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  Fake Astrologers

Over 95% of Astrologers are fake.

Surprised? How can this be?

Astrology is an unregulated profession, which in effect means that anyone can set themselves up as an Astrologer, say whatever they want, and do whatever they want. Some of them are just dreamers who simply copy things from books and put them on their website in order to create a good impression and sell fake Astrology reports. Other are more cunning, flouting not only the laws of fair play but the law itself. Anything goes, with would-be Astrologers saying whatever comes into their heads, especially in print and on Astrology forums. Crazy isn't it? Imagine if you had, say, a serious legal problem and you approached a lawyer to defend you only to find out after the event that he wasn't actually a lawyer, in fact he had only read one or two books on the subject before launching himself as a fully fledged practitioner of the law. Fortunately this can't happen because the practice is regulated. No such regulation exists in Astrology. Yes, I know there are bodies who give the impression that they control things, but they don't. As I said - anything goes. 

Over the next few days I will attempt to expose some of the devious and often unlawful practices of these people, so be prepared for some surprises as I begin with the celebrity Astrologers who have high profiles, make lots of money, and deceive the public in the process. 

Part 2. Celebrity Astrologers.

By 'celebrity' I mean those individuals who write horoscopes for newspapers and periodicals, have a large following and frequently appear in the media as experts in their field. They have a high profile, bask in the light of public adulation, and make lots of money. So what is the problem? Simple - they know little or nothing about Astrology!

Let me ask you this. Show me another profession in which the practitioner knows little about their subject, more often than not gets it wrong, and yet makes huge amounts of money. Would you employ a lawyer, doctor, dentist, accountant, or indeed any professional person if they had a similar appalling record of failure and incompetence? No of course not. Yet the public queue up to listen to the rubbish they spout and worse still give them money by purchasing their poorly set up computer reports or subscribing to the ramblings available by telephone. Some of them use the incorrect association with the paranormal to con you into believing that they will read your Tarot cards, while in fact they are using a cheap computer program. Yes, money means everything to some people. 

And what about their qualifications for the job and their ability to deliver? Well, it may come as some surprise to you to discover that these people know very little about Astrology, but they get round it by concentrating on just one factor out of the many available in a chart - the Sun Sign. Anyone can become a Sun Sign Astrologer. All one needs to do is read a book like Linda Goodman's Sun Signs, digest the contents and then launch themselves into a career as an Astrologer. It helps if one throws away most of the rules of Astrology - they do tend to get in the way. There are inconvenient rules stating quite categorically that you cannot deduce a person's finances, health, career, relationships, or anything meaningful using just the Sun Sign. Rules that state you should not make utterances that are not based on the highest standards of the art - utterances like the infamous 'Harmonic Concordance' or attempting to turn ordinary and relatively insignificant phenomena into major events [Sun Venus conjunction] . Rules that state you simply cannot go on an predict the future on a daily basis using the transits of the quicker-moving planets. Yet they do all these things and more. And what about those predictions? What is to prevent the unscrupulous practitioner from simply saying whatever comes into his or her head? Nothing. Does anyone bother to check these 'predictions' ? I doubt it. And that is why they get away with it. 

Let's stop describing these people as Astrologers - they aren't. They are people with an eye for fame and profit who couldn't give a damn about the integrity of their subject, or indeed the effects they are having on public perception of Astrology, or the public themselves. I have frequently challenged these people to perform a basic Astrological task, that of interpreting a birth chart. Not one of them has seen fit to respond. See the challenge to Jonathan Cainer here. They are taking money under false pretences and dragging a perfectly honourable profession down to the gutter level. Naturally, the scientists just love these people as they can be held up a perfect examples of why, in their opinion, Astrology is nonsense. And who could argue? 

The result is that the Sun Sign Cowboys will continue to con the public and that the public will continue to get predigested crap rather than the real thing - unless they wake up to the fact that there is something better - it's called Astrology. More to follow. 

Part 3. How to use a computer to fool people. 

The computer, or rather the Astrological report writer software, is a godsend for the fake Astrologers, be they celebrities or just dishonest money-grubbers. No knowledge of Astrology is needed to work one of these things - just put in the birth data, push a button and - hey presto - out pops a 'report' So what is the problem? Firstly, the software needs to be set up properly if it stands even the slightest chance of producing something vaguely resembling the character of the person whose birth data this is. More often that not, the program is used straight out of the box with no attempt to get it working correctly, which is why these reports are largely nonsense, having wrong House systems, wrong orbs, too few or too many aspects, inconsequential artifacts such as asteroids, nodes, and Arabic parts. They are junk - expensive junk at that. 

The report writer looks at your chart, lists the chart factors, such as planet in Sign, planet in House, and aspects to that planet and then it accesses a database of readymade interpretations to produce a list which is supposed to represent 'you'. Apart from the absurdity of such a process, it is worth pointing out that if, say, you have a Sun square Saturn in your chart you will get exactly the same 'interpretation' as anyone else who has this configuration. Likewise for all the other parts of your chart. These reports are nonsense, but worse still they enable the non-Astrologer, fake, or criminal to pretend to be Astrologers, taking large sums of money from the public in the process and giving a completely false impression of what Astrology is and what it can deliver. More to follow.

Part 4. How to spot a fake Astrology site.

Fake sites are generally divided into two types: The enthusiastic amateur and the out and out fraud. Today I will deal with the former. 

Fake Astrology sites are not always easy to spot because the majority use professionally designed web sites to snare the unwary, so don't be fooled by flashy graphics. It's the content that gives them away because it is almost entirely concerned with Sun Signs. Usually, this material has been copied from books or someone else, some of it is so speculative as to be absurd. You will not find any genuine Astrology references or helpful advice such as can be found on this site. 

Any references to past lives, karma, ley lines, precious metals, crystals, or in fact anything to do with the paranormal should also be a warning sign. Whether these things are true or not is not the issue, what is the issue is that they are not and never have been part of Astrology, which is a logical system of deduction requiring nothing more that basic intelligence to understand and use. 

Flashing adverts for non-related subjects, such as debt-solving, should also tell you that the site operators are interested in making money rather than providing a genuine Astrology service. You are almost certain to find links to supposed 'Astrologers'. many of whom will turn out to be fakes or telephone cheats; some will even prove to be out and out scammers such as Pasqualina. Why are they there? Either the site operator is more concerned with the extra revenue generated by these links or simply doesn't care. 

Finally, you will find glowing references to their Astrological reports, giving the impression that they are just for you, produced to the highest standards, designed to reveal everything about you and your future, some with money back guarantees [don't count on it!] etc., etc. They are also fake, being produced by a computer program which is more often than not poorly set up, thus giving the wrong interpretations. In any case. no computer program can emulate the work of the professional Astrologer. One of the real give-away is that they are often promised 'instantly' online - which is quite absurd because genuine Astrology takes time. Some, however, are trying to get round this by deliberately delaying delivery in order to give the impression of being genuine. As I said, the overall impression of the site detailed previously should have warned you anyway. 

If in any doubt about an Astrology site, check them out in my database. It is constantly updated, but if you are not sure then please get in touch and I will advise. The alternative is to risk being conned or ripped off by the scammers. More tomorrow. 

Part 4 How to spot a fake Astrology site [2].

Now we come to the most devious of all Astrology sites, the ones run by scammers. Although these sites have been professionally designed to make them convincing, they are easy to spot because the majority of them consist of only one page asking you if you would like a free horoscope. An exception to this rule is the Pasqualina site which also offers 'references' and other lies. Rochelle Gordon [richesloveandspirit.com] also lists her 'qualifications' which are unproven and highly suspect. She has connections with known Internet criminals. The main thrust is always the free horoscope though. What you get in return is a lengthy and convincing sales pitch filled with false promises and downright lies, such as the 'fortunate period' or the 'important transit' that is about to sweep into your life. Failure to respond with money will result in a constant bombardment of more pressure sales and lies. Your email address could also be sold to spammers. The end product is nothing more than a cheap computer report, but the real payoff for the major scammers is that of selling useless lucky charms and the like. If you are really unlucky you may find that you get nothing for your money or that your credit card has been raided and unauthorised funds have been removed. 

One variant is particularly devious because it is a front for junk mailers and has nothing whatsoever to do with Astrology per se. Horoscopes get my answers.co.uk is a site to be avoided unless you want junk mail with the attendant risk of being conned or ripped off. 

The main scammers are listed on the left, but there is a large database containing more information of the practices of these people together with an up to date list of fake Astrologers here. I can't guarantee this covers all of them as new ones are appearing all the time, but if you have any doubts about an Astrology site [and you should have!] then please get in touch and I will advise. 

I cannot stress this strongly enough. The vast majority of Astrology sites are fakes and they get away with it because up to now no one has bothered to expose them. They also continue to cheat and lie because the authorities who are supposed to protect you and I are simply not interested, using the excuse that it is 'beyond their remit' [Advertising Standards Authority] or that pressure of work prevents further investigation [Trading Standards}. Google, which hosts their adverts, has no obvious mechanism for dealing with these cheats and removing their ads. It is a disgrace, and one the authorities should be ashamed of, especially when one considers the sheer scale of the scams in operation. Park your car for one minute over the limit and pay a rip-off fine. Cheat thousands of people and get away with it time and time again. That is the sorry state we find ourselves in.

Part 5. The enthusiastic amateur. 

Now please don't get me wrong. Everyone has to start somewhere, so there is nothing wrong with being a beginner. However, you will come across people who have little or no knowledge of the subject other than what they have gleaned for the odd book; most of their knowledge having been obtained through hearsay or simply made up as they go along. Evidence of this can be seen in some Astrology forums in which would-be experts seek to show off their knowledge to all and sundry - knowledge that is seriously flawed, or ideas that bear no relevance to the subject. It is a free for all in which anyone can say anything and no one is seriously challenged. In my own experience of these places an attempt to bring some common sense into the equation resulted in a barrage of insults. Little wonder that professional Astrologers don't waste their time here. These are not always the best place to learn about Astrology and in some cases can give a completely inaccurate picture. Astro-babble, that is flattering one's ego by giving the impression you are an expert through long-winded [inaccurate] explanations, is generally the norm, together with a good measure of back-slapping and chants of 'yeah man - you are really cosmic'

The real problem is when the enthusiastic amateur decides to set himself up as a fully-fledged Astrologer and give advice. Quite often these people use free software that has not even been customised properly to produce charts which are inaccurate and mostly unreadable - so what chance have they of advising you or I? Beware of the Astro-babblers. Genuine Astrologers use uncluttered charts and don't try to be 'clever'. They only seek to be helpful.  

Part 6. Misinformation.

One of the greatest problems afflicting Astrology today is the sheer amount of inaccurate and often highly speculative ideas being put around by people who should know better, or would if they bothered to study the subject properly. As I commented earlier, you will see a lot of this on Astrology forums and hear even more waffle from the enthusiastic amateurs, but far worse are those who have attained celebrity status, and therefore a large following of believers, who continually send out the wrong messages to all and sundry. 

King of the Sun Sign Cowboys - Jonathan Cainer - highlights this problem on his Thought for the day page. Here is an example of how things can be willfully misrepresented.

Why does Venus rule both love and money? I feel a little depressed to think that in the eyes of the cosmos, these two topics are intrinsically linked.
Nick

Dear Nick,
Actually, Venus doesn't rule money. Matters of cash and commerce are entirely in Mercury's domain. Venus governs luxury and opulence. It's a planet of wealth, just as much as it is planet of attraction and seduction. The Moon, meanwhile, represents love of a less passionate, more permanent kind. So you needn't feel too depressed. The ancients simply saw Venus as the goddess of all things elusive yet desirable.

This is ludicrous. Venus does not rule luxury and opulence - Jupiter does. It is not a planet of wealth - Jupiter fits that role. Mercury ruling cash and commerce? Anyone with just a grasp of basic Astrology knows full well that Venus acting through the 2nd House rules money matters. The ancients did not regard Venus as the goddess of all things. The Moon dos not rule love - it rules one's emotions, which is not the same thing. 

I am not sure if Cainer is genuinely ignorant of the rules of Astrology or is simply making his own rules - either way the public are being mislead. As a last thought, I wonder what sort of 'spookily accurate report' one would get from Cainer given the lack understanding shown here. 

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