Horoscope Review: Da Juana Byrd's Texas Blandscopes at Dailyhoroscopes.com

Texan Da Juana Byrd, Professional Psychic and Medium, claims that a near-death experience in 1980 let her see and hear ghosts and angels. If that's true, there would seem to be no need for her websites to offer also a dozen game-like oracles, including the "click here" I Ching, runes, numerology, and advice on choosing puppy names. There's astrology, too; the direct link is dailyhoroscopes.com. A tab for "Grandchildren" on Byrd's blog hints to me that her site appeals to older readers who used to take questions and worries to their pastors. Today such readers want a choice of answers, all of them nice and safe, and Byrd's sites let them shop for a whole buffet of answers, mostly for free and well worth their price.

Regarding dailyhoroscopes.com, one must first sincerely admire Byrd for having bought and held that URL at least since 1993. Registering on the site's homepage and then confirming the link gets you a free natal horoscope chart and a basic personality reading. Not perfect, this is still one of the Net's better "instant horoscope" offers, computerized but not fake. For accurate results enter your birth time as Greenwich Mean Time. If you don't know what that is, good luck. Furthermore you are now on Byrd's email list. Like most horoscope providers, C & D Byrd Enterprises -- phone psychics, astrology and all -- is a business: Here's its corporate homepage.

But on to Byrd's daily scopes. They are awfully nice and lavender-scented. Excerpt from the daily Leo scope, Sept. 27: "Later this afternoon, you enjoy a little work in the yard; it may be time to plant or prepare for a fall garden." From the Cancer scope, Sept. 20: "Perhaps you and your friends can enjoy a little bicycle trip through the park or around the neighborhood." From Virgo, Sept. 3: "You enjoy the sunset, or an evening walk with a loved one." Please note, however, that Byrd's site allows access to past forecasts, a useful feature if you want to see how wrong they were.

I was once a fan of Byrd's daily horoscopes. As I recall, Byrd and the site were more astrology-centered, and navigation was simpler. Finding the current day's forecast at dailyhoroscopes.com is easy, but tomorrow's requires a click, scrolling through a long list of links, and another click. This interface cries out for redesign. Accuracy? The homepage says the forecasts are composed using charts plus numerology. Real astrologers don't need numerology to supplement real charts. On the corporate website, Byrd's astrologers are called "psychic astrologers." That too is unpromising as an indicator of accuracy. One star out of five for entertainment value.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope sites for authenticity and accuracy. Click here to see more horoscope reviews. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.

Horoscope Review: Really Great Compatibility Readings at Zodiac-traits.com

It’s said, and you’ve heard it, that Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn) pair best with Earth signs. The same with Air, Fire, and Water signs. Matching elements always seem to have a four-star or four-heart future, while a mixed pair such as Taurus/Aquarius might get a snarky “What were you thinking?”

Fortunately, experience eventually proves to us all how wrong casual Sun-sign compatibility readings can be. Reducing 12 Sun signs to four "elements" makes such readings less accurate, not more so. The solution is compatibility readings with depth and detail. For this I joyfully recommend http://zodiac-traits.com.

Astrologer Nancy Fenn profiles each of the possible Sun-sign pairings, and not just (for example) Virgo/Cancer but Virgo woman/Cancer man — or Virgo man/Cancer woman. Because naturally those will differ! Each discussion is about 1,000 words long, maximizing the chances it will mirror your own situation. Fenn describes how to attract a certain sign, how much romance, passion, and friendship the couple are likely to share, and how it may end. Fenn is honest and has a sense of humor. If you like, she offers an individualized compatibility report, using both partners' birth information, for $19.95. On the site, readers share their own fascinating compatibility triumphs and woes. One of the comments called zodiac-traits.com “a brilliant site.” I think it is. And it’s easy to navigate. Five stars.

Fenn has another URL profiling natal astrological traits including Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising Sign at http://zodiacsigntraits.com. It’s good also. Who is Nancy Fenn? She teaches online astrology courses and calls herself America’s expert on Saturn Returns (very unfortunately suggesting that the second Saturn return can be lethal if the first wasn’t negotiated well). Common sense I hope tells you that planets can’t kill anybody. Planets can’t destroy a solid relationship, either.

Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope sites for integrity and accuracy. Read more of her horoscope reviews at hubpages.com. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.

Beware of "Jenna" at AboutAstro.com

Beware of free horoscopes offered by online astrologers who go by their first names only. True astrologers use their full names so you can google them or buy their books. The sole reason to use only a first name is to thwart research and investigation. In the case of aboutastro.com, the provider is "Jenna." Strike one.

But if the first-name basis and freebie offer have you convinced that Jenna wouldn't let you down, enter contact information and after 48 hours receive by email a link back to her website, where your free horoscope waits, secure. There, "a long personal text," 3600 words of rambling double talk and blither, not a horoscope and not personalized except with your name and birthdate, begins by wishing you (on September 16) a Happy New Year 2010. Strike two.

