Showing posts with label astrologer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label astrologer. Show all posts
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.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Horoscope Review: Daniel "Whelland" Dowd, Salt of the Earth & Real
Unique, earthy weekly forecasts and more by an old rock 'n' roller: http://sylviasky.hubpages.com/t/28d720
Monday, February 14, 2011
Horoscope Review: "Norah" with a New Face is Still a Fake
Bogus "Norah" Ages Forty Years In Six WeeksSylvia 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.
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.)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Beware of "Jenna" at AboutAstro.com
Beware of free horoscopes offered by online astrologers who go by their first names only. True astrologers use their full names so you can google them or buy their books. The sole reason to use only a first name is to thwart research and investigation. In the case of aboutastro.com, the provider is "Jenna." Strike one.
But if the first-name basis and freebie offer have you convinced that Jenna wouldn't let you down, enter contact information and after 48 hours receive by email a link back to her website, where your free horoscope waits, secure. There, "a long personal text," 3600 words of rambling double talk and blither, not a horoscope and not personalized except with your name and birthdate, begins by wishing you (on September 16) a Happy New Year 2010. Strike two.
Naturally it’s a year of opportunity and true love. Yet “Only a professional astrologer can read your Skies correctly. . . . Sylvia, I warn you in this way because the stakes concerning this period are far too high. You need a professional to help you through this vitally important time in your life. This Transit is too significant and too important not to try and get all the chances over on your side." Jenna says Mars has been opposing my fifth house for SEVERAL YEARS NOW. In fact, transiting Mars doesn't stay anywhere in the sky for “several years.” Strike three.
But if the first-name basis and freebie offer have you convinced that Jenna wouldn't let you down, enter contact information and after 48 hours receive by email a link back to her website, where your free horoscope waits, secure. There, "a long personal text," 3600 words of rambling double talk and blither, not a horoscope and not personalized except with your name and birthdate, begins by wishing you (on September 16) a Happy New Year 2010. Strike two.
Naturally it’s a year of opportunity and true love. Yet “Only a professional astrologer can read your Skies correctly. . . . Sylvia, I warn you in this way because the stakes concerning this period are far too high. You need a professional to help you through this vitally important time in your life. This Transit is too significant and too important not to try and get all the chances over on your side." Jenna says Mars has been opposing my fifth house for SEVERAL YEARS NOW. In fact, transiting Mars doesn't stay anywhere in the sky for “several years.” Strike three.
But golly, I don't have any common sense, so clicked to her ordering page (with testimonials from people with first names only) where I plan to put $60 on my VISA for a "second" astrological reading plus Jenna's two e-books: one on clairvoyance, including secrets for developing my own, and the other on "radiestheisia" [sic] so I may try guiding my spiritual self and changing my life by playing with a pendulum.
Before trusting a one-name wonder, I should have googled “Jenna Astrologer.” And found that “Jenna” and aboutastro.com have collected over the years many bitter complaints.
Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope sites for quality and accuracy. See more horoscope reviews at hubpages.com or email horoscopereview@gmail.com. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Horoscope Review: Russell Grant's Daily Horoscopes
Whether or not it's a fact that Russell Grant is "the world's most loved astrologer," a tagline which sounds more like an affirmation to me, his detailed and well-written daily advice can be mesmerizing. Grant writes a full paragraph per Sun sign per day. This maximizes the chances that the issues and concerns he mentions will match yours. He doesn't bother to state what the astral conditions are, no doubt realizing that to casual readers, planetary positions and aspects are so much mumbo-jumbo. Instead, Grant broadly interprets astral conditions as they affect each Sun sign, giving not horoscopes but advice that sounds like a proper British next-door neighbor's. The results are so very much on target that I used to consult his site every day, and probably should resume doing that.
Allow me to demonstrate this with an example. I am indeed leaving on a trip tomorrow, but am concerned about its unusual expense. And Grant's Aquarius horoscope for tomorrow begins: "Future holiday plans incur further expenses and you might wonder what you are letting yourself [in] for. If you are travelling with friends, let them know you aren't happy. . ." Coincidence? Who cares? I now have license to tell my friends I can't spend money like it's water.
On RussellGrant.com you can barely find Grant's horoscopes among all the ads for psychics and angels, but I have discovered an alternative and better site for reading Grant's daily forecasts at 12House.com. Less cluttered and more navigable, provided that you know the glyph or symbol for your Sun Sign,, the site 12house.com offers Grant's horoscope for both today and tomorrow. A view of both days can be very useful for thought and planning.
Grant's horoscopes & astrology main page tries to be all things to all people and thus is loaded with fun stuff to look at: women's daily and weekly horoscopes by Carole Somerville, "the most loved" female astrologer; gay and lesbian horoscopes and celebrity profiles by Philip Garcia; video horoscopes; "Zodiac Teen" reports; and even a job-search link (mostly jobs selling ad space, in the U.K. only). Grant clearly knows his readership: women, gays, teens, the curious, the unsettled, the unemployed -- people frequently and for good reason in search of online guidance in this difficult world.
