I'm still working on links to useful spots like Sky and Telescope, or quick and free places to get basic charts done, but I'm not going to be plugging a lot of the competition for reasons I hope will become obvious after I've explained a little...

In the meantime, Futurescope.com lists hundreds of astrology links ...Be an educated consumer. I've also been enjoying Christopher Warnock's Renaissance Astrology site.

The world of astrology is awash in dissembling and platitudes. Some of this is because the people writing it haven't a clue. Some of it's because they're bored and they no longer care about what they're writing. But MOST of the time it's just bad habits.

Much of the popular "forecasts" you see in daily papers, as well as some pseudo-literate stuff that runs in popular magazines and alternative weeklies (like "Real Astrology"...heh heh) can be entertaining, but it's not gonna help you.

The problem is, from the magazine's standpoint, it makes sense that every forecast for every sign should be different --otherwise it's not "entertaining." But ASTROLOGICALLY, that's completely wrong. ALL the time, you should see common issues across various signs according to the phases of the moon. Does anyone out there still doubt that the full moon affects people's behavior? That's real astrology.

Furthermore, on any given day or week, you should be able to pick out certain similarities between certain signs. For instance, if you're a Gemini, you should recognize common themes in the readings for the other "air" signs, Libra and Aquarius. At other times you should be seeing identical issues being raised for your fellow "mutable" signs: Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.*

If you don't see any of this, figure you're just reading for laughs.

More links someday...

Sally

 

okay, here's something else you might enjoy while you wait:

Nance's Journal
Nance is a Gemini mother-of-two living in the country. She's really droll about her life and a truly Mercurial type. I've learned a ton about lunar phases by reading her brilliant and laugh-out-loud journal. She would probably raise an eyebrow at the last sentence but agree...

*The astrological ELEMENTS [Fire, Air, Earth and Water; with three signs each] tend to share good fortune. That's because each sign within a [type] is separated by 120° -a "trine." Trines are beneficent 120-degree angles that celestial objects --the sun, the moon and the planets-- make to each other and to your sun-sign.

Meanwhile, astrological MODES [Fixed, Cardinal and Mutable: with four signs each] tend to share bad luck. Or what's strong for one will be weak for another. That's because 90-degree angles ["squares"] bring obstruction and conflict, and the four signs in each mode are separated by 90°. What's square and bad for Aries is always also square and bad for Libra. "Oppositions," meanwhile, --180-degree angles-- tend to express themselves in terms of strength and weakness. So if something is emphasized for you because that planet is in your sun-sign, it's likely to be de-emphasized or missing in the forecast for your opposite sign.Think about this the next time you're cruising the 'Net for astrology.

Recommended:

Not necessarily recommended:

Not even if the Pope recommended it: