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3 iii Copyright Notice Copyright Notice Copyright 2002 Matrix Software, Inc. Win*Star software and all supporting documentation and programs are proprietary, copyrighted material with all rights reserved. This manual and the software are protected by United States and International copyright laws and agreements. Software or supporting materials and documentation may not be copied, in whole or part, without the written consent of Matrix Software, Inc.. This software is licensed for use by the registered owner only. It may not be installed on a network. Program Design: Programming: Stephen Erlewine Michael Erlewine Stephen Erlewine

4 iv Technical Support Matrix provides free lifetime technical assistance to all registered owners of our software. Technical Support may be reached at: Monday-Friday, 8 to 5 (EST) or by at: matrixsupport@astrologysoftware.com. You can also questions to: matrixsupport@astrologysoftware.com Our Technical Support Staff is well trained in the use of our software and is ready to assist you with any questions or problems you may have. If you cannot find your answer in this manual, in the detailed PDF manual you received, or in the online Help, please call us. When calling for technical assistance please be in front of your computer with the program running. It is helpful, but not essential to provide us with the following information regarding your computer system: Type of Computer: Gateway PentiumIII etc. Version of Windows you are running (3.1, 98, NT, 2000, ME etc.) Hard Disk Drive Size RAM (Memory size) Video Card Printer type (manufacturer and model) If you receive an error message while installing or using the software, be sure to do a screen capture or carefully write it down so you can refer to it when calling. This will help to quickly identify the source of your problem or conflict and resolve it. Thank you for purchasing Win*Star. You now own, and will soon be using with confidence, the best astrological software available. Sincerely, Matrix Tech Support Team Matrix Software, Inc. 126 S. Michigan Ave. Big Rapids, MI (231)

5 v Table of Contents Introduction 1 Installation... 1 Win*Star Overview... 2 Main screen descriptions... 2 Configuring Win*Star...5 Win*Star Options menus... 5 Calculation Options... 6 Data Input Options... 6 Chart Form Options... 6 Color Options... 7 Aspects Options... 7 User Logo Edition... 7 Win*Star How Do I s?... 8 Basic Tasks Creating a Natal Chart... 9 Viewing and Pringing a Chart Delete Individual Charts Delete Dependent Charts Changing Aspect Sets Choosing the planets and points in the displayed chart Importing Chart files from other Astrology programs Using the Atlas Viewing 2,3, or 4 charts in one wheel Assigning default forms to Technique menu buttons Setting Defaults Change the default wheel for new charts Changing the default house system Changing aspect sets Select Chart Form Menu (described)...23 Chart Form Options menu (described)...24 Assigning Default forms to Technique menu buttons Working with Charts in the Chart Database...26 Astrological Techniques...30 Secondary charts Transit charts Progressed, directed and Lunation charts Return charts Prediction techniques: Transit, progressed, & other Searches Synastry Techniques Creating Composite or Relationship charts Mundane Maps Local Space charts Extra Toolbar Rectification module Using the Astro*Clock feature... 46

6 vi Using the DayScan feature Using the TimeScan feature Time Tables Ephemeris Generator Printing an Aspectarian Win*Search Win*Search How Do I s? How do I make a database to use with Win*Search? How do I create a graph for specific planet combinations? How do I return to the full database? How do I view chart data...56 How do I search for a single folder to a database How do I search for 2 or more different factors in a chart? How do I search for aspects in natal charts? How do I search for planets in specific degrees? How do I export chart data from a database? Win*Star Menus Win*Star Graphic Ephemeris Win*Star s Publisher s Assistant Appendix A - Atlas Information USA State Abbreviations World Atlas Abbreviations Index Register your program! Matrix Software does require that you register your Win*Star program. This is done by mailing (or faxing) a signed copy of the User Registration form or the postcard you received with your order. This form will include your Win*Star Serial# and the licensing agreement. A signed copy of this form is required in order to receive free Technical Assistance. Be sure to fill out this form, sign it, and send it to the Matrix address found at the top of the form. To locate & print this form: Help pull-down / About Matrix Win*Star / Registration Form Mail your registration form to: Matrix Software, Inc. 126 S. Michigan Ave. Big Rapids, MI Fax your registration form to:

7 1 What is Win*Star Plus? Win*Star is the most complete and sophisticated astrological calculation and chart plotting software available. This is the ultimate collection of charting, calculation and research tools for serious astrologers. Win*Star has been conceived to fulfill the needs and expectations of astrologers, regardless of your personal technique preferences or astrological philosophy. For example, a siderealist astrologer can easily use a custom ayanamsa with Win*Star. Similarly, an Asteroid fan; a predictive astrologer using solar arc or degree-year directions, can use their favorite techniques in his daily work to simplify his usual chores. However, as astrologically diverse and capable as the program is, Win*Star provides the user with an extremely user-friendly and flexible interface whether a student or experienced astrologer you can easily configure Win*Star to your personal taste and automate it to perform most tasks for you. The purpose of this Quick*Start Manual is to guide you through the process of installing, configuring, and finally using this sophisticated software package. The instructions in this manual will permit you to perform tasks with confidence in the results you produce. This Quick*Start Manual is abbreviated to make mastering the programs basics easy. Additional on-screen help is also available by pressing the F1 key. For practical purposes (most people are completely intimidated by a huge 400 page manual) and to help preserve our environment, we have converted the more detailed Win*Star Manual to a digital document that you can access on-screen, or if you prefer print. The digital manual is a standard PDF document which can be opened using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. This format makes is easy to navigate through the on-screen document to find what you need - fast. Your Win*Star Manual is a working document. It is designed to become your personal guide to the many components of this program. Scribble in it, make your own notes and comments. Installing Win*Star Installing Win*Star is a breeze. In fact it nearly installs itself. Simply put the CD in the drive, wait a few moments. The program will automatically begin the installation process. The installer will put the appropriate files where they should be in your system. The default drive will be your C Drive. If you have multiple drives you have the option to install on an alternative drive. Call Technical Support if you need assistance. At the conclusion of the installation you will be asked if you would like an icon on your desktop. This will allow you instant access to the program by simply clicking on this icon. Enjoy your new Win*Star software.

8 2 An Important Note To All WinStar Owners: During the installation process you will be provided with an opportunity to print the WinStar registration form. It is necessary to register your software in order to receive the Free Lifetime Technical Support that is provided with all Matrix Software programs. You may have received a Registration postcard that you use to register. First contact with Win*Star As you can see in Figure 1 (on page 4), the user interface is extremely visual. Most operations can be done by clicking on an icon or a button of a toolbar. On this screen, you have three horizontal toolbars and a changeable, vertical Technique Toolbar on the right. The best way to discover what each button is used for is to point to it with the mouse cursor. A Tool Tip will appear with a description of the icon while a more detailed explanation appears in the lower-left part of the screen. The easiest way to learn what they exactly do is to try them out! By clicking one of them, you activate its function. Try it. Experiment. Better yet, play! The middle-left window is the Chart Forms window. A Chart Form is either a wheel or a grid (aspects, midpoints, etc.) graphically representing various facets of a chart. Win*Star allows you to assign as many chart forms to each chart as needed. You have a choice of over 300 such forms. It even lets you automatically generate chart forms according to your needs. For instance, you can define Chart Sets containing, say, a Novice wheel, a Midpoint Grid and an Arabic Wheel containing fifty Arabic parts, and configure Win*Star to generate them automatically whenever you enter a new chart. Once a Chart Form is assigned to a chart, you can view it by clicking its name in that window. The lower-left window shows the various charts of your personal Database, and the toolbar above is used to handle your Chart Database. The Active Chart (here, Abraham Lincoln) is highlighted. Notice that this chart has secondary charts (a solar return, a progressed chart and two events, or transit charts). A secondary chart is a chart that is somehow derived from a primary one, either for functional reasons or for practical ones. In the example (left), Lincoln s assassination chart has just been called Assassination, because its indented position as a secondary chart makes it obvious that we are dealing with Lincoln s assassination. The Techniques Toolbars on the right side corresponds to the different astrology techniques you may want to use. A list of these techniques can be viewed by clicking the Techniques menu on the Menu Bar. Each toolbar contains buttons you can click to execute a specific task with respect to the active chart. For example, the Synastry toolbar contains one

9 3 button to create a synastry grid, and others to calculate composite charts using various methods. The Home toolbar (shown left) is a slight exception: Its last five buttons are used to show specific toolbars. You can also go from one toolbar to the next (or previous one) by clicking on the right (or left) arrow at the top of each toolbar, clicking on an option of the Techniques menu, or pressing the corresponding function key. See the Techniques menu pull-down for a listing of the function keys assigned to each Techniques Toolbar.

10 4 Hold your cursor over any button. A pop-up box will open explaining its function. Figure #1 Key: 1. Shortcut Buttons - Key program features can be accessed via these icon buttons. (These options can also be accessed from the main pull-down menus at the top of the screen.) 2. Chart Forms - Individual wheel styles can be attached to any calculated chart. They appear listed here. Each can be selected, displaying in the main display area. 3. New Charts - Chart entry begins here. The New Chart button opens the data input screen for all chart creation. Here, too, are additional shortcut buttons to chart handling features, such as searching for specific charts, accessing the chart database (containing all saved charts), and deleting charts. 4. Main Menu, Options is used to configure Win*Star, setting user preferences such as default chart locations, aspect orbs, glyph colors, zodiac, etc. 5. Display Zone - This is the main wheel display area. For the currently selected wheel or grid.

11 5 6. Techniques Bar - Toolbars here correspond to an astrological technique, providing shortcut buttons to program features within that area. Individual buttons can be programmed with your user preferences. 7. Chart List Display Window - The Active Chart (currently displayed) is highlighted. Here we also see a list of Secondary Charts: Solar Return, Progressed Chart and 2 event (Transit) charts. The - sign indicates you can hide these secondary charts. A + sign shows the presence of hidden secondary charts you can show by double-clicking on it. 8. Tool Tips - When you point to a button (without clicking), a tiny yellow window opens and displays a tool tip that summarizes the button s function. A more detailed explanation also appears in the Status Bar (described next). 9. Status Bar - Accompanying the Tool tip feature, the status bar provides a brief description of the currently highlighted menu feature. Configuring Win*Star Configuring Win*Star means to define your own default parameters for the various jobs you will want it to do in your daily work as a working astrologer. After this configuration is completed, you can still change any parameter you want for a specific job, but you don t have to do it every time! You can thus save yourself a lot of time by defining a good personalized configuration. You will normally start by defining your General Options, as described in this section. Then, when you request any specific additional job, you ll already have defined its default parameters; the selections you make will remain the new default until you change them. [Previously created charts retain their original configuration; changes made in the Options menu (as described in the upcoming section) do not work retroactively. ] General Options Settings Basic Principles You can define your own General Options settings by opening the Options Menu (Options Pull-down / Win*Star Options). This displays the tentabbed Win*Star Options menu. Each tab reveals an option category that lets you set default values for your most commonly used parameters. In some cases, suggested default values will be appropriate, but you can change them!

12 6 The following is a list of options you can personalize in your program, along with a short explanation each. Updating various Win*Star Options 1. Default Calculation Options: Most preset defaults are adequate unless you use a different house system, or if you use a sidereal zodiac. And the check boxes should remain unchecked, unless you use a True Node position, or you want your Part of Fortune to be calculated the ancient way, i.e. differently whether the Sun is above or below the horizon. 2. Data Input Options: Here you can choose how you enter dates and times. Pay special attention to the Assume Century options. If you accept the default value (1900), Win*Star will assume that when you enter only the two last digits of the year, it will be 19xx you re considering. You can change this default to 2000 (typing 01 will mean 2001) or None (typing 01 will mean 0001). Outside your assumed century range, you just need to specify all four digits to make sure you have the right year. 3. Chart Forms: This option is particularly important; it is used to show how your charts will be viewed and printed. This is and especially important aspect of the configuration task since it defines the Chart Forms that will be used every time you request a specific job. A complete section is devoted to this subject (later in this manual), but here is a short summary of the elements you can specify: The actual Chart Form is the basic wheel model you want to use. The idea is to click on a chart form name so you can view it in miniature on screen, together with a few lines of descriptive text. You have a variety of models to choose from: equal or unequal house wheels, Aries wheels, European style wheels, 90 or other dials, and many different types of grids (aspects, midpoints, etc.). You also have multiple wheels (usually, when the form name starts with Two or Three, it means small wheels on one page, whereas when it starts with Double, Tri or Quad, it means charts on concentric circles). You finally have specialized types of wheels or grids, for instance, Arabic has 50 built-in Arabic parts, Horary, Aspect Ring (has aspects to planets and points plotted), and many more!

