Best Magazine Horoscopes

I read and rated magazine horoscopes for quality, authenticity, and entertainment value, found out about their astrologer-authors, and the reasons the best are the best -- and why others aren't. Surprise: horoscopes in Town & Country magazine! Surprise: no horoscopes in the glossies Vogue,  Glamour and Vanity Fair (they used to have them!), and O. Click to see the article.

Claire Astrologer at Astrology-Revealed.com

I tried Claire the astrologer at Astrology-Revealed, and she sent with my free reading the first actual birth chart I've seen in 10 years of investigating offers like hers. Read the full, all-new review.

Susan Miller Alternatives: Good Monthly Horoscopes

Susan Miller's monthly sun sign predictions are late -- and her site, astrologyzone.com, has been reduced to a single page, saying she's ill. I wrote an article listing six other monthly horoscopes to enjoy while you wait for Susan to recover from what's been ailing her, selecting them for high quality: Best Free Online Monthly Horoscopes.

Online critics allege that she's not really sick but on drugs, that her mother who died in 2012 was the real astrologer and Susan is clueless, that she can't manage her life. (Miller has a business degree from NYU.) I think she's a terrifically hard-working woman, not young, between 50 and 60, whose body has broken down from writing half a million words a year, the equivalent of nine full books. Even so she took time to email me when I wrote a review of her site, and helped me correct an error.

I say the complainers got spoiled expecting every month free gloriously specific and highly accurate 3500-word horoscopes for each sign, encouraging and warm, entirely original and never computerized. Miller says she spent the last 10 days of each month working on them. That amount of work would take most writer/astrologers three times as long.  Susan, get well soon.

Christian Grey and Ana Steele Horoscopes

If you liked my reading of Christian Grey's chart, I did Ana Steele's, too, (they're Gemini and Virgo), plus their compatibility chart, and written up all three interpretations in non-technical language, putting it all together as a Kindle ebook. Fans should enjoy it. Sample it at http://www.amazon.com/Bonded-Hitting-Off-Gemini-Virgo-ebook/dp/B00EYNUXC4

You do not need to own a Kindle to read the book. Download the free Kindle software onto your PC; that's what I do.

Christian Grey's Horoscope

Christian Grey, hero of the erotic romance Fifty Shades of Grey, has a remarkably fitting "birth" horoscope. His birthday's in the novel! I explored his astrological chart and had fun writing about what I found. This is also the first complete Christian Grey horoscope on the Net! Click here to see it, and, laters, baby.

P.S. I also did Ana's chart, plus their compatibility chart, now available as an ebook on Amazon.com Kindle, 2:99. http://www.amazon.com/Bonded-Hitting-Off-Gemini-Virgo-ebook/dp/B00EYNUXC4

Boston Marathon Heartbreak Horoscope

I've cast a horoscope chart for the moment of the first explosion at the Boston Marathon. Boston was my home for six years and on "Marathon Monday" we went place to place by car, cheering the runners at selected points along the 26-mile route (a favorite, near our apartment, was "Heartbreak Hill"). The April 15 bombing at the finish line stunned everyone and gave me, the former Bostonian, the nerve to study the astrology of the event and speculate about the why and who.

Anthony Weiner Natal Horoscope

New York's most entertaining Democrat is back in the news! Here's my interpretation of Anthony Weiner's natal horoscope (9/4/64), cast in 2011 after the proud Virgo scalded himself in a Twitter scandal. If Weiner runs for mayor of New York City (2013 will be the third time) he must be careful not to trip himself up again.

The Grand Cross: Is It Bad Luck for Life?

I've found two celebs born under the so-called scariest aspect in natal astrology: The Grand Cross or Grand Square. A third celeb almost had a Grand Cross in her chart. Too bad she didn't. She might have had more focus and willpower. Birth horoscope chart analyses of Steve Jobs, Miles Davis and his almost-birthday-twin Marilyn Monroe. The natal Grand Cross is a supportive structure. Don't fear it.

Horoscope Review: AskNow.com Call-In Psychics, the Most Pathetic Reading Ever

Heavily advertised with a colorful illustration of a gypsy and crystal ball, AskNow.com was co-founded by fake psychic Sylvia Browne, who disgraced herself for years on The Montel Williams Show and continues to do so entertaining at casinos. I phoned AskNow anyway to get my free 5-minute reading. The hard sell and incompetence, well, you've just got to read about it to believe it.

The Meaning of the Rare Transit of Venus, June 5-6, 2012

For the first time since 1882 and the final time until 2117, the planet Venus will cross between the earth and sun, allowing us to watch (using eye protection, as with a solar eclipse) the planet travel across the sun's face. Astronomers will be watching and astrologers will be pondering the meaning as the transit occurs at 15 degrees of Gemini. Find out how and whether you'll be able to witness this once-in-a-lifetime sky event, where to watch it via webcam, what events the Transit of Venus has brought in past epochs, and what it might bring us for the rest of this century. The article on the Transit of Venus is well-researched by Sylvia Sky, who's also been following the forty-day Venus retrograde that occurs every 18 months and continues until June 25.

Fun Predictions for the 2012 Venus Transit Aftermath

• Some astrologers say that the transit of Venus can bring your soulmate, but Venus is always in retrograde during its solar transit, so it is more likely that soon after the transit, individuals will see a current or former relationship in a different light.
  
