Introduction

Astrology concerns itself with planetary influences on human life and the world of matter--energy radiated from the cosmos affects all of the people, places, and things on earth. Using a cosmic map for any moment in time, we can create an astrological chart, called a horoscope, which is a symbolic snapshot of the cosmic map, relative to a specific position on earth.

The most common form of astrology is Horary--which literally means "of or relating to an hour"--in which astrological details of any given moment determine the meaning of that moment. This can be applied to any person or to anything that may be considered 'born', e.g. a question, a company formation, etc.

Spiritual astrology focuses on the deeper meanings of the planetary and zodiacal influences evident in a horoscope, in order to understand the natural laws, one's purpose, lessons, debts, gifts, etc.

Another type of astrology is Mundane astrology, which deals with trends and cycles, such as bull and bear markets, social and political periods, wars, etc.

Horoscope charts are typically used for standard (radix or natal), transit, or comparison purposes. Standard is a commonly calculated event when creating a birth chart. Horoscopes can be calculated in a number of ways using different house systems, static equinox or progression (Western or Eastern), and displayed in many forms, such as a radix wheel, aspect table or other graphical and text representation.

StarFisher reflects these facts and stands on three cornerstones: Horoscope objects, Event-data objects and Settings objects.

The Event-Data object defines a celestial situation for a specific time and place; the definition may be direct (defining exact fixed positions of bodies) or indirect (defining an exact date and time, geographical coordinates and a brief description).

The Settings object (and its sub-objects) contains all calculation and visualization settings. Here you can define the model, zodiac or house-system you wish to use, all celestial bodies in use, aspect types, colors, and visualization options. You may also define custom aspects or bodies.

Finally, the Horoscope object represents the horoscope itself. The Event-data object and Settings object(s) come together to create the Horoscope object, with the program itself performing the astrologic work. The final astrological chart, or horoscope, can then be displayed in a variety of views.

All of the objects are held in containers, which enhances the flexibility of the program. By using containers, some or all of the data in the objects for one horoscope may be re-used and/or shared with other horoscopes. This makes it simple to create similar horoscopes, or to concurrently work with several variations of a horoscope, without having to re-enter all of the relevant data.

Read Getting started to find out how to set up and use StarFisher.