The Importance of the Time of Birth

True story: a (insert sign here) person sat in front of me. I asked for Date of Birth, entered it, Place of Birth, typed that in, then Time of Birth, and hit the calculator to find the time zone, then perform the functions of casting an astrology chart.

“I’m not sure, I think I was born in the morning.”

I looked over my glasses, looked at the chest then jawline, adjusted the hour of birth upwards a notch, and got a close approximation. Followed up with an email, a few days later, I was within 6 minutes, I “guessed” at 9 AM, and the follow-up missive suggested the actual birth certificate copy read 8:54 AM.

Experience, years of observation, and subtle visual clues. Doesn’t work every time, but I’ve been at this long enough to know the difference.

The Importance of the Time of Birth

So in the new book, I want to have a short introduction to the time element, as, that’s what this is all about. The Sun goes around the astrological wheel, makes a single lap through all 12 houses, basically a whole astrological degree, every day.

Some people become obsessive about the time of birth, but do this long enough, and there’s some sense of the elements at work.

Most frequently, when time isn’t known, I start with 8:00 AM, sometimes 7 or maybe 9, depends. But most babies are born around sunrise or a little after.

For many formative years in certain astrological circles, there was a single, default computer program for calculating charts. When time of birth was “unknown,” that program defaulted to noon. Default setting was high noon. So there’s a long series of charts and chart interpretations that have births, houses, moon signs, and everything else predicated on that noon birth time, which is possibly erroneous.

In one out of a dozen readings, or thereabouts, when the birth time is unknown, I’ll have to diddle with that time of birth, usually on the fly. Moon signs are kind of a thing, and that means, when it could change, “I think I was born in the morning,” that helps. Maybe one in a dozen requires extra attention. It can be done.

The Importance of the Time of Birth

While the time of birth is important, when it is a total unknown? Best guess is around sunrise, and the information? Proceed forward understanding that come of the material, especially the Astrology Houses, that information is suspect.

Kramer Wetzel’s little book of transits

“Coming Soon, to a bookseller near you.”