Gabriella the Psychic's Copycat, "Ms. Singh"

Psychic Gabriella, now well known as a bogus astrologer and psychic, and "Ms. Singh" at the website bestpsychicinternational.com are very much alike. There's no picture of "Ms.Singh," but she shares Gabriella's biography -- including this: "To this day, Ms. Singh is the only initiated westerner who knows the secrets of Indian celestial magic." Gabriella too is the "only initiated westerner" with that credential -- so something is wrong! Like Gabriella, "Ms. Singh" was also taught by the nonexistent "Shri Maliki," and studied astrology with a "33rd Degree Grand Master," which is an honorary (meaningless) Freemason title that has nothing to do with astrology.

It was a sharp reader who noticed the likeness and clued me in. I've seen no ads for Ms. Singh, so went to her site. Unlike Gabriella's site it is spare and mousy. No rates for Ms.Singh's services were given -- it says, "Call me and we will find an affordable rate for you: 1-866-930-95555" [sic], so I called.

The woman who answered said she was Ms. Singh. She had an East Indian accent. This doesn't mean she isn't a westerner, but I wondered. She asked how I had heard of her and I said, "the Internet." She asked my birthdate and then what my question was, and I said, "First I want to ask about your rates." She charges $75 for a full life reading and $110 for a reading involving a couple. I then asked about her education. She said, "What do you mean?" and I said, where had she trained as a psychic? And suddenly she had "another client in front of her" and asked if she could call me back.

According to Wikipedia, one million people living in Western countries have the surname "Singh," so without a first name "Ms. Singh" -- if she's a real person and that's her real name -- cannot be traced and investigated. But looking into both their website URL registrations I think that "Ms. Singh," who is based in Canada, is probably a company recently set up to compete with the huge European-based company that sells itself as "Gabriella," and "Ms. Singh" borrowed "Gabriella's" biography, hoping that copycat credentials would create the same kind of success.

Games, games! Don't contact either of them.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, reviews online horoscope sites for quality and accuracy. See more of her reviews here. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.

Busted: How to Know if Astrologers are Real or Fake

Don't waste your money on fake astrologers. Here are ways to gauge who is probably fake and who is worth your time and money. To get the best results, know what to look for, AND research your choice of astrologer before spending any money:

Real astrologers do not claim that they personally are psychics and mediums too.

An online astrologer who always goes by just one name is fake. "Jenna" is fake. "Norah" is fake.

A fake will tell you about "your stars." A real astrologer will tell you about "your planets."

Real astrologers will ask you for your birth time, date, and place. They also need a birth date, time, and place for anyone you are asking about, such as a spouse. They will tell you truthfully that they can't give you accurate information without these facts.

Fakes say "star signs" rather than "sun signs."

A real astrologer will tell you that sun-sign astrology is very simplified astrology, and that the most accurate horoscopes are custom-made for individuals and are much more involved.

If you can make an appointment with and meet an astrologer in person, he or she is probably a genuine practitioner. Ask if he or she has a certificate (has taken a standardized test or graduated from an astrology course). Note: Testing for credentials became common in the U.S. only in the 1980s. Older astrologers may be self-taught or may have studied with experienced teachers, but may not have taken the tests.

"Intuitive" or "psychic" astrologers may not be lying when they say they think they can "intuit" or use psychic power to "do astrology," but real astrology is never a matter of intuition or psychic power; it's about math and skill.

A real astrologer will be glad to give you references.

A real astrologer will give you his or her contact information.

A real astrologer will never tell you what you "must" do.

A horoscope reading cannot solve your personal problems. If your situation is overwhelming, or involves bodily harm, a real astrologer will refer you to counseling or other resources.

An astrologer who has been in business only a short time, or is very young, may be the real thing but may not be experienced at interpreting charts for clients. As in any profession, experience counts.

An astrologer who pushes you hard to buy a reading, or sends repeat e-mails, or otherwise makes you uncomfortable, is probably fake.

