Aspects

Copying Charts and Reports to the Clipboard

Calculating a List of Transits, Progressions, or Solar Arc Directions for a Specified Period

Displaying the Aspects of a Single Planet

Displaying a List of Planetary Aspects

Displaying the Angles Between the Planets

Displaying the Planetary Midpoints of a Chart

Displaying the Midpoint/Planet Aspects

Displaying the Arabic Parts

Displaying the Arabic Part/Planet Aspects

Displaying the Asteroids

Displaying the Asteroid/Planet Aspects

Determining the Dignities, Exaltations, Detriments and Falls in a Chart

Listing Planets in Mutual Reception

Listing Planets Which Dispose One Another

Determining the Chart Ruler

Determining the Planetary Hour Lord

Listing Chart Modalities and Elements

Listing Angular Planets

Listing Planets in Critical Degrees

Listing Moon Phase, Latitude, Distance, Speed, and Void-of-Course Status

Listing Planets with Out-of-Bounds Declination

Listing Dominant Harmonics

Listing Planets Which Are Parallel and Contraparallel

Listing Planet Declinations

Determining the Julian Day

Determining the Sidereal Time

Determining the Delta t of a Chart

Determining any Planets in Paran

Calculate Primary Directions

Show if Planets are Above or Below the Horizon

Show Planets in Different Harmonic/Modulus Circle Charts


Printing Charts and Tabular Reports

At any time, when the Chart Information Screen is being displayed, users can print whatever chart or table is on the screen by clicking on the File menu and then choosing Print.  It is not necessary to select or highlight any information before printing.

If a graphic wheel is displayed on the screen when you choose Print, the chart wheel will be printed at printer resolution on the default printer that you have set up in Windows.  If you have a color printer, to have the chart printed in color, go to the Customization menu and from the Chart Colors screen select the Print in Color box.

If a tabular report is being displayed when choosing Print, the entire report will be printed on the Windows default printer.  If the report is too long to fit on one page, the following pages will be numbered consecutively, starting with page 2.


Displaying Graphic Planetary Aspects

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may select the alternate graphic display which shows aspect lines between the planets on a zodiac proportional wheel.

1.	From the Display menu, choose Graphic Aspects.

2.	The program will draw a proportional wheel in which each planet is shown in its actual position on the 360-degree zodiac.  Lines will be drawn between those planets where the angle between them falls within the orb width of one of the defined astrological aspects (see the Introduction to Astrology in the Appendix).  Aspect symbols drawn at the midpoint of the aspect lines help to identify all except the conjunction aspect.  See the Appendix for the Aspects table of symbols.

3.	To see which aspects are the most exact, click on the left-arrow of the Aspect Orb Width scroll bar.  To see wider aspects, click on the right-arrow of the scroll bar.  To see just the major or minor aspects or just the harmonious or inharmonious aspects, click on the check boxes within the Aspect Types frame.

4.	To see exactly which aspects a particular planet makes, double-click on the planet's glyph - this calls up a window listing the aspects of just that planet.

5.	If you prefer looking at this type of chart, select Graphic Aspects at Customization, Initial Chart Display.


Copying Charts and Reports to the Clipboard

Users can, at any time when the Chart Information Screen is being displayed, copy whatever is on the display to the clipboard.  This allows you to paste the information into another Windows application such as Microsoft Word for Windows or Microsoft Excel or any other Windows application which supports the Paste menu command.

More:

Copy The Chart and Graphic Aspects Wheels

Copy Tabular Reports


Copy The Chart and Graphic Aspects Wheels

1.	If you wish to copy the graphic wheel to the clipboard, make sure that the chart wheel or graphic aspects wheel is being displayed.  If you have displayed another report, click on Chart or Graphic Aspects in the Display menu.

2.	When the chart is displayed, click on Copy to Clipboard in the Edit menu or type Ctrl C.  It is not necessary to select any data.

3.	The chart wheel is now on the clipboard.  To paste the chart wheel into another application, activate that other application, open a document, optionally insert and draw a frame, place the cursor where you wish to insert the graphic picture, and select Paste from the application's Edit menu, or press Ctrl V.

4.	The chart will be pasted into the other application's document as a bitmap.


Copy Tabular Reports

1.	If you wish to copy one of the tabular reports to the clipboard such as the Table of Aspects or the Table of Planets and Houses, first decide if you want the information block with the native's birth data and chart type included.  If so, select Copy Text Report to Clipboard or press Ctrl-T.  This text report with complete chart data lets you easily share charts with your on-line friends by pasting into messages to them.  If you just want information from within the grid, you must first select the data you wish to copy.

2.	To select just part of a table to copy, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse cursor over the table.

3.	To select all of  a table's contents to copy, click on the Select All command in the Edit menu, or type Ctrl-A.

4.	All the selected data will be highlighted.

5.	To copy the highlighted data to the clipboard, click on Copy to Clipboard in the Edit menu or type Ctrl-C.

6.	The data is now on the clipboard and may be pasted into a document created by another application by selecting Paste from that application's Edit menu, or typing Ctrl-V.  You can ensure that the columns fit within your tabs or cells by setting a small character or font size such as 7 points and/or by increasing your tab spacing/column width.

7.	The data will be pasted into the other application's document as text.  If you are pasting into Microsoft Word, the table will be pasted as a series of tab delimited paragraphs which can be selected and formatted into a table with the Convert Text to Table command in Word's Table menu.  If any text wraps to the  next line, increase the column width in the Table menu.

8.	If you are pasting into Excel, the table's columns and rows will be preserved in the Excel column and row structure.  If you will be pasting the Planet & House Table into a spreadsheet, we give you the ability to display the data in a 360 degree purely numerical format.  You can select this format by clicking the toggle button beneath the table.


Calculating a List of Transits, Progressions, or Solar Arc Directions for a Specified Period

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will calculate and display a list of transiting planet aspects to any chart in your saved charts file, for any length period as long as the results do not exceed 550 aspects.

Below is a table showing the recommended maximum periods when starting with the faster moving planets.  If you include the transiting ascendant and/or midheaven, the maximum period is just one day.

Starting Planet	Maximum Transit Period in Months
Moon	1
Mercury Venus	3
Sun	6
Mars	12
See also Comparing Two Charts for a discussion on comparing a chart to the current transits.

The same program screen lets you calculate a chronological hit list of aspects by either Secondary Progressions, Solar Arc Directions, Minor Progressions, Tertiary Progressions, or Special Progressions for a time period of one year or longer, as long as the number of aspects do not exceed the 550 result maximum.

More:

To Calculate a List of Transits


To Calculate a List of Transits

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select a saved chart from the Saved Charts List Box.

2.	The chart's information will be entered into the blanks on the Natal Information Screen.

3.	From the Options menu, select List Transits & Progressions or, from the Natal Information Screen,  press Ctrl-T.  (List Transits & Progressions will be grayed out and unavailable until a saved chart has been selected.)

4.	The List Transits or Progressions screen will be displayed.

5.	Click on one of the two radio buttons at the bottom left to change between Transits or Progressions.

6.	Under Starting Date, the program will have entered the current date.   Enter the month, day and year beginning the period for which you wish to calculate transits or progressions.

7.	Under Native's Time Zone, the program will show at first the time zone you have selected in the User Information Screen.  After you run this option, it will show the time zone that you last used.  Select the time zone in which the subject currently resides by clicking on the arrow of the list box.  If you use a Daylight Saving Time Zone, the results will be based on that time zone even though the period of transits selected may span a time of year in which Standard Time is in effect.  Your choice here will not affect the User Information elsewhere in the program.

8.	By default, the program calculates eleven aspects between the transiting/progressed planets and the planet points in the natal chart.  To turn some of these off, or to select other aspects, click on the button Customize Aspects.  You will get an aspect if you customize the transits or progressions orb width for it to be greater than zero.

9.	Under Planets, indicate which transiting or progressed planet(s) you wish to use by clicking to highlight the names of the selected planet(s) in the list box.  The points in the natal chart that are aspected are controlled by your selections at Customization, Planets.

10.	You will find the Ascendant and Midheaven at the end of the Planets listbox.  They are normally selected for a Progressions list, but realize that if you select them for a Transits list that the transiting Ascendant or Midheaven will form every possible aspect in the space of a 24-hour period, and you will also have to respond to a pop-up form that asks the location for which the Ascendant or Midheaven are to be calculated.  The astrologers who want to see transiting Ascendant and Midheaven aspects are typically using astrology for gambling, because these are aspects that have very narrow time windows.

11.	Under Use Orb Planets, indicate for which planet(s) you want to see Enter Orb dates and Leave Orb dates by clicking to select the planet(s) in the list box.

If the checkbox List Orb dates collated with Exact dates is checked, the Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates will print in separate columns on the same line with the Exact Orb dates, but without the time of the aspect.  If you want to see the exact times, uncheck this checkbox and the dates and times for the Exact Orb, Enter Orb, and Leave Orb events will print in chronological list order.

You can make an additional modification to the orbs that the program uses and the resulting dates by setting the Applying Orb Percent and Separating Orb Percent scroll bars to anywhere from 100 percent to 5 percent.  You may want to use a wider orb when aspects are applying and building strength than when they are separating and in the past.

If you want to see Exact dates only, click to unselect any selected planets in the Use Orb Planets list box.

12.	Click on a radio button in the box labeled Time Period Type to select whether you want a report in units of days, weeks, months, or years.  Clicking on the scroll bar will increase or decrease the number of units for which the program will calculate.  As an alternative, you may type the number of units inside the box.

13.	If you regularly calculate transits or progressions lists with alternate settings, you can save those settings for easy recall if before you click on Calculate you click on the button Save to File and save to a meaningful name.  Then these settings will be available to you in the future from the button Load from File.

14.	Once you are satisfied with your entries, click the Calculate button to start the calculations.  Clicking on Cancel will return you to the Natal Information Screen.

15.	Once the calculations are complete, they will be displayed in a list box on the Chart Information Screen.

16.	If you have purchased LifeTrends™ or Journey Progressions™, or have another file of transits or progressions interpretations, then you will be able to click on Interpret, Create Report to generate a forecast interpretation report.


Displaying the Aspects of a Single Planet

Once a chart is displayed in the Chart Information Screen, you may pop up a window displaying the Aspects of a single planet while keeping the chart on screen for reference.

1.	Double click on the glyph of the planet whose aspects you wish to list.  If you want the aspects to the Ascendant or Midheaven of an unequal houses chart, double click on the outer end of the 1st or 10th house cusp line.

2.	A window will appear listing that planet's aspects.

3.	You can double click on additional planets without having to close the window.

For more information see Aspect Window for Single Planets


Displaying a List of Planetary Aspects

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may list every aspect between the planets.

1.	From the Display menu, choose Aspects List.

2.	A list of all the aspects in the chart will be displayed.  The program displays aspects if the difference between the actual angle between the planets and the exact angle of the aspect is within the Natal orbs set at Customization, Aspect Orbs and if for the points at Customization, Planets there is a checkmark in the Include column.

3.	To sort the list so that the aspects whose orbs are closest to being exact are at the top, click the button below the list labeled Sort By Orbs, or press Alt-S.


Displaying the Angles Between the Planets

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display all the angles between the planets by choosing Angles from the Display menu.  This lets you research angles which are not included among the program's twenty-three predefined aspects.  For the points at Customization, Planets, there must be a checkmark in the Include column, not just the Display column.  Be aware that at Customization, Aspect Orbs, the program does give you one aspect whose angle you can customize.


Displaying the Planetary Midpoints of a Chart

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display the midpoints between the depicted planets by choosing Midpoints from the Display menu.


Displaying the Midpoint/Planet Aspects

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display aspects between the planetary midpoints and the planets by choosing Midpoint/Planet Aspects from the Display menu.  The aspects will be within the orbs set at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Midpoints.  Double-click on an item to see a brief interpretation of that three-body combination, from the German astrologer Alfred Witte.


Displaying the Arabic Parts

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display a list with every Arabic Part according to the formulas in the collection currently selected at Customization, Arabic Parts by choosing Arabic Parts from the Display menu.  Click once on a Part to see the formula that produced it.


Displaying the Arabic Part/Planet Aspects

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display the aspects between the Arabic Parts and the planets by choosing Arabic Part/Planet Aspects from the Display menu.  The aspects will be within the orbs set at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Arabic Parts.  Click once on a Part to briefly see the planetary formula that produced it.


Displaying the Asteroids

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display a list of the asteroids that are currently selected at Customization, Asteroids by choosing Asteroids from the Display menu.


Displaying the Asteroid/Planet Aspects

After displaying a chart on the Chart Information Screen, you may display the natal aspects between the asteroids and the planets by choosing Asteroid/Planet Aspects from the Display menu.  The aspects will be within the orbs set at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Asteroids.


Determining the Dignities, Exaltations, Detriments and Falls in a Chart

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, you may obtain a listing of the planets, their positions, and their dignities by performing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Planets in Mutual Reception

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, you may obtain a listing of planets in mutual reception by performing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Planets Which Dispose One Another

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, you may obtain a listing of planets which dispose one another by performing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Determining the Chart Ruler

The chart ruler, based on the rising sign, is listed in the Chart Analysis report.

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, choose Chart Analysis from the Display menu.


Determining the Planetary Hour Lord

The program will calculate the planetary hours which go from sunrise to sunset and determine the hour lord for the time of birth.  The planetary hour lord is listed in the Chart Analysis report.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Chart Modalities and Elements

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, you may obtain a listing which includes the modalities and elements of the chart by choosing Chart Analysis from the Display menu.  This lets you easily see how many planets and what percentage of planet points are in Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable signs, in Fire signs,  Earth signs, Air signs, and Water signs, in Angular, Succedent, and Cadent houses, and in Life, Substance, Relationship, and Endings houses.


Listing Angular Planets

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, you may obtain a listing of the planets which are on one of the four chart angles (within a five degree orb) by performing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Planets in Critical Degrees

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, you may obtain a listing of planets in critical degrees by performing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Moon Phase, Latitude, Distance, Speed, and Void-of-Course Status

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the state of the moon at birth may be obtained by doing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Planets with Out-of-Bounds Declination

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the planets whose declination exceeds the Sun's maximum declination may be obtained by doing a chart analysis.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Dominant Harmonics

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, a table of the harmonic numbers whose aspects dominate the native's chart may be obtained by doing a chart analysis.  The table will show the dominant even number harmonics, odd number harmonics, lower number harmonics and higher number harmonics.

From the Display menu, choose Chart Analysis.


Listing Planets Which Are Parallel and Contraparallel

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, a list of planets with declinations in aspect (either parallel or contraparallel) may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Declination Aspects.


Listing Planet Declinations

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, a list of the declinations of the planets of a chart may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Supplemental Calculations.


Determining the Julian Day

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the Julian Day may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Supplemental Calculations.


Determining the Sidereal Time

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the Sidereal Time of a chart may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Supplemental Calculations.


Determining the Delta t of a Chart

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the Delta t factor of a chart may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Supplemental Calculations.


Determining any Planets in Paran

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, a table showing if planets are in paran relationship may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Rise/Set Times.  After you click the toggle bar for Change to R.A.M.C. for Birthtime, look to see if any R.A.M.C. in any of the four columns is conjunct an R.A.M.C. in any other column.  If you see any conjunctions, then those planets are in paran.


Calculate Primary Directions

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, a table of the information needed to calculate primary directions may be obtained.  Astrologers traditionally call such a table a 'speculum', but we avoid this word because of its medical meaning.

From the Display menu, choose Table for Primary Directions.


Show if Planets are Above or Below the Horizon

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the true positions of the planets in the sky relative to the horizon and zenith may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Prime Vertical Chart.


Show Planets in Different Harmonic/Modulus Circle Charts

After displaying a chart in the Chart Information Screen, the relationship of the planets according to a harmonic other than 1 or a modulus circle other than 360º may be obtained.

From the Display menu, choose Harmonic/Modulus Charts.

After doing this, many of the aspect and midpoint choices will be available on the Display menu to let you see the relationship between the planets in the currently selected harmonic.  To return to the original chart, select Display, Return to Original Chart.


Comparing Two Charts

Displaying a Double Chart Wheel

Displaying the Synastry Between Two Charts

Displaying the Current Transits for a Chart

Displaying Graphic Aspects Between Two Charts

Watch the Transiting Aspects on a Moving Wheel

Displaying Transiting Aspects to the Natal Midpoints

Displaying Return Chart, Novien Chart, and Progressed/Directed Chart Aspects to the Natal Midpoints

Displaying Transiting Aspects to the Natal Arabic Parts

Displaying Return Chart, Novien Chart, and Progressed/Directed Chart Aspects to the Natal Arabic Parts

Displaying a Composite or Combined Chart


Displaying a Double Chart Wheel

It is often useful to compare two charts by drawing a biwheel which shows the planets of both charts, with the second chart's planets placed in the houses of the first chart.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter allows you to compare any displayed chart to another chart, whether saved, entered, or calculated from the Here & Now button on the Natal Information Screen.  This latter choice allows you to compare a natal chart to the current placement of the planets, in essence, giving you a picture of the current transits to the natal chart.

1.	After displaying a chart, from the File menu choose Compare this chart to another.

2.	The Natal Information Screen will appear.  The caption at the top changes to tell you that you are in the middle of a comparison.  Clicking on the command button marked Cancel will abort the compare operation and leave you at the Natal Information Screen.

3.	Select a saved chart from the Chart List Box, or click on Here & Now, or enter information for a new chart.

4.	Click the button marked Calculate.

5.	The double chart wheel will be displayed in the Chart Information Screen.

6.	To swap the inner chart and the outer chart, select Edit on the menu bar and pick Swap Inner/Outer Charts.


Displaying the Synastry Between Two Charts

After displaying a double chart wheel (see Displaying a Double Chart Wheel), click on Synastry in the Display menu.

If the second chart is of the current transits, obtained by clicking on the Here & Now button on the Natal Information Screen, you will be given a choice of displaying either a list of transits or synastry.

Choosing Chart Synastry will display a list of aspects between the two charts, the angles formed by the planets involved, their orbs and a value.  At the bottom of the list will be listed four indexes: a harmonious communication index, an inharmonious communication index, a compatibility index, and a total communication index.  For a discussion of these indexes see "The Synastry Weighting System" under the heading "Display  Synastry".

If you click on the button below the list or press Alt-S, the program will sort the synastry aspects so that the strongest are at the top of the list.


Displaying the Current Transits for a Chart

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides a way to draw a double chart wheel showing the current transiting planets in the houses of any Natal Chart.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select a primary chart by clicking on a chart name in the Chart List Box or enter the data for a new chart.

2.	Click on Quick Display or Calculate depending on whether the chart is from the file or new.

3.	Once the chart is displayed in the Chart Information Screen, select Compare This Chart to Another in the File menu.

4.	You will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.  Click on the Here & Now button.

5.	The current date and time, and the location you listed in the User Information Screen will be inserted into the blanks.  Edit this information to match the location and time you wish for the transit chart.  Leave "Current Transits" in the Name field.

6.	Click on the Calculate button.

7.	A double wheel chart will be displayed in the Chart Information Screen showing the primary chart in the inner wheel and the current transits in the outer wheel.  The retrograde flag (R) is shown in the outer wheel so that you can see which transiting planets have retrograde motion.

8.	To display a list of the aspects made between the primary chart and the current transits, click on Synastry in the Display menu.

9.	You will be given a choice of displaying either the synastry or transits of the two charts.  Select Transits.

10.	A list of aspects formed between the transiting planets and the planets of the primary chart will be displayed along with the angles formed by the planets involved, their orbs and a direction.  An "applying" direction signifies that the transiting planet is moving toward the exact position of the aspect, while a "separating" direction signifies that the transiting planet is moving away from the exact position of the aspect.  "Partile" means that the aspect is exact.  Pay the most attention to applying aspects that have a small orb.

11.	You can click the button labeled Sort By Orbs or press Alt-S to sort the transiting aspects so that the closest aspects are at the top of the list.


Displaying Graphic Aspects Between Two Charts

After comparing one chart to another, which creates a biwheel on the Chart Information Screen, you may select the alternate graphic display which shows aspect lines between the planets of the two charts.

1.	From the Display menu, choose Graphic Aspects.

2.	The program will draw a proportional wheel in which the planet positions for the two charts are shown on the 360-degree zodiac.  The program uses two different colors for the tick marks and tick bullets representing the planets for the two different charts.  The default colors are blue for the inner chart planets and red for the outer chart planets, but you can change these colors at Customization, Chart Colors, Sign & Aspect Colors.  The program draws aspect lines (also in customizable colors) to and from small planet bullets on an inner wheel circle and an outer wheel circle.

3.	You can select whether the screen should show 1) Synastry aspect lines between the two charts; 2) aspect lines between the planets of the Inner Chart; and/or 3) aspect lines between the planets of the Outer Chart.  You do this by clicking on the checkboxes that appear in the Show Aspects frame to the left of the wheel.

4.	To see which aspects are the most exact, click on the left-arrow of the Aspect Orb Width scroll bar.  To see wider aspects, click on the right-arrow of the scroll bar.  To see just the major or minor aspects or just the harmonious or inharmonious aspects, click on the check boxes within the Aspect Types frame.

5.	To see exactly which aspects a particular planet makes, double-click on the glyph for one of the inner planets — that will pop up the single planet aspects window for that planet for the topmost checked set of planets, either for the synastry aspects between the two charts, the inner chart planet aspects, or the outer chart planet aspects.  The Synastry aspects will use the Synastry set of aspect orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs, except that if you have compared a natal chart to a Current Transits chart, the Synastry aspects will use the narrower Transits set of orbs,  The Inner Chart and Outer Chart aspects will normally use the Natal set of aspect orbs, unless the chart is a Progressed or Return chart, in which case they will use those orbs.

6.	If you prefer looking at a graphic aspects type of chart, instead of a normal biwheel, select Graphic Aspects at Customization, Initial Chart Display.  The program does not let you swap the inner and outer charts of a graphic aspects wheel.


Watch the Transiting Aspects on a Moving Wheel

The procedure for watching the transiting aspects come into and out of orb while the planets are moving is as follows:

1.	Select the saved natal chart and Calculate or Quick Display the chart.

2.	Select File and Compare This Chart to Another.

3.	Click on the Here & Now button (revise the date if desired) and click on Calculate.

4.	Select Display and Graphic Aspects (this step is unneeded if Graphic Aspects is selected at Customization, Initial Chart Display).

5.	Click on Edit and select Rotate/Rectify Chart.

6.	Select your desired time increment (if you don't want the default of one day forward at a time).  For example, if you want to increment one hour forward at a time, click on the big clock button for the hour and then click on its forward spin control.  If you need Help, press the F1 function key.

7.	Click on the Auto button.

8.	The program will proceed to increment and redraw the positions of the outer set of transiting planets every two or three seconds.  You can speed up or slow down the refresh rate by dragging on the Slow/Fast scroll bar that is up on the tool bar.  If you have the Synastry checkbox selected, you will see the transiting aspects come into and out of orb.


Displaying Transiting Aspects to the Natal Midpoints

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides a way to display a list of aspects between the planets of a secondary chart (such as a current transits chart) and the midpoints of a primary chart.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select a primary chart by clicking on a chart name in the Chart List Box or enter the data for a new chart.

2.	Click on Quick Display or Calculate depending on whether the chart is from the file or new.

3.	Once the chart is displayed in the Chart Information Screen, select Compare This Chart to Another in the File menu.

4.	You will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.  To make the secondary chart a current transits chart, click on the Here & Now button.

5.	The current date and time, and the location you listed in the User Information Screen will be inserted into the blanks.  Edit this information to match the location and time you wish for the current transits chart.

6.	Click on the Calculate button.

7.	A double wheel chart will be displayed in the Chart Information Screen showing the primary chart in the inner wheel and the transiting planets in the outer wheel.

8.	To display a list of the aspects made between the planets of the second chart and the midpoints of the primary chart, click on MidPoint/Planet Synastry in the Display menu.

9.	The program will display a list of aspects formed between the transiting planets and the midpoints of the primary chart.  The list will show the planet and location, the abbreviation/glyph for the aspect, and the midpoint and location.

10.	To see an interpretation of a planet/midpoint combination, double-click on the grid row - a window will pop up with Alfred Witte's interpretation for that 3 body combination.  For more information, see Pop Up Form of Alfred Witte's Interpretations.

11.	The default order is by aspecting planet.  You can click the button labeled Sort By Location or press Alt-S to sort the midpoint synastry aspects so that the midpoints are ordered according to their location from Aries to Pisces.


Displaying Return Chart, Novien Chart, and Progressed/Directed Chart Aspects to the Natal Midpoints

These aspects may be displayed as above from the Display menu once you have calculated the chart from the Natal Information Screen, Options menu, and have produced the biwheel by selecting Compare to Natal Chart from the Chart Information Screen, File menu.


Displaying Transiting Aspects to the Natal Arabic Parts

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides a way to display a list of aspects between the planets of a secondary chart (such as a current transits chart) and the Arabic Parts of a primary chart.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select a primary chart by clicking on a chart name in the Chart List Box or enter the data for a new chart.

2.	Click on Quick Display or Calculate depending on whether the chart is from the file or new.

3.	Once the chart is displayed in the Chart Information Screen, select Compare This Chart to Another in the File menu.

4.	You will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.  To make the secondary chart a current transits chart, click on the Here & Now button.

5.	The current date and time, and the location you listed in the User Information Screen will be inserted into the blanks.  Edit this information to match the location and time you wish for the current transits chart.

6.	Click on the Calculate button.

7.	A double wheel chart will be displayed in the Chart Information Screen showing the primary chart in the inner wheel and the transiting planets in the outer wheel.

8.	To display a list of the aspects made between the planets of the second chart and the Arabic Parts of the primary chart, click on Arabic Part/Planet Synastry in the Display menu.

9.	The program will display a list of aspects formed between the transiting planets and the Arabic Parts of the primary chart.  The list will show the planet and location, the abbreviation/glyph for the aspect, and the Arabic Part and location.  Click once on a Part to briefly see its planetary formula.

10.	The default order is alphabetically by Arabic Part name.  You can click the button labeled Sort By Location or press Alt-S to sort the Arabic Part synastry aspects so that the Arabic Parts are ordered according to their location from Aries to Pisces.


Displaying Return Chart, Novien Chart, and Progressed/Directed Chart Aspects to the Natal Arabic Parts

These aspects may be displayed as above from the Display menu once you have calculated the chart from the Natal Information Screen, Options menu, and have produced the biwheel by selecting Compare to Natal Chart from the Chart Information Screen, File menu.


Displaying a Composite or Combined Chart

Once a double chart wheel is displayed on the Chart Information Screen, you can combine the two charts into a single relationship chart.  This relationship chart can be either a composite chart made up of the midpoints of the two charts' planets, or it can be a combined chart for the time/space midpoint between the two charts.

From the Display menu click on Composite Chart - All Midpoints. This method is recommended both by John Townley and by Robert Hand in his foreword to Townley's new book.

From the Display menu click on Composite Chart - Derived Ascendant. This method was recommended by Robert Hand in his 1970's book on composite charts, but he no longer recommends it.

From the Display menu click on Combined Chart. This will generate a time/space midpoint chart, also called a Davison relationship chart.  Unlike the composite chart, the combined chart is a real chart for a real time and place.

A new chart will be displayed.  This new chart can be saved to a file and treated like any other natal chart.  See Display, Composite Chart for more information.


Create a Triple Wheel

The program now makes it easy to display and print a triple chartwheel.  A triple chartwheel typically allows the astrologer to visually see both the progressions and transits that are affecting a subject's natal chart for a particular date.  The program lets you substitute instead of the progressed chart a return chart or any of the other derived charts that are available on the Options menu, such as the novien chart, solar parts chart, lunar parts chart, planetary nodes chart, declination equivalent chart, or solar arc directions chart.

After you have the program calculate any of these charts, you can pick the File menu option at the Chart Information Screen to Compare [type of chart] to Natal Chart, thereby drawing a double chartwheel with the natal chart at the center.  Once you have this double wheel, there will be a new File menu option, Compare to Third Chart.  This option takes you back to the Natal Information Screen in compare mode, allowing you to click on the Here & Now button and Calculate to display the transiting planets in the outer wheel of a triple chart.  If you wish, however, the outer wheel can be any chart that you enter or that you have previously saved and now select from the Saved Chart Listbox.

Some program users want to see the transits to two people's charts at once.  After you compare two people and have their biwheel on the screen, underneath the File menu option Compare [chart subject one]'s Chart To Another you will find a new option, Compare to Third Chart, which will let you calculate and put the Here & Now current transits in the outer circle of a triple wheel chart.

Each circle of the triple wheel shows the planet positions rounded to the nearest degree, together with a flag for retrograde motion, if applicable.

To print the triple chartwheel, simply click on File and Print.


Print Interpretation Reports

Since version 3 of AstrolDeluxe, you can print interpretation reports without leaving the full-featured calculation program.  AstrolDeluxe includes an excellent word processing control, into which it has all of the logic needed to generate six different types of interpretation reports.

The first thing to understand is that what type of report the program tries to generate, when you are at the Chart Information Screen and you click on Interpret, Create Report, depends on what calculation the program has just done.  That is, the report generation is context-sensitive.  If you have created a single natal wheel, the program will try to do a natal interpretation report.  If you have a biwheel from having compared one chart to another, the program will try to do a compatibility report.  If you have a transits list from having picked Options, List Transits & Progressions, Transits, then the program will try to do a transits interpretation report.  If you have a progressions list from having picked Options, List Transits & Progressions, Progressions, then the program will try to do a progressions interpretation report.  If you have calculated a return chart, the program will try to do a return interpretation report.  The program comes with a solar return template which is designed for use with Anthony Louis' forthcoming Journey Returns™ solar return report interpretations.  If you have a composite chart or combined chart on the screen, the program will try to do a composite relationship report.

When you first get a copy of AstrolDeluxe, it will be set to use the built-in Standard template for each of the six types of interpretation reports.  For the natal type of report, the program also comes with templates other than the Standard template, namely the Concise Intermediate, the Full Intermediate, the Career, the Standard en Español, the Intermedia Concisa en Español, and the Intermedia Completa en Español.  The Standard natal template structures a report that first presents an Introduction, all of the Sign and House placement interpretations, all of the Aspect interpretations in order of strength, and interpretations for Element and Modality abundance, lack, or balance.  If you don't want the Standard template, but want to use one of the other templates (or create your own template), after getting to the Chart Information Screen by producing the desired type of calculation, click on Interpret, Report Options and select a template other than Standard in the Report Template listbox.  For example, if you want to generate a report that goes through the chart in a house-by-house manner then you should select one of the Intermediate templates.  If you purchased the Journey Careers™ interpretations and want to do one of those reports, then you should select the Career template.  If you purchased the new Kid Zone™ interpretations, then you should select the KidZone template.  If you purchased or created a file of Spanish interpretations, then select one of the Spanish templates.

When you click on Interpret, Create Report for a natal chart, AstrolDeluxe will look first for the most popular set of natal interpretations, the Personal Path™ npro1.hnp database.  If this file is not present, but another natal interpretation file is present, such as the Spirit Success™ npro0.hnp natal interpretation set, the Journey Careers™ career.hnp natal interpretations set, the Spanish Personal Path™ ppsp1.hnp natal interpretation set, the Kid Zone™ kidzon.hnp natal interpretation set, or a natal interpretations file that you have created with the companion Edit Interpretations program (see Editing the Interpretations), such as natalc.hnp, then the program will find and display that file name for you to accept.  To accept the found file and have the program start generating the report, click the Okay button.  To switch to a different file (which can be a copy ending with the letter c of one of the above files that you have edited with the Edit Interpretations program), click the Select Another button.  If the program says that it could not find a file of the needed type, then click the Cancel button.

While AstrolDeluxe is generating the interpretation report, you will see the white screen of the word processor filling with text.  If you change your mind and want to interrupt generating the report, press the Escape (ESC) key which is usually found at the upper left of your keyboard.  When report generation is finished, you will normally be left at the first page of the report, ready to scroll through and personalize it in the word processor, and when satisfied to click on File and Print in order to print the entire report to the printer.  For more information about customizing and printing interpretation reports, see Interpret Menu.

More:

Distributing Interpretation Reports as Files

Print Interpretation Reports to Acrobat PDF Files


Distributing Interpretation Reports as Files

Besides letting you print the interpretation report, the program's built-in word processor control also lets you save the report as a file to your chosen name.  Why would you want to save the report?  You may want to open the saved report later, either for editing or printing.  You would do this at File, Open Saved Interpretation Report.  You may want to put the file on a diskette for a report recipient to look at on his own computer.  Some software users report building up word-of-mouth for their chart report businesses by mailing free Personal Path™ reports on inexpensive diskettes to casual acquaintances, and then waiting for the friends of those acquaintances to request and pay for their own reports.  Also, once the report is saved to a file, you can attach the file to e-mail in order to send it anywhere in the world.

Reports can be saved in RTF format, HTML format, and plain text format (if you have purchased third-party software, you can also print to an Adobe Acrobat format PDF file).  RTF format is suitable for viewing in a word processor, preferably in Page Layout mode so that the header and footer lines are visible.  This is also the best format if you will be printing the report later.  Unfortunately, while the free WordPad program at Start, Programs, Accessories can open RTF files, WordPad will not show the header and footer lines which say who the report is for and which let you advertise who the report is from.  You do have the assurance, however, that if someone has Windows 95 or higher on their computer, they will be able to double-click on an RTF file and have it be readable.  If you are giving a report in RTF format to someone whom you know to have a real word processor, you can tell them,

start the word processor;

go to File, Open;

change the Files of Type listbox to RTF;

select and open the file whose name you have given to them; and

click on View, Page Layout.

HTML format is suitable for viewing with a web browser such as Netscape's Communicator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer.  This saved file format shows the header line with the subject's name once at the start of the file and the courtesy footer with the astrologer's contact information once at the end of the file.  Create a file of this type by clicking the Create in HTML Format checkbox at Interpret, Report Options, Document.  Then after you have created the report, and are in the word processor, click on File, and Save As to make sure that the report is saved in HTML format to your chosen file name.  If you attach a file of this type to e-mail that you send to someone, the recipient just has to double-click on the link to the file that is in their e-mail program and their default web browser will start and display the HTML format interpretation report.  This is especially good if you have no idea what type of computer the person has, as Mac or Linux computers should also have web browsers.

See the next section about printing interpretation reports to Adobe Acrobat PDF files.


Print Interpretation Reports to Acrobat PDF Files

While the HTML and RTF file formats are both widely used, with HTML being especially universal on non-Windows systems, another widely available method of electronically distributing documents, such as the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter interpretation reports or graphic charts, is by means of an Adobe® Acrobat® Portable Document Format (PDF) file.  These files preserve the exact appearance, including graphics, of the printed document even when viewed on the screen.  Typically, when one purchases and installs a program to create these files, a PDF Writer gets added to all of one's installed printer drivers at Start, Settings, Printers.  When one wants to create a PDF file, one goes to one's word processing application, opens the document, clicks on File, Printer Setup, selects the PDF Writer as the printer driver, and then after one clicks on File, Print, the PDF Writer provides the opportunity to specify the desired name and file location of the PDF file on your computer.

How can you get a program that will allow the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter built-in word processor to print reports to PDF files?  If you purchase Adobe Acrobat, it will come with the simple Acrobat PDFWriter.  If you have more sophisticated needs, it also comes with Distiller Assistant, to which you can print a report in order to create a Postscript document file, which Acrobat Distiller will then convert into a PDF file.  The only problem with Adobe Acrobat is that it is expensive, with version 4 costing $179 discount retail and version 5 costing $220 discount retail.

Another solution which I have tested and found to be satisfactory is to download the DocuCom PDF Driver from http://www.zeon.com.tw/ - this is not as sophisticated a solution; but their new version 5 appears to work well both for interpretation reports and for printed graphic charts.  They let you try before you buy.  You download the correct version for your system, with separate versions for Windows 95/98/ME versus Windows NT/2000/XP.  Installing this download will put the DocuCom PDF Driver among your Windows installed printer drivers.  The price to register this program in order not to have 'Zeon PDF Driver Trial' in a big watermark across your page is US$49.95.

Once the report is in PDF format, then you and your correspondents must have either the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or the Adobe Acrobat Exchange that comes with the paid Adobe package in order to view and print the resulting files.  Versions of the Acrobat Reader and Acrobat Reader with Search are available in different languages for 16-bit Windows (Windows 3.1), 32-bit Windows (Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP), Macintosh, Sun Solaris, SunOS, HP-UX, IBM AIX, and SGI IRIX.  In addition, versions of the Acrobat Reader are also available for Linux, Digital Unix, and OS/2.

Installers for all of these versions are available from Adobe's Web Site at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html.

If your correspondents have been surfing the Internet for any amount of time, they will have encountered a PDF file and have been directed already to the Adobe website to pick up the Acrobat Reader.  The advantages of this file format when you are electronically sharing files is that the viewer is available for all operating systems and when you scroll through pages on the screen, they have the same appearance as the printed pages.


Finding Compatible Charts

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter can search for compatible matches between the charts in your current charts file.  Astrological dating services use this feature.

1.	From the Natal Information Screen, select Find Compatible Charts from the Options menu.

2.	A dialog box will appear, allowing you to specify the comparison criteria.

3.	Select the charts to compare by clicking on them with the mouse.  If you wish to select all the charts, click on Select All.  If you wish to clear your selections click on Clear Selections.

4.	If you wish to compare your selections only among themselves, choose Among themselves.  If you wish to compare your selections each to the entire file, click on Against entire file.

5.	In the top right hand corner is a box to check if you only want to compare charts of the opposite sex.  If you do not wish to have this restriction, make sure this box is not checked.

6.	Enter the year of birth of the oldest males and the youngest males you wish to consider.  If you leave these boxes blank, age will not be a selection criteria.

7.	Likewise enter the year of birth of the oldest females and the youngest females you wish to consider.  If you leave these boxes blank, age will not be a selection criteria.

8.	Enter the lower limits for the Harmonious Communication Index, Total Communication Index, and Compatibility Index.  These are relative numbers made up of the values of the aspects between the subject charts.  They are affected by which planets you have selected in the Customization menu and by changes you may make to the aspect orb widths for synastry.  Experience will tell you where you should set these values.  If you get the message, "None of your selections met your match criteria." you should try lowering these numbers.  Try 1,000, 1,000, and 1.0.  For a complete discussion of these indexes see "The Synastry Weighting System" under the heading "Display  Synastry".

9.	Under Send results to:, select where you wish the results to be directed.

Selecting Printer sends the results directly to the printer and returns you to the Criteria for Chart Comparison screen.  Only this option prints a page break between each new primary individual and ensures evenly formatted printing.

Selecting Screen, displays the results on the Chart Information Screen.  These results can be printed or written to a text file after they are displayed, but the formatting will not be as even or controlled as the direct options.

Selecting File will display a standard file dialog box which lets you choose the filename under which you wish to save the results.  Once you have clicked on OK in the file dialog box, the program will write the results directly to a text file saved under the chosen name.

10.	Click on OK.  A list of the compatible charts and their three strongest aspects will be calculated along with the values of the above indexes.

More:

Find Compatible Charts Without Running Out of Memory


Find Compatible Charts Without Running Out of Memory

When you send output to the Screen, it goes to a Windows control which retains the report in memory so that it can be scrolled, copied to the clipboard, or redirected to the printer.  If you are comparing a large number of charts, directing results to the Screen may cause you to run out of memory.  You can also run out of memory if you have the Print Spooler turned on and you direct results to the Printer.  With the spooler enabled, Windows stores the results in memory and does not print until the program has found all matches.  Therefore, the fastest way to output a large number of compatible charts is to go to Start, Settings, Printers, select your printer, choose File, Properties, Details, and Spool Settings, and Select Print Directly to the Printer.  Save your changes and close.  Now direct your Find Compatible Charts results to the Printer.  Your matches will print immediately.


Using the Atlas

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides atlas support in the form of a free bundled copy of the $195 ACS electronic PC Atlas and in the form of a personal cities list and on-screen maps.

More:

Using PC Atlas

Personal City List

Maps

Creating a Personal City List


Using PC Atlas

All copies of AstrolDeluxe now come bundled with a copy of the ACS PC Atlas, which provides longitude, latitude, and time zone history information for over 250,000 cities and 4,000 U.S. hospitals.  If the PC Atlas is correctly installed, a PC Atlas Express button will be available below the gender selection box on the Natal Information Screen.  Clicking on this button, or typing Alt-X, will activate PC Atlas allowing you to search the atlas for your city.

To use the ACS atlas, you can enter the city comma state/country abbreviation in the State field and tab out of that field, or you can make your selections in the separate state/country and city list boxes.  I recommend that you enter the abbreviation for the state, press the tab key and in the Cities listbox enter just the first three letters of an unfamiliar city and then click on the down arrow to see cities starting with those three letters so that you can find and select the city if present.  Then tab to and fill in the date and time information.  Click on the Read Atlas button.  This will display the time zone that was in effect for that date for that location.  When you are finished, click on Transfer To Natal.

You will be switched back to the Natal Information Screen. The date you entered in PC Atlas along with the time, city name, state or country name, latitude, longitude and time zone will be automatically entered into the appropriate boxes on the Natal Information Screen.  For a more complete discussion of these indexes see "PC Atlas Express".


Personal City List

On the Atlas menu, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter continues to provide access to the old city lists that predate bundling of the ACS atlas.  This allows users of previous program versions to still have access to cities that they have saved to their Personal city list.  The main drawback to these lists is that, unlike the ACS PC Atlas, they always give the Standard time zone hour without having any lookup table for daylight saving.  The PC Atlas interface also allows you to save to a Personal Cities List and these entries can have time zone lookup tables attached to them.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, from the Atlas menu choose Personal City List.

2.	A window will be displayed giving choices of United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, and World.  If you have saved location information to a Personal City List, that selection will also be available.  The area last accessed will automatically be chosen and its states or countries put in the list box.  To change the area, click on it, or press its initial letter, or cursor down or up to highlight it.

3.	The State List Box in the upper center of the window will receive the focus.  Click on this box or type Alt-Down Arrow to see a list of states.  If the list of states is longer than the list box, you can scroll the list by using the scroll bar  Alternatively you may type the first letter of the state or province to immediately select that state.  After choosing U.S. Alaska - Florida, typing "D" or "d" will display the cities for Delaware.  Typing "D" or "d" again will list District of Columbia.  You may also display the cities for a state by clicking on the state name with the mouse or hitting the space bar when the state name is highlighted.

4.	Pressing Tab will switch you to the City List Box.  You may scroll through the city list by using the scroll bar and the mouse as above.  Alternatively, you can type the first letter of the city you are looking for and the first city in the list starting with the letter you typed will be selected.  Each time you type the same letter, the selection will move to the next city which starts with the typed letter.  If there are no further cities starting with the letter you typed, the first city starting with that letter will again be selected.

5.	Selecting a city by use of the mouse or the keyboard inserts that city's latitude, longitude, standard time zone, city name and state/country name into the Natal Information Screen.

6.	Click on Close or type Alt-C to close the window when you are finished.


Maps

To access the on-screen maps, do the following:

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select Maps from the Atlas menu.

2.	A sub-menu will be displayed giving choices of United States, Europe, and World.  Click on the map which gives the area you need.

3.	A high resolution color map will be displayed.  If you have any problem displaying this map, go to Control Panel, Display, Settings and select fewer colors.

4.	In the lower right hand corner of the screen is a box which records the location of the mouse cursor which is now in the shape of a cross hair.  As you move the mouse cursor around the screen, the information in the box will change.  For fine adjustments of the  location, move the mouse cursor slowly.

5.	When the center of the mouse cursor is over the desired location, click the left mouse button.

6.	The program will search for and display all locations in the PC Atlas that are within X minutes of where you clicked. On the U.S. map, the initial search radius will be 5 minutes.  On the Europe or World map, the initial radius will be 30 minutes.  You will have the option of running the search again with a larger radius.  To do a time zone lookup in preparation for moving this location to the Natal Information Screen, select one of the cities and click on OK - then click on Read Atlas.  Click on Transfer To Natal to transfer the location information to the Natal Information Screen.

7.	Choose Close from the File menu to return to the Natal Information Screen.

More:

Moving the Map Information Box


Moving the Map Information Box

At some screen resolutions the Map Information Box may cover a portion of the map you wish to read.

1.	In that case, move the mouse cursor over the box.  The cursor will turn into a four pointed arrow.  If it becomes a standard mouse arrow, move the cursor to another place in the box until it becomes a four pointed arrow.

2.	Hold down the left mouse button and drag the box to the desired position.  As you drag the box to its new position, an outline of the box will indicate where the box will come to rest.

3.	Release the left mouse button.

When moving the box, you must drag the mouse cursor beyond the old border of the box or the box will not move.  In other words, if you wish to move the box up a very small distance, position the mouse cursor at the top of the box so that when you drag the box to its new position, the mouse cursor is no longer within the borders of the old position.


Creating a Personal City List

Locations which do not appear on any of the city lists but which you wish to have handy for future use may be added to a Personal City List.  This can be either the Personal City List on the Atlas menu or the Personal Atlas that is part of the ACS PC Atlas.

More:

Add New Place to Atlas Menu Personal City List

Add New Place to Personal ACS Atlas


Add New Place to Atlas Menu Personal City List

To save to the Personal City List geographical data which you have entered on the Natal Information Screen, do the following:

1.	From the File menu select Save Geographical Data.

2.	If the city already exists in your Personal City List, the program will ask you if you wish to overwrite the previous information, add the duplicate version of the city to the file, or cancel the operation.  Click on Yes to overwrite the old information, click on No to add the new entry to the list while retaining the old, click on Cancel to cancel the operation.

3.	The geographical data will be saved to the file usercit.wst.


Add New Place to Personal ACS Atlas

To save geographical data to the Personal Atlas that is part of the PC Atlas, do the following:

1.	Click on PC Atlas Express and select Add New.

2.	In the State/Country field, type in either the abbreviation or the full spelling of a state or country.  Tab to the City field and put in the personal place, which can be spelled however you want, and can even be an abbreviation that is meaningful to you.  Tab to the County/Territory field and if you know either the state county or the Canadian, Mexican, or Australian territory, enter it or else leave this field blank.  If you leave the County/Territory field blank and the place is near a territory border, it is possible that the program will attach the time table for an adjacent territory to the personal place if the nearest existing city that the program finds happens to be across such a border.

3.	Tab through and fill in the longitude degrees, W or E indicator, longitude minutes and longitude seconds, if you know them.  Then tab through and fill in the latitude degrees, N or S indicator, latitude minutes and latitude seconds, if you know them.

4.	Click on Write to File to add the place to the Personal Atlas.

5.	When you are doing a lookup and you want to retrieve this place, enter or select Personal Atlas from the PC Atlas State field and then tab into and open the City listbox where you will see and can select the place.


Files

Opening a Charts File

Converting a DOS Charts File to Windows Format

Converting a Windows Charts File to DOS Format

Converting Chart Files From Other Programs

Exchange Chart Data with Other Astrologers

Merging Chart Files

Converting a Charts File to dBase Format


Opening a Charts File

To open a charts file while in the Natal Information Screen:

1.	Select Open Charts File from the File menu

or

Click on the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

2.	You will be presented with a standard file open dialog.

3.	Select the file that you wish to open, such as charts.cht or famous32.cht.

4.	Click on OK.

5.	The file will be opened and the names of the charts in the file will be loaded into the Chart List Box in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  This charts file will remain the currently loaded file until you come back here or until you happen to save a chart to a different charts file.  The status bar at the bottom of the Natal Information Screen always shows you the path and name of the currently loaded charts file and how many chart records it contains.  If you can't see the Status Bar, click on the square Maximize button at the upper right corner of the screen.


Converting a DOS Charts File to Windows Format

If you have been a user of any of the Halloran Software Astrol(xx) programs for DOS such as Astrol96, or AstrolDeluxe for DOS, you can convert your DOS charts file (chart.ast) to the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter format.  The charts are recalculated from the birth data in the DOS charts file, so if you want a house system other than Placidus or if you want the Moon's true node instead of the mean node, customize the program before performing this conversion.

1.	While in the Natal Information Screen select Convert DOS Charts File from the File menu.

2.	A Find File dialog box will be presented.

3.	Click on the drive listing and double click on the directory listing until you are in the correct directory.  If chart.ast is present, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will find and highlight it.

4.	Once chart.ast is highlighted, click OK.

5.	The program will then display a standard Windows file dialog box to elicit your Windows output file name.

6.	Select a directory and a file name or type in a new file name.  The file must be a legal DOS file name with an extension of ".cht".  If you select an existing file name, you will be asked if it is okay to overwrite the file.  If you answer yes, the data in that file will be totally replaced by the new converted chart data.  If you answer no, you will be given an opportunity to select another file name.

7.	Once you have selected a valid file name, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will proceed to convert the file one record at a time.  You will see a progress indicator at the bottom of the screen showing which chart is currently being converted, and how many total charts are in the DOS file.  In addition, a color bar proceeds across the status bar indicating the relative progress of the conversion.

8.	As the conversion proceeds, you will see the natal information of each chart read onto the screen.  The chart is then totally recalculated and the newly calculated chart is saved to the Windows charts file.

9.	The DOS file is not altered by this process.

More:

Canceling DOS File Conversion

Accessing Converted Charts

Converting Files From Interpretation Programs


Canceling DOS File Conversion

You may cancel the conversion at any time by clicking on the Cancel button on the right side of the screen.  If the program is in the process of converting a chart, it will finish that conversion, save the chart to the new file and halt the process.  A message will appear telling you how many of the charts were converted from the DOS file.


Accessing Converted Charts

The newly converted charts file is immediately available by way of the chart list box in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  Click on the box and it will drop down showing an alphabetized list of all charts currently in the loaded file.  Click on the chart name you wish to view.


Converting Files From Interpretation Programs

You can use the above method to convert files from other Halloran Software interpretation programs such as chart.nat generated by the Natal Professional program.  Copy the file and rename the copy to chart.ast.  You can then follow the normal conversion procedure.


Converting a Windows Charts File to DOS Format

If you still wish to use any of Halloran Software's DOS-based interpretation programs, you can convert your AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter chart files to the DOS format.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, select Convert Windows to DOS CHART.AST from the File menu.

2.	The program will present a standard Windows file dialog box.

3.	Click on the drive list and double click on the directory list to navigate to the directory in which the file you wish to convert is located.

4.	Click on the charts file name to highlight it.  All AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter chart file names end in ".cht".

5.	Select OK.

6.	The chart file will quickly be copied to a file named chart.ast  in the DOS program format.  If this file already exists in the current directory you will be asked if it is okay to overwrite it.  If you answer yes, the data in that file will be totally replaced by the new converted chart data.  If you answer no, you will be prompted to move the existing chart.ast file to a different directory and restart the conversion process.  You will then be returned to the Natal Information Screen.


Converting Chart Files From Other Programs

If you have chart files created with AstroDataBank, Nova, BlueStar, CompactData, QuickCharts, Kepler, Solar Fire 2-5, JigSaw, or one of the European programs that writes to the AAF exchange format, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides a way for you to preserve your investment in data entry time by converting those files to the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter file format.  This will not change the original source file.  If you have purchased AstroDataBank, export to Solar Fire 4 or 5 format and then convert from this format - this will cause the valuable  biographical details in the AstroDataBank records to appear in each AstrolDeluxe chart's Memo field at More Chart Data.

In the File menu of the Natal Information Screen, click on Convert Foreign Chart Files.

More:

Select the Source File Format

Select the Source File

Select a Target Path and File Name

Convert the File

Gender Prompt

Canceling the Conversion


Select the Source File Format

In the list box labeled Input File Format, select the foreign file format from which you wish to convert (ie. Nova, BlueStar, CompactData, QuickCharts, Kepler, Solar Fire 2, Solar Fire 3 or 4, Solar Fire 5, JigSaw 1 or 2, or AAF).


Select the Source File

Using the drive and directory list boxes on the left, navigate to the directory holding the foreign chart files.

Select the chart file you wish to convert by clicking on it.


Select a Target Path and File Name

Using the drive and directory list boxes on the right, navigate to the directory in which you want to store the converted file.  If you wish, you can type in a new file name or select a file name to overwrite.


Convert the File

Click on Convert.


Gender Prompt

Since other astrology programs do not save the gender with their calculations, the program will read each chart in the file and prompt you for the subject's gender.  The AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter Find Compatible Charts option needs to have the gender.  If you do not think that you will be searching for compatible matches among these charts, then you may press the Escape key or close the Windows control box.  If you do this just once, the program will proceed to convert the rest of the charts in the foreign file without prompting for gender again.  The gender of all remaining charts will be recorded as neutral.

You may use the mouse or the keyboard to indicate the gender.  Clicking on Male or typing "m" or "M" will select Male, clicking on Female or typing "f" or "F" will select Female.  Hitting the Enter key or typing "n" or "N" will select Neutral.  Neutral is used in AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter for events.


Canceling the Conversion

At any time during the conversion process, you can click on the Cancel button on the Natal Information Screen, hit escape, or type Alt-C and the program will finish the current chart and stop the process.  All the charts converted up to that point will be found in the target file.


Exchange Chart Data with Other Astrologers

Halloran Software has created a way to easily exchange the birth data for particular charts with other astrologers.  AstrolDeluxe will now export and import chart data in XML format.  This follows a trend in other industries to put their industry-wide shareable data in a common, human-readable XML file format.  XML stands for Extensible Markup Language.  Each industry is creating a set of meaningful tags with which to tag the data elements that are important to that industry.  An example of an XML tag that would be important to astrologers is <birth_time>; this tag would bracket the data as follows:

<birth_time>05:35:00</birth_time>

AstrolDeluxe now has an option on the File menu of the Chart Information Screen, Save Birth Data to XML File.  This will write the birth data for the currently displayed chart to a file with human readable XML tags.  If you want to share data with another astrologer, send them this file.  It will have all the information that they need to accurately recreate the chart.  If they have AstrolDeluxe or another program that supports this file format, they will be able to automatically import the XML file, but even if they don't have such a program, all of the data is in readable form.  The option to import the XML file is at the Natal Information Screen, on the File menu, Import XML Chart(s).

Here is an example of birth data expressed in what can be called Astrological Markup Language:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<charts>

  <chart>

    <birth_data>

      <first_name>Paula</first_name>

      <last_name>Abdul</last_name>

      <birth_date>1962-06-19</birth_date>

      <year_month_day>

        <birth_year>1962</birth_year>

        <birth_month>06</birth_month>

        <birth_day>19</birth_day>

      </year_month_day>

      <birth_time>14:32:00</birth_time>

      <time_zone>

        <add_to_get_utc>07:00:00</add_to_get_utc>

        <zone_direction>West</zone_direction>

        <zone_name>Pacific</zone_name>

        <standard_zone_hours>8:00</standard_zone_hours>

        <time_type>Daylight</time_type>

        <zone_abbreviation>PDT</zone_abbreviation>

      </time_zone>

      <birth_longitude>

        <birth_longitude_degrees>118.25</birth_longitude_degrees>

        <birth_longitude_direction>West</birth_longitude_direction>

      </birth_longitude>

      <birth_latitude>

        <birth_latitude_degrees>34.06667</birth_latitude_degrees>

        <birth_latitude_direction>North</birth_latitude_direction>

      </birth_latitude>

      <birth_place>

        <birth_city>Los Angeles</birth_city>

        <birth_county>Los Angeles</birth_county>

        <birth_state>California</birth_state>

        <birth_country>United States of America</birth_country>

      </birth_place>

      <personal>

        <gender>F</gender>

        <remarks>Singer</remarks>

        <data_source>BC, Data News #55</data_source>

        <data_rating>AA</data_rating>

      </personal>

      <validation>

        <calendar>Gregorian</calendar>

        <julian_date>2437835.3972222</julian_date>

        <tropical_ascendant>198.8113</tropical_ascendant>

      </validation>

    </birth_data>

  </chart>

</charts>

Right now, the <chart> element only has one child element, the <birth_data> element, but this structure leaves room open for other programmers to add more child elements to the <chart> element later, such as <demographics> or <calc_data>.

If you export to a new file name, AstrolDeluxe will immediately write the chart to a file similar to the above example.  If you choose an existing XML file, the program will read the existing charts into a Windows TreeView control, similar to how Windows Explorer shows you your computer's directories and files, with the present chart appearing at the bottom below the existing charts, and you can click either on Add Chart to XML File or you can click on Cancel.

When you import an XML file, at the Natal Information Screen, the chart(s) in the file will be read into the same Windows TreeView control, and to save them to the currently loaded charts file you can click on Calculate and Save, or you can click on Cancel.


Merging Chart Files

At times, you may want to merge two or more charts files into one.  For example an astrology hot line business employing several astrologers could combine the charts calculated during the day by each astrologer into a single data base at the end of the day which could be redistributed to each astrologer in order to enable any of the astrologers to quickly find a client's chart when that client calls with repeat business.  After merging files, the original source files will be left unchanged.

The merge process will sort the charts and eliminate duplicates.  When you are working with a file of merged charts, you can see whose program originated a particular chart record from the initials that appear in a little display box at the top right of the Natal Information Screen.  The initials there are the initial letters of the name that you entered when you installed AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.

This may be accomplished by choosing Merge Chart Files from the File menu in the Natal Information Screen.  This will display the following window.

