Chart rectification – My special technique
Chart rectification (i.e. trying to find the exact birth time) is a big topic in astrology. The "proper" or conventional way to do it is to gather a list of dates for the person's major life events (like births and deaths of loved ones, serious illnesses, weddings, relocation, starting a new job, etc) and then check out the transits, progressions and solar arcs to the natal chart, one by one, to fine tune the birth time. It's mentally exhausting work and there's no guarantee the eventual time you come up with is the accurate birth time. It's more likely to be a "workable" time only, a plausible starting point of sorts.
I don't really specialise in chart rectification, but if I do need to do a rectification for clients, I'll usually do it this way which I'm sharing below.
As clients nowadays usually book online, either via email or text messages, you already have an exact time of their inquiry. In my view, that's an extremely important piece of information. This is because as paying customers generally want a reading because of major life issues, the mere step they've taken to contact an astrologer already marks a very important moment or even a turning point in their attempt to address whatever important issues they are facing. They are no longer trying to deal with it alone. They are reaching out for help!
In my experience, for most clients who don't know their exact birth times, they are usually able to give a range, say, "from 2 to 4am" or "some time after 10pm". I think this is because on a pragmatic level, for those who have absolutely no clue at all about their birth times, they wouldn't have tried astrology in the first place. They'd have turned to some other tools that don't require birth times at all.
In doing the rectification, I'll first take note of the exact time of the inquiry (and the client's current city, if different from mine) and generate a chart based on that. This will serve as a transit chart to the client’s natal chart based on the range of time given.
For example, if the client says she was born between "2 and 4am", then I'll average the time and generate a natal chart using 3am first. The next step is to see if any planet in the transit chart is near to any angle of the natal chart, especially the ASC-DC axis. This is because the mere act of asking an astrologer for a booking is obviously a very ASC-DC thing! If I see, for instance, transiting Mercury is 12 degrees away from the client’s DC, then I’ll fine tune the client’s natal chart, minute by minute, to the point that Mercury is basically exactly conjunct the DC. This way I may well have a birth time that could be extremely close to the real birth time, probably just within a few minutes' of difference. If not, that's at least a plausible starting point for further explorations.
My observations so far are that the birth time thus rectified is usually pretty accurate. Further proofs could be obtained when you find that transitting Jupiter or Uranus (other heavies like Saturn, Pluto, Chiron or even Neptune also work, but the "impact" of Jupiter and Uranus is usually a lot more instantaneous) was exactly conjunct a supposed angle based on the rectified time, say, in February last year and the client also vividly recalls an important event or a general mood that fits the typical characteristics of a Jupiter or Uranus transit to the natal angle. For example, Jupiter conjunct MC could mean a job promotion while Uranus conjunct the ASC could represent an exciting new phase in life (or a very disruptive period!).
I haven't compared birth times thus rectified with those using conventional techniques. If you're interested, please try by all means and report back the results! I’d be curious to find out too.
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