Solar Fire vs Janus 5 Software

[randallnyc]

Is one of these better for Siderealists, or is it merely a matter of preference?

[Jim Eshelman]

I suppose it's mostly preference. Janus displays a few specialty items that seem concentrated on Siderealists. I find, though, that Solar Fire is is the most flexible gives me 99% of what I want (and is far easier to move around).

For a different point of view, in the advertisement of Ken Bowser's new book and course he specifically says he's concentrating on how to use Janus, so I have to assume he favors it. Here's the ad for his book:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=4670

I use Solar Fire for essentially everything.

[SteveS]

Randallnyc asked:

Is one of these better for Siderealists, or is it merely a matter of preference?

Short answer: They are both excellent programs but for the serious Siderealist who wants to be able to analyze all the main charts used in Sidereal Astrology, Janus 5 will calculate the PSSR (Progressed Sidereal Solar Return), and Solar Fire does not. But, a PSSR is only one of the daily charts used in Sidereal Astrology—so actually Janus is not a must for the Sidereal Astrologer.

Long answer: For the beginning student in Sidereal Astrology he/she would want to go with Solar Fire simply because this is the main program Jim uses and this is the only Sidereal Astrology forum available for program questions. Most other long standing Sidereal Astrologer members on this forum use Solar Fire. Therefore, to be able to ask questions about calculating and functioning the many charts Sidereal Astrologers analyze, for a better/quicker learning curve standpoint, Solar Fire is your program of choice. But, if you know a veteran Siderealist who uses Janus and is willing to answer all your program questions---definitely go with Janus. As a beginning/learning Sidereal Astrologer I chose Solar Fire because I had a very experienced Sidereal Astrologer who was willing to spend as much time as possible with me answering all of my program questions with all the details involved.

IMO, in order for the Sidereal Astrologer student to truly understand the complete system of Sidereal Astrology, he/she should be able to calculate all the different charts used in Sidereal Astrology and how to set-up viewing these charts, so, it doesn’t really matter which program you use as long as you can calculate/function all of these charts with a program. When I read “The Primer of Sidereal Astrology, I quickly understood I had to learn how to calculate all of its chart examples in order to learn all the chart systems for Sidereal Astrology.

Jim’s main program is Solar Fire, but he is also a registered user of Janus so I am sure Jim will have his own opinions about these two programs. Oh, I just noticed Jim provided his answer.

[Jim Eshelman]

Since I'm a solid Solar Fire fan (and we publish many tips here to expand on usability) - and can simply say that I get essentially everything I want from it - I'll balance that by mentioning some targeted Sidereal features Janus has that Solar Fire does not have. This may help you decide whether you need/want those features. Running through the Janus menus, I find:

• The ability to display a chart as an Octoscope, using Cyril Fagan's last ideas. (You can't do an eight-sector house display in Solar Fire.)
• Ability to do secondary progressions (whether SNQ or SQ) by apparent solar rate or mean rate. (Solar Fire only allows mean rate. This doesn't impact me because I'm sure the mean rate is the correct one, but if you want to experiment and draw your own conclusions you can't do it in SF.)
• Ability to do a few obscure kinds of "returns" that you can't directly calculate in SF, such as midpoint returns, synodic returns, 7-year (secondary progressed) lunars. Also direct calculation of kinetic solar and lunar returns (though those are easy to do in SF with a minor trick).
• The ability to calculate the PSSR. This is probably its most directly important feature IMHO depending on the importance you place on the PSSR. (My opinion has changed over the years and a couple of us are in a renewed phase of looking at it.) The PSSR can be calculated in Janus by either the mean or apparent solar rate. In SF the option doesn't exist at all (which has slowed down PSSR experimentation for years, maybe decades), though for the mean solar rate there is an easy trick that gets you almost exactly the right answer most of the time. (I've settled into the opinion that PSSR angles are valid as Fagan thought but by the mean solar rate, not apparent. I just learned that Ken Bowser agrees with me on that, although, of course, we could both be wrong.) I also have posted an Excel spreadsheet that does most of the hard work outside of SF. However, if you want to work heavily with the PSSR, Janus is the easiest way to do this.)
• The ability to calculate the Novien directly. (In SF, you can do it with a trick that slows you down just a little.)