More:

Select Files to Merge

Select Destination File


Select Files to Merge

Once the Merge Files window has been displayed, use the drive, directory and file list boxes on the left to select the files you wish to merge.  Double clicking on the directory list box listings will display the files in that directory.

Click on a file to select it.  To select consecutive files, click on the first file you wish to select, hold down the shift key, and then click on the last file you wish to select.  The first file, the last file, and all files in between will be selected.

If you wish to exclude a file, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the file name.  It will be unselected if highlighted or selected if not highlighted.

To select noncontiguous files, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the files you want to merge.  Only the files you click on will be selected.


Select Destination File

Use the drive, directory and file list boxes on the right to select a path and file name for the combined file.  Double clicking on the directory list box listings will display the files in that directory.  If you do not wish to select an existing file to merge to, you can type in a new file name.

If you select a source file as a destination file, the program will ask you to select a file different from those selected as source files.

If you are merging to a file which already exists but is not selected as a source file, you will be asked by the program if you wish to overwrite the file with the newly merged data, append the file while retaining the old data in the file, or cancel the operation.

Clicking on Yes in response to the question, will OVERWRITE the old file and will erase any data the old file contains, replacing it with the newly merged data from the source files.

Clicking on No will APPEND the old file, adding the merged data from the source files to the end of the old file, thus retaining the old data in addition to the new.

Clicking on Cancel will cancel the operation returning you to the destination file name box so that you may enter a different name.

After the merge process is finished, clicking on Close will return you to the Natal Information Screen.

The merged chart file will be placed in the chart list box as the current charts file.


Converting a Charts File to dBase Format

Astrologers wishing to do research often find it helpful to be able to analyze the data of a series of charts by using a database program.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter enables you to load a complete file of saved charts, and transfer all the data of planet and house longitudes in each chart record to a dBase III format file.  You can then use dBase or a compatible program to analyze the data and look for trends.  If you are using a fully-installed copy of the Access program that comes with Microsoft's Office Professional, the procedure is to create a new database, open it, and then Import, selecting dBase III/IV as the Data Source.

1.	In the Natal Information Screen, open the charts file of data that you wish to transfer (see Opening a Charts File).

2.	Select Save Charts File to dBase File from the File menu.

3.	The program will present a file dialog box asking you to specify a file name for the dBase version of the charts.

4.	Select a destination directory and type in a file name.  If you select an existing file you will get a warning message telling you that the existing dBase file will be overwritten.  If this is okay, click on OK.  If not, click on Cancel and you will be given the opportunity to specify a different file.  This file name must be a legal DOS file name with the extension .dbf.

5.	After clicking on OK, the program will save all the records in the currently loaded charts file to a dBase file which can be accessed through any other program which reads the dBase file format.

This process will not affect the saved charts file.


Entering or Editing the User Information

In the Natal Information Screen, click on User Information in the Customization menu.

You can automatically insert your location by clicking on the button PC Atlas.. and selecting your current city.  If your location is not listed, fill in your City, State or Country, Latitude, Longitude and Time Zone as asked for by the captions of the blanks.  To select one of the formal time zones (including daylight saving time) around the world, you can click on the time zone list box and select from the list.  Clicking on a time zone in the list box will put the correct figures into the Hrs., Min, and Sec boxes, and will check the appropriate button for West or East.  If your system clock changes from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time, be sure that you enter the Daylight Time Zone at this screen by clicking on the Time Zone List Box.  Note that Windows will automatically change your system clock by one hour in order to make the transition to and from daylight saving time.

Clicking on Cancel will return you to the Natal Information Screen without saving your changes.  Clicking on Save will save your entries and return you to the Natal Information Screen.


Updating the Table of Delta t Values

For an explanation of Delta t, see  Delta t.

When new updated values for Delta t become available, the user can edit the Delta t table of values in the file DELTAT.WST.

More:

Editing DELTAT.WST


Editing DELTAT.WST

1.  Make a backup copy of DELTAT.WST.

2.  Using a word processor capable of handling ASCII text files such as Windows Notepad, open DELTAT.WST.

You will notice that the file begins with:

@1620

/* 1620.0 thru 1659.0 */

12400, 11900, 11500,...

This file uses the structure of ten numbers per line, each number separated by a comma.  It is not necessary to have exactly ten numbers per line but it will make it easier to spot if you have left a number out.

The "@" symbol tells the program that the number which follows is the first year in the table.

The symbols "/*" tell the program that what follows on that line is a comment and should be ignored.

The list of numbers which follow has a value (in hundredths of seconds) for each year consecutively (i.e. 12400 for the year 1620, 11900 for the year 1621, etc.).  The value listed for 1620 above, "12400", represents 124.00 seconds.

At the bottom of the file, you will see the following:

/* Actual and estimates for 2000 thru 2009 */

6383, 6409, 6426, 6520, 6580, 6600, 6700, 6800, 6800, 6900

~2009

Place your cursor at the end of the number 6900, add a comma, and press Return.  A new line will be created.  Type your new values in hundredths of seconds, one for each year you are updating, separated by commas.  The last line of the file "~2009" tells the program that the last year which has a value in the table is 2009.  If you have updated the table to the year 2019, then after the tilde, replace "2009" with "2019".  You can also modify the above values as more actual data becomes available.

Save the file as text only (meaning that no formatting is included) under the name DELTAT.WST.


32-bit program enabled for Chinese, Japanese, & Korean plus Hebrew & Arabic Windows

Microsoft sells Double Byte Character System (DBCS) versions of Windows for computer users in the Far East where single byte fonts are not sufficient to represent the multitude of written characters.  16-bit versions of astrology programs work okay on these systems mainly because these Windows 3.1 programs are unaware of their surroundings.  32-bit programs for Windows 95 and higher must be adapted to DBCS Windows systems for matters such as displaying characters above character 128, displaying information in local written characters, and compensating for smaller default font sizes.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter now allows the user to enter using local DBCS characters such items as the program user's name during installation, the chart subject's First Name and Last Name, the chart Remarks, the lines of text in the Courtesy Block and Courtesy Footer in Customization, all of the items at More Chart Data, the interpretations in the Edit Interpretations program, and the desired font for each item of the interpretation reports.  This program improvement allows users of Japanese Windows, for example, to generate interpretation reports that are entirely in Japanese.

It was found necessary to disable the Font Mapper when the program detects DBCS Windows, as Font Mapper only works for astrological glyphs in a font file of single byte characters.  This means that customers on DBCS versions of Windows should not order the $49 Halloran TrueType Font of astrological glyphs - it cannot be made to work on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Windows because some of the glyph characters are in the range of DBCS character leading bytes.

Under Windows XP, the program worked successfully with a left-to-right language such as Hebrew.  I went to Control Panel, Regional and Language Options and on the Regional Options tab selected Hebrew, on the Languages tab I clicked the Details button and selected Hebrew as the Default Input Language, and on the Advanced tab selected Hebrew as the Language for non-Unicode programs.

This let me save a chart with the first and last name in Hebrew characters.  I noticed that I had to use the listboxes in the PC Atlas to select the state and city of birth because typing at the keyboard produced gibberish.  But using the listboxes I successfully selected New York, NY, and calculated and saved the chart.  I did find that to get the heading of the interpretation report to display the person's name in Hebrew characters that I had to go to Interpret, Report Options, Text, and with the Header button selected choose the Edit Font button and after switching from Western script to Hebrew script select a font like Aharoni or Levenim MT.  This allowed the Header line at the top of the report to correctly display in a combination of English and Hebrew characters.

The rest of the interpretation report successfully generated in English.

If I went back to Control Panel, Regional Settings and at Languages, Details switched back to English (United States) as the Default input language, I could type in the PC Atlas interface, could not type Hebrew characters for the first and last name, but could still see the Hebrew character chart that I saved in Hebrew characters.


Using the TrueType Font in Other Applications

The 80 astrological symbols in the Halloran TrueType Font or the 117 astrological symbols in the Halloran Asteroid 1 Font can be inserted into a word processing document in two different ways.

In Word for Windows, if you are not composing your document in the Halloran font, then at the point where you want the symbol to appear use the Formatting Toolbar font list to change the current text font to Halloran.  Then select the Insert and Symbol menu options.  Select (normal text) as the type of font.  All the symbols of the Halloran font will be displayed in a grid.  This lets you click on the symbol that you wish to insert.  When you want to go back to using another font, select that font using the Formatting Toolbar font list.  If you have Word for Windows, 6.0, or later, then the Symbol map will remain on the screen and you can use the mouse to alternate back and forth between it and the document.  If you have Word for Windows, 2.0, then you can only copy one symbol at a time.

The Character Map program in the Accessories Program Group lets you copy a whole string of special characters to the clipboard for pasting into your document.  You highlight the desired character and click on Select.  This adds it to a box titled Characters to Copy.  When you are done adding characters to that box, click on Copy.  Then click on Close or else minimize the Character Map program.  When you are back in your word processor document, make sure that Halloran is the font in effect at your cursor location.

If it is, then select Edit and Paste to copy your string of astrological characters.

If you do not possess the convenience of Word for Windows 6.0 or later, you may find it most convenient to use this latter method to build and save a resource file that has all of your frequently used characters in it.  When you start to create a new document, Insert the File somewhere in your new document so that you can easily highlight, copy and paste the symbols that you want to other sections of the document.  When you are finished composing your document, delete this part of it.

Finally, many Windows word processors allow you to enter a 4-digit character code at the numeric keypad while holding down the Alt key.  You must have the Num Lock key on.  The Character Map program will tell you what is the Keystroke combination for each character.


Using the Astrodynes Program

Astrodynes is a technique invented by the Church of Light for analyzing a chart into numerical indexes showing the total power, harmony, and discord for the planets, houses, and signs.  It can help you to understand a person's life orientation if you know their most powerful planet and you can counsel better if you know which life areas will be easy and which will be difficult.  (For more information on the Church of Light, e.g., they have correspondence courses on spiritual alchemy and astrology, their telephone number is 714/255-9218.)

Astrodynes for Windows is a $59 companion program to AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  Written by John Molfese (of the Church of Light), the program lets you select one or more of your AstrolDeluxe saved charts, and calculates the astrodynes for each planet, sign, and house in the selected charts.  The Astrodynes for Windows program is an accurate computerized replication of astrodynes as created by Elbert Benjamine and the Church of Light.  To calculate astrodynes by hand for one chart takes about ten hours, whereas the computer performs these valuable calculations of power, harmony and discord immediately.  Astrodynes for Windows displays the astrodynes in the form of tables or colorful bar charts, pie charts, etc., both of which may be copied to the clipboard or printed.

It is possible to use the older Astrodynes for DOS program with the DOS-format CHART.AST file that you are able to create with AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  If you have Astrodynes for DOS, however, I recommend that you upgrade for just $39 to the more user-friendly Astrodynes for Windows program.


Short Cuts

Date and Time Entry

Entering Current Location and Time


Date and Time Entry

To enter the current system date on the Natal Information Screen, click on the date displayed on the menu bar.

To enter the current system time on the Natal Information Screen, click on the time displayed on the menu bar.


Entering Current Location and Time

To enter the current system time and date and your geographic location (the location entered in the User Information Screen) click on the button labeled Here & Now.


Natal Information Screen - Overview
Overview

The Natal Information Screen is the heart of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  It covers several functions.  It allows you to:

•	enter the birth data of the chart subject;

•	load a particular file or collection of saved charts;

•	select a chart from the currently loaded charts file;

•	save the geographical information you have entered to a personal city list;

•	convert charts from other programs such as Astrolabe's Nova™, Matrix's Blue Star™, CompactData™, and QuickCharts™, Cosmic Patterns' Kepler™, Esoteric Technologies' Solar Fire™ and JigSaw™, European programs in the AAF exchange format, and Lois Rodden's AstroDataBank™;

•	combine charts contained in separate files into a single merged file;

•	print a listing of all the subjects in a charts file with their birth information;

•	compute Transit lists, Progressions lists, Solar Arc Directions lists, Solar and Lunar Return Charts, Novien Charts, Solar Parts Charts, Lunar Parts Charts, Ascending Planetary Nodes Charts, Descending Planetary Nodes Charts, Declination Equivalent Charts, Declination Antiscia Charts, Secondary Progressed Charts, Solar Arc Directed Charts, Minor Progressed Charts, Tertiary Progressed Charts, Special User-Defined Progressed Charts, and Astro Locality Maps;

•	search for mutually compatible charts within your charts database;

•	research a charts database for charts that meet one or more desired criteria;

•	generate control files of charts to assist astrological researchers in evaluating the statistical significance of the astrological frequencies that are present in their chart collections;

•	create an ephemeris listing of specified planets' longitudes for any time period either to the screen or to a file;

•	customize various aspects of the program such as which House System to use, the Zodiac (tropical, sidereal, or draconic), which planets to include, which planets rule which zodiac signs, the width of the aspect orbs to be used in different contexts, the Arabic Part formulas, which asteroids to include on the table of asteroids, the center image of the chart wheel, the printer fonts, the chart colors, the boldness of the graphic glyphs,  your location information for Here & Now charts, address/phone text to print in a courtesy information block on charts and reports, which display screen you want to see initially, the assignment of True Type astrological symbols and whether the program uses them in its text reports, sorting charts alphabetically, auto capitalization, and turning on and off the More Chart Data button (which can record birth data source/rating and creates a Microsoft Access™ format database to hold Life History events, client address/phone information, notes,  and a memo);

•	access an on-screen atlas for lists of cities and maps, including the bundled PC Atlas with its time zone changes history;

•	set your computer's system clock with the NIST clock in Colorado;

•	duplicate or delete a chart within a charts file;

•	instantly enter the current time and place information at the click of a button;

•	calculate the time of sunrise for a date and place; and

•	calculate and display new charts or saved charts.


Information Blanks

Filling in the blanks on the Natal Information Screen is like filling out a form.  This gives the program the information that it needs to calculate a chart.

More:

Moving the Cursor

First Name

Last Name

Gender

PC Atlas Express

Date of Birth

Time of Birth

Capture Atlas Data

Longitude, Geographical

Latitude, Geographical

Hours Difference from Greenwich

City

Country/State

Remarks

More Chart Data

Data Source

Life History

Client Information

Notes and Memo

Status Bar

Chart List Box


Moving the Cursor

You may move between the blanks with the mouse, with the Tab key, or by hitting  Return (Enter).  This last option has been enabled for the sake of users who are new to Windows.  You should accustom yourself to using the Tab key as this is the Windows standard.  Pressing Shift-Tab moves the cursor to the previous blank.

If you return to a blank to edit data, even if it is to add letters at the end of a name or remarks, make sure that the data, whether letters or spaces, are highlighted so that you replace them instead of adding to them.  When you tab into a field, the data is automatically highlighted.  If you are within a field with the cursor shown as a thin vertical line, highlight the data by holding down the left mouse button and dragging across the data, or alternately, position the cursor where you want highlighting to start and hold down the shift key while you press the right-arrow key.


First Name

Enter the first name and the middle initial if applicable.  If you enter more than 20 characters it will be truncated to twenty characters when it is saved.  The first letter of the name will be automatically capitalized if Customization  Auto Capitalization has been checked.


Last Name

Enter the last name.  As in the First Name Blank, if you enter more than 20 characters it will be truncated to twenty characters when it is saved.  The first letter of the name will be automatically capitalized if Customization  Auto Capitalization has been checked.


Gender

Click the option which applies or press the initial letter "M", "F", or "N" after you have tabbed into this field.  You may use the Neutral selection for an event.  Neutral is selected for you when you click on the Here and Now button or when you create a composite chart from two individuals.


PC Atlas Express

If AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is correctly installed, you should see a command button below the gender frame which says PC Atlas Express.  (If you do not see this button, or you have a problem getting it to work, select the Atlas menu on the menu bar and select the last option, Install PC Atlas.  This should show you the directory of the atlas files.  Just click on that screen's Install button to make the path effective.)  Activate the atlas control by clicking the button or by pressing Alt-X.  This will give you a screen to enter the information that the ACS Atlas requires to do a lookup.  You only have to enter the name and gender at the Natal Information Screen.  All the rest of the information can be entered as part of doing the ACS Atlas Lookup and automatically transferred back to the Natal Information Screen.  You should normally use this option instead of using the City Lists that are at the Atlas menu because the City Lists will always return the Standard time zone for a city; they lack the history of time zone changes that is built into the ACS atlas products.

More:

State field

City

Month, Day, and Year

Hour, Minute, and Second

Read Atlas

Transfer To Natal

Show On Map

Cancel

Help

Transfer From

Soundex

Search (for cities)

Table (of time zone changes)

Add New (personal location)

State and Country Abbreviations


State field

When the ACS Atlas Lookup form appears, the focus should be at the State field on a list box containing names of all of the countries and states in the world.  Select a country or state by typing its name or its abbreviation, which you can find in the list of abbreviations at  State and Country Abbreviations.  Or click on the list box down arrow to scroll down and select your desired country or state.  Or finally, type in the place name in the form city comma state/country name/abbreviation, e.g., Reno, NV or Reno, Nevada or Toronto, Ontario or Paris, FR will all work.  (If you already entered a place at the Natal Information Screen, the program will automatically enter that place.)  If the atlas control does not find the place, the Longitude and Latitude will be blank.)  The only way to leave the State field list box is by pressing the Tab key (on the left side of your keyboard) or by clicking on another field, such as the City field with the mouse.


Natal Information Screen - PC Atlas Express - City
City

A list box with city and hospital names will appear when you Tab into the City field from the State field or when you click in the field with your mouse.  Type in the first two or three letters of the city or hospital name and click the list box down arrow to see the list of available cities from which you can select your desired city.  When you click on a city or Tab out of the city field, the atlas control will look up and display the County name (if any) and place coordinates in the Latitude and Longitude fields.  The control will also display this data when you move from city to city with the up and down arrows on the keyboard.  This method can be handy if you are looking for Fairview, California, for example, and you need to see the County name and coordinates for each of the six California cities in the full PC Atlas that have this name.

What is the difference between the number of cities in the ACS Mini Atlas that came bundled with AstrolDeluxe prior to version 6 and the ACS full PC Atlas that you now have?  The Mini Atlas had 5,000 cities around the world (plus four thousand mainly U.S. hospitals).  The full PC Atlas has over 250,000 cities around the world plus the U.S. hospitals.  Even with the full PC Atlas, there are some smaller international locations that are not in it.  Go ahead and use a nearby existing location to complete the lookup and transfer to the Natal Information Screen because this should get you the correct time zone for the date in question.  Then, at the Natal Information Screen, you can change just the longitude, latitude, and city name, if and when you get that information.


Month, Day, and Year

Tabbing out of the atlas City field will take you to this field.  The order in which the program displays these three fields will depend on your Regional Settings at Windows Control Panel.  Enter the month, day, and year of birth.  The atlas control uses this information to look up the time zone in effect on this date.  When you first come to this screen it will have either the current date or a date that you already entered at the Natal Information Screen.


Hour, Minute, and Second

Enter the hour, minute, and second of the birthtime.  If you have Windows set for a 12-hour clock then you will see AM and PM radio buttons and should select the one that applies.  You can select for an Unknown birth time when you are back at the Natal Information Screen.


Read Atlas

Activate this command button by tabbing to it and pressing Enter or Spacebar, by clicking on it with the mouse, or by pressing Alt-A.  This command will find the city's time zone for your date and time and will display its look up results in the fields below.


Transfer To Natal

This button will automatically fill in all the data entry fields on the Natal Information Screen with both the entered data and the atlas lookup results data from this screen.  It will also close the ACS Atlas Lookup screen and place the focus in the Remarks field of the Natal Information Screen.


Show On Map

Click the Show On Map button to see where the selected city is located either on the U.S. map, the Europe map, or the World map.  When the map comes up, there will be a cross to mark the city location on the map.


Cancel

This button closes the ACS Atlas Lookup screen without transferring any data.


Natal Information Screen - PC Atlas Express - Help
Help

The Help button should bring up this section of the Windows Help manual.  For more step-by-step information, also see the section Using PC Atlas.


Transfer From

This button will automatically fill in all the data entry fields from the corresponding fields on the Natal Information Screen.


Soundex

This button can find your desired city if it is spelled slightly differently from the way that you entered it.  Soundex is helpful, but not perfect.  It works by ignoring vowels, so that if you enter Louieville, KY, the atlas will find Lovely, KY instead of Louisville, KY.


Search (for cities)

To see a list of all the cities and towns in a particular area, put the state or country abbreviation in the State field and click on this button.  It asks for the geographical longitude and latitude with which to start, together with the distance expressed in geographical minutes of arc.  Press Enter or click on Start Search and the program will find all the locations that are within that number of minutes away from your starting location.  The closest cities will be at the top of the list.  You can expand the search to cover a wider radius and minutes by clicking on Redo Search.  You can print the search results to your printer by clicking on Print.  If you click on Change State, you will go back to the ACS Atlas Lookup screen with the focus on the State field.  If you press Enter or click on OK, either the top city listed or a city that you have clicked to select will be entered in the ACS Atlas interface and its coordinates looked up.

A shortcut way of doing this search is that when you are viewing one of the maps, if you left click anywhere on the map the program will perform this same search for the location where you clicked, and you can redo the search using a different search radius.


Table (of time zone changes)

You must have a valid State/country and City selected.  The Table button calls up a Time Change History table which defines the time zone for the place and the history by year, month, day, and time when the place changed time zones, which most often consisted of alternations between standard and daylight savings time.


Add New (personal location)

This button takes you to a screen where you can add a new place to the Personal Atlas of the ACS PC Atlas.  Just tab through the fields, filling them out and entering the coordinates.  Enter E or W for East or West longitudes.  Enter N and S for North and South latitudes.  When you use this option to add a new place, the program will find the nearest location (within the same County/Territory if you fill in that field) and will attach that nearby location's time zone and history to your new place.  When you are doing a lookup and you want to retrieve this place, enter or select Personal Atlas from the PC Atlas State field and then tab into and open the City listbox where you will see and can select the place.  For step-by-step instructions on adding a new place, see Add New Place to Personal ACS Atlas.


State and Country Abbreviations

United States Abbreviations
AL Alabama	AK Alaska
AZ Arizona	AR Arkansas
CA California	CO Colorado
CT Connecticut	DE Delaware
DC Dist of Columbia	FL Florida
GA Georgia	HI Hawaii
ID Idaho	IL Illinois
IN Indiana	IA Iowa
KS Kansas	KY Kentucky
LA Louisiana	ME Maine
MD Maryland	MA Massachusetts
MI Michigan	MN Minnesota
MS Mississippi	MO Missouri
MT Montana	NE Nebraska
NV Nevada	NH New Hampshire
NJ New Jersey	NM New Mexico
NY New York	NC North Carolina
ND North Dakota	OH Ohio
OK Oklahoma	OR Oregon
PA Pennsylvania	PR Puerto Rico
RI Rhode Island	SC South Carolina
SD South Dakota	TN Tennessee
TX Texas	UT Utah
VT Vermont	VA Virginia
WA Washington	WV West Virginia
WI Wisconsin	WY Wyoming
World Abbreviations
Afghanistan AFG	Albania ALB
Algeria ALG	Andorra AND
Angola ANG	Anguilla ANGU
Antigua & Barbuda ATG	Argentina ARG
Armenia ARMENI	Australia AUSTL
Austria AUS	Azerbaijan AZERBA
Bahamas BA	Bahrain BAHR
Bangladesh BANG	Barbados BARB
Belarus BELARU	Belgium BEL
Belize BLZ	Benin BENIN
Bermuda BER	Bhutan BHU
Bolivia BOL	Bosnia & Herzegovina BOSNIA
Botswana BOTS	Brazil BRZ
Britain	ENG    England
SCOT    Scotland	NIRE    N Ireland
WALES    Wales	Brunei BRU
Bulgaria BULG	Burkina Faso BKF
Burundi BDI	Cameroon CAM
Cambodia CAMB	Canada CAN
Cape Verde CV	Cayman Islands CAYI
Central African Republic CAR	Chad CHAD
Chile CHILE	China CHINA
Colombia COL	Comoros COMI
Congo CONGO	Cook Islands CKIS
Costa Rica CR	Croatia CROAT
Cuba CUBA	Cyprus CYP
Czech Republic CZEC	Denmark DEN
Djibouti DJB	Dominica DOM
Dominican Republic DR	Ecuador EC
Egypt EGYPT	El Salvador ELS
England ENG	Equatorial Guinea EQGU
Eritrea ERITR	Estonia ESTON
Ethiopia ETH	Faeroe Islands FRI
Falkland Islands FLI	Fiji FIJI
Finland FIN	France FR
French Guiana FRGU	French Polynesia FRPO
Gabon GABON	Gambia GAM
Georgia GEORGI	Germany GER
Ghana GHANA	Gibraltar GIB
Great Britain	ENG    England
SCOT    Scotland	NIRE    N Ireland
WALES    Wales	Greece GRC
Greenland GRNL	Grenada GREN
Guadeloupe GUAD	Guam GUAM
Guatemala GUAT	Guernsey GUER
Guinea GUIN	Guinea-Bissau GUBI
Guyana GUY	Haiti HAITI
Honduras HON	Hong Kong HK
Hungary HUN	Iceland ICE
India INDIA	Indonesia INDSA
Iran IRAN	Iraq IRAQ
Ireland IRE	Ireland, Northern NIRE
Israel ISRL	Italy ITALY
Ivory Coast IVC	Jamaica JAM
Japan JAPAN	Jersey JER
Jordan JOR	Kazakhstan KAZAKH
Kenya KENYA	Kiribati KIRI
Korea, North NKOR	Korea, South SKOR
Kuwait KUW	Kyrgyzstan KYRGYZ
Laos LAOS	Latvia LATV
Lebanon LEB	Lesotho LESO
Liberia LIBR	Libya LIBYA
Liechtenstein LICT	Lithuania LITH
Luxembourg LUX	Macao MACAU
Macedonia MACED	Madagascar MADA
Malawi MALW	Malaysia MLYS
Maldives MALD	Mali MALI
Malta MALTA	Man, Isle of IMAN
Marshall Islands RMI	Martinique MART
Mauritania MAUR	Mauritius MAUS
Mayotte MAYT	Mexico MEX
Micronesia FSM	Midway Islands MIDW
Moldova MOLDOV	Monaco MONACO
Mongolia MONG	Montserrat MONTS
Morocco MOR	Mozambique MOZ
Myanmar MYAN	Namibia NAM
Nauru NAURU	Nepal NEPAL
Netherlands NETH	Netherlands Antilles NANT
New Caledonia NCAL	New Zealand NZ
Nicaragua NIC	Niger NIGER
Nigeria NIG	Niue NIUE
Norfolk Island NORF	Northern Mariana Islands CNMI
Norway NOR	Oman OMAN
Pakistan PAK	Palau PALAU
Panama PAN	Papua New Guinea PAPUA
Paraguay PAR	Peru PERU
Philippines PHIL	Pitcairn PIT
Poland POL	Portugal PORT
Puerto Rico PR	Qatar QATAR
Reunion REU	Romania ROM
Russia RUSSIA	Rwanda RW
Saint Helena STHEL	Saint Kitts-Nevis STKN
Saint Lucia STLU	Saint Pierre and Miquelon STPM
Saint Vincent and Grenadines STVI	Samoa, American ASAM
Samoa, Western WSAM	San Marino SMAR
Sao Tome and Principe SAOT	Saudi Arabia SAUDI
Scotland SCOT	Senegal SEN
Serbia & Montenegro SERBIA	Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SL	Singapore SING
Slovakia SLOVAK	Slovenia SLOVEN
Solomon Islands SOLIS	Somalia SOM
South Africa SAFR	South Georgia SGEO
Spain SPAIN	Sri Lanka SLAN
Sudan SUDAN	Suriname SUR
Swaziland SWAZ	Sweden SWED
Switzerland SWTZ	Syria SYRIA
Taiwan TAIW	Tajikistan TAJIKI
Tanzania TANZ	Thailand THAI
Togo TOGO	Tokelau Islands TOK
Tonga TONGA	Trinidad and Tobago TRIN
Tunisia TUN	Turkey TUR
Turkmenistan TURKME	Turks and Caicos TCI
Tuvalu TUV	Uganda UG
Ukraine UKRAIN	United Arab Emirates UAE
United Kingdom	ENG    England
SCOT    Scotland	NIRE    N Ireland
WALES    Wales	United States of America
use state abbreviation	Uruguay UR
Uzbekistan UZBEK	Vanuatu VANU
Venezuela VEN	Vietnam VIET
Virgin Islands VI	Wake Island WAKE
Wales WALES	Wallis and Futuna WALF
Yemen YEMEN	Zaire ZAIRE
Zambia ZAM	Zimbabwe ZIM

Alternate Country Names/Abbreviations

Antigua & Barbuda	ANTBAR	Antigua & Barbuda

Bophuthatswana	BOPH	South Africa

Bosnia & Herzegovina	BOSHER	Bosnia & Herzegovina

Burma	BURMA	Myanmar

Britain	BRIT	England

Alberta	AB	Canada

British Columbia	BC	Canada

Manitoba	MB	Canada

New Brunswick	NB	Canada

Newfoundland	NF	Canada

Labrador	LB	Canada

Northwest Territories	NT	Canada

Nova Scotia	NS	Canada

Ontario	ON	Canada

Prince Edward Island	PE	Canada

Quebec	QU	Canada

Saskatchewan	SK	Canada

Yukon	YK	Canada

Quebec	QUEBEC	Canada

Yukon	YUKON	Canada

Ciskei	CISK	South Africa

Cyprus	CYPRUS	Cyprus

Great Britain	GB	England

Kampuchea	KAMP	Cambodia

Aguascalientes	AGU	Mexico

Baja California Norte	BCN	Mexico

Baja California Sur	BCS	Mexico

Campeche	CMP	Mexico

Chiapas	CHS	Mexico

Chihuahua	CHA	Mexico

Coahuila	COA	Mexico

Coalima	CLM	Mexico

District Federal	DF	Mexico

Durango	DUR	Mexico

Guanajuato	GTO	Mexico

Guerrero	GRO	Mexico

Hidalgo	HGO	Mexico

Jalisco	JAL	Mexico

México	MXC	Mexico

Michoacán	MIC	Mexico

Morelos	MRL	Mexico

Nayarit	NAY	Mexico

Nuevo León	NLN	Mexico

Oaxaca	OAX	Mexico

Puebla	PUE	Mexico

Querétaro	QRE	Mexico

Quintana Roo	QUR	Mexico

San Luis Potosí	SLP	Mexico

Sinaloa	SIN	Mexico

Sonora	SON	Mexico

Tabasco	TAB	Mexico

Tamaulipas	TAM	Mexico

Tlaxcala	TLX	Mexico

Veracruz	VER	Mexico

Yucatán	YUC	Mexico

Zacatecas	ZAC	Mexico

North Korea	NKOR	Korea, North

Northern Ireland	NIRE	Ireland, Northern

Somali	SOMALI	Somalia

South Korea	SKOR	Korea, South

Soviet Union	USSR	Russia

Transkei	TRNSK	South Africa

United Kingdom	UK	England

Venda	VENDA	South Africa

Yugoslavia	YUG	Serbia & Montenegro


Date of Birth

The order of the Month, Day, and Year fields is determined by the Short-Date format that is set in the Regional Settings section of the Windows Control Panel.  See your Windows Help manual for more information.

More:

Mo

Day

Year

AD / BC


Mo

Enter the month number in the box marked Mo (1 for January, 2 for February, etc.).  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically format a single digit entry with a leading zero, such as "01".


Day

Enter the day of the month.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically format a single digit entry with a leading zero, such as "01".


Year

Enter all four digits of the year.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically format a year of three or less digits with leading zeros.  For example, 948 would be formatted as 0948.  If you enter a two digit year such as "47", the program will ask you if you really meant to enter a year in the first century AD.  To avoid this message when entering a first century date, enter it with two leading zeros such as "0047".


AD / BC

Before Christ or Anno Domini.  Click on the appropriate choice as to whether the year is before or after the birth of  Christ.  The term BC is used on the screen for the sake of brevity.  The program actually uses the astronomical year numbering system according to which 1 BC = 0, 2 BC = -1, 3 BC = -2, and so on.  To enter March 19, 4 BC you should enter 03 Mon, 19 Day, 0003 Year, and click the BC button.  The date will print on reports as "19 March -0003 (4 BC)".

Astrology programs are built on astronomical computations, and astronomers normally use the astronomical year number scheme in which there is a year 0.  In the astronomical year numbering scheme, the year is expressed with a minus sign in front of it, to distinguish it from the B.C. system, from which it differs by one year.


Time of Birth

This field asks for the time of birth as recorded on the birth certificate, which is the time recorded from the hospital wall clock.  Astrologers who "know too much" should not enter Local Mean Time.  The best way to understand this is that you are entering the local time for the central longitude which defines the time for the entire time zone where the birth took place.  As long as the time zone deviation from Greenwich which you enter at the time zone box corresponds to the central longitude (which usually gives a whole hour), then the time of birth must be expressed according to this same time zone.

If Daylight Saving Time was in effect, the Windows program differs from the DOS program in that instead of subtracting an hour to convert the time to Standard Time, you can select a Daylight Time Zone at the Time Zone List Box.  The PC Atlas Express should automatically get the correct time zone for you, including whether Daylight Saving Time was in effect.

More:

Hours

Min

Sec

AM / PM / Unknown


Hours

Enter the hour of birth.  Use a twelve hour clock.  1:00 in the afternoon should be entered as 1 or 01, not 13.  The program will automatically format a single digit entry with a leading zero.


Natal Information Screen - Time of Birth - Min
Min

Enter the minutes after the hour.  The program will automatically format a single digit entry with a leading zero.


Natal Information Screen - Time of Birth - Sec
Sec

Enter the seconds, if known.  The program will automatically format a single digit entry with a leading zero.  If the seconds are not known, leave the entry as "00".


AM / PM / Unknown

Click on the appropriate button to indicate before or after noon.  Use AM for times from 12:00:00 midnight to 11:59:59 in the morning inclusive.  Use PM for times from 12:00:00 noon to 11:59:59 at night inclusive.  Clicking on Unknown will zero out the hours, minutes and seconds, and place the words "Unknown birth time." in the Remarks box.  The program considers entries of 0 and PM to be for an unknown time chart.  Enter 12 and PM for someone who really was born at noon.  Selecting this option will cause the program to calculate the planets for noon of the day indicated, and will place them in a solar equal houses chart.  Aspects and comparisons involving an Unknown time chart will ignore the resulting Ascendant, Midheaven, Part of Fortune, Vertex and East Point.


Capture Atlas Data

At this point, if you don't want to use the recommended PC Atlas Express, you can automatically fill in the blanks for Longitude, Latitude, Hours Difference from Greenwich, City, and Country/State by accessing the Atlas menu Maps or Personal City List.  If you know the coordinates for a city which is not yet in the database, continue to fill in the blanks; when you are finished you can save geographical data to your personal file.  (See File    Save Geographical Data)


Longitude, Geographical

Enter the degrees of longitude in the box preceding the degree mark (º).  An entry of one or two digits will be formatted with leading zeros to make a three digit number.

Enter the minutes of longitude in the box preceding the minutes mark (').  A single digit entry will be formatted with a leading zero.  You can enter seconds of longitude in the form of a decimal such as "15.5" or in the form of seconds by using a colon, such as "15:30" for 15 minutes and 30 seconds.  If you use a colon, the program will automatically convert your entry to decimal seconds.

More:

West / East


West / East

Click on the appropriate button to indicate whether the location is West or East of Greenwich, England (Prime Meridian).  000º 00' is shown as West.


Latitude, Geographical

Enter the degrees of latitude in the box preceding the degree mark (º).  A single digit entry will be formatted with a leading zero.

Enter the minutes of latitude in the box preceding the minutes mark (').  A single digit entry will be formatted with a leading zero.  Enter seconds of latitude by entering a decimal minute, e.g., 37.33 or by preceding them with a colon, e.g., 37:20 (see "Longitude").

More:

North / South


North / South

Click on the appropriate button to indicate whether the location is North or South of the Equator.  00º 00' is shown as North.


Hours Difference from Greenwich

Daylight Saving Time and War Time

Time Zone List Box

Automatically Calculate Local Mean Time Zone

Hrs

Min

Sec

West or East


Daylight Saving Time and War Time

When you tab into the Hours Difference from Greenwich field, the program will evaluate the date that you entered and warn you if War Time or Daylight Saving Time could have been in effect.  You can rely on the program's War Time indication for U.S. and Canada births (observed in all towns in those countries), but not upon the Daylight Saving Time warning because the start and end dates vary each year and not all states observe Daylight Time.  You can rely on the time zones given for the places in the PC Atlas Express for the dates that you enter there.


Time Zone List Box

If the time zone that you want is one of the named time zones from around the world, you can select it from the Time Zone List Box located in the frame captioned Hours Difference From Greenwich.  This list box contains 193 world time zones.  Selecting a time zone from the list will automatically fill in the appropriate hours and minutes and will click the appropriate West or East button.  (A short cut to get to the European time zones at the bottom of the list is to press Ctrl-End.)  Universal time or Greenwich time is shown as being 00:00:00 West.  The regular zone names that are recognized by the ACS PC Atlas appear flush left, while the zone names that are local region duplicates for the same hour:minute values are indented by one space.  The regular zone names will come up when you transfer an Atlas Express lookup to the Natal Information Screen or when you type in that hour and minute in the Hrs, Min, and Sec boxes, but you can click on the named zone that is most appropriate for the chart that you are calculating.

If the program does not recognize the Hrs, Min, and Sec that you enter, the time zone list box will say Local Time (LT).


Automatically Calculate Local Mean Time Zone

If you are calculating an historical chart from before the introduction of standard time zones, enter the letter "L" in the Hrs field and then tab out of the field.  The program will calculate the local time zone from your longitude entry.  If you need to enter a different Local Time, you may enter the times directly as is described in the following sections.


Hrs

Enter the hour of the time zone.  For the Pacific Time Zone in the United States, you would enter "8" or "08".  A single digit entry will be automatically formatted with a leading zero.


Natal Information Screen - Hours Difference from Greenwich - Min
Min

If appropriate, enter the number of minutes of the time zone.  For example, India's standard time is 5 hours 30 minutes East of Greenwich.  For India, you would enter "30" in the Min box.  A single digit entry will be formatted with a leading zero.


Natal Information Screen - Hours Difference from Greenwich - Sec
Sec

The Netherlands used Amsterdam's meridian which is 0h 19m 32s East of Greenwich as the Standard Time Zone for the whole country between May 1, 1891 and July 1, 1937.  In this instance you would enter 32 in the Sec box.  A single digit entry will be formatted with a leading zero.


West or East

Click on the appropriate button to indicate whether the time zone is west or east of the prime meridian.  00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds is shown as West.


Natal Information Screen - Information Blanks - City
City

Enter the name of the city of birth.  The first letter of the name will be automatically capitalized if Customization  Auto Capitalization has been checked.  If you enter a name of more than thirty characters, the program will truncate the name to thirty characters when the chart is saved.  It is not necessary to enter a comma after the city name.


Country/State

Enter the name of the country or state of birth.  The first letter of the name will be automatically capitalized if Customization  Auto Capitalization has been checked.  If you enter a name of more than thirty characters, the program will truncate the name to thirty characters when the chart is saved.


Remarks

This box is used for notes that you may wish to attach to the chart.  The program will enter "Unknown birth time" in this box if you click on the Unknown option in the Time of Birth entry.  Other information you could enter here would be the subject's occupation or relationship.  You will not be able to enter remarks of more than thirty characters.


More Chart Data

You will see this button if you have turned it on at the Customization menu.  It lets you access a form with tabs for Data Source and Rating Class, Life History Dates and Events, Client Information for recording address and phone, Notes and a Memo regarding the client.  You should only turn on this button if you plan to enter this kind of information because Windows takes a few seconds to load the separate Microsoft Access 2.0 database where the Life History, Client Information, Notes, and Memo are stored.  This delay occurs when first opening a chart at the start of a program session and is most noticeable on computers with under 16 megabytes of RAM.  You can turn the More Chart Data button on and off with no problem.  Note that if you come to this screen and add entries or changes to an existing chart, after closing More Chart Data, in order to save your changes you must save the chart (which you can do with the Save Only command button).


Data Source

In the Data Source field you have 30 spaces in which to record the source of the birth data, such as from the official Birth Certificate (B.C.), Birth Records (B.R.) quoted by various health department and civic record offices, Family Bible, mother, the person, biography, etc. and who supplied this information.  In the Rating Class field you have 2 spaces to enter the Rodden Rating such as AA: civil or family written records; A: from the person or an associate; B: biography or autobiography; C: caution, no validated source; and DD: dirty data, that which has two or more unsubstantiated quotes of time, place, or date.  If you enter the data source and reliability here, it will display in a line of birth information at the top of your chart pages.

All astrologers owe a debt of gratitude to Lois Rodden for her data collection work and for standardizing the classification of astrological data.  As of Apr. 2002, the prices to subscribe to her bi-monthly Data News were $20/year in the U.S. and $25/year elsewhere.  The address is Lois M. Rodden, 11736 3rd Street, Yucaipa, CA 92399, U.S.A.; (909) 797-6383 (mornings).  The April 2002 issue was #95; she has declared her intention to produce the newsletter up through issue #100.  Back issues are $2.00 each, payable in U.S. funds.  Her web site is http://www.astrodatabank.com/.


Life History

At this tab you can record the subject's important life events, each associated with a particular date.  If you only know the year of the event, use the subject's birthday or July 1 of the year as the date.  Important life history events can be helpful to refer to when performing astrological work such as birth time rectification or when researching the subject's transits and progressions.  If you are a professional astrologer, you can also use this screen to record the dates of your meetings and conversations with the chart subject.  Life History events are stored in a Microsoft Access™ 2.0 database file (in the winastro program directory) having the same name as the corresponding charts file and ending with the .MDB extension (e.g., charts.mdb).


Client Information

This screen allows you to add to and update a Microsoft Access™ 2.0 database containing the chart subject's name, address, and telephone number.  Access databases are relational databases so if you have Microsoft Access or a compatible database you can create parallel, linked files containing visit or billing information.  If you are running an astrology business, a database program like Access can be a powerful tool for organizing information about your clients, readings, orders, etc. You can use your database program to print statements or mailing labels.  The address/phone information for your chart subjects is stored in a Microsoft Access™ 2.0 database file (in the winastro program directory) having the same name as the charts file and ending with the .MDB extension (e.g., charts.mdb).  Do not save the database in Access 97 or Access 2000 format as it will become unreadable to the astrology program.  Note that if you come to this screen and make entries or changes for an existing chart, to save your database changes you must save the chart (which you can do with the new Save Only command button).


Notes and Memo

For each chart subject, the More Chart Data form has three Note fields and a Memo field. Each Note field is allowed 45 characters.  Each Memo field is allowed as many as 32,000 characters.  This information is saved to a Microsoft Access 2.0 data file that has the same name as the file with your charts, but ends with the MDB extension (e.g., charts.mdb).  Astrologers with a business practice will be able to use these fields to save information about their clients.  If you make additions to these fields, once you are back at the Natal Information Screen, click on the Save Only button to save your entered changes.

If you are working with a charts file created with versions 1.3 thru 2.1a of AstrolDeluxe for Windows, you will not see these new fields.  However, you can add these new fields by selecting File, Merge Chart Files, and merge your current charts file to a new file name, for example, charts.cht to charts1.cht.  This will use the new CLNTINFO.MDB file to create a new database containing all of your old information and with the new Notes and Memo fields.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides a good front-end to view the information that you have saved in these fields.  If you use Microsoft Access 2.0 or later to view the saved information, read your Access manual to learn how to create your own front-end to view the saved information.  In particular, the tables for History, Notes, and Memo do not duplicate the First_Name and Last_Name fields that are in the Client Address table.  Since Access is a relational database, you yourself can easily set up your own query to view data from several tables.


Status Bar

The status bar at the bottom of the Natal Information Screen shows what charts file is currently loaded and the number of chart records in it.  If the status bar is hidden behind Windows' Start button and task bar so that you can't see it, click on the Form Maximize button in the upper right corner of the screen.  This will resize the form so that the status bar is visible.  Clicking on the status bar is a shortcut to the File  Open Charts File menu choice.  For more information see  File    Open Charts File.


Chart List Box

Clicking on the down arrow for the drop-down Chart List Box in the upper right corner of the screen will allow access to your saved charts in the currently loaded file.  Use the mouse to scroll down the list and click on the desired chart name.

Alternatively, you can type Alt-V to access the Chart List Box and open the list with Alt-Down arrow.  Type the first few letters of your subject's last name.  The list will jump to the matching name.  When your subject is at the top of the list, press Enter.  You can also use the down arrow to step through the listings.  Each name which appears will be loaded into the Natal Information Screen.

If you only see one saved chart in the Chart List Box and you know that you have saved more than one chart to file, you may have made the mistake of entering a new file name for each chart, or you may not have cleared the screen with Clear Data and just modified the data of a previous chart and therefore overwrote your original chart (if you want to create a new chart by modifying an earlier chart, use Copy).


Natal Information Screen - File Menu
File Menu

File    Open Charts File

File    Backup/Restore Charts File

File    Save Geographical Data

File    Convert DOS Charts File

File    Convert Windows to DOS CHART.AST

File    Convert Foreign Chart Files

File    Import XML Chart(s)

File    Save Charts File to dBase File

File    Merge Chart Files

File    Print Subject Data List

File    Sort Actual Charts File

File    Create Chart Index File

File    Open Saved Interpretation Report

File    Exit


File    Open Charts File

The first choice on the File menu presents a file open dialog box to allow the user to either select or specify a path and charts file to load.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will suggest the name "charts.cht", however, you may change the name to your preference.  The file name must be a valid file name with an extension of ".cht".  If the file does not yet exist it will be created, although it will contain no records until you save a chart or charts to it.  You will normally use just one chart database file to which you save many separate chart records.  Version 6, as a 32-bit program, will hold up to as many as 32,767 records in one chart database.  Each chart record takes up 512 bytes on the hard disk, so 500 charts will take up just 250K, only one-fourth of a megabyte.  If you are running out of space on your hard disk, deleting charts saved by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is not going to fix your problem.

If you have saved charts to more than one chart database on your disk, you may use this feature to switch to a different file at any time.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will always load the charts file from the last session upon starting the program.  It reads this file from the LastFileLoaded variable in the [ProgramInfo] section of the winastro.ini file in the \winastro application folder.  This is why it is best to save charts to the default directory on the hard disk instead of to a removable disk in drive A:, because you will get an error if the program is unable to find the last loaded charts file.

Clicking on the status bar at the bottom of the screen is a shortcut to activate this function.


File    Backup/Restore Charts File

This gives you two options, Backup File and Restore File.

If you choose Backup File, a File Dialog box will allow you to navigate to and select any charts file.  Place a formatted diskette in floppy drive A:.  A 3.5 inch HD diskette will hold a charts file (together with its associated files) containing as many as 2200 charts (less if you have recorded a lot in More Chart Data).  After you have selected a charts file to backup, as soon as you click on OK, it will be copied to the diskette in drive A:  You should do this from time to time so as not to lose your valuable saved charts in case your hard disk crashes or becomes infected by a virus.  It will also make it easy for you to move your chart data files when you buy a new computer.

If your charts file exceeds 2200 chart records, I suggest that you use a tape backup machine, or obtain a file compression program such as WinZip for creating a compressed archive file containing your *.cht, *.ptr, and *.mdb files.

The backup routine makes no attempt to compress the charts files and will only copy to drive A:  If you live in a humid climate and are worried about losing data archived to floppy diskettes, I recommend that you purchase a vacuum sealer, normally used for sealing food before freezing.  These food saver machines are available with a range of features and prices, but you can find good models at stores such as Sears and Target for $50 or less.  If you live in a humid climate, use such a machine to vacuum seal all your valuable diskettes, including your original program installation diskettes.  Another solution is to buy a canister of desiccants and store your diskettes with some in a zip lock bag.

When you choose Restore File, the program will prompt you to insert a diskette with a charts file in drive A:.  A File Dialog box will allow you to choose the file to restore.  When you click on OK, the program will automatically copy the file to the astrology program folder and make it the currently loaded charts file.

The program will always warn you if the backup/restore operation would cause a smaller file to overwrite a larger file, and will allow you to cancel the file copy.


File    Save Geographical Data

Clicking on this menu item will save the current city and country/state names along with the current longitude, latitude, and standard time zone to a personal city list.  This information can be retrieved at any time through the Atlas menu.  The city information is saved to a file named usercit.wst.  For more information see  Atlas.


File    Convert DOS Charts File

This selection converts the file of saved charts from the DOS version of AstrolDeluxe to the format used by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  You will be asked to navigate through a file finder dialog box to the directory where your DOS file is located.  For more detailed information on converting a DOS charts file see "Converting a DOS Charts File to Windows Format" under the "Files" heading.


File    Convert Windows to DOS CHART.AST

This selection will convert an existing charts file from AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter to the format used by the DOS version of AstrolDeluxe.  This enables DOS-based interpretation programs from Halloran Software to access charts that you have calculated with AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  For more detailed information on converting an AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter charts file to the DOS format, see "Converting a Windows Charts File to DOS Format" under the "Files" heading.


File    Convert Foreign Chart Files

This selection will convert the charts files from the astrology programs of other companies to the format used by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, thus saving you the time and the trouble of re-entering all of your saved charts.  At the time of this writing, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is able to convert chart files from the AstroDataBank, Nova, BlueStar, CompactData, QuickCharts, Kepler, Solar Fire 2 through 5, JigSaw 1 and 2, and European astrology programs that output to the AAF exchange format.

You can import charts from Lois Rodden's AstroDataBank program by using it to export to Solar Fire format and then importing those exported charts.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter knows how to read the Solar Fire memo field to which AstroDataBank writes the data source, rating, and biographical information.  If you have More Chart Data turned on from the Customization menu, look in its Memo tab for this additional information after you have imported Solar Fire format charts.  AstroDataBank only exports to birth-data-only format chart files, not to chart files holding planet and house longitudes such as the Halloran Software format chart files.

You must also have More Chart Data turned on to get the extensive comments that can be part of the AAF exchange format chart records.  AAF stands for Astrologische Austauschformat.  European databases like Taegers IHL and the DAV-database exist in AAF format.  Many German astrology programs are able to save charts to this file format.  The German language AAF definition can be found at http://www.sternwerkstatt.de/aaf/aaf97/index.htm.  For step-by-step instructions see "Converting Chart Files From Other Programs" under the Files heading.


File    Import XML Chart(s)

Other astrologers can send you chart birth data in the form of files with an XML extension.  If these files are in Astrological Markup Language, AstrolDeluxe will know how to import them.  When you import an XML file, the chart(s) in the file will be read into a Windows TreeView control, and to save them to the currently loaded charts file you can click on Calculate and Save, or you can click on Cancel.  For more information, see Exchange Chart Data with Other Astrologers.


File    Save Charts File to dBase File

This selection will take a complete saved charts file and convert the most important data to dBase III format and save it in a specified .dbf file.  This option is mainly useful to researchers of astrological data.  If you have a fully installed copy of Microsoft Access, you can create a new database and use its File, Import option to import the data in the dBase file.  For more detailed information see "Converting a Charts File to dBase Format" under the "Files" heading.


File    Merge Chart Files

On occasion, you may want to merge several of your charts files into a single charts file.  An example of a need for this would be an astrology phone service having several astrologers, each with their own computer, talking to clients.  At the end of the day, all of their chart files can be merged into one large file which can then be redistributed to all of the astrologers.  This way, a client calling back at a later time could talk to any of the astrologers since all would have that client's chart on their computers.

The main thing to understand about this screen is that you use the Control key on your keyboard together with the mouse to click on and select multiple charts files on the left hand side of the windows and then specify the name of a nonexistent file on the right side as the destination file.

In addition to merging chart files, this selection will eliminate duplicate entries during the merging process.  To be eliminated, the duplicates must be exact, even to the spelling and capitalization of the name.  Two chart records with the names "Jean D'Argent" and "Jean d'Argent" would not be considered duplicates.  Likewise, two chart records identical except that one is 34N32 in latitude while the other is 34N30 will not be considered duplicates.  This ensures you will not lose any data by elimination of similar but not exact charts.

For detailed information on merging chart files see "Merging Chart Files" under the "Files" heading.


File    Print Subject Data List

It is sometimes helpful to have a printed list of all the subjects in your file with their natal information.  This file option will print a formatted alphabetical list of all the charts in your file to the default printer.  In case your hard disk fails, it is recommended that you keep a printed copy of your chart natal information as well as keep backup removable disk copies of all files that end with the *.cht, *.ptr, and *.mdb extensions.


File    Sort Actual Charts File

Your chart list box must be set to alphabetical sort in order for you to use this file option (the sort order is near the bottom of the Customization menu).  This option will recreate your charts file placing the chart records within the file in the same last name, first name order as they are in the chart list box.  In general it is not a good idea to tamper with your actual saved charts file, but before finalizing this process the program will check to ensure that you did not lose any records during the process.

I created this routine when Windows would not print the Subject Data list for the entire file of 4100 Famous Charts to my laser printer.  I used it to create a sorted file with a correspondingly sorted pointer file and then used an editor to remove from the start of the pointer file the names of all the chart subjects whose data had already been printed.  Then I printed the rest of my subject data.  When finished, I used the next option to recreate my pointer file.  I suggest that you not use this option unless you have a good reason for doing so.


File    Create Chart Index File

This file option will recreate the pointer file of chart names and record numbers that is what you see when you click on the Saved Chart List Box.  It draws upon the data in the actual charts file to recreate the pointer or index file.  This option can be run at any time, such as when you suspect that saved charts are not being displayed in the Saved Chart List Box that should be in there.


File    Open Saved Interpretation Report

This option will display all of the interpretation report Rich Text Format (rtf) files that you have saved to the \reports subdirectory in the course of generating natal, compatibility, transits, progressions, solar return, and composite interpretation reports.  It will use the report word processor to open the saved reports, allowing you to make changes to and print the saved reports.


File    Exit

Unloads the program and all associated forms, returning you to the Windows desktop.


Options Menu

Overview

Options   List Transits & Progressions

Options   Return Chart

Options   Novien Chart

Options   Solar Parts Chart

Options   Lunar Parts Chart

Options   Planetary Nodes

Options   Declination Equivalent Chart

Options   Progress a Chart

Options   Astro-Mapping

Options   Find Compatible Charts

Options   Research Charts

Options   Ephemeris Generator


Natal Information Screen - Options Menu - Overview
Overview

Along with computing individual charts and comparing them, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter allows you to compute Transit Lists, Progression Lists, Return Charts, Novien Charts, Solar Parts and Lunar Parts Charts, Planetary Nodes Charts, Declination Equivalent Charts, Progressed or Directed Charts, and Astro Locality Maps.  These selections are available once a chart has been entered in the Natal Information Screen by clicking on a selection in the Chart List Box.

Also at the Options menu, you can search any of your charts files for other compatible charts in that same file.  And you can perform searches on your loaded charts file to arrive at narrowed-down lists of just those charts that meet any of a wide range of criteria that you specify.  These selections are available as long as a charts file is currently loaded.  At the bottom of the Options menu is an ephemeris calculation option.


Options   List Transits & Progressions

This selection allows you to compute and list either planetary transits or progressions over a specified time for a specific chart.

At any time, clicking on Cancel will abort the list calculation routine and return you to the Natal Information Screen.

The first thing to notice is that at the bottom left of the screen there are two radio buttons, letting you specify whether you are calculating a list of Transits or a list of Progressions.  Select this first, because there are different default settings for these two types of lists as well as having two independent memories of the settings used for the last list that you ran.

Enter the date for which you want the list period to begin.  The program will have already entered for you the current date.

Use the Time Zone List Box to select the zone that will be in effect where the native lives during the list period.  The list will express the time when aspects and ingresses occur according to this time zone.  It is easy to select the right time zone if the report will be for a short time period, but not if the report will cross the start or end of Daylight Saving Time.  In that case, just go with the Standard Time Zone for the location.

Optionally, you may click on the Customize Aspects button.  There are 22 possible aspects, but the default is to calculate just the major aspects.  Aspects that are set to 0 in the first column at this Customize Aspect Orbs screen will be skipped in calculating transiting or progressed aspects.  The program will use the actual value of non-zero orbs to calculate Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates/times only if the transiting or progressed planet in question has been selected in the Use Orb Planets list box.

You can further modify the Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates and times by using the Applying and Separating scroll bars in the Orb Percent frame.  The percentages here will be applied to the aspect orbs at Customize Aspects.  The primary rationale for these scroll bars is to recognize that aspects are stronger when they are applying and thus in the future and are weaker after they are separating and in the past.  You may want to eliminate the Leave Orb dates, but the calculation routine is designed to find a set of three dates when you are using orbs, so you cannot set the Separating scroll bar to zero percent.

Indicate which transiting or progressed planets you wish to see forming aspects by clicking on the down arrow for the Planets list box and then click on the name of the planets you want.  On the other side of the equation, you control which planets in the natal chart receive aspects at the Customization, Planets screen, using the Include column, which means that you can turn on or off points starting with the Ascendant, but the program will always look for aspects to natal Sun through Pluto.  If you select the transiting Ascendant or Midheaven in the Planets list box, you will get all the diurnal aspects formed by these points during a day.  Also, if you have selected these points, before calculating, the program will ask you to supply the geographical longitude and latitude where the person is for whom you are running the transits.  If you select the transiting moon's Nodes or the Black Moon Lilith, the program can give you Enter and Leave dates if you have the mean nodes and mean apogee turned on at Customization, Planets, but will only give you Exact dates for the true nodes or true apogee.