• Understanding foreign languages and "accents" will soon be solved by instant-translation technologies.
• Cars in 2011 can already park themselves; they will soon drive themselves (while we are texting or putting on makeup).
• Lotteries will offer as their prize not millions of dollars but health care for life.
• Colleges will replace basic English and math classes with online self-paced learning.
• Instead of measuring intelligence or skills, public schools will measure loyalty. They will teach not in classrooms but by requiring students to check in at different locations and workplaces.
• Child labor laws will be amended for children who want to work. Adults will retire from working much earlier than they do now; perhaps will be required to do so.
• School applicants will describe not what they want to do after graduation but the scientific or social problem they intend to use their school years to solve. If they don't solve this problem, they must pay tuition. Schools will own the patents or copyrights on students' school-related work.
• Human body parts for transplants will be globally traded and shipped until "intelligent" implantable body parts such as artificial kidneys are invented.
• Corporations will pay college expenses for students who agree to be groomed as their future employees.
• Electronic books will contain commercials. Large publishers will issue mainly books with computer-written content fully approved by their mega-corporation. All other books will be sold in specialized shops, or by authors selling them door-to-door to buyers who want books written by human beings, not computers.
• In the U.S., artistic creativity will be a rare skill and outsourced to other countries.
• Poetry will become a popular entertainment form and a global political force.
• Personal health will be continually monitored and we will be penalized or fined for not exercising or for eating unapproved foods.
• Wireless communications and media devices will be implantable in ears and brains and "telepathic" communication will become possible.
• Powerful new female leaders will empower marginalized and poor women.
• A global communications or technological disaster will open up entirely new business, educational, and technology fields and lead to higher consciousness and a different set of values.

Can You Sue a Psychic and Win? Recent Rulings

A psychic promised to bring a husband back, and didn't, so the client sued. Another psychic persuaded 100 people to sign over $6 million in cash because he said he could time the stock market. Can you get punitive damages for pain and suffering if a psychic is wrong or exploits you? Recent rulings against psychic operations big and small are discussed in this article. From these you can predict for yourself the likelihood of winning money and damages.

How To Get Refunds from Psychic Scammers and Bots

Of the six biggest Internet psychics who con thousands of people every day, which ones offer money-back guarantees -- and which ones don't? Can you claim a refund? And here's what to do when a robot "psychic" like Norah Astro-Clairvoyant makes unauthorized charges on your credit card. Click here to read it.

True Horoscopes and Finding Psychics: Your Questions Answered

How much will a real horoscope cost? Can I find a real psychic on the Internet? Sylvia Sky of Horoscope Review answers 20 of the most commonly asked questions about astrologers, horoscopes, clairvoyants, psychics, and tarot card readers. Click here.

Cheap Thrill: Psychic Hotline 10 Minutes for $1.95

Positive review of PsychicPowerNetwork and its current new-client special: http://hubpages.com/t/2b2f63.

Horoscope Review: Pasqualina, Bargain-Basement Clairvoyance Fake

"Pasqualina" offers a free clairvoyant horoscope. She doesn't seem to know there is no such thing. Anyway, when you buy readings from her you will get what you pay for. http://hubpages.com/t/29d558

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.

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

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.

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.

Tara the Medium Dreamt I Won the Lottery

I let Tara the Visionary Medium speak for herself here, through samples from the e-mails and messages received after I requested a free reading. You judge whether you want to pay $79 (usually $139, she says) for her "Dated Astral Reading of Luck and Money." Tara offers refunds, but it is probably smarter not to pay her in the first place.

Oct. 11: Dear Sylvia, you can count on my help...

Oct. 14: I have selected you to be included in a book I plan to write. If all goes well, I will be able to send you A CHECK FOR $300, MADE OUT TO YOUR NAME. . . . OVER 97% OF PEOPLE who had never won anything (or only very small amounts) STARTED WINNING ALL AT ONCE, THANKS TO AN ASTRAL READING . . .

Oct. 16: Your free reading is ready. . . I spent more than 13 hours performing an in-depth study of your case. . . . Your dominant planet is: Uranus. [That, remarkably, is true, but it's true of all Aquarians.]

Oct. 20: A VERY LARGE JACKPOT WILL SOON BE YOURS, Sylvia! I have a visionary gift that few mediums possess. A secret power allows me to see into the future and DETECT THE SPECIFIC DATES AND WINNING NUMBERS you have to use to ensure that luck is on your side. I’ll tell you when the right time is. But for now. . . there is an evil influence at work which wants to attract bad luck into your life, and prevent large sums of money from reaching you. . .

Oct. 22: Dear Sylvia, it's certain! Great good fortune should enter your life in the next 30 days. . . . In my dream I saw you feverishly waving a game receipt, jumping for joy as the winning numbers were announced. . .

Oct. 28: Sylvia, an urgent and personal message: . . . there is an exceptional configuration of a number of particularly influential astral planets [sic] that affect your luck, your happiness and your success. This rare conjunction only happens every 9 years. . . . ATTENTION: THIS EXCEPTIONAL MOMENT MAY NEVER COME AGAIN [but, Tara, you just said it happens every 9 years!]. . . I AM GOING TO MAKE AN EXCEPTION AND DO SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL FOR YOU. . . perform A MAGIC ASTRAL CEREMONY OF PROTECTION on your behalf. . . .

Oct. 29: Sylvia, read this quickly, there is no time to waste . . .

Zero stars out of five for nailing only one astrological fact, and exploiting the hopes and worries of the saddest and most desperate people.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus horoscope sites for quality and accuracy. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.