Is Your Birth Time Wrong?
If your birth time is wrong, you’re not alone. It’s a really common problem and astrologers see it all the time.
The stress and excitement of giving birth can send one or both parents’ memories haywire, and medical staff can also record a wrong birth time.
Daylight saving clock changes can also catch people born in the warmer months – you’d be surprised how often bedroom clocks can stay stuck on the wrong time.
Were You Born on the Half Hour or Hour?
Very few people were born on the half hour, or hour – so if you have been told you were born at 3.00pm or 3.30pm, you may want to double-check.
When Famous People Get it Wrong
I recently told Metro, the most popular free newspaper in Great Britain, that I’d only got prediction wrong once – that was Donald Trump.
Working with the time, date and place supplied by Trump officials, I found myself with a horoscope that looked nothing like that, of a future president. I wasn’t totally surprised when a second official birthdate (one month out) was supplied later on. I no longer use either chart.
Diana, Princess of Wales, has two birth times to this day – and I guess we’ll never know.
Finally, Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, probably has an incorrect birth time. Just before the recent landslide election for his Conservative party in December 2019, the chart was showing nothing but problems.
Using the supplied birth time for Boris Johnson, it looked as if he would be blocked, stalled, delayed and obstructed at every turn. I, as well astrologers Julian Venables and Peter Stockinger, predicted a hung parliament.
In fact, he’d already had it! Yet, if you move the time of birth forward by a few minutes, you’ll see the landslide victory. I think the astrology chart for Boris is wrong. How do I know? Because every other chart used for Brexit has been right, and just as you saw on this website back in February 2016, it was always ‘Leave.’
Chart Rectification
To correct, or rectify, an astrology chart is a huge task. It would take me days to try different birth times for Boris Johnson to see which one lines up.
You’ll need to hire a professional astrologer to rectify your natal chart, and she’ll use details like – moving to a new house, starting a job, beginning a relationship, ending a marriage – for clues.
Wrong Sun Sign?
If you were born on the first day or last day of your Sun Sign and the predictions never work – but the one for the sign before or after does – you probably have the wrong Sun Sign.
The fact is, just being born one minute before or after a particular time, can move your Sun Sign. It all depends on your place of birth too.
Years ago I told Cosmopolitan that astrology was riddled with this kind of mistake and so my column used to appear with a reminder to check your sign if you were born on the cusp.
As a Premium Member, you’ll already have your chart if you need to do this. Yet – remember – if your time of birth is wrong then it still might be, that your Sun Sign is wrong too.
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Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, Immum Coeli
What they call the ‘angles’ of the chart – the Ascendant (AC), Descendant (DC), Midheaven (MC) and Immum Coeli (IC) can be completely thrown out by a recorded birth time that is wrong, even by just a few minutes.
As these angles are responsible for your job title, partnership, home and career, they really matter.
If you’re not sure of your birth time (or anyone else’s for that matter) the best advice is to avoid firm prediction – in timing terms.
You can make a general forecast, but you may want to avoid pinning it down to a particular month or day.
For that reason, I’m removing the usual predictions you read on this website – specific to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
(We don’t even know if Donald is a Sun Gemini or Sun Cancer – that’s how bad the official supplied dates from his office are!)
Boris Johnson may have been born on 19th June 1964 in New York, New York, but did they really cut the umbilical cord right on the dot of 2.00pm? I don’t think so.
Does he have Libra Rising? A Libra Ascendant? Again, I don’t think so. He’s hardly well known for his marriage. In fact, he divorced Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1993, married Marina Wheeler in 1993, broke that off in 2018 and is now living with a new partner – yet without any record of a divorce!
AM or PM Mistakes
Another really easy mistake to make, especially with the rush of writing a letter, or a diary entry – is mistaking AM for PM. So, for example, a parent may dash off a Twitter message telling the world that you’ve arrived at 2.00pm when you actually came in at 2.00am.