Indicate for which planets you wish to see Enter Orb dates and Leave Orb dates by clicking on the down arrow for the Use Orb Planets list box and then clicking on the name of planets.  You can now have the calculated Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates listed on the same row with the Exact Orb date.  To get this display, you must select at least one planet from among the planets in the Use Orb Planets listbox and you must click the checkbox 'List Orb dates collated with Exact dates'.  The three columns will only show dates, not times.  If you need the exact times of transiting aspects, unclick the collated dates checkbox.  To exclude Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates from a transits or progressions list, do not have any planets selected in the Use Orb Planets listbox.

When you print the list with the collated Exact, Enter Orb, and Leave Orb dates, the printed page will be in Landscape mode (except that, if the program determines that your default Windows printer does not support Landscape mode printing, the list will print in Portrait mode without the last column that normally has the natal relationship between the two planets).

When you click on Interpret, Create Report for a collated dates Transits or Progressions list, you will no longer get separate entries in the interpretation report for the dates when an aspect enters orb or leaves orb, and the interpretation headers for the exact dates come out as follows:

Jupiter trine Midheaven: 01/03/2002, Exact

enters orb: 12/18/2001, 2.00 deg. orb - leaves orb: 01/10/2002, 1.00 deg. orb

Use the combination of the Time Period Type radio buttons with the Time Units Per Interval scroll bar to select the number of days, weeks, months, or years for which you want the list or report.  The program will always calculate progressions for at least one year; the shorter time periods are only used for transits lists.

The calculation routine for transits/progressions has a limit of 550 aspects.  It will prematurely stop if it reaches this limit and show the results found up to that point.  In the case of lists that include the transiting moon, this allows you to calculate one complete month of transiting aspects.  If you are calculating over a year's worth of transits, you would want to skip the faster bodies and start with Jupiter or Saturn.  In the case of progressions, you should always include the moon as this is the most important progressed point.  The Ascendant and Midheaven, at the bottom of the Planets list, are included in the default selection for progressions.  A year's worth of secondary progressions is only one day's worth of movement by the planets, so there will not be that many progressed aspects in a year.

Speaking of the progressed moon, you may want to try customizing the orbs of all the progressed aspects to zero (0), except for the conjunction which must be left with a positive orb, and running a progressed list of just the moon for all the years of a person's life in order to trace the timing of the progressed moon as it changes signs and houses every two or three years.  You should find a good correspondence to what the individual was doing during those periods.

Once you are satisfied with your entries, click the Calculate button to start the calculations.

The completed calculations will be displayed in a list box on the Chart Information Screen.  To print the list or to save it to a text file click on File and then either Print or Save Screen as Text File.

The date and time of each transiting aspect will display according to the short date format which is set at Regional Settings in Windows Control Panel.  For lists involving secondary progressions or solar arc directions, the date only will display with abbreviated month (Jan-Dec).  For lists involving the faster-moving tertiary and minor progressions, both the date and the time will display.

The list may start by showing aspects that have wide orbs in the Orb column.  They appear as conjunctions to the start of signs or houses.  The interpretation reports use these items to show the houses of the natal chart that the transiting planets are in and how far into the houses they are.  For progressions, the interpretation reports can use these items to also interpret the positions of the progressed planets in the signs.  Listings that have (E) in the Orb column are when a planet entered the orb that you have defined for that applying aspect, whereas listings that have (L) in the Orb column are when a planet left the orb that you have defined for that separating aspect.  If there is an (X) in the Orb column, that is normally when an aspect became exact, although sometimes this listing will mark when an aspect was closest to exact, but changed direction, going from direct to retrograde, or from retrograde to direct.

The large column will be labeled either Transiting Aspect or Progressed Aspect.  The abbreviated name of the moving planet comes first (or its glyph if you are using an astrological font) with the natal house that it is in appearing next in parentheses.  The letters D and R indicate if the planet was Direct or Retrograde as of the central of the three dates (if you are using orbs).  The abbreviated name of the aspect (or the aspect glyph) comes next.  This is followed by the abbreviated name of the natal planet (or its glyph), the natal house that body is in, an ampersand and the natal body's zodiac sign position.

The last column is labeled Natal Aspect.  It shows either the aspect that existed in the natal chart between the two planets involved, or the angle if it was not a predefined aspect.  Transits can manifest differently based on the conditions in the natal chart that they bring to the foreground.

More:

Save Transits List and Progressions List Settings


Save Transits List and Progressions List Settings

Version 5 added two command buttons, Save to File and Load from File.  Use these buttons to make the program remember different settings that will create lists for your different purposes.  Save different settings to differently named files that help you to remember what that settings file is for.  When the Transits radio button is selected, the buttons will save to and read from settings files that end with the *.tls extension.  When the Progressions radio button is selected, the settings files will end with the *.pls extension.  You can also save and retrieve customized aspect sets at Customize Aspects.


Options   Return Chart

Selecting this option will allow you to cast a solar return chart or lunar return chart for whatever separation from the natal position you desire.

Select Solar or Lunar depending on which Return Chart you wish to draw.

If you wish to plot a return to a position other than the natal position, enter the number of degrees difference under Separation.

Choose which Zodiac reference frame you wish to use by clicking on Tropical or Sidereal.  If you choose Sidereal, then even though you may have your planet positions expressed according to the Tropical zodiac, precession since the date of birth will be discounted and the Sun or the Moon will not be in their original Tropical positions as of the date and time of the return chart.  Instead, they will be in their original positions relative to the fixed stars or constellations.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically enter the current date.  You should enter a date in this box which is at least five days after the expected return date.  For example, if the expected return date is October 28, 2002, you should enter a date after November 2, 2002.

You want the subject's chart to be calculated for the subject's current location.  Because the subject is likely to live in the same town as the astrologer, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will enter the location coordinates from your User Information.  If the subject does not live in the astrologer's town, the subject is likely to still live in the birth town, in which case click on the Birthplace button to insert those coordinates.  Alternately, you can find the subject's current location after clicking on the PC Atlas button (after the lookup, click on Transfer Back to fill in the coordinate fields at this form).

To fill in the fields manually, tab into and fill out each field.

Enter the subject's current longitude and whether it is East or West of Greenwich, England.

Enter the subject's current Latitude and whether it is North or South of the equator.

If you wish to return to the Natal Information Screen without computing the Return chart, click on Cancel.

When you are satisfied with your entries, click on OK to begin the calculation of the chart.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will calculate the return chart and display it as it would a natal chart.

Solar return charts will be calculated to an accuracy of one minute in the Ascendant position.  If you do not get the results that you expected, check to see if you selected the Sidereal reference frame which omits precession since the date of the natal chart.

You may save this chart or compare to the natal chart.  In the upper left hand corner of the chart will be displayed the date and exact time when the Sun or Moon will have returned to their natal position.  If AstrolDeluxe recognizes the location of the return chart, it will use the PC Atlas to determine what clock time and time zone are in effect for the return chart location.  Otherwise, the time of the return chart that displays in the information block will be local mean time for the longitude where the subject lives.  If you save the calculated return chart, it will have the first name appended to the end of the last name and the words "Rtn for [date]" will go in the first name field.  The name is expressed in such a way that the return chart will appear next to the natal chart in the alphabetized chart list box.

The File menu option Compare Return Chart to Natal Chart (at the Chart Information Screen) lets you easily create a biwheel showing the planets of the return chart in the houses of the original natal chart.  If after doing this, you want to see the natal planets in the houses of the return chart, click on Edit, Swap Inner/Outer Charts.

By summer 2002, Halloran Software expects to announce the $100 Journey Returns solar return interpretation set, which will allow you to generate a complete yearly forecast report just by clicking on Interpret, Create Report.


Options   Novien Chart

This menu option calculates the Novien charts described by the sidereal astrologer Cyril Fagan (in Astrological Origins and pp. 111-119 of Primer of Sidereal Astrology).  He describes the Novien chart not as a secondary geniture, but as an 'aspectarian-vernier', permitting the user to measure microaspects that may not be otherwise apparent, especially to the moon.  It is related to the Indian Navamsa chart, but is not the same.  Using 0 degrees Taurus as the starting point, one multiplies the natal longitudes by nine to get the novienic longitudes.  The cusp of the first house in an equal house chart is set for the moon's novienic longitude.  This technique is for use by astrologers who are working within the sidereal zodiac.

To use this option, first select from the list box the saved chart for which you desire the Novien.  Then select Options and Novien Chart.  The program will calculate and display the Novien chart.  A person has just one Novien chart, which is derived from the natal chart.  To see the aspects between the two charts, select File and Compare Novien Chart to Natal Chart.  Then select Display and Synastry.


Options   Solar Parts Chart

The Solar Parts Chart was discovered by Carl Payne Tobey in 1956.  It is described in Chapter 24 of his book, Astrology of Inner Space (1973).  He called it the Secondary Chart.  His student, Naomi Bennett, and Robert Hand consider the word 'secondary' to be confusing.  Naomi currently lectures on this technique and has 25 years of experience using it.  She can be reached at http://home.swbell.net/naomiben/index.html .

The solar parts are the ancient Arabic Parts (i.e. Part of Fortune, Part of Commerce, Part of Love, etc.).  The ancient Arabic Parts use the parts formula A+B-C of Asc + Planet - Sun.  Carl's discovery of a Solar Part Ascendant (Asc + Asc - Sun) creates a new Ascendant and cusp points so a new chart can be drawn with the parts in it.  Note that the house positions of the natal planets and Solar Parts Chart does not change.  This allows the modern astrologer to view the parts in a horosopic wheel with synastry and transits.


Options   Lunar Parts Chart

The Lunar Parts Chart is new and theoretical.  It follows the same logic as the Solar Parts Chart except the Moon is used for C in the formula A+B-C.  Project Hindsight's discovery (1995) of the importance of day (diurnal) and night (nocturnal) births is showing how the ancient Greeks distinguished between the rulership of the Sun by day and the Moon by night.  The Greek Lots (Arabic Parts) were altered for day and night, therefore a Lunar Parts Chart should be used for night births and the Solar Parts Chart for day births.   Day births have the Sun above the Ascendent and night births have the Sun below the Descendant.


Options   Planetary Nodes

The positions of the planetary nodes in a person's chart can be displayed in a chart which you can save and compare.  At Customization, Miscellaneous Preferences, you can specify whether you want the default Heliocentric Nodes or the Geocentric Nodes.

Here at the Options menu you can select whether you want the Ascending Planetary Nodes or the Descending Planetary Nodes.  You will get a chart which uses the normal planet symbols to represent the node positions.  After calculating the chart, the File and Compare option at the Chart Information Screen will let you immediately draw a biwheel showing the nodes in the houses of the person's natal chart.

The planetary nodes are power points in the chart.  They relate to the unique realm of the planet involved just as the Moon's Nodes relate to the emotional, subconscious realm of the Moon.  The Heliocentric Planetary Nodes are the positions when the nodes are considered as lines of intersection between the earth's orbital plane and the planetary orbital planes which reach out to infinity.  The Geocentric Planetary Nodes are the positions when the nodes are considered to be the points where the orbit ellipse of each planet crosses the earth's extended orbital plane.  The geocentric node points may sound like the result of comparing apples and oranges; in fact, Carl Payne Tobey and his students have found the heliocentric node positions to be the effective positions (Astrology of Inner Space, chapter 23).  The Heliocentric Nodes are therefore the default.


Options   Declination Equivalent Chart

Once you have selected a saved chart, you can calculate for it both declination-to-longitude equivalent charts and longitude-to-declination equivalent positions.  These are the charts described by Kt Boehrer in her book Declination: The Other Dimension.

There are two points on the ecliptic that correspond to a particular declination.  If we take the declination 9 deg. North as an example, the sun in the ecliptic plane will be at this declination when it is at both 23 deg. Aries and 7 deg. Virgo.  AstrolDeluxe will create two derived charts that map the original chart's planet declinations to two sets of ecliptic longitude points.  These planet points display in normal looking chartwheels.  The declination to longitude equivalents in the Dec-L.E. chart will be on the same side of the Cancer-Capricorn axis as the original chart's planet longitudes.  The declination to longitude equivalents in the Dec-Antiscia chart will be in the antiscia quadrants from the chart's planet longitudes.  [Note that if you have your program set for the sidereal zodiac, the Cancer-Capricorn axis will still be that of the tropical zodiac, so that the declination equivalent longitudes expressed according to the sidereal zodiac will not appear to mirror each other as they do in the tropical zodiac.]  The house cusps in the  Dec-L.E. chart will be the same as in the original natal chart because the Ascendant and Midheaven have zero latitude so that their declination maps to their original ecliptic longitudes.  Because the Ascendant and Midheaven in the Dec-Antiscia chart are in reversed, mirror-image order, they are not used to define new house cusps, but their positions appear, using the glyphs A and M, in the Dec-Antisica chart.  The planets in the Dec-Antiscia chart will be in mirror image positions of the planets in the Dec-L.E. chart.

A second transformation that occurs in these derived charts, is from longitude to declination, converting the original chart's ecliptic longitudes to their declination equivalents.  These derived declinations appear in the Supplemental Calculations table.  They are used for a derived Declination Aspects table.

Planets whose declinations are Out-of-Bounds (OOB), meaning greater than the sun's maximum declination (approximately 23 deg. 27 min.), are handled differently in both forward and reverse equivalency transformations, according to the methods in Kt Boehrer's book.  If the chart contains instances of OOB planets, the Display menu table of Source Declinations will show the converted declination and the original OOB declination in parentheses.

You can save the declination equivalent charts to file for retrieval and comparison to transits or other charts.  By converting a chart's declinations to longitude equivalents, you can view more aspects than just the parallel and contraparallel.  To compare the declination equivalent positions to the original ecliptic positions, after you get the Dec-L.E. wheel, select File and Compare Declination Equivalent Chart to Natal Chart, which will show the two charts in a biwheel.

For programming assistance, I acknowledge Jamie Longstreet, and for guiding the project to completion I acknowledge Bette Denlinger (now married to Jamie).  With Kt Boehrer, Leigh Westin, and about 60 members of NCGR (website: http://www.geocosmic.org), they belong to a special interest group (SIG) devoted to studying declinations.


Options   Progress a Chart

This menu option lets you calculate charts for forecasting using different methods for progressing and directing the planets and angles of the natal chart.  This selection is for calculating a static progressed chart for a particular date, as opposed to a dynamic list of progressed aspects and ingresses which you can perform at Options   List Transits & Progressions.  Also, while the program will use the Journey Progressions set of interpretations if you select Interpret and Create Report with a progressed chart up at the Chart Information Screen, those interpretations were designed to delineate the progressions list, so some of the wording may be inappropriate for a static chart.

More:

Progression Type List Box

Midheaven Rate List Box

Why Do the Locations of the Progressed and Natal Charts Disagree?

Comparing Progressed Aspects to Natal Aspects


Progression Type List Box

This lets you select the following methods by which to progress or direct the natal horoscope to a particular date.

The 'day for a year' system of Secondary Progressions is the principal method of progressing the chart and is what progressions without any other qualifications refers to.  For your desired forecasting date, the program calculates the number of years elapsed (including a year fraction) since the person's birth and then calculates planetary positions for a date and time of as many days following the birth.

The Solar Arc Directions technique calculates the progressed sun and its distance from the natal sun and then directs every horoscope point ahead by this same arc distance.  When you use solar arc directions to calculate a chart, you do not see any changes in the planet relationships from those in the natal chart, since all points have been directed by an equal amount, but should instead look at the changing aspects between the natal chart and the solar arc directions forecast chart.  You can do this by selecting Compare Progressed Chart to Natal Chart once you have the solar arc directions wheel and then selecting Display and Synastry.  You may also want to check out Display and Planet/Midpoint Synastry since Alfred Witte originally developed the interpretations that you can get by double-clicking on those midpoint aspects in the course of investigating solar arc direction aspects.  You can also run a Solar Arc Direction Progressions List from the first choice on the Options menu.  For more information, refer to March and McEvers, The Only Way To...Learn About Tomorrow.

Minor Progressions substitute a lunar month for a solar year.  The minor progressed chart is calculated for as many tropical months after birth as there have been years for the date to which you are progressing the chart.

Tertiary Progressions substitute a day for a lunar month.  The tertiary progressed chart is calculated for as many days after birth as there have been tropical months for the date to which you are progressing the chart.

DR-70 Minor Progressions are close to using the ratio of the tropical year to the synodic month, but work in a way that was idiosyncratic to the DR-70 dedicated astrology computer, which I have tried to replicate here.

Special Progressions are for user-defined rates.  Selecting this option will display a special list box where you can enter and save rate values to use.  Do progressions for any ratio of days to other celestial cycles.  The amount entered into this field will be divided into the number of days elapsed since the native's birth in order to determine the number of days after birth for which to calculate the progressed chart.  The default value put in the list box field, -365.2421896698, which is the reverse of the length of the tropical year as of the year 2000, lets you experiment with calculating converse progressions, which go back in time to before the birth.  If you do the research needed to arrive at the value for different celestial cycles, you will discover that the time periods for these cycles have different values at different epochs, such as the tropical year of 365.2421958 as of the 1900 epoch, 365.2421927 as of the 1950 epoch, and 365.2421897 as of the 2000 year epoch.  These differences explain why there are slight calculation differences between programs, as they may use values from different year epochs to do secondary progressions.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is actually more sophisticated than the other programs that I have tested in that it calculates the year length that was correct in the year that the person was born.  Another value that you could put in the list box field, 12.36826591, is for the ratio of the tropical year to the synodic month.  It is similar to minor progressions, which is for the ratio of the tropical year to the tropical month.  This ratio will produce a progressed chart for as many synodic months from the birth date as there are years to the date for which you are progressing the native's chart.


Midheaven Rate List Box

This lets you select the following methods by which to direct the chart angles forward in time.  The midheaven and house cusps can be directed according to the following rates.

Solar Arc in Longitude: distance actually moved by the sun in one day, measured in ecliptic longitude.

Right Ascension of the Mean Sun [R.A.M.S.]: a constant mean value for the sun's motion, also called the 'Naibod rate in right ascension' method or the 'Secondary MC' method.

Naibod Longitude: a constant mean value for the sun's motion in ecliptic longitude.

Solar Arc in Right Ascension: distance actually moved by the sun in one day, measured in right ascension.

Quotidian Bija: midheaven rotated according to the fraction of the year since the birthday, which fraction is reduced by the Sidereal zodiac correction of Fagan & Firebrace.

Quotidian Standard: same, but with uncorrected year fraction.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter lets you save an unlimited number of your own Special Progressions rates by using the Add button.  Before you enter your first rate, click the Add button to save the default value if you think that you will want to retrieve it later.  You can retrieve and select any of these rates by clicking on the down arrow for the list box.  When you next select Special Progressions as the Progression Type, the rate shown will be the last one that you used.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter makes it easy to compare the planets of a progressed chart to the planets and angles of the natal chart by selecting File, Compare Progressed Chart to Natal Chart.

Progressions correspond to the general structure of a person's life.  They describe what the native will be doing at that time.  Transits are felt more immediately, like weather on the inner plane with its rising and falling energies and stormy aspects building to crises and resolutions.  .The most noticeable progressions are the changing sign and house positions of the moon with their general correspondence to the native's activities during those two or three year periods.  The progressed horoscope has been said to be the current horoscope of the person, replacing the natal chart.  There is a good technical introduction for astrologers to progressions in the Journey Progressions set of interpretations that you can purchase for AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, especially if you insert the command IntroForAstrologers into the Report Order template.  One user has found the progressed horoscope useful in understanding relationship attractions as the slowly moving progressed planets form synastry aspects to planets in other persons' natal and progressed charts and then move out of orb.  The program allows you to save your progressed charts so that you can use them for synastry and transit comparisons as you would any natal chart.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically enter the current date in the date box.  If you want a chart for a different date, change it to the desired date.

In the box marked Progression Type, select the method of progressing or directing the chart planets by clicking on the down arrow and then clicking on the type of progression you wish to perform.  The program will automatically remember and display the last type of progressed chart that you did.

In the box marked Midheaven Rate, select the method of directing the chart angles by clicking on the down arrow and then clicking on the type of Midheaven that you want.

For the geographical longitude and latitude of the natal chart, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will automatically enter the longitude and latitude from the natal chart.  This is how you normally progress a chart.  To have the program calculate the progressed chart based on a natal chart that is relocated to the subject's present location, you can do one of three things: 1) you can put in the longitude and latitude from your User Information by clicking on Relocate; 2) you can select a location by clicking on PC Atlas; 3) or you can tab into the longitude and latitude fields and type in the new longitude and latitude.

If you wish to return to the Natal Information Screen without calculating the Progressed Chart click on Cancel.

When you are satisfied with your entries, click on OK.

The program will calculate and display the progressed chart on the Chart Information Screen.


Why Do the Locations of the Progressed and Natal Charts Disagree?

In calculating progressed charts according to the various techniques of secondary progressions, the program first calculates the planet positions for the fractional number of days since birth which correspond to the fractional number of years between the birth and the date of your progression.  It then rotates the midheaven by the fraction that your selected astrological technique specifies and determines for the birth latitude the remaining house positions.  Since the planet positions and house cusps have actually been calculated instead of artificially directed, it is possible for the program to determine the time and geographical location that would produce the astrologically-progressed midheaven at the moment for which the planets were calculated.  The program will save these calculated geographical coordinates with the saved progressed chart and you will see them at the Natal Information Screen, but in the current program version the calculated coordinates will not display on the chart information block, in order to avoid confusing clients.  If you recall a saved progressed chart and click on Calculate you will produce a chart identical with the progressed chart because the program already saved the geographical coordinates needed for its calculation.  It is not possible to recalculate or relocate a directed chart - the program therefore does not calculate any geographical coordinates for a solar arc directions chart.


Comparing Progressed Aspects to Natal Aspects

After calculating a progressed chart, at the Chart Information Screen's File menu you have the option of comparing it to the natal chart.  After you use this option, selecting Synastry from the Display menu will show you the aspects between the progressed and natal charts.  This synastry display uses the aspect orbs defined for Progressions, which you can see and change at the Customization menu.  The default progression orbs have widths of one degree or less.  The aspects displayed here will be substantially different from your results if you save the progressed chart to file and retrieve and compare it, which will use the Synastry aspects for which the default is a smaller set of aspects with a much wider orb width.


Options   Astro-Mapping

After selecting a saved chart, you can now choose Astro Mapping on the Options menu and choose to have astro-locality lines for the selected chart drawn on either the United States map, the Europe map, or the World map.  These line maps show where planets come into conjunction with cusps of the four angular houses, in your relocated natal chart, worldwide.  If a planet is on one of the four angles in your chart relocated to one of these places, the influence of that planet will be stronger there.

The program gives users a choice of astro maps for the screen or astro maps for printing.  The color maps for the screen function well as maps that interact with the mouse to show longitudes, latitudes, time zones, and country names, and on which you can click to bring up lists of cities.  While the program does let you print these colorful maps to your printer, it can sometimes be difficult to see the astro map lines against the solid color backgrounds of the different states/countries.  Therefore, the program also gives you a choice of monochrome maps with pattern fills for the different states/countries for when you want to print astro maps to your printer.

When the maps are printed, the program sets the printer to Landscape mode and then sets it back to the previous mode (usually Portrait), when map printing is done.  The maps for printing use wide-spread dot and cross-hatch patterns for the different states and countries, so that one can see the planet lines crossing those regions.  But if one has a color printer and wants to print the color screen maps, with their dark colors and backgrounds, one can do so.  You just click on File and Print, regardless of whether you have displayed the Astro-Mapping to a screen map or to a printer map.

The astro maps all print to the printer regardless of your computer's screen display resolution.  On the printable maps, each country has its own fill pattern - these patterns print as intended, without the patterns being compressed, at screen display resolutions of 800 by 600 and higher, although to avoid having the glyphs at the bottom be chopped off it is necessary on some maps at 800 by 600 for the user to drag the Windows taskbar down to nothing in order to give the client window more display room.  The control with the state name, longitude, latitude, and standard time zone does not appear on the screen when one selects the pattern-filled astro maps for printing, but one might want instead to print the colored astro maps and so the user has the ability to drag and reposition the control down to the bottom of the screen where it will not be captured onto the printed maps.

I added a feature whereby if one right-clicks on a meridian line on the astro map, it will bring up a list of all the PC Atlas locations for that state or country that are on that meridian line.  The search can be expanded to cover a wider radius in geographical minutes on the meridian line, and the search results can be printed to the printer.

An issue that you should be aware of is that planets or asteroids with extreme latitude can be rising or setting but not appear conjunct the Ascendant or Descendant.  You can see the planets in your chart that have significant ecliptic latitude by calculating your chart and then clicking on Display, Table for Primary Directions.  Typically, these planets will be the Moon, Pluto, and Chiron.  Be aware of this if you try to relocate your chart to coincide with one of these planet's astro map lines.

For the fastest way to see your relocated chart at a point along an astro map line, see the task manual section See Astro-Map Lines for a Chart.


Options   Find Compatible Charts

The routine to find compatible charts was developed to enable an astrological dating service to quickly search a database of charts for compatible matches.  If all you want to do is to compare two charts for compatibility through synastry, it is better to display the first chart and then use the File menu option Compare this Chart to Another on the Chart Information Screen.  After the double chart wheel is displayed, select Display   Synastry.  It is really only by doing this that you acquire the experience with the communication index levels that will enable you to decide what you want to set at this screen as your minimum required levels.  Chart matches that fail to exceed your specified minimum communication levels will not display.

The Compatibility Index (Harmonious/Inharmonious ratio) can be illustrated with an example.  A Harmonious Communication Index of 3000 and an Inharmonious Communication Index of -1500 give a Compatibility Index of 2.0 because 2.0 is the ratio of 3000 to 1500.  If you choose to enter 2.0 as your minimum Compatibility Index, then chart matches that fall below this ratio will not display.  As the ratio falls, approaching 1 or less, the more frustrating the relationship is likely to be.

A word of advice to astrological dating services - use synastry to decide whether to connect people who have common interests, are at similar spiritual levels, and enjoy geographical proximity.

The Find Compatible Charts routine prints the communication indexes together with the three strongest mutual aspects for each match that it finds either to a file, the printer, or the screen, as the user selects.

The program ignores mutual aspects involving the Ascendant, Midheaven, Part of Fortune, Vertex or East Point of a chart where Unknown was clicked in the birth time on the Natal Information Screen.

If you have customized the program to include the moon's nodes, chart comparison will only look at the moon's north node.

The names of all of the charts in the currently loaded charts file will appear in the box labeled Choose charts to compare.  Select which charts to include by clicking on them with the mouse.  If you wish to select all the charts click on Select All.  If you wish to erase your choices and start over again, clicking on Clear Selections will remove the highlights from your selections and allow you to begin the process of choosing charts once again.

In the box labeled Compare Selections: you may determine how the charts are compared.  If you have selected fewer than the total number of charts in the file, selecting Among themselves will compare the selected charts only with each other.  Clicking on Against entire file will compare the chosen charts with all the other charts in the file.

The next four boxes allow you to narrow the search further.  Checking Only compare males to females restricts the search so that only charts of opposite sex are compared with each other.

The two boxes labeled Males and Females allow you to specify charts within a specific range of birth years.  Making no entry causes the program not to consider birth years as one of the search criteria.

The box labeled Minimum Indexes allows you to only display matches which meet or exceed the minimums you enter.

The last box labeled Send results to: lets you specify whether the results should be sent to the screen, the printer or written to a text file.  Sending the results of a large search to the screen can cause the program to run out of memory.  If this happens, you can 1) send your search to file or printer; 2) make your minimum criteria higher and more demanding; or 3) search on fewer people at a time.  If you intend to print the results, you will get better formatting if you send the results directly to the printer.  You will also avoid running out of memory if you turn off the Windows print spooler and send your results directly to the printer [this is at Start, Settings, Printers, right-click on your default Printer, select Properties, Details, Spool Settings].

You may not want the birth dates of qualifying matches to print on the results.  In this case, click to uncheck the box Show birth dates.

If you wish to return to the Natal Information Screen without performing the chart match click on Cancel.

Once you are satisfied with your entries click on OK.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will create a report listing all the compatible charts based on your criteria along with their communication indexes.


Options   Research Charts

This Option searches whatever charts file is the currently loaded charts file.  You make your selections from one of the tabbed search selection forms, and then from the Search menu select Begin Search, or else click on the magnifying glass icon.

The user can find charts that meet multiple criteria by performing multiple searches on the charts in the listbox.

If a secondary search does not yield the desired result, select Undo Last Search or click on the backward arrow icon to return the charts of the previous search to the listbox.

To display one of the charts found in the search, double-click on the name of the chart in the results listbox, or select it and press Enter.  When you are finished viewing the chart at the Chart Information Screen, select File, Return to Search Screen.

To start a brand new search, select Refill Chart List or else click on the faucet icon.

To print a subject data list of all your search results, select Print Search Results or else click on the printer icon.

To close the Research Charts screen, select File, Close, or use the Windows control box to close the screen.

More:

Search By House

Search By Sign

Search By Longitude

Search By Sign on House

Search By Intercepted Planet

Search By Intercepted Sign

Search By Linked House

Search By Planet on Cusp

Search to Exclude or Include Derived Charts

Search By Aspect

Search By Birthday

Search By Remarks

Search By Retrograde Planet

Search By Strongest Harmonic

Search By Void-Of-Course Moon

Search By Ruler in Aspect

Search By Ruler in House

Search By Midpoint in Aspect

Save Search Results to Named Charts Files

Create Control Group File


Search By House

Search for charts that have a particular planet in a particular house by selecting the planet at listbox one and the house at listbox two.

The Advance Orb will be zero by default - enter a degree amount here if you want to count planets in the previous house but close to the cusp.

Only uncheck the box 'Do not include charts with Unknown Birth Times' if you want solar chart houses to be included.

You can use this screen in a tricky way to list the names of just those charts that have exact birth times (i.e., exclude Unknown Birth Time charts).  Making sure that the box 'Do not include charts with Unknown Birth Times' is checked, perform a search for Ascendant in the 1st House.  The result will be all those charts for which you have entered a time of birth.


Search By Sign

Search for charts that have a particular planet in a particular sign by selecting the planet at listbox one and the sign at listbox two.  To perform a search for a time-sensitive point in a sign, such as the Ascendant, which excludes Unknown Birth Time charts, initialize the charts listbox by first performing the search described above for Ascendant in the 1st House.  (If you search the Famous Charts file to find the Ascendant in the signs, rising signs around Libra will be overrepresented and around Aries will be underrepresented - create and search control group files for different times to remove this northern hemisphere trend from your results.)  The Search by Sign option now includes the ability to narrow a search for a planet in a sign to just the First, Second, or Third Decan of that sign.


Search By Longitude

Search for charts that have a particular planet in a particular longitude window by selecting the planet at listbox one and the starting and ending degrees at listboxes two and three.  Specify the degrees in 360-degree format, in which, for example, 0 degrees Scorpio equals 210 degrees.


Search By Sign on House

You can now find charts that have a particular sign on your desired house cusp.


Search By Intercepted Planet

You can look for charts that have a particular planet intercepted in a particular house.  A planet is intercepted if it is in a sign that falls between house cusps, without being on either adjacent cusp.  This can happen only in unequal house systems, not in the Equal House system.


Search By Intercepted Sign

You can look for charts that have a particular sign intercepted in a particular house.  A sign is intercepted if it falls between house cusps, without being on either adjacent cusp.  This can happen only in unequal house systems, not in the Equal House system.


Search By Linked House

You can search for charts in which two adjacent houses are linked by having the same sign on their cusps.  Read Marion March and Joan McEvers, The Only Way to Learn Astrology, Volume II, Math & Interpretation Techniques, pp. 108-110, for a brief delineation of each combination of linked houses.


Search By Planet on Cusp

You can search for a planet that is on the cusp between two adjacent signs, and adjust the degree window that qualifies the planet as being on the cusp.  If instead you want to find charts with a planet on a house cusp, use Search By Aspect on the Search Two tab which lets you specify a conjunction to a house cusp.


Search to Exclude or Include Derived Charts

On the Search One tab, you can now reduce the list of searchable charts to Exclude charts that are selected types of Derived Charts, or you can eliminate normal radix charts in order to Include just your selected types of derived charts.  The search form gives you checkboxes for each type of saved derived chart: Return, Secondary Progressions, Minor Progressions, Tertiary Progressions, Special Progressions, DR-70 Minor Progressions, Composite, Combined, Solar Arc Directed, Novien, Solar Parts, Lunar Parts, Heliocentric Planetary Nodes, Geocentric Planetary Nodes, and Declination-Longitude Equivalents.  There are command buttons to Select All or Unselect All.


Search By Aspect

Search for charts that have two planets in a particular aspect or angle by selecting the planets at listboxes one and three.  Select an aspect from listbox two or highlight its text and replace it with the numerical amount of an angle in degrees.  For example, to search for planets in a mutual angle of 100 degrees, highlight the text of listbox two by tabbing into it or by dragging across the existing text with the mouse, then replace the highlighted text by typing 100.

Check the box 'Use Default Orb' to find aspects within the orb set at Customization, Aspect Orbs, for this natal aspect.  Or highlight and replace the degrees shown in the Orb text box.

Check the box 'Skip time-sensitive points for unknown birth times' to have the program skip aspects involving the Ascendant, Midheaven, Part of Fortune, Vertex, and East Point of an unknown birth time chart.


Search By Birthday

When using the Birthday Search, using < and > signs in front of the year will select all years before or after the indicated year.  The ? symbol is a wildcard character which can replace any digit of the year.  Users can precede the year with a minus sign for dates before the astronomical year zero.  The years can be up to 32000 in either direction.


Search By Remarks

Search By Remarks lets you search for items in the Remarks field, the More Chart Data, Notes field, and/or the More Chart Data, Memo field.  In this search, the Logical OR symbol, ||, can be placed between multiple terms in order to find records that meet any of the specified criteria, such as actor||actress or singer||songwriter||soprano.  Also, you do not have to search on complete words, e.g., to find both comedians and comediennes, search on 'comed'.  To exclude charts having a particular remark, precede the term with the Logical NOT symbol, !, for example, !actor.  The program does not provide a Logical AND symbol because performing multiple, cumulative searches accomplishes the same result.  Searching on the Notes field lets working astrologers find charts for which they have recorded particular notes. Searching on the Memo field lets you search not just on your own entries in this field for charts that you have saved, but it also lets you search on the valuable biographical and classification items that are imported into the Memo field if you have Lois Rodden's AstroDataBank and export and import records from it.  This screen can also be used to find charts with a particular gender, such as male, female, or neutral.  If the Search text: field is left blank, then the search will return all charts of a particular gender.


Search By Retrograde Planet

You can search for charts in which the planet that you specify was in apparent retrograde motion.


Search By Strongest Harmonic

You can run a search that will find all the charts in your collection that are dominated by a particular wave harmonic.  You can specify that the harmonic must be the strongest harmonic in the chart compared just to harmonics up to the 9th harmonic, the 32nd harmonic, or up to the 180th harmonic.

You can also specify that you only want to compare within the same odd or even set of harmonics as the harmonic that you have entered.

If the search is taking too long, and you want to abort the search and see just results found so far, press the Escape key (Esc) that is found at the upper left of your computer keyboard.

Perform a much faster search by clicking the radio button to specify that results must fall below a particular level of significance, such as a random spread of .95.  If you select this option, the program just needs to calculate the distribution for the specified harmonic for each chart and compare it to the required minimum, instead of calculating and comparing the significance of all of the chart's harmonic distributions.

It makes sense to only compare to harmonics up to the 9th or 32nd harmonic because those are divisions of the circle by smaller whole numbers, which should be more meaningful, and also because the time-consuming calculation process that the search must perform will finish sooner.


Search By Void-Of-Course Moon

You can now find all the charts in your collection that either do or do not have the Moon void-of-course.  Because of the Moon's speed, the search option screen lets you exclude charts with unknown birthtimes.


Search By Ruler in Aspect

Search for charts that have the ruler of a house in a particular aspect or angle to another natal planet by selecting the planets at listboxes one and three.  Select an aspect from listbox two or highlight its text and replace it with the numerical amount of an angle in degrees.

Check the box 'Use Default Orb' to find aspects within the orb set at Customization, Aspect Orbs, for this natal aspect.  Or highlight and replace the degrees shown in the Orb text box.

Check the box 'Skip time-sensitive points for unknown birth times' to have the program skip aspects involving the Ascendant, Midheaven, Part of Fortune, Vertex, and East Point of an unknown birth time chart.

Select Modern or Traditional ruling planets with the Ruler Type radio buttons.  This will use the rulerships defined at Customization, Ruling Planets.


Search By Ruler in House

Search for charts that have the ruler of a particular house in another house by selecting the house ruler at listbox one and the placement house at listbox two.

The Advance Orb will be zero by default - enter a degree amount here if you want to count planets in the previous house but close to the cusp.

Only uncheck the box 'Do not include charts with Unknown Birth Times' if you want solar chart houses to be included.

Select Modern or Traditional ruling planets with the Ruler Type radio buttons.  This will use the rulerships defined at Customization, Ruling Planets.


Search By Midpoint in Aspect

Search for charts that have the midpoint of two planets in a particular aspect or angle to another planet by selecting the planets for the midpoint at listboxes one and two and the aspected planet at listbox four.  Select an aspect from listbox three or highlight its text and replace it with the numerical amount of an angle in degrees.

Specify your desired aspect orb by highlighting and replacing the degrees shown in the Orb text box.

Check the box 'Skip time-sensitive points for unknown birth times' to have the program skip aspects involving the Ascendant, Midheaven, Part of Fortune, Vertex, and East Point of an unknown birth time chart.

Select Near Midpoint or Far Midpoint with the Midpoint Type radio buttons.  The Near Midpoint is the half of the mutual arc distance that is less than 180 degrees and the Far Midpoint is the half of the mutual arc distance that is greater than 180 degrees.


Save Search Results to Named Charts Files

You can now save the charts that are left in the Research Charts listbox after one or more searches.  You save to a charts file whose name you can specify.  This function is on the Research Charts form File menu.  By default, the file name that comes up will have the form "srch1.cht", where each time you accept this name and save a set of charts, the number after "srch" will increment by one.  However, the File Dialog box does allow you to change the name to be a long filename that describes the file contents.


Create Control Group File

This option lets you solve a major problem when doing astrological research - namely, figuring out if your results are due to astrological factors or are due to astronomical or demographic factors.  This screen allows you to create files that have an equal number of charts as your research sample, but with all the charts calculated for times which are no longer astrologically significant.  If you choose the amount of the difference between the files' charts intelligently, create multiple control files, or select the appropriate random operation, then you will produce a file of normal charts which should not show any astrological effect.

The program will create the control file from the charts that are in the Search Found Results listbox.  If you have searched on Remarks for actor||actress, then your control file will be based on just the charts of actors and actresses.  This allows you to search a database subset for your astrological factor(s) of interest and then compare your results to the results obtained from a similar search performed on the control file.

If you accept the default Operation and Time Unit Type, then your control file will consist of charts which are for the same places and times of day but which are all 160 days after the original charts.  If you select Randomize Time, the charts will be for the same dates and places but for randomly selected times from 0 to 24 hours.  If you select Randomize Day, the charts will be for the same years, times and places, but for randomly selected dates from January 1 through December 31.  Click on OK to go to a Windows File Dialog screen where you can enter a descriptive name for your control file.  The default file names are not descriptive - they consist of ctrl followed by a sequential number, incremented by one for each new control file.

As a research example, in the file of famous charts we find 191 charts with sun trine Jupiter and 217 charts with sun square Jupiter.  Yet, in a control file with an equal number of charts, but for dates that did not produce famous people, we find only 156 charts with sun trine Jupiter and only 186 with sun square Jupiter.  Similar results, but opposite in effect, are achieved for sun in trine or square to Saturn.  Saturn produces dramatically fewer famous people.  The explanation for why a collection of famous or celebrity charts should show this kind of astrological signature comes from the May/June 95 issue of Psychology Today, who quote Annie Coe, a Los Angeles therapist who specializes in celebrities.  "They tend to be iconoclasts, people who need to live the gypsy life.  They love challenges, stimulation, verbal expression.  They're usually social and gregarious, and have great charm and wit."  These extroverted qualities are usually associated with Jupiter, while Saturn produces more introverted, reflective personalities.

It is not even necessary to create a control file to achieve significant results.  Search the famous charts file for house ruler in square to Jupiter.  For an orb of two degrees, this aspect is found 42 times for the First House Ruler in square to Jupiter.  But for the other house rulers, the aspect is found over a lower range from 33 for the Second House to 28 for the Sixth House.  There is no astronomical reason why the First House Ruler in square to Jupiter should produce many more famous people, since the likelihood that a planet would rule the first house is no greater than the likelihood that a planet would rule the other houses.  Astrologers, however, have always considered the ruler of the First House or Ascendant to be more important, calling it the chart ruler.  There is a lot of research that can easily be done.


Options   Ephemeris Generator

From the last choice on the Options menu, you can generate an ephemeris list of planet positions either to the screen or to a file suitable for import into a database program.

You have complete control over the date range of the ephemeris and over the time interval between listings.  You can select which planets, major asteroids, node and apogee positions shall be in the ephemeris.

You can have the planet positions calculated for the time of day that you set in the Starting Time field for any time zone that you select in the Effective Time Zone listbox.  If you set the Interval Time Unit Type to a type less than Days, such as Hours, Minutes, or Seconds, then a time column will be added to the ephemeris next to the date column and its heading will be the Zone Abbreviation for the Time Zone that you selected.  If you want an ephemeris calculated for 12 noon EST on every day and you want there to be a time column reflecting that, just set the Starting Time to 12 hours, the Effective Time Zone to Eastern Standard Time, and the Interval Time Unit Type to Hours and 24.

Refer to Calculation Accuracy to read about the accuracy of the ephemeris calculations.

Depending on if you select Screen or File, you will see either an Output Format frame or a Delimiter Character frame.  The program can generate an ephemeris to the screen either in 360-degree decimal format or in zodiac sign format.  If you choose the 360 output format, the data in the ephemeris columns will all be numerical.  Select this output format either to see the full precision to which the program calculates or to be able to copy the data to the Windows clipboard for pasting into the cells of a spreadsheet program.  If you choose the Zodiac output format, the columns will be formatted into dates, and times, with the planet positions in degrees, signs, and minutes and the letters R and D will indicate the date or time when planets turn retrograde and direct.

If you have bought the $49 Halloran TrueType Font, and have mapped it or another astrological font at Customization, Map Astrological Fonts, and you have Use Astrological Font turned on, then the Zodiac format ephemeris will insert the single character planet and sign glyphs, similar to a normal printed ephemeris.

Speaking of printing, depending on how many planets and columns you calculate, after you click on File and Print, you may want to click on Options for your Windows printer in order to switch from Portrait to Landscape mode.  Just click on the Okay button, not the Apply button, or you will find your other Windows applications also printing in Landscape.  The printed columns can also be helped to fit on the page by selecting a smaller font size at Customization, Body Text Font.

When generating an ephemeris to a file, the default is to do a comma-delimited file, but you can choose your choice of delimiter.  If you live in a region of the world that uses the Comma as the decimal symbol [controlled in Windows at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Regional Settings, Number], then you will have to use the Tab or another character to separate the items of each date's listing.

In order to import the resulting text file into Microsoft Access, from the Access File menu, open a New database and then Import a Text (Delimited) file where you select the file generated by AstrolDeluxe and click on the Import button.  When Access gives you Import Text Options, check the box First Row Contains Field Names and pick Create New Table.  The comma-delimited text file format is also the default for Microsoft Access.  If you used AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter to create a tab-delimited file, then at Access' Import Text Options, click on the Options button and for Field Separator select {tab}.


Customizing AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

The Customization menu allows you to choose the house system, zodiac, planets to include, the planets that rule the signs, the size of aspect orbs, and the formulas for your preferred Arabic Parts.

In addition, this menu allows you to customize the output of the program.  The center image placed on each natal chart may be chosen.  You may specify your preferred fonts for the printed reports, and colors for the planets, signs, aspect lines, chart circle and background of the graphic wheels, whether the program prints in color, the boldness of the glyphs, and the assignment and use of True Type astrological symbols in the program's text tables.

You can enter and update your present location, enter text to print in a courtesy block or footer line, select the initial display screen, change the order of charts in the list box, toggle on and off Auto-Capitalization, and turn on or off the More Chart Data command button.

More:

Customization  House System

Customization  Zodiac

Customization  Planets

Customization  Ruling Planets

Customization  Aspect Orbs

Customization  Arabic Parts

Customization  Asteroids

Customization  Printer Fonts

Customizing the Chart Center Graphic Image

Customization  Screen Chart Colors

Customization  Bold Glyphs

Customization  User Information

Customization  Print Courtesy

Customization  Initial Chart Display

Customization  Map Astrological Fonts

Customization  Use Astrological Font

Customization  Miscellaneous Preferences

Customization  Sort Charts in Alphabetical Order

Customization  Auto Capitalization

Customization  Enable More Chart Data


Customization  House System

There are eleven different house systems offered in AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.

Click on the system that you wish to use and then click on Save & Exit to save your choice and return to the Natal Information Screen.  If you wish to exit without saving any changes click on Cancel.

To help you decide which system you wish to use, we have included a brief description of each of the eleven systems.  It is not essential to understand the derivation of the house systems in order to use this program.  The user who wishes to delve deeper into the reasons and methods of the various systems should consult the books by R.W. Holden, J.H. Holden, or J. & P. Filbey.  Publishing information is in the bibliography.

More:

Placidus

Koch

Equal House Western

Equal House Eastern

Campanus

Porphyry

Topocentric

Monthly Houses

Alcabitius

Aries Houses

Regiomontanus

User Cusp Houses


Placidus

This is the default system on AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  It was first described by 12th century astronomer Abraham ibn Ezra in three of his books.  In 1604, the Italian mathematician Giovanni Magini published the first table of houses based on this system.  Soon thereafter, an Italian monk and mathematician named Placidus de Titis [1606-1668] helped to popularize this house system because it was consistent with the system of primary directions recommended by Claudius Ptolemy.  In the English speaking world, Raphael's Ephemeris and Raphael's Table of Houses made the system popular.  A time based system, it is derived by taking the time for any degree to move from the ascendant to the midheaven.  This time is divided into three equal parts to determine the cusps of the twelfth and eleventh houses.  A similar method using the lower meridian (I.C.) and the ascendant is used to determine the cusps of the second and third houses.  This house system is not valid for latitudes more than 66º north or south of the equator.


Koch

A house system created by the study group of Friedrich Zanzinger [1913-1967], Heinz Specht [b. 1925] and Walter Koch [1895-1970] and published in the early 1960s.  Uses the arc of oblique ascension from the horizon to the Ecliptic.  The house cusps of the first quadrant are created by dividing the diurnal circle of the lower meridian into thirds.  The house cusps of the fourth quadrant are created by dividing the diurnal circle of the upper meridian into thirds.  This system is not valid for latitudes greater than 66º north or south of the equator.


Equal House Western

This is an ecliptic system described by the classical authors Firmicus Maternus [2:19] and Claudius Ptolemy.  The ascendant is determined and then 30º is added for each of the house cusps.  This system works in Arctic latitudes.


Equal House Eastern

The Equal House System - Eastern Style assigns each house one zodiacal sign starting from the Ascendant or rising sign.  Planets fall within a house if they fall within its zodiacal sign.  Also called whole sign houses, astrologers in India use this most ancient system.


Campanus

Devised by Johannes Campanus, a thirteenth century mathematician.  In this space-based system, a great circle passing through the zenith (the highest point directly above the location) and at right angles to the meridian (which great circle is called the prime vertical) is divided into twelve equal parts by six intersecting great circles which intersect each other at the north and south points of the horizon.  It has an advantage over the Porphyry and Alcabitius systems for published tables in that the great circles defining the house cusps are fixed for particular latitudes.  This system works in Arctic latitudes, though not very well.


Porphyry

A modification of the Equal House Western system, named after a Greek philosopher Porphyry who wrote an introduction to Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos ca. 295 A.D, but the system was written about as early as 150-175 A.D. by Vettius Valens, it divides each of the arcs of the ecliptic between the meridian and the horizon into three equal parts.  The houses are equal when the right ascension of the Midheaven is either six or eighteen hours.  Otherwise only the houses of opposite quadrants are equal to one another.  This system works in Arctic latitudes.


Topocentric

Two astrologers in Buenos Aires, Wendel Polich and A.P. Nelson Page, published this system in 1961.  It gives results which are similar to the Placidus system, diverging from that system only for latitudes greater than about 56 degrees.  The poles of the houses are related directly to the geographic latitude of birth, rather than to a series of time planes associated with the ascendant.  This system is not valid for latitudes greater than 66º north or south of the equator.


Monthly Houses

This system is taught by Dr. Louis Turi, an astrologer from Provence, France, who is trying to revive the astrology practiced by Nostradamus, which he calls Divine Astrology.  In this system, the houses are assigned based on the month of birth, so that if born in April, the month of Aries, the first house is the house of Aries.  If born in January, the month of Capricorn, the first house is the house of Capricorn.  Dr. Turi points out that Nostradamus achieved good results without depending on the precise calculations that are available today.  Divine Astrology combines the monthly house system with a unique emphasis on the moon's nodes (the Dragon's Head and Dragon's Tail).


Alcabitius

This system is known to us from the Arabic astrologer Alcabitius (Al-Qabisi), who flourished ca. 960 A.D.  He wrote an introduction to astrology that was translated into Latin.  However, the few surviving 1st century A.D. Greek horoscopes are in this system, which was so popular in medieval times that it became known as the standard method.  A time-based system, cusps 11 and 12 are derived by trisecting the time needed for the ascendant degree to rise to the midheaven.  Similarly, cusps 2 and 3 are derived by trisecting the time needed for the I.C. degree to rise to the ascendant.  This system has been undeservedly neglected by modern astrologers, perhaps because the published tables are wrong (i.e., Dona Marie Lorenz).  This system works very well in Arctic latitudes.  Version 2 of AstrolDeluxe for Windows added correct calculation of extreme latitude circumpolar charts.  I am indebted to the generosity of Swedish astrologer Per Dahlin, who prefers this house system, for information on how to calculate charts for times and locations where the ecliptic points that are culminating and ascending are reversed from the normal ecliptic sign order.


Aries Houses

The Aries house system always puts zero degrees Aries on the ascendant and puts the remaining signs on the remaining houses.  Use this house system together with a  90 degree modulus chart in order to get the 90 degree dial of Cosmobiology.  Some astrologers learned the Aries house system from their teachers.  Other astrologers just want to be able to print a zero Aries chart that they can fill in.  For these latter, this can be accomplished by going to Customization, Chart Colors, making all the planets the color white, the chart circle black, and selecting the check box to Print in Color.


Regiomontanus

This is a space-based system, like the Campanus system, which comes from Johannes Müller, a fifteenth century Viennese professor of astronomy who used the pseudonym Regiomontanus.  In this system, the celestial equator is divided into twelve equal parts by six intersecting great circles which intersect each other at the north and south poles of the horizon.  The celestial equator used by Regiomontanus has at least a theoretical advantage over the prime vertical used by Campanus in that it is a plane of rotation.  This house system lent itself to an elaborate set of tables published in 1490, the popularity of which caused it to replace the Alcabitius and Campanus systems throughout Renaissance Europe.  This system works in Arctic latitudes, though not very well.


User Cusp Houses

The User Cusp house system is a user-defined house system which puts whatever decimal degree you specify on the ascendant and uses equal houses for the remaining houses.  This is similar to the Aries house system, except that instead of starting at 0 degrees, the houses can start at any degree.  There is a text box in which you can enter any number from 0 to 360.  A customer requested this house system, saying that "it would help immensely in doing research."


Customization  Zodiac

This selection allows you to switch from constructing charts using the default tropical zodiac to using either the sidereal zodiac or the draconic zodiac.  If you are not familiar with the sidereal zodiac, your charts will be about 25 degrees different from what you expect, so do not select it.  The tropical and sidereal zodiacs move relative to each other at the rate of 1.4 degrees per century.  You can look at the sidereal zodiac as moving relative to the seasonal equinoxes and solstices, or you can look at the tropical zodiac as moving relative to the stars and constellations.  The third choice, the draconic zodiac, rapidly moves relative to the other zodiacs since it is based on the nineteen-year cycle of the moon's nodes.

Click on either Tropical Zodiac, Sidereal Zodiac, or Draconic Zodiac to select.  If you select Sidereal Zodiac, you must enter a delta factor.

If you accept the default delta factor of 0, the program will calculate charts using the zodiac preferred by Western siderealists. The starting point of this zodiac is based on work by Cyril Fagan and Garth Allen (also known as Donald Bradley).  The starting point of the official Indian government sidereal zodiac, the Lahiri zodiac, is 0 degrees, 53 minutes west of the Western sidereal zodiac.  There are several other sidereal zodiacs in use in India.  Customers from India should start by entering a delta factor of 0 and then use AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter to recalculate a horoscope known to them that was done in the zodiac that they use.  The difference in degrees and minutes between the planet placements in the two charts then becomes the Delta Factor that you enter. This difference between the zero points of the two sidereal zodiacs will remain constant over time.

To save your choices click on Save & Exit.  If you do not wish to save your choices click on Cancel.  In any case you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.

The following is a brief description of the three zodiacs.

More:

Tropical Zodiac

Sidereal Zodiac

Draconic Zodiac


Tropical Zodiac

The Tropical Zodiac is the default zodiac in AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  This system uses the positions of the Sun at the beginning of each of the four seasons to quarter the zodiac.  The beginning point is the position of the Sun at the vernal equinox or first day of spring (0º Aries).  The vernal equinox is the ascending node where the plane of the celestial equator intersects the plane of the earth's ecliptic.  The term 'equinox' literally means when the day and night are of equal length, which happens once in the spring and once in the autumn.


Sidereal Zodiac

The constellations define the Sidereal Zodiac.  In the year 221 A.D., the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs coincided.  Currently, they differ by about 25º.  The Sidereal Zodiac feature of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter takes into account and corrects for this precession of the equinoxes.  According to the Sidereal Zodiac, the first day of spring occurs when the Sun is around four to six degrees of the constellation of Pisces.  The Sidereal and Tropical zodiacs coincide about every 26,000 years.


Draconic Zodiac

The Draconic Zodiac uses the ascending intersection of the moon's orbital plane with the plane of the ecliptic, i.e., the moon's north node, for its 0 Aries point.  The Draconic zodiac will use either the moon's mean node or its true node, depending on what you have selected at Customization, Planets.  You can run the transits and progression lists in the Draconic zodiac.  When you are using the moon's true nodes, which can change from retrograde to direct motion, the positions of the transiting planets in the Draconic Zodiac will fluctuate quite a bit - so with this option you should expect multiple hits for the transiting aspects.  You will get a less confusing True Node Draconic Zodiac transits list if you unselect all of the planets in the Use Orb Planets list box.

Because the Draconic Zodiac has a sun-moon base, it is said to integrate the yang-yin principles, unlike the Tropical zodiac which is based just on the earth-sun.  It balances the outer and inner selves, unlike the tropical zodiac in which the earthly projective sun self dominates.  Jacob Schwartz is an astrologer who uses and has written about the Draconic Zodiac.  A 1987 book Draconic Astrology by Pamela Crane claims that Edgar Cayce's astrology readings are done in the Draconic Zodiac.


Customization  Planets

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter enables you to specify which planets, in addition to the standard major planets, to include in the chart and chart comparisons.  The program's default is to include the Ascendant and Midheaven and to exclude the Moon's Nodes, Part of Fortune, Chiron, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Vertex, East Point, and Black Moon Lilith.  The Part of Fortune is the Arabic Part for the Moon.  Chiron is a minor planet or large comet between Saturn and Uranus.  Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta are the four largest asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.  These last five bodies can also be included in the regular Table of Asteroids which is where the program will display the minor asteroids.  The Vertex and the East Point are mathematically derived points where the Prime Vertical intersects the Ecliptic and the eastern horizon respectively.  Depending on the 6th or 7th house placement of the Vertex, it is associated with work productivity matters or with encounters with individuals who are described by the planet contacting the Vertex.  The East Point is also called the Equatorial Ascendant because if you calculate for a latitude of 0, this is the Ascendant that you get.  It is associated with meetings out in public or the way that one is known for conducting oneself in public.  The Black Moon Lilith is the apogee point of the moon's orbit.  The theory that I have seen about this Lilith point is that it represents an emotional reaction against accepting normal womanhood.  These optional points and bodies are not used by the majority of astrologers.  For information regarding their use, please consult a specialized book.

Click on the check box in the D (for Display) column for each planet you wish to appear on your charts.  Click on the check box in the I (for Include) column for each planet you wish to have included in comparisons such as lists of aspects and midpoints.  Clicking again on the check box will deselect that planet.  Be aware that increasing the number of selected planets in the I column will increase the communication index values that you get when evaluating aspects and synastry between charts.