Naturally it’s a year of opportunity and true love. Yet “Only a professional astrologer can read your Skies correctly. . . . Sylvia, I warn you in this way because the stakes concerning this period are far too high. You need a professional to help you through this vitally important time in your life. This Transit is too significant and too important not to try and get all the chances over on your side." Jenna says Mars has been opposing my fifth house for SEVERAL YEARS NOW. In fact, transiting Mars doesn't stay anywhere in the sky for “several years.” Strike three.

But golly, I don't have any common sense, so clicked to her ordering page (with testimonials from people with first names only) where I plan to put $60 on my VISA for a "second" astrological reading plus Jenna's two e-books: one on clairvoyance, including secrets for developing my own, and the other on "radiestheisia" [sic] so I may try guiding my spiritual self and changing my life by playing with a pendulum.

Before trusting a one-name wonder, I should have googled “Jenna Astrologer.” And found that “Jenna” and aboutastro.com have collected over the years many bitter complaints.

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Sylvia Sky, experienced astrologer, monitors 70-plus online horoscope sites for quality and accuracy. See more horoscope reviews at hubpages.com or email horoscopereview@gmail.com. Copyright 2010 by Sylvia Sky.

Horoscope Review: The Mystery of LSN's Daily Horoscopes

An impressive daily horoscope column copyrighted only by "LSN, Inc.," made me curious to know the astrologer's name. So I emailed LSN, an Atlanta-based mobile media and marketing company that feeds mobile websites "content," such as weather, gas prices and horoscopes. And got no answer. But I still wanted to let people know about that nice substantial scope and credit its author.

Searches showed the column scattered across the Net, and syndicated also by a service called Topix that does what LSN does: spread content through online and wireless mass media. Nowhere was the individual astrologer's name revealed. But the searches proved that the horoscopes were not computerized but in fact custom-written for each sign each day.

Finally I matched the syndicated scopes with an individual astrologer: Rob Tillett, editor and publisher of Australia's astrologycom.com. Tillett's team of astrologers offers a site with 4,000 (four thousand!) pages of information: lovescopes (a.k.a. the "Nude Horoscope," not very naughty); weekly, monthly and annual forecasts; teenscopes; compatibility stuff; and articles that discuss in depth, for example, pagan holidays or the meaning of Venus in Scorpio. Tillett confirmed that he writes the daily horoscopes, and they are syndicated to a firm called Tinbu. Tinbu's clients include Topix and LSN. Some U.S. television networks feed LSN horoscopes to their mobile sites. I now realize that LSN never sent me the astrologer's name because they they had no idea who it was. Only a search back through a long chain of providers uncovered the author. And, half a world away, he had no idea he was LSN's astrologer, either, and as such had at least one big fan.

Tillett's daily Sun-Sign forecasts on his home site, astrologycom.com, offer half a month's worth of daily forecasts: September 1 through 15 are online on September 1. Feel confident that Tillett correctly states the Moon's current placement in the zodiac, or when planets go retrograde. Now, fifteen daily scopes and 4,000 pages can be distracting, and of course contain some bloat -- real astrology doesn't generate or "predict" lucky colors or numbers -- but they're harmless. Prepared to dismiss the site's monthly "Tarotscopes" by Lili Rosace because horoscopes aren't done with Tarot cards -- period -- reading them I saw that she's a real Tarot reader, and I respect that.

Five stars for the daily forecasts' integrity and the site's educational and entertainment value.

SexualAstrology.com, How to Seduce a Man by Sun Sign

Sexual astrology? What an irresistible idea! Find it on SexualAstrology.com and the related StarAstrologer.com. Bookmark the latter site if the word "sexual" on your computer unnerves you; both sites share the same monthly forecasts.

Scroll down the SexualAstrology.com home page to find your monthly Sun Sign forecast. Then you will probably want to peek at your sweetheart's. Maybe like me you will prefer the weekly scopes, because they offer four chances a month to hope that this coming week you will truly "mature in your sensuous relationship with your mate" or that "an Aries, Libra, or Sagittarius might rock your world." That's as racy as the language gets. Do not expect X-rated detail about what you will do in bed this week, month, or year, or with whom. SexualAstrology.com's advice is about emotions, romance and relationships: the "weather in the bedroom" that has to be right before great sex can happen.

Have fun with this site, and don't make my mistake of taking it too seriously. The weekly Sun-Sign horoscopes have almost never reflected what actually occurs in my world, and regarding my sweetheart they have steered me dead wrong. Although it is just as computerized as the weekly scope, the monthly scope seems more accurate, and earns two and a half stars out of five.

The site's menus are lengthy and crowded, so use the search box at the top of the homepage, or the Sitemap in its footer to quickly find what you want, whether that's a very short and basic Sun-Sign compatibility reading, "How to Seduce a Man by Sun Sign" (there's no "How to Seduce a Woman"; I guess we're all easy, LOL), or to order extended computerized reports, such as the "Torn Between Two Lovers" report ($49.95) I haven't seen offered elsewhere on the Net.

Rob Breszny's FreeWill Astrology: Cosmic Energies

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

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

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

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

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