Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Norah and Jenna: Samples of Their $80 Paid Readings

Two Horoscope Review readers shared what they got when they paid $80 for full readings from two rake-it-in fake astrologer/clairvoyants: Norah of premiumastrology.com, who wrote to Yasmin, and Jenna of aboutastro.com, who advised Siddharth. Click the links to see the real thing. I am told by other readers that Jenna, although she's a "bot" just like Norah, is very popular in Europe.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Future of the USA: What Astrologers Are Saying

One astrologer actually predicted a people's uprising against big business--and there it is, the "Occupy" movement. That's just one of the vast social and cultural changes the next 80-year planetary cycle -- beginning now -- will bring to the United States. We U.S. citizens know we can't thrive with the government stalled out and the economy falling apart. As the three outer transpersonal planets all change signs, what changes will emerge? For the better? For the worse? Read more.

Horoscope Review: Facebook and Twitter Horoscope Mobile Version

Dailyhoroscopes.net is the source for Facebook's and Twitter's most popular daily horoscopes -- those with the colorful bar graphs showing "percentages" of astrological good luck for the day. Now you can read those free horoscopes using a mobile phone. The question is, do you want to? Read the review.

Horoscope Review: "My Horoscope" Smartphone App from ID Mobile SA

"My Horoscope," a mobile daily-horoscope app from ID Mobile SA, has been downloaded more than a million times from iTunes and Android Market. Is it real astrology? Read my review of the app's accuracy and usability.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Zoradamus Exploits the Good Name of a Dead Astrologer

A new low in psychic fakery: Zoradamus, whom we all know is a fake psychic and robot, is now sending her emails as "Germaine Soliel," the name of a prominent French astrologer who died in 1996.  And "Zoradamus" now wants you to call her "Zora, Your Personal Astral Adviser." She must be desperate...good job, horoscope fans....let's drive the fraud "Zoradamus" out of business.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

When an Online Astrologer Says, "Act Now or You Will Miss Your Lucky Transit"

When an online astrologer predicts a "lucky transit" for you in a few days or weeks -- but says you will miss this once in a lifetime chance for luck and money unless you purchase her guidance, her spells, or other services, right now...is that true? what should you do?  http://sylviasky.hubpages.com/hub/When-an-Online-Astrologer-Tells-You-Act-Now-Before-You-Miss-Your-Chance

Friday, October 21, 2011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Horoscope Review: SpiritNow.com Phone Psychics

SpiritNow.com advertises a free and honest 5-minute psychic reading. Unfortunately the SpiritNow.com site belongs to discredited media psychic Sylvia Browne. But I was curious and called. Here's what happened.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

Horoscope Review: "Norah" with a New Face is Still a Fake

Bogus "Norah" Ages Forty Years In Six Weeks

Click on those little text ads saying "Scary Accurate Horoscope" or "Shocking Online Horoscope," and you may well be linked to premiumastrology.com. In 2010 its homepage featured a young brunette as "Norah," but as of Feb. 2011, the model who represents "Norah" has suddenly become AN OLD GRAY-HAIRED LADY. Don't be fooled. "Norah" is not an astrologer or psychic, nor even a person. She is a front for a large corporation advertising several bogus online psychics, including the notorious Gabriella. The new "Norah" is still offering a free "reading" which her site even admits is not real or accurate. Click on "Terms of Service" on the bottom of the homepage and you will find in the long 15-part legal disclaimer:

ALL READINGS ARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NO GUARANTEE CAN BE GIVEN AS TO ACCURACY.

THE EDITOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU INTERPRET OR APPLY ASTROLOGICAL OR DIVINATORY INFORMATION AND ALL THE CONTENT PROVIDED. ALL READINGS ARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NO GUARANTEE CAN BE GIVEN AS TO ACCURACY.

This disclaimer and other changes in the site were made in response to hundreds of online complaints about "Norah." Horoscope Review first outed her as a fake in August 2010.

Still believe Norah has the answers? If you're game, here's how to play: Enter your name, email, birthday, your "star sign" (correctly called your "Sun sign"), and choose a "wish" from a drop-down menu. You will soon receive an email from "Norah" that requires your confirmation. You have now "opted in" to receive her emails. Her long, long messages are entirely computerized, and everyone gets the same messages, with only a change of name and birth date.

The message may try to persuade you that "Norah" is not a slick business entity but a born psychic; gives you a computerized "mini-reading" that could apply to anyone ("Love plays an important role in your life"), and declares that good luck is coming your way, but you of course need to pay $79 for Norah's services to help you make the most of it. She'll also send you extras such as ebooks. But it's smarter not to give her any money in the first place, because there is no "Norah." There is only a corporation that knows how to extract money from anxious or ignorant people.

Real psychics don't need to advertise; word-of-mouth suffices. Some people use telephone psychics or online psychics as counselors or sounding boards. That's fine. I just want the world to know Premiumastrology.com does not deliver what people pay her for.

(This review was updated on 14 February 2011.)

(Note: Norah keeps changing herself and her website. Sylvia's original review of Norah's site was posted here back in August 2010.)