Next to the Moon's Nodes choice are two option buttons labeled Mean and True.  If you have selected the Moon's Nodes to be included, click on the appropriate button to indicate whether the program should calculate the Moon's True Nodes, or the Moon's Mean Nodes.  These buttons will be disabled if the Moon's Nodes box is not checked.

Next to the Part of Fortune choice is a checkbox Reverse for Night Birth.  Check this box to indicate if you want the Part of Fortune for night births calculated differently than for day births.  This checkbox will be disabled if the Part of Fortune box is not checked.

Next to the Black Moon Lilith choice are two option buttons labeled Mean and True.  If you have selected the Black Moon Lilith to be included, click on the appropriate button to indicate whether the program should calculate the oscillating or true lunar apogee, or the mean lunar apogee.  These buttons will be disabled if the Black Moon Lilith box is not checked.

Click on Save & Exit to save your choices or click on Cancel to exit without saving.

More:

Set Points for Elements and Modalities

Moon's Nodes:  Mean vs. True

Part of Fortune:  Day vs. Night


Set Points for Elements and Modalities

For more information on the screen at Set Points for Elements and Modalities, see the description of DoBalanceSignElements at Natal Report Order Commands.


Moon's Nodes:  Mean vs. True

The intersection points where the orbital plane of the Moon crosses the plane of the ecliptic are the Moon's Nodes.  These points move along the ecliptic in a retrograde motion at a rate of approximately 19° per year.  Due to orbital perturbations, the position of the nodes does not move at a smooth, regular rate.  The Mean Nodes are an average approximation of the position of the nodes.  The Mean Nodes are the nodes which astrologers have used for hundreds of years.  In the 1970's some astrologers began using the instantaneous nodes for the moon's osculating orbital ellipse, which they called the True Nodes.  These osculating positions take into account the Sun's gravitational pull on the Moon.  It is rather misleading to call these instantaneous osculating positions the True Node because for much of the time the Mean Node is actually a better predictor of where the Moon will cross the ecliptic.  The difference between the Mean and True Nodes is always within two degrees.  Only the True Node can go direct. Only when you select the True Nodes are the R or D flags appended to the node's positions.  I have read that if the True Node changes direction according to day-for-a-year secondary progression during the course of someone's life, that their life will then become more easy or more difficult.


Part of Fortune:  Day vs. Night

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter makes it possible to reverse the formula for calculating the Arabic Part of Fortune for night births.  When the box Reverse for Night Birth is checked, the program will measure as usual from the sun to the moon for a day birth, but for a night birth it will measure from the moon to the sun.  It then adds the resulting distance to the longitude of the Ascendant to get the Part of Fortune.  I recommend using the different formula for night births.  Robert Granite's book contains good delineations of the house and sign placements of the Part of Fortune.  For more information, see Customization, Arabic Parts.

When Reverse for Night Birth is selected, the information block on the right side of the chart will change to tell you if the chart is a Day Chart or a Night Chart.


Customization  Ruling Planets

Astrologers generally believe that the twelve zodiacal signs are each ruled by one of the planets or luminaries.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter uses the sign rulerships shown at this screen for calculations such as the Chart Ruler in the Chart Analysis report, the sign rulers for certain Arabic Part formulas, searches on house rulers performed at Options, Research Charts, and all of the house ruler and dispositor delineations that you can select for a natal interpretation report, such as are included in the Intermediate template that comes with the program.  The program allows you to select and change planets for both Modern and Traditional ruling planet schemes.  The default Traditional ruling planets scheme does not use planets discovered after Saturn.

Select whether you want to display or change Modern or Traditional rulers.  Then tab to the Ruling Planet that you want to change and enter its three-letter abbreviation.  If you select the checkbox, Use Traditional, then at the screens that do not give you a choice, such as the Chart Analysis Chart Ruler, the ruling planet will now be drawn from the Traditional set of Ruling Planets.  When you are finished making changes, save your changes by selecting Save Rulers.  To return to the assignments that come with the program, select Return to Default.  To leave this screen, select Close.


Customization  Aspect Orbs

Each of the twenty-four aspects has a setting for an orb of lights and an orb of planets.  The orb of lights is used when the aspect involves either the Sun, Moon or Ascendant.  The orb of planets is used when the aspect involves planets other than the Sun, Moon or Ascendant.

The following is a table of the default values used for the orbs of  aspects in the natal chart.

Name	Aspect  degrees	Degrees of  Orb of Lights	Degrees of  Orb of Planets
Conjunction (CON)	0	7	6
Opposition (OPP)	180	7	6
Trine (TRI)	120	7	6
Square (SQR)	90	7	6
Sextile (SXT)	60	5	4
Semisquare (SSQ)	45	2	2
Sesquiquadrate (SES)	135	2	2
Inconjunct (INC)	150	2	2
Quintile (QTL)	72	2	2
Biquintile (BQT)	144	2	2
Semisextile (SSX)	30	2	2
Septile (SPT)	51.429	0	0
Biseptile (BSP)	102.857	0	0
Triseptile (TSP)	154.286	0	0
Novile (NOV)	40	0	0
Binovile (BNV)	80	0	0
Quatrinovile (QNV)	160	0	0
Vigintile (VGT)	18	0	0
Semi-Octile (SOK)	22.5	0	0
Decile (DCL)	36	0	0
Tredecile (TDC)	108	0	0
Quindecile (QDC)	165 (customizable)	0	0
Parallel of Declination	equal latitude on same side of Equator	1.2	1.2
Contraparallel of Declination	equal latitude on opposite sides of Equator	1.2	1.2
You may customize the aspect orb widths that the program uses for eight categories of aspects:

1.	Natal, event, or composite chart aspects;

2.	transiting aspects between a natal chart and a "Current Transits" chart—which is available under Display Synastry when you have a "Current Transits" biwheel on the screen, as well as the transits list which is the first choice on the Options menu - in the case of the list, the aspect will be used if the orb here is set to more than zero, but the orb will only be used to determine Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates/times if the planet is selected in the Use Orb Planets list box at that screen;

3.	progressed aspects either when you progress a chart to a particular date and compare the resulting chart to the natal chart or when you run the progressions list, both of which are choices at the Options menu - in the case of the list, the aspect will be used if you set its orb here to more than zero, but the orb will only be used to find Enter Orb and Leave Orb dates if the progressed planet is selected in the Use Orb Planets list box;

4.	synastry aspects between two charts for the purpose of relationship compatibility;

5.	return chart aspects, either between the planets of the return chart or relative to the planets of the original natal chart;

6.	midpoint to planet aspects, or sensitive point to planet aspects, either within a single chart or when comparing two charts - the default is to assign one degree orbs to the 0, 180, 90, 45, 135, and 22.5 angle aspects;

7.	Arabic part to planet aspects, either within a single chart or when comparing two charts; and

8.	asteroid to planet aspects, either within a single chart or when comparing two charts.

Click on the radio buttons for Natal, Transits, Progressions, Synastry, Returns, MidPoints, Arabic Parts, and Asteroids to see the orb widths for the different categories.

You may enter whatever size orb you wish in each of the white text boxes in the table.  Obviously, the larger the orb, the less rare will be the aspect.  If, after changing the orbs, you wish to return to the default values, click on Return to Default.

If you increase the width of the synastry aspect orbs, be aware that all of the communication indexes will increase.  If you increase the width of the natal aspect orbs, it increases the value of the Internal Communication Index.

To save your entries and return to the Natal Information Screen, click on Save & Exit.  To exit without saving your changes click on Cancel.

More:

How to Eliminate an Aspect

Customizable Quindecile Aspect

Save Aspect Orb Sets


How to Eliminate an Aspect

Setting an aspect's orb to 0 will cause that aspect to not be included in displays and comparisons.


Customizable Quindecile Aspect

We added a new QDC aspect with the ability to customize the value of this aspect, as traditionally the Quindecile is a minor 24 degree aspect, but Noel Tyl and his students are using the name for the 165 degree aspect.  A few astrologers in Europe use the term Tao for the 165 degree aspect, but Quindecile is more descriptive because the 24th harmonic which produces this 165 degree aspect divides the circle into 15 degree intervals.  The 24th harmonic is just as strong as the 9th and 18th harmonics according to Michael Rideout's harmonic strength function, which looks at how many divisors a harmonic has, divided by the number itself [Michael's article Re: Harmonics appeared on the alt.astrology.moderated newsgroup March 16, 2000].  The 165 degree aspect has been found to correspond to disruptions and obsessive determination.  Noel Tyl's article on "Minor Measurements, Major Meanings" appeared in issue #76 Dec/Jan 1997/98 of the Mountain Astrologer magazine and can also be found on the Internet.  His student Basil Fearrington's article "Obsessing with the "QUIN-DEH-CHEE-LAY"" appeared in vol. 66, no. 6, June 2000 of Dell Horoscope.  The research by Al H. Morrison and Zane Stein on the 165 degree aspect appeared in Stein's book, Essence and Application:  A View from Chiron, first published in 1985.  By default, the text box for this aspect's angle at Customization, Aspect Orbs will have 165 in it, but you can change that to 24 or any angle that you want.


Save Aspect Orb Sets

Customization, Aspect Orbs, adds two new command buttons, Save to File and Load from File.  This lets the astrologer save named sets of aspect orb widths for easy retrieval.

For example, if the astrologer wants to run a progressions list involving just conjunctions of the progressed moon (which would also give sign and house ingress dates), then the astrologer would want to have an aspect orb set for Progressions that zeros out all the aspects other than the conjunction.  After tabbing through the orb width fields and changing the values for all the remaining aspects to 0, the astrologer would click on Save to File and change the name default.aop that comes up to conjonly.aop and click on Okay.

When you want to use this aspect orb set in the future, make sure that the Aspect Orbs screen is set to Progressions and click on Load from File, select your conjonly.aop file, and click on Okay to have those orb widths be automatically loaded and saved as the current progressions orb widths.  When you are done with the list calculation that uses this special set of orbs, return to Customization, Aspect Orbs, select Progressions and either click on the Return to Default button or load another previously created aspect orb set.


Customization  Arabic Parts

Aside from the Part of Fortune, most astrologers are not very familiar with the Arabic Parts.  The Arabic Parts, that some call Arabian Parts, are points in the chart which result from taking the ecliptic distance between two 'fixed' significators, such as planets, and extending that distance from a 'moving' significator, such as the Ascendant.  The astrologers who discovered or invented the traditional Arabic Parts determined that the natures of the two fixed significators could work together to affect a certain area of life, which became the name of the part, such as the Part of Moneylenders involving Saturn and Mercury.  They made the decision from which of the two planets to 'extract' the part based on which of the two significators was stronger.  In this case, Saturn is stronger so one extracts the distance from Saturn to Mercury, making the formula Ascendant + Mercury - Saturn.

For some Arabic Parts, one planet is judged to be stronger in a day chart and the other planet is judged to be the stronger in a night chart.  This is the basis for reversing the Part of Fortune depending on whether it is a day birth or a night birth.  For a day birth one extracts the distance from the sun to the moon, but for a night birth one measures from the moon to the sun.  The sun and moon are considered equal in signification.  The general rule for reversing the planet order for a night birth is that you do so if the two planets are equal in signification and one planet is diurnal and the other is nocturnal (in Greek astrology, the diurnal planets which 'rejoice' at day births are the sun, Jupiter, and Saturn; the nocturnal planets which 'rejoice' at night births are the moon, Venus, and Mars).  Even between the different ancient sources, however, there is frequent disagreement about whether a particular formula should be reversed at night.

Another way to view the Arabic Parts is that they are positions in secondary charts.  From this point of view, the Part of Fortune in a day chart is the position of the moon in a traditional solar chart (i.e., sun's position used for the ascendant) and the Part of Fortune in a night chart is the position of the sun in a lunar chart (moon's position used for the ascendant).

I can recommend three books in print on the Arabic Parts (see the Bibliography in the Appendix for how to obtain these books).  The first is The Fortunes of Astrology, by Robert Hurzt Granite, 1980 (ACS pub.), 115 pp.  This attempts to be a comprehensive treatment which draws upon many modern authors as well as presenting the parts known to the Arabic author Al-Biruni (ca. 1029 AD).  It has excellent interpretations for the placements of the Part of Fortune in the houses and signs and for the Parts of Spirit and Life in the houses.

The second book is The Arabic Parts in Astrology, by Robert Zoller, 1980,1989 (Inner Traditions pub.), 245 pp.  Don't make this your only book on the Arabic Parts.  The author is a knowledgeable astrologer and presents his own translations from Latin, but the book is filled with, in my opinion, too much Hebrew numerological speculation.  In addition to the author's astrological advice, this book is valuable for his translations from H. Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535 AD) and Guido Bonatti (ca. 1282 AD).  Robert Hand describes Bonatti's Liber Astronomiae as "probably the most important single astrological work written in the Western tradition between Ptolemy and the Renaissance." (Project Hindsight, Latin Track, Vol. VII).  Bonatti's extensive treatment of the Arabic Parts shows how Arab and medieval astrologers actually thought about and used Arabic Parts.

The third book is The Arabian Parts Decoded, by Lind Weber, 1997 (American Federation of Astrologers, Inc.), 212 pp.  This book by a modern astrologer will not give you any cookbook interpretations or even any lists of the various part formulas.  What it will give you are plenty of examples of applying the Parts in action, together with the most up-to-date theoretical understanding of how they work.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter comes with a number of Arabic Part collections which you can select by clicking here on Select New File or by pressing Alt-N.  These files include basics.arp, compmod.arp, crops.arp, horary.arp, medieval.arp, onlyway.arp, relations.arp.  The default collection is from volume 2 of March and McEvers' popular textbook, The Only Way to Learn Astrology.  The largest collection is the compmod.arp file with at least 265 formulas, which attempts to be a comprehensive collection from modern sources.  The collections medieval.arp, crops.arp, and horary.arp are from Al-Biruni by way of Granite, with several obvious errors corrected by Bonatti by way of Zoller.  The collections basics.arp and relations.arp are from Kira L. Ivory, an astrologer who uses the Arabic Parts in her practice.  You can easily create a new file with your own collection.

Seven years after she first provided us with the Basics and Relationships collections, Kira Leonie Ivory has given us an update to the Basics collection for version 6.1.  She writes, "I no longer use the group I sent you for Relationships only because sometimes I find to include all the basics gives me a much better idea of what bothers people in the relationships. For instance, a person might have Part of Relationships square Part of Vocation.  Whoops, look for why the person can't do what they love to do for a hobby......or why the relationship impedes the preferred career."

This screen allows you to retrieve a part and its formula from a file and then open a new file and click on the Add Arrow to add the part to the new file.

To change any element of an existing Arabic Part, the procedure is to call it up from the Saved Parts List Box, make your change, and then click on the Add Arrow.  The screen is designed so that you can use nothing but the keyboard to tab from field to field and press the initial letter of your desired significator or press the Spacebar to toggle or click the checkboxes and command buttons.  After making changes to a part, DO NOT just click on the Save List button.  You MUST click on Add Arrow to update the formula for that particular part.

Adding or changing parts will update the list in the Saved Parts List Box, but to update the file on the disk you need to click on Save List.

To enter a significator such as 21 degrees Libra in column two, at this column's listbox press the letter 'D' for degree.  You will get a text box in which you can enter the 360-degree equivalent, in this case 201.

When you tab out of the third column, the program will scan the existing parts to see if any of them share the same three significators as the current formula.  If they do, then a button will appear on the screen that says Show Parallels.  Clicking on this button will bring up a message box displaying the names of the parts with parallel formulas.

The checkbox Use Traditional Rulers refers to using Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars as the rulers of Aquarius, Pisces, and Scorpio, or whatever you have entered at Customization, Ruling Planets for Traditional Rulers.  This takes effect when a house ruler is one of the significators.

If you check the box Reverse Formula for Night Birth, then the formula shown will be used only for day births.  The significators in columns two and three will be switched for a night birth - when the program shows the location of this part at Display, Arabic Parts at the Chart Information Screen, the name of the part will be followed by (n) if the chart is a night birth.  This tells you that the day formula has been reversed.

Customize the Part of Fortune that appears on the graphic chart at a different screen.  At Customization, Planets, if you turn on the Part of Fortune there is a checkbox to say whether you want its formula reversed for a night birth.  Depending on how this box is checked, for a night birth the position of the Part of Fortune on the chart can disagree with the position of the Part of Fortune in the Arabic Parts list.

Clear Item just initializes the screen so that you can enter or retrieve a new part.  The program will automatically clear the screen when you add or update a part by clicking on the Add Arrow button.

Delete Item will remove the displayed Arabic Part from the Saved Parts List Box.  Click on Save List to update the file on the disk.

The Close button will return you to the Natal Information Screen.


Customization  Asteroids

All versions of AstrolDeluxe for Windows now install with files to enable calculation of fifty-one asteroids.  These are the fifty-one asteroids for which there are glyphs in the optional $49 Halloran TrueType Asteroid 1 font.  You can download additional asteroid calculation files from the Updates section of the Halloran Software web site at http://www.halloran.com/.  The list box at the Customization  Asteroids screen displays the names of all such installed asteroids.  Initially, the program displays all the asteroid names in highlighted, selected form, but you can click on a name to unselect the asteroid or to select it again.  The selections that you make here determine which asteroids are calculated and displayed in the Asteroids List on the Display Menu at the Chart Information Screen.  You cannot remove any of the big five asteroids from the graphic chartwheels at this screen, but must go to Customization  Planets to do that.

Astronomers have identified orbits for thirty-nine thousand asteroids as of this writing (in 2002).  The number that follows the name of each asteroid in the list box is that asteroid's official discovery number, such as 1 for Ceres, the first asteroid to be discovered.  Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, astronomers bestowed names of female figures from mythology upon newly discovered asteroids.  Mythological figures make up 30 percent of the first thousand asteroid names, but only 5 percent of subsequent names.  Asteroids can have the names of politicians, asteroid discoverers, the discoverer's friends or family members, composers, musicians, nations, places, ideas, plants, animals, or humorous, whimsical names.  I take this information from a particularly learned book, the Asteroid Name Encyclopedia by Jacob Schwartz, Ph.D.  If you are interested in learning more about asteroids, other book authors to track down include Martha Lang-Wescott, Demetra George, J. Lee Lehman, Emma Belle Donath, Nona Gwynn Press, and Zane Stein.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter calculates almost all asteroid positions to within one minute accuracy for the three hundred year period from 1800 to 2100 A.D.  Icarus is the only asteroid  included with the initial 51 asteroids whose position can be up to two degrees off.  The other asteroid like this is Hephaistos which is part of the optional download from the web site.  As the names of these asteroids  indicate, they have orbits that take them extremely close to the sun - in fact, I have read that accurate calculation of the position of Icarus requires incorporation of relativistic effects from passing so near to the massive sun.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter calculates the asteroids using a generic routine that makes it easy to add new bodies.  I expect that we will add more asteroids in the future and welcome your suggestions.

The choice as to the initial 51 asteroids was made based on which asteroids had commonly accepted glyph symbols.  We added an additional font with 51 asteroid glyphs to the optional Halloran TrueType font disk (in addition to adding the Black Moon Lilith symbol to the regular Halloran font).  Existing owners of the Halloran font disk can get the new disk as a $15 upgrade (first time purchasers: $49).  Use Control Panel, Fonts, to remove the old font before adding in the two new ones.

Each installed asteroid will have two files in the \winastro\asteroid subdirectory, both of which have the name of the asteroid's number and end with extensions of DAT and ASN.  The ASN file assigns values to keywords for the name of the asteroid, whether the user wants to include it in the calculated list, the name of the font that includes its glyph, and the character position of its glyph in that font.

If the program detects that you have purchased and installed the optional font of asteroid glyphs, then below the list box of asteroid names, you will have a choice of two radio buttons on which to click in order to indicate that you want the Display Asteroids table to Show Both Name and Glyph or Show Just Glyph.  The default is to show the spelled out name of the asteroid in addition to its glyph.  Be aware that in order to have the program display the asteroid glyphs in the calculated list, you must have run the Customization menu option to Map Astrological Fonts and have turned on Use Astrological Font.  You can only successfully do this if you have a complete astrological font such as the Halloran TrueType Font which is a separate purchase from AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter and which comes on a separate disk.


Customization  Printer Fonts

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter allows you to choose a header font and a font for the body text of the printed charts and tables.  The Customization menu will show you menu choices as follows:

Header Font (Times New Roman 14 pt.)

Body Text Font (Times New Roman 12 pt.)

The menu choices show what fonts are currently selected for the Header and Body text.  In the above case, Times New Roman has been selected for both the Header and the Body Text.  The Header Font is 14 points and the Body Font is 12 points.  Clicking on either selection will pop up a Windows Font Dialog box.

All Windows-installed printer fonts on your computer which can work with your currently selected Windows default printer will be presented in the Font list on the left of the Font Dialog box.  Once you have clicked on the font name you want, you may click on a style in the Font Style list and a point size in the Size list.  The sample box shows you what your selection will look like.  If you have selected a printer font which is not installed on your computer as a screen font, you will get a note below the sample box telling you that Windows is simulating the printer font as best it can.  True Type fonts are installed for both the printer and the screen.

Click Cancel if you do not wish to save your selection.  Click OK to save your selection.  In either case you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter does not support customizing the screen display fonts.  The fonts chosen here will be used, however, if you use the File menu option at the Chart Information Screen to Save Page as Image File.


Customizing the Chart Center Graphic Image

This selection gives you control over the image displayed in the center of the chart wheel.

You are given a choice of four separate methods of selecting the image to display in the center of the chart, or the option of displaying no image.

Sun Sign - The image displayed is a graphic based on the Sun sign of the native.  The program will display either the appropriate wa_*.bmp file or the appropriate wb_*.bmp file.  The wa_*.bmp files are by default solid-yellow in color.  If at Customization, Chart Colors, Sign & Aspect Colors, the checkbox Apply to Center Images is checked, then the program will use instead the solid-black wb_*.bmp files and will apply the selected zodiac sign color from that customization screen to the sign image.

Moon Sign - The image displayed is a graphic based on the Moon sign of the native.  The program will display the appropriate wa_*.bmp or wb_*.bmp file.

Rising Sign - The image displayed is a graphic based on the Rising sign of the native.  The program will display the appropriate wa_*.bmp or wb_*.bmp file.

Moon's Nodes' Dragon - This will cause the chart to appear and print with a dragon image at the center that is oriented with the Dragon's Head towards the house with the moon's north node (Caput Draconis) and the Dragon's Tail towards the house with the moon's south node (Cauda Draconis).

Always use same image - The image displayed will always be the same in every chart.  This is useful if you want to display a logo or signature graphic of some sort.  Selecting this choice will expand the dialog box to allow you to select the bitmap file you wish to use.

No Image - No image will be displayed in the center of the chart.

Clicking on Save will save your selection.  Clicking on Cancel will close the window without saving any changes.  Either selection will return you to the Natal Information Screen.

More:

Selecting a File for "Always use same image"

Editing the Supplied Bitmap Files


Selecting a File for "Always use same image"

As stated above, clicking on Always use same image will expand the dialog box to allow you to select the bitmap file to use.

Click on the disk drive icon to select the disk drive to use.  Click on the directory list to select the directory to use.  As you navigate through the directories, any bitmap files found will be listed in the file list box below.  If you click on a name of a file, the file's path and name will appear in the box above the file list box, and a preview of the image will be displayed in the box to the left.

When choosing an image to display on your charts, it is best to keep them simple with a strong design.  Also, if they are approximately square in aspect, they will preserve their aspect ratio on the chart.

After selecting the bitmap you wish to use, click on Save to save your choice or Cancel to close the window without saving your choice.


Editing the Supplied Bitmap Files

Although there is no menu selection to edit the graphic image printed in the center of the chart wheel, it is possible to put whatever image you wish in the center of the chart through the use of a graphics program such as Paint in the Windows Accessories group.  The default files supplied with the program are named as follows:

Graphic file	Sign
wa_ari.bmp	Aries
wa_tau.bmp	Taurus
wa_gem.bmp	Gemini
wa_can.bmp	Cancer
wa_leo.bmp	Leo
wa_vir.bmp	Virgo
wa_lib.bmp	Libra
wa_sco.bmp	Scorpio
wa_sag.bmp	Sagittarius
wa_cap.bmp	Capricorn
wa_aqu.bmp	Aquarius
wa_pis.bmp	Pisces
Depending on how you have customized the program, once AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter has determined the Sun, Moon or Rising sign of the chart, it uses the name of that sign to determine which image to put in the center of the chart.  You may edit these files in your graphics program or substitute completely different images.  You must follow three rules, however:

1.	You must use the same file names as above.  For instance, whenever the Sun sign is Aries, the image from the file named wa_ari.bmp will be printed in the center of the chart.

2.	The image size must be near the size of the original images.  The original images were created approximately 180 pixels wide by 180 pixels high.

3.	The image files must reside in the same directory as the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter program file.  If not, the program will not be able to find them.

In addition, it is helpful to keep your graphics simple and nearly square.  If you have problems with a picture not printing, try reducing the number of colors, down to 256 or 16 colors.  You do this by clicking in Paint on File and Save As, which has a list box for Save As Type.

You may change or edit the original files simply by loading them into a Windows Paint-type program.  It is recommended that you first copy the files to another name to make backup copies.  For instance you could copy wa_ari.bmp to bu_ari.bmp, wa_tau.bmp to bu_tau.bmp, etc.  (See your Windows documentation under Explorer for assistance in copying.)  After making your backup copies, you can load each file into the graphics program and change whatever you like.

For example, the supplied files come drawn in yellow which gives a nice even gray on a B&W laser printer.  If you like, you can use the color fill option of your graphics program to change the color of the image.

To quickly change the color of one of the images using Windows Paint, do the following:

1.	From the Accessories group, select Paint.

2.	Select file and open.

3.	Click on the drive and directory until you see the bmp files in the \winastro directory displayed.

4.	Click on the desired image file.  The image will display as yellow on white.

5.	Move the mouse cursor to the square on the palette showing the color you want to change (yellow) and click the left mouse button.

6.	Then move the cursor to the new color to which you want to change and click the right mouse button.  Only the sixteen colors to the left are pure colors.  The twelve colors to the right are composite colors which cannot be easily changed, once selected.  Only click on the pure colors.

7.	Click on the eraser tool on the toolbox.  Below the tools select the largest square as your drawing size.  Then hold down the right mouse button and sweep across the image until it has all been converted from the old color to the new color.  Some Windows versions allow you to simply double-click on the image to automatically change the color.

After making your changes, be sure to save the image as a 16-color bitmap to the correct file name as listed in the table above and to the same directory in which your winast32.exe file is located.


Customization  Screen Chart Colors

There are two options now for chart color customization: Planet & Chart Colors and Sign & Aspect Colors.

More:

Planet & Chart Colors

Sign & Aspect Colors

Customize for More than 16 Chart Colors


Planet & Chart Colors

The on-screen graphic chart wheel uses the color assigned to each planet glyph to also draw the degrees, minutes and sign of that planet.  Although AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter comes with preselected colors, you may assign any available color to each of the glyphs.

To change the color of a glyph, click on the color of your choice in the box to the right marked Select color (the color will be outlined with a heavy border) and then click on the glyph you wish to change.  The glyph will be instantly redrawn with the new color.

If you wish to change the background color of the chart wheel, click on the color of your choice and then click on the rectangle marked Background.  You will immediately see if you need to change the color of any of your glyphs, since they will all be depicted against the background color you have chosen.  If you have picked cyan for the background and you have a glyph drawn in cyan, it will be invisible and this will be apparent.

Clicking on the rectangle marked Chart Circle will let you change the color used for the lines of the chart circle, house cusps, and house information.

When you print the graphic chart, the glyphs will be drawn in black against the paper color background unless you click on the box labeled Print in Color to check it, in which case every color you have selected with the exception of the background color will be sent to the printer.  This is fine if you have a color printer, but will produce undesirable gray-scaling on a black and white printer.  Clicking on the box a second time will uncheck it.

If, at any time, you wish to return to the default colors that came with AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, you can click on Return to Default and the original colors will be restored.

To exit without saving your changes, click on Cancel and you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.

To save your changes and exit, click on Save and Exit and you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.


Sign & Aspect Colors

This form lets you customize the colors for the zodiac-proportional graphic aspects wheel, both the sign colors in the outer ring, the colors of the aspect lines drawn in the center and, for the synastry graphic aspects biwheel, the colors of the inner ring and of the inner and outer chart planets.

When you click to apply a zodiac sign color, the program will calculate a background color that has the same hue as the selected foreground color, but either lighter or darker luminescence/saturation, to ensure that there is enough contrast to make the sign glyph visible against its background.

The colors that you apply for the different aspects are used as follows: the trine color is used for the conjunction, trine, and sextile aspects; the square color is used for the opposition, square, semisquare, sesquiquadrate, and semi-octile aspects; the inconjunct color is used just for the inconjunct (quincunx) aspect; the quintile color is used for the quintile, biquintile, and semisextile aspects; the septile color is used for the septile, biseptile, and triseptile aspects; and the novile color is used for the novile, binovile, quatrinovile, vigintile, decile, tredecile, and quindecile aspects.

To change the color of a glyph, click on the color of your choice in the box to the right marked Select color (the color will be outlined with a heavy border) and then click on the glyph you wish to change.  The glyph will be instantly redrawn with the new color.

The colors of the inner and outer planets on the graphic aspects biwheel, are normally blue and red, but you can change those default colors.  The inner and outer planet colors are displayed against the background color selected in the Synastry Circle field.  This lets you see if the planet and background colors that you choose have good contrast.

If you check the box Apply to Center Images, the colors that you have selected for each of the twelve zodiac signs can be applied to the zodiac sign images that appear at the center of the normal chartwheel.  This is an ease-of-use improvement over previous program versions which required that you go into the Windows Paint program if you wanted to change the sign images from the yellow color of the default image files.  You can still use Windows Paint to customize the yellow image files that start with WA (such as WA_ARI.BMP), but if you select the box Apply to Center Images, the program will substitute the WB prefix files (such as WB_ARI.BMP) and will colorize these normally black images.  The WB prefix files are the ones that the ReportWriter inserts into the black on white text reports - if you have replaced these all-black images with custom images, then I don't guarantee the color results if you select the box Apply to Center Images.

If, at any time, you wish to return to the default colors that came with AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, you can click on Return to Default and the original colors will be restored.

To exit without saving your changes, click on Cancel and you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.

To save your changes and exit, click on Save and Exit and you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.


Customize for More than 16 Chart Colors

It is now possible to select from an unlimited color palette.  In the past, the planets could only be one of the 16 basic colors, but underneath the boxes for the color selections I have placed a button 'Define Custom Colors > >'.  This button takes you to a screen that both has more ready-made color selections and which allows you to make up your desired custom color.  You can click on one of the 48 pre-defined color boxes on the left of this screen, or you can click into the big box on the right, where you select the Hue and Saturation depending on where you click, and then click on or drag the pointer for the vertical bar on the far right to select the amount of Luminescence.  Either way, the color that you choose appears in the medium-size box 'Color|Solid'.  When you click on this screen's OK button, your chosen color will appear back at the original screen in the lower-left color box that started out as white.  As long as the focus is on this box, you can apply its color to any of the planets or to the background or chart circle by clicking on the box for the desired object.


Customization  Bold Glyphs

To check (√) this option, click on it with the mouse or cursor down to it and press Enter.  It will cause the glyphs, numbers, and lines of the graphic wheels to be drawn with bolder lines.  Selecting it a second time will uncheck it, and the charts will be drawn with finer line widths.  When this option is turned on, the lines of your graphic wheels will also be printed bolder.  However, if you have a very high resolution printer, such as a 600-dpi or higher printer, you may not notice a big difference.  Try selecting Medium resolution at the Options menu of your printer driver in Printer Setup.  If you want to print a really bold chart, try generating the chart image files from the Chart Information Screen, File, Save Chart as Image File or Save Page as Image File, and then use your web browser or graphic program to print that image file.  Turning Bold Glyphs On or Off makes a big difference in the appearance of Save Page as Image File as this is a lower resolution version of a printed chartwheel page.


Customization  User Information

For some procedures, it is necessary for AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter to know your geographical location.  When you first run the program you will be asked for this information.  This menu command enables you to edit the information.  For more detailed information see "Entering or Editing the User Information".


Customization  Print Courtesy

You have the option of turning on printing of a courtesy information block to print at the top right of the graphic chart pages and a footer information line to print beneath text pages, both for tables and interpretation reports.  As a kind of software anti-piracy measure, this printed information will use the name that you entered when you installed the program.  However, you can come here and revise whatever address and phone information you want to print in these courtesy lines.  If for some reason you must change the name under which you installed the program, return your original program diskette to Halloran Software together with ten dollars and a letter stating the desired new name.

To have printed charts and tables carry your name and address/phone information, enter text in the Chart Info Block and in the Centered Footer Line.  The lines that you can change are lines 1 and 3-7 of the Chart Info Block and text on the right side of the Centered Footer Line.  There is an option at Interpret, Report Options, Report Order to replace Courtesy of: with alternate text for the interpretation report footers.  The footer term Courtesy of: on the printed chartwheels can be changed in the file that Chart Information Screen, Edit, Different Language accesses by using a text editor.  This different language needs to be saved as part of the current Print Courtesy Information at this screen.

The maximum length of any line in the Chart Info Block is 35 characters.  The maximum length of the Centered Footer Line is 105 characters, including the hard-coded first part.  To see what the printed Chart Info Block will look like and to select different kinds of alignment, click on the Left, Center, and Right radio buttons.

Selecting Print on Chart will cause the multi-line Chart Info Block to print at the top right corner of the printed graphic chart and aspects wheel.  It will not print on a double or triple chartwheel.  The House and Zodiac information that normally prints in that corner in a separate information block will be appended to the bottom of the birth information block in the left top corner and the wheel itself will be moved down on the page.  Also, if you have the Centered Footer Line selected to print, it will stop printing at the bottom of the graphic chart page.

Selecting Print Footer will cause the Centered Footer Line to print at the bottom of every page except the graphic aspects wheel (also not on the single chartwheel if the Chart Info Block is turned on).

When you are finished making your changes, save them by selecting Okay, else discard them by selecting Cancel.

More:

Save Alternate Courtesy Information

Clear All Fields


Save Alternate Courtesy Information

The astrologer who is printing charts and reports in different languages will want to easily switch the language that appears in the Courtesy Information block on a chartwheel.  To support this, I added two command buttons to Customization, Print Courtesy.  The button Save to File lets you permanently save the current courtesy text to a file other than the WINASTRO.INI file where the program stores the current courtesy information.  The save to file dialog box lets you save to a file name of your choice that will have the *.ci extension.  The button Load from File lets you retrieve a previously saved courtesy text set.  When you load a saved set, that will become the current courtesy information, replacing the current set.


Clear All Fields

This button will clear out lines 3 through 7 of the Chart Info Block and the customizable part of the Footer.  It will restore the radio buttons to the default Do Not Print settings.  If you have selected a language other than English at the Chart Information Screen, Edit, Different Language, then the courtesy introduction in line 1 and in the left part of the footer will be in that language.


Customization  Initial Chart Display

Different program users prefer to see the chart displayed in different formats, either a normal chart wheel with planet degrees and minutes, a proportional wheel showing the graphic aspect lines, or a text table of the planet and house positions.  This screen lets you choose which display comes up when you calculate or quick display a chart.


Customization  Map Astrological Fonts

If you have an astrological font such as the Halloran True Type Font (HALLORAN.TTF) installed on your computer you may use this selection to assign the various symbols of the font to their respective meanings.  It is necessary to tell AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter what each symbol in a font means since there is no standardization of astrological fonts.  In the Halloran True Type Font, for instance, the symbol for Juno is ANSI code 232.  In another font created by a third party, the symbol for Juno might be assigned a different ANSI code.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter ships with a utility program called Font Mapper which makes this mapping operation a simple point and click affair.  To map an astrological font for use in the program, do the following:

1.	Make sure the astrological font has been installed in Windows.  If you are in doubt about how to do this, click on Start, Help, Fonts, Adding to your computer.

2.	While in the Natal Information Screen, choose Map Astrological Fonts from the Customization menu.

3.	The program will launch Font Mapper and you will be presented with the mapping screen.

4.	If you have the Halloran True Type Font installed in Windows, Font Mapper will automatically select it, displaying the name in the Select Font list box, and displaying the complete symbol set in the table above.  If you are using another astrological font, click on the Select Font list box and click on the desired font name.

5.	If you are using the Halloran True Type Font, Font Mapper will have filled in the Aspects, Planets, Zodiac Signs and Symbols blanks with the default symbols.  If you are satisfied with all the selections, click on Save and then Exit.

6.	If you wish to change any of the default mappings, or if you are using a different astrological font, continue with the following steps.

7.	Click on the desired symbol in the large symbol table.  It will be displayed in the box marked Selected Glyph and the ANSI code for the character will be shown below it.

8.	Click on the name to which you wish to map the symbol in one of the four columns labeled Aspects, Planets, Zodiac Signs, and Symbols (eg. "Cjn", "Sun", "Ari" or "Degree").  The new symbol will be written to the space you have clicked on.  Do this for each symbol you wish to map.

9.	Once you are satisfied that all symbols are mapped as you want them, click on Save to save your choices and then on Exit to return to the Natal Information Screen.  Clicking on Default will restore the Halloran True Type Font defaults.

More:

New version 2.5 of Font Mapper


New version 2.5 of Font Mapper

You can now use the Font Mapper program that you start from Customization, Map Astrological Fonts, to map the glyph symbols for the Quindecile aspect, the Parallel, and the Contraparallel for use by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter in its text tables.

For the Quindecile aspect symbol, I did not care for the modified Q symbol circulated by a student of Noel Tyl, so I created a 165-degree aspect symbol for the Halloran TrueType Font by modifying the opposition aspect glyph, dropping the upper circle and making it so that two lines spread up and out approximately 30 degrees apart, similar in appearance to the comet glyph that appears in Webster's Collegiate dictionary under symbols.

The Halloran TrueType Font already had the traditional symbols for the Parallel and Contraparallel.  It is always $15 to upgrade to the current version of the $49 Halloran TrueType Fonts disk, which also includes the separate font of 51 asteroid glyphs.


Customization  Use Astrological Font

Once you have installed an astrological font in both Windows and AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, you may indicate, by clicking on this selection, whether the program should use the font symbols in place of the spelled names or abbreviations of the planets, signs and aspects in the program's text tables.  When you click on Use Astrological Font, a submenu appears next to the Customization menu, in which you may check use of the font On or off and/or if the font is to appear Bold or normal.  To indicate that the option is On, a check mark (√) is placed next to it.  When On is checked, text tables such as the Table of Aspects will have narrower columns and will substitute the one-character astrological glyphs for the three letter abbreviations of the planets, aspects, and signs.  For the glyphs to actually be enabled, you must first have run the option to Map Astrological Fonts and saved the assignments.  The same True Type Font will also be used for the non-glyph text of the reports, so if you use an astrological font other than the Halloran True Type font, it must include the normal text letters in addition to the astrological symbols.  This selection does not affect the display of the chart wheel.


Customization  Miscellaneous Preferences

This screen allows you to customize two different features.  The feature Select Planetary Nodes Type allows you to save your preferred way of calculating the planetary nodes, charts of which are a choice at the Options menu.  The choice is between the default Heliocentric planetary nodes and the Geocentric planetary nodes.  The feature Select Pluto Glyph allows you to specify your preferred glyph for displaying the planet Pluto on the graphic charts.  You can select whether you prefer the older PL Glyph or the newer Spirit Glyph.


Customization  Sort Charts in Alphabetical Order

When this option is checked (√), the charts in the list box on the Natal Information Screen will be sorted alphabetically by last name.  Click on this option to toggle back to displaying charts in the order in which you entered them.


Customization  Auto Capitalization

With its support for mixed upper- and lower-case letters, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter has an option which makes it unnecessary for you to press the Shift key for the first letter of the subject's names, city and state/country.  If this option is checked (√), the program will automatically capitalize the first letter of the first and last names, the city and the state/country.  Clicking on this menu selection toggles the option on or off.


Customization  Enable More Chart Data

This enables the More Chart Data button, which will appear on the Natal Information Screen beneath the Remarks field if you want to maintain the additional chart information that the More Chart Data form supports.  This includes the source and reliability rating for the subject's birth information, a record of life history events, client address and telephone information, notes and a memo.  Since the latter items are maintained in a Microsoft Access format database, there can be more of a delay when accessing your saved charts if this feature is turned on, especially for the first chart file operation in an AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter session.  This delay is most noticeable on a computer with only 8 MB or less of RAM.


Atlas

Overview

Atlas   Personal City List

Atlas   Maps


Natal Information Screen - Atlas - Overview
Overview

With the addition of  the ACS full PC Atlas, program users now have access to over 250,000 locations and their time zone change histories. The PC Atlas is now included at no extra charge with every copy of this program. You will find it documented at  PC Atlas Express.  You can access the PC Atlas either from the first choice on the Atlas menu or by clicking on the button underneath the Gender frame, labeled PC Atlas Express.  The Personal City List on this Atlas menu (and the other city lists at that form) will only give you the standard time zones for the locations in it, whereas the ACS atlas includes time zone histories that will automatically look up the time zone that was in effect as of your date, including whether daylight saving time was in effect.  This Atlas menu also shows you graphical maps.  Use the PC Atlas when you know the name of the city of birth.  Use the maps to find coordinates and/or cities when you have a rough idea of the location.

The PC Atlas is based on research by Thomas G. Shanks and is published by ACS Publications, Inc.


Atlas   Personal City List

This menu selection gives you access to locations that you have saved to a Personal City List.  It also lets you click on seven other lists of cities:  three for the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and the World.  The lists contain coordinates for 1467 U.S. cities, 485 European cities, 291 Australian cities, 266 Canadian cities and 192 cities in the remainder of the world.  These city lists are left over from the Astrology for Windows program and earlier versions of AstrolDeluxe prior to the bundling of the ACS electronic atlas.  You might have customized them when using the earlier program and still want access.  The Personal city list may contain as many cities as you care to enter.  For more information on saving locations to the Personal City list see  File    Save Geographical Data.

To access the city lists, click on Atlas  Personal City List.  For complete instructions on using the city lists see "Personal City List" under the heading "Using the Atlas"

The most extensive lists of city longitudes, latitudes and time zones are those for the United States.  We created this U.S. database from a database of longitudes and latitudes for every ZIP code in the United States.  We screened out small towns by only including cities with multiple ZIP codes and where the longitudes and latitudes for the ZIP codes were different.  The longitude and latitude given for each location are averages of all the ZIP code longitudes and latitudes for that location.  The ACS atlas references give the coordinates for a city's civic center, which is not necessarily at the city's geographic center.


Atlas   Maps

The on screen Atlas includes three VGA-resolution maps: United States, Europe, and The World.  Clicking on Atlas  Maps will bring up a menu of the three maps so that you may choose whichever map you wish to use.

The mouse cursor will be shaped like a cross hair.  As you move the mouse cursor around the map, you will see the information at the bottom right of the screen change, reflecting the country name (state name on the U.S. map), time zone, latitude and longitude of the cursor position.  Clicking the left mouse button will search the PC Atlas for a city within an appropriate radius for that map from the cursor's position.  If you clicked in the right place, you should see a good city in the list of search results, which you can select and then click OK to have it come up in the PC Atlas from which you can click Read Atlas for the time zone and Transfer to Natal.  Click on Exit to return to the Natal Information Screen.


Utilities

Set System Clock

To calculate horary charts or compute current transits it is important that your computer's system clock be set accurately.  In order to achieve this, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter provides an automatic function for program users to connect to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Colorado (visit http://www.bldrdoc.gov/timefreq/ for more information).  The program can either use an Internet connection or a modem phone call to automatically set your system's clock to reflect the time given by the NIST atomic clock.  The program is able to set a clock that is as much as years off.

More:

Set System Clock Over Internet

Set System Clock By Modem

Set Dialing Options


Set System Clock Over Internet

This option will execute version 3.1 of NISTIME 32, a 32-bit TCP Time Client utility written by Judah Levine at NIST, dated August 29, 2001.  Just click on Query Server and select Now.  If your computer is already connected to the Internet, you will immediately get a message box of the difference between your local system clock and time according to the NIST atomic clock, with the question, "Adjust clock by this amount?", and the choice of clicking either on OK or Cancel.  Click on OK to correct the clock time on your computer.  If you are not connected to the Internet, then when you click on Query Server, Now, you will see the Windows pop-up form Dial-up Connection, which lets you put in your password and click Connect to dial the modem.

Whenever you run this option, select File and Update server list.  Then after you query the NIST server, click on File, Select Server and see if the list now shows a server that is nearer to your location.  If there is, select it and click on File, Save Config.


Set System Clock By Modem

To use this selection, you must have a Hayes compatible modem and you must first have entered your Area Code by way of the Utilities  Set System Clock By Modem  Set Dialing Options selection.  (For more information see the following section  Set Dialing Options.)  The program uses this information to determine whether to dial "1" and the Area Code for the NIST.  Those users living outside the 303 Area Code in Colorado will incur a minimal long distance toll charge.  Upon selecting this menu item you will be presented with a Toll Call Warning message.

Clicking on Cancel, or hitting Esc will return you to the Natal Information Screen without making the phone call.

If you have an external modem, check now to see that it is turned on.

Clicking OK causes the program to continue with the call.

Hitting Cancel or Esc at any point in the process will abort the call, hang up the phone, and return you to the Natal Information Screen without resetting the system clock.  If you hit Cancel, you will only incur the phone charge if the connection has been made before you abort the call.

If you allow the call to proceed, you will hear your modem dial the number, the phone ring, and the exchange of data.  After a few seconds the above window will close, your system clock will be reset, and you will be returned to the Natal Information Screen.

If the program does not correctly set the time on your computer, check that your Time Zone is set correctly at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Date/Time.


Set Dialing Options

As stated above, in order for the program to know whether to dial "1" plus the Area Code prior to the NIST phone number, you must tell the program what Area Code your system is currently in.  In addition, if your modem needs a prefix string, or if you must dial "9" or another number to reach a dial tone on an outside line, you must record this information for the call to proceed.  A customer in Belgium told me that by entering his long distance access code in the Dialing Prefix field, his computer successfully dialed and reset the time.

If you have previously entered your Area Code, it will show in the upper box.  If you wish to enter it for the first time or to change it, type in the three numbers of your current Area Code.

Tab down or click on the Dialing Prefix box and type in any prefix string you may need to access an outside line or any string your modem may need.  Do not enter "1" for long distance.  If you have entered an Area Code other than "303" in the Area Code box, the program will dial whatever is entered in the Dialing Prefix box followed by "1-303-494-4774".  If you have entered "303" as your Area Code, the program will dial whatever is entered in the Dialing Prefix box followed by "494-4774".  If you need to dial 9 to get an outside line, you would put "9," without the quotes, in the Dialing Prefix box.

Entering a comma after the "9" causes the modem to pause for a dial tone before dialing the rest of the number.  With this information entered, the program would dial "9" then pause, then dial "1-303-494-4774".

Click on the communications port your modem uses.  If you choose the wrong communications port, you will get a message saying that the program is unable to find your modem.  If this should happen, click on Utilities  Dial Options again and choose a different communications port.

Clicking Cancel will take you back to the Natal Information Screen without changing these settings.  If you wish to save what you have entered then click on Save or type Alt S.


Date and Time Display

The current date and time, according to the system clock, are always displayed to the right of the menu selections.  Clicking on either the date or the time display will automatically put the current date or time into the appropriate place on the Natal Information Screen.  If you need to correct your system time, you do this at Windows Control Panel, Date/Time.  Note that Windows will automatically change your system clock by one hour in order to make the transition to and from daylight saving time.

If your system clock has been set forward to Daylight Saving Time, you must customize the Time Zone under User Information to be Daylight Time, which is one hour less than the standard hour.


Command Buttons

Activating Command Buttons

Calculate button

Quick Display

Save Only

Clear Data

Here & Now

Sunrise

Delete button

Copy button

Cancel button


Activating Command Buttons

Command buttons may be activated by three different methods.  You can click on the button with the mouse, you can press the speed key combination, or you can tab to the button and then press the space bar.  Each button or menu item will have one letter underlined.  Pressing the Alt key plus the underlined letter will activate that command button or menu choice.  For example, the Calculate button on the Natal Information Screen has the letter "l" underlined.  Holding down the Alt key while pressing the "L" key will activate the Calculate button.


Calculate button

Triggers calculation of a chart once the proper data has been entered into the Natal Information Screen.  This option is not available when you have selected a saved composite chart or other artificially derived chart from the chart list box.  In this instance you must display the chart by way of the Quick Display button.

If you have changed any of the information on the Natal Information Screen for a saved chart and then click on Calculate, the chart will be calculated with the new data.  You can then save the chart, once it is displayed, to the same charts file causing the newly configured chart to be saved in place of the old one.  In this way, you can update the charts in your file.


Quick Display

Available only after a saved chart has been selected from a charts file.  This button displays the chart without recalculating it.  If you have changed the Natal Information of a saved chart, you should use the Calculate button.  To create a new chart based on the information of the old one use the Copy button.

If you have changed any of the information on the Natal Information Screen and then click on Quick Display, the Natal Information will be returned to the originally saved information for that chart.


Save Only

This is the fastest way to add a new chart to the charts file or to update an existing chart record.  It calculates the chart based on the birth data entered in the Natal Information Screen and saves it directly without displaying the Chart Information Screen.  Use this option if you have a lot of data to enter, are confident that your Customization settings are as desired, and do not need to see the charts at this time.


Clear Data

Clears or initializes all entries in the Natal Information Screen.


Here & Now

Clicking on this button will put the current time, date, latitude, longitude, city, and state/country in the Natal Information Screen.  The latter part of this information is what you have entered in the User Information Screen.  If you then click on Calculate, you will get a chart of the heavens depicting the current transiting planets.

More:

Verify Time Zone Setting for Here & Now Button


Verify Time Zone Setting for Here & Now Button

The astrology program will now check that Windows has not changed the time zone (in response to Daylight Saving) away from the time zone that you have set at Customization, User Information.  The program will do this when you click on the Here & Now button.  If the hours different from GMT that is in Windows does not agree with the hours difference from Greenwich that comes up when you click on Here & Now, a message will appear that shows the Windows value with advice to make the time zone at Customization, User Information agree with Windows.


Sunrise

After you have entered a date and place, clicking on this button will calculate the time of sunrise and enter it in the Time of Birth field.  For astrological purposes, the time is calculated to put the center of the sun on the horizon.  Due to the sun's radius of 16' of arc plus the 34' caused by atmospheric refraction, the sun will appear to rise about 3.3 minutes before the time given.


Delete button

This selection is unrecoverable.  It will delete the record currently shown in the Saved Charts Listbox from the charts file after confirming that you do indeed wish to delete the record.

The only way to delete unwanted chart files is by using Windows Explorer.  The fastest way to start Windows Explorer is by right-clicking with your mouse on Start, and then left-clicking on Explore.


Copy button

This selection will copy the data from a selected saved chart.  This is useful if you wish to save more than one version of a chart or if your new chart will have many items which are the same as an existing saved chart.  You can choose the chart from the Chart List Box, click on Copy, make whatever changes you wish, recalculate the chart by clicking on Calculate or Save Only, and save it to the file.  You will then have two versions of the chart in the file.


Cancel button

This selection is available only when converting a file or during the selection of a chart to compare to a previously displayed chart.

More:

During File Conversion

During Chart Comparison


During File Conversion

Clicking on Cancel will cause the conversion to stop after completing the current chart record.  A message will then appear telling you after which record the conversion was stopped.  The records converted up to that point will be saved in the new file.  For more information on converting chart files from one format to another see  File    Convert DOS Charts File, or  File    Convert Windows to DOS CHART.AST.


During Chart Comparison

After returning to the Natal Information Screen by way of the File menu selection Compare This Chart to Another on the Chart Information Screen, clicking on Cancel will interrupt the comparison process and allow you to choose or enter another chart to display without comparing it to the earlier chart.


Chart Information Screen - Overview
Overview

The Chart Information Screen displays the chart in graphic form together with a great deal of information on the chart.  It allows you to explore the relationships within a single chart, and those between charts.  If you have created or purchased the appropriate interpretations, from this screen you can command the program to generate interpretations of the results displayed here.


The Graphic Chartwheel

Immediately after calculating a chart, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter brings up the Chart Information Screen and draws a traditional graphic chartwheel using glyphs for the planets and signs and showing the house and planet degrees, minutes, and retrograde motion letter R flags .  The program draws the chart with the additional planet points such as the Moon's Nodes that you have selected at Customization  Planets and in the colors selected at Customization  Chart Colors.  The zodiac and house system will be the currently selected ones if you choose Calculate or the systems of the saved chart if you choose Quick Display.  You control whether an image prints at the center and which image it is with your customization choices at Customization  Chart Center Image.  If you are using an unequal house system in which intercepted signs are possible, the program will put glyphs for the intercepted zodiac signs in the outer circle, between the house cusps that the intercepted sign does not touch.

A triangular aspects grid and grids with the glyph names can print at the bottom of the printed chart page if you select File and Print with Grids when the chart is on the screen.

The speed with which a chart displays depends on the speed of your graphics display.  Most computers which are able to run Windows can instantly perform the astronomical calculations.  If the chartwheel displays too slowly on your machine, reduce your Windows display resolution or consider purchasing a better graphic card.

More:

Aspect Window for Single Planets


Aspect Window for Single Planets

Double clicking on any planetary glyph in the natal chart will list the aspects between that particular planet and the other displayed planets.  You can even click to see just aspects to the Ascendant or Midheaven - the hot spot is located at the outer end of these house cusp lines.  Also, while the full aspects list on the Display menu avoids undue repetition by just showing aspects to the Moon's North Node, not to the Moon's South Node, you can double-click on the glyph for the Moon's South Node and see this window with all of the aspects to the South Node.

In the synastry graphic aspects biwheel, double-clicking on the glyph for one of the inner planets will pop up the single planet aspects window for that planet for the topmost checked set of planets, either for the synastry aspects between the two charts, the inner chart planet aspects, or the outer chart planet aspects.  The program will use different aspect orb settings for these windows depending on what type of comparison and charts are involved, based on your settings at Customization, Aspect Orbs.  For both the single and double graphic aspects wheel, the single planet aspects window will reflect both the percentage selected at the Aspect Orb Width scroll bar and the selections in the Aspect Types checkboxes.

For information on displaying all of the aspects of all the planets in a chart or for a list of what aspects are listed see Display  Graphic Aspects and  Display  Aspects List.

More:

Moving the Aspect Window

Resizing the Aspect Window

Aspect Window Command Buttons

Select All

Copy

Print

Close


Moving the Aspect Window

The Aspect Window can be moved to any point on the screen by positioning the mouse cursor over the caption bar, depressing the left mouse button, and dragging the window to the desired position.


Resizing the Aspect Window

If you wish to change the height of the Aspect Window, position the cursor over either the top or bottom border.  The Cursor will change to a double headed arrow.   Press the left mouse button, and drag the border to the new size.  The chart inside the window and the command buttons will resize to fit.  If the entire list cannot be shown due to the shortened height of the window, a scroll bar will appear, allowing you to scroll the list up or down.  Moving and resizing the window allows you to clear the window from parts of the chart you may not wish to have covered.


Aspect Window Command Buttons

The Aspect Window has four command buttons which allow you to manipulate the window, and use the displayed information.


Select All

Selects all the information so that it will all be copied to the Clipboard.  If you wish to only select part of the information to be copied, you can do this by pressing the left mouse button and dragging over the items you wish to select.  Selected information is shown as highlighted.


Copy

Copies any selected (highlighted) information to the Clipboard.  Once copied, the information can be pasted into any Windows application which allows pasting from the Clipboard such as Microsoft Word for Windows or Excel.


Print

Prints the entire list of aspects on the installed Windows printer.  It is not necessary to select items when printing.


Close

Closes the window.  It is not necessary to close the window to display the aspects of another planet.  The new planet's aspects will replace those of the previous planet.  The window closes automatically when a different display option is chosen or when you return to the Natal Information Screen.


Chart Information Screen - File Menu
File Menu

The File Menu allows you to save the chart record in various forms, save the chart wheel or tables to a text file, save a chart to an image file suitable for e-mail or a web page, compare the current chart to another to create a biwheel or a triwheel, print the current display to your printer, change your printer set-up, return to previous screens (i.e., the Chart Comparison Screen, the Search for Charts Screen or the Natal Information Screen), or exit the program.

More:

File  Save Chart to File

File  Write Chart to dBase File

File  Save Screen as Text File

Save Chart as ASCII Wheel

Save Chart as HTML Wheel

Save Screen as Image File

Save Page as Image File

Save Page as Image File with Grids

Save Birth Data to XML File

File  Return to Compatible Chart Screen

File  Return to Search Screen

File  Compare This Chart to Another

File  Compare to Third Chart

File  Return to Natal Info Screen

File  Print

File  Print with Grids

File  Printer Setup

File  Exit Program


File  Save Chart to File

This selection will save the currently displayed chart to whatever file you specify.  The file is specified through a standard Windows File Selection dialog box.  The file name can be a long file name, but it must be followed by the extension ".cht" (e.g. charts.cht).

The file is not for just one person's chart, but is intended to hold all of your saved charts, or a logical grouping of charts.  The charts file is a database file, not a document file.  If you enter a person's name, such as ANNA or JERRY at the File Selection dialog, you will not be using the program in the correct way.  You should normally just click on OK or press Enter to keep the name of the currently loaded charts file.  That way, your new calculated chart will be added as an additional record to the current chart database.

Each chart takes just 512 bytes in the file.  The only limit on the number of charts that one file can hold is a limit presented by the program's Saved Charts List Box control which loads and displays all of the chart names and record numbers from the pointer file (e.g., charts.ptr).  In 32-bit Windows, list box controls appear to allow as many as 32,767 items.

Once you have specified the file name, clicking on OK will append the chart to that file.  Clicking on Cancel at any time will return you to the Chart Information Screen without saving the chart.


File  Write Chart to dBase File

This selection will save the currently displayed chart to a dBase format database file.  This way, you can append a chart to an already converted dBase file, or create a new dBase file containing only the current chart.

You will be presented with a standard Windows file selection dialog.  The file name chosen should consist of a file name of no more than eight letters with an extension of ".dbf" (e.g. charts.dbf).

Some companies referred to the generic dBase format as XBase.  The procedure for opening a dBase format database with the Microsoft Access database program is to create or open a file and select Import, whereupon if you have done a full Access installation on your computer, you will see dBase as one of the available format types.


File  Save Screen as Text File

Using this option, you can save whatever tabular report is on the screen to an ASCII text file.  A change from earlier versions is that the program will place the complete subject birth data and chart type legend at the start of the text file.  This option is not available when a graphic wheel is displayed.

The program will present you with a standard Windows file selection dialog.  The long filename that you enter must end with an extension of ".txt" (e.g. frankdavisaspects.txt).  If you do not enter ".txt", the program will automatically append that to the file name.  When a tabular report such as the Aspects List or Chart Analysis is displayed, the entire table will be saved to the selected file.  It is not necessary to highlight the table before saving to a text file.  The resulting file can be edited with Windows Notepad, Wordpad, or a word processing program—it cannot be accessed by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  For information on copying a table or graphic wheel to the Clipboard see  Edit  Copy to Clipboard.


Save Chart as ASCII Wheel

The program will save to a text file a chartwheel that is made of all ASCII characters, suitable for sending in the body of e-mail messages.  Asterisk characters make up the chartwheel circle and house cusps.  The subject's name and birthdata appears at the chart center, with the place coordinates, time zone, house system, zodiac type, name of birthplace, remarks, and source of the birth data if you have entered that at More Chart Data.  The ASCII wheel is 71 characters wide and 29 rows high.  If more than six planets need to print within a particular house, the remaining planet positions will print on an Overflow line at the bottom of the chart.

The program will present you with a standard Windows file selection dialog.  The long filename that you enter must end with an extension of ".txt" (e.g. frankdavisaspects.txt).  If you do not enter ".txt", the program will automatically append that to the file name.

For more information about sending charts by e-mail, see the Using AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter chapter, under ASCII Chartwheels for Pasting into E-Mail.


Save Chart as HTML Wheel

This option to save the chart wheel as a web page HTML file is at the Chart Information Screen's File menu.  You can save to any file name as long as the file ends with the .htm extension.  Version 6 makes an improvement to the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) wheel of version 5, discovering how to hard code spaces into the character-based wheel instead of resorting to underline characters.  The created file includes HTML tags to display the wheel in the browser's fixed pitch font so that everything lines up regularly.  You can change the <TITLE> element in the <HEAD> section from the default "Astrology Chart".  You can also change the background color in the <BODY> section from the default light yellow.  Or you can just copy and paste the content lines below these elements into an existing page that already has its own elements.


Save Screen as Image File

Users can now save graphic charts directly to compressed image files for display at a web site or for attaching to e-mail messages.  If you are displaying either the Chart wheel or the Graphic Aspects wheel to the screen, you can click on File, Save Screen as Image File.  You can see the available image file format types in the Save as Type listbox at the bottom of this Save As dialog.  These types include: PNG (Portable Network Graphics); GIF (Compuserve Graphic Image File); JPG (JPEG); BMP (Windows BitMap); PCX (PCX); TIF (TIFF - Tagged Image File Format); and WMF (Windows Metafile).  The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image format that is listed first is not as well known as the GIF or JPG format, but it works fine with both the Netscape and Microsoft browsers.  I believe that for the PNG and JPG types to capture correctly, the number of screen colors needs to be set to at least 256 colors.

The saved images are bitmap images, not vector images.  Even the WMF save option merely encapsulates a bitmap image in a Windows MetaFile.  The program uses the following 32-bit control to save these images:

TwistedPixel Imaging Control v0.95

Copyright Bananas Software Inc 1996-1998

All Rights Reserved.

For more information about saving and using graphic chart files, see the Using AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter chapter, under Graphic Image Files.


Save Page as Image File

Users can now direct printed graphic chartwheel pages directly to compressed image files for display at a web site or for attaching to e-mail messages.  Unlike the previous screen wheel files, these files have the same format as the chartwheel pages that the program sends to the printer.  For example, if you are displaying the Graphic Aspects wheel, then the page image file will include the triangular grid of aspects at the bottom of the image.  These high resolution image files are ideal for desktop publishing, in which a page must merge text and professional-appearing graphics in a printable file.

For more information about saving and using graphic chart files, see the previous topic, Save Screen as Image File, and also see the Using AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter chapter, under Graphic Image Files.


Save Page as Image File with Grids

This menu selection will only be enabled when you have a regular chartwheel on the screen.  This selection will cause the program to print to an image file such as GIF, PNG, or JPG a printed-page style wheel with a triangular aspects grid at the bottom, together with grids with the sign and planet glyph names.  The wheel image will be in color if you have color printing turned on at Customization, Chart Colors, Planet & Chart Colors.  The wheel image will include the Courtesy Block in the upper right corner if you have that turned on at Customization, Print Courtesy.


Save Birth Data to XML File

This will write the birth data for the currently displayed chart to a file with human readable XML tags.  If you want to share data with another astrologer, send them this file.  It will have all the information that they need to accurately recreate the chart.  If they have AstrolDeluxe or another program that supports this file format, they will be able to automatically import the XML file, but even if they don't have such a program, all of the data is in readable form.

If you export to a new file name, AstrolDeluxe will immediately write the chart to a file similar to the above example.  If you choose an existing XML file, the program will read the existing charts into a Windows TreeView control, similar to how Windows Explorer shows you your computer's directories and files, with the present chart at the bottom below the existing charts, and you can click either on Add Chart to XML File or you can click on Cancel.  For more information, see Exchange Chart Data with Other Astrologers.


File  Return to Compatible Chart Screen

This selection is only available when you have displayed a list of compatible charts.  Clicking on this item will return you to the Chart Comparison Screen where you can change your comparison criteria.


File  Return to Search Screen

This selection is only available when you have double-clicked on the name of a person in the list of charts displayed at Options, Search for Charts.  Clicking on this item will return you to the Search for Charts screen where you can select to see the chart of another one of your search results, perform a new search, or close that screen.


File  Compare This Chart to Another

Use this selection to compare another chart to the currently displayed chart by means of a double wheel chart.    You will be returned to the Natal Information Screen where you may choose another saved chart from the Chart List Box, click on the Here & Now button for Current Transits, or enter new chart information. The Natal Information title bar caption will change to show that you are in compare mode.  If you wish to cancel the process at this point, click on the Cancel Button on the Natal Information Screen.

Once you have the second chart information selected, click on the Calculate Button and a double wheel chart will be displayed on the Chart Information Screen showing the first chart on the inside circle and the second chart on the outside circle.  The houses will be those of the first chart.  For more information on displaying compared chart data see Display  Synastry and  Display  Composite Chart - All Midpoints.

If you have just derived a chart at the Options menu, such as a Return chart or a Progressed chart, the menu item caption will be something like Compare Return Chart to Natal Chart.  In the case of a derived chart, the program will instantly create a double wheel, with the natal chart at the center and the planets of the derived chart in the outer circle and in the houses of the natal chart.

You can continue to compare the first chart to successive charts as long as you wish.  If you wish to return to the Natal Information Screen without doing any other chart comparisons, click on the File  Return to Natal Info Screen menu selection.


File  Compare to Third Chart

This choice to create a triple wheel will appear on the File menu after you have created the double wheel by comparing two charts.  You will commonly compare to a third chart such as a Here & Now transits chart after you have told the program to create a double wheel by comparing a derived chart to the natal chart.  If you wish, however, the outer wheel can be any chart that you enter or that you have previously saved and now select from the Saved Chart Listbox.  The triple wheel is for visual display and printing only; the Display menu will have no synastry tables available after creating the triple wheel.  For more information, see Create a Triple Wheel.


File  Return to Natal Info Screen

Use this selection to return to the Natal Information Screen in order to choose a new chart or to perform any of the other functions located there.  Pressing the Escape key in the upper left corner of your keyboard will accomplish the same thing.  So will clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the screen window.


File  Print

Use the File  Print menu selection to print whatever data is currently being displayed on the Chart Information Screen.

If a graphic wheel is displayed, it will be drawn at printer resolution, to your Windows selected printer.  If the graphic aspects wheel is displayed for a chart, then the printed version only will show the triangular aspects grid at the bottom of the page.  If tabular data is being displayed, it will be printed in an attractively formatted document.  Both will be accompanied by the subject's birth information, the chosen House System, Zodiac, and type of node if you selected this planet option.

The printed pages can display your name, address and phone if you enter this information and turn on printing at Print Courtesy on the Customization menu.

More:

Printing Multiple Copies

Printing in Color


Printing Multiple Copies

When you print from the Chart Information Screen, File menu, Print option, you will get a Print Dialog box that will show a little Copies box where you can change the number of copies from the default 1 to be 2 or higher.  The number in the Copies box will only appear in black and be changeable for those printer devices such as laser printers that support the multiple copies option.  Most ink-jet and dot matrix printers do not support multiple copies and so a gray number 1 appears in the Copies box.  The nice thing about this Windows feature is that the computer does not take any additional time to generate the extra copy.


Printing in Color

Turn this on at the Natal Information Screen under Customization, Chart Colors, Planet & Chart Colors by clicking on the checkbox Print in Color.


File  Print with Grids

This menu selection will only be enabled when you have a regular chartwheel on the screen.  This selection will cause the wheel to print with a triangular aspects grid and grids with the sign and planet glyph names at the bottom of the printed chart page.


File  Printer Setup

Use this option to access a Windows common dialog screen allowing you to change your default printer or access your printer's setup driver for more specific print adjustments.  As examples, the printer may allow printing graphics at different resolutions, which you can adjust when you want to print fast draft copies, or if you have a black & white laser or inkjet printer, the driver may allow different types of gray scaling of the chart center color image.  As another example, those users with a FAX modem compatible with Windows can select their FAX modem as the printer in order to FAX reports or charts to a recipient.

Additional printer adjustments are available in Windows at Start, Settings, Printers.  For example, if you find that your printer ejects the graphic chartwheel page before all the information is printed, go to  Printers.  Once the window opens,  make sure that your printer is highlighted and click on File, Properties, and select Details.  Increase the Transmission Retry to 90 or higher.

For more information about handling printing problems, see Printing Problems.


File  Exit Program

Use this selection to Exit the program.  If there is a new chart on the screen, you will be prompted to save it.  If you choose Cancel at this point you can then save the chart.  Otherwise the program will end.


Edit Menu

The Edit Menu allows you to select and copy information to the Windows Clipboard.  It also lets you swap the order of charts in a double wheel, display the chart in a different language, rotate or rectify the chart, including Astro Clock rotation, and see or edit the fields of the More Chart Data about this person and their chart.

More:

Edit  Select All

Edit  Copy to Clipboard

Edit  Copy Text Report to Clipboard

Swap Inner/Outer Charts on Double Wheel

Different Language

Rotate/Rectify Chart

Edit More Chart Data


Edit  Select All

This selection is available when tabular data is displayed.

Although you can select or highlight data to be copied to the Clipboard by pressing the left mouse button and dragging across the tabular data displayed on screen, it can be tedious when the table is larger than the screen.  This selection allows you to select the entire table at the click of a button.


Edit  Copy to Clipboard

Data copied to the Windows Clipboard can be pasted into any Windows application which has a Paste command.  For example, tabular data can be pasted into an Excel spreadsheet or a Microsoft Word for Windows document.  The on-screen graphic wheels can be pasted into a Microsoft Word for Windows document or into a Windows Paint bitmap.

More:

Tabular Information

Graphic Wheel


Tabular Information

After highlighting the data you wish to copy using the mouse or the Edit  Select All menu selection, clicking on Copy to Clipboard will copy all highlighted data to the Windows Clipboard.  Depending on the nature of the tabular report, the receiving program will treat the data as text or numeric (see the discussion  Display  Planet & House Table.)


Graphic Wheel

There is no need to highlight or select anything when copying a graphic wheel to the clipboard.  When the chart wheel or graphic aspects are displayed, clicking on Copy to Clipboard copies the wheel as well as the subject's natal information, House System name and Zodiac style.  When pasted into a Windows application, the Clipboard's contents are treated as a Windows bitmap picture.  Many customers want to capture the chartwheel image to a file or transfer it into a word processing document.

The simplest way to copy the graphic wheel to an image file with this new program version is by using the File menu option, Save Screen as Image File.  Click here to read about this.

It is also possible to Paste directly into a word processing document.  Use AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter's Edit menu to copy the graphic wheel to the Windows clipboard.  Then minimize AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter to an icon by clicking on the minimize button at the program's top right corner.  (Find this icon on the task bar and restore it when you are ready to return.)  Start your Windows word processing program and open your document.  Position your mouse cursor at the desired document location and click on Edit and Paste.  You can drag and resize the image.  To change the properties of a selected image in Microsoft Word, click on Format, Picture. The chart image may look rough on the screen, but the printed resolution on a laser printer will be good even for a size of 2 1/2 inches for the entire reduced chartwheel.

The resolution of the screen graphic chartwheel will vary with the resolution at which you are running Windows.  The chartwheel will be a finer image made up of more pixels if your Windows display is set for SuperVGA (800x600) as opposed to VGA (640x480).


Edit  Copy Text Report to Clipboard

This option will copy not just the grid contents but also the subject's birth information and chart type legend to the clipboard.  This can be useful when you are on-line and want to quickly paste someone's complete chart information into an e-mail message.  Select the Display option for Planet and House Table, and then select Edit, Copy Text Report to Clipboard.


Swap Inner/Outer Charts on Double Wheel

After you have used Compare This Chart to Another from the File menu of the Chart Information screen to create a double wheel of two charts, there will be an option on the Edit menu, Swap Inner/Outer Charts.  This causes the chart that was in the outer circle to move to the inner circle and its houses to be used for the double wheel chart.  The planets of the inner chart move to the outer circle.  This lets you quickly see the mutual planet house placements for the two charts.  The swapping is for the visual wheel only, not for charts 1 and 2 in the synastry tables, which keep their positions.  The first chart that you start with will always be the one to which you compare when you select Compare This Chart to Another.  You can use this to also swap inner/outer charts after comparing a return chart or a progressed chart to its natal chart.


Different Language

You can now display and print chart wheels in Spanish and other languages.  When you have a single chartwheel displayed, you can now click on Edit, Different Language.  This will give you a listbox of the available different languages.  English and Spanish will appear, at a minimum.  Selecting the language will cause the text that displays and prints for the Chart and Graphic Aspects wheel pages to switch to that language.  The rest of the astrology program will remain in English.  This will allow astrologers who print the new Spanish-language Personal Path natal interpretation reports to accompany these written reports with Spanish language chartwheels.

The language used for the date of birth is determined by what language the user has selected at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Regional Settings.

The program is reading from language files that are named ASTTEXTD.ENG and ASTTEXTD.SPA for the English and Spanish files.  When you select a preferred language, the program copies one of these files to ASTTEXTD.INI, from which the program then gets certain messages and captions.  These files are identical to the ASTTEXT.??? files that volunteers have created for the hobbyist-level Astrology for Windows program, except that the house systems in messages 300 to 309 have been filled in, and more messages have been added from 361 to 382.  These files are plain text files that you can use Windows Notepad to view and edit.  So, looking at the English and Spanish examples provided, it should be easy for any customer who wants chartwheels in a different language to copy and add to one of the other 13 language files that come with the Astrology for Windows program that is a free download from http://www.halloran.com/.


Rotate/Rectify Chart

Selecting the Rotate/Rectify Chart feature gives you a pop-up form at the center of the screen that lets you rotate the chart in time, moving either the month, day, year, hour, minute, or second with a backward and forward spin button control.  You can rotate a displayed chart by a selected amount if it is a normal, calculated chart (as opposed to a derived chart from the Options menu, except that the program lets you rotate a return chart).  You can even rotate the transiting planets in the outer circle of a double or triple wheel chart.  The rotating chart can also be a single or double Graphic Aspects wheel, if you have this selected.

For the date or time unit that you want to change, click on its icon button in order to use the spin button to the left in order to move that unit forward or backward.  The pop-up form also shows you the zodiac sign, degree, minute, and second for both the Midheaven (M.C.) and the Ascendant angles.  Just as with the time units, you can either change the angle position directly by changing the text in the text box (the program will recalculate the other fields when you tab out of the text box that you changed) or you can select that unit by clicking on its icon and use the spin button control to its left to move the angle to a particular degree or minute.

There are four command buttons on the Rotate Chart form - Cancel, Auto, Redraw, and OK.  Click on either the Redraw or OK button to recalculate and display the chart for the changed time - the difference between the two is that Redraw leaves the Rotate Chart form on the screen while OK says to get rid of the pop-up form.

If you want to see something on the chart that is hidden underneath the Rotate Chart form, you can grab the form's title bar with the mouse and move the Rotate Chart form around on the screen.

More:

Auto Calculate/Animate Feature

Astro Clock


Auto Calculate/Animate Feature

To see the program automatically move the chart forward or backward and refresh the screen, you use the Auto button at Edit, Rotate/Rectify Chart.  By default, if you first click on the Auto button, the chart will increment forward one day at a time about every four seconds.  But if you select a different date, time, or angle unit and click forward or backward on that unit's spin button, the program will remember that and the Auto Animate feature will increment forward or backward by that amount.  With Auto on, there will be a tool bar above the chart form which has a Slow/Fast speed scroll bar - this lets you increase or decrease the time in between screen refreshes.  If you click on the Manual button on this toolbar, Auto mode will end and the Rotate Chart form will reappear.  If you click on Cancel, you will leave Rotate/Rectify Chart and Auto mode altogether.


Astro Clock

You can make the rotating screen show you the changing positions of the planets and houses for your current location and time according to your computer's system clock by checking the Astro Clock checkbox that is on the toolbar that appears during single-chart Auto mode.  When you check Astro Clock, the program will switch from whatever chart you have to a Current Transits chart for the location that you have entered at Customization, User Information.  It will refresh approximately every five seconds.  If you try to change the speed, you will leave Astro Clock mode.  If you try to click on any of the menus, you will leave Astro Clock mode.  You can make sure that your computer system clock is synchronized to the correct time by using the built-in function to connect to the NIST that is provided in the Utilities menu at the Natal Information Screen.


Edit More Chart Data

If you have the More Chart Data turned on towards the bottom of the Customization menu, then this form can now be brought up from a choice on the Chart Information Screen's Edit menu, instead of just from the button underneath the Remarks field of the Natal Information Screen, as in previous program versions.  The More Chart Data allows you to enter a saved chart's Data Source and Rating Class, dated Life History events, the client's Address and Phone Information, three Notes, and a multiparagraph Memo about the chart or client.


Display Menu

The Display Menu allows you to choose which chart information to display.

More:

Display  Chart

Display  Graphic Aspects

Display  Aspects List

Display Angles

Display Midpoints

Display Midpoint/Planet Aspects

Display Arabic Parts

Display Arabic Part/Planet Aspects

Display Sensitive Points

Display Sensitive Point/Planet Aspects

Display Asteroids

Display Asteroid/Planet Aspects

Display Declination Aspects

Display  Planets/Houses Aspects

Supplemental Calculations

Display  Chart Analysis

Display  Rise/Set Times

Display  Table for Primary Directions

Display  Prime Vertical Chart

Display  Harmonic/Modulus Charts

Display  Planet & House Table

Display  Synastry

Display  Synastry Transits

Display  MidPoint/Planet Synastry

Display  Arabic Part/Planet Synastry

Display  Sensitive Point/Planet Synastry

Display  Planet/Asteroid Synastry

Display  Asteroid/Planet Synastry

Display  Declination Synastry

Display  Planets/Houses Synastry

Display  Houses/Planets Synastry

Display  Composite Chart - All Midpoints

Display  Composite Chart - Derived Ascendant

Display  Combined Chart


Display  Chart

When the Chart Information Screen first appears, the default initial display is to draw the current chart.  If you have displayed any of the other chart information and you wish to redisplay the chart wheel, click on Display Chart.  The chart wheel will be redrawn.


Display  Graphic Aspects

To see graphic aspect lines between the planets, click on Display Graphic Aspects.  This will draw the chart in the form of a zodiac proportional wheel, with colored lines showing the aspects between the planets in the center of the wheel.  You can customize the colors of the twelve zodiac signs as well as the colors of the aspect lines at Customization, Chart Colors, Sign & Aspect Colors.  By default, light blue lines indicate the conjunction (0°), trine (120°), and sextile (60°) aspects.  Light red lines indicate the opposition (180°), square (90°), semisquare (45°), sesquiquadrate (135°), and semi-octile (22.5°) aspects.  Black lines indicate the inconjunct (150°) (also known as quincunx) aspect.  Brown or dark yellow lines indicate the quintile (72°), biquintile (144°), and semisextile (30°) aspects.  Green lines indicate the septile (51.429°), biseptile (102.857°), and triseptile (154.286°) aspects.  Green lines indicate novile (40°), binovile (80°), quatrinovile (160°), vigintile (18°), decile (36°), tredecile (108°) and quindecile (165°) aspects.  Note that you must customize the natal aspect orbs to see the septile, biseptile, triseptile, novile, binovile, quatrinovile, vigintile, semi-octile, decile, tredecile and quindecile aspects as the program comes with their orbs set to zero.  The style of line also changes depending on whether the aspects are major or minor aspects.  Solid lines indicate the conjunction, opposition, trine, and square aspects.  Dashed lines indicate the sextile, semisquare, and sesquiquadrate aspects.  A dash-dot line indicates the inconjunct aspect.  A dash-dot-dot line indicates the septile, biseptile, and triseptile aspects.  Dotted lines indicate the quintile, biquintile, semisextile, novile, binovile, quatrinovile, vigintile, semi-octile, decile, tredecile, and quindecile aspects.   The program draws the symbols of the aspects on top of the lines for all except the conjunction.  A table of these symbols appears in the Appendix.  If you want more information about a planet's aspects, double click on the planet's glyph to call up the "Aspects of a Single Planet Window".

To see aspects come in and out of focus depending on how exact they are, click on the left and right arrows of the Aspect Orb Width scroll bar.  The aspects shown with the orb width set at 100% will be those whose orbs are less than the program's currently set natal orb widths.  You can change these settings at Customization, Aspect Orbs.  The default orb values are shown in the aspect table in the next section Display  Aspects List.  If you scroll to 20%, the screen will only show aspects whose orbs are 20% or less of the normal natal orb widths, and which are thus the most exact aspects in the chart.  If you have a slow display, wait for the aspect lines to be redrawn each time you click to make a change.

Click on the check boxes in the Aspect Types frame in order to eliminate Major or Minor aspects, Harmonious or Inharmonious aspects.

If you display the single planet aspects window by double clicking on a planet, the listed aspects will reflect your current setting of the Aspect Types check boxes and the Aspect Orb Width scroll bar.  If you then change the value of one of these controls, you must double click again on the planet glyph to update the contents of the aspect window.

The program will remember how the aspect controls are set when you close the Chart Information Screen, on the assumption that you want to keep your preferred settings.  This is only a problem if you uncheck all of the Aspect Types or set the Aspect Orb Width scroll bar to 0 %, because then when you return to the graphic aspects wheel, you may not remember why it has no aspect lines.

More:

Grid of Aspects, House Cusps, and Planets


Grid of Aspects, House Cusps, and Planets

The triangular grid of aspects between the planets which is traditional for hand-drawn horoscope blanks will print beneath the single chart Graphic Aspects Wheel if you select File  Print....  Aspect symbols appear in the rows and columns of this grid, allowing you to read up and across to see the planets that are in aspect.  Two other sets of columns show the exact house cusp positions and planet zodiac positions.  This is the only program printout, other than the Planet and House Table in 360° format, which shows the Sun and Moon longitudes to the arc-second.  The graphic section of this printout has been kept free of words, showing nothing but symbols, for those right-brain-oriented astrologers who like to intuitively synthesize a chart from the symbols only.  For those customers who have color printers, it is also the most colorful, using your chart circle color selection as the basic foreground color.


Display  Aspects List

To see a tabular, sortable list of all the planetary aspects within a chart, click on Display Aspects List.  A three column table will appear showing the planetary aspects, the angles between the two subject planets, and the orb showing how exact is the aspect.  You can also display the list of aspects of a single planet by double clicking on that planet's symbol in the chart wheel.  For more information on displaying the aspects of a single planet see  Aspect Window for Single Planets.

The program uses the following aspects, angles, and default orbs to calculate and print eleven natal aspects between the planets.

Abbr.	Aspects	Angles	Orb of Lights	Orb of Planets
CJN	Conjunction	0 degrees	7 degrees	6 degrees
OPP	Opposition	180 degrees	7 degrees	6 degrees
TRI	Trine	120 degrees	7 degrees	6 degrees
SQR	Square	90 degrees	7 degrees	6 degrees
SXT	Sextile	60 degrees	5 degrees	4 degrees
SSQ	Semisquare	45 degrees	2 degrees	2 degrees
SES	Sesquiquadrate	135 degrees	2 degrees	2 degrees
INC	Inconjunct	150 degrees	2 degrees	2 degrees
QTL	Quintile	72 degrees	2 degrees	2 degrees
BQT	Biquintile	144 degrees	2 degrees	2 degrees
SSX	Semisextile	30 degrees	2 degrees	2 degrees
The Orb of Lights is used whenever the sun, moon, or ascendant is one of the aspecting bodies.  The Orb of Planets is used whenever the aspect is formed between two other planets.  If you prefer different size orbs, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter allows you to change orbs (for more information see the section "Customization  Aspect Orbs" ).  To eliminate an aspect, customize its orb to zero.

This same customization screen allows you to add additional minor aspects by increasing their orbs from the default 0° values, for a total of 22 aspects, not including the parallel and contraparallel declination aspects.

More:

Internal Communication Index

Sort by Orbs


Internal Communication Index

The normal range of the Internal Communication Index (ICI) is from 50 to 70, but it can be as low as 25 and as high as 150.  This is with the default number of planets.  If you customize the program to turn on additional planet points or if you increase the aspect orb widths, then these numbers will increase.  This index is simply the sum of intensities of all the aspects listed for an individual chart.  The intensity of an aspect depends upon the closeness of its orb.  A person who has a lot of close aspects is going to have more communication between the personality functions expressed by the planets than is a person whose planets do not aspect each other.  The index may indicate the richness of one's inner experience or the complexity of one's personality.

Some believe that people with a very high ICI feel overwhelmed by inputs and feel "crowded" by their many planetary aspects.  A high ICI can make it necessary to filter out high-intensity experiences.  This is more true if there are a lot of planets in the introverted Earth signs and Water signs than in the extroverted Fire signs and Air signs.

People with a low ICI feel more free space in their environments. They are less likely to feel crowded, but they're also less likely to feel motivated or driven.


Chart Information Screen - Display  Aspects List - Sort by Orbs
Sort by Orbs

After you have displayed the aspects for a chart, you have the option of clicking the Sort by Orbs button below the list box or of triggering it by pressing Alt-S.  The program will think for awhile and then redisplay the aspects with the most exact at the top of the list.


Display Angles

Display Angles is similar to Display Aspects List except that it lists the angles between all the planets whether they are a formal aspect or not.

This can be handy if, for example, you want to find out for any chart what is the angular distance between the Sun and Moon for the sake of Jonas fertility cycles.  Once you have this angle, then you would use Halloran Software's TimeSearch program to produce a list of dates and times when the Sun and Moon will again have this angular relationship.


Display Midpoints

Between the sun, moon, planets, ascendant, and midheaven there are 66 midpoints.  Midpoints are also called Half-Sums, because you can arrive at a midpoint by adding the longitudes of the two planets and then dividing in half.  Astrologers are generally interested in the nearest of the two midpoints, which is what the program displays.  If you customize the program to include the moon's nodes there are 91 midpoints.  If you select all the planet points, the program will display 231 separate midpoints.  If you customize it to ignore the ascendant and midheaven, or if a chart is calculated for an unknown birth time, 45 midpoints will display for just the sun, moon, and planets.


Display Midpoint/Planet Aspects

This selection will display a table of aspects between the planets and the midpoints.  You can customize which aspects are used and their orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Midpoints.  The default is to use one-degree orbs to display conjunction, opposition, square, semisquare, sesquiquadrate, and semi-octile aspects between the planets and midpoints.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays in the order of the aspecting planets.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the midpoints' zodiac location.

If you double-click on a line, you will get a pop-up form with Alfred Witte's interpretation of that planet to midpoint combination.


Display Arabic Parts

This selection will display the locations of all the Arabic Parts for this chart which are defined in your currently selected Arabic Parts file.  See Customization, Arabic Parts.  This Display menu selection will not be available for unknown time charts, due to the need for the Ascendant longitude in most Arabic Part formulas.  The display will consist of an alphabetically sorted list in three columns, showing 1) the name of the part, 2) the zodiac location, and 3) the house number.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location - if you click on it or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the parts' zodiac location.  If you click once on any of the displayed parts, a small yellow window will appear for several seconds that shows you that part's formula.  For example, if you click on a row with the part of Organization, the pop-up help will show that the formula for this part is Asc + Plu - Sun.


Display Arabic Part/Planet Aspects

This selection will display a table of aspects between the planets and the Arabic Parts.  You can customize which aspects are used and their orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Arabic Parts.  The default is to use one-degree orbs to display only the conjunction, opposition, square, and trine aspects between the planets and Arabic Parts.  The table will normally use spelled-out names for the planets, aspects, and signs.  If you have purchased, installed, and turned on an astrological font such as the Halloran TrueType Font, the table will display in a more compact form featuring the astrological glyphs.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays the aspected Arabic Parts in alphabetical order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the parts' zodiac location.  If you click once on any of the displayed parts, a small yellow window will appear for several seconds that shows you that part's formula.


Display Sensitive Points

Display the position of all the Sensitive Points in the chart by selecting Display, Sensitive Points.  When you double-click on any of the sensitive points, a pop-up form will appear which contains Alfred Witte's interpretations for that point taken from his Rules for Planetary Pictures book.

Halloran Software purchased the routine to calculate the 1381 sensitive points from New Orleans astrologer Grant Weisbrot.  These sensitive points can be used to calculate the planetary pictures introduced by Alfred Witte (born Mar. 2, 1878, 9:12 pm, Hamburg, Germany; died Aug. 4, 1941 in Hamburg), founder of the Hamburg School of Astrology which led to cosmobiology (Witte is pronounced Vitt-uh).  The program uses the 10 planets, the Ascendant, Midheaven, Aries point and Moon's North Node to calculate 1379 sensitive points which it lists together with the Vertex(VX) longitude and the Mean Point(MP) of all the above planet longitudes.  Aside from the longitudes of the planets themselves, and their midpoints, the majority of sensitive points are of the Arabic Part type, from the formula A+B-C, but they are more numerous than the familiar Arabic Parts which typically set just the Ascendant as point A in the A+B-C formula.

Modern astrologers are a little more familiar with Reinhold Ebertin (rhymes with neighbor-teen), Witte's successor, and author of the popular midpoint interpretation manual, The Combination of Stellar Influences (COSI).  Ebertin built upon Alfred Witte's original research and findings regarding aspect combinations involving up to three planet points.

Grant writes as follows:

{begin quote}

I agree that Ebertin's COSI is a good book, but realize that as Ebertin expanded the interpretations, he also *simplified* the method of Witte.

The Witte method is to find Planetary Pictures: A = X+Y-B.

Midpoints are a study in astrological algebra. The terminology is --

Sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X + Y

Difference (or Aspect) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X - Y

Midpoint (or Half-Sum) . . . . . . . . . . . (X + Y) / 2, written as  X/Y

Sensitive Point (or Arabian Part) . . . . . . . . . . . X + Y - A

Planetary Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B = X + Y - A

The easiest way to find such pictures is to systematically analyze each midpoint axis. If it is found that two or more midpoints share the same axis, then a series of Planetary Pictures have been discovered.

Besides equal midpoints, one may find Planetary Pictures by equal aspects, equal sums, or equal differences. The use of a 360º or 90º dial (so important in the Ebertin/Witte system) facilitates the midpoint method for finding the Planetary Pix, but I am afraid that movable dial work has been tossed out the window along with the bath water AND the baby, in favor of computer analysis. This is not bad, but the computer can miss obvious patterns. Many, if not most of the time, I find Planetary Pictures that are visibly apparent, but missed by the computer because of the orb.  For example a Grand Trine or Square, or a T-Square, or some obvious three-planet configuration is a definite Planetary Picture.

Since we are talking Midpoints --

What you should be looking for are Midpoints that equal a planet: A = X/Y

Also equal Midpoints: A/B = X/Y

In the first case, you will get the planetary pictures:

A = X + Y - A

X = A + A - Y

Y = A + A - X

because if the Half-Sum (Midpoint) of X/Y=A then doubling gives us X+Y = A+A.

In the second case, you will get the planetary pictures:

A = X + Y - B

B = X + Y - A

X = A + B - Y

Y = A + B - X

Whenever the planet is being activated by transit or direction, then the planetary picture is also being activated.

To read a planetary picture in COSI, say Y = A+B-X, look up A/B, then read the interpretations for =X and =Y, likewise you can look up X/Y and read for =A and =B.

Let's say you have three midpoints that equal each other, then you solve for each planet separately.

A/B = X/Y = O/P

Thus

A = X + Y - B

A = O + P - B

X = A + B - Y

X = O + P - Y

O = A + B - P

O = X + Y - P

and then solving algebraically,

B = X + Y - A

B = O + P - A

Y = A + B - X

Y = O + P - X

P = A + B - O

P = X + Y - O

When any of these four planets are activated, the planetary pictures concerning these four planets are also active.

Midpoints can also be used to find the Sensitive Points -- X+Y-Z -- which are very much like Arabian Parts. The Arabian Part or Sensitive Point completes a Planetary Picture when it is activated by transit or direction or radical planet.

The Witte system also uses the Cardinal Points since they are the Earth's node. Interesting combinations occur if one throws them (AR, CN, LI, CP) into the mix. Then one obtains Sensitive Points based upon Sums (X+Y-AR) and Differences (AR+X-Y), and the Antiscia (AR+AR-X).

{end quote}

Reinhold Ebertin says that the Hamburg School found through experience that the permissible orb for use with sensitive points is only 0 deg. 32 min. on either side (in a footnote following his introduction to COSI).  Grant Weisbrot prefers to use the 16th harmonic and an orb of 0 degrees 6 minutes.

At the end of the Sensitive Points list appears a calculation of their random distribution, for whatever is the current chart's harmonic.  See Dominant Chart Harmonics under Display Chart Analysis for more information.

More:

Pop-Up Form of Alfred Witte's Interpretations


Pop-Up Form of Alfred Witte's Interpretations

When you double-click on any of the sensitive points, a pop-up form will appear which contains Alfred Witte's interpretations for that point taken from his "Rules for Planetary Pictures" book.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter can draw upon English translations of all of Witte's Planetenbilder interpretations because Witte's copyright is no longer in force.  Our English translations are copyright 2000 and may not be redistributed en masse without written permission from Halloran Software.  On a systematic basis, Witte interpreted the meaning of single planet points and combinations of two and three planet points.

In addition to letting you double-click on any point in the Sensitive Points list when you are displaying a single chart, the program also lets you see Witte's interpretations when you select the table of Midpoints or the Midpoint/Planet Aspects or the Sensitive Point/Planet Aspects.  If you double-click on a point that includes an asteroid, nothing will appear, as Witte did not interpret these.  When you are displaying a double wheel comparison of two charts, which can include progressed to natal, Solar Arc to natal, and transits to natal, you can double-click on any item in the Planet/Midpoint Synastry list or the Planet/Sensitive Point Synastry list.  Witte developed many of his interpretations by looking at contacts between planets in a Solar Arc Directions chart and the midpoints of two natal or S.A. planets.  Most interpretations are for the formula X + Y - A, which is suitable for interpreting planets to midpoints, A = X/Y.  You will find it more manageable to stick with the few and appropriate interpretations that you get for Midpoint/Planet Aspects for a single chart or Planet/Midpoint Synastry after comparing two charts, although for the sake of research and completeness the program does list and interpret the huge number of Sensitive Point/Planet Aspects.

Sensitive Point aspects use the same set of orbs defined for Midpoint aspects at Customization, Aspect Orbs.

The pop-up form gives you a total of five command buttons. For research purposes or use in your practice, you can add to or modify any of Witte's interpretations within the text box, up to the record length of 1024 characters, and then click the Save Changes button. The program saves to a file called PLANPIX.DAT (this name differs from the WITTE.DAT distribution file so that you will not lose your edited material when you reinstall the program).

The button Get the Rest causes the text box control to fill with all the interpretations for both the current item and all items further down on the list.  Get the Rest will be enabled on the pop-up form for all the Midpoint aspect lists.  Get the Rest is disabled when you display the many Sensitive Points aspects because the text interpreting all those aspects could exceed the memory capacity of the Windows edit control.  The text for each item will consist of the aspect line as well as Witte's interpretation, e.g.,

"Nep at 06Lib03 SQR Sun/Mar at 06Can10

"SU+MA-NE: The fraudulent active man. The deceived husband. The impotent husband. To lose one's husband. Checkmated, out of action. Fatigue. Loss of employment."

If you are looking at transits to a natal chart, you might want to click on the aspects starting with one of the slower moving planets such as Mars or Jupiter - the Get the Rest button will then give you a report for that planet on out, skipping interpretations for the inner, faster-moving transiting planets in which you are less interested.

When you click on Get the Rest, the pop-up text box will expand in width across the bottom of the screen.  Not only does this make reading the resulting report easier, but it produces lines of text that are suitable for the Print button to send to your printer.

The Copy button will copy the entire contents of the text box to the Windows clipboard without needing to select the contents.  If you did want to copy just part of the text, highlight or select that part and use Windows' Control-C shortcut or Control-Insert shortcut.

The Print button will use the font defined at Customization, Body Text Font, to print the text in the box to the printer.  It will print the normal birth data legend at the top of the first page.  You can alter the margins used for the printed report by using the mouse cursor to grab the right edge of the pop-up screen form and change the width of the form, which includes the text box.

Click on the Close button or on the X at the upper right of the form in order to close the pop-up form.

I ran Witte's report for the list of Midpoint/Planet Aspects for the composite charts of some famous couples who had either tranquil or stormy relationships.  The resulting reports did seem to accurately characterize what is known of these relationships.  So this is a technique that you can try on composite charts in your practice.

I recommend, however, that you keep these reports to yourself, do not give them to the client, on account of Witte uses strong language for the negative aspects which could freak out your clients.

You yourself can edit and delete lines from the text box before you print the text to your printer.


Display Sensitive Point/Planet Aspects

This selection will display a table of aspects between the planets and the sensitive points.  You can customize which aspects are used and their orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Midpoints.  The default is to use one-degree orbs to display only the hard aspects, the conjunction, opposition, square, semisquare, and semi-octile aspects.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays the aspecting planets in normal planet order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the sensitive points' zodiac location, from 0 to 359.  This table sort takes longer than any other table sort.


Display Asteroids

This selection will display as a table the locations of all the asteroids for this chart that are selected at Customization, Asteroids.  The table format lets you display many more asteroids than would fit on a graphic chartwheel.  The display will consist of an alphabetically sorted list in three columns, showing 1) the name and/or glyph of the asteroid and the asteroid's discovery number, 2) its zodiac location, and 3) its house placement number.  The table will normally use only spelled-out names for the asteroids and signs.  If you have purchased, installed, and turned on an astrological font such as the Halloran TrueType Font and its bundled companion, the Halloran Asteroid 1 Font, the table will display with astrological glyphs.  If you have done this, you can control whether you get just the glyph for the asteroid or both the name and the glyph by making this selection at Customization, Asteroids.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location - if you click on it or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the asteroids' zodiac location.


Display Asteroid/Planet Aspects

This selection will display a table of aspects between the planets and the asteroids.  You can customize which aspects are used and their orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs, Asteroids.  The default is to use one-degree orbs to display only the conjunction, opposition, square, and trine aspects between the planets and asteroids.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays the aspected asteroids in alphabetical order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the asteroids' zodiac location, from Aries to Pisces.


Display Declination Aspects

Version 5 moved the declination aspects from the Chart Analysis table to this separate table.  The three columns show the names of the two planets, whether they are parallel or contraparallel, and the actual orb distance of the declination aspect.  If you click on Sort By Orbs, the order will change from planet order to showing the most exact orbs at the top of the table.  The defaults for the declination aspect orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs, are 1.2 degrees (1 degree and 12 minutes).  If you have a font like the Halloran TrueType Font, and have mapped Astrological Fonts and turned on their use, this table can show the parallel and contraparallel aspect glyphs.


Display  Planets/Houses Aspects

This is a table of aspects between the planets and the house cusps.


Supplemental Calculations

This selection will display the declinations of all the planets (that are turned on at Customization, Planets),  the week day of birth, the Julian Day, the sidereal time of birth, and Delta t.

Declinations play an important role in astrodynes calculations.  Astrodynes measure the relative power and harmony of each house, planet, and sign in a person's chart.  AstrolDeluxe saves declinations for all the planets that astrodynes needs in the information for each saved chart.  Halloran Software sells a companion program to AstrolDeluxe which reads in the AstrolDeluxe saved charts file and prints the astrodynes for any chart.

As an aid to astrologers who wish either to check the program's calculations or to recalculate for a different dating system or house system, the supplemental calculations screen displays the Julian Day, local sidereal time, and Delta t for the current chart.  In regard to the dating system, all dates before October 15, 1582 are assumed to be Old Style (Julian Calendar) and all dates after that are assumed to be New Style (Gregorian Calendar).

Click for more information about Delta t.


Display  Chart Analysis

This command creates a report which lists a wide variety of characteristics of a particular chart.

More:

Dignities, Exaltations, Detriments, And Falls

Mutual Reception

Dispositors

Chart Ruler

Planetary Hour Lord

Sign Modalities and Elements

House Modalities and Elements

Angular Planets

Critical Degrees

Moon Phases

Moon Latitude

Moon Distance

Moon Speed

Void-Of-Course Moon

Out of Bounds Planets

Dominant Chart Harmonics


Dignities, Exaltations, Detriments, And Falls

The first section of the Chart Analysis table shows the zodiac and house locations of all the planets and indicates if the planet is in a traditional sign of dignity, exaltation, detriment or fall for that planet.  When a planet is in the sign that it rules, it is in its essential dignity or rulership.  The program does not report on accidental dignities (when a planet is in the house corresponding to the sign that it rules, such as Mercury being in the third house).  A planet in the sign of its rulership expresses its energies easily.  A planet's strength is greatest when the planet is in a sign where it is exalted.  Similarly, its urges have difficulty expressing themselves when the planet is in detriment and are weakest when the planet is in the sign of its fall.


Mutual Reception

When two planets are each in the sign the other rules, they are said to  be in mutual reception (the Astrodynes system also includes planets in mutual exaltation signs).  Such planets gain strength and work together to influence a person.  If their urges are harmonious the result can be helpful; if not, their disharmony can become a source of stress.


Dispositors

A planet disposits another when it rules the sign the other planet is in.  The dispositing planet affects the expression of the disposited planet.  If Mars is in Libra in the fourth house, then the expression of Mars in the fourth house will be tempered by Venus, ruler of Libra. If the chart has a final dispositor, the influence of that planet will be very strong.  As an example of a chart where the sun is the final dispositor, postulate all planets in Leo with the exception that Uranus is in Cancer, moon is in Taurus, Saturn is in Scorpio, and Neptune is in Libra.  Since the dispositors of the last three planets are all in Leo, and the dispositor of Uranus (moon) is disposited by a planet in Leo, then the chart has a final dispositor, namely, the sun.  If you follow the chain of dispositing planets all the way, then a chart could have two final dispositors, such as the program author's chart with Saturn and Pluto as final dispositors.


Chart Ruler

The ruler of the chart is normally the planet ruling the first house's sign.  This is the planet that the program gives.  However, some hold that the ruler is the planet closest to the first house cusp and may even be a planet in the twelfth house that is very close to the ascendant.  The Church of Light researchers, who calculate the power of each planet, house, and sign using the system of astrodynes, consider that the chart ruler is the planet with the most power.  In any case, the urges of the chart ruler color every area of life.  Additionally, many believe that the chart ruler affects our physical appearance.


Planetary Hour Lord

The planetary hours could be as old as the seven day week.  The seven day week was part of Jewish tradition.  Systematic observation of the Sabbath every seventh day may have developed as late as the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C.E.  In Jewish practice, the days of the week were designated by numbers rather than by names, except that day 7 was known as the Sabbath.

The planetary hours are uneven hours in which the time between sunrise and sunset is divided into twelve hour units of equal length.  The twelve night hours are even in length with the twelve day hours only when the sun is at the spring and autumn equinoxes.  The first hour after sunrise is given to the ruler of the day.  Subsequent hours are ruled by the planets according to the Chaldean order, from the slowest planet to the fastest planet (i.e., Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon).  The first hour of the Jewish Sabbath was given to the first and slowest planet, Saturn.  When the Chaldean sequence is followed in uninterrupted order for 24-hour days, the result is our existing planetary rulerships of the days of the week, according to which Saturn rules the first hour of Saturday, the sun rules the first hour of Sunday, the moon rules the first hour of Monday, Mars rules the first hour of Tuesday, Mercury rules the first hour of Wednesday, Jupiter rules the first hour of Thursday, and Venus rules the first hour of Friday.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter calculates the times of sunrise and sunset for the subject's place and date of birth, equally divides the interval into twelve uneven hour units, determines the uneven hour of the subject's birth, and looks up the subject's planetary hour ruler.

The hour lord, as it is also called, figures prominently in horary astrology.


Sign Modalities and Elements

This section lists the distribution of the planets within the signs of a chart based on the signs' modalities and elements.  The modalities listed are Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable.  The elements listed are Fire, Earth, Air and Water.  Each modality or element is listed along with how many planet points fall into the category, and what percentage of the total planet points are in that category.  For the purposes of this list, only physical bodies are considered to be planets.  You can customize the planet points at Customization, Planets, Set Points for Elements and Modalities.

The following table lists the twelve signs of the zodiac with the elements as headings along the left and the modalities as headings along the top.

	Cardinal	Fixed	Mutable
Fire	Aries	Leo	Sagittarius
Earth	Capricorn	Taurus	Virgo
Air	Libra	Aquarius	Gemini
Water	Cancer	Scorpio	Pisces
The program lists the sign modality and element of the Ascendant and Midheaven separately.  Although not planets, the Ascendant and Midheaven can counteract the lack of a sign element or modality.


House Modalities and Elements

This section lists the distribution of the planets within the houses of a chart based on the houses' modalities and elements.  The modalities listed are Angular, Succedent and Cadent.  The elements listed are Life, Substance, Relationships and Endings.  Each modality or element is listed along with how many planets fall into the category, and what percentage of the planets are included in the category.

The following table lists the twelve houses of the chart with the elements as headings along the left and the modalities as headings along the top.

	Angular	Succedent	Cadent
Life	First	Fifth	Ninth
Substance	Tenth	Second	Sixth
Relationships	Seventh	Eleventh	Third
Endings	Fourth	Eighth	Twelfth


Angular Planets

Planets and asteroids are angular if they lie within five degrees of the ascendant- descendant or the midheaven-Imum Coeli axes.  A planet's effects are more pronounced if the planet is angular.


Critical Degrees

There are twenty-eight points in a chart that are said to be the mansions of the moon and therefore critical:

Cardinal signs: 0 degrees 00 minutes; 12 degrees 51 minutes; 25 degrees 43 minutes

Fixed signs: 8 degrees 34 minutes; 21 degrees 26 minutes

Mutable signs: 4 degrees 17 minutes; 17 degrees 09 minutes

The influences of planets or points that lie within one degree of these  mansions are much strengthened.  The concept is heavily used in Eastern astrology, e.g., Arabic, Hindu, and Chinese systems.


Moon Phases

There are eight possible phases the moon can be in.  Each phase tends  to influence those people born under it.  Depending on the phase, the subject of a chart will be:

New -- impulsive; emotionally vulnerable; receptive; more instinctive than logical; likely to act without thinking; motivated by deep inner needs; prone to see in others his own feelings or traits; lacking in perspective; unobjective; inclined to believe true what he wants to be true.

Crescent -- independent; self-possessed; self-assertive; likely to take the lead in social relationships; in need of reconciling past emotional experiences with future expectations while letting neither dominate.

First Quarter -- likely to solve a crisis by taking action; self-expressive; in need of making the world aware of him; desirous of getting ahead, which may make him selfish.

Gibbous -- likely to question the meaning behind experiences; interested in growth and progress; prone to take a philosophic or humanistic approach; inclined to sympathize with social causes.

Waning (Full) -- objective about himself; desirous of going beyond personal needs and giving to others; intensely aware of other people's needs and motivations; adept at compromise; possibly desirous of self-gratification which may lead him to distort reality.

Disseminating -- a crusader and possibly a fanatic with an overwhelming need to share new ideas and experiences.

Last Quarter -- determined; oriented to some ideal; likely to consider principles extremely important and will want to apply them practically; a forceful personality with a tendency to be inflexible; prone to take criticism poorly.

Balsamic -- prophetic; committed to a philosophy or cause; humanitarian; preoccupied with future reform; dissatisfied with present conditions; able to sacrifice his own well-being for the sake of a greater benefit or cause; possibly fanatic, with his emotions or intellect in poor balance.


Moon Latitude

Knowing the moon's latitude tells you how much control of his life a person is likely to have.  The greater the latitude, the more control.  Two to three degrees is average - it's under one degree of latitude that causes problems.  Additionally, a moon with a south latitude gives you reliance on inner power and a sense of inner mission.  A moon with a north latitude makes you an outward-bound sort, a person likely to seek prestige and status.


Moon Distance

The distance between the earth and moon varies from 407,000 kilometers at apogee to 356,000 kilometers at perigee.  Eclipses are total when the moon is at perigee, but are only annular when the moon is at apogee.  Richard Nolle calls any syzygy (conjunction or opposition) when the moon is in perigee a Supermoon.  He says that they occur several times a year and that they coincide with storms, seismic activity, and floods.


Moon Speed

The average speed of the moon is 13 degrees 10 minutes a day.  A moon that covers more distance than this in twenty-four hours is said to be a fast moon; less, a slow moon.  The speed of someone's moon affects his emotional responses.  A fast moon makes feelings run high.  Perceptions are alert and the person rushes eagerly to meet life.  A slow moon induces deliberation—emotional responses will be cautious.  The moon's speed can also be compared with that of Mercury to learn the kind of mentality a person is likely to have.  Just as the moon speed tells us about emotional responses, Mercury's tells us about intellectual habits.  Mercury is considered fast if it reaches the ascendant before the sun (clockwise from sun), slow if it follows the sun. A glance at a chart will tell this immediately.  If either the moon or Mercury is fast and the other slow, the person's mentality is said to be balanced.  If both are fast or both slow, the mentality reflects that condition.


Void-Of-Course Moon

The Chart Analysis table on the Display menu will now say if the Moon is Void of Course.  This line will appear underneath the other Moon calculations on the Chart Analysis table.  If the Moon is VOC, then a line will also appear saying what was the last Ptolemaic aspect made by the Moon while in the zodiac sign.  A VOC Moon is one which will form no more complete aspects before leaving its present zodiacal sign.  The time when the Moon is void of course is a time when one should not start new projects because they will not complete as intended.  From a spiritual point of view, it is a time when one is free from external direction, allowing one to be inner-directed.

Twelve percent (12%) of individuals are born with a void-of-course moon.  Astrologer Janis Huntley found that these individuals are challenged by their turbulent emotions, and often feel lonely, different, and misunderstood.  Al H. Morrison found that their moods fluctuate on a cyclic basis.  Arlene A. Kramer found two major characteristics: 1) these people trust the wrong people; and 2) there is "something wrong with their sense of timing. In general, they wait too long to take care of personal matters. They procrastinate until a crisis occurs."

Very rarely, a retrograde planet could invalidate the program's void-of-course determination by moving back into a sign, where it can be aspected, after the time of the chart.  The program makes no attempt to determine if this rare event will occur.


Out of Bounds Planets

Planets whose declinations are Out-of-Bounds (OOB), meaning greater than the sun's maximum declination, are now listed in the Chart Analysis Table.  When a planet is Out-of-Bounds it does not manifest normally - there is always something unusual about those energies within the individual.  In Declination to Longitude Equivalence charts, available on the Options menu, Out-of-Bounds planets are handled differently in both forward and reverse equivalency transformations, according to the methods in the book by Kt Boehrer, Declination: The Other Dimension (Fortunata Press).


Dominant Chart Harmonics

The 1381 sensitive points are sufficiently numerous to allow the astrology program to calculate a meaningful standard deviation and lack of randomness for each modulus division of the chart.  In the documentation for Display, Harmonic/Modulus Charts, I mention how a harmonic or modulus chart brings into conjunction the planets that are in harmonic aspect to each other, which makes it easy to see if waves of that harmonic are characteristic of the chart.  The extent to which a particular harmonic chart's distribution of its sensitive points deviates from a random distribution is a good guide to the extent to which that particular harmonic wave describes the distribution of planets in that person's chart.  The program measures the lack of randomness of all the sensitive points with a statistical measure called standard deviation.

For each chart, a listing of the dominant harmonics will now appear at the bottom of the Chart Analysis table.  Here is an example for the popular Latin rock singer Ricky Martin:

DOMINANT	CHART	HARMONICS:
ODD LOWER-ORDER:	9	0.98273
	1	0.98846
EVEN LOWER-ORDER:	6	0.97067
	4	0.98844
ODD HIGHER-ORDER:	87	0.94834
	53	0.96613
EVEN HIGHER-ORDER:	18	0.92691
	40	0.93710
The calculated value would be 1.0 for a completely random distribution, so for this chart the points arrangement with the least random distribution occurs for the 18th wave harmonic.

There are two books that interpret some of the harmonics.  David Hamblin's Harmonic Charts is the most complete, with detailed investigation of the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th harmonics.  This pioneering effort is undermined, however, by its reliance on subjective impressions to determine if a chart in a particular harmonic is strong.  Another book, Working with Astrology by Mike Harding and Charles Harvey, has a section interpreting the same harmonics as Hamblin's book, and also discusses planetary pictures and Astrocartography™.

Because no book interprets the meaning of all the different dominant harmonics, to help you to interpret the significance of your findings, I have added harmonic searches to Options, Search for Charts....  These searches can be run on Halloran Software's $59 collection of Famous Charts, which is now in an expanded version 5 with over 4,000 charts.  In the case of the 18th harmonic, Ricky Martin finds himself in the company of celebrities who have exhibited impressive range and a sort of invincible youth, such as cartoonist Charles Schulz, actors Val Kilmer, Roger Moore, and Redd Foxx, and actresses Katharine Hepburn and Lynda Carter.


Display  Rise/Set Times

When you have a chart calculated for a particular date, you will be able to click on this Display choice to see a table of the times for that date when all the planets Rise, Set, Culminate, or Anticulminate.  Occasionally, the Moon will not do one of the four actions on a particular date, so no time will be shown. The times shown are for the center of the body and do not take atmospheric refraction or the body's radius into account.  Because of their ecliptic latitude, the Moon and planets will not be at exactly the zodiac longitude of the Ascendant, Descendant, M.C., and I.C. at the times given, except for those rare moments when the planets cross the ecliptic and have zero latitude.  There is a toggle bar underneath the Table of Rise/Set Times that says Change to R.A.M.C. for Birthtime.  Select this to see the right ascension of the midheaven (R.A.M.C.) of the times when the planets' current positions would cross the four angles of the chart.

More:

Parans


Parans

Planets that rise, set, culminate, or anticulminate at the same time are in a powerful linkage configuration which the Greeks called 'paranatellonta' in plural and 'paranetellon' in singular.  Modern astrologers have shortened the term to 'parans' plural and 'paran' singular.  The Rise/Set table lets you easily find planets that are in a paran relationship.  After you click the toggle bar for Change to R.A.M.C. for Birthtime, if any R.A.M.C. in any of the four columns is conjunct an R.A.M.C. in any column then that is a paran.