13 Planets or points to be included into the form: you can choose to include the Moon s South Node, Part of Fortune, Lilith (the true Dark Moon), Asteroids, Uranian Planets, etc. depending upon your needs. The Aspect Set you use for drawing aspect lines in wheels or for Aspect Grids; if you want only major aspects, choose Ptolemy; to include minor aspects choose Standard; and if you want to use rare aspects (such as Quintiles), choose Custom or Complete. Of course, you can adjust these aspect sets to your needs, or even create a new set with your own choice of aspects and orbs, as explained later Planets or points to which you want or don t want aspects drawn: for instance, you may choose not to draw aspects to the Moon s node or to asteroids, even if their positions are drawn. 4. Colors: You can change the colors associated to signs, planets, aspects etc. The idea is to choose (in the Color Scheme Window) the Association you want to establish (Planet, Sign, Aspect, ), and then drag and drop a color from one of the colored squares in the lower right side of the window onto the element you want to color differently. Note that you can also drag and drop a color the other way from an astrological element to a square to save it for future use. You can also double-click on a color to open the Color window and select or create a color. Win*Star offers you plenty of opportunities to customize your charts (colors, background design, etc.). 5. Aspects and Orbs: This option is quite long to define, since it involves setting a number of parameters. Start with the aspect set closest to your needs for a specific job, such as: - Standard (major & minor aspects) for natal charts - Ptolemy (major aspects only) for transits and progressions - Square (conjunction, opposition & squares) for (progressed) Moon phases - Hard (Square Set + Semi- and Sesqui-Squares) - Custom - (Major, Minor & most common rare aspects) - Complete (all of them, even the rarest) You can add or delete aspects to any set you choose or create your own set and save it under any name. For each set (preset or user-defined) you can define your own orbs. Note that you can define different orbs for different sets (e.g. wider orbs for Standard than for Complete) 6. Edit User Logo: Here you can include your own Logo on all charts and search reports 7. Misc. You can elect to display the tool tips (and some button captions) in French, Spanish, German or English. You must exit then restart Win*Star for these changes to take effect. 7

14 8 Win*Star How-To s... This list will give you quick access to the handy How To directions for specific tasks in Win*Star: Basic Astrology Tasks Creating a Natal Chart p. 9 Viewing or Printing a Chart p. 12 Delete individual charts p. 13 Delete dependent charts p. 14 Changing Aspect Sets p. 14 Choosing planets to include in the wheel p. 15 Importing chart files from other astrology programs p. 17 Using the Atlas p. 18 View or print 2, 3, or 4 charts in one wheel p. 19 Assigning default forms to Techniques menu buttons p. 20 Setting Defaults Changing the default wheel for new chart input p. 21 Changing the default house system p. 21 Changing aspect sets p. 21 The Select Chart Form Menu (described) p. 23 Chart Form Options Menu (described) p. 23 Creating Chart Sets (using the Options Menu) p. 25 Working with charts in the Chart Database p. 26

15 9 How to Create a chart New charts are created in the Enter Chart Data screen. There are several ways to open this dialog. You can: - click the New Chart button - with your keyboard, type: Ctrl + N - use the File menu, Add New Chart option - click the New button of the Home Techniques toolbar Once this dialog box (see Figure 3 below) is open, you just enter the birth information into the appropriate fields and click OK to have your new chart calculated and displayed (according to your configuration parameters). Let s have a look into the Data Entry area. We ll study it field by field. Use these buttons to add or delete charts from your list. Figure 3 - The Enter Chart Data Window Note: Common Windows navigation skills are used when entering data. The Tab key moves the focus from field to field; a left-mouse click on any field does the same. For menu buttons, keyboard Alt-Key combinations (where Key is the key depicted by the underscored letter of the button name, such as Alt-H for the Here button) serve the same purpose as clicking them.

16 10 Entering Data into an Input Box New charts are created by entering the birth data into the appropriate fields in the Enter Chart Data menu. Data is either typed or entered via the various data input devises in the menu (select option menus, radio buttons, custom-clickable screens, etc.). To move from input fields in the menu you can either mouse-click in the field or use the keyboard Tab key to advance from field to field in the menu. (A keyboard Shift + Tab combination will also move backwards, field by field, through the menu.) The menu buttons can be accessed via the keyboard by pressing Alt+ the underlined letter of the button name or simply mouse-clicked. As soon as a field is selected, its total content is highlighted (blue background). In this case, as soon as you type something, the old content is deleted and replaced by what you type. If you click on it a second time its content is deselected and the cursor is changed into a blinking vertical insertion point allowing you to edit (add, delete, select text) its content. Note that you can select some text inside a field (e.g. a word by double-clicking on it) and then delete or replace it by just typing over it. Important: The above general considerations can usually be applied to any Windows operated application software. Users not yet familiar with the Windows environment often avoid trying things out by fear of damaging their system or losing information. But, Windows and Win*Star have been specifically designed with a user-friendly graphic interface to allow you to work faster, easier and with less risk. So you are invited to explore these different manipulations. If you don t get the expected results, you can always cancel everything and close the dialog box by clicking on the Cancel button or pressing the Esc (Escape) key. The Name field Here you enter the name for this chart. It can be the person s name (or the event s or institution s). Considerations: If entering a person s name, simply type First name (space) Last name. (In the future) when searching through all your charts, Win*Star will use the last word entered as the last name and will sort your database in alphabetical order by last name. That s fine for a person s natal chart, but it can be confusing for event or mundane charts. So for example, if you have a chart for USA, make sure when you name it that USA is the last word you type. This is especially true if you have more than one USA chart and you want to keep them close together on your list. Note that another elegant and handy way of keeping charts together is to choose one main chart and define the others as Transit (Secondary) charts of the 1 st one (more about secondary charts later). The Date field This field contains the person s date of birth. Win*Star displays a default date (usually Today), and you can either replace or modify it.

17 11 To replace the date, just type in Month, Day and Year (with spaces or another separation character); you can enter the month using numbers or letters; you can type the last two digits of the year if your Win*Star is configured for that. You can also use the perpetual calendar by clicking on the small triangle on the right. The Time field This contains the person s birth time. Times are displayed in standard (AM/PM) format, but you can configure Win*Star to enter times in 24- hour format. Here also, you can use a dialog box to speed up time input: you can start by choosing the closest of Midnight (00), 6 o clock (06), Noon (12) or 6 PM (18), and then adjust it using the spinners; click OK when you are done. The Place field This contains the person s birth place (city and state, province or country). The default is the Current Place that was entered at configuration. The easiest method to input all location data is to use the Atlas. To do that, just type the name of the city (or its first few letters), a comma and then the abbreviation of the state (USA), province (Canada) or country it belongs to (see Appendix A), both separated by a comma. Keep in mind that the abbreviation of a state in the U.S. is two letters long, whereas you need three or more for a country or Canadian province. IMPORTANT: Once you have typed in the birth place, you must click the Atlas button. A window opens displaying a list of cities. Double-click on the correct one and click OK. The correct longitude, latitude and time are then entered automatically by the program. If you don t use the Atlas (or if the place is not found), you can manually enter the correct longitude, latitude and time in the appropriate fields. Here: Now: Buttons descriptions: Enter Chart Data screen Atlas: Search a city in the electronic atlas Uses the Current Place (city & time zone) defined at configuration. Get the current time (date & time) from your computer s clock

18 12 Get: Shows the database grid (allowing you to select an existing chart) Import: Get birth data saved by another astrology program (such as Blue*Star) More: OK: Enter data for another chart (to enter several charts in a row) Calculate and view the chart you just entered Cancel: Close the window without calculating any new chart. Calc Options and Database tabs The right-hand pane contains the Calc Opts window (Calculation Options, as defined during configuration). It can be replaced by a Database window if you click the appropriate tab. Here you can specify Calculation Options other than those you chose during configuration, but for this chart only. These are advanced options and we suggest they only be used if you are familiar with their functions and (their) effect upon the calculated chart. The Database Tab opens a window in which you can specify some Chart Database options: assigning this new chart to a specific Folder, defining Attributes, Notes, and other fields. How to view or print a chart Once you have entered a new chart and clicked on OK, the chart is instantly calculated and displayed in the selected form (depending on your configuration and what kind of view is now active). Win*Star lets you view your charts in many ways, depending on your needs. Three basic tools are available for you to view your charts; you can activate them by clicking on the appropriate button of the top horizontal toolbar: Chart View: You can create and view one or more Chart Forms: wheel (eventually multiple) or grid. (Details are found in the next section.) Data View: You can choose views from a list of tables or graphic representations of some chart data: positions, elements, crosses, aspects, patterns, planetary strengths, etc. (see details below). Chart Viewer: Contains a set of tools for analyzing and scanning the details of a chart: detailed positions, patterns, basic interpretation schemes, Sabian symbols, etc. To use it, you first need to view the chart as a wheel, then to the current chart. You just click on one of them to view the chart with that form. On top of that window is a toolbar with three buttons allowing you to add or delete a chart form or to add a multiple wheel (or synastry grid)

19 13 Besides these three tools, you can also click on the Show button to enlarge the view to its maximum size on the screen; double-clicking or right-clicking on the chart will reduce it to its previous size. You can also click and drag the view back and forth to see the parts that may be hidden on smaller monitors. You can print the current view you selected (in color, if you have a color printer). When you click on Data View, the middle-left window becomes the Data Views window and displays a list of all the Data Views that are available (unlike Chart View, you don t have to add the ones you want, they are all there!). These views let you display some chart data in numeric or graphic form, thus allowing an analysis of the chart. You just have to scroll through the list (using the vertical scrollbar) and click on the view you want to display. Here is a list of some of the more interesting data you can display: Chart Positions: exact planetary positions (longitude, latitude, declination, etc ) Elemental Balances: number of planets in elements, crosses, sectors, etc Lunar Phase Etc: Moon s phase (and other data on Sun and Moon) Many aspect and mid-point grids Chart Patterns: geometrical patterns (Grand Trine, T-square, Yod, etc.) Ptolemaic Dignities: rulers by sign, exaltation, triplicity, term, face, mutual receptions, combust planets, and other dignities or debilities according to Ptolemy Lilly Strengths: planet strengths according to William Lilly s criteria (essential and accidental dignities and debilities) Fixed Stars: fixed stars conjunct to planets (the printout gives other aspects too!) Delete individual charts 1. Highlight the active chart you wish to delete. 2. Click the Delete Chart button. 3. Click Yes when asked to confirm this deletion.

20 14 Delete dependent charts 1. If the dependent chart is not showing, click the + mark at the left side of the root chart. 2. Highlight the Dependent Chart you wish to delete. 3. Click the Delete button 4. Confirm the deletion when prompted. Changing aspect sets Win*Star contains eight aspect sets, which can be used in calculating any chart form. The set used is determined in the Chart Form Options menu. This menu can be accessed three ways: 1. (From) the Chart Forms tab of the Win*Star Options menu (Options pull-down/win*star Options/Chart Forms tab). This method sets the main default settings for new charts. 2. (From) the Add Form above the Chart Forms list (to set options on a chart-by-chart basis.) 3. (From) the wheel-producing icon buttons in the Technique menus. (Each wheel-producing button accesses the Select Chart Form menu) Changing the Aspect set used as the Main Default 1. Access the Chart Forms tab of the Win*Star Options menu (Options pull-down/win*star Options/Chart Forms tab). This menu controls options for all chart forms. 2. You will find the New button (from the Home Technique menu) is selected and the form showing on the right is the form attached to this button. The shipped default form is the Unequal Wheel (a fixed wheel). 3. Click the Form Options button to open the Chart Form Options menu. Locate the Aspect Set list (top-right) and click the Down Arrow to highlight an aspect set. 4. Click OK. This will be the default aspect set used when calculating charts (unless overridden on a chart-by-chart basis). Changing the Aspect set on a chart-by-chart basis Specific chart forms can be attached to any active chart by using the Add Form button above the Chart Forms list. These forms can be set up to use any of the eight aspect sets:

21 15 1. Highlight any chart. Click the Add Form button to open the Select Chart Form menu. 2. (From the Select Chart Form menu) select a chart form to attach to this chart and click this button (top-right) to open the Chart Form Options menu. 3. Locate the aspect list (right-center) and click the Down-Arrow to highlight an aspect set and click OK, closing the Chart Form Options menu. 4. Click OK to close the Select Chart Forms menu. This aspect set will now be used to calculate this chart form using the selected chart, overriding the main default aspect set. If you access this form again, it will return to the default aspect set. Changing the Aspect set used by Technique icon buttons Any wheel-generating button can be set up to calculate using your choice of chart form. That chart form can then be set to use a specific aspect set. As an example, to change the aspect set used by the form attached to the 360 Whl button of the Wheels menu: 1. First, access the Wheels Techniques menu (press F9). 2. Press the Ctrl button while clicking the 360 Whl icon button. The Select Chart Form menu will display showing the wheel form currently attached to the 360 Whl button. 3. Click this button (top-right) and the Chart Form Options menu will display. Settings made in this menu will effect only the chart form (the 360 Whl in this case) showing in the Select Chart Form menu. Select any aspect set from the aspect set list (lower left corner) and click OK. 4. Click OK from Select Chart Form menu. The selected aspect set will now be used when the 360 Whl chart form is calculated, and it will remain the default aspect set for that button until this procedure is used to choose a new aspect set. Choosing the planets & points to include in the displayed chart The planets and points displayed in a chart are determined either by the Technique button used to create the chart (each Technique icon button accesses its own Chart Form Options menu and settings are made for that chart when accessed by that button) or they are determined chart by chart when using the Add Form button. New charts created in the Enter Chart Data menu (by clicking the New Chart button) display the planets and points settings of the form attached to the New Chart button. Specific chart forms can be attached to the Technique menu buttons so that when you click that button, the chosen form(s) will display using the selected chart.

