Skyscript Astrology Forum

Hi,

on my MAC (IMac) it takes with Paralles 18 sec to boot the program! (Vers 9)
Win 7
Wolfgang

It's more then strange that DO9 is 3x faster in virtual then in its native OS environment!!!

at999 wrote:It's more then strange that DO9 is 3x faster in virtual then in its native OS environment!!!

at999, you can't compare speed results on different hardware. My current iMac is much faster than my Windows Vista laptop that is now 9 years old. It's also not quite correct to suggest that DO9 is native to windows. DO8 was, but version 9 is being developed in a cross platform environment.

I know a lot of you here on skyscript like to run yesterday's technology, but typical current processors will boot it in under 30 seconds as I found out during beta testing this past month. My machine is average (bought it in Feb this year) and on my VMWare side it takes about 25 seconds to load. I've allocated 2 GB of RAM to that side.

Wolfgang, what RAM, graphics card are you using? I have 3.2 GH intel Core i5 with AMD Radeon R9 M390 2048 MB graphics card, 8 GB RAM.

Hi Curtis,

Congratulations on releasing version 9 of Delphic Oracle.

Talking about the ancient techniques, where my focus solely lies, your program is my favourite by far. It is also my default one and the one I have been recommending (along with Rumen Kolev?s Porphyry Magus 2). I read you are working on the Hellenistic wheel and as it is almost my primary one I have a few suggestions for its improvement.

It will be best if you can make the Hellenistic wheel as customizable as the default round one. In other words, one will be able to change all the components of the Hellenistic wheel just as they can with the round one. I am no programmer and I have no idea how difficult or easy or time consuming that would be but am certain others also prefer that type of wheel (or the Medieval one) over the round one which every single program offers, though of course without all the many intricate customizations that you allow.

I am still using the older version of Delpic Oracle that I purchased from you because the new versions, with a slight difference, do not change the Hellenistic wheel. For instance, version 8 has a big disparity between the size of the zoidia and of the planets. The zoidia are huge, the planets are small. When I tried to decrease the font of the former and increase the font of the latter it did not work in the Hellenistic wheel but in the round one.

If it would be too time consuming to offer full customization of the Hellenistic wheel then may I please suggest the following:


1) to make the IC and Dsc visible in the Hellenistic wheel. Moreover, to make them differentiate between planets strongly advancing and those retreating, just as the Asc and the MC do.

See the charts below (4 April 2016 4.37 pm, New York, NY, USA) where Zeus at 15 Vir is correctly shown to be below the Asc 12 and thus strongly advancing (the MC also shows that correctly, but there is no planet in this example). I can put the IC and the Dsc in the round chart and they will be visible but they are not visible in the Hellenistic wheel. Please note this may be because of my old version 6.4.
In this chart, Ares at 7 Sag is retreating from the IC at 9 and Kronos at 16 is strongly advancing in the IC. Again, this is not shown. Also, the Moon at 8 Pis is retreating from the Dsc at 12 while Aphrodite at 28 is strongly advancing. I would very much like to have this difference visible, just as the Asc and the MC offer that. While using whole sign houses, it makes a significant difference, as you well know, how goaded a certain planet is. Moreover, in case of the Dsc it is very important due to the sect of the chart. People who are using whole signs with other programs often make the mistake of counting the Sun in the 7th in some charts whereas it is retreating and while in the 7th place it is a night chart. That changes the the Sect Light, its trigon lords etc. In the case of the Moon in a night chart below the horizon in the 7th, you know that this often changes Fortune and Spirit. This is absolutely crucial and must be seen at a glance in the Hellenistic wheel as well.

2) to make it possible for the user to see only the degrees of the planets in the Hellenistic wheel.

In my version it is not possible but I know in the newer ones it is, but it also shows the minutes and zoidia. I don?t care for the minutes and stopped using them. I only check to see if there is a 3 degree configuration. Eliminating the minutes will give the user the option of eliminating over 13 numbers from the chart depending on how many symbols one uses. When you remove the zoidia as well, as the Hellenistic wheel is whole sign houses, this removes another 13 numbers and makes for perceiving all the data much easier. I did this years ago in my round chart in Delphic Oracle. See below the round chart with the data. Also, when just the degrees are visible, for one to have the option of using ordinal or cardinal/mark degree as portion or not. If that is too much work, then please leave the cardinal degrees as the only choice. As much as I love the ancient knowledge, modern people use 0 and are so used to this that it is uncomfortable for the mind. For instance, Rumen Kolev has programmed only the ordinal numbers and when I see ?Asc 30 degrees? my eyes hurt!
Also, since I don?t use the minutes and the zoidia in the round wheel, when a planet is retrograde its degree is shown in a different colour (red or orange or whatever the user chooses. The degrees of direct planets are black in my settings so the contrast is great). I would very much like to have that in the Hellenistic wheel as well ? the retrograde planets to be shown the same way as the in the round wheel.
Depending on whether you plan to offer full customization to the Hellenistic wheel or not, could you also leave the option of seeing the planets without the zoidia and the degrees and minutes? In other words, just as it is now ? in the chart I have attached ? simply the planets in the 12th places. As an upgrade to this, could I ask, since the degrees are not visible, to make it so that the symbols of the retrograde planets are coloured in the same colour that the degrees of the planets are when seen in the round wheel. If the last one is too much work, it is not that a big deal.


