Surfing for the stars

FINDING FAULT WITH ASTROLOGY is almost too easy. One recent day, a Web site offering daily astrological projections told me that I should turn my attention to "group situations that are truly important . . . sink [my] teeth into exciting but serious projects. Get away from frivolity." But a second site said the day would be best used to "accent relaxation, toss cares aside, and spend time away from the daily grind."

Reputable scientists gleefully debunk it as a hoary, ancient pseudoscience, yet astrology has never been more popular. More than a third of Americans say they believe in astrology—twice the number as admitted it 20 years ago. The words "astrology" and "horoscope" are among the top 10 or 20 keywords entered at Yahoo! and other popular search engines.

However, only a small percentage of believers or detractors know more than their own sign or a smattering of personality traits assigned to the various zodiac characters—Aquarians are kind and altruistic, Scorpios are determined and assertive, and so on.

StarIQ, an 18-month-old dot-com headquartered in Redmond, is out to change all that. The distinctions start on the company's home page with its public disclaimer: "StarIQ," it states in bright red letters, "is not for entertainment purposes only." These guys are serious about what they are doing, and they want their users to be. "StarIQ astrology information must be used with common sense," they caution. They will not be held responsible for how you use their content.

But then they're not just peddling the usual brand of Sun Sign astrology. The typical astrology column, such as the one in this newspaper, divides the terrestrial population into a dozen approximately equal groups, based on birth dates—the familiar 12 signs of the zodiac. Even assuming there is a bona fide connection between the positions of the planets and an individual's personality and emotions, the fact that 6 billion people currently cohabit the planet means each horoscope has to fit about 500 million people equally well.

A personalized natal chart, on the other hand, taking into account not only the month and day but the year and place a person was born, has a great deal more specificity. Add to that the exact time of birth, and every man, woman, and child that has ever lived has a distinctive zodiac chart, with several billion left over for future generations.

StarIQ cofounders Jeff Jawer and Rick Levine see the Internet as an ideal medium for delivering personalized astrological forecasts and advice. Every piece they send out can be targeted directly to the individual, and no two people need ever get precisely the same sets. At the same time, since the charts are all based on the progressions of fewer than a dozen planets— including the sun and moon as well as assorted lesser heavenly bodies—around a 360-degree circle, the process lends itself quite well to automation.

Mercury will come around to a 90-degree angle from where Saturn was when you were born at a different time than it will for me, but the so-called "Transiting Mercury Square Natal Saturn" aspect will show up sooner or later for everyone. Keeping track of just when is the kind of thing computers were made for. Given that lots of things are circling around up there at once, subscribers can expect a reasonably unique set of six to 10 commentaries a month. (The service is free, but subscribers need to supply the proper personal data and an e-mail address.) Currently StarIQ has signed up over 11,000 users, and reports an encouraging drop-out rate of less than 4 percent.

LISTENING TO JAWER TALK about the site is a study in apparent contrasts. He slips casually between planetary transits and the nodes of the moon to ASP technology and SQL-7 databases. This dichotomy is not surprising, given his background. Before taking the plunge as CEO and publisher at StarIQ, he was a marketing director for Matrix Software and vice president of operations at ACS Publications, a major publisher of astrological reference books and software.

StarIQ has won a place in the media as a go-to source for expert astrological information. A few weeks before Christmas, Jawer published a piece predicting—correctly—that Hollywood sweethearts Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger would break up before the holidays. As he chatted with Seattle Weekly last month, Jawer was again reviewing Carrey and Zellweger's charts, preparing to go live with Access Hollywood to discuss the matter.

Another means of building the site's page-views is "Astro-Port," a clearinghouse for all kinds of astrological information, including a free listing service for professional astrologers and conferences worldwide. "We've created a place where astrologers can list themselves with their home page, photo, credentials," says Jawer. "They can have their publications, lectures, and [the] like in a totally searchable database."

For the moment, StarIQ is generating revenue by syndicating astrological columns and hawking books and other astrological paraphernalia online. The long-range plan is to roll out a series of fee-based personalized advice services dealing with health and herbs, finance and investing, and, of course, romance and dating. The first of these, called Love Cycles, is already available, both directly and through links on their affiliates' Web sites. For $40 a year, StarIQ e-mails weekly reports on how Venus' trek through the sky is affecting your relationships, both in the short and long term.