22 16 Setting the default planets & points 1. Access the Chart Forms tab of the Win*Star Options menu (Options pull-down/win*star Options/Chart Forms tab). This menu controls options for all chart forms. You will find the New button (from the Home Technique menu) is selected and the form showing on the right is the form attached to this button. This form contains the default settings for new charts created in the Enter Chart Data menu. The shipped default form is the Unequal Wheel (a fixed wheel). 2. Click the Form Options and the Chart Form Options menu will display. 3. This menu has two boxes (among other items) called Planets Included and Planets Aspected. Listed within these boxes are the planets & points that can be calculated in the chart. Choose the points you wish set as the defaults by clicking on the individual abbreviations for the planets and points click one and it will turn red, meaning it will be included. Click it again to deselect. 4. A shortcut method of planet/point selection is offered as well: the Select Planets menu. This can be accessed by clicking the tall vertical button in each of the Planets Included and Aspected Planets sections. The Select Planets menu offers several preset selection buttons that eliminate the need to individually click items. For example, clicking the Asteroids button will select all the asteroids, etc 5. Click OK from both the Select Planets and Chart Form Options menus when you have completed making choices. These planets and points will be the ones calculated in future charts (unless specific forms are set using other planet/point selections). Important: Although there are many ways to access this Chart Form Options menu such as when selecting custom settings for individual buttons and forms the settings selected here are the main defaults. Setting up the Chart Forms Planet & Point selections can be made for individual forms, either when the forms are attached to individual charts or to the forms that are attached to Technique menu icon buttons. Forms attached to individual charts can be considered a one-time on the fly event. Technique menu icons will repeat their attached form chart after chart. Setting up chart forms to individual charts 1. Highlight an active chart to which you want to attach a specific form using a custom set of planets and points. Click the Add Form button located in the Chart Forms area of the main screen. The Select Chart Form menu will pop up.

23 17 2. Select the chart form desired for this chart and click the Select Chart Options button (the third-from-left button at the top-right of the menu) to open the Chart Form Options menu. Go ahead and pick the planets and points desired for this chart. Close both the Chart Form Options menu and the Select Chart Form menus (by clicking OK). This chart form will calculate for the highlighted chart, using the new planet/point selections. Setting up chart forms attached to icon buttons All the wheel-producing icon buttons in the Technique menus (the buttons aligned vertically on the right side of the Win*Star screen) can be custom-set to generate any chart form or forms from the highlighted active chart. These forms can be customized to include any combination of planets & points. These buttons are all the buttons in the Chart Transformations, Progressed Charts, Returns, Synastry, Bi/Tri/QuadWheels, and Wheels menus and the New and Auto buttons from the Home menu. Here s how: 1. Press the Ctrl button on the keyboard while you left-click a wheelproducing Technique menu icon. 2. The Select Chart Form menu will pop up. Pick the form(s) you want generated by this Technique icon button. Customize each form by clicking the Select Chart Options button, and a version of the Chart Form Options menu specific to this form will display where you can select the planets and points. 3. Click OK to close both menus. Now, with an active chart highlighted, when that icon button is clicked the chosen form will display using the selected planets and points. Importing chart files from other astrology programs Chart files are imported via the Import Chart menu which can be accessed from three locations, the File pull-down, the Enter Chart Data screen, and the Chart Database. The Import Chart menu has a pull-down selector that will access chart files saved from QuickCharts, Blue*Star, Compact Data, PRIMA, Nova, CCRS 92, Kepler v 2.5 programs, and Solar Fire. From the File pull-down: Access the Import Charts dialog by clicking the File pull-down, Import Charts. Any chart files on your computer can be accessed from here. The scrollable list at top center selects the chart file type and the New File button selects which file of that type to display in the Chart Database. Here is how the two buttons work together:

24 18 1. (From the Import Charts dialog) Click the Down-Arrow to select the type of file you wish to import. The file path displays above the chart list. The charts in the selected file will display in the list window. To choose another chart file, click the New File button, which displays your path\file directory and shows any other files of that type on your system. Highlight a different file and click Ok to display that file in the Import Chart dialog. All charts in the file will appear listed. 2. Any (or all) of these charts can be returned to the Current Charts list of the main screen (or to the Chart Database, or to both) simply by highlighting the chart and clicking Ok. 3. Select one of these charts. To select a chart, move your cursor to the far-left of the chart name until the cursor turns into a check mark. Now, if you click on the chart name the entire line will turn blue, signifying that chart is selected for importing. If you wish to select all of the charts, click the Select All button. If you want the imported charts to have chart wheels calculated, fill the checkbox beside Add Chart Wheel. (This, however, will increase the calculation time required to import the charts.) Click Ok to return the chart(s) to the active chart list on the main screen. From the Enter Chart Data menu: 1. If you are in the Enter Chart Data menu, click the Import button which will also access the Import Charts dialog. The procedure for retrieving chart files is identical to the explanation just given, except the imported chart will now be brought into the Enter Chart Data menu where it can be edited, if necessary. 2. Click Ok from the Enter Chart Data menu and the imported chart will be added to the active charts list on the main screen. From the Chart Database: 1. Go into the Chart Database, click the chart database button and access the Import Chart dialog from the Chart Database File pull-down s Import Charts From selection. This will also pop up the Import Charts dialog. Follow the steps described above for that dialog. Using the Atlas The Atlas button (accessed from the Enter Chart Data screen) provides instant access to any installed and selected atlas.

25 19 How to use: (for U.S.A. cities) 1. Click the Atlas button. Click the Get State (USA) button. 2. Type in the two-letter state abbreviation in the Find: box. 3. The proper state is then highlighted. Click Ok to close the menu and return to the Enter Chart Data screen with the proper atlas information. If the birth occurred in a hospital and you know the hospital s name, click the Show Data button, then click the Hospitals button and select the correct hospital. Close both menus by clicking Ok. How to use: (for International cities) 1. Click the Get Country button.. 2. In the Find input box type the country name or the 3-letter country abbreviation, or use the alphabetical scroll to select the desired country. 3. Click Ok to close the menu and return to the Enter Chart Data screen with the proper atlas information. Viewing Charts View (or print) 2, 3, or 4 charts in one wheel BiWheels, TriWheels, and QuadWheels are created in the Bi/TriWheel menu. First, select the individual charts that will appear in the Bi- Tri- or QuadWheel. 1. Click the multiple-chart button (see graphic, left). Four spaces for charts will appear. 2. At the left of the charts spaces, there are the numbers 1-4. If creating a tri-wheel, click the #3, which opens three chart name spaces. Now use your mouse to drag and drop the desired charts into the three spaces. The innermost chart (in the tri-wheel) uses the chart in the Chart 1 position; the second ring of the wheel uses the chart in the Chart 2 position, etc. 3. Press the F7 button to reveal the BiWheel Techniques menu (at menu-right) and click either the BiWheel, TriWheel, or Quadwhl buttons, depending upon which type of multiple-chart wheel you wish to calculate. 4. The wheel will calculate and display on the View screen and will appear in the Chart Forms list. It is connected to the active chart placed in the Chart 1 position.

26 20 Assigning default forms to Technique menu buttons Remember: All of the technique icon buttons can be set to use any chart form(s) that you want. They will attach to that icon button and will calculate each time it is clicked. 1. Press the Ctrl key when clicking the icon button and the Select Chart Form menu will appear where you can choose the desired format. A diagramed description of the Select Chart Form menu is provided at the start of the Technique menu section, on page Choose between Screen, Printer, or Fixed wheels. Each has its own list which is selected with one of these buttons: Screen - best for multiple-wheel viewing (several wheels on screen at once) because they use scalable fonts, which stay the clearest when wheels are resized. Printer - has wheels with fonts designed for printing. They will look fine on screen and will print better than Screen or Fixed wheels. Fixed - wheels with a large font that provides the very clearest fullscreen wheels without scalable fonts (not for resizing). 3. Highlight a wheel style in the scrollable list. A thumbnail representation of that wheel will appear on the left side of the menu with a brief description beneath it, to aid in wheel selection. 4. Click the Ok button (at the bottom-right of the Select Chart Form menu) to return to the main screen. The selected chart form will now be attached to the icon button previously Ctrl + Clicked. It will calculate and display in the Chart Forms list whenever that icon button is clicked, using any selected active chart. To select several new wheels: 1. Access the Select Chart Form menu as described above. At the topright of the menu, click the Edit Chart Sets button. 2. This opens the Edit Chart Form Sets menu. The existing Chart Sets will appear listed in the top-right Chart Sets box. Highlight a Chart Set name (or create a new Chart Set by clicking the New button and naming the Set). The forms in the highlighted set will appear listed in the bottom-right of the menu. Use the Add and Delete buttons in this menu to add or delete chart forms from this set. Note that charts in a set must be of the same type (screen, printer, or fixed). 3. Repeat this procedure to include any other chart forms.. (Any of these forms can be individually customized by clicking the Options... button and making selections in the Chart Form Options menu selections that apply only to that chart form.) When ready, click the Save button and save the set of forms with a.set extension. 4. Click Ok and these chart forms will now be attached to the icon button previously Shift+Click ed, ready to be implemented whenever you click that icon button.

27 21 Setting defaults (basic tasks, cont.) Changing the default wheel for new chart input 1. With the Home technique menu showing (press F2 to get it), press the Ctrl key while clicking the New button. 2. The Select Chart Form menu will appear where you can choose any chart form to use as the default wheel style. Make the selection and click Ok to close the menu and this will be the chart form used when calculating new charts and it will appear when Win*Star is first booted. Changing the default house system 1. Go to the Calculation tab of the Win*Star Options menu (Options pull-down/win*star Options / Calculation.) 2. Select the desired house system in the first pull-down (top-left) and click Ok. Chart calculations will be based upon this house system until another system is selected from this menu. Note that the default house system can be temporarily overridden in the Enter Chart Data menu by using the Chart Options tab on the right side of the Enter Chart Data menu. Changing aspect sets Win*Star is shipped with eight aspect sets, any of which can be chosen as the set used in any form. Aspect sets are selected in the Chart Form Options menu for that form. Chart by chart: 1. If setting the aspect set for a specific form on a chart-by-chart basis, click the Add Form button (from the main screen Chart Forms area) to access the Select Chart Form. 2. Choose the desired form and click this button to access the Chart Form Options menu for that form. Make the aspect set selection from the Aspect Set pull-down (right middle of menu) and close both menus (by clicking Ok).

28 22 Technique Icon button defaults 1. If setting the aspect set for a form-generating button, press the Ctrl key while clicking the Technique button to access the Select Chart Form. 2. Choose the desired form and click this button to access the Chart Form Options menu for that form. Make the aspect set selection from the Aspect Set pull-down (right middle of menu) and close both menus (by clicking Ok). 3. That aspect set will now be used in the form displayed from the Technique icon button.

29 23 List of forms in the selected folder. Select one by clicking on its name. The selected form will be added only when you click OK Selecting appropriate Chart Form options: Click this button (from the top-right area of this form) to open the Select Chart Form screen (Figure 6, following page) where you can determine (among others) the following options: - Planets and points to be included in the wheel or grid - The aspect set you want to use. You can also request that no aspects be drawn, or that aspects be filtered to enhance legibility. - The planets and points you want aspects to be drawn to.

30 24 Figure 6 - the Chart Form Options screen This Chart Form Options dialog box (Figure 6 above) allows you to select planets, points and aspects. Here are a few helpful remarks: You will select planets and points in both Planets in wheel and Aspected Planets windows, unless you decide not to draw any aspects at all. If both selection are the same (or very close), you can use the vertical arrows to copy your selection from one window to the other (an then make minor changes if necessary). Filtering aspects means that if, for example, your chart has several conjunct planets in trine to another one, only one aspect line will be drawn. A drop-down window on the right allows you to select from: Draw Aspects (filtered), No Aspects Drawn and Draw Unfiltered. The tall buttons can be clicked to pop up a dialog box that shows the detailed planets and points names and glyphs, and allows faster group selections and deselecting. That s It! After making all selections in both the Chart Form Options and the Select Chart Form menus, close all menus by clicking OK. Now the selected chart will have attached to it and will be able to display using the chosen form.

31 25 Assigning default forms to Technique menu buttons An important step in configuring Win*Star is to have it use your favorite Chart Form or Set for natal charts, returns, progressed charts, relocated charts, etc. You can set up many of the Technique menu buttons to use your choice of forms, with your choice of settings on each form. Here s how: 1. First open the Win*Star Options dialog (by clicking on Win*Star Options from the Options menu pull-down) and choose the Chart forms tab (as shown below). 2. Now select the Techniques toolbar with the button to customize. A good one to start with is the Home menu s New button. 3. With the button selected, click the Select Form... button and choose from the many forms available. Click the Form Options... button to make specific setting choices (for this form only).