3) to make other points visible in the Hellenistic wheel.

I know you fixed the South Node so that is visible in later versions. In case you have included the other points, then I apologize, but I still want to write them. One can include all the points in the round wheel but not the Lots Eros and Necessity, the Prenatal Lunation in the Hellenistic wheel, and I already wrote about the Dsc and the IC. I do not know whether you plan to include other Lots, such as those of family members, Injury, Foreign Lands, Debt, Theft etc, but having that option would be fantastic. I know the Italian program Astrophasis offers some Lots to be included in the chart but not all the major ones I would like to use if I decide I want to see them, and that would be an opportunity for you to have advantage over the competition in just another area when it comes to traditional methods.

4) to make the rising times of the zoidia bigger in the Hellenistic wheel.
Their size is 2-3 times smaller than the one in the round wheel and one must exert more pressure on the eyes in order to see them as clearly, especially given how bigger the zoidia and the planets are.


Finally, I have another suggestion that involves not just the Hellenistic wheel. If you can make your program calculate eclipses that would be great. Janus and Solar Fire do that. What I am above all interested in is whether the Prenatal Lunation (SAN) is an eclipse or not. If you can make an option for the user to choose whether to somehow mark the SAN that is an eclipse that would be truly amazing. In other words, when looking at the SAN in a given nativity to know whether it is an eclipse or not. Again, that Prenatal Lunation must be visible in the Hellenistic wheel as well because as you know it is a sign of eminence and for calculating the length of life ? the most fundamental and primary topics in Hellenistic Astrology.

I will stop here. I have some other suggestions but since they concern calculating the length of life to a greater extent than timing methods, they will be for a much more limited number of users and thus may not be worth the effort. If you are interested, I can write them.


Thank you again for producing such a lovely program. It offers both beauty in its simplicity and enormous complexity for those interested in this.

Zagata wrote:It will be best if you can make the Hellenistic wheel as customizable as the default round one. In other words, one will be able to change all the components of the Hellenistic wheel just as they can with the round one. I am no programmer and I have no idea how difficult or easy or time consuming that would be but am certain others also prefer that type of wheel (or the Medieval one) over the round one which every single program offers, though of course without all the many intricate customizations that you allow.

I am still using the older version of Delpic Oracle that I purchased from you because the new versions, with a slight difference, do not change the Hellenistic wheel. For instance, version 8 has a big disparity between the size of the zoidia and of the planets. The zoidia are huge, the planets are small. When I tried to decrease the font of the former and increase the font of the latter it did not work in the Hellenistic wheel but in the round one.

Thanks Zagata for your comments. The Hellenistic wheel was the first wheel I came out with in 2003 for version 1 and it was without much thought that I moved on to circular format. I know some users prefer the medieval (pythagorean square) format, but I haven't heard many others use this format. This chart format is supposed to use the same font sizes as the wheel defaults used in the circular format. If you're using the fixed star wheel, this can cause a problem because the signs are by default huge in that wheel type. You should be able to set AutoSizeFont = False and then set a default size (but I'm not sure what version you're using).

1) to make the IC and Dsc visible in the Hellenistic wheel. Moreover, to make them differentiate between planets strongly advancing and those retreating, just as the Asc and the MC do.

OK. Noted... Adding this will have to change the array's and method of allocating positions. There is some very old code there.

2) to make it possible for the user to see only the degrees of the planets in the Hellenistic wheel.

This should be easy enough to change.

If that is too much work, then please leave the cardinal degrees as the only choice. As much as I love the ancient knowledge, modern people use 0 and are so used to this that it is uncomfortable for the mind. For instance, Rumen Kolev has programmed only the ordinal numbers and when I see ?Asc 30 degrees? my eyes hurt!

The DegreeAsPortion boolean var could be made to apply to the Hellenistic wheel as well.

Also, since I don?t use the minutes and the zoidia in the round wheel, when a planet is retrograde its degree is shown in a different colour (red or orange or whatever the user chooses. The degrees of direct planets are black in my settings so the contrast is great). I would very much like to have that in the Hellenistic wheel as well ? the retrograde planets to be shown the same way as the in the round wheel.

OK.

Depending on whether you plan to offer full customization to the Hellenistic wheel or not, could you also leave the option of seeing the planets without the zoidia and the degrees and minutes? In other words, just as it is now ? in the chart I have attached ? simply the planets in the 12th places. As an upgrade to this, could I ask, since the degrees are not visible, to make it so that the symbols of the retrograde planets are coloured in the same colour that the degrees of the planets are when seen in the round wheel. If the last one is too much work, it is not that a big deal.

OK.

3) to make other points visible in the Hellenistic wheel.