Display  Table for Primary Directions

This table gives all of the information needed to calculate primary directions for the planets.  The information provided for each planet includes its latitude, declination, right ascension, meridian distance, semi-arc, and position relative to the closest semi-arc house cusp.  The distance from the planet to the meridian is measured in degrees of right ascension.  If the planet is above the horizon, then the meridian distance will be to the upper meridian (M.C.) and will be marked with D for Diurnal. If the planet is below the horizon, the meridian distance will be to the lower meridian (I.C.) and will be marked with N for Nocturnal.  The planet's diurnal arc is the time that it spends above the horizon as a consequence of the earth's rotation, which time depends upon the observer's latitude and the planet's declination.  The planet's nocturnal arc is the time that the planet spends below the horizon.  The diurnal semi-arc is half of the planet's diurnal arc and the nocturnal semi-arc is half of the planet's nocturnal arc, both conveniently measured in degrees just like the right ascension and meridian distance.  The semi-arc for each planet is divided into three parts for the house cusps - if a planet is on or near to one of these house cusps then it forms one of the Ptolemaic aspects to the angles, such as a trine, square, sextile, or semisextile aspect along the semi-arc.


Display  Prime Vertical Chart

The positions of the planets relative to the horizon, zenith, and nadir for the observer's location can be visually shown by plotting their positions on a great circle called the prime vertical, which intersects the zenith and east and west points on the horizon.  To see these planet positions, click on Display, Prime Vertical Chart.  To cancel the Prime Vertical chart, click on Display, Return to Original Chart.

Calculating planet positions according to the prime vertical is one method of calculating planet positions 'in mundo', a term that is mainly used by Western sidereal astrologers.  Mundoscopes are maps of mundane position; they are different for the different spaces defined by various house systems.  A mundoscope where the rays of projection are normal to the prime vertical would be a Campanus map.  Aspects between planets in a mundoscope are called 'mundane aspects', but you have to specify the plane in which you measure mundane aspects, such as the prime vertical or the planet's diurnal or nocturnal arc.  Do not confuse mundane aspects with mundane astrology, which is political astrology.  It may not be worthwhile to measure mundane aspects in the plane of the prime vertical because it is not a plane of rotation or revolution. Primary directions measure mundane aspects in the plane of the earth's rotation.  The Campanus Mundoscope is measured in the plane of the prime vertical.  The examples that I have seen from sidereal astrologers arbitrarily start from the zenith, but this program's prime vertical chart starts from the horizon in the east.  The 90 degree and 270 degree positions coincide with the nadir and zenith.  AstrolDeluxe could have shown the prime vertical positions in 360-degree format, but it is easier for the program to graphically show the positions in 30-degree zodiac sign format.

If you calculate the Table of Rise/Set Times for the planets, and use the Edit, Rotate Chart feature to recalculate for one of the times in that table, the planet in question will be at the zero degree position of Aries (0°), Cancer (90°), Libra (180°), or Capricorn (270°) in the prime vertical chart, respectively conjunct the horizon in the East, the nadir, the horizon in the West, or the zenith.

The prime vertical chart helps the astrologer to visually see which planets rise at the same time and shows if, due to ecliptic latitude, a planet is actually under the horizon even though by zodiac longitude it is in a house that is above the horizon.

Normal astrology charts are 1-dimensional, showing only the zodiac longitude of the planets in the plane of the ecliptic.  Prime vertical charts are 1-dimensional also, showing prime vertical longitude, not prime vertical latitude, but they help you to have a more 2-dimensional view of where the planets are because they take ecliptic latitude into account.  If the prime vertical chart shows planets to be in the same conjunction in which zodiac longitude shows them to be, their conjunction may be more powerful, just as when the sun and moon are together by latitude their conjunctions are known as eclipses and have special power.


Display  Harmonic/Modulus Charts

We live in a universe of waves.  Waves of light, sound, electricity.  Typically, dominant waves are accompanied by subwaves called harmonics which are multiples of the dominant wave, such as two, three, four, etc. subwaves for every dominant wave.  Subwaves resonate with and reinforce the dominant wave.  Planets along the 360-degree ecliptic plane can resonate with each other if they are spaced apart by harmonic multiples. This is the wave theory of astrology which has been discussed by John Addey in Harmonics in Astrology and by Robert Hand in chapter 2 of Essays in Astrology.

The waves of the 1st harmonic correspond to the 360-degree circle and the conjunction aspect between planets.  Waves of the 2nd harmonic coincide with the conjunction and opposition aspects.  Waves of the 3rd harmonic coincide with the conjunction and trine aspects.  Waves of the 4th harmonic coincide with the conjunction, opposition, and square aspects.  Waves of the 5th harmonic coincide with the conjunction, quintile, and biquintile aspects.  Waves of the 6th harmonic coincide with the conjunction, sextile, trine, and opposition aspects.

The strength of harmonic aspects can be mathematically predicted by what Michael Rideout calls a "harmonic strength function", according to which the strength of a harmonic number depends on how many divisors the number has, divided by the harmonic number itself.  Michael arrived at this theory in 1993 and has most recently published it in an article "Re: Harmonics" on the alt.astrology.moderated newsgroup on March 16, 2000.  Here is the table of harmonic strengths that this function predicts:

Table of Harmonic Strengths

p(1) = d(1) / 1 = 1 / 1 = 100%

p(2) = d(2) / 2 = 2 / 2 = 100%

p(4) = d(4) / 4 = 3 / 4 = 75%

p(3) = d(3) / 3 = 2 / 3 = 66.6667%

p(6) = d(6) / 6 = 4 / 6 = 66.6667%

p(8) = d(8) / 8 = 4 / 8 = 50%

p(12) = d(12) / 12 = 6 / 12 = 50%

p(5) = d(5) / 5 = 2 / 5 = 40%

p(10) = d(10) / 10 = 4 / 10 = 40%

p(9) = d(9) / 9 = 3 / 9 = 33.3333%

p(18) = d(18) / 18 = 6 / 18 = 33.3333%

p(24) = d(24) / 24 = 8 / 24 = 33.3333%

et cetera

Physicists such as Brian Greene with his book The Elegant Universe are moving in the direction of appreciating the harmonic underpinnings of the universe. "With the discovery of superstring theory, musical metaphors take on a startling reality, for the theory suggests that the microscopic landscape is suffused with tiny strings whose vibrational patterns orchestrate the evolution of the cosmos. The winds of change, according to superstring theory, gust through an aeolian universe." [p. 135]

[aeolian harp (noun): a box-shaped musical instrument having stretched strings usu. tuned in unison on which the wind produces varying harmonics over the same fundamental tone]

The advantage of converting the astrology chart into a chart of a particular harmonic is that all the planets that are in aspect according to that harmonic are immediately brought into conjunction.  This makes it very easy to see if waves of that harmonic are characteristic of that person's chart.  There are two ways to make the conversion.  One can cut the circle by the harmonic number so that the planets fall into their modulus positions - this is what the 4th harmonic modulus 90-degree dial does.  Or one can multiply the positions of each planet by the harmonic number, and then map the results back into the modulus 360 circle.  Either way, the planets that are in harmonic aspect to each other will be brought into conjunction.  I like the modulus dial method better, because the sign positions basically stay the same as in the 1st harmonic circle, while harmonic multiplication changes the sign positions.

If you want to view the screen output as a 90° dial, customize the program for the Aries House System and enter a Harmonic of 4 for a Modulus Dial of 90°.

From the Display menu, select Harmonic/Modulus Charts.  You will be able to select or enter a Harmonic number, up to 1028.  The button Show Modulus will show you the size of the resulting modulus circle in degrees, minutes, and seconds.  Radio buttons let you decide whether to display the planets in a modulus dial or in the harmonic multiple chart.  Click Okay to see the resulting chart.  You will not be able to save this chart to the charts file, but can select other options at the File, Edit, and Display menus.  To cancel the Harmonic chart, click on Display, Return to Original Chart.

While you are displaying the chart in a harmonic mode of 2 or higher, (i.e., less than modulus 360), only the conjunction aspect is enabled for the Aspects List on the Display menu, as the program assumes that you just want to see aspects belonging to that harmonic (you can still select Angles, to see all the aspects and angles between the planets in the harmonic chart).  Displaying the chart according to a particular harmonic is a substitute or alternative to looking at aspects on the 360-degree wheel - the harmonic or modulus chart brings out planetary aspects of a particular harmonic by showing the planets in conjunction.

The midpoints table for a harmonic or modulus chart does not give the midpoints between the harmonic positions - it calculates the harmonic positions of the chart's actual midpoints.  This explains why the harmonic midpoint appears sometimes to be the farthest of the two midpoints.  Grant Weisbrot wrote to me, "It is correct to calculate the near midpoint *only* in the first harmonic and then apply the harmonic to this result."


Display  Planet & House Table

This selection lists each of the planets chosen for display and each of the twelve house cusps and their positions either in Zodiac sign format or in 360º format.  Clicking on the button below the table will toggle back and forth between the two formats.  The 360° format is helpful when you want to see the full precision with which the planets have been calculated or when you want to copy purely numerical data to a spreadsheet or database for research purposes.


Display  Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel.  See  File  Compare This Chart to Another.

When comparing two charts, the program will list the aspects between the respective planets of the two charts.  This is known as synastry.  The program uses the Synastry aspects and orbs entered at Customize Aspect Orbs to list the aspects between two charts.  Favorable aspects between a couple's sun and moon favor friendship, between Venus and Mars favor romance, between Mercury and the personal planets favor communication, and between Jupiter and a light favor mutual benefit.

Chart compatibility matching which is based upon the technique of chart synastry involves tabulating the mutual aspects between two charts.  Each aspect is assigned a positive or negative numerical value depending upon which aspect and which planets are involved. These values are displayed on the screen next to each aspect; they are summed to arrive at three indexes: a harmonious communication index, an inharmonious communication index, and a total communication index.

More:

The Synastry Weighting System

Sort by Values


The Synastry Weighting System

The Astrol program's synastry weighting system for evaluating compatibility between charts has probably generated more interest and feedback than any other feature.  In AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, the weighting is designed to emphasize long-term compatibility rather than just attraction. This helps dating services as well as persons considering partners and employees in business.  We improved the weighting system by working closely with the Stargazers nationwide dating service (1-800-782-7497 and http://www.stargazers.com), who also use techniques not in this program.

The weights depend on a power curve to emphasize mutual aspects that are less than one degree of orb.  Stargazers recommends using only the 0, 180, 120, 90, 60, and 150 aspects. These are the default aspects for the synastry set of orbs at Customize Aspect Orbs.  You are certainly free to add to these aspects by changing the orb of the minor aspects from their default settings of zero.

Many customers have requested the ability to customize the weights themselves; however, since that could involve a matrix of 5800 values (22 mutually aspecting planet points and 23 aspects), it is not practical to support that.  You can, however, increase the emphasis placed upon a type of aspect by increasing that aspect's orb.

Some users have inquired regarding the normal range and significance of the different communication indexes.  The range of the Harmonious Communication and Inharmonious Communication Indexes between two charts is from about 300 to 6000.  This is for the default planet and aspect orb settings.  Below 1500 is low; above 2500 is high. For compatibility, the Harmonious should be high and the Inharmonious low.  A Compatibility Index over 1.5 is high and over 2.5 is very high.

The positive or negative values that the planets and aspects are believed to have for personal relationships can be determined by examining the values that print out for each aspect when you choose Display Synastry during the Compare This Chart to Another menu selection on the Chart Information Screen.  These numerical values have no absolute meaning; they are used to determine the sign and amount of an aspect's contribution to the Harmonious and Inharmonious totals.  The Compatibility Index is the ratio of the Harmonious amount to the Inharmonious amount.  The higher the Compatibility Index, the more the relationship is easy and free from friction.

You should look at the planetary aspects making up the indexes as you would not want, for example, discordant Saturn aspects that could warp or stunt growth (harmonious Saturn aspects promote stability and working out karmic problems).

A low Total Communication Index (less than 1800) gives so little communication that the two people are like ships passing in the night.  Regarding the total communication, we have become aware of the extent to which different people have different degrees of comfort with closeness or intimacy -- this can affect the level of communication or closeness that they should have with their ideal partner.  The speculation at this point is that an unaspected Moon or difficult aspects to the Moon or Venus could create a personality that finds emotional aspects from others to be unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable.


Sort by Values

Click on the button below the list box of synastry aspects or press Alt-S to sort the aspects according to how strong they are.


Display  Synastry Transits

If you choose File  Compare This Chart to Another from the Chart Information Screen and make your second chart a Here & Now chart, then choosing the Display  Synastry option will give you the further choice of Transits or Chart Synastry.  To get this additional option, it is not absolutely necessary that you click on Here & Now, but the name in the first and last name fields must be "Current Transits".

The Transits option will show you a list of all the aspects formed between chart #2 and chart #1.  Instead of printing the column of compatibility weights, the Transits option will print a column indicating whether the transiting planet is forming an aspect to the natal planet which is Applying (in the future), Separating (in the past), or Partile (exact).  Transits affect people most strongly when they are applying and close.

More:

Sort by Orbs


Chart Information Screen - Display  Synastry Transits - Sort by Orbs
Sort by Orbs

Click on the button below the list box of transiting aspects or Press Alt-S to sort the aspects according to how exact they are.


Display  MidPoint/Planet Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel.  It displays a table of aspects between the planets of the second chart and the midpoints of the first chart.  Double-click on a midpoint aspect in order to see Alfred Witte's interpretation of that aspect.  For more information, see the section Pop-Up Form of Alfred Witte's Interpretations.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays in aspecting planet order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the midpoints' zodiac location.


Display  Arabic Part/Planet Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel.  It displays a table of the aspects between the planets of the second chart and the Arabic Parts of the first chart.  Click once on a line to briefly see that Part's formula in a yellow pop-up window.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays the aspected Arabic Parts in alphabetical order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the parts' zodiac location.


Display  Sensitive Point/Planet Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel.  It displays a table of aspects between the planets of the second chart and the sensitive points of the first chart.  Double-click on a sensitive point aspect in order to see Alfred Witte's interpretation of that aspect.  For more information, see the section Pop-Up Form of Alfred Witte's Interpretations.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays in aspecting planet order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the sensitive points' zodiac location.  The sensitive points are so numerous that the sort will take a few seconds.


Display  Planet/Asteroid Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel, such as comparing a natal chart to a Here & Now chart of the transiting planets.  It displays a table of the aspects between the planets of the second chart and the asteroids of the first chart.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays the aspected asteroids in alphabetical order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the asteroids' zodiac location.


Display  Asteroid/Planet Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel, such as comparing a natal chart to a Here & Now chart of the transiting planets.  It displays a table of the aspects between the planets of the first chart and the asteroids of the second chart.  The bar beneath the display says Sort By Location.  The list initially displays the aspected asteroids in alphabetical order.  If you click on the bar or press Alt-S, the list will be reordered according to the asteroids' zodiac location.


Display  Declination Synastry

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double wheel.  It shows the parallel and contraparallel aspects between the planets of the two charts, together with the orb or declination distance between the planets.  The aspects shown are those that are within the allowable declination orb defined at Customization, Aspect Orbs.  The program uses the customized declination aspect orbs in the Transits, Progressions, Synastry and Return categories, depending on what type of double wheel comparison you have done.  When you compare a Here & Now Current Transits chart to the natal chart, the program uses the allowed orbs for Transits.  If you click on Sort By Orbs, the order will change from planet order to showing the most exact orbs at the top of the table.

Astrologers are rediscovering natal and synastry declination aspects in part because of the fresh research and new interpretations in the two books by the Magi Society - Astrology Really Works and Magi Astrology: The Key to Success in Love and Money.


Display  Planets/Houses Synastry

If you have compared one chart to another, this choice lets you compare the second chart's planets to the house cusps of the first chart.


Display  Houses/Planets Synastry

If you have compared one chart to another, this choice lets you compare the second chart's house cusps to the planets of the first chart.


Display  Composite Chart - All Midpoints

This selection is only available when you have displayed two compared charts in a double chart wheel.  It displays a chart based on the midpoints of the planets of the two compared charts.  You will then be able to treat the composite chart just as you would any other single chart including saving it to a file.  Once you select this option to create a composite chart, you leave comparison mode and are now in single chart mode.

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter makes two revisions to the way in which the DOS program calculated composite charts.

1.	Whereas the DOS program calculated the Ascendant from the nearest midpoint of the two charts' Ascendants and used either the nearest or farthest midpoint of the remaining houses as needed for a logical arrangement, the Windows program starts by calculating the nearest midpoint of the two charts' Midheavens.  The only exception to this is when you have the program customized for the Equal House system, in which case the program will display a chart of equal houses starting from the nearest Ascendant midpoint.

2.	Where the DOS program gave the nearest midpoints for Mercury and Venus, the Windows program gives whichever midpoint is nearest to the Sun.

These revisions were made to agree with the opinions expressed by Marion March and Joan McEvers in their book on relationships.

AstrolDeluxe lets you save composite charts and run transits against them.  To jump to the desired saved composite chart in the alphabetically sorted listbox, start by typing in the first name for the first of the two charts.


Display  Composite Chart - Derived Ascendant

Like the All Midpoints composite chart, this composite chart starts by determining the nearest midpoint of the two charts' Midheavens, but it calculates the Ascendant and the remaining houses from the latitude that you enter in response to the query that comes up for Relationship's Current Latitude.  Robert Hand originally advocated this method, in his book Planets in Composite, but he now advocates the All Midpoints method, according to page xiv of his Foreword to John Townley's 2000 book, Composite Charts.

This comprehensive book by the man who founded the technique is now the authoritative reference on composite charts.  In this book, John Townley discusses his research into more speculative types of composite charts, such as group or multiple composites, Davison or time composites, and arc transform or coalescent charts.  Townley denies that these techniques work.  He also says that while there is some small evidence for composites of progressed charts, the composite technique really works only with single event charts, which can include return charts and mundane nation charts.  John Townley tests the validity of a composite chart by correlating transits relative to the composite chart with events.

AstrolDeluxe lets you save composite charts and run transits against them.  To jump to the desired saved composite chart in the alphabetically sorted listbox, start by typing in the first name for the first of the two charts.


Display  Combined Chart

The Combined Chart option calculates a single time/space midpoint chart that combines the two compared charts.  The Combined Chart appears to have been independently invented by Philip Schiffmann in Vienna in 1976 and by Ronald C. Davison in London and described in his 1977 book Synastry.  It is an actual chart calculated for the midway point in time between the two birthcharts and for the geographical point that is midway between the shortest distance between the two birthplaces.

According to the astrologer Gwynne Mayer, the Combined Chart shows the actual here-and-now interaction between the two people, whereas the Composite Chart shows the potential after a commitment has been made.  Synastry shows how each will benefit from the relationship in the areas signified by the different planets and houses.  The astrologer Bob Marks on his web site claims that if you do a Combined Chart between the Combined Chart and the individual's chart, that the resulting chart describes how the relationship affects or benefits the individual.


Interpret Menu

The Interpret Menu, available only since version 3 of AstrolDeluxe, allows you to get a written report interpreting the type of results that are displayed on the Chart Information Screen.  You can also customize in advance the content and appearance of that report.  The program writes the reports into a complete, built-in Windows word processor.  You will see the word processor window open up on your screen and then the text fill up each page as the program creates the report.  If you need to interrupt the report, just press the Escape key in the upper left corner of your keyboard.  When completed, the word processor lets you make changes or do Print Preview.  When satisfied, the Print item on the word processor's File menu lets you send the final report to your printer and the Save As... item lets you save the report to your chosen name either as a Rich Text Format (RTF) file for later printing or viewing in a word processor, as a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) file for viewing in a web browser, or as a plain text file.  The RTF word processor format is the default format in which the program generates an interpretation report; if you want a report generated in HTML web page format, you turn that on at Interpret, Report Options, Document.  If you purchase a separate PDF printer driver, you can print the interpretation report to a universally readable Adobe Acrobat file.  For more information on this, see Print Interpretation Reports to Acrobat PDF Files.  Or, if you like, the reports can print automatically when completed, or they can automatically be saved and operated on by a third program, in which you have created a set of macro commands to further personalize each report, such as Microsoft's Word for Windows program.  When you are done with the interpretation report, just select File and Exit in the word processor window or click on the X in its upper right corner.  Normally, if you have not deliberately saved the report for later editing, the word processor will warn that you have not saved the interpretation report and will ask if you want to do so -- you answer No, you do not want to save.  Closing the word processor will return you to the Chart Information Screen.

More:

Interpret  Create Report

Interpret  Report Options


Interpret  Create Report

If you have purchased or created the appropriate set of interpretations, AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is able to produce six types of interpretation reports, namely: natal reports, compatibility reports, transits forecast reports, progressions forecast reports, solar return forecast reports, and composite/combined relationship reports.  The program will look for one of these six types of interpretation files depending upon what results are currently displayed at the Chart Information Screen.

More:

Creating a Natal Report

Creating a Compatibility Report

Creating a Transits Report

Creating a Progressions Report

Creating a Solar Return Report

The Volguine Method of Interpreting Solar Returns

Creating a Composite/Combined Relationship Report

Selecting Another Interpretation Set


Creating a Natal Report

If you have calculated or quick displayed a natal chart, the program will look for an interpretation file ending with the HNP extension.  If this is one of the natal interpretation sets that we sell, the window saying that it has found the file will tell you the name of the interpretation set, such as Personal Path™, Spirit Success™, Journey Careers™, or KidZone™, together with the file name.  If you created the set with the companion Edit Interpretations program, and used its option to Create/Edit Label for Interpretation Set, it will display that set name here.


Creating a Compatibility Report

If you picked Compare This Chart Against Another Chart from the File menu on the Chart Information Screen, and then at the Natal Information Screen selected another saved chart, or entered the data for a second chart, and clicked Calculate to draw a biwheel of the two charts back at the Chart Information Screen, then the program will look for a compatibility interpretations file ending with the HSM extension.  It will tell you if it finds the StarMatch™ compatibility interpretation set that we sell.

Since the program inserts the given names of the two people in the body of the compatibility report, it will ask what you want to use if it detects more than one name in the first name field, such as Sue Ann or John Fitzgerald.  If you proceeded in the order of comparing a woman to a man, it will ask you if it should instead put the man's name first in the header of the report.


Creating a Transits Report

If you pick List Transits and Progressions from the Options menu at the Natal Information Screen, and select to calculate a list of transits against the currently selected saved chart, then Interpret, Create Report will look for and use an interpretation file ending with the HLT extension, such as the LifeTrends™ transits forecast interpretation set that we sell.  At this writing, the program does not use the transits interpretations when you compare a natal chart to a Here & Now Current Transits chart.  However, there is nothing to prevent you from doing a transits list for just one day, which will show the same aspects as comparing to a Here & Now chart, especially if you have orbs turned on for the major transiting planets.


Creating a Progressions Report

If you pick List Transits and Progressions from the Options menu at the Natal Information Screen, and select to calculate a list of progressions against the currently selected saved chart, then Interpret, Create Report will look for and use an interpretation file ending with the HJP extension, such as the Journey Progressions™ progressions forecast interpretation set that we sell.  Our Introduction text is written specifically for a Secondary Progressions report generated from a progressions list.  However, the program will also draw upon the progressed interpretations if you select Progress a Chart from the Options menu at the Natal Information Screen, which will give you a Static Progressed Chart for a particular date.  It will also draw upon the progressed interpretations if you do a Solar Arc Directions list.  You can create appropriate introductions for these other types of reports by using the Boilerplate option in the Edit Interpretations program and have the program draw upon different report templates that reference these boilerplate texts as introductions when you want to run these other types of progression reports.


Creating a Solar Return Report

If you pick Return Chart from the Options menu at the Natal Information Screen, and calculate either a Solar Return or Lunar Return chart, then Interpret, Create Report will look for and use an interpretation file ending with the HRC extension, such as the Journey Returns™ solar return forecast interpretation set that we sell.  At this writing, Halloran Software does not sell a set of lunar return interpretations.


The Volguine Method of Interpreting Solar Returns

Halloran Software developed the logic for the solar return interpretation report in collaboration with astrologer Tony Louis, who in turn depended upon work by Alexandre Volguine (1903-1976), a French astrologer who, in 1937, 1st published his 15 years of research on Returns.  Until his death in 1976, Volguine continued to update his study of Returns in subsequent editions of his classic text La Technique des Revolutions Solaires.

Here is Tony's summary of this method:

In Volguine's system, the chart is NOT adjusted for precession of the equinoxes; and the chart is drawn using the Tropical Zodiac and the Placidus system of Houses.

Volguine based his method of interpretation on the assumption that the 24 hours (one day) following the Sun's annual return to its Natal position symbolically represent the unfolding of the major themes for the coming 12 months (one year).  The formula for projecting the Return chart onto the year ahead assumes that each two-hour period (one 12th of a day) after the Sun's return represents approximately one month (one twelfth) of the coming year.  Those familiar with astrology will recall the "one day equals one year" principle of secondary progressions, namely that each day of life after birth can be mapped symbolically to represent a year of life.

The technique of projecting one day after the Sun's return upon the coming year forms the basis for predictions using the Return chart.  For example, if an aspect, say Venus trine Jupiter, becomes exact 16 hours after the Sun's return, one might expect a fortunate event (e.g., a wedding, a job promotion, etc.) to occur approximately 8 months after the birthday that year.  The astrologer will need to check the transits and progression eight months into the year to confirm or modify this Return prediction.  For example, if the transits and progressions at eight months into the personal year show only major stressful aspects involving Venus and Jupiter, then the Return trine at that time may be the indicator of a negative reaction rather than a fortunate event.  For greatest accuracy, the Return should always be interpreted in context of the ongoing transits and progressions to your Natal chart.

The Return chart contains a wealth of data, which can make it difficult to see the forest for the trees.  To help the astrologer distinguish figure from ground, Volguine laid down basic principles that he discovered in his extensive research on Return charts.  Below is a summary of Volguine's findings as they have been adapted for use in this report.

I.	The Return Ascendant acts like a weathervane, showing which way the wind will blow in the coming year.  The Return ascending sign indicates the central themes for the year ahead.  When comparing the Return with the Natal chart, the Natal House containing the Return Ascendant reveals the most significant events and conditions facing the individual.  If the Natal Ascendant and the Return Ascendant coincide (within 5 degrees), the year will be of major importance in the person's life - a year the individual will never forget.  If the Return Ascendant falls on one of the other angles (cusps of the 4th House - home and family, 7th House -- marriage, or 10th House -- career) of the Natal chart, there will be major events related to those Natal Houses.

II.	The Return House and sign position of the planet ruling the Return Ascendant will give further indications of major themes for the year ahead.  Affairs of the Natal House containing the planet ruling the Return Ascendant will also be highlighted in the coming year.

III.	The 1st House shows personal or psychological activity.  Return planets that occupy the Return 1st House show the nature of the individual's activity and his or her psychological reactions during the coming year.  If the planet lies close to the Return Ascendant, the individual will have more personal control over the action.  Planets lying further away from the Return Ascendant in the 1st House suggest that the individual will have less personal control and be more at the mercy of the forces symbolized by those planets.

IV.	Like the Return Ascendant, the Return Midheaven points to important areas of public, professional, or vocational activity in the year ahead.  The interpretation of the Return Midheaven follows the same principles as used for the Return Ascendant.

V.	The 10th House shows visible or public activity.  Return planets that occupy the Return 10th House point to specific events that will manifest during the year.  Return planets that conjoin the Return Midheaven (within 5 degrees) have the most power to manifest.  The nature of the event indicated by the Return 10th House planet will be related to both the intrinsic nature of the planet and to the House position of that planet in the Natal chart.  For example, if Return Saturn falls on the Return Midheaven and Natal Saturn occupies in the Natal 4th House, then the death of a parent or close family member may occur during that Return year.

VI.	Each Return House cusp will fall within a Natal House when the charts are superimposed.  The interpretation of this superimposition involves a combination of the meanings of the two Houses.  Return Houses that contain planets will have the most impact in the year ahead.  For example, if the Return 3rd House (local travel, communications) cusp falls in the Natal 8th House (death, taxes, etc.), the person may travel to a funeral, correspond about a tax matter, etc., during the year.

VII.	The House cusps are power points in the Return chart.  Any time that a Return or Natal planet falls on a Return House cusp (within 5 degrees), there will be events during the year related to the combined meaning of the planet and the House involved.  A Return planet falling on a Natal House cusp has a similar significance.  The meaning of the planet will be a combination of its intrinsic nature and the House that the planet rules and/or occupies in the Return and the Natal charts.

VIII.	The Sun is the most important "planet" in the Return chart.  Matters related to the Return House containing the Sun will be emphasized during the year.

IX.	The position of the Return Moon by zodiacal sign often indicates the predominant emotional tone of the year.

X.	SR Houses containing the Sun and the Return Ascendant-ruler are the most important for the year ahead.  Return Houses with planets other than the Sun and the Return Ascendant-ruler will carry less weight in the Return chart.  Empty Return Houses (with no planets) will carry little weight during the year.  However, Return planets that closely aspect the Sun, the Return Ascendant-ruler, or one of the Return chart Angles (Ascendant, Midheaven) will indicate important themes for the year.

XI.	When superimposing charts, Return Houses that contain several Return and/or Natal planets will be strongly emphasized.   For example, if the Return 8th House is empty but three Natal planets happen to fall in the Return 8th House, then the person might undergo surgery or experience the loss of someone during the year.

XII.	Aspects between Return planets show the background coloring of the year.  Close aspects to the Sun, the Return Ascendant ruler, or the Angles (Ascendant, Midheaven) are the most important.  Very close aspects are the most likely to manifest as events.  Aspects that become exact within 24 hours after the Sun's return are likely to be experienced during the coming year at a time specified by the formula: 24 Return hours = 12 months of the coming year.  Separating aspects usually show events or conditions that have past and are now dissolving.  Return aspects that repeat Natal configurations are especially significant.

XIII.	Timing with the Return Moon.  The Return Moon will travel about 13 degrees during the 24 hours after the Sun's return.  In that time the Moon will form several exact aspects to the planets in both the Return and the Natal charts.  Events related to planets involved in the Moon's aspect are likely to occur during the months of the year corresponding to the number of hours after the Sun's return when the Moon's aspects become exact.  In particular, the Return Moon's exact aspects to both Return and Natal planets tend to "trigger" secondary progressed aspects to the Natal chart during the year.

XIV.	Timing with the Return Sun.  The Sun takes a full year to travel around the chart at the rate of about one degree each day.  As the transiting Sun conjoins points, House cusps, and planets in the Return chart, events are likely to manifest.  For example, if Saturn occupies the 2nd Return House and is stressfully aspected, within a few days of the transiting Sun crossing over Return Saturn, the person may experience a financial hardship.

XV.	Timing with the Return Ascendant.  Like the Sun, the Return Ascendant makes a full circle around the chart in the course of a year.  Because of the tilt of the earth in relation to the path of the Sun, the daily rate of advance of the Return Ascendant is not uniform like the Sun's.  The SR-progressed Ascendant for any date of the year can be calculated using the identical data of the original Return chart and simply substituting the current date to find a new Ascendant.  Aspects formed by the SR-progressed Ascendant to the Return or Natal chart will time events during the year.  Volguine noted that the passage of the SR-progressed Ascendant over the Midheaven or the Moon frequently correlated with the birth of children.


Creating a Composite/Combined Relationship Report

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter comes with built-in logic to interpret a composite chart or a time/space midpoint combined chart.  One of our authors is using the program to perfect a set of composite interpretations.  To create and interpret a composite or combined relationship chart, pick Compare This Chart Against Another Chart from the File menu on the Chart Information Screen, and then at the Natal Information Screen select another saved chart, or enter the data for a second chart, click Calculate to draw a biwheel of the two charts back at the Chart Information Screen, and then from the biwheel Display menu select either Composite Chart - All Midpoints or Combined Chart.  You can save and subsequently recall the resulting single wheel relationship chart.  When you have such a chart on the screen, Interpret, Create Report will look for a composite chart relationship interpretations file ending with the HCC extension.  Until our author's composite interpretation set is ready, you can try your hand at creating such interpretations yourself using the supplied Edit Interpretations program.


Selecting Another Interpretation Set

When you select Create Report at the Interpret menu, the program should find and display the appropriate interpretation file for the type of calculation that is on the screen.  If it says that it found the file, just click the Okay button to have the program start filling the built-in word processor with the interpretation report.  Do not click Okay if the program says that it could not find the file - instead click on Select Another to try to find the file or click on Cancel.  If it is not successful, you may not have yet purchased or installed that type of interpretation.

If you pick the button Select Another, you will get a File Dialog box allowing you to select a different interpretation set, such as one that you have edited with the supplied Edit Interpretations program.  The Select Another button allows you to switch between the Personal Path natal interpretation set (npro1.hnp) or the Spirit Success natal interpretation set (npro0.hnp).  More specialized natal interpretation sets include the Journey Careers career analysis natal interpretation set (career.hnp) and the Kid Zone child natal interpretation set (kidzon.hnp).  These specialized interpretation sets are typically associated each with their own specialized template, which you select at Interpret, Report Options.  You only have to select your desired file for a type of report once, as your selected name will be remembered and displayed as the default for subsequent reports of this type, allowing you to just click on Okay in the future.


Interpret  Report Options

This is where you can customize the appearance, format, and elements of your interpretation reports.  It is here, for example, that you specify the typeface that sections of the report should use, not when you enter interpretation text in the separate Edit Interpretations program.

More:

Report Options  Report Template

Report Options  Text

Report Options  Document

Report Options  Pictures

Report Options  Report Order

Natal Report Order Commands

Comparison Report Order Commands

Transits Report Order Commands

Progressions Report Order Commands

Return Report Order Commands

Composite Report Order Commands

Report Options  Personalizing Your Reports


Report Options  Report Template

In its generation of the interpretation reports, the program is guided by a set of formatting options and by a listbox of sequential steps that together make up a Report Template.  The template(s) whose elements you see displayed when you come here will be appropriate for the context, such as giving you a compatibility template if you have a biwheel of two charts on the screen or a transits template if you have calculated and displayed a transits list.  Halloran Software provides several templates that come with the program.  All six types of reports have a different preassembled template called Standard.  In addition, for the natal category, there is a Concise Intermediate template, a Full Intermediate template, Spanish versions of these three templates, a Career template, and a KidZone template.  The Spanish templates are designed to work with the Spanish version of the Personal Path natal interpretations.  The Standard and Intermediate templates will work with all natal interpretation sets, but the Career and KidZone templates will look for paragraphs that are unique to the Journey Careers interpretations and the KidZone child natal interpretations.

The name of the currently selected template appears in a Report Template list box at the top of the Report Options screen.  You can make slight modifications to an existing template and save the revision to a new name that you personally assign, by selecting File, Save Template As….  If you find that a change that you made to one of the above templates is not working, there are buttons to restore the Halloran Software Default settings for parts of the template.

Natal Report Templates

The Standard template for doing natal reports causes the program to print the delineations for all of the chart's sign and house placements and then all of the chart's aspects sorted in order of strength.  When used with Carolyne Lacy's shorter Spirit Success™ natal interpretations, the Standard template gives a report of about 18 pages in length.  When used with Janice Barsky's professional Personal Path™ natal interpretations, the Standard template gives a report of about 30 pages in length.

Another natal template, the Intermediate template, causes the program to go through the chart in a house by house manner, printing together all of the delineations that relate to each of the twelve houses of the chart, starting with the Ascendant and Midheaven.  This is closer to the way that a working astrologer analyzes a person's natal chart.  It does result in a longer report though, as aspects or placements can relate to more than one house, especially because the Intermediate template takes into account the planets that disposit the house ruling planet and some signs have both traditional and modern rulers.  The Concise form of the Intermediate template is an attempt to reduce the volume of report pages, by inserting commands in the template Report Order that cause the report to refer the reader back to the section where a particular delineation already appeared, instead of repeating the interpretation text.  In developing the structure of the Intermediate template, I acknowledge the invaluable assistance of San Francisco astrologer John Swanson.  He attributes this method entirely to Zoltan Mason who taught in New York City throughout the 1960's.  John studied for four years as a student of Zoltan Mason.

A very powerful natal template, the Career template, developed by astrologer Anthony Louis for his 35-page Journey Careers™ natal career analysis report is sophisticated in a different way.  This is the first natal report to take advantage of the program's ability to delineate the native's dominant planets, dominant signs, and dominant houses, to refine the sign placements by delineating the actual decan within the sign for the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, and Midheaven, to delineate intercepted signs within houses, and to outline the dates of the native's career rise and fall cycle based on the fourth house cusp sign.

The KidZone template, developed by Marise Payne for her Kid Zone™ child natal report, also uses the program's ability to delineate the native's dominant planets, dominant signs, and dominant houses, adding a section for these delineations to a Standard template-like structure.  A typical report from the very complete Kid Zone interpretations runs about 45 pages in length.  The other unique feature of the Kid Zone reports is that they insert the child's first name throughout the body of the report, since these reports are designed to be read by the child's parents.

Compatibility Report Templates

The Standard template for doing compatibility reports causes the program to print a report that is divided into three sections.  The first section consists of zodiac sign delineations for each of the two people's personal planet sign placements.  Interpreted are the Descendant or 7th House Cusp (when both persons' birth times are known), the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars placements of both charts.  The interpretations describe and contrast the two people's relationship needs and strengths.  The second section of the compatibility report interprets the mutual house placements of both persons' planets in the houses of the other's chart.  The report will omit the mutual house placement section if the birth time for one of the charts is unknown.  The third and most important section of the report interprets all of the synastry aspects between the two charts sorted in order of strength.  The first several synastry aspect delineations will be highly personal to and descriptive of the relationship.  The synastry aspect section is summarized at the end by the totals for Harmonious Communication, Inharmonious Communication, the ratio or Compatibility Index, and the Total Communication Index.  When used with Janice Barsky's StarMatch™ compatibility interpretations, the Standard template gives a report that is about 30 pages in length.

Transits Report Templates

The Standard template for doing transits reports causes the program to print a report that normally consists of an introduction, delineation of the current positions of the transiting planets in the chart's houses, and interpretations of the transiting aspects over the time period of the report.  The report will omit the transiting planet house interpretations if the subject's birth time is unknown.  There is great variation in the length of a transits report, depending on the choices that you make at Options, List Transits and Progressions.  When done for the default settings of Mars through Pluto for three months with orbs turned off, the LifeTrends™ interpretation set and the Standard template give a report that is about 10 pages in length (the LifeTrends interpretations are the combined work of Janice Barsky and Deanna Christensen).  You can augment the report by turning on Chiron as a transiting planet in the Planets list box, as LifeTrends includes complete Chiron interpretations.  You will only get interpretations of transiting aspects to natal Chiron if you turn on Chiron at Customization, Planets.

Progressions Report Templates

The Standard template for doing progressions reports causes the program to print a report that consists of an introduction, delineation of the progressed planet sign positions and positions in the chart's houses (if they've changed since birth), and interpretations of the progressed aspects over the time period of the report.  The program does not do progressions if the subject's birth time is unknown.  A progressions report will always be for a year or longer.  It is typically done for all of the progressed planets, moon through Pluto plus directed Ascendant and Midheaven.  An astrologer will sometimes do just a progressed moon report.  Pay attention in particular to the progressed moon sign, which changes every two and a half years, as this strongly correlates with what is happening in the subject's life.  When done for the default settings of Moon through Pluto (plus Asc. & M.C.) for one year with orbs turned on, Anthony Louis' Journey Progressions™ interpretation set and the Standard template give a report that is about 14 pages in length.

Return Report Templates

The Standard template for doing return reports was developed by astrologer Anthony Louis for his 40-page Journey Returns™ solar return report.  This is a very well-organized report template.  It starts by delineating the house placement and aspects to the sun in the solar return report.  It then focuses on the placement, ruler, and aspects to the solar return Ascendant and planets in the First House.  It does the same for the Midheaven and Tenth House.  The solar return report then delineates the placements and aspects for the Moon through Pluto.  If one of these aspects would perfect within a day after the solar return, the report writer will calculate the corresponding date during the year (using the traditional formula that one day is the image of one year of life) and indicate that date in the delineation heading.  The report delineates the sign and house placements of the Part of Fortune in the return chart.  The report then delineates any conjunctions between the return chart planets and the return and natal house cusps.  The last step is to delineate natal planets conjunct return chart house cusps.

The Intermediate template adds to the end of the solar return report a 15 section outline of Alexandre Volguine's method for interpreting solar returns.  Understanding this method helps to synthesize all the sections in the report, but the technical language in the description of the method is best suited for a client who is astrologically well informed.

The Advanced template adds calculation of 1) all the dates and times during the year when the transiting Sun forms conjunctions, oppositions, or squares to points in the Solar Return chart, and 2) all the dates and times during the year when the progressed SR Ascendant and progressed SR Midheaven form conjunctions, oppositions, or squares to points in the Solar Return chart and the Natal chart.  These transits of the Sun to the Solar Return chart and progressions of the Solar Return angles are symbolic "triggers" that set off the action promised in the earlier sections of the report.  The dates print without interpretations at this time because we are concerned that the interpretations would be too generic and not specific.  The specificity comes in looking at how the triggered planet is configured in the natal and in the SR charts, especially looking for multiple hits or patterns around the same date.  This is a job that is best performed by an experienced astrologer.

If you do not want an item in the solar return report, such as the Part of Fortune interpretations, it is simple to select the item in the Report Order listbox and click it away with the left arrow button.  You can always restore deleted items by clicking on the Default List button.

Composite Report Templates

The Standard template for doing composite reports is identical to the Standard natal template.  The program will use this template whenever you have either a composite chart or a combined chart displayed at the Chart Information Screen.  I can't say too much about this report yet because we are still writing the interpretations.


Report Options  Text

In addition to the template commands that control the contents of a report, each template has a section that controls the formatting of the report.  The options at the Text tab let you change the appearance of the report text.  You click on a radio button to select and modify the properties for six different categories of text.  The Header category refers to a line of header text that can appear at the top of every page.  The Footer category refers to a line of footer text that can appear at the bottom of every page.  The Section Title category refers to the caption for a major division of the report.  The Delineation Heading category refers to the caption before the interpretation of a particular placement or aspect.  The Sub-Heading category refers to a clarifying block of text that can precede the interpretation, such as a keyword, poetic quotation, or date range.  The Body Text category refers to the essential interpretation text.

Justification

Each category of text can have its own Justification.  If the Left Margin is justified, then text will wrap naturally to give what is called a 'ragged right margin'.  If the Right Margin is justified, then the text on the left will have a ragged margin while the right margin is even.  If Center is chosen, each line of text will be centered and neither margin will be even.  If Both Margins is chosen, then paragraphs of text will be microjustified so that both margins are even.

Text Flow

Text can be printed with a blank line between lines of text.  You might want room to write notes on the pages of a printed report.  The Double Space checkbox gives you this option.  Make sure that you have clicked on the Body Text category before you click on the Double Space checkbox.

Edit Font

After you click on the category of text that you want, click on the Edit Font button to change such text properties as the Font or typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial, etc.), the Font Style (e.g., Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic), the Size of the letters, Effects (e.g., Underline), and the Color of the letters.


Report Options  Document

The options at the Document tab let you change settings that relate to the report as a whole.  The distance settings here can be expressed in either Inches or Centimeters, depending on which radio button you select at the top of the form.  Here you can change the extent of the report Margins, the position of the Header and Footer, the Paper Size (such as A4 paper for customers in Europe and Australia), the number of newspaper-type Columns (either one or two) for the report, whether the report should be Sent Directly to Printer on completion instead of the default of leaving the report on screen in the word processor, whether at the bottom of every report page the program should Print the Footer information that you entered in the Natal Information Screen at Customization, Courtesy Block, and whether the program should create the report in HTML web page format instead of the normal RTF word processor format.


Report Options  Pictures

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is capable of automatically inserting zodiac sign pictures prior to the planet sign placement interpretations in natal reports.  To allow these pictures to be the same black color as the report text, the reportwriter draws upon picture files that are different from those that are used for the center of the graphic chartwheel.  Thus, the report picture for Aries draws upon the file WB_ARI.BMP, instead of upon the file WA_ARI.BMP.  The options here at the Pictures tab let you change the Picture Size, choose for which planets to Include Sign Pictures, and specify the Picture Alignment, to the Left, Right, or Center (the default).  If you select to generate the interpretation report in HTML format, the program will omit the zodiac sign pictures - this is by design.  If you are saving reports to text format, you yourself have to come here and turn off the zodiac sign pictures, in order to not get unwanted control characters in your pure text files.


Report Options  Report Order

The list boxes at the Report Order tab give you control over the constituent elements of a report and the order in which those elements are printed.  This is where you see the real difference between templates, such as between the Standard natal template, the two versions of the Intermediate natal template, the Career natal template, and the Standard and Intermediate templates en Español.  There are more elements and commands available for producing the natal report than there are for the compatibility, transits, and progressions reports.  Delineating the natal chart is the nut or kernel that is at the heart of doing astrology, and there are different approaches to cracking that nut.  In fact, the report writer makes some commands available to you here for delineating the natal chart which are not used by any of the preassembled templates, such as including declination aspect interpretations or combo placement interpretations.  At this writing, the available commands include 66 natal commands, 37 compatibility commands, 46 transits commands, 43 progressions commands, 57 return commands, and 67 composite commands.

The procedure for using the Report Order screen is to click on a command item in the Report Items list box and move it into the Report Order list box with the big right arrow.  Or, click on an item in the Report Order list box and remove it with the big left arrow.  New items will always start at the bottom of the Report Order list box.  You click to select the item that you want to move and use the up arrow and down arrow to position the command item in the proper sequence in the report.  If it is a command that just sets a flag that remains on to influence other commands' behavior, such as UseInterceptedSignRuler, then position it before any command that would utilize that setting.  The same is true of commands that provide language to be used in the report, such as AspectStrengthStrength:, where Strength: could be this word in a non-English language.  Commands like this that need to be followed by additional text will not move into the report order sequence until you have used the Report Items combo box underneath to enter or select this additional text.  The program will append whatever is selected or typed in the lower combo box to this type of item.


     Natal Report Order Commands

InNatalHeaderName

The text that follows this item is what PrintHeader will put at the top of every report page.  The text will be followed by a space and the subject's name, taken from the first line of the birth information legend on the Chart Information Screen.

InHeaderPageNumber

This determines if a page number will print to the right of each page header, and what 'Page' word if any prints before the number.  If you click on the right arrow without entering any text, the page number only will print.

PrintHeader

This command actually prints to the header line of the report the previously filled header content, i.e., the header name, page number, or both.

CourtesyFooter

This command prints the Courtesy Block footer text that you previously entered at Customization, Print Courtesy.  If you want to replace the initial "Courtesy of:" text with different language, enter that other language including the colon in the combo box so that it will be appended to CourtesyFooter.

InFooterText

If you don't want to use the CourtesyFooter command, you can create an alternate footer by entering in the combo box the footer text that will be appended to this command.  The text will be printed to the report footer line when you call the command PrintFooter.

PrintFooter

This command actually prints to the footer line of the report the previously filled alternate footer content from InFooterText.

AspectStrength

Use this command to specify the word in your language that means 'strength', for an astrological aspect.

TextLineFeedOff

Blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text are normally printed with a concluding Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence.  This command disables adding that.  Using this command before the BirthInfoBlock allows each line of that block of information to be sent separately as Body Text and print without inbetween blank lines.

BirthInfoBlock

This command will print the lines of the birth information legend from the top left of the Chart Information Screen, as many as eight lines if not blank.  The language of the birth information will be whatever language you have used Edit, Different Language to select.  A BirthInfoBlock will print data for one person for a natal, transits, and progressions report.  It will print data for two charts for a comparison or return report.  Click down in the combo list box area to select and append the category text style in which you want the BirthInfoBlock to print.  The Career template has an example of using the BirthInfoBlock.

TextLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at the end of blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text.  The command is only needed if you have used TextLineFeedOff previously in the report.

HeadingLineFeedOff

The report writer normally prints a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  This command turns that off, allowing you to use the text style of this category for the BirthInfoBlock.

HeadingLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  The command is only needed if you have used HeadingLineFeedOff previously in the report.

Introduction

This command looks for the Introduction record in the interpretation database and prints it to the report.  If you want to keep separate introductions which different templates will reference, you could enter them in Edit Interpretations under differently numbered Boilerplate records and reference here the Boilerplate item that you want.

Pagebreak

If the current page already has at least 23 lines of text, then this command will cause a new page.  Normally used before section titles.

BlankLine

This command adds a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at this location.

UseInterceptedSignRuler

If this command appears earlier in the template than the DoHouse command, then if the house in question contains an intercepted sign, the intercepted sign's ruler and dispositor will be presented in a manner similar to the sign on the house cusp.  The Intermediate template has an example of using UseInterceptedSignRuler.

UseBothModTradRulers

If this command appears earlier in the template than the DoHouse command, then if the house's sign has both a modern ruling planet as well as a traditional ruling planet, the report will present the interpretations for both planets in a similar manner.  The Intermediate template has an example of using UseBothModTradRulers.

OrbWord

Follow this command with the word in your language which means "Orb".  If your natal template includes the DoDeclinationAspects command then the report writer will make use of this word.

SectionReferralLang

Follow this command with the words in your language which mean "Read this interpretation where it already appeared in the section for the".  If your natal template includes any of the following four commands then the report writer will make use of this language.  The English and Spanish Intermediate templates have examples of using SectionReferralLang.

ReferToPreviousAspectAlways

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same aspect interpretation more than once.  It will refer the reader to the section where the interpretation first appeared.

ReferToPrevSignPlaceAlways

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same sign placement interpretation more than once.  It will refer the reader to the section where the interpretation first appeared.

ReferToPrevHousePlaceAlways

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same house placement interpretation more than once.  It will refer the reader to the section where the interpretation first appeared.

ReferToInterpPrevInterceptedHouse

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same interpretations twice when the same sign is on two adjacent houses.  It will refer the reader to the house where the interpretation first appeared.

ShowDeclStrength

Put this command early on in the template if you want the interpretation headings for declination aspects to show a strength number calculated from the allowable orb minus the actual orb.  Otherwise, the program will print the actual orb of the declination aspect in degrees and minutes.

HousePlanetFirstInAspect

This command will reorder the displayed name of an aspect so that the planet that rules or disposits the house consistently appears first in the aspect title.  Without this command in effect, the normal order of planets in the aspect title is for the faster moving planet name to appear before the slower moving planet name, e.g., Mercury square Saturn, instead of the Saturn square Mercury that this command will produce when Saturn is the house ruler.

SkipNextIfUnkTime

If this command appears anywhere in the template, and the chart has an unknown birth time, the next command in the template sequence will be ignored.

SectionTitle

Follow this command with a few words that you want to print as the title or heading of a major section.

AddToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be added in front of the next SectionTitle.  SkipNextIfUnkTime can be used before this command in order to have different section titles that either reference both sign and house placements or just sign placements.  The report writer will omit house interpretations for unknown birth time charts, so using this can make the Section Title consistent with the following shorter set of sign-only interpretations.

AppendToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be appended after the next SectionTitle.  See AddToSectionTitle.

BoilerPlate

The Edit Interpretations program allows you to enter text for Boilerplate1 through Boilerplate30.  Clicking on BoilerPlate at the Report Order tab will require that you click down in the combo box on a number from 1 to 30, before you move this item into the Report Order list box.  This is how you can automatically include the same standard text in all natal reports that you generate.  This is in addition to the Introduction text that normally prints with every report and which you can edit also.

DefinitionHouse

These twelve items are in the interpretation database for the sake of the Intermediate Template, which goes through the chart in a house-by-house manner.  I will include a DefinitionHouse example taken from the first house because you may need this if you are creating a similar interpretation set from scratch (you don't need it if you are editing the Spirit Success or Personal Path interpretations that you purchased from Halloran Software):

The Ascendant and First House describe the character of your private self.  This includes the appearance of your body and inherent qualities of your self.  <ZodiacSign> is on the cusp of this house, so it is ruled by <SignRuler>.  <SignRuler> in <RulerSign> is disposited by <RulerDispositor>.   (<InterceptionRuler> is a co-ruler because <InterceptionSign> is intercepted in the house.  <InterceptionRuler> in <InterceptionRulerSign> is disposited by <InterceptionDispositor>.)

You can add each of these house definitions to a new interpretation set in Edit Interpretations by selecting them towards the end of its Boilerplate list box at Add New.  If you turn on UseBothModTradRulers, you will also need DualRulershipLang1 through DualRulershipLang5, which are as follows:

1.

<InterceptionSign> is intercepted in the house.  <InterceptionRuler> in <InterceptionRulerSign> is disposited by <InterceptionDispositor>.)

2.

<ZodiacSign> is on the cusp of this house, so it is ruled by both <TradSignRuler> and <ModSignRuler>.  <TradSignRuler> in <TradRulerSign> is disposited by <TradRulerDispositor>.  <ModSignRuler> in <ModRulerSign> is disposited by <ModRulerDispositor>.   (<InterceptionRuler> is a co-ruler because <InterceptionSign> is intercepted in the house.  <InterceptionRuler> in <InterceptionRulerSign> is disposited by <InterceptionDispositor>.)

3.

<ZodiacSign> is on the cusp of this house, so it is ruled by both <TradSignRuler> and <ModSignRuler>.  <TradSignRuler> in <TradRulerSign> is disposited by <TradRulerTradDispositor> and <TradRulerModDispositor>.  <ModSignRuler> in <ModRulerSign> is disposited by <ModRulerTradDispositor> and <ModRulerModDispositor>.   (<InterceptionRuler> is a co-ruler because <InterceptionSign> is intercepted in the house.  <InterceptionRuler> in <InterceptionRulerSign> is disposited by <InterceptionDispositor>.)

4.

<ZodiacSign> is on the cusp of this house, so it is ruled by both <TradSignRuler> and <ModSignRuler>.  <TradSignRuler> in <TradRulerSign> is disposited by <TradRulerDispositor>.  <ModSignRuler> in <ModRulerSign> is disposited by <ModRulerTradDispositor> and <ModRulerModDispositor>.   (<InterceptionRuler> is a co-ruler because <InterceptionSign> is intercepted in the house.  <InterceptionRuler> in <InterceptionRulerSign> is disposited by <InterceptionDispositor>.)

5.

<ZodiacSign> is on the cusp of this house, so it is ruled by both <TradSignRuler> and <ModSignRuler>.  <TradSignRuler> in <TradRulerSign> is disposited by <TradRulerTradDispositor> and <TradRulerModDispositor>.  <ModSignRuler> in <ModRulerSign> is disposited by <ModRulerDispositor>.   (<InterceptionRuler> is a co-ruler because <InterceptionSign> is intercepted in the house.  <InterceptionRuler> in <InterceptionRulerSign> is disposited by <InterceptionDispositor>.)

The program's logic selects the correct paragraph and replaces the bracketed names with the appropriate sign and planet names.  The program supports both modern and traditional rulers for the house ruling planet(s) and house dispositor(s), but for intercepted signs in the house the program supports only the modern ruler.

If you are translating the interpretations from English into another language, the program will get translated planet and sign names for these replacements from a file ASTTEXTD.INI, which can be a copy of one of the thirteen ASTTEXT.??? language files that translators from different countries have produced for the Astrology for Windows program.  For more information, see Edit, Different Language.

HouseAdvanceInDegrees

The number that follows this command tells the report writer the house advance orb.  The house advance orb is normally zero, but setting it to 3, for example, would mean that if a planet is within three degrees of the next house it is considered to be in that house.  For example, if 0 Aries is on the first house cusp and Mars is at 27 Pisces 30, it will be considered to be not in the twelfth house but in the first house.

DoSign

This command is followed by the name of the planet whose sign placement interpretation should print here.  If the planet name is either the Ascendant or the Midheaven, and the subject has an unknown birth time, the program will skip printing the sign placement interpretation.

DoHouse

This command is followed by the name of the planet whose house placement interpretation should print here.  If the subject has an unknown birth time, the program will skip printing the house placement interpretation.

InterpSignPlanetsInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print the sign placement delineations of all the planets in the house.  There are no examples of this powerful command in the Standard, Intermediate, or Career templates.

InterpHousePlanetsInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print the house placement delineations of all the planets in the house.  There are no examples of this powerful command in the Standard, Intermediate, or Career templates.

InterpAspectsPlanetsInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print delineations of all the aspects involving all the planets in the house.  Consider preceding this command with the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command.  There are no examples of this powerful command in the Standard, Intermediate, or Career templates.

InterpSignOnHouseCusp

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print a delineation of having a particular sign on the cusp of this particular house.  The Career template has examples of using InterpSignOnHouseCusp.

InterpInterceptedSignInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print a delineation of having a particular sign intercepted between the cusps of this particular house.  The Career template has examples of using InterpSignOnHouseCusp.

InterpHouseLinkedBySignToNext

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print a delineation of having that particular house linked by the same sign to the next house.  The supplied templates have no examples of this command's use, but Marion March and Joan McEvers interpret these linkages on pp. 108-109 of vol. 2 in their series, The Only Way to Learn Astrology.

DoComboSign

When you click on this command, you will see down in the combo box all of the planet]planet combinations that you can choose in order to have the delineation of their combined sign placements printed.  At this writing, the Personal Path and Spirit Success interpretation sets do not include sign combo interpretations, such as a separate delineation for Sun in Libra, Moon in Aries, for example.  The Edit Interpretations program fully supports entering such interpretations and the report writer will make use of them with this command.

DoComboHouse

When you click on this command, you will see down in the combo box all of the planet]planet combinations that you can choose in order to have the delineation of their combined house placements printed.  At this writing, the Personal Path and Spirit Success interpretation sets do not include house combo interpretations, such as a separate delineation for Sun in the First House, Moon in the Third House, for example.  The Edit Interpretations program fully supports entering such interpretations and the report writer will make use of them with this command.