32 26 4. Now click OK to complete the setup. Now that selected form will be used each time that button is clicked. 5. Note: You can go through the rest of the Technique menus and set up any of the form-creating buttons in the same way. There is even a shortcut method to reproduce the same chart selection to other Technique menu buttons (without again going to the Select Chart Form and Chart Form Options menus). When you click on the Copy to button, a new dialog box shows all the job buttons, and the one you just configured is checked. You then just have to check all the other job buttons that use the same form and click OK. 6. Chart Sets can also be very handy if you often use several chart forms for the same chart; e.g. a basic wheel, a midpoint (and aspect) grid, and an Arabic wheel (for Arabic parts). You can create a set containing your selected Forms, and assign it to your most frequently used job buttons, or assign only the basic Chart Form to these buttons and assign the set to the Add Chart t Form Set button (labeled Auto on the Home toolbar). 7. A Chart Folder can be handy if you want to group your favorite Chart Forms in a custom folder for a faster retrieval. Working with charts and data in the Chart Database Once a chart is calculated, Win*Star saves it automatically to your Chart Database. Because charts are saved this way, at any time you can shut down your computer without having to worry about losing your precious chart data. Next time you run Win*Star all your charts will be available for you to view, print or work with. Using the Chart Database A database is a disk file (sometimes more than one) that can contain a huge quantity of data (if needed), structured in a logical way so that it becomes easy to add, delete, find, sort or filter data. Of course, we are talking about chart data, but database are used for many other purposes! A database is made of one or several tables (sometimes linked together so that it seems that there is only one). A table looks like a grid, with rows and columns. Each row is called a record and contains (in our case) all the data related to one chart: name, chart data, planetary positions, and other data, such as attributes, keywords, user comments, etc. Each column is called a field, and contains a kind of data you find in all records, such as the name, date or Moon position. It is important to understand that even if all these data bits and pieces are not visible to you as a user, they are there, silently sitting in some field of some record. It is the so-called Database Management System responsibility to search for and display the data you request.

33 27 Figure 8 - The Chart Database Grid Here is a summary of Chart Database features: 1. The File menu contains options for basic maintenance, or for using several different DBs. 2. The Charts menu is mostly used to select, delete or modify records, and change the chart s folder or attributes. 3. The Edit menu is mostly used to update the Folder, Attribute list or the Client list. 4. The Search menu allows you to search a single chart or filter charts according to chosen criteria: name, attributes, planet position, planet relationship to a given chart, etc You can, for instance, select charts having their Sun in major aspect to a given chart s Moon. 5. The View menu is used to handle Chart Folders. You can view the charts of one or several folders, add new folders or edit existing ones. 6. The Sort menu allows you to sort your DB charts by Name (Last, First or otherwise), Date-Time, Keyword, Planet positions, etc., or a combination of the above. 7. The Layout menu allows you to arrange your DB fields (columns) the way you want. Win*Star offers you a large choice of predefined layouts. But you can also design your own layout by adjusting column widths (click on the boundary between two consecutive columns, and drag it sideways), moving (select and drag it to a new position) or deleting (reduce its width to zero) them at will. 8. You can also create a brand new custom layout by choosing the Select Columns option. 9. Once a new layout is defined, you can save it for future use (select the Save Layout menu option and give your new layout a specific name).

34 Once you have defined a set of such custom Layouts, you can just apply them (click on the Load Layout option, then select the layout you want, and finally click OK). Occasional Database housekeeping chores you need to do Certain maintenance operations are necessary for a good functioning of your program. We recommend you do them monthly or as needed. They are all commands of the File menu: Here s a look at the Database screen followed by some brief description: Certain maintenance operations are necessary for a good functioning of your program. We recommend you do them monthly or as needed. Regularly Updating the database: 1. Copy/Backup Database : this menu option creates a 2 nd copy of your DB. Warning: This procedure will erase Folder and Attribute settings. Use a standard backup procedure (making backup copies) rather than this feature if you ve made Folder and Attribute notations. 2. Compact Database: this option saves disk space used by deleted charts. 3. Repair Database: to be used if you have problems with your DB or to prevent them. Backing up essential files on diskettes Unfortunately, computerized data can be accidentally lost, and the only sure way to securely work with a computer is to regularly save your data on diskette (or other secondary medium) in order to be able to restore them in case of a catastrophe. By default your chart data is saved in the Charts20 directory inside your WStar20 folder. These are labeled Curchts.mdb and Curchtsb.mdb. If you have created your own databases you will want to be certain to back those up as well. We suggest that you use your Windows Search utility to look for all files of the C:\Wstar20 folder (and sub-folders), that were created or modified after Win*Star s installation or your last backup date. If you have questions about backing up your files do not hesitate to call our Technical Support staff for assistance.

35 29 Notes: Configuration files (User folder) and Chart Form Sets (*.set) and Folders (*.fld) can be saved once for all after every alteration to the program s configuration. However, other files (especially Chart DB files) should preferably be saved on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, these files quickly become so huge that it becomes inconvenient to save them on diskette. You can still use Windows Backup utility, or another high-capacity mass storage medium, such as a Zip-Drive, Jazz-Drive or similar. You can also get services from companies who offer Back-up services via Internet.

36 30 Astrological Techniques Secondary Charts to a Primary One What is a Secondary Chart, and why is it useful? A secondary chart is a chart somehow derived from a base one (usually called a Primary chart) by some sort of calculation. You may want to use secondary charts either for a purely astrological reason (a solar return, progressed or composite chart is naturally derived from its natal chart), or for a logical one (it is natural to view a client s marriage chart as derived from is or her natal one). What characterizes a Secondary Chart (in Win*Star) is the way it is saved in your Chart Database: When a chart has one or more secondary charts, it appears on the Chart List (see Figure 1, section 2) with a + sign in front of it and the secondary charts are hidden. If you double-click on this + sign, the secondary charts appear (with an increased indent) and the sign changes into a -. Another double-click will hide them again. The remaining part of this section will describe the various kinds of derived charts you can create with Win*Star and how to do so. Transit (or Event) Charts A transit chart is not essentially different from another natal or event chart. To illustrate the difference, let s take an example: A client of yours is a businessman and asks you to study his natal chart, together with his partner s and his company s. These last two charts are of course independent charts, but they are somehow related to your client s. So why not put them together? Creating them as derived from your client s natal chart is like considering the partner s birth and Company creation as events or important transits for your client. To create a transit chart, do the following: 1. Enter or select the Natal Chart 2. Display the Progress toolbar by pressing F4, using the Techniques menu, the Progress button of the Home toolbar (or use the arrows on top of the Techniques toolbar to access the Progress toolbar). 3. Click on the Transit button. 4. The Enter Chart Data dialog box appears, and you can create this chart the same way as a new natal chart. Progressed, Directed and Lunation Charts A Progressed (Directed) Chart is a chart that represents the progressed (directed) planet and cusp positions at a certain date-time and for a certain location. A Lunation chart is a new/full Moon or eclipse chart. When we talk about a progressed planet, we usually think of a Secondary Progression in which we equate 1 day = 1 year, although there are other progression techniques.

37 31 But when it comes to progressed angles and house cusps, there are many popular techniques. The most common ones are: Secondary MC, Solar Arc MC and Naibod MC. How to cast a Progressed Chart? 1. Select the Natal (or Radix) chart you want to progress 2. Show the Progress toolbar 3. Click on the Progress button (the Input Chart Data dialog box appears) 4. Choose a date, time and place for this chart (you can also give it a name, as you would for a Natal or Transit Chart), and select the progression technique you want to use for the planets and angles. For a detailed description of these techniques, press F1, scroll through the contextual help window until you see the list of them, and click on each technique that may interest you; a small window pops up, containing an explanation. Usually, the default values are fine to start with. 5. Click OK to finish and calculate the chart. Notes: - To choose the current time or place, click on Here or Now. - Once you have chosen your favorite progression technique, you can save it as default by clicking on the Save Default button. How to cast a Directed Chart? Follow the same method, except at step 3, click on Direct. Among popular Direction Techniques, you have Solar Arc and Degree/ Year (1 = 1 year). How to cast a Lunation Chart? Follow the same method, except at step 3, click on Lunation. Also, the time you enter is the one Win*Star will start searching for the Next (or Last) Lunation. In this case, you will have to choose the Lunation Type (New or Full Moon; Solar or Lunar Eclipse), and if you want to save it as a Primary or Secondary Chart. Indeed, unlike Progressed and Directed Charts which are necessarily Secondary charts (always derived from a radix chart), Lunation Charts can be both; choose the most convenient. Return Charts A Solar, Lunar or planetary Return Chart is the chart of the moment when a planet returns exactly to its natal position. In order to cast such a chart, one must first determine the exact time when this return happens, and second cast the chart for this very moment and a chosen place. That s what Win*Star automatically does for you! Note that Win*Star also casts more sophisticated types of return charts. We ll quickly go over them later. How to cast a Return Chart 1. Select the Natal (or Radix) from which you want the Return Chart.

38 32 2. Show the Returns toolbar 3. Click on the Returns button (the Input Chart Data dialog box appears) 4. Choose a date close to the moment the return will happen (don t bother finding the exact date; Win*Star will do it for you!), and a place (usually, the person s residence). 5. Choose the return planet you want. The default is Lunar Return, but you can change it (clicking on the little triangle on the right of the combo box pulls down a list. You can, as usual, scroll through the list and click on your choice). You ll notice that Win*Star allows you to cast returns for asteroids, Uranian planets, etc 6. In general, you will keep the default Geocentric, but you can also choose Heliocentric, Equatorial (same as Right Ascension), or do Precessed returns (where you take the precession of the equinoxes into consideration). 7. Click on Next to find the next occurrence or Last for the previous one. In the Date and Time fields, you can see the exact moment of the return, and you can repeat this step until you find the exact return you are looking for. Note that the time is displayed according to the time zone associated with the chosen place. You can change it, but the time zone doesn t affect the calculation, only the displayed time. 8. You can now request the casting of the chosen return by clicking on More or OK. With More, you leave the dialog box open so that you can add more returns for the same chart (or another one). With OK, you close it and see your return (in fact the last one if you added several) displayed on screen. Important note: The Save Defaults button can be used (for instance) to make sure that a Solar Return will be your default value (since they are more common than Lunar ones). Phase-Angle Returns This return will search occurrences when the angle (phase) between two planets repeats itself. To cast such a return, use the same method, except at step 3, click PhasAng, and at step 5, choose the two planets you want the phase to repeat. Incremental Returns This return will search occurrences when a planet has traveled a given arc since its last return. To cast such a return, use the same method, except at step 3, click Increm, and at step 5, choose the planet and the arc you want; you can choose 180, 90, 40 or Increment (to enter your own arc). Point Returns This return will search occurrences when a planet reaches a zodiacal point. It is used for Sign Ingresses, but can be used for planets transiting a fixed star, a planet s node, aphelion or perihelion, or another point of importance. To cast such a return, use the same method, except at step 3, click Point, and at step 5, choose the planet and the longitude of the

39 33 point you want it to reach. For example, to find Pluto s ingress into Capricorn, you will enter the point 00 CP00 00 or 270. User Angle Returns It is similar to the Phase-Angle Return, except that you choose your own angle, rather than getting the phase from the radix chart. Note that the radix chart is not used here (the same holds for a Point Return). Important note For returns that depend heavily on the radix chart (i.e. most of them), you should make sure you actually have the right one (mistakes often sneak in at that level, especially when you cast several returns in a row)! You can check it by looking into the Return Chart For: field. If it s not the right one, you can change it without closing the dialog box. Click on the triangle on the right of that field to open your Database Grid and choose the right radix chart. Prediction techniques Transit, progression & other searches In predictive astrology, you want to know what will happen on a certain day at a certain time for a given person (country, institution, etc.). But is this a realistic demand from Win*Star? Well, to be frank with you, Win*Star itself will not fully answer that question for you. But, what it can do for you is generate a chronological list of astrological events called Hits (transiting or progressed planets aspecting natal, progressed or transiting ones, planets entering a new sign or house, void of course Moons, etc.), and leave you with the responsibility of finishing the interpretational touch. Your local Matrix distributor or dealer can also suggest some Win*Writer programs if you want to provide your clients with a detailed interpretation of their transits, progressions, eclipses, etc. You can also request a catalog, or check out the Matrix web site at More precisely, the Search module is there to automatically search for contacts (or Hits ) between transiting, progressed or directed planets (or points) and natal, progressed and transiting ones, and create a Hit List that you can then view, rearrange, save and/or print as you d like. The Search process consists of three main steps: Step 1: Define the search parameters you want Win*Star to follow, Step 2: Launch the search, Step 3: View, rearrange and/or print the search results. Let s see how to accomplish those tasks step by step: Step 1: Define the search parameters you want Win*Star to follow First, let Win*Star know the various search jobs you want completed. Then define your search parameters: the starting and ending dates, aspecting planets or points, target planets or points, and other options you might want to add.

40 34 For that, do the following: 1. Display the Srch toolbar by clicking on the Search button of the Home toolbar, or pressing F8, or choosing the Searches option of the Techniques menu, or using the arrows on top of each toolbar (you see, there are often many different ways of doing the same thing!). This toolbar contains 7 buttons that all (except the very last one, LastSrch) open the Searches dialog box, allowing you to define your search parameters. 2. Click on one of these buttons (LastSrch is special: it just recalls the last search results Win*Star did for you). The Searches dialog box appears (Figure 9) and offers you a set of default jobs depending on which button you choose; you can accept or change them. Note that you can change the default jobs assigned to these buttons (details below).

41 35 The following paragraphs explain how to select the appropriate jobs and their options in a search. They refer to the diagram (item #3). The following table describes the various job tasks Win*Star offers and how they can be practically used: Job Type Description Practical Applications Transit-Natal Transit-Transit Transit-Progress Progress-Natal Progress-Progress Arc-Natal Transiting planets apsecting natal (or radix) ones Transiting planets apsecting themselves Transiting planets apsecting progressed ones Progressed planets aspecting natal ones Progressed planets aspecting themselves Directed planets apsecting natal ones Chronological list of transits, natal house ingress, etc. New or full Moons, planets sign ingress, retrogradation cycles, etc. Will search for exact moments when transiting planets aspect progressed ones Cycles of progressed planets relative to the natal chart, sign & house ingress, stations Progressed new and full Moons, progressed planet cycles Solar arc or symbolic (1 degree = 1 year) directions For each job type you enable, you can define the planets involved and other options. To do this, click on the button of the Options column directly to the right of the search type you just selected. The Search Options dialog box shows up (very similar to the Chart Form Options one, Figure 6), where you can define (at least) four important parameters: - Active (or transiting) planets or points (Search Planets) - Passive (or transited) planets or points (Target Planets) - Aspects to look for (choose an Aspect Set) - Events can be added to the search list, by checking the corresponding box (see table on the following page).

42 36 Event type Events Only Enter/Leave Parallels What it does Only Events (defined as options) will be searched, NOT planetary aspects. Convenient for a specific search involving no aspects. Includes moments when an aspect starts or stops to be active, according to (prefined or default) Enter & Leave orbs of the chosen Aspect set. Includes Parallels of Declination s P arallels (Lat.) Includes Parallels of Declinations. Sign Ingress Stations House Ingress Void of Course Includes moments when planets enter (or leave, retrograding) a sign Includes (direct or retrograde) stations of planet s Includes moments when planets enter (or leave, retrograding) a natal house Include starting or endin g Void of Course Moon periods A few interesting Searches Options: Save Defaults allows you to save your search parameters as default values attached to the chosen button (Transit, Progress, Direct, etc ). You can thus configure any Search toolbar button (except the last one) so that they represent a job you commonly use. Save Job allows you to save your search parameters in a file. You just need to give it a name (8 characters or less), and you ll be able to retrieve them by clicking on the Get Job button and choosing this predefined job. You will normally use this option to save jobs you occasionally use. Save as many jobs as you wish. The Coordinate Systems pull-down can be used to choose a different coordinate system than Geocentric. For instance, right ascension transits or progressions (Right Ascen.) are often used for rectifying a natal chart. Geo. Precessed can be used if you want to take into consideration the precession of the equinoxes. Step 2-3: Viewing or printing Search results As soon as you click OK to close the Searches dialog box, Win*Star executes the requested search. After a few seconds (a few minutes if you requested a long search and/or you have a slow computer), the results will display in a table format (like a database) with rows and columns. Figure 10 represents the upper part of what your screen should look like:

43 37 Each row corresponds to a hit, and each column to information about this hit (date, time, aspect, etc ). You can now view or print this table as it is, or adjust it in many ways according to your needs, without loosing any information. Following is a list of the essential manipulations you can do to it: Change column widths: place the mouse cursor on the boundary between two columns and drag the mouse sideways (note: dragging means moving the mouse while keeping the left-mouse button pressed). Delete a column: reduce its width to zero, and it will disappear. Move a column: drag the column s title (on the very 1 st row of the column) sideways to its desired destination. Adjust the Date/Time format: the Date Format and Time Format options of the View menu allow you to display dates and times the way you want. Helpful to display seconds. Print the Hit List: click the Print button. Note: You can change the Printer Setup options (using Landscape or a different paper size) by clicking on the Printer Setup option of the File Menu before you request the search. (After that, you can still minimize Win*Star s windows and use Window s Configuration Panel. Scroll through the List: use the vertical scrollbar. You can also scroll through time by clicking on >Dy (next day), <Dy (previous day), >Mn or <Mn (next or previous month). Cast the event s chart: select the event (by clicking anywhere on its row) and click on QWhl (instant wheel on screen) or on Chart (new chart that will be added to your database). Charts are calculated for your default place (defined at configuration).

44 38 You can change it (together with the time zone) by clicking on the Time Zone button of the upper toolbar, or by choosing the Set Time Zone option of the View menu (you can use the Atlas to get the coordinates of your chosen location). View interpretation: by clicking on the Interp button, you open a window with a short interpretation text of the selected hit. If you select another hit, the text changes. You can close the window by clicking on the same button, or resize it using the vertical arrow buttons on the top-right of the screen. Filter Hits: even if your hit list is very long, you can filter it to view only relevant parts of it at the same time. Using this option allows you to request a complete search once and for all, eventually save it to disk, and then filter relevant information out of it whenever you want it for any specific purpose. For that, the simplest is to use the appropriate button. For instance, the button will select the Lunation aspects (and only those). You can also use the Filters menu. Explore its various options! Save a Search List for future use: click on the Save Search As option of the File menu and type a significant name to identify your search; then click OK. To retrieve it later, the easiest is to click on the LastSrch button; the last Search you requested will reappear. If it s not the right one, just click on the Load Search option of the File menu and select the search you want to display; then click OK. That s it! Merge a new search to an existing one: this technique is often used to refine a search so that it contains everything you want and nothing else. Let s take a practical example where you want annual transits from slow planets, new and full Moons, Stations for all planets and finally, repetition transits of Mars (i.e. transiting aspects to natal planets that have natal aspects to Mars. We assume that natal Mars is Venus-Square-Pluto). To achieve that, we must split the job into two searches and merge them together. For the 1 st job, we ll choose a Transit-Natal search of slow planets, combined with a Transit-Transit with Moon and Sun as planets, and Cnj and Opp as Aspect Set; now run it. Then (when the results are displayed), we ll click on the Merge button to add the 2 nd search to it. Here, we ll select Transit-Natal from Mars to Venus, Mars & Pluto, combined with Transit-Transit of Mercury, Venus & Mars, with the options Events Only and Stations. Once you click OK after this 2 nd Search request, the results of this 2 nd search are automatically added to the 1 st list. This now gives a unique chronological hit list containing the results of both searches. Note: this technique allows you to combine Hits to several different charts, such as a natal chart and a Solar Adjust the Search Layout: besides changing the column width and position, date & time formats, you can also construct a layout of your own (or several, one for each Search type) and save it on disk for future use. For that, it s just 4 easy steps:

45 39 1. Choose the layout (i.e. the option of the Layout menu) closest to what you wish; 2. Modify (if necessary) the column widths and positions as indicated earlier; 3. Save your Layout by choosing the Save Layout option of the Layout menu; 4. To retrieve it for another search list, run the search, then click on the Load Layout option of the Layout menu. You then just have to choose the desired Layout from the list of predefined layouts and click OK. Note that every chosen Layout remains active until you change it. Here is a list of useful predefined Layouts: Layout Name House Positions Multiple Search Enter - Exact - Leave Eclipses Practical Use To view house positions and other related items If you merged searches from different charts If you included Enter-Leave option To display if a lunation is new, full moon or an eclipse

46 40 Synastry Techniques Synastry means comparing several charts. Synastry is often used to evaluate a love or friendship relationship, but it can also be used to compare a natal chart with a solar return, or with a country s, an institution s or a business partner s chart to see if the person will be happy living or working there. Three basic techniques are commonly used to compare several charts: Multiple (Bi- Tri- & Quad-) Wheels Synastry Grids Composite Charts (of 2 charts or more) For any of these techniques, Win*Star can save you time and efforts by automating the process. Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: a) Constructing a multiple wheel This technique allows you to compare several (2 to 4) charts by plotting them as concentric circles of the same multiple wheel. For example, you may want to group the two natal charts of a couple, together with their composite chart (see below) and the chart of their marriage or first encounter. You may also choose a natal chart, together with a solar return, progressed and directed charts for a yearly prediction job. To construct a multiple wheel, you proceed in four steps: Cast the charts to be compared and select the 1 st (center) one. Click on the Add Bi-Triwheels button (the last one right under the chart data window). The chart data window is changed into four small windows labeled Chart 1:, Chart 2:, etc Each one can only contain the name of one chart; the 1 st one already contains the selected chart name. The Biwhl toolbar also appears. Click on a number (1-4) on the very left of the window to indicate the number of charts you want to compare. Then select the other charts by clicking on Chart 2: (this label becomes red), and then on the name of the chart (in your chart list window). Do the same for the other charts to include onto your multiple wheel. Click on one of the buttons of the Biwhl toolbar. SynGrid will create a synastry grid (see next section), Biwheel a double wheel (whereas Two or Two360 will draw two small wheels side by side on the same page), Triwheel and TriRing a triple wheel, and Quadwhl a quadruple wheel. After this last click, the multiple wheel is displayed and added to the Chart Forms list of chart 1. An alternative method is to manually add a multiple wheel Chart Form at step 4 above. b) Plotting a Synastry Grid A Synastry Grid is a two-dimensional table representing inter-aspects

47 41 between planets of two given charts, with orbs, declination parallels and anti-parallels. It also contains planets house positions in their own chart as well as in the others. To plot such a grid, you can follow the above instructions, and click on the SynGrid button at Step 4. You can also use a method similar to the one explained in the next section. Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: c) Creating a Composite or Relationship Chart A Composite Chart is a unique chart (generally) representing a couple or a group of people (like business partners). This technique is often used to evaluate a love or friendship relationship. The principle can also be applied for a business partnership. If more than two partners are involved, you will use a Group Composite Chart. (Note: composite charts are stored in the database). Also, combining a politician s chart with the one of his country can be useful in mundane astrology. Or, a combination of a client s chart with the one of the country or city where he or she wants to go to can be a good complement to the relocalization techniques explained in the next section. There are several methods for combining two charts, the most common ones are based on the Midpoint principle. To cast such a chart, you will proceed in a similar way to creating a multiple chart (explained above), except for the following differences: As above; Choose the Syns toolbar by pressing F6, using the Techniques menu or otherwise; As above; Click on the Compos2 button for a composite chart (using midpoints), on the Group button for a composite of more than two charts, or another one for a different type of relationship chart (use the online help to get detailed explanations of these various techniques). In the case of a Group Composite, a dialog box will appear to allow you to add or delete charts to your group, and to choose the place to be used for the calculation. You can also choose the natal chart this composite is to be stored under. The chart is then calculated and displayed using the default Chart Form selected for this kind of job (at Configuration), and stored as a secondary chart of the first chosen one (Chart 1). It is therefore important to appropriately choose the radical chart under which this composite will be saved!

48 42 Locational Astrology - Maps Techniques With the Win*Star Maps module you can investigate a horoscope using two popular mapping techniques: Local space and Mundane Maps. Choose from 19 maps covering major world areas as well as maps covering smaller areas such as individual countries and states. The mapping technique consists of plotting on a geographical map (of the world, or part of it) the lines where planets are particularly active at a given moment. Usually, we look for angularity lines (places where planets are rising, culminating, etc.), but Win*Star allows the user to plot many more such lines, such as Local Space lines or eclipse paths (in particular the prenatal eclipse), and a wide variety of Sky Maps, with fixed stars, constellations, galaxies, and more The screen includes the active charts list, so you can easily switch from your important charts, viewing their effect in various locations. Click the Mundane Maps button and two sets of lines based upon the planets rising/setting paths and projected midheavens will display on the map, based upon your birth. Click the Local Space button and planet-path lines will generate from your birth place, radiating in their directions unique to your birth. Mundane Maps This method is based upon the idea that when one changes location, event though the planets in the chart remain in the same degree and minute, the house cusps, including the horizon and meridian, change position. In a new location there is a new ascendant and midheaven and in specific places these may coincide with a planet, marking a particularly meaningful location. Two selector buttons are offered in the Mundane Map mode: Meridian Lines and Rising Lines. Meridian Lines - These show the points on the map where each planet was directly on the Midheaven at the time of your birth. These points are shown as meridian lines creating a circle passing through both poles and are calculated from right ascension only, i.e. the north/south meridians intersections with the equator. The Mundane Maps view shows two meridian lines (since the Earth is a flattened projection) for each planet. In Win*Star, these are seen as the vertical lines marked with planet glyphs. Rising/Set - The curved lines (they are easier to notice when viewing the World map) mark the spots where the planet was rising (or setting) at the moment of your birth. Although you cannot change your birthplace, you can alter the house position of any planet by moving toward or away from these rise/set lines. Thus, although the Moon may have been on your Ascendant from birth, moving East or West would have the effect of taking it off the Ascendant. With the Measure button you can use the mouse to drag from point to point anywhere on the displayed map to obtain a mileage readout for the area spanned. Longitude and latitude for the areas in question are also included in the display.

49 Mundane Maps is activated by first selecting the Extra toolbar (Shift+F2) and clicking on the Maps button. By default, a world map appears with Rising and Meridian lines for the current chart. Figure 12 (next page) shows an example (with the prenatal Eclipse Path added). Full vertical lines represent places where a planet is on the midheaven, whereas dashed ones represent planets on the nadir. These lines are called Meridian Lines. Curved lines, called Rising Lines represent places where a planet is rising (q1) or setting (q2). When based upon one s natal chart, these lines remain relevant throughout the lifetime. In order to carefully analyze your Astro-Map, you can select two basic geographical maps: a more global one (A) and a local one (B). You can then easily go back and forth between these maps by clicking on the A or B buttons. Change any of these maps using the pull-down list below the A & B buttons. You can also zoom into a detailed region by clicking on it. The Map menu contains options to draw Sky Maps (rather than Earth Maps), add major cities or plot Space Lines & Spheres (ecliptic, equator, etc.), Eclipse Paths, and more... Finally, the Stars and Deepspace menus allow to add celestial bodies or entities to maps; and the Options menu lets you (among other options) to change colors Using Mundane Maps - One way to use this technique is when, for example, you are going on summer vacation and want to know where to go. Create a solar chart for your current residence and then pop that up with Mundane Maps. Check out these mundane map lines for planet emphasis in various possible locations. The same View pull-down features provide a means of accurately pinpointing locations on the map and the Chart button places your relocated chart on screen. Local Space This technique, views the chart as a map of the 360 degrees of the horizon surrounding an event such as birth, with the positions of the various planets plotted on it. It describes the horizon of a place, much as turning around on one spot we might look toward the East, South, West, and North. The planets are projected onto the horizon using the coordinates, azimuth and altitude (instead of the longitude and ecliptic latitude) of the zodiac. Local space is mainly used to show a direction that would be empowering (according to specific planetary meaning) to the individual. Distance of a change is not as relevant as the directional change as regards the orientation of the planets. Astrologers might use the technique to see where they could prefer to live; for example, they may wish to go to an area with a more pronounced Mars activity level, according to their birth chart. Alternatively, the concept can be applied to changes in your immediate vicinity, such as where to plant a garden when using your home as the reference point. [Local Space was pioneered in the 1970s by Michael Erlewine, Founder of Matrix Software. For an interesting book describing the Local Space concept, see Steve Cozzi s Planets in Locality, published by Llewellyn Publ., St. Paul, MN.] Using the Local Space feature - When you first open the Maps 43

50 44 module and click the Local Space button, the planet-path lines showing will be generated from the birthplace of the highlighted active chart. To experiment with other locations, simply click the LS_Lines button and then click anywhere else on the map. A new set of planet-path lines will generate from that location. To accurately choose alternate locations, highlight Longitude & Latitude from the View pull-down menu. This pops up a small movable readout box that displays the longitude and latitude of the cursor arrow as you move it across the screen. Click the Chart button and then click any point on the map. A sizable QWheel chart will pop up for the selected location. As you click other locations of the map, this chart will immediately recalculate, presenting a chart wheel for that location. This way, you can tour any area of the world and view your chart as cast from that location! Another View pull-down feature adds the Ascendant and Midheaven positions to the on-screen readout, linked to the mouse arrow. Roll the mouse across the map to instantly see how the locational change affects these important points.

51 45 The Extra Toolbar: Some Tips The Extra toolbar contains, besides Win*Maps (previous section), a few very handy tools. This section explains how to use them, and gives suggestions on what they can be used for. a) Using the Rectify module for electing a time of day This module is normally used to rectify a birth chart when the time is not known. Start casting a chart with an approximate time, and run the rectification module to adjust the time or 3 until you find a chart with the right 1 or 3, or with planets in the most appropriate houses. But this module can also be used for electing a time. For example, if you have to visit a doctor, you may want to choose a time when the ruler of the 6 th will be in good aspect to the other planets in the sky (especially the 1 and it s ruler). To choose an appropriate time for that, you will start with some time in the morning, and navigate in time until you find an Figure 12 - the Rectification module, and Quick*Wheel window This module is in fact a variant of the Quick*Wheel module that allows you to quickly view a chart on screen. A button displays or hides a toolbar with two Toolsets allowing you to change the display format, create a biwheel, load a chart from your Database, and more You can go back and forth in time by hour, minute or second jumps, or move the 3 (by steps); redraw the chart as needed, and finally save it once your time (or 3) is accurate. Note that Quick*Wheel allows you to work with two charts. By default, the A chart is the selected one, and the B chart is the current one (here and now). The Swap Charts button allows to go from one to the other and back.

52 46 b) Using the Astro*Clock for Horary Astrology consultations This module (triggered by clicking the AClock button of the Extra toolbar ) is also a variant of Quick*Wheel. It displays a chart of the present moment (for the default place) and keeps it up to date by recalculating it regularly (by default every ten seconds, but you can change this). This very handy tool can astrologically follow any event you see live (like a sports game or a political debate on TV). It is also handy to answer questions using Horary Astrology. As the client asks the question, you just have to read the chart on screen. Note that you can always save the chart (you will be prompted to choose to save it as a primary chart or a secondary chart of some natal chart you select), and print it out using one of the Horary Chart Forms. These forms contain data most commonly used for Horary Astrology: dignities, lunar aspects and other techniques suggested by William Lilly. c) Plan your day (weekend) using Day*Scan Clicking on the DayScan button of the Extra Techniques Toolbar displays a graphic representation of planetary positions within a three-day period, like on figure 13 below: Figure 13 - Matrix Day*Scan window If you click the Time Line button, a red vertical line appears, indicating exact times of displayed aspects or events (you can drag it sideways). A horizontal scrollbar (not represented in the figure) allows you to scan though time within this 3-day period. You can add other data using the Extra menu. To get detailed help about these options, use the online help by pressing F1 or clicking on the Contents option of the Help menu.

53 47 d) Time*Scan: Display a graphic overview of your transits and progressions search Every time you request a search (transit, progressions or directions) as explained in section 9, Win*Star saves the results of this last search. You can always retrieve them (clicking on the Last button of the Srch toolbar); but you can also view them graphically. This can be done by clicking on the TimeScan button of the Extra toolbar. But keep in mind that you need to make a search before using this graphic-displaying module! Figure 14 below show an example (only the upper part is shown): Figure 14 - Matrix Time*Scan window Here again, a Time Line can help to precisely time the various displayed events. You can also scroll vertically through the various jobs that were included in the search, and horizontally to scan through time (within the previously defined search period). Note that the above figure is only partial; only part of the vertical scrollbar actually show. Other options are available (using the Options menu); use the online help to get detailed information on how to use them.

54 48 Time Tables Ephemeris Generator Time Tables is the ephemeris generator of your dreams! It can generate ephemerides in almost any combination you can think of. You can choose from the many built-in ephemerides or create your own using any combination of planets, houses, asteroids, Chiron, Uranian planets, et al. Here s a feature list: - Choose the coordinate systems that you want: geocentric longitude, latitude and motion, right ascension, declination, distance value, azimuth, altitude, heliocentric longitude, latitude and motion. - Pick any time frame that interests you: a week, a month, a hundred years and any interval you want, every 4 minutes, every 2 hours, every ten days. - Set up an ephemeris for any location and watch the changing house cusps (in any one of 14 available house systems) or moving Part of Fortune. - Naturally, you can create any set of aspects you want or use those built into Win*Star. - Scroll down an ephemeris page while watching a chart wheel show the moving planets at the same time! - Calculate planetary positions to a precision of one second of arc and display them as such or to the nearest degree or minute of arc. - View the results in three different font sizes and, of course, output to your printer for a paper copy. How to use TimeTables: To Create a Predefined Ephemeris 1. Access the Time Tables module from the Plus pull-down/time Tables. 2. Highlight one of the 9 predefined ephemerides listed on the Time Tables front tab, Ephemeris Definitions. 3. Click Select. 4. Select the appropriate starting and ending dates and times for your ephemeris. 5. Use the other tabs (Options, Columns, Zone/Place & Aspects) to make additional changes. 6. Click OK.

55 To Create Your Own Ephemeris: 49 A custom ephemeris can be created by combining settings from the various menus accessible by clicking these tabs in the Times Tables Options menu. Changes can be made as you design your ephemeris until you click OK. (When OK is clicked, the ephemeris will generate.) Here s how: 1. Access the Time Tables module from the Plus pull-down/time Tables.[If already in Time Tables, go to the File pull-down/new Ephemeris.] From the front (Time Tables) tab, double-click in the top Ephemeris Definitions input box and type in a name for your ephemeris. Go ahead and choose a Start and End time for this ephemeris by clicking the appropriate radio buttons and by typing in the input boxes provided. 2. From the Options tab you can begin to fashion your ephemeris using these options: Interval Between Positions - this determines whether the ephemeris will generate positions for every hour, every two hours, every day, every week, etc. Ephemeris Length - Choose the time period the ephemeris will span. This can be set in increments of 1-60 covering time quantities from seconds to years. Date Format - indicates how the date will appear, such as dd for the day only (i.e., 28, for the 28th day of the month) or mm dd Wkdy, which gives Nov 22 Thursday, etc. (Wkdy means Mon., Tue., etc.) Time Format - choose a time format ( hh:mm:ss etc.) from the six options provided. Precision - Use to indicate whether you want the positions to Degrees, Minutes or Seconds of arc (position). Calculation Options - Choose your house system and zodiac (Tropical or Sidereal). Click an x next to True Node, Geocentric Latitude, Parallax Moon, or Day/Night Part of Fortune to include any of these calculation options. 3. Use the Columns tab to add columns (other than Geocentric Longitude) for the planets and Moon s North Node. As you access the following menus to add various columns, they will appear in the displayed list on this Columns tab. When you finally click OK (after making all ephemeris specifications), all columns in this displayed list will be included in your ephemeris.

56 50 Click Add Planets to reveal a menu which has: Planets Included - here you can add planets and points to the ephemeris being defined. The tall vertical bars at the left of the groups is provided for easy group selection. Coordinate Columns: - for adding other coordinates such as Declination, Helio Longitude and so forth under the Coordinate Columns: heading. Special Columns: - here you ll find Transit and Natal house positions and Transit information. (The Natal positions are from the highlighted active chart); the aspect information is determined by settings made in the menu presented by clicking the Aspect tab.) Click Add Midpoints to reveal a menu for defining midpoints: Planet/Point Lists - from the two scrollable lists (at the left) you can create midpoint pairs. As you choose them, click Add and they ll appear in the Selected Midpoints area. Use the shortcut Range button to select the possible midpoint combinations occurring between the selected pair. The menu provides for saving and loading midpoint lists as files, preventing the need to reinvent them. Click Add Planetary Pictures for a menu designed to create Planetary Pictures for inclusion in the ephemeris. Here there are three scrollable Planet/Point lists from which you can create Planetary Picture combinations. Again, these can be loaded and saved as files. The Add Misc. options allows you to add house cusps, the Moon s phases and other data, including a Notes column all of which will appear in the calculated ephemeris. 4. Use the Zone/Place tab to choose the time zone and location for the ephemeris. 5. The Aspects tab lets you choose the Aspect Set, the Aspected Natal Chart, Aspect Searches, and the Aspecting and Aspected Planets. Note: Aspecting Planets are those moving in the selected time period (they re called the Search Planets in the Search Options menu) and the Aspected Planets are the planets (and points) to which the Aspecting Planets are referring (the Target Planets in the Search Options menu). 6. When all selections are made, click OK and the ephemeris will calculate and display. Now you are ready to learn how to use the ephemeris.

57 51 How to use this Ephemeris. Your ephemeris will calculate and appear on screen looking something like this: Here are some of the things you can do: View Aspect hits: View allows you to change the font size on screen (but not the printer fonts) and the precision of the data. Use the vertical scrollbar or the two big arrow buttons (on the right) to change your view of this area. Most important, though, is that View allows you to see aspect data. The Show Aspect Data feature opens a yellow area on the ephemeris, where all aspect hits display. This gives you a chance to see aspects even if you have not chosen columns in which to show them. The aspects shown are for whichever date is highlighted in the ephemeris. To see aspects for another date, simply click your mouse on that date or use the arrow keys to move up and down the ephemeris page. (Aspects from transiting midpoints will not be displayed in the yellow box they can only be seen by creating columns in the ephemeris itself.) Interpretive Text: Time Tables includes interpretations for Transiting conjunctions, sextiles, squares, trines and oppositions. To read these, click the Interp button on the upper right of your screen. Then click directly on the aspect listed in the yellow box (Transit-to-Transit or Transit-to-Natal) and an interpretation box will pop up. By default, the interpretation box will open Sun Conjunct Moon, but will quickly shift to the aspect you have chosen. You can print the ephemeris file by selecting the File pull-down menu and then choosing Print Ephemeris. You can also save the output to a file by choosing Save Ephemeris from the File pull-down menu. QuickWheel, too! The Wheel button will bring up Win*Star s Quick*Wheel. (Note: If Quick*Wheel is already open you ll need to close it for use with Time Tables.) As you use the arrow keys or mouse to select different dates in

58 52 the ephemeris, the Quick*Wheel will show the planets moving as well. It s great to reduce the size of the Quick*Wheel so you can see it and the ephemeris page at the same time. Move up and down the page with the arrow keys and watch the planets move in the wheel. This is a very useful way to visualize the motion of the planets over a given period of time. Move Columns: You can change the order of columns by clicking on the header (place with the planet s name and coordinate system) then dragging and dropping it. You can change the size of a column by putting your cursor on the edge of the header until a double-headed arrow appears. You can then drag and enlarge or shrink the column by left-clicking, holding the mouse button and dragging it right or left. If you create a new Layout you can save it for future use by opening Layouts and selecting Save as a New Layout. Printing an Aspectarian You can view aspects, both transit-natal and transit-transit (if you have included them in your ephemeris selections), but they will not appear in the ephemeris printout. To include aspects in a printout (called an Aspectarian): 1. Select File/New Ephemeris and click the Columns tab. 2. Select Add Planets 3. Go to Special Columns 4. Select Aspects: Tran-Tran Geo (or Helio) and/or Tran-Natal Geo (or Helio) and click OK. 5. When your ephemeris is generated, go to File/Print Aspectarian and click on your choice of calculated aspects. Note: These aspectarians work very well with a one-month ephemeris. You can have a whole month of transits (to transit or natal), that usually fit on one sheet of paper. Now, here s a closer look at the ephemeris pull-down menus: File Pull-down New Ephemeris - This opens the five-tabbed Time Tables Options menu, provided so you can create or alter an ephemeris to suit your needs. Load Ephemeris - Accesses a standard File-Open dialog where you can open any previously saved ephemeris file. These files are saved as.mdb files and the default path is: \WSTAR20\tmtbl\filename.mdb Save Ephemeris - Accesses a standard File-Save dialog for saving calculated ephemerides to a chosen sub-directory. These files are saved as.mdb files and the default path is: \WSTAR20\tmtbl\ filename.mdb These saved files can be loaded at any time via this menus Load Ephemeris option. Compact Ephemeris Database - This feature is provided to save hard-disk space. It can be useful if you have created and used an ephemeris for a period of time during which you may have added or

59 53 deleted various charts from the database, actions which can take up disk space because databases necessarily retain portions of deleted charts, etc. This feature will clean up the ephemeris file, economizing disk space. Repair Ephemeris Databases - A database can corrupt in various ways, resulting in obvious errors, miscalculated data, etc. The Repair Ephemeris feature can correct minor problems and should be accessed before attempting to recreate the database. It is not likely that this feature will be needed, as the Time Tables database is extremely stable. Print Ephemeris - This file-print option prints the current ephemeris. Print Aspectarian - This File-Print option prints the calculated aspectarian created with the current ephemeris. Printer Setup... - This accesses a standard printer setup dialog for possibly changing the designated printer and making standard printer setup adjustments. Edit Pull-down Use the Edit pull-down options to edit the current ephemeris. The first four features (Add planet..., Add midpoint..., Add Planet Picture, and Add Misc. ) access the same menus previously described for the Columns tab. With them, you can continue to alter the ephemeris on the fly. Add natal chart... - This one presents the Add Natal Chart window. Click the Add button to open the WSTAR20 charts database. Select a chart, click OK, and the chart will be added to the list of selected charts. Click OK again and the new ephemeris will be calculated. Delete Natal chart - With a natal chart (from the ephemeris) selected, this option will pop up a Yes/No prompt inquiring if you wish to delete the selected chart. A Yes response will immediately delete that chart. Delete Column - Click in any of the hit fields in the ephemeris columns. That position will turn blue. Now click this Delete Column option, to delete that column. View Pull-down These options effect the way the ephemeris displays: Show aspect data - This is how you expand the upper portion of the ephemeris, revealing any aspect hits that have been calculated. The yellow portion in the demographic is this aspect area. The aspect hits are shown in blue, grouped in Transit-to-Transit and Transit-to-Natal hits. Precision - Precision choices are Degree, Minute, and Second. Date format - Choose from the extensive array of date format options. Just mouse-click the format of your choice and it will be applied in the ephemeris Date column. Time format - Choose from the extensive array of time format

60 54 options. Just mouse-click the format of your choice and it will be applied in the ephemeris Time column. Font size - Choose from 8.25-point, 10-point, and 12-point fonts sizes for displaying the data in the ephemeris. Redraw - A standard redraw feature is included which can be used to redraw the screen presentation. (Sometimes the monitor can break up or become disturbed and this feature refreshes the screen, creating a new image version.) Layouts Pull-Down Save Current Layout - This pops up a File/Save dialog, with which you can save the existing layout with all settings currently selected. Just type in a Layout name and click OK. Save As New Layout - This creates an entirely new layout with a new name. Original - This presents the layout shipped with the program. Last Layout - This presents the layout last calculated

61 55 Win*Search Database Tool The Win*Search program provides the ability to search and examine the records (charts) in the Win*Star chart database files. With it you can create database files and copy charts between files. Extensive astrological search parameters can be set and applied to any size database file, making research simple and swift. Charts can be displayed in both graphs and chart wheels. Win*Search Start-up Start Win*Search from the Plus pull-down menu at the top of the main Win*Star screen. You can also run the Win*Search program without using Win*Star by going to the program group and clicking the icon for Win*Search. How do I make a database to use with Win*Search? 55 How do I make a graph of specific planet combinations? 56 How do I return from a select portion of the database to the full database? 56 How do I view chart data? 56 How do I search a single folder of a database? 57 How do I search for 2 or more different factors in a chart? 57 How do I search for aspects in natal charts? 58 How do I search for planets in specific degrees? 58 How do I export chart data from a database? 58 How do I make a database to use with Win*Search? Databases are made in Win*Search from the Chart Database File pull-down. Here s how: 1. From the Chart Database File Pull-down, select New Database. 2. Type in a new database file name in the wstar20\charts20\ subdirectory and click OK. 3. Now open another database file [File pull-down/open Database] to use as a chart source. Use the Charts pull-down/select Current Chart feature to select files from this database to be added to your new database. 4. Now use the File pull-down/copy/backup Database... feature to copy the selected charts to your new database. You don t have to create the database in advance in order to save a set of charts that are selected in your search.

62 56 How do I create a graph for specific planet combinations? 1. Click the Graph button to open a graph of the displayed charts. 2. There are two pull-down menus at the top of the graph screen. The left menu describes the quality being displayed in the graph. For example, Signs, Houses, Aspects, etc. The right-hand menu shows which planet or point is being graphed. Immediately to the right of that box is a check mark. Click it and a box will open which allows you to choose combinations of planets and points to put in the graph. 3. With the desired points selected (in the right pull-down) you can choose any of the qualities from the left one to quickly display graphs of the data. How do I return to the full database? You can always return to the complete database by using the View pulldown/view All feature. 1. Click the View pull-down menu. 2. Click View All. How do I view chart data? There are two ways: you can click the Chart Data button and see the data in list form, or you can click on QWheel and see the data in a chart wheel format. Note: QWheel takes a moment to open with the first chart you choose, but if you keep it open and select other charts, it will give you the information very quickly. 1. Highlight any chart in the database. 2. Click the Chart Data button to pop up the chart calculations, or Click the QWheel button (shown at left) to open the wheel. Make sure QWheel is set to always stay on top. How do I search from a single folder to a database?

63 57 You can add other folders to the single folder, building up the database as you go. Here s how: 1. Open a database in Win*Search (File Pull-down, /Open(Change) Database). 2. Click the View pull-down and select any folder (Family, Friends, Workmates, etc.) 3. Click Search to open the Win*Search Options screen. At the bottom of the screen is a box with Search All and Search Showing. Select Search Showing, select your search criteria, and click Search earch. The search results will be from the folder (or folders you can select several folders and they will build) you ve selected. How do I search for 2 or more different factors in a chart? Win*Search allows searches with And or Or. And means that the chart must have both factors requested; Or means it has either. For example, Mars in Capricorn in the 6th house: If you use And, the resulting charts must have Mars in Capricorn and in the 6th house. If you use Or, the resulting charts must have either Mars in Capricorn or Mars in the 6th house. 1. From the main Win*Search screen, click the Search button to open the Win*Search Options menu. Here you can create the search parameters. For example, to find charts with Mars in Capricorn and in the 6th house, select Mars in the planets list, Capricorn in the signs and 06 in the houses. 2. In the upper-right corner of the screen select And, then Add, then Search. 3. To find charts with Mars in Capricorn or in the 6th house select Or in the upper right corner of the screen, then Add, then Search. Note: You could also use this method to do a second search based upon the results of the previous search. For example, you search an entire database to find everyone with the Moon in Capricorn. You can then search from just this list (Moon in Capricorn) by selecting Search Showing for your next search. Search Showing indicates that only the charts that are currently available in the database grid will be searched. Note that Search All is the default setting and that all records in the current database will be searched, even if all are not visible in the database grid. To see all records, click View pull-down/view All. How do I search for aspects in natal charts? 1. From the main Win*Search screen, click the Search button to open the Win*Search Options menu.

64 58 2. Select one planet from the Planets list (at the left) and the other planet from the planets listed in the Aspects portion of the menu (at center). At least one planet must be selected in each planet list for any aspects to be found. 3. Choose your aspect or aspects (you can ask for more than one aspect at a time). 4. Set the orb value by clicking the Down Arrow in the Orb area of the Win*Search Options menu and choosing a value. 5. Click Search and you will get the search results. How do I search for planets in specific degrees? 1. Click the Search button to open the Win*Search Options menu. 2. Click the Zodiac box so that it s highlighted. Enter the range of degrees to search with the starting degree in the first box and the ending degree in the second. You can type in the degrees by sign using the first two letters of the name as an abbreviation (4 AR=4, etc.) or in 360 notation where each sign adds 30 Aries is 0, Taurus 30, etc. (For example, 22 Leo would be entered as 142 ). If you type 142 in the input box and then click anywhere outside that box, the box automatically changes to 22, etc. 3. Select the planet (or planets) that you want the program to search for. Clicking on the horizontal bar below the Planets and Aspect lists allows you to select groups of planets easily, rather than clicking one at a time. 4. Click Search and you will get the search results. How do I export chart data from a database? This feature allows you to export data from the selected chart database (the one showing on the WSearch screen) a.txt file (text file) for spreadsheet analysis or use in another database program. It provides the means to choose the specific fields (there are 43 fields) to be exported. You can also choose that the selected field information be restricted to specific planets. Planets positions will be exported in 360 notation, i.e. 15 Aries as 15, 15 Taurus as 45, 15 Gemini as 75, etc. How to use: 1. From the File menu of the main Win*Search screen, choose Export Charts from Database which opens the Export Chart Data dialog.

65 59 2. The default file name for export is export.txt. Use the Browse button to select the path/file to save to. (You can type in any filename.txt) 3. From the scrollable fields list at left select those fields you would like included in the saved file. Click the Add button to transfer selected fields from the left list to the Export File list on the right-hand side. If you wish to restrict the data to particular planets, click the Planets button and choose those planets. The check box labeled Field Names indicates whether the first row in the file should contain the field names. Many database programs may expect this field to be present. If this box is not checked, the first row will contain the data for the first chart. 4. When you ve completed selecting fields for this export procedure, click the Begin button to save the data to the selected file.

66 60 The Win*Search Menus A look at the Win*Search menus: The following pages describe the Win*Search screen and its menus. This same information is included in the online Help file. Either source serves as a reference to the various menu features and will help until they become familiar. File pull-down Here is where you can work with the Win*Star database files. New Database - This opens the Create New Database dialog with the currently selected database file. Use your mouse to click in the file name (filename.mdb) and type in a new name for a database file. Click OK and the new (empty) database will open, ready to receive imported charts, etc.. Open (Change) Database - This opens a standard Windows File\Open dialog defaulted to your Win*Star\chartsdb subdirectory. This is where your Chart Database files are located. The default database file is mxcharts.mdb (a sample database file containing several notable charts). Win*Star Plus was shipped with one additional database file: circle.mdb (Circle Book of Charts). Select any database file and click OK to open that database into Win*Search. Export Charts - This feature allows you to export data from the selected chart database (the one showing on the WSearch screen) as a.txt file (text file) for spreadsheet analysis or use in another database program. The data is exported in 360 notation. It provides the means to choose the specific fields (there are 43 fields) to be exported. You can also choose that the selected field information be restricted to specific planets. Copy/Backup Database - This feature will allow you to make a copy of the chart database for backup purposes. Use this feature often when working with large databases in order to avoid any loss of data. Compact Database - This feature is provided to save hard-disk space. It can be useful if you have been working with the database for a period of time during which you may have deleted various charts from the database or performed other actions which can take up disk space because databases necessarily retain portions of deleted charts, etc. This feature will clean up the file, economizing disk space. Repair Database - A database can corrupt in various ways (power outages, etc.) resulting in obvious errors, miscalculated data, etc. The Repair Database feature can correct minor problems and should be used before attempting to recreate the database. Print - This features allows the user to select specific fields to print. You can select any or all the fields in the database and send the information to the printer. This will print all records in the database but only the fields you have chosen.

