Insights on Rectification

Rectification refers to the process of analysis and testing by which an astrologer confirms, arrives at, or in some way determines the birth time for a person. A time of birth is an important requirement before having an astrology consultation because it allows the astrologer to look at a chart of astrological symbolism that is unique to you. This significantly improves the interpretive and predictive relevance that the astrologer is then able to extract from it for you. I require all first time clients to have a Rectification consultation as due process. In this blog post, I endeavor to explain one of my reasons for doing so and some insights I have understood surrounding this matter of "birth time".

I have been working with Rectification for the last 5 years now, and while that may not appear to be a long time, I work through 2-5 charts per week in my research and testing which, over a 5 year period, comes to 450 - 1125 different charts. Actually, the number of iterations for each chart is more likely at least 3 or 4 since there were many times I went back and tested new concepts and techniques on old charts I have looked at. So the number of iterations in my research into Rectification has been 900 - 3375 times. On average, this means I have worked on Rectification analysis 4 - 15 times per week over the last 5 years. That is a lot of time spent on Rectification methods and iterations!

Every month,  I spend a few days going over the month's recordings to assess the accuracy of my delineations and improve upon techniques away from what is taught as theory. This is the part of the work which my mental being enjoys.  There is always room for improvement and learning, which is dynamic and challenging and exciting.

There have been several people who have had Rectification readings with me who get into details about birth circumstances - premature birth, breech birth, induced labor, etc. A lot of their stories have just made the case to me that the recording of birth times is a very complicated process. There seems to be various perspectives on what a "correct" birth time could be, and given the various options with modern day elaborate birth ceremonies and natural births etc, one has to get involved in some of the medical terminology as well in order to know what to look for in symbolism.

I began looking into Rectification from a strange place. I was interested in calculating a chart for Conception. When I started back in 2012, I began with two methods most traditional astrologers are aware of: the Trutine of Hermes, and the method of Animodar. Both gave me the feeling that we were "almost there" based on checks I applied from techniques I developed about 2 years later, but they were a pretty good start. More revelations about conception charts came to my mind when I read Vettius Valens, Dorotheus, and other ancient astrologers with fresh eyes back in 2015. There really was a fascinating amount of information that I applied to conception charts, which later became methods to refine rectification, which later became insights into the use of the Lots of the Luminaries, the Part of Fortune and the Part of Spirit. Its quite a fascinating journey, and maybe I will write of it in a book one day.

Well, what I wanted to note down in this blog post are a few sort of ideas which emerged out of my Rectification work, and it revolves around this "birth time" issue.

Firstly, there are astrologers who are experienced and skilled enough to do pretty good (predictive) work with just the birth day. Of course, that is laudable but obviously not the focus of this post.

When it comes to the "correct birth time" there have been quite a lot of differences of opinion and interesting stories from clients. Having submitted my own birth time for rectification by other astrologers, I have not been satisfied with their results and well, the range of birth time that they have all submitted to me falls within my expected range of birth time. I have come to trust my own judgement in this area and my clients appreciate my veracity in approach.

Now, while I have spent a lot of time in rectification analysis crunching numbers and playing detective with various charts, I felt it very necessary to make it experiential. Perhaps my Scorpio Moon may be blamed, but I also spent a lot of time thinking about myself in the womb, and during the birth process, and after. Just as some forms of Buddhist meditation call the aspirant to meditate on their death, I spent a lot of time sitting with my awareness, like a tiny flickering inside, and felt to place it in the environment and habitation of influences at the time of my birth. If this sounds too weird, dont worry, it definitely is a weird sort of feeling, weird but familiar at the same time. I felt is necessary to put myself consciously through this process again so that accepting and understanding the influences operative at the time of my birth, I could accept and understand better the influences operative over my life. In these meditations, for want of a better word, certain sort of ideas have come up, which then I went back and tested and thought about and asked clients about, and here I am sharing some of that with you. This particular set of ideas focuses around the elements in astrology (Fire, Earth, Air, and Water), with the fifth element Quintessence or Ether being the life carrier and binder itself.

My feeling was that the birth process follows the evolution of the elements (if they are not afflicted), and that consequently what people call a "birth time" could have many meanings and event times.

When I do rectification, I am choosing those set of techniques which at the moment I feel resonate elementally with the being of the person I am dealing with, and the map of their potential birth chart.

Birth is a messy and complicated process. I have a great respect for doctors, nurses, and midwives who are involved in ensuring a successful delivery. Being responsible for bringing in new life into the world, and also dealing with stillborn/abortive/near-death cases at the same time, is a very tricky thing. The Vedic lunar mansion Bharani, has for its symbol the Yoni or form or commonly known as the vagina. Its ruling deity is Yama the controller of Death. So in this lunar mansion itself, is the birth and death juncture - that death has been and is still a very real threat at the moment of life. But I digress...