All the astrologers and forecasts hosted on Russell Grant's pages deserve and will get their own reviews. Today I'm reviewing Russell Grant's daily advice, and for usefulness and detail I rate it four and a half stars out of five. The thing I hate about his site: those horrid little Sun-sign-specific animations endlessly looping alongside each sign's daily scope, the Taurus animation being the stupidest.
I have no idea about the politics of being a famous astrologer, but I know competition makes it hard to make money at the job, and few clients will pay what a horoscope is truly worth. A personal horoscope, done by a professional, is a customized work of art and interpretation. It is however much easier to keep forecasts general and vague, and try to make money advertising computer scopes and clairvoyant hotlines. Russell Grant gets points for having classy daily forecasts. You can ignore the rest.
Allow me to demonstrate this with an example. I am indeed leaving on a trip tomorrow, but am concerned about its unusual expense. And Grant's Aquarius horoscope for tomorrow begins: "Future holiday plans incur further expenses and you might wonder what you are letting yourself [in] for. If you are travelling with friends, let them know you aren't happy. . ." Coincidence? Who cares? I now have license to tell my friends I can't spend money like it's water.
On RussellGrant.com you can barely find Grant's horoscopes among all the ads for psychics and angels, but I have discovered an alternative and better site for reading Grant's daily forecasts at 12House.com. Less cluttered and more navigable, provided that you know the glyph or symbol for your Sun Sign,, the site 12house.com offers Grant's horoscope for both today and tomorrow. A view of both days can be very useful for thought and planning.
Grant's horoscopes & astrology main page tries to be all things to all people and thus is loaded with fun stuff to look at: women's daily and weekly horoscopes by Carole Somerville, "the most loved" female astrologer; gay and lesbian horoscopes and celebrity profiles by Philip Garcia; video horoscopes; "Zodiac Teen" reports; and even a job-search link (mostly jobs selling ad space, in the U.K. only). Grant clearly knows his readership: women, gays, teens, the curious, the unsettled, the unemployed -- people frequently and for good reason in search of online guidance in this difficult world.
All the astrologers and forecasts hosted on Russell Grant's pages deserve and will get their own reviews. Today I'm reviewing Russell Grant's daily advice, and for usefulness and detail I rate it four and a half stars out of five. The thing I hate about his site: those horrid little Sun-sign-specific animations endlessly looping alongside each sign's daily scope, the Taurus animation being the stupidest.
I have no idea about the politics of being a famous astrologer, but I know competition makes it hard to make money at the job, and few clients will pay what a horoscope is truly worth. A personal horoscope, done by a professional, is a customized work of art and interpretation. It is however much easier to keep forecasts general and vague, and try to make money advertising computer scopes and clairvoyant hotlines. Russell Grant gets points for having classy daily forecasts. You can ignore the rest.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Who is Sylvia?
An Aquarius with a Scorpio ascendant and 12th-house Scorpio moon conjunct Neptune, I began studying astrology in 1976. I monitor 70-plus online horoscope sites and cast and interpret natal, transit, horary, and compatibility charts. For two and a half years I wrote a monthly astrology column using the name Sylvia Sky, and I published an article on The Grand Cross in American Astrology under my real name. My Pluto is at Midheaven conjunct Regulus. I'm also a trained media professional and writer, and live in the U.S.A.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monthly: Astrologyzone.com
Let's start with my absolute favorite monthly horoscope, Susan Miller's astrologyzone.com. Miller's a certified astrologer with a huge following because she writes lengthy, detailed, highly specific monthly forecasts for each sign for free. They appear around the first of the month, and they are so good that another horoscope site, which does fairly good daily and weekly scopes, www.dailyscopes.com, refers you to Miller's site for monthly forecasts.
Miller offers daily horoscopes by email for $4.95, and I'm tempted, but by searching I thought I'd found a place where I could read them for free. I was wrong. When writing monthly forecasts Miller will refer to the reader, distinctively, as "dear Aquarius" (or "dear Virgo," or whatever). I'd found a daily scope that used the "dear" and sounded so much like Miller I was convinced. But Miller assures me that those are not her scopes; they are the work of imitators.
One year I ordered Miller's wall calendar but did not like the dark and swampish New Age paintings that served as their illustrations. But Susan Miller, astrologer, has my total respect and -- trust me -- that's saying a lot. Five stars out of five, especially for those two-thousand-word monthly scopes!
Miller offers daily horoscopes by email for $4.95, and I'm tempted, but by searching I thought I'd found a place where I could read them for free. I was wrong. When writing monthly forecasts Miller will refer to the reader, distinctively, as "dear Aquarius" (or "dear Virgo," or whatever). I'd found a daily scope that used the "dear" and sounded so much like Miller I was convinced. But Miller assures me that those are not her scopes; they are the work of imitators.
One year I ordered Miller's wall calendar but did not like the dark and swampish New Age paintings that served as their illustrations. But Susan Miller, astrologer, has my total respect and -- trust me -- that's saying a lot. Five stars out of five, especially for those two-thousand-word monthly scopes!
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