Time of birth?

WinterRose

OK, I know that in order to get a detailed horoscope, I need to know my time of birth. But...what happens if I don't know it? My parent's haven't got a clue either, and since they don't know I'm pagan, and don't approve of astrology or tarot or anything like that, I can't go snooping around for it. I know it was sometime in the afternoon, though.
 

Gavriela

There's a huge difference between daytime births and night-time births, for one thing.

Also, the Ascendant (degree rising on the horizon) moves one degree for every four minutes of time. And the Moon moves about one degree every two hours. You might find an astrologer who could rectify your chart to at least the correct rising sign by events that have happened in your life.

You'd still get a fairly decent read, but it is important to try and get the rising sign at least. Other than that, you'd still get some things out of it, but others would be by guess and by gosh.
 

star-lover

hi celticdruidess

why not ring the hospital you were born at ? they may have a record
 

souljourney

Your birth certificate should have the time on it...
 

Minderwiz

Birth certificates in England do not show the time of birth. Whilst the hospital may have records (assuming that you were not a home birth) it's unlikely that you will be able to access these without giving a reason - though it might well be worth a try.

There are some techniques that could be tried, and you will find a couple in previous threads. However a good starting point is to try and narrow it down with your parents. They might not have taken note of the time but some judicious questioning might establish a point between say, lunch and tea/dinner. That might give you a reasonable approximation to use as the basis for one of the rectification techniques.

Other relatives might also be able to help, possibly because they remember visiting just after or just before the birth or your parents told them the birth time (they might not remember now but that's not to say they never knew!). There's obviously a real possibility that your parents may start quizzing you on your interest but you can pass it off by saying that some of your friends had their horoscopes done for fun and they were asking you what your time of birth was.
 

celticnoodle

or, if you do think your birth certificate will have it, you can always tell your parents, you are applying for a passport. you would need a copy of the birth certificate for that. if they ask you why you want a passport, just tell them you want it for a 2nd piece of photo identification. not necessarily that you want to travel abroad--or maybe you do want to travel abroad, or even go on a cruise, (you need the passport for most cruise tours also).

2ndly, I agree with Minderwiz. you can ask general questions of your parents, such as how long was your mom in labor for? did she have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, or was it during the day, etc. lastly, if your folks had a baby book for you or if they sent out birth announcements, it may be listed there.

lastly, if not on the birth certificate, maybe on a town register--as some places here in the U.S. do require the birth to be registered, and sometimes will mark the time. not all birth certificates have the time. my husbands did not. then, again, you can also check notices put into the town paper too.

so, first off, why not just ask your folks what time of day were you born? if they ask why, just say you were wondering about it just out of pure interest.

there is another long drawn out way I believe you can use to try & determine how to figure out an approximation of time for your birth--but I think this is something that will take awhile. It would involve checking out the different times for the entire 24 hour day of your birth and follow it closely to see which one seems to describe yourself best. it may not be accurate, but about the best you can get if all else fails. good luck!
 

willowfox

The best solution is to set up a chart for midday of your day of birth. Then you can read the transits to your natal planets with good accuracy.
 

WinterRose

Thanks for all the help, everyone! With a bit of conniving on my part, I was able to convince my mum I needed it for something my friend was doing (how she fell for that, I have no idea....) but although it's not an exact time, she reckons it was about 3:30 pm.
 

Minderwiz

Great, That should be OK. When you have cast your chart, look at the Ascendant. The Ascendant moves a degree every 4 minutes, so if your Ascendant is in the first or last 3 degrees then your true Ascendant may lie in the adjacent time (allowing an error of 12 minutes either way on your mum's estimate.

If this is the situation, then you can take the Ascendant sign that feels 'right' (and hence the appropriate timing). However, remember that there are other important factors in your char to consider, so this is best done over a period of time and following a good analysis of your chart.

There are also a number of methods for rectifying your chart but none of these can establish the true time of birth. What they do is establish a time which works best for predictions, given your life to date. The best of these methods are based on using past events in your life to 'calibrate' your chart.

Best of luck with any future work that you do on your chart.
 

charmvirgo

I recently contacted government birth certificate services with the same question. Unfortunately I was born in 1960 and was a home birth, so the info I received in reply was of no use to me. If you were born from 1984 onwards, read the last sentence. This applies to the UK.

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your enquiry.

On birth certificates it is possible to see when a multiple birth occurred as the time is stated in column 1 'Date and place of birth'. Unfortunately time at birth does not feature on singleton birth certificates. However, it may be possible to obtain this information:

When a birth is registered, a Register Office receives a computerised sheet directly from the hospital. This sheet has time at birth noted on at all entries and their computer system is updated accordingly. This only applies to births occurring from 1991 onwards. The computerised sheets are then deposited at the corresponding Health Authority. It may be possible to contact the local Health Authority but they store this information for a period of 10 years (this timescale may vary dependant on Health Authority).
A fee is charged for this service.

Another possible avenue to contact is the Hospital Trust (where the birth
occurred) and ask for the Child Health Section. Here they have time at birth for all children from 1984 onwards.

Regards

Judith Roberts
GRO Contact Centre