ble-free installation, greater stability, built-in help files, multitasking (the ability to keep several
programs open at once and to switch between them), and eventually, tools to design your own
charts and page layouts.
In 2003, the most advanced astrology programs are so comprehensive that they have
more features than most astrologers will ever use. They now have growing collections of
famous peoples’ charts, graphic displays of predictive events, chart animation, eclipse map-
ping, research features, and much more. Nevertheless, software development continues, and
these tools for astrologers will only get better.
Astrology software can be divided into four basic types: report programs, research pro-
grams, calculation programs, and special-purpose programs.Report Programs
Report programs generate interpretations of one of the following topics: birth charts
(including specialized topics like asteroids, health, etc.), transits, progressions, relocations, or
compatibility. There are two tiers of report programs: personal and professional. The personal
report programs usually cost $100 or less and their output cannot be sold. The professional-
level report programs produce reports that are licensed for resale, and can be customized with a
personal logo.
Some professional astrologers look down upon and don’t use report programs, because
these programs cannot synthesize, they only take into account one factor at a time. They call
up paragraphs describing, for example, a planet in a sign or a planet in a house. Additionally,
the authors of a majority of these reports seem to ignore the strong suggestibility of many peo-
ple. The way they delineate natal and relationship factors and make predictive forecasts can be
discouraging and frightening, and thereby cause harm to the reader. Nevertheless, some of
today’s report programs actually do a remarkably fine job of delineation, given the limitations
inherent in this method of chart interpretation.Research Programs
Research programs, programs specifically designed to find charts containing single factors
or combinations of factors by searching a chart collection (or database), are few and far between.
That’s because most professional-level astrology calculation programs include at least some
research features. The two most notable research programs are JigSaw II and AstroDatabank.
JigSaw II.This program (by Esoteric Technologies, Inc., and distributed by Astrolabe)
can search chart files for charts that have a specified point (planet, asteroid, angle, node, house
cusp, midpoint, Arabic Part, almuten, fixed zodiacal point, ruler of a point, prenatal position,
user-defined point, etc.) in a specific placement (specific sign, house, aspect, harmonic aspect,
dignity, azimuth, decanate, Gauquelin sector, degree, mode, user-defined division, and more).
You can combine any number of searches with “and/or/Xor” logic. The program can also graph
the distribution of any one or all of these points in any of these placements, showing which
results are above or below the average. JigSaw II can even create control groups to compare
with any test group.Appendix D: Astrological Software[860] THEASTROLOGYBOOKAstrology BM.qxp 12/22/08 12:18 PM Page 860