Quick Clues to Correct Birth Times
If you are using Solar Fire software to search for alternative birth times for yourself (or a professional astrologer is) then there are a few clues that are worth bearing in mind.
Ask yourself what you are well known for. What comes up on Google, about you, or LinkedIn, Twitter or even Wikipedia? This is very commonly your Ascendant or Rising Sign.
(Image Credit: https://techdaily.ca/)
Rodden Ratings
What is a Rodden Rating in astrology? Named after the brilliant astrologer Lois Rodden, it rates birth times. So, if you have a Rodden Rating of A, it is ‘from memory’ and it may not be entirely trustworthy. Beware if you ever see X in a Rodden Rated horoscope. Always be very wary of birth times quoted from biographies. That’s third-hand information.
It’s worth digging for the right chart, if you can spare the time and energy – or hiring a professional astrology to make educated guesses with you.
There should be no vagueness with astrology. Wishy-washy predictions are not necessary. It can and does predict the future so if it’s not working for you, feel free to question your birth time.
15 Responses
Hello Jessica
Was lucky enough to get this response from you on the other thread:
“I wonder I don’t think my birth chart portrays how difficult my life is? I wonder could my birth time have been rounded up, (but since was in humidity crib for 6wks thought they’d likely be more careful about such things?). Would it make much/any difference though anyway?
Thanks a lot, really appreciate it, S
Jessica Adams, November 29, 2019 at 1:25 pm
Your birth chart is set up for the year 2017 – please re-enter your time, date and place of birth correctly so I can check. Thank you.”
I did that… (Despite my best efforts, I don’t have job title, partnership, home, career. I’m well known for working my absolute guts out, trying my hardest despite many obstacles, natural dancer, good sense of humour, and of course the old chesnut; destroyed my life – shy.
Also, it is possible one’s spirit guides are too busy with others/forget about you? As you suggested I’ve left things out overnight for years, nothing happens. No signs etc. Also as you suggested went many times to spiritual churches – everyone except for me was getting messages from the platform from spirit guides/deceased relatives (didn’t expect the latter; had nothing to do with relatives & was left to fend for myself from the age of 5 from parents). Shockingly to me, the people in each place were cold, unfriendly, very judgemental, not supportive at all. Took me a while to recover from the meanness. At least I gave it a go.
After my lifelong efforts; long overdue for good things… Thanks a lot, really appreciate it, wondered about this for a long time, S
Okay, I have your birthday chart in front of me now, thank you. Morrissey said (sang) in The Smiths’ song ‘Ask’ that ‘Shyness is nice, but shyness can stop you, from doing all the things in life you’d like to.’ You have that classic square or block in your chart between Aquarius (friendship) and Taurus (money or values). Sun 23 Taurus square Moon 23 Aquarius. Chiron at 22 Aries weighs in, and so here we have lots of mixed feelings every time you try to make friends, be a friend, join a group or go into group situations. Your pattern is Second House (finances, values), Eleventh House (social life, social media, groups) and First House (face, reputation, being upfront). This is tricky but it lends itself to charity work, actually, and I don’t know if you have explored that. It sounds as if there is more going on than just shyness, though, and being in a humidity crib as a baby and then having your parents leave you to fend for yourself as an infant, is a bigger deal. The Sun is father and Moon is mother and actually they are square, as you have seen, so whatever they could not sort out between each other, has been passed onto you. That is perfectly fine and has made you a natural writer. In fact your chart is loaded with Sagittarius-Gemini which is the hallmark of writing, diaries, letters, the worldwide web, blogs, social media and so on. Also good books and poetry and organisations like Goodreads, online. It’s probably worth looking all this up. So, you also need to look at Third House/Ninth House. I mention this because from May 2020 through January 2022 you have the North Node and South Node of karma going into Gemini-Sagittarius and you’ll obviously be tempted to write or perhaps go into public speaking, multimedia and so on – maybe the book world. If you were to bring in this Taurus-Aquarius-Aries pattern, which lends itself to making money, saving it or fundraising it, life could become very interesting! I am sorry you got no joy from the spiritualist churches. Sounds like they don’t deserve you. Do it yourself. You need a candle, peace and quiet, intention and trust. And it takes time but you will find signs, I promise, eventually.
