#natal chart rectification

Rectifying a birth chart is definitely advanced astrology.

I recently attempted to rectify a birth chart for a singer born 94 years ago. I have no way to verify if my result was accurate but I felt it was the most plausible chart.

I started by considering her career, her personal described experience of her talents, and taking into account family life. I usually start out at dawn and work backwards in time, slowly turning the chart and visualizing the ascendant moving. I start at dawn for two reasons: one, because a dawn chart is a good replacement for a chart that is missing the correct birth time (it aligns the ascendant with the sun) and because most people are born between midnight and dawn, because that's when the human body naturally wants to be born/give birth for hormonal reasons. (That's a whole other topic.)

Conversely, if the person is a known cesarean birth, you're more likely looking at a daytime chart.

I used to suggest starting with personal appearances and rising signs-- to pick a couple of rising signs the person looks/moves/talks like, and start there-- but I no longer suggest this. Planets on the ascendant can be way too misleading, and also there's too much room for personal bias. Better to start systematically with the sun on the ascendant and work backwards.

So, we start out aligning the sun with the hypothetical ascendant (dawn chart) and then start turning the hypothetical birth time backwards towards midnight and backwards into the evening, afternoon, etc. Watch what houses the planets fall into as you turn the chart.

With the singer's chart, I was mainly watching her Venus. Venus rules singing and she was most known for her singing, as well as renowned for her beauty. But she was also harassed and abused in her work and left the industry in disgust at one time. Ultimately I decided that her Venus made the most sense in the 12th house. 12th house placements can point to fame that feels negative or out of our control. Her voice seemed to belong to others, and she struggled throughout her life to secure control of her talents. Whereas 10th house can represent the kind of reputation that gives us some sort of power or respect, and 11th house is popularity and connection, the 12th house rules the kind of fame that's out of control and doesn't bring much personal benefit.

The 9th house is the house of travels outside of your local area, and international anything. 12th house rules situations in which you have no autonomy, so as far as travel it would only refer to exile or forced travel. The 12th house is situations in which you feel trapped. Yes, a month long vacation is a 9th house matter, unless it was forced and you felt trapped, or you got "stuck there" for a while, in which case you may see evidence in both the 9th and 12th houses.

In rectifying the chart I would focus on the most important things. What are the biggest themes of the subject's life? Venus, and a sense of being used, and overcoming that, were the biggest themes in that singer's life. What is the biggest theme in the chart you are attempting to rectify? A long vacation is not a key life event.

Well, this takes a lot of practice, first of all. This is called natal chart rectification and is among the most advanced astrology techniques.

It’s easy to pick out some likely configurations, but it can be harder to narrow it down to the right configuration.

Still, here is the basic method:

Often you already have an idea of the time of birth, or a couple of solid guesses as to the rising sign based on their personality. If you do, consider that someone who “acts like a Gemini rising” could also have Mercury on the ascendant or in the first house, or Gemini on the midheaven, or even Sun conjunct Mercury, Sun in the third house, etc. Someone who “acts like a Scorpio Rising” could be a Cancer Rising with Moon conjunct Pluto! See? Watch out for that.

If you have no idea, then the first thing to do, is look at the literal physical appearance. What signs does the person “look” like? It doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s the person’s rising sign–it could be from their moon sign or from a planet conjuncting their ascendant. But take it into consideration.

Secondly, consider their values (what’s most important to them in their life?) their reputation (what are they known for?) and their career. Values and appearance tend to be ascendant/1st house. Reputation and career tend to be midheaven/10th house.

Consider rising signs that you can rule out, but check them before ruling them out. For instance, you could say, “I really don’t see this person as a Sagittarius Rising,” but when you check you notice that this could put their Neptune in Sagittarius on their ascendant and that puts their Venus near the midheaven– which would make them not express themselves like a typical Sagittarius Rising– so maybe that fits. Eliminate ascendants that just don’t work.