67 61 Charts pull-down This menu will allow you to work the charts contained in the database. Show Quick*Wheel - With a chart highlighted, select this option to open the Quick*Wheel program with the current chart on the screen. Show Chart Data - Highlight any chart, select this option and a columnar listing of chart data will appear on your screen. Select Current Chart (Ctrl+S) - This feature is used to select the currently highlight chart to mark for deletion or moving to a folder. Select All Charts - This is a quick way to select all the charts in a database and mark them for deletion or moving to a folder. Clear All Selections - This feature will undo or clear all charts previously selected using the options listed above. Delete Chart(s) (Ctrl+D) - Use this feature to delete either the currently selected chart or all charts selected using the options listed above. Move Chart(s) to Folder (Ctrl+M) - This feature will move the currently selected chart or all charts selected using the options listed above. Edit Chart s Notes - Add/Delete/Change and Notes you want associated with this chart. Edit Chart s Attributes - Allows the user to change the Attributes for the current chart in order to assign it to a specific category/folder. Find Chart by Name (Ctrl+F) - Use this feature to quickly find charts in the database. By typing in a letter the database will search for the first chart that matches that letter. Continue to type the name of the chart and the search feature will move throughout the database to find the specific chart. Edit pull-down Here you can work with database records: Edit Attribute List Use this option to Add/Delete/Rename an Attribute to the current list. You will also be able to globally change an attribute for multiple charts. Edit Folders Using this option will all the user to Add/Delete/ Rename a Folder to store charts in. You will also be able to move selected charts from one folder to another with this feature. Filter Attributes Use this option to show only those charts with a specific Attribute assigned. For example, to view only those charts that have been assigned the Attribute of Celebrity, you would select this feature and then select the Celebrity Attribute. The database will then show only those charts with the selected Attribute. Add New Client Use this option to add Address information concerning your clients. You can also add any additional notes in this section.

68 62 Edit Client Data - This features allows you to edit client information added using the Add New Client option listed above. Delete Client - Delete any client information previously added using the Add New Client option listed above. Write Changes Warning - When you edit any database field a Yes/ No prompt requires that you confirm the change before it is written to the database file. This serves to reduce the chance of accidental record changes. Search pull-down Filter by Name, Date Attributes, Client - Use any one of these options to quickly change the database to show only those charts that contain data that the user selects. For example, to view only those charts that contain a birth date of 1 October 1950, select the Filter by Date option. - You will be able to enter a Beginning and Ending date, along with other options. Press OK and the database will change to show only those charts that fall within the selected criteria. Search to Chart - Select this option to quickly search your charts for other charts that have specific aspects in the currently selected chart. Search to Today - Select this option to search your charts for other charts that have specific aspects in Today s chart. Filter for Zodiac Positions, Aspects - Select either one of these options to quickly search your charts specific Zodiac positions or aspects that you choose. Filter by Astro*Query (Ctrl+Q) - This selection brings up a dialog box for advanced searches. Once selected, you may click the help button in the Astro*Query window for assistance on the syntax it uses. This powerful feature is meant for expert users and should only be attempted by those who are very familiar with computers and basic programming concepts. View pull-down The View pull-down is an instant sorting tool built into the Win*Search database. The program ships with 13 folders and you can create many more. The Create New Folder option opens an input box where a new folder can be created (up to 16 characters). With the Edit Folders option folders can be deleted or renamed, so that all charts assigned one folder can be changed to another folder name. How to use: Click in the Folder field (of the Folder column) of any record in the database. A pull-down menu will appear from which you can select the appropriate folder for the record. When individual records (charts) are assigned a folder, you can then use the View pull-down to instantly sort the database records to show all records in that folder. Select another folder and charts from that folder combine with the first group. This way you can instantly reduce a very large list of charts from many folders to just the ones you want to see.

69 63 Sort pull-down You can sort by the following database fields: Last Name, First Name, Date, Birthday, Place, Longitude, Latitude, and Keyword, Planet and Advanced Sort. Click a file and the database will rearrange on screen, newly sorted by that field. The Planet sort will allow you to select a specific planet and the Advanced Sort will allow you to create a unique sort from all the fields in the database. Layout pull-down Offered here are layout selections which present different combinations of the certain database fields. These layouts can be altered (columns can be rearranged) and then saved as a new layout file (extension:.fmt). [You cannot change the type of fields included in any of the layout selections, but you can change their order.] Select one of the predefined layouts and make any changes you desire to get the layout you like best. Menu Buttons Now a quick look at the buttons spanning above the database records (from left to right): Quick*Wheel - This presents the currently selected chart on screen in the Win*Star Quick*Wheel format. Chart Data - This displays the calculated chart data in tabular form similar to Positions button on the Win*Star Home technique bar. Show Secondary Charts - Click this icon to display all secondary charts. Find Name - Same as the Find by Chart Name (Ctrl+F) option explained previously. Repaint Grid - Used to repaint the screen if it becomes garbled. Select Visible Folders - Used to quickly select any or all folders for display. Show all Folders - Resets the database to show all charts in all folders. Clear Filters - Used to clear any previously defined filter as explained in the Search pull-down section. Sort on Column - Select a column and then click this icon to sort the database. Search - This accesses the Win*Search Options menu where database search parameters are set. See: How Do I Search for 2 or more different factors in a chart?

70 64 Condit. button - This opens the Search Conditions window which shows the elements of the search in process. As you add conditions to the search you can verify their inclusion by clicking this button and viewing the Search Conditions window. Graph button - Any chart (or all charts) can be graphed. Just highlight a chart and click the Graph button to display that chart in the Win*Search Graph format for analysis. If you highlight several charts, their data will combine into the results displayed in the graph; i.e. the graph displays the combined planets, aspects, etc. of all selected charts. Here s a look at a Win*Search Graph. This graph drawn from 8 charts uses Aspects as the quality and Mercury as the selected point. The tall column above Cnj shows that the most frequent aspect (between Mercury and another body) occurring in the combined 8 charts is the conjunction. Clicking the Data button reveals that there are 12 Mercury conjunctions in this batch of 8 charts, and 5 squares, etc. Here are the various graph features: Data button This displays the counts of the data quality being displayed. For example, if you have one chart in the graph and have selected Houses as the graph quality and All Points as the points being considered, the Data button displays the number of points in each house. If there are 5 charts in the graph, the Data button adds and displays the combined number of points in each house (for all 5 charts), etc. Graph qualities Next to the Data button is a pull-down menu (showing Aspects in the sample, above) These are the various astrological components, or qualities, found in a chart. By selecting one of these qualities for example, signs a graph can be drawn displaying occurrences of a chosen point the planet Jupiter, for example in the selected chart (or charts). Select a different quality to redraw the graph, focused now upon that factor (with respect to a chosen point).

71 65 Point Selector The next pull-down lists the planets and points to be included in the graph. The default is All Points. Make a point selection and the and the Select Planets menu opens so you can pick additional planets or points, making combinations of them to be graphed. # of charts This shows the quantity of charts included in the graph, which are those charts currently displayed in the graph. Win*Search Graph menus With the two graph menus provided you can choose between a number of graph styles, save graph data, copy and save graph images and print the graph: File pull-down menu This menu offers choices of loading/saving the graph data and of capturing/saving the graph image, itself: Load Graph Data... This option opens a file dialog defaulted to the \wstar20 directory. Graphs have.grh extensions ( filename.grh). You select a graph file and click OK to load and display that graph file. Save Graph Data... This option saves the calculated graph data to the \wstar20 directory with a.grh extension (filename.grh). This file can then be opened via the Load Graph Data... option and displayed as a graph. Graph to Clipboard (bmp or meta) These features capture the displayed graph to your clipboard in either.bmp or.wmf graphic file format. Use the standard Paste command from any graphics package to paste and display the captured image. Save Graph as either a.bmp or.meta file These features open a standard File Save dialog where you can save the displayed graph in either.bmp or.wmf file format to the \wstar20 directory. Print Graph This outputs the current graph to your default printer. You can choose between Monochrome (Black and White) or Color printing formats. Graphs pull-down menu Here you can choose between seven graph styles. Simply make a selection and the graph will redraw in the selected style. Here are three of the graphs styles offered (there are 7).

72 66 Here are samples of three of the seven graph styles you can select

73 67 Win*Star Graphic Ephemeris The Graphic Ephemeris in Win*Star is both powerful and elegant. You can generate graphs in an incredible combination of coordinate systems, harmonics, planet and point sets, and more. Then you explore them on-screen or print them out for further reference and study. Here s a list of features you ll find in the Time Tables Graphic Ephemeris: Select from many graph styles. The program comes with 15 graph formats, but you can create others, name them, and save them to disk. - Win*Star s full array of planets, asteroids, midpoints, Lilith and Uranian points are included. - Select time periods and start dates for graphs. This information is also saved with your form. - Display options. You can decide how the graph should look with or without grid lines, color choices and more. - Printing options; Choose a standard graph or bitmap files. - Include a natal chart in the graph; select angles to include in the graph - Select angles and cusps to include in the graph - Select the zodiac and coordinate system - Select the type of ephemeris transit, solar arc, secondary progressed, Naibod or degree-for-a-year - Time Lines: Click on the Time Line clock to get movable date and degree line cross-hairs which, when moved to any position, tell you the date and the degree of that astrological event. How to: Create a Pre-defined Ephemeris 1. Highlight one of the Ephemeris Definitions listed on the from Ephemeris Tab of the Graphic Ephemeris Options menu. 2. Click Select. 3. Select the appropriate starting and ending dates and times for your ephemeris. Realize that long time spans require more calculation time. For the start date you can either type in any beginning date or click one of the six radio buttons, using one of the supplied starting points. For the ending date, either type in a date or use the two selectors offered to create an ending date based on a number of days, months, years, etc. 4. Use the other tabs (Planets, Style, Calc. Options & Natal) to make additional changes. 5. Click OK. The ephemeris will calculate and display on screen. Refer to How to Use the Ephemeris for further tips.

74 68 Create Your Own Ephemeris A custom graphic ephemeris can be created by combining settings from the various menus accessible by clicking these tabs in the Graphic Ephemeris Options menu. Changes can be made as you design your ephemeris until you click OK. (When OK is clicked, the ephemeris will automatically generate.) Here s how: 1. (You re going to build an ephemeris from scratch.) You can do this by starting with an existing ephemeris definition (highlight one, and click Select) and editing it to your specification, or you can start with the first Ephemeris tab, make your selections, and continue from tab to tab, until you have fashioned the ephemeris as you want it. Either way, you will be making all the decisions the start and end times (from the Ephemeris tab); the planets & points included, the coordinate system and the Dial type (the Planets tab), and so forth. 2. You will want to type in a new name for your ephemeris definition. Just click in the ephemeris name box, delete the existing name, and type a new one. 3. When you have made all selections, click the Save button and your newly created ephemeris will appear added to the Ephemeris Definitions list. 4. Click OK to calculate your ephemeris and display it on screen. How to use the Graphic Ephemeris: After you have created an ephemeris, it will appear something like the graphic shown on the next page. To examine the details of your graph on the screen more easily there are two steps you can take: 1. Maximize the graph to fill the screen for greater visibility. 2. Click on the Time Line clock and then click within the graph area to obtain cross-hair lines. The vertical line identifies the date. The horizontal line has a button on the left, which shows degrees and minutes. Using this set of lines, you can zero in on important intersection on your graph. Because it is not easy to track vertically with all the sloping lines in a graph, this set of red lines allows you to instantly identify the date and degree of a contact without straining your eyes. You can click and drag either of these Time Lines or you can click right in the graph and they will align with that point. (Note: In some long-term ephemerides there may be a slight deviation between the date scale on top of the graph and the date indicated by the Time Line. Rely on the Time Line for the most accurate reading. However, in a long-term ephemeris graph the width of one dot can cover

75 69 weeks of time. Pinpoint work is easier using graphs covering days, weeks or months, not decades.) Here are some user tips: 1. You can make selections which would result in an unreadable graph. Fortunately, many of these choices are automatically avoided by the program. For example, if you call for Moon transits (which could generate a solid black graph) the program will not draw those lines. If you find you have generated a graph on screen and it takes many minutes to print, it may be that the printer is attempting to print such a line. You can cancel the graph, simplify it, then run it again. 2. Use the Natal tab to select a natal chart to incorporate into your graph. You can also identify the natal planets and points you wish to see on the graph by select a natal chart to incorporate into your graph by clicking an x in the Plot Natal Positions box, and the natal planets (and points) will appear at the far right of the graph, aligned with the horizontal dot/dash lines, making it easier to track contacts with the transit, progressed or solar arc lines. The points of intersection between transits, progressions and directed planets and these dotted lines will indicate conjunctions (in a 360 dial) or all hard aspects in 22.5, 45 and 90 degree dials. 3. Do not try to use fast-moving planets in long time ranges. The logic: In 90 years the Sun will cross from top to bottom (of the graph) 90 times by transit, hence 90 lines will be presented on screen. The same is true for Mercury and Venus, half so for Mars, and over 1000 lines for the Moon! 4. The program will only allow you to select up to 30 midpoints at a time. If you select more, the program will calculate up to its limit