Thanks very much for your reply Jessica. I’m still wondering, do you think my birth time has been rounded up & if so, would it make any difference? Because…
– You say ‘if you were to bring in this Taurus-Aqua-Aries pattern…what does that mean?
– ‘Lends itself to making money, saving it, fundraising it’ Not me. Never in whole life earnt enough money to pay rent through real estate agency, live in sharehouse or get a mortgage. Hence live with sister; endured decades of all kinds of abuse as there is literally no other option. Poverty whole life. You say I’ll get help from the universe on this issue to leave – when? I’m using everything I’ve got to hang on, really need the help, exhausted all possible options. Tried the candle thing many times, nothing, nothing, nothing. (Yes, I’ve also tried acting as if already got the money, feeling the feelings, buying things would need when move out – doesn’t work).
– More going on than just shyness? Raised self from 5, had to pay rent to parents whilst still in high school, severe, extreme difficulty earning money/getting/keeping a job of any kind, been rejected by everyone ever known (except for Quentin, you suggest in other thread we don’t end up together:( , living situation as per above, literally nearly killed me getting Marketing degree, now can’t use (too long out of workforce due to workload of parents’ death which will end up in financial loss), & need to be living different location. As soon as colleague conversation moves off work, I’m a goner. (No friends, relationship, weekend plans etc. Been fired because of it. They want sheep. The fact that to stay home on weekends is not acceptable – absurd! Who cares?!). Wish it was possible to only be judged 100% on your work.
– Have to hide poverty – that’s the square Acqua & Taurus. Soon as it’s found out I get fired/dumped as friend. People do not want to associate with those different to them. I think the spiritual churches were actually frightened of me – they knew my life is severe, and so is my strength.
– Used to work for what was Aust’s largest charity, almost collapsed from workload – replaced by 4 people. Underpaid, abused, ill treated. Having it’s name on your resume is a huge black mark against you (bad rep, people don’t realise it’s corporate).
– Entered writing competitions, tried to get articles published, nothing. Don’t understand literature or poetry. Multimedia not relevant to me. Have idea for diary blog, bit risky for me as you have to pay for the domain name (and every domain name known to man is already taken – can’t use my name – no one cares/knows who I am), and to have it on internet etc. I will try to start it during the Node times, and end it when that ends, if nothing comes of it. (you need Social media presence for traffik – not relevant to me; no friends, contacts, followers, etc).
I’ve tried every possible way to open every possible door. Nothing. Nil. Nada. Zip.
Is the universe trying to push me under? Why? (Yes, I know that saying, after a lot of work a diamond results). I am a diamond. As Katy Perry sings ‘all the doors close, to lead you to the perfect door.’ Almost all doors have never opened though…impossible to bang any harder.
Don’t have depression – strong medical evidence to prove it.
You name it. I’ve tried it. Literally. I’m not kidding. How much longer am I going to have to use everything I’ve got to hang on? Living situation truly unbearable.
THANKYOU
It sounds as if you need to pick up the telephone and talk to someone – can you do that? Christmas is a very difficult time of year. You have a lot to say, and good reasons to want to say it – and typing isn’t enough. I think you should make a call. If you’d prefer to talk to a stranger then do that. I’m a huge fan of Monica Dickens – do you know her books? She helped start the Samaritans in London. Writing things down is therapeutic but telling someone makes a far bigger difference. And I do think that would make you immediately feel better, which is extremely important at this time of year.
