A question that I am often asked, is does it matter that I don’t have an exact birth time? As a holistic life & career coach, I absolutely do prefer to have an exact time of birth, so I can provide detailed insight, ideas and clarity for you to learn of yourself that is deep and true.
Why does my birth time matter?
The planets are constantly moving, and so is the sky, thanks to Earth’s daily rotation. Your birth chart provides a freeze-frame. It is a snapshot of the sky from the moment and location you entered the world. Knowing the exact time, date, and place of your birth is essential for an accurate chart reading.
Birth time is important for many reasons. One of the most important to ascertain your exact time of your birth, is for the determination of your ascendant, or also known as your rising sign — the sign that was rising over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth.
Your ascendant sign represents both the way you see the world and the way others see you.
Your ascendant sign describes how you appear to others. It’s your outward presence, whereas your main sign (your sun sign) is more of who you are on the inside. What’s more, the ascendant sign makes a trip through each zodiac sign every single day, meaning the astral ascendant sign shifts every two hours. So, if you’re off by two hours on your birth time, your ascendant sign will be incorrect. An incorrect birth time would then give you an incorrect orientation of the other signs, including your moon sign in your chart, as well as not being able to provide an accurate forecast of your energies ahead.
Another important point in the chart is your Midheaven. This point on your birth chart is traditionally where your career or chosen vocation is reflected, or an interest that is highly important to you, your status, aim in life, aspirations, public reputation, and your life goal. Being off by even an hour, this may change the zodiac sign of your Ascendant.
How to find your exact birth time?
Just because you don’t see a time recorded on your birth certificate doesn’t mean your birth time wasn’t recorded. A few suggestions are:-
a) Ask your mother if it was day or night, breakfast, lunch or dinner time etc. Did your mother miss an event, work day or church mass when she began labor? Who else was present, who was the delivering doctor? Additionally, asking an older sibling, family member or anyone who might have been around at the critical event may be able to recall of the details. Any information can be immensely helpful as they give invaluable clues, especially when they are encouraged to re-live the event in their memories. Even if the time is not exact, you can narrow down your birth time to a 1-2 hour window, that’s a great start. With this, you should be able to pinpoint your Moon sign, and even your Ascendant sign, though not the exact degrees. This isn’t perfect, but the information is still valuable to work with.
b) Go through old baby books, photo albums, boxes in storage, scrapbook etc. There’s a chance your birth certificate was tucked away somewhere, or that a fastidious caregiver, parent, or grandparent wrote down the time of birth in their diary. I actually found my exact birth time on a baby card which was clipped to the back of my crib from hospital, that I just happen to find when going through some old family photos. So, the information could pop up anywhere!
c) In Australia, you can contact the region of the hospital where you were born, and request an Application For Access To Health Records. Often on their form, they will ask which hospital you were born in.
d) If you still do not have any luck in seeking clarity, and faced with an “I don’t know’ statement, there is a particular service called ‘rectification’. This process is when an experienced Astrologer compares important dates and facts about your life with different potential natal charts. If you have come this far in your research with no clarity on a time, you can contact me for a referral for this process.
Remember, your sessions will always be more accurate with an exact time of birth, however the above suggestions can shed valuable information to guide you on the right path of knowledge.
Once we know your time, for sure, then we can tell what direction your energy is taking you forward in your life & career.