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, reviews online horoscopes for quality and accuracy. Look for more of her reviews of online psychics and horoscope sites on hubpages.com. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Horoscope Review: East Indian Horoscopes and Karma Reports Free at Cyberastro.com

Today's fashionable concepts such as "slow living" and "simplifying life" and the benefits of meditation are based on Eastern spiritual principles, and so is a horoscope site I've visited for many years now, both to get my daily or weekly 'scope and relax a few minutes in its very cool "online meditation room." The site is cyberastro.com, based in India. I once emailed its resident astrologer/swami a question and $10. In a few days I got a truthful and reasonable email answer by a real human being based on real planetary aspects, although, naturally, for that cheap price it didn't go into a lot of depth. (Want to try it? You can do that from here. Price per question is now $15.)

There are no psychics or posers at Cyberastro.com. These are mature and knowledgeable Hindu astrologers. The site offers traditional Western sun-sign astrology in a tan-colored grid on the right side of the homepage; click on your Sun sign for daily, weekly, or monthly 'scopes. But if you are willing to sign up for a free membership, giving your birth information so you don't have to enter it every time you want a report or service, there are a lot of free reports and services.

Free online services include a Hindu-style birth chart very different from the one you are used to, Romantic Compatibility, Numerology (I'm a 5), Your Monthly Karma Index Report, advice on herbal healing, and the online meditation room (a video) with its hypnotic flickering candle and chanting. Or see what your day, week or month will look like according to Hindu (also called Vedic) astrology. These free services are computerized but their point of view is fresh and interesting, a nice change from the usual Internet astrology which increasingly is corporate-run, with many daily horoscopes starting to sound alike.

Of course on Cyberastro.com you can become a premium member, or purchase other more in-depth kinds of reports such as business and financial predictions for the year ($40 to $95 U.S.) or the $50 "Vedic Astrology based Report, which will indicate you about the ups & downs prevailing in your life path during next one year, so that you can avoid the slumps & take advantage of the favourable times." Who wouldn't want that? (Smile.) The one thing I recommend against is buying the site's prescription gems. If you try CyberAstro's paid services, do email me and let me know whether you were satisfied.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope and psychic sites for quality and accuracy. Copyright 2011 by Sylvia Sky.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

There is No "New Zodiac Sign"

Relax. There is no new zodiac. Every few years some clown muddles the facts and announces that there are really 13 zodiac signs, because in the sky between the constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius lies a small part of the minor constellation Ophiuchus (oh-fyoo-cus), the celestial Serpent Bearer. The newspaper article that created the confusion was written by a Minneapolis Star-Tribune staffer who misunderstood what a planetarium employee was talking about, and he in turn misunderstood astrology.

Both astronomers and astrologers use the term “zodiac.” From Earth it appears that our Sun, Moon and planets always travel along the same path through the sky. Because they travel this path “through” certain constellations, these constellations have been singled out as symbolic and special. As a group they are called the zodiac. Individually they are called “signs of the zodiac,” and for thousands of years it has been decided that there are 12 of them. The word “zodiac” is Greek for “circle of animals.”

As long as there have been mathematicians around to do it, astronomers and astrologers (who used to be one and the same) have divided the sky around earth into 360 degrees and subdivided it into 12 equal sectors to make it simpler to map and study. Twelve also honors the marvelous handiwork of God, who frequently arranges things in twelves. Of course the night sky doesn’t present itself with 12 equal anything, just as a chickens don’t lay their eggs a dozen at a time. The 12 equal sectors drawn in a sky map don’t exactly fit the actual constellations, and never have. Some of the constellations in “the signs of the zodiac” are very large and spectacular, such as Scorpio, while others are small, such as Aries.

The mathematical division of the sky into 12 equal sectors is what has given us 12 equal zodiac signs. They are also called Sun signs, because the Sun is the most noticeable celestial object that appears to travel through these signs. If a planet travels through the edges and not the heart of a 13th sign it doesn’t fit the system and is simply treated as if it doesn’t count. Astrologers and astronomers both work with a zodiac that has 12 signs and no more.

Astronomers at NASA determine the first day of spring by calculating the moment the Sun enters not the constellation of Aries but the Aries sector. But if the sectors are equal, why is the first day of spring sometimes March 20, sometimes March 21, and always at a different hour? Because the Earth is not quite a perfect sphere and wobbles on its axis, scientists make small adjustments to the hour and even the day that our Sun seems to enter the Aries sector. That’s how the date gets on your calendar. Rumors that climate change has caused the Earth to wobble are false.

The Vedic astrologers of India use sectors which better match the actual constellations, but are still idealized as equal in size. Traditional Chinese astrology divides the sky into 28 sectors. The few astrologers who acknowledge the four or five stars from the constellation Ophiuchus as a 13th zodiac sign use what is called “the galactic zodiac,” which as yet has no tradition that distills the sign’s meaning. However, the story of Ophiuchus tells that he was a healer, and his serpent continues to this day as a symbol of the medical profession.

The most widely practiced and familiar astrology is Sun-Sign astrology, with 12 equal signs, and it is not changing.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope and psychic sites for quality and accuracy. See more reviews and articles. Copyright 2011 by Sylvia Sky.