Getting Started
To learn heliocentric astrology you need to be able to cast a heliocentric chart.
There are various ways to do this:
- Beginners in astrology may want to use free stuff on the web before going to the expense of buying proper software.
You can cast a chart online at
Astrodienst : go to "Free Charts" and then scroll down to "Chart Drawing, Ascendant". From there you can enter the birth data for the chart you want to cast.
Once you complete the data entry form, you will get the geocentric chart displayed. From that page you need to click on "Free Horoscopes" again (up on the blue navigation bar).
Scroll down again, this time to "Extended Chart Selection". This new page will give you the option for the heliocentric chart: click on "Zodiac" and select "Heliocentric (tropical)" and then click on "Click here to show the chart". The heliocentric chart will be displayed.
There is one fabulous
free software which has, among many other things, the option for heliocentric charts:
Astrolog 5.4 freeware.The download is at
astrolog.org.This freeware doesn't have a built-in atlas as far as I know, so you need to manually enter latitude, longitude and time zone for the chart you want to cast.
If you don't know lat, long and time zone you have two options:
- find a resource on the web (one of which is Astrodienst again) to get this information
- alternatively, just enter Greenwich longitude 0° W 00' and time zone (UTC), and also set latitude to 0° N 00' (equator). If the actual longitude and time zone are very different, you will get inaccurate positions especially for the faster moving planets. Mercury, for instance, moves at an average speed of about 4 degrees/day. If the coordinates are not too far off from Greenwich, you'll get better accuracy, which can be sufficient in the beginning stages of learning heliocentric astrology.
- Once you decide that you're going to cast heliocentric charts often, you'll probably want to buy a software with a built-in atlas and the heliocentric option. I personally use Solar Fire. Another option is Kepler.
You may want to compare software features and prices. You can do this at the AstrologySoftwareShop (this is Astrodatabank's software shop):