An "astrologer to the rich and famous" is likely a fake. If his clientele was really the rich and famous, he would be making a good living and not needing to advertise.

A real astrologer will take at least a day or more to create your chart and study it before setting up a meeting to interpret it for you and answer your questions.

A real astrologer prefers not to give readings over the phone, although sometimes it can't be helped.

A real astrologer will give you an hour or a half-hour of time in which to answer your questions about your horoscope. Fifteen minutes is not enough time.

A real astrologer charges professional rates. $100 per hour is about right; some charge as much as $200. Remember that they have prepared and considered your chart or your question before meeting with you. If they are real astrologers, you will not have to have this same reading done over again.

Cheaper horoscope readings are available online, for much less money, but they are probably totally computerized, and you do not get to ask questions about them.

Real, in-person astrologers often record the session for you, or, if they're older or not comfortable with the technology, will allow you to make your own recording of the session.

Today's astrologers commonly use computers to calculate astrological charts, but proper chart interpretation can be done only by a human astrologer. It's like your doctor: She gets the results of your lab tests, but she has been educated to interpret what they mean for you.

No real astrologer will ever tell you that horoscopes are "spooky," "shocking," or "scary."

An astrologer who says you have a terrible chart and there's no hope for your business, love life, or whatever, is fake or very sick in the head; even more so if he suggests your future success depends on buying more readings from him.

A husband and wife team ("I can't meet you Thursday, but Bob can") who also claim that they are both psychics, is probably fake.

A real astrologer will not be so specific as to say, "You will meet a tall dark stranger," or "Yes, he is having an affair with your best friend," or "You will lose your job in two weeks, then go work at Wal-Mart." He or she will talk about planetary conditions and likelihoods, saying something like, "Saturn is entering your tenth house, and for the next two years job or career matters may be challenging. It may help you in this area of your life to become serious and organized."

No real astrologer will speculate about your lifespan.

A real astrologer cannot tell you the exact date, time, and place you will meet your "soulmate," or what his name is, and what he will look like. To answer that question, you really need a fake.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope sites for quality and integrity. Read her reviews of 20 different sites at http://hubpages.com/profile/sylviasky. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.

Rob Breszny's FreeWill Astrology: Cosmic Energies

Hippie, cockeyed optimist, poet and musician, and a Cancer (birthday June 23), Rob Breszny is many things, but not a traditional astrologer. His weekly column, syndicated mostly to counterculture newspapers, was once called "Real Astrology." Maybe because he offers instead of real horoscopes self-described "oracles," Breszny's enterprise is now named "Free Will Astrology." His weekly Sun-sign messages provide readers with, like, a spiritual Tic-Tac, mostly to remind them that they are not powerless and the world is not hopeless.

Breszny is an "intuitive" or "improvisational" astrologer. This kind simply feels some vibes and shares what comes to mind. Astrologers who use calculations and charts call these people "fortunetellers" or fakes. Brezsny says he thinks of "horoscopes as love letters to my readers," and hopes to guide them by issuing them self-fulfilling prophecies of a positive, uplifting kind. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not astrology.

My own cosmic vibes hint to me that for each zodiac sign Breszny does not consult a chart but instead pulls a card from the Vertical Oracle deck, a strange and beautiful 40-card deck not at all like the classic Tarot. He then posts it with his weekly oracle, maybe advising Aries to go with the flow this week, or telling Pisces to make beautiful mistakes.

Whatever Breszny calls himself, he's an entertaining New Age writer. Breszny's big purple slab of a book, Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings, typically asserts, "This is a perfect moment. . .You are a gorgeous genius. . .Glide through life as if all of creation is yearning to honor and entertain you." Those living in a tent or yurt because they want to will like the book. Those living in Tent City underneath a drop cloth will think the author is a nut.

For the purposes of this review, I give Free Will Astrology site zero stars out of five, because I can't see any genuine astrology even between the lines of its weekly oracles --but I don't want to discourage visitors who might find Breszny's approach liberating, appealing, or visionary.

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.

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!