I know you fixed the South Node so that is visible in later versions. In case you have included the other points, then I apologize, but I still want to write them. One can include all the points in the round wheel but not the Lots Eros and Necessity, the Prenatal Lunation in the Hellenistic wheel, and I already wrote about the Dsc and the IC. I do not know whether you plan to include other Lots, such as those of family members, Injury, Foreign Lands, Debt, Theft etc, but having that option would be fantastic.

This would be more difficult due to changing the old code that indexes the arrays. But doable. You have to consider that if all 42 points are showing, what to do on Feb 5, 1962 when they are almost all in one sign!

4) to make the rising times of the zoidia bigger in the Hellenistic wheel.
Their size is 2-3 times smaller than the one in the round wheel and one must exert more pressure on the eyes in order to see them as clearly, especially given how bigger the zoidia and the planets are.

I believe this is supposed to use the same font size as the InfoFontSize setting on the wheels tab (same that is used for chart data in top left). By default in version 9 I've gone a bit larger.

Finally, I have another suggestion that involves not just the Hellenistic wheel. If you can make your program calculate eclipses that would be great.

The Swiss Ephemeris offers this already, but I haven't yet made use of this. Was thinking about how to do this in TerraChron.

I will stop here. I have some other suggestions but since they concern calculating the length of life to a greater extent than timing methods, they will be for a much more limited number of users and thus may not be worth the effort. If you are interested, I can write them.

I can't promise that I'll be able to do everything, but thanks for your comments!

Hi Curtis,

I am using version 6.4.2.1 of Delphic Oracle.

Following your explanation I was able to increase the font of the ascensional times of the zoidia in the Hellenistic wheel by changing the InfoFontSize from 8 all the way up to 15.

Thank you for taking note of the suggestions. I look forward to the upgrade.

I don?t know how many you will implement but talking about the Hellenistic wheel of course, If I had to rank them in order of importance I would say, having the Dsc and the IC visible and correctly showing planets strongly advancing and retreating is the central one to have.

Then follows having just the degrees of the planets (no zoidia or minutes) which can be coloured in the case of retrograde planets depending on what colour the uses chooses, as per the round wheel.

Then comes having extra points visible. You said that would be more difficult. Fine, how about just SAN, Eros and Necessity. Exaltation is visible and so is Basis (which as you know is the one among Eros and Necessity below the horizon). Having the Prenatal Lunation visible is important not just for overall eminence and length of life, but for climacteric times as per Valens and others. Likewise, having Eros and Necessity will help a lot in Profections as per Valens Book IV as well showing which among the places falling amiss gets busy due to having such a lot.
In addition to this, Valens has an aphorism about homosexual and bisexual natives which involves Ares, Hermes and Eros. I would love to be able to try and time the period when such natives come out by using the above three in the Hellenistic wheel. Sure, it is very easy to do Profections in one?s mind, but having the Lots of Eros and Necessity visible will greatly help, especially when it comes to the type of Profections presented by Valens.

Speaking of Lots, I wanted to add that Delphic Oracle, at least the version that I use, reverses the formula for the Lot concerning a Foreign Land whereas it should not. It is Kronos to Ares from the Asc (Valens Book II, chapter 30, p. 55-56 in Schmidt?s translation). It is called the Travel Abroad ? Valens et all in Delphic Oracle.

Thank you once again.

Zagata wrote:Speaking of Lots, I wanted to add that Delphic Oracle, at least the version that I use, reverses the formula for the Lot concerning a Foreign Land whereas it should not. It is Kronos to Ares from the Asc (Valens Book II, chapter 30, p. 55-56 in Schmidt?s translation). It is called the Travel Abroad ? Valens et all in Delphic Oracle.

I think you will find two by the same name (one each for day/night). Because of the lot reversal issue (see my youtube videos: http://www.youtube.com/zoidsoft/) it's frequently the case that fortune and spirit will not stay constant throughout the life (see my John Denver example on youtube). Serapio says that if the Sun is in a feminine sign by day and in the west and the Moon is rising that one can swap fortune and spirit by day as well.

Is it the one Exile lot by Valens? The one Schmidt translated as "being away from home"?

Yes, it is that one exile Lot, but the not one you said. Schmidt translates the Lot in question as the Lot concerning Foreign Land.
The Lot of Being Away from Home is mentioned by Valens in the same chapter but he gives no formula.

I did watch your informative video on John Denver and Zodiacal Releasing. I replied in the forum topic comparing the 2 Lots side by side.

That explanation by Sepapio is most intriguing, especially when it concerns diurnal charts as you pointed out. I just reread what Serapio says.
Thank you, I will be on the lookout for the Lots swapping in day charts and see how often that holds true.

Zagata wrote:I did watch your informative video on John Denver and Zodiacal Releasing. I replied in the forum topic comparing the 2 Lots side by side.

I didn't see any comments on that video.

Here is the link, Curtis:

http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... highlight=

Hi,

sorry for my late answer. But I was this weekend in Germany. Now I am back.
This are my system.

http://www.screencast.com/t/5X1jnecbQ14V

Wolfgang