Hi Jessica,
My mother gave me a birth time of 9.00pm but I’m sure that’s wrong. She went by hearing her radio program coming on in the ward while she was giving birth. My mother is of Greek origin and couldn’t speak or really understand English at the time of my birth. All I know about myself is that I’m stubborn, do the hard work, fiercely loyal and expect it back from friends and loved ones. Love the arts & science (environment wise) love the written word, different languages, study and would rather be living in Europe than in Australia. Currently studying 2 degrees with the aim of doing research down the track. Not sure where all this leaves me. Thanks – M.
You have a Virgo Ascendant if 9.00pm is correct, but it is highly unlikely you were born on the dot of 9pm – obviously your mother had no option but to guess the time. You are strongly Gemini which accounts for your love of books, language and academia. Try Leo or Libra Ascendant. Look up those signs and see if it’s a better fit than Virgo. Virgo may be correct, as you work hard, but perhaps not at the degree we see here.
Hi Jessica,
I find this subject interesting although not so much for myself as I do feel my rising is pretty spot on. However one thing I have always been curious about is a family member’s birth time. He was born at home and all I remember my grandmother saying is that he was born late at night. Now I don’t know if it was late pm or early am (I can’t remember although I think I did write it down at some point) but we joked that he was a night owl so it figures. I will probably hire someone at some stage as it is very important to me. What kind of things should I be looking at in their history to guide me? Marriage/divorce/death date? Significant career milestones? Their obsessions?
You should definitely look at marriage, divorce, new jobs, end of an old job, and moving to a new home – these will all be easy to spot in a birth chart if you move the birth time around. For example – people who take a new job often take a new residence, to move closer to work – so you would be looking at transits to the MC (Midheaven, career) which is automatically opposite the IC (Immum Coeli, home). That’s the very first giveaway.
Hi Jessica, I have to wonder how much of a difference makes a difference? My birth certificate says 10:02am but my Mum insists it was 10:32am – would this rock my world in terms of different astrological time stamps? I’ve never really connected with my midheaven in Aquarius (struggle to be part of/accepted into a group although I have tried to set up groups for my career and see how important this could be to success). Interested to know if I’ve been focusing on the wrong areas all this time!! Merry Christmas to you and thanks for all the wonderful teachings this year 🙂
It changes your whole chart, actually. You still have Aquarius factors in your chart but they are blocked, which would explain your desire to set up groups but constantly find obstacles. Your actual MC or Midheaven could be quite different. Appearance or image is often a clue as the MC-AC together do blend and produce a particular look or profile. Hit Search and look up Ascendant, Midheaven for clues.
I’m not sure about birth times.. I don’t think it really resonates when astrologers use my birth time…? Why I can’t say,, but my sun resonates very very much, so I generally look after my sun sign, it would be interesting what it predicts in 2030, 2031, 2032 ….? I know I am in the future but I also know these years will be very very important to me… what can you see .?
I am married to a Sagittarius so it is his 7th solar house, and my first. So I am really really curious..
Thanks and merry Christmas!
Thank you and Merry Christmas. Sun Sign charts (Solar Sign charts) work really well, if you don’t have a precise birth time. In fact, the astrologer Patric Walker used to give quite detailed readings just based on Sun sign charts. Your Sun Sagittarius partner will go through karma with you, going back 19 years, from the month of May 2020, as the North Node goes into Gemini, and his solar Seventh House.
Dear Jessica,
I hope you’re enjoying the holidays. Merry Christmas! My mother told me I was born early in the morning- around 6 am-, my aunt says around 10 am. What time should I use for my chart on this site? I’ll read about rising signs as well to see what sounds familiar. Thank you
Merry Christmas. Cancer Ascendant/Cancer Rising is easy to test. You would have received your first and/or second name from your mother, grandmother or great-grandmother’s influence, or it would relate to the family culture, heritage, history or ancestry. You may physically resemble a family member very strongly and would be identified with your clan, or roots, quiet powerfully. If not – your birth time has been wrongly recorded and you need to try the alternative.
Amazing! My grandmother named me and as the eldest child, I feel a strong responsibility to not disappoint my elders or their expectations of me, even though I no longer believe the same things! A catch 22! Thank you Jessica!