Time of Birth

Commenter Bob's mention of rectification with regard to Bernie Sanders' natal chart, (see last weekend's post), reminded me that it's been some 6 years since I last posted on the topic of astrological rectification - that is, determination of a person's exact time of birth using dates and times of events in their later life. Rectification techniques are also used by astrologers in cases of public figures, such as Bernie Sanders, whose time of birth, though probably known, has not been made public. I noticed, during Google searches, that there's another astrologer working on rectification of Senator Sanders' natal chart too . See HERE.

Now's as good a time as any for a re-run on the topic of astrological rectification in general:

Rectification in Astrology

Knowing your exact time of birth is key to being able to use astrology at its most accurate. Unfortunately it's not easy to obtain information exact enough for detailed astrological purposes. In the USA time of birth is routinely recorded - but whether this is always accurate to within 5, 10, 20 minutes (or more) is anybody's guess, and relies on the efficiency and care of hospital staff (unless a relative is present at the birth and also interested in astrology). In some cases just a few minutes difference can mean a different rising sign, sometimes even a different Moon sign, which, in turn affects the time when transiting planets conjoin or aspect natal planets and points.

The rising sign, also known as the ascendant, is the zodiac sign which was coming over the horizon at your place of birth, at your exact time of birth. It is thought by astrologers to be one of the three most important factors in the natal chart, along with positions of Sun and Moon.


There's an imponderable involved here though: is the exact time of birth when the baby's head appears, when the umbilical cord is cut, when the baby takes its first breath? Or should we, in truth, be more concerned with time of conception (almost impossible to establish)? We can only do our best, follow our own feelings on the matter.

Professional astrologers can be of assistance in establishing a likely time of birth for clients who lack the information. If the client lists exact dates of highly significant life events (serious illness, operations, marriage, birth of offspring, divorce, moving home, change of career) the astrologer can use these to estimate a birth time, using various complex methods. Any rough time span the client knows, from conversation with parents, would be of great help. If a client had no idea at all of their time of birth, not even day/night or morning/afternoon, the task would be extra difficult, but I believe an estimate could still be made.

I had problems discovering my own birth time. My birth occurred at home. The story, as told by my father misled me somewhat. He said he thought that I was born "around tea time" - in our world that would have been around 5pm. A birth time of approximately 5pm in the city where I was born would mean Leo was rising. My mother had no reliable memory of my birth time; not surprising as she suffered a hemorrhage and almost died. She did offer once: "I think it might have been about 3 o'clock, but I'm not sure".

I struggled with the idea of having Leo as rising sign for many years. The only link with Leo tendencies I could identify in myself was a tendency to hanker after the most expensive version of anything I went out to buy. "Champagne taste, and beer money", my Mum used to say.

Many years later, after both my parents had died, my mother's sister who had been present at my birth told me that she felt fairly sure I was born around 2.30pm. Unwilling to go against my Dad's estimate completely, I decided on a rough time estimate, splitting the difference. With this estimate, Cancer became my rising sign, and it did fit my personality better, especially the way I was in youth, and to some extent even now.

There must be thousands of people in the UK with no clear information on their times of birth, it's such a pity there's no requirement for authorities to record birth times. After I moved to live in America and started learning the finer points of astrology, I paid a professional astrologer who specialises in rectification to look at my chart. After considering a list of some 10 to 12 life events, and with the time span I offered: 2pm to 6pm, the astrologer estimated a birth time of 2.27pm. He said that although he was not as sure as he'd like to be about the exact degree, he was certain that Cancer was rising at the time of my birth. I suspect my true birth time was somewhere between 2.27 & 3pm, and nearer to 3pm than 2.27, but decided to work with the time the astrologer came up with - doubt has to stop somewhere!