DoMixedSignHouse

When you click on this command, you will see down in the combo box all of the planet]planet combinations that you can choose in order to have the delineation of their combined sign and house placements printed.  At this writing, the Personal Path and Spirit Success interpretation sets do not include mixed sign house interpretations, such as a separate delineation for Sun in Aries, Sun in the First House, for example.  The Edit Interpretations program fully supports entering such interpretations and the report writer will make use of them with this command.

DoPointAspects

Follow this command with the name of a planet or point such as the Ascendant to print delineations for all of the aspects to the point.

DoPointDeclinationAspects

Follow this command with the name of a planet or point such as the Ascendant to print delineations for all of the parallel and contraparallel declination aspects to the point.  At this writing, the Personal Path and Spirit Success interpretation sets do not include interpretations for declination aspects.  To add these delineations, the Edit Interpretations program includes the Parallel and Contraparallel aspects towards the bottom of the Aspect Name list box at Add New.

DoIntercepted

Follow this command with the name of a planet or point such as the Sun to print a delineation for having that planet be in a sign that is intercepted between two house cusps.

DoRulerSign

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the sign placement of the house ruler planet.

DoRulerHouse

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the house placement of the house ruler planet.

DoRulerAspects

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineations of all of the aspects involving the house ruler planet.  Consider preceding this command with the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command.

DoRulerDispositorSign

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the sign placement of the house ruler dispositor planet.

DoRulerDispositorHouse

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the house placement of the house ruler dispositor planet.

DoRulerDispositorAspects

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineations of all of the aspects involving the house ruler dispositor planet.  Consider preceding this command with the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command.

CutOffAtStrength

Follow this command with a strength number in order to have subsequent aspect printing commands skip aspects whose strength is below this number.

GetAtLeastOneForStrengthCutOff

This command will cause subsequent aspect printing commands to print at least one aspect if one of the CutOff commands would cause no aspects at all to print.

CutOffAtAspectCount

Follow this command with a count number in order to have subsequent aspect printing commands only print a maximum of this many aspects.

DoAspectsStrengthSorted

This command prints the delineations for all of a chart's aspects sorted in order of strength, from strongest to weakest.  This command is used in the Standard template.

DoDeclinationAspects

This command prints the delineations for all of a chart's declination aspects sorted in order of orb width, from close to wide.  You must have entered delineations for the parallel and contraparallel declination aspects.  See DoPointDeclinationAspects.

DoAnyRetrogradePlanets

This command prints the retrograde delineations for each of the planets that the program finds to have been retrograde in the chart.

DoAnyUnaspectedPlanets

This command will print delineations for what it means to have any of the planets in the chart from the Sun to Pluto be unaspected.  Using the orbs set at Customization, Aspect Orbs, the program looks for conjunctions, oppositions, trines, squares, sextiles, and inconjuncts to each of the planets from the other planets.  If none are found, then the planet is considered unaspected.

DoDominantPlanets

This command will print delineations for the three strongest planets in the chart, delineating what it means to have each of those three planets be dominant.  The Career template has examples of using the DoDominantPlanets command.

DoDominantSigns

This command will print delineations for the three strongest signs in the chart, delineating what it means to have each of those three signs be dominant.  The Career template has examples of using the DoDominantSigns command.

DoDominantHouses

This command will print delineations for the three strongest houses in the chart, delineating what it means to have each of those three houses be dominant.  The Career template has examples of using the DoDominantHouses command.

DoBalanceSignElements

This command causes the report writer to figure out if the chart has an abundance or lack of any of the four sign elements: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water; or if the elements are balanced.  Abundance is considered to be more than 30%, while lack is considered to be less than 20%.  The point values assigned to the planets for this purpose can be viewed and modified at the Natal Information Screen, at Customization, Planets, at Set Points for Elements and Modalities.  The default is to assign two points each to the Sun and Moon and one point to the remaining planets through Pluto and the Ascendant.  The default is also to split the points between adjacent signs if a planet is in the last degree of a sign.

After the abundance and lack, if any, have been determined, the report writer sorts them by degree of significance and either prints delineations for them in the order of most significant to least significant or it prints the interpretation for the chart having balanced sign elements.  This command, with the other DoBalance commands, now comes at the end of the Standard template.

DoBalanceHouseElements

This command causes the report writer to figure out if the chart has an abundance or lack of any of the four house elements: Life, Relationships, Endings, Substance; or if the elements are balanced.  Abundance is considered to be more than 30%, while lack is considered to be less than 20%.  For more information, see DoBalanceSignElements.

DoBalanceSignModalities

This command causes the report writer to figure out if the chart has an abundance or lack of any of the three sign modalities: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable; or if the modalities are balanced.  Abundance is considered to be more than 40%, while lack is considered to be less than 23%.  For more information, see DoBalanceSignElements.

DoBalanceHouseModalities

This command causes the report writer to figure out if the chart has an abundance or lack of any of the three house modalities: Angular, Succedent, and Cadent; or if the modalities are balanced.  Abundance is considered to be more than 40%, while lack is considered to be less than 23%.  For more information, see DoBalanceSignElements.


     Comparison Report Order Commands

InCompatHeaderName

The text that follows this item is what PrintHeader will put at the top of every compatibility report page.  The text will be followed by a space and the first names of the two chart subjects, with the two names separated by an ampersand (" & ").  If there are multiple parts in the first name field, the program will query you if it should just use the first element as the first name.  If you selected a female first to compare to a male, the program will ask you if you want the male's name to come before the female's name in the heading.

InHeaderPageNumber

This determines if a page number will print to the right of each page header, and what 'Page' word if any prints before the number.  If you click on the right arrow without entering any text, the page number only will print.

PrintHeader

This command actually prints to the header line of the report the previously filled header content, i.e., the header name, page number, or both.

CourtesyFooter

This command prints the Courtesy Block footer text that you previously entered at Customization, Print Courtesy.  If you want to replace the initial "Courtesy of:" text with different language, enter that other language including the colon in the combo box so that it will be appended to CourtesyFooter.

InFooterText

If you don't want to use the CourtesyFooter command, you can create an alternate footer by entering in the combo box the footer text that will be appended to this command.  The text will be printed to the report footer line when you call the command PrintFooter.

PrintFooter

This command actually prints to the footer line of the report the previously filled alternate footer content from InFooterText.

AspectStrength

Follow this command with the word in your language for strength or intensity.  This word will print before the synastry aspect strength numbers.  This command is meant for users who are producing reports in languages other than English.

SimpleOrbWeights

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter normally calculates compatibility strengths for each synastry aspect in the compatibility interpretation report, and shows these strengths after each synastry aspect.  Precede DoAspectsStrengthSorted with this command in order to have the heading for each aspect replace the Halloran relationship strength number with a simpler strength derived by subtracting the actual aspect orb from the allowed aspect orb.

When you do this, you should remove the 4 communication index commands from the end of the report order section of the Standard compatibility template.  When you generate the interpretation report, do not worry if at first you see the program bring up an aspects grid with the normal compatibility strengths - by the time the program generates the interpretation report it will have substituted the simple orb weights.

The simple orb weights are defined as the allowable aspect orb minus the actual aspect orb.  You can customize the allowable aspect orbs at Customization, Aspect Orbs.

OrbWord

Follow this command with the word in your language for aspect orb.  If your compatibility template includes the DoDeclinationAspects command then the report writer will make use of this word.

TextLineFeedOff

Blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text are normally printed with a concluding Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence.  This command disables adding that.  Using this command before the BirthInfoBlock allows each line of that block of information to be sent separately as Body Text and print without inbetween blank lines.

BirthInfoBlock

This command will print the lines of the birth information legend from the Chart Information Screen, as many as eight lines if not blank.  A separate BirthInfoBlock will print for each of the two people of a compatibility report.  Click down in the combo list box area to select and append the category text style in which you want the BirthInfoBlock to print.

TextLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at the end of blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text.  The command is only needed if you have used TextLineFeedOff previously in the report.

HeadingLineFeedOff

The report writer normally prints a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  This command turns that off, allowing you to use the text style of this category for the BirthInfoBlock.

HeadingLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  The command is only needed if you have used HeadingLineFeedOff previously in the report.

Introduction

This command looks for the Introduction record in the interpretation database and prints it to the report.  If you want to keep separate introductions which different templates will reference, you could enter them in Edit Interpretations under differently numbered Boilerplate records and reference here the Boilerplate item that you want.

Pagebreak

If the current page already has at least 23 lines of text, then this command will cause a new page.  Normally used before section titles.

BlankLine

This command adds a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at this location.

ShowDeclStrength

Put this command early on in the template if you want the interpretation headings for declination aspects to show a strength number calculated from the allowable orb minus the actual orb.  Otherwise, the program will print the actual orb of the declination aspect.

BoilerPlate

The Edit Interpretations program allows you to enter text for Boilerplate1 through Boilerplate30.  Clicking on BoilerPlate at the Report Order tab will require that you click down in the combo box on a number from 1 to 30, before you move this item into the Report Order list box.  This is how you can automatically include the same standard text in all compatibility reports that you generate.  This is in addition to the Introduction text that normally prints with every report and which you can edit also.

SectionTitle

Follow this command with a few words that you want to print as the title or heading of a major section.

AddToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be added in front of the next SectionTitle.  SkipNextIfUnkTime can be used before this command in order to have different section titles that either reference both sign and house placements or just sign placements.  The report writer will omit house interpretations for unknown birth time charts, so using this can make the Section Title consistent with the following shorter set of sign-only interpretations.

AppendToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be appended after the next SectionTitle.  See AddToSectionTitle.

Do1Sign

This command, followed by a planet name, will print the interpretation for the sign placement of that planet in the chart of subject one.  If the planet name is either the Descendant, Ascendant or Midheaven, and either chart has an unknown birth time, the program will skip that point's placement interpretation.

Do2Sign

This command, followed by a planet name, will print the interpretation for the sign placement of that planet in the chart of subject two.

SkipNextIfUnkTime

If this command appears anywhere in the template, and either chart has an unknown birth time, the next command in the template sequence will be ignored.

OnPageBrks

If this command precedes DoMutualHouses, then the report writer will automatically insert a page break between each set of the two mutual house placement interpretations that it prints for each of the planets.

HouseAdvanceInDegrees

The number that follows this command tells the report writer the house advance orb.  The house advance orb is normally zero, but setting it to 3, for example, would mean that if a planet is within three degrees of the next house it is considered to be in that house.  For example, if 0 Aries is on the first house cusp and Mars is at 27 Pisces 30, it will be considered to be not in the twelfth house but in the first house.

DoMutualHouses

This command will cause the program to automatically find the placements of the planets of each chart in the houses of the other chart.  For as many planets as the interpretation file contains delineations, it will print adjacent to one another the mutual house placement interpretations for each planet for the two charts, and will always print them on the same page if OnPageBrks is in effect.  The program will omit this section of the report if either of the two charts has an unknown birth time.

CutOffAtStrength

Follow this command with a strength number in order to have subsequent aspect printing commands skip aspects whose strength is below this number.

GetAtLeastOneForStrengthCutOff

This command will cause subsequent aspect printing commands to print at least one aspect if one of the CutOff commands would cause no aspects at all to print.

CutOffAtAspectCount

Follow this command with a count number in order to have subsequent aspect printing commands only print a maximum of this many aspects.

DoAspectsStrengthSorted

This command prints the delineations of all of the synastry aspects between the planets of the two charts sorted in order of strength, from strongest to weakest.

DoDeclinationAspects

This command prints the delineations for all of the synastry declination aspects sorted in order of orb width, from close to wide.  You must have entered delineations for the parallel and contraparallel declination aspects in the Edit Interpretations program.

HarmonyIndex

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean Harmonious Communication Index, in order to print this number on the compatibility report.  For more information on these compatibility index numbers, see Synastry Weighting System.

InharmoniousIndex

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean Inharmonious Communication Index, in order to print this number on the compatibility report.

CompatIndex

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean Compatibility Index (Harmonious/Inharmonious Ratio), in order to print this number on the compatibility report.

TotalCommIndex

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean Total Communication Index, in order to print this number on the compatibility report.


     Transits Report Order Commands

ForLanguage

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'For', i.e., a report 'for' a certain time period.

IntervalLang0

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Year', to follow the number 1.

IntervalLang1

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Years', to follow a plural cardinal number.

IntervalLang4

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Day', to follow the number 1.

IntervalLang5

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Days', to follow a plural cardinal number.

IntervalLang6

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Week', to follow the number 1.

IntervalLang7

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Weeks', to follow a plural cardinal number.

IntervalLang8

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Month', to follow the number 1.

IntervalLang9

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Months', to follow a plural cardinal number.

StartingLanguage

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Starting', i.e., a time period 'starting' as of a certain date.

InTransHeaderName

The text that follows this item is what PrintHeader will put at the top of every transits report page.  The text will be followed by a space, the name of the chart subject, the English word 'For' or the contents of the ForLanguage command, the number of time units and the word for them, which may be the contents of the appropriate IntervalLang command, the English word 'Starting' or the contents of the StartingLanguage command, and the start date of the report in the Short Date format defined in your Control Panel, Regional Settings..

InHeaderPageNumber

This determines if a page number will print to the right of each page header, and what 'Page' word if any prints before the number.  If you click on the right arrow without entering any text, the page number only will print.

PrintHeader

This command actually prints to the header line of the report the previously filled header content, i.e., the header name, page number, or both.

CourtesyFooter

This command prints the Courtesy Block footer text that you previously entered at Customization, Print Courtesy.  If you want to replace the initial "Courtesy of:" text with different language, enter that other language including the colon in the combo box so that it will be added before your CourtesyFooter.

InFooterText

If you don't want to use the CourtesyFooter command, you can create an alternate footer by entering in the combo box the footer text that will be appended to this command.  The text will be printed to the report footer line when you call the command PrintFooter.

PrintFooter

This command actually prints to the footer line of the report the previously filled alternate footer content from InFooterText.

TextLineFeedOff

Blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text are normally printed with a concluding Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence.  This command disables adding that.  Using this command before the BirthInfoBlock allows each line of that block of information to be sent separately as Body Text and print without inbetween blank lines.

BirthInfoBlock

This command will print the lines of the birth information legend from the top left of the Chart Information Screen, as many as eight lines if not blank.  A BirthInfoBlock will print for one person for a natal, transits, and progressions report.  Click down in the combo list box area to select and append the category text style in which you want the BirthInfoBlock to print.

TextLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at the end of blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text.  The command is only needed if you have used TextLineFeedOff previously in the report.

HeadingLineFeedOff

The report writer normally prints a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  This command turns that off, allowing you to use the text style of this category for the BirthInfoBlock.

HeadingLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  The command is only needed if you have used HeadingLineFeedOff previously in the report.

Introduction

This command looks for the Introduction record in the interpretation database and prints it to the report.  If you want to keep separate introductions which different templates will reference, you could enter them in Edit Interpretations under differently numbered Boilerplate records and reference here the Boilerplate item that you want.

Pagebreak

If the current page already has at least 23 lines of text, then this command will cause a new page.  Normally used before section titles.

BlankLine

This command adds a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at this location.

BoilerPlate

The Edit Interpretations program allows you to enter text for Boilerplate1 through Boilerplate30.  Clicking on BoilerPlate at the Report Order tab will require that you click down in the combo box on a number from 1 to 30, before you move this item into the Report Order list box.  This is how you can automatically include the same standard text in all transit reports that you generate.  This is in addition to the Introduction text that normally prints with every report and which you can edit also.

SectionTitle

Follow this command with a few words that you want to print as the title or heading of a major section.

AddToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be added in front of the next SectionTitle.  SkipNextIfUnkTime can be used before this command in order to have different section titles that either reference both house transits and transiting aspects or just transiting aspects.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will not calculate house transits for unknown birth time charts, so using this can make the Section Title consistent with the following transiting aspect-only interpretations.

AppendToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be appended after the next SectionTitle.  See AddToSectionTitle.

ReferralLanguage

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "See the interpretation for".  If you are using orbs, the program will refer the reader to the date in the report where the interpretation appears for the Exact transiting aspect.

Nature01

Follow this command with the word in your language that means "Exact".

Nature02

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Closest Approach".

Nature03

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Leaving Orb".

Nature04

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Entering Orb".

Nature05

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "deg. orb", i.e., 'degrees of orb' following a cardinal number.

Nature06

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Moving Backwards at" to precede a degree number.

Nature07

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Moving Forwards at" to precede a degree number.

Nature08

Follow this command with the word in your language that means "Degrees".

Nature09

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "in a".

Nature10

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Degree House", where they will be preceded by a cardinal number describing how many degrees there are in the house.

Nature11

Follow this command with the word in your language that means "Degree".

MinorSubLanguage1

Follow this command with the equivalent in your language to "trine:in harmonious aspect to".  If you have SubstituteMajorForMinorAspects turned on, when the report writer does not find an interpretation for a minor harmonious aspect, it will get the trine aspect's interpretation and replace the word in your Display Title which here precedes the colon (:) with the text that here follows the colon.

MinorSubLanguage2

Follow this command with the equivalent in your language to "square:in discordant aspect to".  If you have SubstituteMajorForMinorAspects turned on, when the report writer does not find an interpretation for a minor discordant aspect, it will get the square aspect's interpretation and replace the word in your Display Title which here precedes the colon (:) with the text that here follows the colon.

SubstituteMajorForMinorAspects

Including this command in your transits template somewhere before DoTransitsGrid will cause the program to substitute trine interpretations for missing sextile (60-degree) and semisextile (30-degree) aspect interpretations, and to substitute square interpretations for missing semisquare (45-degree) and sesquiquadrate (135-degree) aspect interpretations.

SuppressHouseDetails

Including this command in your transits template somewhere before DoTransitsGrid will cause the delineation heading for transiting planets in the houses to only show the planet name and the date.  Thus, for a transits list beginning on 01/16/2003, instead of displaying:

Uranus is in the 1st: 01/16/2003 12:00 AM, Moving Forwards at Degree 25 in a 52 Degree House

the heading will display just:

Uranus is in the 1st: 01/16/2003

DoTransitsGrid

This is the command that causes the report writer to get and print the interpretations of the house placements and aspects that it finds in the grid of transits list calculation results.  The command prints as many interpretations as it finds in the database.


     Progressions Report Order Commands

ForLanguage

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'For', i.e., a report 'for' a certain time period.

IntervalLang0

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Year', to follow the number 1.

IntervalLang1

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Years', to follow a plural cardinal number.

IntervalLang2

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Interval', to follow the number 1.

IntervalLang3

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Intervals', to follow a plural cardinal number.

StartingLanguage

Follow this command with the word in your language that means 'Starting', i.e., a time period 'starting' as of a certain date.

InProgsHeaderName

The text that follows this item is what PrintHeader will put at the top of every progressions report page.  The text will be followed by a space, the name of the chart subject, the English word 'For' or the contents of the ForLanguage command, the number of time units and the word for them, which may be the contents of the appropriate IntervalLang command, the English word 'Starting' or the contents of the StartingLanguage command, and the start date of the report in the Short Date format defined in your Control Panel, Regional Settings..

InHeaderPageNumber

This determines if a page number will print to the right of each page header, and what 'Page' word if any prints before the number.  If you click on the right arrow without entering any text, the page number only will print.

PrintHeader

This command actually prints to the header line of the report the previously filled header content, i.e., the header name, page number, or both.

CourtesyFooter

This command prints the Courtesy Block footer text that you previously entered at Customization, Print Courtesy.  If you want to replace the initial "Courtesy of:" text with different language, enter that other language including the colon in the combo box so that it will be appended to CourtesyFooter.

InFooterText

If you don't want to use the CourtesyFooter command, you can create an alternate footer by entering in the combo box the footer text that will be appended to this command.  The text will be printed to the report footer line when you call the command PrintFooter.

PrintFooter

This command actually prints to the footer line of the report the previously filled alternate footer content from InFooterText.

TextLineFeedOff

Blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text are normally printed with a concluding Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence.  This command disables adding that.  Using this command before the BirthInfoBlock allows each line of that block of information to be sent separately as Body Text and print without inbetween blank lines.

BirthInfoBlock

This command will print the lines of the birth information legend from the top left of the Chart Information Screen, as many as eight lines if not blank.  A BirthInfoBlock will print for one person for a natal, transits, and progressions report.  Click down in the combo list box area to select and append the category text style in which you want the BirthInfoBlock to print.

TextLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at the end of blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text.  The command is only needed if you have used TextLineFeedOff previously in the report.

HeadingLineFeedOff

The report writer normally prints a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  This command turns that off, allowing you to use the text style of this category for the BirthInfoBlock.

HeadingLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  The command is only needed if you have used HeadingLineFeedOff previously in the report.

Introduction

This command looks for the Introduction record in the interpretation database and prints it to the report.  If you want to keep separate introductions which different templates will reference, you could enter them in Edit Interpretations under differently numbered Boilerplate records and reference here the Boilerplate item that you want.

IntroForAstrologers

Journey Progressions author Anthony Louis wrote two introductions: a 59-line introduction for clients and a 132-line introduction for astrologers.  The Standard template references the introduction for clients.  This longer introduction is Anthony Louis talking directly to you, the astrologer, telling you what he knows about using and interpreting the following progressed interpretation report.  If you think that you will want to regularly generate reports using both introductions, save a template using this introduction to another name using File, Save Template As….  You can then use the Report Template list box to switch between them.

Pagebreak

If the current page already has at least 23 lines of text, then this command will cause a new page.  Normally used before section titles.

BlankLine

This command adds a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at this location.

BoilerPlate

The Edit Interpretations program allows you to enter text for Boilerplate1 through Boilerplate30.  Clicking on BoilerPlate at the Report Order tab will require that you click down in the combo box on a number from 1 to 30, before you move this item into the Report Order list box.  This is how you can automatically include the same standard text in all progression reports that you generate.  This is in addition to the Introduction text that normally prints with every report and which you can edit also.

SectionTitle

Follow this command with a few words that you want to print as the title or heading of a major section.  Unlike other types of interpretation reports, you cannot add or append to the section title of a progressions report based on whether the birth time is unknown because the program will not calculate a progressions list for an unknown birth time chart.

ReferralLanguage

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "See the interpretation for".  If you are using orbs, the program will refer the reader to the date in the report where the interpretation appears for the Exact progressed aspect.

Nature01

Follow this command with the word in your language that means "Exact".

Nature02

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Closest Approach".

Nature03

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Leaving Orb".

Nature04

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Entering Orb".

Nature05

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "deg. orb", i.e., 'degrees of orb' following a cardinal number.

Nature06

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Moving Backwards at" to precede a degree number.

Nature07

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Moving Forwards at" to precede a degree number.

Nature08

Follow this command with the word in your language that means "Degrees".

Nature09

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "in a".

Nature10

Follow this command with the words in your language that mean "Degree House", where they will be preceded by a cardinal number describing how many degrees there are in the house.

Nature11

Follow this command with the word in your language that means "Degree".

MinorSubLanguage1

Follow this command with the equivalent in your language to "trine:in harmonious aspect to".  If you have SubstituteMajorForMinorAspects turned on, when the report writer does not find an interpretation for a minor harmonious aspect, it will get the trine aspect's interpretation and replace the word in your Display Title which here precedes the colon (:) with the text that here follows the colon.

MinorSubLanguage2

Follow this command with the equivalent in your language to "square:in discordant aspect to".  If you have SubstituteMajorForMinorAspects turned on, when the report writer does not find an interpretation for a minor discordant aspect, it will get the square aspect's interpretation and replace the word in your Display Title which here precedes the colon (:) with the text that here follows the colon.

SubstituteMajorForMinorAspects

Including this command in your progressions template somewhere before DoTransitsGrid will cause the program to substitute trine interpretations for missing sextile (60-degree) and semisextile (30-degree) aspect interpretations, and to substitute square interpretations for missing semisquare (45-degree) and sesquiquadrate (135-degree) aspect interpretations.

SuppressHouseDetails

Including this command in your progressions template somewhere before DoTransitsGrid will cause the delineation heading for progressed planets in the houses to only show the planet name and the date.  Thus, for a progressions list beginning on 01/16/2003, instead of displaying:

The Moon in the 7th House: 16-Jan-2003, Moving Forwards at Degree 10 in a 22 Degree House

the heading will display just:

The Moon in the 7th House: 16-Jan-2003

ChangedSignsHousesOnly

Including this command in your progressions template somewhere before DoTransitsGrid will cause the program to only print interpretations of a progressed planet in a sign or house if that sign or house is different from the natal sign or house placement of the planet.  An exception is made for the progressed Moon, which moves so fast, changing signs and houses every two years, that the report writer always prints its placement interpretations.

DoTransitsGrid

This is the command that causes the report writer to get and print the interpretations of the house placements and aspects that it finds in the grid of progressions list calculation results.  The command prints as many interpretations as it finds in the database.


     Return Report Order Commands

InReturnHeaderName

The text that follows this item is what PrintHeader will put at the top of every report page.  The text will be followed by a space and the subject's name, taken from the first line of the birth information legend for the natal chart on the Chart Information Screen.  The text in the Standard template is "Solar Return Forecast Starting [date] for", where the program will replace [date] with the calculated date of the solar return.

InHeaderPageNumber

This determines if a page number will print to the right of each page header, and what 'Page' word if any prints before the number.  If you click on the right arrow without entering any text, the page number only will print.

PrintHeader

This command actually prints to the header line of the report the previously filled header content, i.e., the header name, page number, or both.

CourtesyFooter

This command prints the Courtesy Block footer text that you previously entered at Customization, Print Courtesy.  If you want to replace the initial "Courtesy of:" text with different language, enter that other language including the colon in the combo box so that it will be appended to CourtesyFooter.

InFooterText

If you don't want to use the CourtesyFooter command, you can create an alternate footer by entering in the combo box the footer text that will be appended to this command.  The text will be printed to the report footer line when you call the command PrintFooter.

PrintFooter

This command actually prints to the footer line of the report the previously filled alternate footer content from InFooterText.

AspectStrength

Use this command to specify the word in your language that means 'strength', for an astrological aspect.

TextLineFeedOff

Blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text are normally printed with a concluding Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence.  This command disables adding that.  Using this command before the BirthInfoBlock allows each line of that block of information to be sent separately as Body Text and print without inbetween blank lines.

BirthInfoBlock

This command will print the lines of the birth information legend from the top left of the Chart Information Screen, as many as eight lines if not blank.  The language of the birth information will be whatever language you have used Edit, Different Language to select.  For return reports, BirthInfoBlock will print data for both the natal chart and the return chart.  Click down in the combo list box area to select and append the category text style in which you want the BirthInfoBlock to print.

TextLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at the end of blocks of text sent to the report writer as Body Text.  The command is only needed if you have used TextLineFeedOff previously in the report.

HeadingLineFeedOff

The report writer normally prints a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  This command turns that off, allowing you to use the text style of this category for the BirthInfoBlock.

HeadingLineFeedOn

This command turns back on the Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence before a Delineation Heading.  The command is only needed if you have used HeadingLineFeedOff previously in the report.

Introduction

This command looks for the Introduction record in the interpretation database and prints it to the report.  If you want to keep separate introductions which different templates will reference, you could enter them in Edit Interpretations under differently numbered Boilerplate records and reference here the Boilerplate item that you want.

Pagebreak

If the current page already has at least 23 lines of text, then this command will cause a new page.  Normally used before section titles.

BlankLine

This command adds a Carriage Return/Line Feed sequence at this location.

SectionReferralLang

Follow this command with the words in your language which mean "Read this interpretation where it already appeared in the section for the".  If your natal template includes any of the following four commands then the report writer will make use of this language.  The English and Spanish Intermediate templates have examples of using SectionReferralLang.

NoSuchAspLang

Follow this command with the words in your language which mean "This planet forms no major aspects in this chart."  The solar return report needs this language because in the Standard template there are sections devoted to each planet.  The command TellIfNoAspect which occurs after each planet aspect section uses this language.

ReferToPreviousAspectAlways

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same aspect interpretation more than once.  It will refer the reader to the section where the interpretation first appeared.

ReferToPrevSignPlaceAlways

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same sign placement interpretation more than once.  It will refer the reader to the section where the interpretation first appeared.

ReferToPrevHousePlaceAlways

Put this command early on in the template if you do not want the program to print the same house placement interpretation more than once.  It will refer the reader to the section where the interpretation first appeared.

ShowDeclStrength

Put this command early on in the template if you want the interpretation headings for declination aspects to show a strength number calculated from the allowable orb minus the actual orb.  Otherwise, the program will print the actual orb of the declination aspect in degrees and minutes.

HousePlanetFirstInAspect

This command will reorder the displayed name of an aspect so that the planet that rules or disposits the house consistently appears first in the aspect title.  Without this command in effect, the normal order of planets in the aspect title is for the faster moving planet name to appear before the slower moving planet name, e.g., Mercury square Saturn, instead of the Saturn square Mercury that this command will produce when Saturn is the house ruler.

BoilerPlate

The Edit Interpretations program allows you to enter text for Boilerplate1 through Boilerplate30.  Clicking on BoilerPlate at the Report Order tab will require that you click down in the combo box on a number from 1 to 30, before you move this item into the Report Order list box.  This is how you can automatically include the same standard text in all return reports that you generate.  This is in addition to the Introduction text that normally prints with every report and which you can edit also.

SectionTitle

Follow this command with a few words that you want to print as the title or heading of a major section.

HouseAdvanceInDegrees

The number that follows this command tells the report writer the house advance orb.  The house advance orb is normally zero, but setting it to 3, for example, would mean that if a planet is within three degrees of the next house it is considered to be in that house.  For example, if 0 Aries is on the first house cusp and Mars is at 27 Pisces 30, it will be considered to be not in the twelfth house but in the first house.

CutOffAtStrength

Follow this command with a strength number in order to have subsequent aspect printing commands skip aspects whose strength is below this number.

GetAtLeastOneForStrengthCutOff

This command will cause subsequent aspect printing commands to print at least one aspect if one of the CutOff commands would cause no aspects at all to print.

CutOffAtAspectCount

Follow this command with a count number in order to have subsequent aspect printing commands only print a maximum of this many aspects.

DoAspectsStrengthSorted

This command would print delineations for all of a return chart's aspects sorted in order of strength, from strongest to weakest.

DoDeclinationAspects

This command would print delineations for all of a return chart's declination aspects sorted in order of orb width, from close to wide.  You must have entered delineations for the parallel and contraparallel declination aspects.  See DoPointDeclinationAspects.

DoReturnPlanetToReturnHouseAspects

This command will print delineations for all of the conjunctions between a return chart's planets and the return chart's house cusps.  This is used in Section 15.1 of the Standard template.

DoReturnPlanetToNatalHouseAspects

This command will print delineations for all of the conjunctions between a return chart's planets and the natal chart's house cusps.  This is used in Section 15.2 of the Standard template.

DoNatalPlanetToReturnHouseAspects

This command will print delineations for all of the conjunctions between the natal chart's planets and the return chart's house cusps.  This is used in Section 15.3 of the Standard template.

TellIfNoAspect

Place this command after a planet aspects section, as illustrated in the Standard template.  If no aspects printed for a planet, this command will print "This planet forms no major aspects in this chart."  This command uses the language previously provided by the NoSuchAspLang command.

DoSign

This command is followed by the name of the return planet whose sign placement interpretation should print here.

DoHouse

This command is followed by the name of the return planet whose return chart house placement interpretation should print here.

DoReturnNatalHouse

This command is followed by the name of the return planet whose natal chart house placement interpretation should print here.

DoNatalReturnHouse

This command is followed by the name of the natal planet whose return chart house placement interpretation should print here.

InterpSignPlanetsInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print the sign placement delineations of all the planets in the house.

InterpHousePlanetsInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print the house placement delineations of all the planets in the house.  The Standard template uses this command to print house delineations for any return chart planets in the solar return 1st House and 10th House.

InterpAspectsPlanetsInHouse

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print delineations of all the aspects involving all the planets in the house.  Consider preceding this command with the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command.

InterpSignOnHouseCusp

Follow this command with the number of a house in order to print a delineation of having a particular sign on the cusp of this particular house.

DoPointAspects

Follow this command with the name of a return planet or point such as the Ascendant to print delineations for all of the aspects within the return chart to the point.

DoReturnToNatalPointAspects

Follow this command with the name of a return planet or point such as the Ascendant to print delineations for all of the aspects from the natal chart planets to the return chart point.

DoPointDeclinationAspects

Follow this command with the name of a return planet or point such as the Ascendant to print delineations for all of the parallel and contraparallel declination aspects within the return chart to the point.

DoRulerSign

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the sign placement of the house ruler planet.

DoRulerHouse

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the house placement of the house ruler planet.  The Standard template uses this command to delineate the return chart house placement of the return chart Ascendant and Midheaven ruling planets.

DoRulerAspects

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineations of all of the aspects involving the house ruler planet.  Consider preceding this command with the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command.

DoRulerDispositorSign

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the sign placement of the house ruler dispositor planet.

DoRulerDispositorHouse

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineation of the house placement of the house ruler dispositor planet.

DoRulerDispositorAspects

Follow this command with one of the houses in order to print the delineations of all of the aspects involving the house ruler dispositor planet.  Consider preceding this command with the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command.

ShowUninterpTransits

Normally, if the Report Writer does not find an interpretation paragraph in the database, it skips to the next item, but if you have this command placed somewhere above DoSunTransits, DoProgAscMC, DoJustProgAsc, or DoJustProgMC, the Report Writer will print a delineation heading of each Search Title with the date and time for the transiting or progressed aspect, with each aspect heading separated by a blank line.

IncludeHouseIngresses

Normally, the Sun transits list and the progressed angles list will omit house ingress dates, but if you put the IncludeHouseIngresses command above those commands in the Report Order list, then the progressed ingress dates through the Return chart and Natal chart houses will be calculated.

ExcludeHouseIngresses

If you have earlier put the IncludeHouseIngresses command in the Report Order list, such as for use by DoSunTransits, then this command will turn off house ingress calculations, such as for DoProgAscMC.

ExcludeOppAspects

Normally, the progressed angles list will include conjunction, opposition, and square aspects, but if you put the ExcludeOppAspects command above those commands in the Report Order list, then the list of aspect dates will not include any opposition aspect dates.

IncludeOppAspects

If you have earlier put the ExcludeOppAspects command in the Report Order list, then this command will turn calculation of opposition aspect dates back on.

ExcludeSquareAspects

Normally, the progressed angles list will include conjunction, opposition, and square aspects, but if you put the ExcludeSquareAspects command above those commands in the Report Order list, then the list of aspect dates will not include any square aspect dates.

IncludeSquareAspects

If you have earlier put the ExcludeSquareAspects command in the Report Order list, then this command will turn calculation of square aspect dates back on.

DoSunTransits

This command to calculate and list Sun transits during the course of the Solar Return year calculates conjunctions, oppositions, and squares to Return chart planets.  To include house ingresses, precede this command with IncludeHouseIngresses.  To turn off opposition or square aspects, precede this command with ExcludeOppAspects or ExcludeSquareAspects.  This command works together with interpretations created from TransitingSun at the bottom of the first Planets listbox in the Edit Interpretations program, at Add New.

DoProgAscMC

This command will progress the Return chart Ascendant and Midheaven by one complete revolution during the course of the solar return year, indicating conjunctions, oppositions, and squares to the planets of both the return chart and the natal chart in a chronological list of aspects.  According to Tony Louis, Volguine states that the progress of the Ascendant during 3 minutes and 56.6 seconds of "real time" on the day of the Solar Return corresponds to one day during the year ahead.  This progression rate gives the same results as Tony's statement in section XV of his summary of Volguine's method, "The SR-progressed Ascendant for any date of the year can be calculated using the identical data of the original Return chart and simply substituting the current date to find a new Ascendant."  The Ascendant and Midheaven oppositions can be delineated, if desired, as conjunctions by the progressed Descendant and I.C., by editing the Display Title for each delineation in Edit Interpretations.  To have the progressed angles list include house ingresses, put the Include HouseIngresses command above this command in the Report Order list.  To exclude opposition or square aspects, precede this command with ExcludeOppAspects or ExcludeSquareAspects.

DoJustProgAsc

This command will progress the Return chart Ascendant (without the progressed Midheaven) by one complete revolution during the course of the solar return year, indicating conjunctions, oppositions, and squares to the planets of both the return chart and the natal chart in a chronological list of aspects.  To have this list include house ingresses, put the Include HouseIngresses command above this command in the Report Order list.  To exclude opposition or square aspects, precede this command with ExcludeOppAspects or ExcludeSquareAspects.

DoJustProgMC

This command will progress the Return chart Midheaven (without the progressed Ascendant) by one complete revolution during the course of the solar return year, indicating conjunctions, oppositions, and squares to the planets of both the return chart and the natal chart in a chronological list of aspects.  To have this list include house ingresses, put the Include HouseIngresses command above this command in the Report Order list.  To exclude opposition or square aspects, precede this command with ExcludeOppAspects or ExcludeSquareAspects.


     Composite Report Order Commands

Most of the commands for composite and combined interpretation reports are the same as the identical natal report commands, so see the Natal Report Order Commands section of the manual.

InComposHeaderName

The text that follows this item is what the PrintHeader command will put at the top of every report page.  The text will be followed by a space and the first and last names of the two chart subjects.  The text in the Standard template is "Relationship Report for".

SkipNextIfComposite

Use this command with AddToSectionTitle to have a different heading for a report section depending on if the program detects that it is doing a composite chart interpretation report or a combined chart interpretation report.

SkipNextIfCombined

Use this command with AddToSectionTitle to have a different heading for a report section depending on if the program detects that it is doing a composite chart interpretation report or a combined chart interpretation report.

AddToSectionTitle

This command fills a temporary variable with text that will be added in front of the next SectionTitle.  SkipNextIfComposite and SkipNextIfCombined can be used before this command in order to have different section titles that reference either Combined Planets in Signs and Houses or Composite Planets in Signs and Houses.

SectionTitle

Follow this command with a few words that you want to print as the title or heading of a major section.


Report Options  Personalizing Your Reports

You now own a powerful, flexible astrological report writer.  Use it as a tool to produce enlightening reports for the people that you know and as a tool to unleash and encapsulate your own creativity.

Put Your Subject's Name in the Body of the Report

When the program is creating the natal report, if it finds <subject> anywhere in the body of the interpretation text, the program will replace it with the chart subject's first name.  There will be examples of this in the Kid Zone™ set of child interpretations.  You can use the Edit Interpretations program to add this feature to your interpretations.

Refine Sign Interpretations According to Decan

A feature that we originally developed for the Journey Careers report by  Tony Louis allows the program to put text at the end of a sign interpretation which interprets in which of the three decans of the sign the planet falls.  For example, at the end of the Libra Midheaven interpretation in Journey Careers appears this cryptic line:

<<First Decan>><<Second Decan>><<Third Decan>>

In the interpretation database, there are three additional records that have nothing but the text that the program should use to replace the one of these bracketed items that the program determines to be true for the chart.  The third record has the search title: Libra Midheaven, Third Decan.  The text says: "THIRD DECAN: Because your Midheaven lies between 20 and 30 degrees of Libra, your career comes under the influence of the third decan of Libra, which is governed by GEMINI, MERCURY, and Chaldean ruler JUPITER.  The Venus/Mercury/Jupiter emphasis may indicate a talent for writing, publishing, teaching, art, music, communications, theater, acting, dance, graceful sports, comedy, sales, or any activity that requires fast movement, quick thinking, agility, and manual dexterity."

Personalize the Report with a Macro

The Report Options drop-down File menu includes Enter a Report Subsequent Command.  If you use this feature, the report writer will automatically save the report RTF file and pass it to another program for further modification and personalization.  Power users who have constructed a macro in a program such as Microsoft's Word for Windows can use this feature to perform further customization on the reports for their astrological practice.  If you are using Word for Windows, you can call a particular macro by adding a /mmacroname parameter to its command line.  When the called other program closes you will be back at the Chart Information Screen because the report writer's editor closes when it saves the RTF file.

This screen asks you for: 1) Complete Executable File Name (Including Drive and Path) [e.g., F:\winword97\Office\WINWORD.EXE]; 2) Parameters (Where <rtf> Will Be Passed as the Complete Report File Name) [e.g., <rtf> /mEditSelectAll /mBorderLeft /mStartOfLine]; 3) Executable File Working Directory [e.g., F:\winword97\Office].  It is essential that you leave <rtf> somewhere in the Parameters text box because the program will replace it with the actual name of the RTF report file.  You will find the macros listed in the example in WinWord97 in the Macros in: list box under the category Word Commands at Tools, Macro, Macros….

The Enter a Report Subsequent Command screen has Off and On radio buttons so that you can leave data in its fields even when you don't make the call.  The data here will be associated with the current template, so that different templates can make different calls.

You could also use this feature if you want the report writer to automatically take you to another program.  You may want to take advantage of some special printing features, such as the ability that you have in Word for Windows at File, Print to change the Print: list box from 'All pages in range' to 'Odd pages' or 'Even pages'.  An AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter user says that he uses this feature with his single-sided printer and manually reversing the paper to get reports to print double-sided, which uses half the amount of paper.

Theoretically, you could use Word for Windows to add a true watermark image to the background of the printed report pages, as opposed to the Background Picture that the report writer's Other menu gives you, which is just for the screen only and not for printing.  However, in experimenting with various astrological images, I feel that the printed watermark images that I achieved merely cluttered the report pages and slowed down printing each page.  Also, a blank square printed in the watermark image around each of the existing zodiac sign graphic images that print before the sun, moon, and rising sign delineations in the Standard natal report (this occurred even if the zodiac sign image as well as the background image were both from GIF images with white set to transparent).  Microsoft Word does provide some suitable images in the Backgrounds folder of its Clip Art collection, such as printing a border of leaves on the left side of each page.  You may find that you can achieve a better result by purchasing specialty paper that comes preprinted with the desired background(s).

Back Up Your Work

Back up your creative work to removable disk or tape media.  For the saved charts, this means any files ending with the CHT, PTR, and optionally MDB extensions.  For the edited interpretations, this means files ending with *C.HNP, *C.HSM, *C.HLT,  *C.HJP, *C.HRC, and *C.HCC.  For the templates, this means files ending with the INI extension.  These will all be in the \WINASTRO directory together with the program files.  The files that you create are new with you and will never be overwritten by reinstalling the AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter software.


Edit the Interpretations or Create Your Own

Edit the Supplied Interpretations

Write New Delineations, Including for Double Placements

Write Boilerplate Blocks of Text

Balance of Elements and Modalities

Update for Intermediate Templates

Reports Can Draw Entirely on Your Interpretations

Import Your Customized Interpretations from Earlier Programs

Label Interpretation Set

Print Interpretation

List Interpretation Search Titles

Search Title

Edit Display Titles

Edit Interpretation Headers (if any)

Edit Interpretation Text

Edit Code (if any)


Edit the Supplied Interpretations

There is an interpretations editor installed as a companion program to AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  You will find it at Start, Programs, Halloran Software, Edit Interpretations.  This lets you edit the delineations that go into making up the reports.  When you first try to edit the NPRO1.HNP Personal Path natal file, or any of the other interpretation files, the editor will want to make a copy of the file.  When you do this, it asks if you will want a single file to edit or separate male and female interpretation files.  The single file will be called NPRO1C.HNP, while the separate files will be called NPRO1MC.HNP and NPRO1FC.HNP.  If you develop gender-specific interpretation sets, when you are in AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter and have selected Interpret, Create Report, you will be able to use the Select Another button to select the gender-specific file to print a report for a male or for a female.  The editor will not let you edit any file except one whose name (before the three-letter extension) ends in C.  This way you will always be able to choose between the original interpretation set and your customized interpretation set when you are printing a report.  After the program has created the copy, click again on the button with the picture of the open folder and this time select the new file name that ends with the letter C.


Write New Delineations, Including for Double Placements

There is an Add New button at the bottom of the Edit Interpretations screen.  This important button takes you to a screen where you can start creating interpretations for placements and aspects that are not in your original interpretation set.  This button will be active and available to you once you have used the open folder button to select and open your desired interpretation set.  You use list boxes to select the planets, aspects, signs, and houses that you want, and then click on Select as Item 1.  This assembles the Search Title for the new placement or aspect.  If you then click on Add New Title you will switch back to the Edit Interpretations screen with the ability to enter and save the delineation for it.  If you select a second planet placement (before clicking on Add New Title), you can click on Select as Item 2, which will add it after the first placement in the Search Title.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter is presently programmed to use compound natal delineations which consist of two sign placements (such as Sun in Aries, Moon in Libra), two house placements (such as Sun in the 1st House, Moon in the 2nd House), or one sign placement and one house placement (such as Sun in Aries, Sun in the 5th House).  However, you yourself must add these because at this writing there are no double delineations presently provided in any natal interpretations that we sell.


Write Boilerplate Blocks of Text

The Add New screen also lets you create Boilerplate blocks of text that you can have automatically inserted at selected locations in people's reports.  Boilerplate text is standard text that appears in everyone's report.  To insert these numbered text blocks, in AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter go to Interpret, Format Options, Report Order and move the numbered Boilerplate element into the desired place in the report listbox.  These blocks are in addition to the Introduction block that you can already edit.


Balance of Elements and Modalities

Around the month of May 1998, John Halloran added to both the Personal Path and the Spirit Success interpretation sets, delineations to interpret an abundance, a lack, or a balance in the sign and house elements and modalities, when these frequencies occur in the natal chart.  If you already started editing an earlier set of natal interpretations, from before May 1998, then use the new Rename As option on the Edit Interpretations program File menu to rename your edited file (e.g., from NPRO1C.HNP to NPRO2C.HNP).  Then, after you have installed an updated set of either of the above natal interpretation sets, use the Edit Interpretations program to select the new file without the C ending and let it make a copy of the file.  You can then run two copies of the Edit Interpretations program open and sized so that they are side by side.  To transfer the text, use the Add New screen to add each element or modality delineation item to your edited interpretation set, click on the corresponding item in the other window's listbox, select the new text with the mouse or with Shift-Down Arrow, and use Ctrl-C to copy the text to the Windows clipboard and Ctrl-V to paste the text from the Windows clipboard.


Update for Intermediate Templates

Around the month of June 1998, John Halloran added to both the Personal Path and the Spirit Success interpretation sets, entries needed to interpret Dual Rulership houses for the Intermediate template.  This was in addition to House Definitions added around October 1997, also for use by the Intermediate template.  If your edited natal interpretations lack the DefinitionHouse and DualRulershipLang entries, you will find that you can add these items by selecting them at the end of the Boilerplate list box at the Add New screen.  You can use the procedure described above in the section "Balance of Elements and Modalities" to add these items and transfer the text if you want to use the new Concise Intermediate and Full Intermediate templates with your edited interpretations.


Reports Can Draw Entirely on Your Interpretations

The Edit Interpretations program actually allows astrologers to create their own entire interpretation sets, making it possible for astrologers who have their own interpretations to only purchase the $169 AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter program (starting in November 2001, new AstrolDeluxe purchasers receive our shorter $49 Spirit Success natal interpretation set bundled for free, and it is easier to modify an existing interpretation set than it is to create one from scratch).  You can see complete-length sample reports created from all of the interpretation sets that we sell if you go to http://www.halloran.com/ and click on the link for Sample Celebrity Interpretation Reports.  To create your own interpretations, start the Edit Interpretations program as described above.

When you click on the open folder button to select your interpretation file, you get a file dialog box.  Make sure that the listbox at the bottom is set to specify the type of file that you want, whether natal, compatibility, transits, etc.  Enter your file name in the text box at the top, such as TRANS.HNP - the program will ask you a couple of questions, such as "File does not exist.  Create new database?", "Your selected file type is Transits (*.hlt).  Click YES to proceed, NO to enter a name with a new file type ending.", and then whether you want a file for both sexes or one for each of the two sexes.  If you choose just one file for both, it will append the letter C to the end of the file name and will create the file, in this case TRANSC.HLT.  To start filling this file with your interpretations, you select and open the file, click the Add New button and, at the screen that appears, use the list boxes to select Saturn, Aspect Name conjunct, and Saturn; then click the Select as Item 1 button, and click on Add New Title.  This will put you back at the main editing screen where you can enter your interpretation for, in this case, Saturn conjunct Saturn, the return of transiting Saturn to its own place.  When you are done, click on the Save button to save that one delineation.  You can always reselect the delineation from the List Interpretation Search Titles listbox in order to edit it.  When you are done working, select the Close button to close the editor.

If you have already written interpretations that you want to paste into the file that you are editing, in order to have AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter generate reports using those interpretations, I will explain how to do that.  First, use your favorite Windows word processor (or the WordPad program in the Accessories group) to open the file that contains your existing interpretations.  When your word processor (or WordPad) is not maximized, but is at its default size, grab the right edge of the word processor window and drag it to the left so that the window fills just half the screen.  Move the entire half-size window to the right of your screen by grabbing the top title bar and dragging the window to the right.  Second, start the Edit Interpretations program in the Halloran Software group and reduce it to half-size in the same manner so that the two program windows are side by side.  In WordPad, highlight the text that you want to copy and select Edit, Copy or press Ctrl-C.  This will copy the selected text to the Windows clipboard.  Switch over to Edit Interpretations and use the Add New button to select your delineation.  Once you have it, put your cursor in the Edit Interpretation Text field and press Ctrl-V - this will paste in your text from the Windows clipboard.

(Instead of resizing the two program windows, you can also do task- switching between the two programs, something that the Windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen makes easy to do.)


Import Your Customized Interpretations from Earlier Programs

At the File menu of Edit Interpretations, there is an option, Import DOS Program Interpretations, which supports importing customized interpretations from Halloran Software's DOS-based report writer programs: Natal Professional™, LifeTrends™ and StarMatch™.

This supports customers of those earlier programs who already have an investment in a set of edited interpretations.  Use this option by first using the listbox to Select Type to Import.  Then navigate to the Directory where the interpretation files are located.  The program is intelligent enough to automatically display the names of all the interpretation files of the proper type once you have navigated into the right directory.  It does this in the Selected Files listbox.  To automatically create the file of interpretations that can be used by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, click on the OK button.  The program will tell you when this lengthy process is finished (it could take a couple of hours depending on your computer speed).  The program will put the imported interpretations into a single file, the name of which will be LT.HLT, LTC.HLT, SM.HSM, SMC.HSM, NPRO0.HNP, NPRO0C.HNP, NPRO1.HNP, or NPRO1C.HNP, depending on the identity of the source interpretations.  You will then be able to open this file with the Edit Interpretations program and see if any final clean-up is needed, such as removing any left-over and unwanted hyphens in the middle of words.


Label Interpretation Set

At the File menu of Edit Interpretations, there is an option, Create/Edit Label for Interpretation Set, which lets you enter or personalize the name of your edited interpretation set.  Aside from the editor itself, the place where you will see this label is when you select Interpret, Create Report at the Chart Information Screen of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  AstrolDeluxe should tell you that it has found an appropriate set of interpretations for the context, and will display the name that you can change or enter at this option.  The file that AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter finds will either be the set that it auto-detects the first time that you go to run a report or it will be the set that the program remembers from the last time you ran this type of report.  The actual file name will be displayed in parentheses, allowing you to choose a different interpretation set, via a file dialog that you get by clicking on the Select Another button.


Print Interpretation

At the File menu of Edit Interpretations, there is an option, Print Interpretation, which will print a single delineation to your printer.  As far as I know, the only thing to tell you about this function is that it becomes available to you once you have changed and saved the delineation for any placement or aspect.  This lets you keep a hard copy of your writing.  If you are doing a lot of your own writing, if you do not regularly run a tape backup, don't forget to back up this file to a removable disk from time to time.


List Interpretation Search Titles

Click on the down arrow on the right side of this list box and scroll down using the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the list box in order to find and select the particular delineation that you want to see or edit.  A completed set of interpretations will contain several hundred delineations, the titles of all of which will be displayed in this list box.


Search Title

This display-only field shows the name or title that the delineation has in the interpretation database.  This is its official name, as constructed by using the Add New list boxes, and is the name for which AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter searches when it is constructing an interpretation report.


Edit Display Titles

This field shows the secondary name or title of the delineation.  It is the delineation name that prints or appears in the interpretation report.  While initially the same as the Search Title, you can change the Display Title.  This is intended mainly for users who are translating the interpretations from English into a different language.


Edit Interpretation Headers (if any)

This optional field can contain text that will print above an interpretation.  Examples of such text include a keyword description of the placement or aspect, the dates when an outer planet had a particular sign placement, or a poetic quote illustrative of that placement.  In AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, at Interpret, Report Options, Text, Sub-Heading, you can separately customize how this text prints.  The default is to print sub-heading text centered in italic letters.


Edit Interpretation Text

This required field contains the text of the interpretation.  Only press Enter when you want to mark the end of a paragraph.  The program automatically ensures that a single paragraph mark or carriage return/line feed combination follows your interpretation text entry.  If there is any limit to the possible length of an interpretation, I doubt that you will reach it.


Edit Code (if any)

This optional field is not presently being used.  It could be used for codes to indicate user-definable qualities of an aspect or placement.


Astrological Symbols

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter uses traditional symbolic glyphs for the planets and signs.  The following lists contain all of the symbols used in the program.

More:

Zodiac Signs

Planets

Aspects


Zodiac Signs

Sign	Symbol	Sign	Symbol
Aries		Libra
Taurus		Scorpio
Gemini		Sagittarius
Cancer		Capricorn
Leo		Aquarius
Virgo		Pisces


Planets

Planet	Symbol	Planet	Symbol
Sun		Spiritual Pluto
Moon		Part of Fortune
Mercury		Moon's North Node
Venus		Moon's South Node
Mars		Chiron
Jupiter		Ceres
Saturn		Juno
Uranus		Pallas
Neptune		Vesta
Traditional Pluto		Black Moon Lilith
In addition the program uses "A" for the Ascendant, "M" for the Midheaven, "V" for the Vertex, and "E" for the East Point when needed.


Aspects

Aspect	Symbol	Aspect	Symbol
Conjunction		Septile
Opposition		Biseptile
Trine		Triseptile
Square		Novile
Sextile		Binovile
Semisquare		Quatrinovile
Sesquiquadrate		Vigintile
Inconjunct		Semi-Octile
Quintile		Decile
Biquintile		Tredecile
Semisextile		Quindecile


In Case of Problems

AstrolDeluxe is a complex program and, although we at Halloran Software have made every effort to eliminate any software bugs or overly complicated procedures, problems may occur.  The following is a table of problems that have occurred to a few of our users which seem to be out of our control in that they have more to do with the details of particular systems or setups than with the software.  We have suggested some remedies which may prove useful.

More:

General Problems

Printing Problems


General Problems

Problem	Possible Remedy
Windows Auto-Run does not start the setup program when I put the CD in the CD drive, and Windows Explorer does not show an icon for the CD drive or any files on the CD.	CD drives can be temperamental.  Pop out the 3.5" companion diskette and restart Windows with the CD in the CD drive.  My Computer or Windows Explorer should show you the blue icon for AstrolDeluxe now.  If the CD drive still refuses to read the CD, ask Halloran Software to send the program on a different CD.
The Setup halts while trying to install a Windows file.	A file may be locked by a running application.  If it is a system file that is already on the computer, it is usually okay to just click Ignore to have the setup continue on to the next file.  Sometimes anti-virus programs in strong protection mode cause a problem.  If Ignore is not an option, cancel the Setup. On Windows 95/NT, get the Windows task list by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del.  Select each item, except for Explorer, Systray and your firewall software if you have that, and do End Task on each item. On Windows 98 or higher, you can enter msconfig in Start, Run, and on the resulting Startup tab uncheck all items except Scan registry, Load power profile, Systray, and your firewall software if you have that; Restart the computer. Try running AstrolDeluxe Setup again. If setup cannot copy a file from the 3.5 inch diskette, a bad sector may have developed on the diskette, so that the file ends up with 0 bytes in the c:\winastro folder.  You can test for a bad sector on the diskette by creating a c:\test directory and trying to copy all of the files on the diskette to the test directory - if there is a bad sector on the diskette, you will get an error reading drive A:
The Setup program halts or freezes around 5% completion.	See if Alt-Tab brings up an MS-DOS Window.  If it does, click on the window's X to close it.  Setup should resume.  If this does not fix the problem, cancel the setup.  If you click on Start, Programs, MS-DOS Prompt, you will probably get an error, indicating that Windows is having trouble running a DOS program.  Right-click on this shortcut for the MS-DOS Prompt and select Properties. On the Program tab select the Advanced button.  The only checkbox that should be selected here is Suggest MS-DOS mode as necessary.  If the MS-DOS mode checkbox is checked, then uncheck it.  Restart the AstrolDeluxe Setup.
The Setup is unable to create the Halloran Software program group at the end of the installation or says that there is a problem updating the system registry.	Microsoft has a program called RegClean that is a free download from their web site at: http://www.microsoft.com.  Try running this to see if it fixes your system registry problems.  System registry problems usually occur when the registry dates back to a previous version of Windows, for example on a computer that was upgraded from Windows 95 to Windows 98 or higher.  Norton Utilities' WinDoctor can also fix system registry problems.  See the next, similar problem.  In the meantime, try running AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter by double-clicking on the executable file in the \winastro directory from Explorer or by creating your own desktop shortcut to it.  Make sure that the shortcut Start In directory or folder is the same as the Target directory or folder, usually c:\winastro.
I couldn't install it.  I kept getting an error about "Failure writing to the system registry.  The registry may be corrupt, or you may not have the required permissions to write to the registry."	I searched the Internet for that error message, and found that it's a fairly common problem when using earlier versions of Windows.  I checked out my registry, and it was well over the acceptable limit for Windows 95.  There were a tremendous number of registry entries for earlier versions of AOL, so I deleted them, which reduced my registry to an acceptable size.  I was then able to install AstrolDeluxe.
My computer gives me an "Out of memory" message.	You should have at least 8MB or more to run the program. Sometimes this message may occur when you have depleted the system resources.  Click on Start, Help, 'resources available' in order to check available system resources.  Close other programs which may be running. There may be a problem with the size of your Windows Swap File.  See Help under 'swapfile'.
I upgraded to Windows 98 and ever since there has been a problem with the Natal Information Screen display. The Print (eg 'Female', 'Neuter', 'Unknown', 'North', 'West') is out of synch with the corresponding fields so that only half the lettering is displayed, i.e., like the words are chopped in half. It happens in the ACS Atlas Lookup also (latter half of letters cut off). It also happens in other dialogue boxes such as Customise Aspect Orbs.	It seems the problem has rectified itself. Not quite sure what I did. I tried changing font size from Small Fonts to Other (75%) [at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, Settings], computer prompted me to restart but I clicked cancel. Then I thought better of the setting I'd just made and went back and changed the settings back to Small Fonts. Once again I was prompted to restart the computer and once again I clicked Cancel, but left the setting. Next time I fired up the computer the problem was solved. Windows fixed some corruption in the display font by reinstalling the font.
When I try to set the system clock by modem from the Utilities menu,  the modem doesn't respond, or I get a Windows VxD error.	If you have a cable modem or a DSL modem, or Windows Dial-Up Networking is already configured on your computer to dial an Internet Service Provider (ISP), use Set System Clock Over Internet instead. If not, be sure that your modem's connection to the phone line is good and that you have selected the proper com port in Set Dialing Options.  Control Panel, Modems should tell you what Com port your modem is using. A VxD error usually indicates a hardware conflict such as two devices trying to use the same serial port.
Lines or circles are missing from the on-screen graphic chart wheel.	The computer hardware can be too fast for the software.  Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, System, Performance, Graphics and at the Advanced Graphics Settings screen set the Hardware Acceleration slider control either to None or just one notch above None.
The Atlas maps are not displayed on my screen.	On some systems using a graphics card capable of producing as many as 65,536 colors, the maps will not display.  Change your system settings to display 256 or 16 colors.  Do this at Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, Settings or see your graphics card documentation.
A chart calculated for AM shows as PM, although the calculations are for AM.	In Control Panel, Regional Settings, Time Format, the upper box should have AM and the lower box should have PM.  If you have Time set for a 24-hour clock, and a chart calculated for 9 AM displays as 21:00 PM, you probably have an early version of Windows 95.  You can fix this display problem by putting blanks in the AM and PM fields at Control Panel, Regional Settings - these are not needed anyway for the 24-hour clock.
When I click on the button for the PC Atlas Express, I get an error 53, Can't Open File	The path to the atlas data files needs updating - Click on Atlas, Install PC Atlas.  If it shows the atlas directory, click on the OK button - this will immediately fix your problem.
Displaying a graphic wheel causes error 480, "Can't Create Auto-Redraw Image."	You do not have enough video memory.  Unload other programs or set-up Windows for fewer colors or lower resolution.
I can't get the "Compare this Chart to another" prompt to come up.  I've followed procedure, loaded the first chart on and then pulled down the file prompt. There's no "Compare this chart to another" prompt.	That option is at the File menu of the Chart Information Screen, which is where the wheel is displayed.  So you have to first click on either Calculate or Quick Display.
When I click to Calculate or Quick Display a chart, I get OLE Automation error 2147483640.	An external OLE file encountered a problem putting the chart's date and time into the format specified at Windows, Regional Settings.  Go to Control Panel, Regional Settings, and try selecting a different language, such as German, Standard.  If that fixes the display problem, use Regional Settings to switch back to your native language.  By doing this, Windows will fix whatever corruption exists in your Regional Settings.
When I try to edit the interpretations or run an interpretation report I get the message "Your program is making an invalid link call to a .DLL file."	Use Start, Find to search your entire computer for the MSJT3032.DLL file.  There should be just one instance of this file in the Windows System directory.  If you find an older one in another directory, such as the Windows directory, rename it to a dummy name or delete it so that Windows will not find and use it.
When I try to calculate a chart, I get a message Invalid property value.	This could indicate a problem with the decimal number format at Settings, Control Panel, Regional Settings, Number.  If you don't see anything wrong with the sample, try reselecting your preferred regional language and restarting your computer.  One user had this problem with the 16-bit program after he selected "only use TrueType fonts" at Control Panel, Fonts.  In Windows 95/98 this is at Fonts, View, Folder Options, TrueType.  The checkbox should be unchecked - the Windows default.
When I go to convert a foreign chart file, I get a "Run Time Error 68. Device Unavailable" message	There are some variables in the winastro.ini file called ForeignInPath and ForeignOutPath that record the location of the foreign chart file that you last converted, as you may do this on a regular basis.  If these are no longer valid paths, you can use Windows Notepad to Open this file in your \winastro directory and delete the lines that refer to these paths.
The chartwheels are fuzzy looking on the screen, unlike the hobbyist Astrology for Windows program, and the wheels also print fuzzy-looking.	Windows is using a bad video display driver.  Force Windows to use a different device driver by going to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, Settings and select either a different display resolution or a different number of colors.
The "Save page as Image File" menu option produced an image file with duplicate circles or half circles in the wrong places.	I have personally seen that problem.  It disappeared after I reinstalled Windows to the computer on which the program had that problem.
The program was working fine, but now even after I restart my computer, it does not work correctly.	If none of the above applies to your situation, it may be that there is a problem with a Windows system file.  You can e-mail me with the symptoms to see what I think, but sometimes the solution is just to go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, select AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter in the list, click down on Remove and answer that you want to remove all files, including shared components.  Then reinstall AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.  You will not lose your saved charts or user preferences.
An error occurs which gives me a Windows error message and when I click OK it takes me completely out of the program.	Restore Windows to a good state by selecting Start, Shutdown, Restart.  This usually fixes the problem.  If not, e-mail what you were doing when you got the error to John Halloran at support@halloran.com.


Printing Problems

Problem	Possible Remedy
Although I have a color printer, my graphic charts don't print in color.	Go to Customization, Chart Colors, Planet & Chart Colors, and click on the checkbox Print in Color.
My printer ejects the graphic chartwheel before completing it and prints the rest on a 2nd page.	At Start, Settings, select Printers.  Once the Printers window opens,  make sure your printer is highlighted.  Select File, Properties, Details.  Find the Transmission retry and increase it to 90.  Click on Ok, and then Close.  See your Windows Help for more information.
My Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 1200C printer does not align the graphics and text correctly when I print the graphic chart wheel.	A problem came up with the driver for the Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 1200C in which it offset every graphic element of the chartwheel relative to every text element on the printed chartwheel.  This would cause the degree symbols, which are graphic, to print about midway in height relative to the numbers, which are text, instead of up at the top of the numbers.  Hewlett-Packard told the customer to substitute the driver for the PaintJet XL-400 until they can fix the DeskJet 1200C driver. If you experience any unusual printer problem, make sure you have the most recent version of the Windows printer driver for your particular printer.  Often, you can download the latest printer driver either from Microsoft's web site or from the printer manufacturer's web site.
When trying to print, I get a message indicating an error number in the 28000 series.	This indicates a Windows-level printing problem.  Either no default printer is selected or there is a problem with the printer driver that is selected.  Try going to Control Panel, Fonts, select a font such as Arial, and try to print the font sample to your printer.  To use the Windows Print Troubleshooting Wizard, at the Windows desktop, click on Start, Help and for the search term enter Troubleshooting, Printing Problems.  Select it and let the wizard walk you through trying different things.  If this doesn't work for you, contact your printer manufacturer to receive a new printer driver. Often, you can go to Start, Settings, Printers and use the Add Printer wizard to install the driver for a closely related printer and that driver will work fine.
You can read any last minute information which came out too late to be included in the manual by clicking on Start, Programs, Halloran Software, and selecting AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter New Info.  The readme.txt file will be opened in Windows NotePad for your perusal.


Introduction To Astrology

Why does astrology work?  How does astrology work?  To find the answers, it is necessary to step out of the limited paradigms offered by materialistic science and 19th-century spiritualism.  The following paragraphs teach the reader how astrology works from a new perspective that takes the whole spiritual universe into account.

More:

Influences from the Astral Plane

The Sun and Moon Selves

Role of the Planets in the Soul's Learning Process

Incarnating Through the Planetary Stages

The Framework of the Horoscope

Descriptions of the Houses

The Revolution of the Planets

The Signs of the Zodiac

Aspects Between the Planets

Conclusion


Influences from the Astral Plane

Astrology describes the structure of the astral body which is created at birth.  The birth chart describes the flow of energy into and out of the astral body.  The soul creates the astral body at the moment of birth in order to have a link or interface to the physical body.  The energy structure that is created at that time is linked to the structure of the geocosmic sphere at that instant.  Different moments in time can see each other within the astral plane because it is intermediate between this world of space-time and the infinite-eternal center of being.


The Sun and Moon Selves

Every person has a dominant self and a subordinate self.  Within the astral body the dominant self comes from the sun and the subordinate self comes from the moon.  As the center of the solar system, the sun is the vital self at the center of the person.  As the earth's cold, reflective, fast-moving satellite, the moon is a self of changing moods and reactions to the dominant self and to others.

The sun corresponds to the dominant brain hemisphere, which is usually the left hemisphere.  The left hemisphere is the verbal, conscious, unselfish, asexual, and socially cooperative portion of the brain.  The moon corresponds to the subordinate brain hemisphere, which is usually the right hemisphere.  The right hemisphere is the pattern-recognizing, unconscious, selfish, sexually motivated, and socially rebellious portion of the brain.


Role of the Planets in the Soul's Learning Process

Whereas the sun and the moon are the outward and inward self-principles within the astral body, the planets play more specialized roles.  The planets control stages in the soul's learning process.  These stages are:

1.	gathering information;

2.	creating desires;

3.	performing action;

4.	experiencing results; and

5.	analyzing and learning the consequences of one's desires.

The five visible planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn correspond to these stages or functions within the astral body.  The visible planets govern the conscious self that deals with the external world.  A similar sequence of stages involving the unconscious self and the internal world appears to begin with the invisible planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.  In order for the sequence to be complete, two additional planets must exist.

The positions of the planets at the birth of the astral body define the invisible structure of the person not because of any gravitational or magnetic influence on the physical plane, but because the creative agency that is responsible for souls experiencing life in physical bodies structured the astral plane in this manner.  Because the planets correspond to different aspects of life within a body, these correspondences make it possible to plan a life starting at a particular time and place in order to work on particular life lessons or areas.


Incarnating Through the Planetary Stages

Souls have been progressing through the stages represented by the sun, moon, and planets in successive lifetimes.  The historical stages of civilization then mirror the progress of souls through the planetary stages.  The sun and moon lifetimes come first and give the soul the opportunity to define the characteristic expression of the soul's dominant/outer self and of the soul's subordinate/inner self.  Because the sun lifetime comes first, the moon lifetime can be a reaction to it, in a subconscious effort by the moon self to become its own independent person.

Following the luminary sequence, the first planetary sequence progresses through the visible planets.  It therefore focuses on left-brain-type goals and activities.  Different souls are working through the planetary stages at different times, but to focus on the initial appearance of the stages within Western civilization, we have: 1) the exploration typical of Mercury in the philosophical inquiry of Hellenistic civilization; 2) the feelings of Venus in the religious enthusiasm that swept the civilized world around the time of Christ; 3) the attempts to implement God's kingdom on earth during the stage of Mars; 4) the Jupiterian expansion of the external man and world during the Renaissance; and 5) the scientific revolution, puritanical reaction to excesses, and more sophisticated political forms characteristic of analytical, controlling Saturn.

The current planetary sequence is progressing through the invisible, newly discovered planets.  It therefore focuses on internal or right-brain forces and activities.  The stages of this sequence are: 1) the discovery of Uranus in 1781 corresponding to the age of invention, the great classical music composers, and the Age of Enlightenment involving liberation from the shackles of narrow, left-brain thinking; 2) the inner feelings of Neptune (discovered in 1846) as expressed in the Romantic movement in the arts, bohemianism, spiritualism, and communal social experiments; 3) attempts to transform the inner person through psychoanalysis, or through Prohibition together with the rebellion that followed, in fascist and totalitarian attempts to remake both the world and the inner man, and the liberation of atomic energy, all characteristic of Pluto which was discovered in 1930; 4) the flowering of personal growth and exploration movements which began in the 1960's, rock and roll which opened up popular music to right-brain emotions, together with the information revolution, marks the stage of the next planet, a planet which expands the inner world in the same way that Jupiter and the Renaissance expanded the outer world (in 1977 an astronomer discovered a small planet orbiting between Saturn and Uranus - Chiron the Centaur); 5) the final stage will be marked by inner science and holistic science - genetic engineering, fine control of atomic forces, nanotechnology, chaos theory, fuzzy logic, understanding of global ecology, knowledge of sociobiological programming, use of hypnosis to research the astral plane and past lives, medical understanding of the body's energy system, and direct, mystical access to and control of one's brain pathways by the conscious individual.


The Framework of the Horoscope

Astrologers calculate a chart of the sky at the moment of a person's birth in order to see the corresponding structure of that individual's astral body.  The base structure of the astral body, into which the planets are plugged, is defined by the geographical birth location.  The line between the east and west horizon points and the line between the upper and lower meridian points act as lines of energy flow within the structure of the astral body.

The horizon line describes the person and the meridian line describes the environment. Astrologers call the point where the eastern horizon intersects the ecliptic the Ascendant.  The Ascendant controls the energy flow relating to the private selfhood of the individual.  Its opposite, the Descendant, controls the energy flow relating to the individual's public selfhood.

The lowest point in the sky, the Imum Coeli or lower meridian, describes the type of energy flow relating to the individual's private environment.  Astrologers call the intersection of the highest point in the sky with the ecliptic the Midheaven or upper meridian.  The Midheaven describes the energy flow relating to the individual's public environment.

Astrologers divide the sphere of the sky at birth into twelve divisions called houses.  The horizon and meridian lines define four quadrants, each of which is trisected by various systems into three houses, making a total of twelve houses.  The houses are numbered counterclockwise from the Ascendant at the left of the chart, which point marks the cusp or start of the First House.  The Imum Coeli at the bottom of the chart marks the cusp of the Fourth House.  The Descendant at the right of the chart marks the cusp of the Seventh House.  The Midheaven at the top of the chart marks the cusp of the Tenth House.

The lower hemisphere of the chart, consisting of the six houses below the horizon, deals with the individual's private world and inflowing energies.  The upper hemisphere, consisting of the six houses above the horizon, deals with the individual's public world and outflowing energies.  The first quadrant of each hemisphere relates to the body or self of the person while the second quadrant of each hemisphere relates to the environment or society in which the person lives.  The first house of each quadrant relates to building the character of that quadrant's focus.  The second house of each quadrant relates to the physical structure or support network for that quadrant's focus.  The third house of each quadrant relates to motion, activity, or change within that quadrant's focus.  Let us now put all of this together.


Descriptions of the Houses

The First House describes the character of the individual's private self.  This includes the appearance of the body and inherent qualities of the self.

The Second House relates to energy flowing into the physical structure of the individual's private self.  This includes sense impressions, food, possessions and money.

The Third House controls activity within the individual's private self.  The energies of this house relate to the native's sources of mental stimulation and personal activities such as thinking, speaking, writing, errands, and hobbies.

The Fourth House describes the character of the individual's private environment.  This includes the individual's home life and parents, especially the mother.

The Fifth House describes energy flow involving the structure of the individual's private environment.  This includes the stimulation provided by the individual's friends, social network, offspring, and entertainment.

The Sixth House controls activity within the individual's private environment.  The energies of this house describe the native's private work, type of employment, and service to others within the native's private world.

The Seventh House relates to building the self that the individual presents to the public world.  It therefore covers legal definitions of the self such as marriage and partnerships.  It controls the individual's characteristic public self-expression.

The Eighth House relates to the physical structure of the individual's public self.  It therefore covers buildings and real estate.  It covers energies emanating from the body so it  controls sexual attraction and death.

The Ninth House controls activity by the individual's public self.  It covers mental expression and public activities such as lecturing, publishing, and traveling.

The Tenth House relates to the character of the individual's public environment.  It describes the individual's career and contribution to the world.  During childhood it can describe the father.

The Eleventh House describes energy flow involving the structure of the individual's public environment.  This includes altruistic, humanitarian social networking by the native.

The Twelfth House controls activity and change within the individual's public environment.  The energies of this house describe selfless service to the public, creating work or problems for the self, activities to dissolve the self, and solitary retreat.

If a planet is positioned in a house, then that affects the flow of energy through the house.  If the planet is harmoniously aspected by other planets then the affairs of that house will flow smoothly.  If the planet is under stressful aspects then the affairs of that house will be difficult.  A planet in a house by its own nature affects the character of the particular life area which the house controls.

The houses defined by the native's birthplace sweep around the 360 degrees of the sky every 23 hours, 56 minutes.  This is the duration of the sidereal day.  Due to the earth's revolution around the sun, the duration of the solar day is 4 minutes longer.  The degree on the eastern horizon at sunrise increments by one each day.  The field of the twelve houses in which the planets have what is called their mundane or apparent motion is defined to start at the intersection of the observer's eastern horizon with the plane of the ecliptic where the sun rises.


The Revolution of the Planets

The plane of the ecliptic in which the planets have their true motion is similarly divided into a field of twelve signs which in tropical astrology is defined to start at the point of the vernal equinox, which is the ecliptic's ascending node or point of intersection with the plane of the earth's celestial equator.  While the houses are based on the observer's viewpoint, the signs of the zodiac are geocentric or based on the earth's viewpoint.  Unlike the houses, which the planets transit every day, the planets transit the signs according to their own rates of revolution.  The revolution periods are as follows: Moon 27.3 days, Mercury 87.9 days, Venus 224.7 days, Earth/Sun 365.25 days, Mars 1.88 years, Jupiter 11.9 years, Saturn 29.5 years, Chiron 50-51 years, Uranus 84 years, Neptune 164.8 years, and Pluto 248.5 years.

Although the normal motion of the planets is direct, all of the planets (except for the sun and moon) can appear to move backward or retrograde relative to the geocentric zodiac of the signs.  This is due to the earth's motion around the sun and for the inner planets additionally their own motion around the sun.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter indicates planets that are temporarily retrograde by printing the letter R after their positions.

Due to the earth's revolution, the sun moves with direct motion through each sign of the zodiac at approximately the same time each year.  The sun position is the basis of sun-sign astrology according to which a person considers himself an Aries if he was born from March 21 to April 19, a Taurus from April 20 to May 20, and so on.


The Signs of the Zodiac

The meaning of the signs is very similar to the meaning of the houses.  One difference is that while the planets color the areas of life associated with the houses in which they are located, the signs color the planets' expression of their own functions.  While the character of each sign can principally be deduced from that of the corresponding house, such as Aries from the first house, astrologers do consider that other factors contribute to the character of the twelve zodiac signs.

A factor that can be dispensed with as an influence on the signs is the constellation figure associated with the sign, such as Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Balance Scales, Scorpion, Archer, Goat-Fish, Water-Bearer, or Fishes.  These are just what the Sumerians and Babylonians imagined that the stars drew in the sky.  Furthermore, due to precession the Babylonian constellations no longer occupy the same ecliptic longitudes.  And the sign that the Babylonians always called the "hired man" the Greeks of Alexandria, Egypt transformed into a sheep or ram through a scribal misunderstanding.  In Late Babylonian times the cuneiform scribes wrote the Sumerian name for Aries, which is lú-hun-gá, in abbreviated form by writing just the cuneiform sign lú, which means 'man', but sometimes also the homophonic but different sign lu, which, if read as a logogram, means "sheep" (ref: O. Neugebauer, Astronomical Cuneiform Texts, vol. II, p. 475, Springer-Verlag publ.).  The Babylonians knew what the sign represented, but when the zodiac shows up among the astrologers of Alexandria, Egypt in the wake of Alexander the Great's conquests the hired man has become a sheep, as depicted in the late Egyptian Zodiac of Denderah.  If the signs can acquire their symbols in such an accidental fashion, then the symbols can be no more than mnemonic labels.

A factor which affects the character of the zodiac signs, but not the houses, is that of the element triplicities, according to which Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are Fire signs, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are Earth signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are Air signs, and Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are Water signs.  The elements are related to the doctrine according to which the odd-numbered signs are masculine and extroverted while the even-numbered signs are feminine and introverted.  The Fire and Air signs are masculine while the Earth and Water signs are feminine.  Signs of the same element and gender are all related by harmonious trine or sextile angles, indicating compatible natures.  While both the Fire and Air signs are extroverted, the Fire signs tend to be passionate while the Air signs show a mental approach to life.  And while both the Earth and Water signs are introverted, the Earth signs tend to have a pragmatic approach to life while the Water signs are more sensitive and emotional.

One of the major distinctions between the three signs which make up an element triplicity is whether the sign is Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable.  The modality of the sign relates back to the same distinction that we made between the first, second, and third houses of a mundane quadrant.  The four Cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, tend to be self-centered builders.  The four Fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, tend to be stable, sociable types.  The four Mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, tend to be restless changers.

Another more problematic factor affecting the signs is that of each sign's ruling planet.  Ptolemy set the two luminaries to rule the northern hemisphere summer signs Leo and Cancer because as he says these signs are 'most productive of heat and warmth' and Leo is masculine like the sun and Cancer feminine like the moon.  He chose distant Saturn to rule the opposite winter signs Capricorn and Aquarius which, in the northern hemisphere, are cold and dark like Saturn.

By placing Mercury as the ruler of the signs Virgo and Gemini on either side of the luminary signs, the visible planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn ruled two sets of five signs, from Virgo to Capricorn and from Gemini to Aquarius.  According to this system, the signs Aries and Scorpio not only had the qualities of the first and eighth houses, as well as masculine fire and feminine water qualities, but they were also influenced by the nature of the planet Mars.  When the modern planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were discovered, astrologers assigned them as co-rulers of Aquarius, Pisces, and Scorpio along with the traditional rulers.  It would have made more sense for the invisible planets to replace the rulers of Gemini through Aquarius, or at least to be consistent in continuing around the zodiac from Aquarius to Gemini.  The haphazard manner in which these new planets have been linked to the signs does not say much for the concept of sign rulership in general.


Aspects Between the Planets

Having discussed the character of the planets, houses, and signs, there remains only the character of the aspects between the planets to be discussed.  Aspects are specific angles between planets which set up communication between the functions of the person which those planets represent.

The aspect angles recognized in astrology result from dividing the 360 degree circle by whole numbers.  The fewer the divisions, the stronger the effect of the angle.  The conjunction of 0° results from division of the circle by 1.  The opposition of 180° results from division of the 360° circle by 2.  The trine of 120° results from division by 3.  The square of 90° results from division by 4.  The quintile of 72° and the biquintile of 144° result from division by 5.  The sextile of 60° results from division by 6.  The semisquare of 45° and the sesquiquadrate of 135° result from division by 8.  For a more sophisticated view of aspect angle strength, look up Harmonic Strength Function in the index to the program's on-line Windows Help manual.

Because astrologers normally express the planet positions according to  their degree position within the signs of 30 degrees each, the aspects of 0°, 180°, 120°, 90°, and 60° are easy to spot visually because the degree numbers are the same.  So the sextile has traditionally been emphasized more than the quintile and biquintile, which should actually be stronger.  The computer easily calculates and lists aspects which are not multiples of 30 degrees.  The traditional emphasis on comparing planets which are at the same degree position within the 30 degree signs has led to the creation of two other aspects - the 150° inconjunct (this word originally meant 'not in aspect'; it is also called the quincunx) aspect and the 30° semisextile aspect.

The hard or discordant aspects are the 180°, 90°, 45°, 135°, and 150° aspects.  The soft or harmonious aspects are the 120°, 72°, 144°, 60°, and 30° aspects.  The 0° conjunction is strong for communication between the planets involved, but is neither hard nor soft.  The 180° opposition is stressful, but in a stimulating and challenging way instead of being warping and difficult like the 90° square.  The harmonious 120° trine facilitates the most cooperation between the functions of the two planets.  The influence of the 72° quintile and 144° biquintile is similar to that of the harmonious 60° sextile, but it also stimulates creativity.  If there is a 150° inconjunct aspect between two planets, then the lack of cooperation causes one to overcompensate or try too hard in the areas involved.


Conclusion

The planets, houses, signs, and aspects form the foundation of astrology.  The principal task of astrology is to understand how their combination in the horoscope at birth has shaped and directed the individual.  This is called delineating the natal horoscope.  Another important task of astrology is understanding the timing and nature of planetary influences upon the individual during the course of a lifetime.  The best way to do this is by tracing when the planets overhead move through the houses of the natal horoscope and investigating the aspects that these transiting planets make to the planets in the natal chart.  Another valid application of astrology is to investigate the effect that two people have on each other by seeing how their charts compare, by seeing what are the aspects between the planets in the two natal charts.  This technique, called synastry, is the most popular technique for analyzing astrological compatibility.  There are many other astrological procedures, but delineation of the natal chart, daily transits and relationship compatibility are fundamental.


Bibliography

Filbey, John; and Filbey, Peter; The Astrologer's Companion.  The Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England, 1986.  A technical reference book.

Granite, Robert Hurzt; The Fortunes of Astrology.  ACS Publications, Inc., San Diego, CA, 1980.  Book on the Arabic Parts has good interpretations for the placement of the Part of Fortune.

Hand, Robert; Planets in Transit; Whitford Press, 1976.  Excellent, definitive manual of transit interpretations.

Hastings, Nancy; Secondary Progressions:  A Time to Remember.  Introduction, case studies, theory, and cookbook style interpretations of progressions.  The best book on progressions for beginning students.

Holden, James Herschel; A History of Horoscopic Astrology: From the Babylonian Period to the Modern Age; AFA, 1996.  Discusses the major contributors to astrology since it began.

Holden, Ralph William; The Elements of House Division, 1977.  Well-balanced survey of the strengths and weaknesses of the various systems.

Lewi, Grant; Heaven Knows What.  Excellent source for interpreting horoscopes and aspects.

Lewi, Grant; Astrology for the Millions.  Companion volume for interpreting transits and planetary sign positions.

March, Marion D.; and McEvers, Joan;  The Only Way to...Learn Astrology, Volumes I, II, III, The Only Way to...Learn About Tomorrow, and The Only Way to...Learn About Relationships.  A detailed, modern textbook series on astrology by the teacher co-founders of Aquarius Workshops, Inc.

Meyer, Michael R.; The Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer.  Detailed explanations on the effect of moon phases in addition to being a good introductory work.

Sakoian, Frances; and Acker, Louis; The Astrologer's Handbook.  Good source of information on exaltations and dispositors.  Also good all around introduction for the beginning astrologer.

Sakoian, Frances; and Acker, Louis; The Astrology of Human Relationships.  Detailed information on synastry and relationships.

Teal, Celeste; Predicting Events with Astrology, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, 1999.  Includes: progressions, returns, transits, eclipses, horary, nodes.

Townley, John; Composite Charts: The Astrology of Relationships, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, 2000.  Authoritative reference book on this relationship technique.

Zoller, Robert; The Arabic Parts in Astrology, Inner Traditions Int'l., Rochester, Vermont, 1980,1989.  A scholarly book about ancient use of the Arabic Parts.  For the advanced astrologer.


Glossary of Terms

Air Signs

Angular

Antiscia

Apogee

Applying

Arabic Part

Arc

Ascendant

ASCII Characters

Aspect

Asteroid

Astro Clock

Binovile

Biquintile

Biseptile

Biwheel

Bnv.

Bqt.

Bsp.

Cardinal

Chart List Box

Cjn.

Combined Chart

Composite Chart

Conjunction

Constellation

Contraparallel

Critical Degrees

Culminate

Cusp

Dcl.

Debility

Decan

Decile

Declinations

Delineation

Delta Factor

Delta t

Descendant

Detriment

Dexter aspect

Dignities

Directions

Dispositor

Draconic Zodiac

Dynamical Time

Earth Signs

East Point

Ecliptic

Elements

Ephemeris

Ephemeris Time

Equator

Equinox

Exaltation

Fall

Feminine Signs

Fire Signs

Fixed

Geocentric

GMT

Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Meridian

Gregorian Calendar

Harmonic Chart

Harmonics

Heliocentric

Hemisphere

Horary Astrology

Horizon

Horoscope

House

I.C.

Imum Coeli

Inc.

Inconjunct

Inner planets

Intercepted

Julian Calendar

Julian Day

Latitude, Celestial

Latitude, Geographical

Lights

Lilith

Local Time

Longitude, Celestial

Longitude, Geographical

Lower Hand aspect

Lunar Return

M.C.

Mansions of the Moon

Masculine Signs

Mean Time

Meridian

Midheaven

Minor Progressions

Modalities

Modulus Chart

Mutable

Mutual Reception

Nadir

Naibod Rate

Natal Chart

Nativity

Nodes

Nov.

Novien

Novile

Nutation

Obliquity

Opp.

Opposition

Orb of Lights

Orb of Planets

Outer planets

Parallel

Parans

Part of Fortune

Partile

Perigee

Planetary Picture

Precession of the Equinoxes

Primary Directions

Prime Meridian

Prime Vertical

Progressed Chart

Qdc.

Qnv.

Qtl.

Quadrants

Quatrinovile

Quincunx

Quindecile

Quintile

Radix

Rectify

Retrograde

Return Chart

Revolution

Right Ascension

Rising Sign

Rulership

Secondary Progressions

Semi-Octile

Semisextile

Semisquare

Sensitive Points

Separating

Septile

Ses.

Sesquiquadrate

Sextile

Sidereal Time

Sidereal Zodiac

Sinister aspect

Sok.

Solar Chart

Solar Return

Solar Revolution

Speculum

Spt.

Sqr.

Square

Ssq.

Ssx.

Standard Time

Stellium

Sunrise Chart

Sxt.

Synastry

Syzygy

Tdc.

Tertiary Progressions

Time Zone

Transits

Tredecile

Tri.

Trine

Triseptile

Triwheel

Tropical Zodiac

Tsp.

Universal Time

Upper Hand aspect

Vertex

Vgt.

Vigintile

Void-Of-Course Moon

Water Signs

Zenith

Zodiac


Air Signs

These signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.  Air sign natives are predominately mental.


Angular

The four angular positions of a chart.  i.e. the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant, and Imum Coeli.


Antiscia

The ecliptic longitude point that has the same declination on the other side of the Tropical zodiac Cancer-Capricorn axis as the body in question.


Apogee

That point in a satellite's orbit when it is at its greatest distance from the Earth.  See Perigee.


Applying

An aspect between two planets is considered to be applying when one planet approaches the degree constituting the aspect.  Applying aspects indicate events in the future.  See Separating and Partile.


Arabic Part

A sensitive point in the horoscope defined as the same distance ahead of a moving point such as the Ascendant as the distance calculated between two fixed points or planets which by their nature affect a particular life area.


Arc

Distance as measured along a circle.


Ascendant

The point or degree on the eastern horizon at birth.  The cusp of the first house.  This point determines the Rising Sign.  Abbreviated as "Asc."


ASCII Characters

ASCII is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.  Pronounced "asskey."  An early 7-bit standard code adopted to facilitate the interchange of data between various types of data processing equipment.  ASCII characters are the lower 128 characters which are the same between different 8-bit 256 character font sets.


Aspect

A prescribed angle between two planets.  See Conjunction, Opposition, Trine, Square, Sextile, Semisquare, Sesquiquadrate, Inconjunct, Quintile, Biquintile, Semisextile, Septile, Biseptile, Triseptile, Novile, Binovile, Quatrinovile, Vigintile, Semi-Octile, Decile, Tredecile, Quindecile, Parallel and Contraparallel.


Asteroid

One of many small planetary bodies whose orbits usually lie between those of Mars and Jupiter.  The four major asteroids are Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta.  Chiron, sometimes referred to as an asteroid, is a minor planet or comet whose orbit lies between Saturn and Uranus.


Astro Clock

A rotating screen wheel that shows you the changing positions of the planets and houses for your current location and time according to your computer's system clock.


Binovile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 80 degrees apart.


Biquintile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 144 degrees apart.  A minor creative aspect.


Biseptile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 102.957 degrees apart.


Biwheel

A wheel displaying the planet positions of two separate birth charts within an inner circle and an outer circle.  In this program the house cusps are those of the inner chart.


Bnv.

See Binovile.


Bqt.

See Biquintile.


Bsp.

See Biseptile.


Cardinal

A sign mode.  The Cardinal Signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.  They are associated with the cardinal houses (i.e. 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th).  Natives with many planets in Cardinal Signs tend to be producers and creators.  See also Fixed and Mutable.


Chart List Box

On the Natal Information Screen, the list box in the upper right hand corner listing all the chart records in the loaded file.  Clicking on this box will insert that chart's natal information into the blanks on the Natal Information Screen.


Cjn.

See Conjunction.


Combined Chart

Also called a time/space midpoint chart or a Davison relationship chart.  It is a relationship chart that is calculated for the midway point in time between two birthcharts and for the geographical point that is midway between the shortest distance between the two birthplaces.


Composite Chart

A technique by which a third chart is created from the midpoints of the planets and house cusps in two other charts.  The composite chart describes astrologically the "third system" that two previously independent systems create when they form a mutually interdependent relationship.


Conjunction

An Aspect in which two planets are in alignment within a certain orb.  If the Sun is at 28 degrees Gemini, and Mars is at 29 degrees Gemini, they are in conjunction with a 1 degree orb.  A conjunction allows the energies of the planets involved to work together.


Constellation

Groups of fixed stars existing in a circle outside or beyond the tropical zodiac.  They are divided into sections bearing the same names as the tropical signs, reflecting the time around 221 A.D. when the tropical and sidereal zodiacs coincided.


Contraparallel

Planets having the same declination but on the opposite sides of the celestial equator are contraparallel.  May be weaker than the parallel.  See Parallel.


Critical Degrees

Since ancient times a planet's strength or power is believed to be increased when near one of these degrees.  Starting with 0º · , there are twenty-eight critical degrees, seven per zodiacal quadrant.  See Mansions of the Moon.


Culminate

A planet culminates when the earth's rotation causes it to reach the meridian that intersects the zenith for the observer's location.  A planet anticulminates when it reaches the opposite point on the same meridian circle which intersects the nadir for the observer's location.


Cusp

The beginning or edge of  a house in a chart.  Also the point between zodiacal signs.  Planets near the cusp of a house have added significance.


Dcl.

See Decile.


Debility

A planet located in a sign of dissimilar nature is said to be in its debility.  The debilities are made up of the detriments and falls.


Decan

Ten degree divisions of a zodiac sign.  The first decan of Aries is the Aries decan.  The second decan of Aries is the Leo decan.  The third decan of Aries is the Sagittarius decan.  So natives of the first decan of a sign are completely that sign, while natives of the next two decans are also colored by the succeeding signs of the same element.


Decile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 36 degrees apart.


Declinations

The distance of any planet from the celestial equator, either north or south. See Parallel and Contraparallel.


Delineation

The analysis, assessment and interpretation of an astrological chart.


Delta Factor

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter allows users of the sidereal zodiac to adjust its starting point by means of an offset to the Fagan-Allen sidereal zodiac.  Customers from India usually add 0° W 53' to convert to the Lahiri zodiac.  The several other sidereal zodiacs in use have starting points that fall within a range of about eight degrees.


Delta t

The difference between Ephemeris Time and Universal Time.  These differences occur because of minor fluctuations in the rate of the Earth's rotation.


Descendant

The point or degree on the western horizon at birth.  The cusp of the seventh house.


Detriment

The sign opposite to a planet's rulership.  A planet's energies are weak when it is in its detriment.  See Rulership.


Dexter aspect

When the aspecting planet is moving away from the planet being aspected in a chart, it is termed a dexter aspect.  Dexter is from the Latin word meaning right, referring to a right hand aspect.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter uses the term lower hand for dexter aspects, a term derived from Astrology for the Millions by Grant Lewi.  See Sinister aspect.


Dignities

Planetary dignities refer to the system of strengths and weaknesses which the planets have according to how their energies harmonize with the various zodiacal signs.  The four categories of sign placement are rulership, exaltations, detriments and falls.  Planets are considered dignified in the signs of their rulership and exaltations.


Directions

Solar Arc Directions are an example of Symbolic directions as opposed to Primary Directions.  Symbolic Directions is a system which forecasts events from a chart in which each point is moved forward from its natal position by an equal amount.


Dispositor

A planet is disposed of by another when it occupies that planet's sign.  Thus Venus in Aries is disposed of by Mars, the ruler of that sign; Mars being then termed the dispositor.


Draconic Zodiac

The starting point for this zodiac is the ascending node intersection between the plane of the moon's orbit and the plane of the ecliptic.


Dynamical Time

A uniform time scale which is defined by the Atomic Clock.  The length of one second does not vary in this time scale, unlike the length of one second of Universal Time.  Dynamical time is used to calculate solar, lunar, and planetary ephemerides.


Earth Signs

These signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.  Earth sign natives are predominately practical.


East Point

The point measured along the zodiacal ecliptic where the prime vertical intersects the horizon in the east.  Also called equatorial ascendant.


Ecliptic

The plane of the solar system in which the planets orbit around the Sun.  From a geocentric point of view, the apparent path of the Sun through the zodiac.  Measurement on the ecliptic is by longitude, i.e. by signs and degrees.


Elements

A category of each of the signs of the zodiac.  See Fire Signs, Earth Signs, Air Signs, and Water Signs.


Ephemeris

A calculated table of planetary positions at regular successive intervals.


Ephemeris Time

A uniform time scale based on planetary motion.  Used by the Astronomical Ephemeris from 1960 to 1983.  In 1984, Ephemeris Time was replaced by a comparable time scale called Dynamical Time.


Equator

The celestial equator is the projection of the Earth's equator upon the celestial sphere.


Equinox

The time when the days and nights are of equal length, which happens twice yearly when the Sun enters Aries (vernal equinox) and Libra (autumnal equinox).  The two equinoxes are also the points where the celestial equator intersects the plane of the ecliptic.


Exaltation

Each planet has its own sign of exaltation, in which its strength is second only to the sign it rules.  The signs of exaltation are ultimately derived from the Babylonian stations of mystery.


Fall

The sign opposite to a planet's exaltation.  A planet's energies are weak when it is in its fall.  See Exaltation.


Feminine Signs

The six even-numbered signs.  In the context of the signs, Feminine denotes sensitive, responsive, and reactive.


Fire Signs

These signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.  Fire sign natives are predominately passionate.


Fixed

A sign mode.  The fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.  Natives with many planets in Fixed Signs make their contribution by preserving the established order.  See Cardinal and Mutable.


Geocentric

AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter calculates charts from a geocentric point of view, that is having the earth as the center of observation.


GMT

See Greenwich Mean Time.


Greenwich Mean Time

The official Time along the Prime Meridian (0° longitude).  All other Time Zones are referenced to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).  More properly called Greenwich Civil Time, and now replaced with Universal Time.  However, Windows has given it continued life at Control Panel, Date/Time, Time Zone where the listbox shows each time zone's hours of difference from GMT.


Greenwich Meridian

The zero meridian.  The line of longitude which passes through Greenwich, England.  0 º, 0'.


Gregorian Calendar

Our present calendar.  Superseded the Julian calendar as of October 15,1582, although some countries delayed converting to the "New Style" calendar system.  England converted in 1752, making September 3 become September 14.  Soviet Russia converted in 1918 and Greece converted on March 1, 1923.


Harmonic Chart

A secondary chart constructed by multiplying all of the points in the radix (initial) chart by the harmonic number under consideration.  Compare Modulus Chart.


Harmonics

The study of the various integral divisions of a circle (e.g., fifths, sixths, and sevenths of 360°) and how these relate to the planets and aspects of a chart.  AstrolDeluxe calculates which harmonics are dominant in a chart based on the statistical distribution of planets and their sensitive points in the chart.


Heliocentric

A way of viewing the planets' positions which takes the Sun as the center of observation.  This view is not supported by AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.


Hemisphere

Half of a sphere or circle.  The horoscope is divided into upper and lower hemispheres by the horizon and into eastern and western hemispheres by the meridian.


Horary Astrology

A branch of astrology concerned with answering questions or seeking solutions to problems.


Horizon

The plane that is perpendicular to the line from the observer to the zenith.


Horoscope

A chart of the heavens at the time and place of a person's birth.  It originally referred just to the Ascendant, but has become expanded in usage to refer to a person's astrological fortune.


House

A division of the celestial sphere.  The mundane houses result from dividing the celestial sphere into twelve equal segments.  They are identified by giving each a number from one to twelve in an anti clockwise direction commencing with the first division below the horizon on the left-hand or eastern side of the chart.  The placement of planets in the houses of the birth chart will affect the affairs and flow of energies appropriate to each house throughout the course of the native's life.


I.C.

See Imum Coeli.


Imum Coeli

The lowest point of heaven.  Opposite the Medium Coeli or Midheaven, the Imum Coeli (I.C.) is identical with the cusp of the fourth house, except in the Equal House system.


Inc.

See Inconjunct.


Inconjunct

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 150 degrees apart.  A mildly stimulating adverse aspect.


Inner planets

Those whose orbits are between the Earth and the Sun, namely Mercury and Venus.  Also called inferior planets.  See Outer planets.


Intercepted

A sign is intercepted when it lies between two house cusps without touching either.  This does not occur with the Equal House System and occurs mainly in charts calculated for extreme latitudes.  A planet is intercepted when it is in an intercepted sign.


Julian Calendar

This is the European calendar which preceded the Gregorian calendar that we presently use.  The program considers dates before October 15, 1582 to be in the Julian calendar.  Births recorded with an Old Style date after this date must be converted to New Style before entering them into the program.  October 5, 1582 in the Julian calendar became October 15, 1582 in the Gregorian calendar.  Through February, 1700 A.D. the Gregorian date is the Julian date plus ten.  Through February, 1800 add eleven.  Through February, 1900 add twelve.  Through February 2100, add thirteen.

Astronomers and historians extrapolate the Julian calendar indefinitely into the past.  However, the historian's years 1 B.C. and 2 B.C. equal the astronomer's years 0 and -1 respectively.  The program follows the astronomical convention.  The Julian calendar has nothing to do with the Julian Day.


Julian Day

The Julian Day number is an astronomical convention for expressing dates in an unambiguous manner.  It is a continuous count of days and fractions thereof from the beginning of the year -4712.  The Julian Day begins at noon, Greenwich Mean Time.


Latitude, Celestial

The measurement of distance of any planet or star north or south of the ecliptic.  Compare Declinations.


Latitude, Geographical

The degrees and minutes of any place north or south of the Earth's Equator.


Lights

The luminaries—the sun and moon.


Lilith

Refers in this program to the moon's apogee, either mean or true; also called the Black Moon Lilith.  There is also the asteroid Lilith which the program calculates.  The program does not calculate the Dark Moon Lilith which is a hypothetical body.


Local Time

See Mean Time.


Longitude, Celestial

The measurement along the ecliptic in terms of signs and degrees from the first point of the zodiac, · 0º 0' 0".


Longitude, Geographical

The degrees and minutes of any place east or west of the Prime Meridian.


Lower Hand aspect

Describes the direction of the transiting planet relative to the natal planet.  If you imagine that the natal planet is on the ascendant, then the transiting planet which forms a lower hand aspect will be in the lower half of the chart.  See Dexter aspect.


Lunar Return

A chart made for the moment the Moon returns to the exact sign, minute, degree and second of longitude that it occupied at the time of the native's birth.


M.C.

Medium Coeli.  See Midheaven.


Mansions of the Moon

An ancient division of the moon's orbit into twenty-eight lunar mansions, each 12° 51' 26" wide.  See Critical Degrees.


Masculine Signs

The six odd-numbered zodiacal signs.  In the context of the signs, masculine denotes leadership, self-expression, and extroversion.


Mean Time

Also called Local Mean Time, Mean Solar Time, Civil Time or True Local Time.  This is the local time for the birth longitude.  Standard Time must not be converted to mean time before entering into AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter because the program uses standard time zones which correspond to standard time at birth.  The program does allow users to enter a nonstandard time zone, which includes minutes and seconds, in order to enter a birth time expressed in the form of local mean time.


Meridian

The great circle that passes through the celestial poles and through the zenith.


Midheaven

The uppermost point in a chart.  Identical with the cusp of the tenth house, except in the Equal House system.  Also known as Medium Coeli or M.C.  See Imum Coeli.


Minor Progressions

A system by which a chart is computed for as many months after birth as there have been years between the native's birth and the date to which you are progressing the native's chart.  Some astrologers use minor progressions as a method of forecasting.


Modalities

A category of each of the signs of the Zodiac.  See Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.


Modulus Chart

A secondary chart that shows the chart longitudes according to a modulus circle that is typically smaller than 360.  The 90° dial is a modulus 90 chart, where the 360 modulus is divided by a harmonic of 4.  A planet that is at longitude 95° in a modulus 360 circle is at longitude 5° in a modulus 90 circle.  Compare Harmonic Chart.


Mutable

A sign mode.  The mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.  So called for their flexible nature.  Natives with many planets in Mutable Signs tend to be flexible individuals who bring about change.  See also Cardinal and Fixed


Mutual Reception

Planets which are in each other's rulerships are said to be in mutual reception and act as though they are in good aspect to each other.


Nadir

The point opposite the zenith, i.e., the point directly beneath the native's birthplace.


Naibod Rate

A constant mean value for the Sun's apparent motion, 59' 08" of arc per day.


Natal Chart

A graphic depiction of the positions of the planets and house cusps at the time and place of birth.


Nativity

The moment when the astral body is created, linking the soul to the physical body, conventionally the instant of drawing the first breath.  Also, the chart made for the moment of birth.


Nodes

The point of the zodiac where a planet crosses out of south into north latitude is called the North Node and vice versa.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter calculates, as a default, the Moon's Mean Nodes which astrologers have used for centuries.  The Moon's True Nodes, which began to be calculated in the 1970's, can be selected at Customization  Planets.  The motion of the mean nodes is always retrograde.  The true nodes sometimes have direct motion.  The Moon's North Node is known as the Dragon's Head and is considered to be a beneficent point.  The Dragon's Tail is the opposite point and is considered malefic.


Nov.

See Novile.


Novien

A type of secondary chart derived by multiplying the primary chart's placements (measured from the start of Sidereal Taurus) by nine.  Used by Sidereal Zodiac astrologers.


Novile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 40 degrees apart.


Nutation

A periodic oscillation of the Earth's pole of rotation around its "mean" position.  Nutation must be added to a planet's ecliptic longitude to obtain the planet's geocentric apparent position.  The nutation component which is perpendicular to the ecliptic must be added to the obliquity between the equator and ecliptic.  The nutation in obliquity slightly affects the sidereal time and ecliptic longitude of the chart angles.


Obliquity

The obliquity of the ecliptic is the angle between the equator and the ecliptic.  This same angle or tilt of the earth's axis relative to its orbit is what causes the four seasons.  As of the year 2000, the mean obliquity will be 23° 26' 21.448"  Nutation causes the true obliquity to differ slightly.


Opp.

See Opposition.


Opposition

An Aspect in which two planets are approximately 180 degrees apart.  If Jupiter is at 13 degrees Sagittarius, and Venus is at 12 degrees Gemini, they are in opposition with a 1 degree orb.  A challenging or stimulating adverse aspect.


Orb of Lights

The arc of influence of the Sun, Moon, or Ascendant when aspecting another planet.  It is measured in degrees of longitude.


Orb of Planets

The arc of influence of any planet other than the Sun, Moon, or Ascendant when aspecting another planet.


Outer planets

Those planets whose orbits lie outside the Earth's orbit, namely Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  Also called Superior Planets.  See Inner planets.


Parallel

Planets having the same declination are parallel.  The effect is like a weak conjunction.  Click on Display..Declination Aspects.  See Contraparallel.


Parans

Planets that rise, set, culminate, or anticulminate at the same time are in a powerful linkage configuration which the Greeks called 'paranatellonta' in plural and 'paranetellon' in singular.  Modern astrologers have shortened the term to 'parans' plural and 'paran' singular.


Part of Fortune

Pars Fortunae.  The zodiacal point which is equally distant from the Ascendant as the Moon is from the Sun in longitude.  Benefits the house in which it may be located at birth.  One of the Arabian Parts, which are sensitive points in the chart that are usually calculated as follows:  Ascendant + Planet X - Planet Y = The Part.  The Part of Fortune is not included among the other planets for aspect calculation.


Partile

An aspect between two planets is partile when the angle between the planets corresponds to the exact degree and minute which constitutes one of the astrological aspects.  See Applying and Separating.


Perigee

That point in a satellite's orbit when it is nearest the Earth.  See Apogee.


Planetary Picture

A chart configuration in which a set of planets interact with each other.  The easiest way to find planetary pictures is to systematically analyze each midpoint axis. If it is found that two or more midpoints share the same axis, then a series of Planetary Pictures have been discovered.

Alfred Witte's method to find Planetary Pictures is through the formula:

A = X+Y-B.


Precession of the Equinoxes

The movement of the equinoctial point · 0º which causes the tropical zodiac to pass backward in its relation to the constellations at the rate of approximately 50 seconds per year.  Precession is caused by the pole of the equator revolving around the pole of the ecliptic in a 25,920 year cycle.


Primary Directions

A forecasting technique which assigns one degree of angular movement in the Right Ascension to each year of life since birth, looking for contacts by the planets to the horizon or zenith axes.  Requires exact birth times, since 4 minutes equals approximately one year.  This technique was more popular in centuries before exact birth times were known.


Prime Meridian

0º 0' longitude.  The line of longitude running through Greenwich, England.


Prime Vertical

A great circle passing through the zenith and nadir of the observer and the east and west points of the horizon at right angles to the meridian.


Progressed Chart

See Secondary Progressions.


Qdc.

See Quindecile.


Qnv.

See Quatrinovile.


Qtl.

See Quintile.


Quadrants

The four quarters of a chart.  The quadrants are numbered in a counterclockwise direction starting from the Ascendant.  In Astrology for the Millions, Grant Lewi discussed the transits of planets through the quadrants.  He described the first quadrant as the obscure period, the second quadrant as the period of first rise (private rise), the third quadrant as the period of second rise (public rise), and the fourth quadrant as the climax.


Quatrinovile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 160 degrees apart.


Quincunx

See Inconjunct.


Quindecile

An aspect in which two planets are either 165 degrees apart or 24 degrees apart.  This is the one aspect which the program lets you customize to be any angle.


Quintile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 72 degrees apart.  A slightly favorable aspect like the sextile which stimulates creativity.


Radix

Means 'root' in Latin.  Refers to the original horoscope.  Used to distinguish the radix from secondary charts such as return charts or progressed charts.  Equivalent to the original natal or event chart.


Rectify

To find the true birthtime by correlating dates of events in the native's life with the dates when aspects to angles would occur according to directions, progressions, or transits for different times of birth.


Retrograde

A backward motion which the planets sometimes appear to have, mainly in consequence of the relative position and motion of the Earth.  It is indicated by "R" next to the planet name.  The other conditions of a planet are Stationary and Direct.


Return Chart

See Solar Return and Lunar Return.


Revolution

See Solar Return.


Right Ascension

Astronomers measure planetary positions in hours of right ascension along the celestial equator. Equatorial right ascension of a planet which has a north or south latitude will differ slightly from its ecliptic longitude.


Rising Sign

The sign of the Ascendant.


Rulership

Each planet has its own sign of rulership, in which its strength is greatest.  The ruling planet lends its energy to the character of the sign which it rules.


Secondary Progressions

Also known as Secondary Directions, so called to distinguish them from a system called Primary Directions.  A system by which a chart is computed for as many days after birth as the native is years of age.  Some astrologers use progressions as a method of forecasting.


Semi-Octile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 22 1/2 degrees apart.


Semisextile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 30 degrees apart.  A mildly favorable aspect.


Semisquare

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 45 degrees apart.  A slightly adverse aspect.


Sensitive Points

Sensitive Points are calculated from the planetary formula X+Y-Z.  They are very much like Arabian Parts. The Arabian Part or Sensitive Point completes a Planetary Picture when it is activated by transit or direction or radical planet.


Separating

An aspect between two planets is considered to be separating when one planet is moving away from the degree constituting the aspect.  Separating aspects indicate events in the past.  See Applying and Partile.


Septile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 51.429 degrees apart.


Ses.

See Sesquiquadrate.


Sesquiquadrate

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 135 degrees apart.  A minor adverse aspect.


Sextile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 60 degrees apart.  A favorable aspect.


Sidereal Time

The hour angle of the vernal equinox at a place, i.e. the right ascension of · 0º at the birth place.  When · 0º is on the Midheaven then the sidereal time is 0h:0m.


Sidereal Zodiac

The zodiac of the fixed stars or constellations.  The exact starting point of Aries is a matter of disagreement.  Used mainly in Indian astrology and by western siderealists who follow the school of Cyril Fagan and Garth Allen (AKA Donald Bradley).  The ayanamsa or difference between the sidereal zodiac and the tropical zodiac is presently about 24°.  See Constellation and Delta Factor.


Sinister aspect

When the swifter planet is approaching a planet slower in motion and forms some aspect it is termed a sinister aspect.  Sinister is from the Latin word meaning left, referring to a left hand aspect.  AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter uses the term upper hand for sinister aspects, a term derived from Astrology for the Millions by Grant Lewi.  See Dexter aspect.


Sok.

See Semi-Octile.


Solar Chart

This chart substitutes for a chart calculated for a known time of birth.  Taking the Sun's longitude at noon on the birthday, the house cusps of a solar chart are at 30° intervals from the solar ascendant (Sun's longitude).


Solar Return

A chart made for the moment the Sun returns to the exact sign, minute, degree and second of longitude that it occupied at the time of the native's birth.


Solar Revolution

See Solar Return.


Speculum

A table of the information needed to calculate primary directions.


Spt.

See Septile.


Sqr.

See Square.


Square

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 90 degrees apart.  A warping adverse aspect.


Ssq.

See Semisquare.


Ssx.

See Semisextile.


Standard Time

The term employed to designate that all clocks in each time zone register the same time, regardless of whether a place is east or west of the center of a zone.


Stellium

A group of planets.


Sunrise Chart

A chart cast for sunrise at the birth latitude, the cusp of the first house being the degree of longitude of the sun at sunrise.


Sxt.

See Sextile.


Synastry

A calculation of the aspects between the planets of two charts.


Syzygy

The nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies (as the Sun, Moon, and Earth during a solar or lunar eclipse).


Tdc.

See Tredecile.


Tertiary Progressions

A system by which a chart is computed for as many days after birth as there have been lunar months between the native's birth and the date to which you are progressing the native's chart.  Some astrologers use tertiary progressions as a method of forecasting.


Time Zone

Hours and minutes East or West of Greenwich, England.  The earth is divided into 24 Time Zones. Each of them is approximately 15 degrees of Longitude in width, although there are numerous local variations and anomalies due to political boundaries and local custom.


Transits

The aspects formed by the positions of the planets moving overhead at a specific time with those of the Natal Chart.


Tredecile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 108 degrees apart.


Tri.

See Trine.


Trine

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 120 degrees apart.  The most harmonious aspect.


Triseptile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 154.286 degrees apart.


Triwheel

A wheel displaying the planet positions of three separate charts within an inner circle, a middle circle and an outer circle.  In this program the house cusps are those of the inner chart.


Tropical Zodiac

The zodiac used by the vast majority of  western astrologers.  In the tropical zodiac, the equinoctial point ( · 0º) is identical with the nodal intersection of the celestial equator with the ecliptic.


Tsp.

See Triseptile.


Universal Time

Based on the rotation of the Earth.  The same as Greenwich Civil Time.  Universal Time is used to calculate sidereal time and local hour angles such as the Ascendant and Midheaven.


Upper Hand aspect

Describes the direction of the transiting planet relative to the natal planet.  If you imagine that the natal planet is on the ascendant, then the transiting planet which forms an upper hand aspect will be in the upper half of the chart.  See Sinister aspect.


Vertex

The ascending node or point where the Prime Vertical intersects the Ecliptic, which is usually in the west.  The opposite descending node is called the Antivertex.


Vgt.

See Vigintile.


Vigintile

An aspect in which two planets are approximately 18 degrees apart.


Void-Of-Course Moon

A VOC Moon is one which will form no more complete aspects before leaving its present zodiacal sign.


Water Signs

These signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.  Water sign natives are sensitive and emotional.


Zenith

The point directly overhead.  Not to be confused with the Midheaven which is located on the ecliptic.


Zodiac

A belt or ring around the heavens between 15 and 18 degrees wide divided into twelve signs each containing 30 degrees of longitude, through which the planets transit, each in an orbit of its own.