Most people bring me a birth time from a birth certificate. However, I would just like to share with you the conceptual alternatives in the birth process so that you can get an idea of the range of time within which the "correct" birth time may fall.

The first option corresponds to a Fire sort of archetype. The first spark, and more specifically, the first sight, which for most babies, is the moment when the head is finally out of the vaginal entry. It takes maybe up to 10 minutes for the back and forth motion of the head through the contractions of the vagina before the head is finally free. If one follows a Fire archetype, perhaps this would be the first moment of birth. However, the baby is neither breathing on its own yet, nor is it fully separate physically from the body of the mother. The threats are very real at this stage, as the umbilical cord may be wrapped around the baby's head, or the doctor may push the baby back in to ensure that the shoulders are aligned properly for smooth exit, etc. So, in my view, I wouldnt take this as a birth time, although one could see it as "start" of the "birth process". Indeed, some people do note this time down so that is why I am mentioning it. For people that may have a strong Choleric, Fire, or "Headstrong" temperament and attitude and response-behavior dynamic to life, it may be that the time I rectify to could be this "Fire" birth time. This would also apply to people born through Caesarian section etc, or circumstances where urgency is a priority and the use of tools involved.

Following in the order of zodiac sign elements, we next come to the Earth archetype. This is a physical distinction, and marks the time when the baby is wholly separate from the body of the mother. Most of the existential threats of the birthing process are over at this stage, and focus moves to the sustenance of the body of the child itself, and the care of the mother as both child and mother inherently and physically begin the recovery after the trauma of birth. People who have a strong Melancholic, Earth, or "Separate" mentality and mode of being, I may end up with a rectified time that corresponds to this Earth birth time.

The next element in zodiacal order is Air. This of course marks the activation of lungs and the baby voices itself usually by crying or wailing. In the womb, nourishment and respiration occur through the placenta. The lungs of the baby are collapsed and blood circulates through the heart using two chambers. Upon birth, the two lungs and two additional heart chambers open up and it takes some time for the breathing to stabilize so that the baby can fully breathe in this way and cry out (if they do). Sometimes this can be stimulated. In any case, there can be quite some time between the Earth  birth time and this Air birth time. Ive seen some cases up to 8-10 minutes gap. Perhaps people with a strong Air quality, expressive, more mobile than usual, having an emphasized Sanguine temperament - perhaps the birth time I end up for these people correspond to the this Air birth time as this event at birth most resonates with their own nature.

The last element in zodiacal order is Water. Water is a conduit for nourishment in all things. This Water birth time corresponds to when the umbilical cord between mother and child is cut, and the baby has to be nourished externally thence. Afflictions in water signs in the birth chart in relevant places can indicate problems in this part of the birth process. Some people will wait for the umbilical cord to naturally stop pulsating before cutting it, but for most people this is a luxury. Also, waiting for the umbilical cord to naturally fall off can take a very long time which may not be practical in a hospital birth scenario.

For people who are now giving birth in water, I would like to do more research with these types of births in the context of this "elemental birth time" concept. Im sure Im not the only one who has though of birth in this way, and please feel free to share with me your views and references for my further study and research in Rectification.

So when I am looking at a birth chart retrospectively, the balance of elements, and more specifically, of Temperament, shows me the makeup and balance of the physical body primarily, which for most people since it is the only boundary of awareness they have, also corresponds to a psychological effects. However, for people who spend a lot of time working with the Quintessence or Ether, through spiritual efforts and charitable deeds, they can and do function in life distinct from the elemental influence predominating over the body at birth. In such cases, predictions have to be made with this in mind, as the same external circumstances do not have the same effect upon the person and hence what happens therefrom can be quite different to what one would expect.

However, the main point I wanted to make here is that many astrologers say that finding the correct birth time is not possible. I agree with that, because of the complexity of the process. But I believe that by a careful study of the person requesting Rectification (through the use of divination, palmistry, or simply asking them relevant questions), one can get a sense for the elemental pulse of the chart and thereby understand what range of birth time (away from the birth certificate time) one can work with. For those few people who have recorded all 4 birth times, the time gap between Fire birth time and Water birth time (whichever is the last time) has been 15-60 minutes!

Instead of throwing my hands up and saying "oh its not possible to find a correct birth time!", which is what a scientist would do - they bemoan and sometimes ignore uncertainty, I take my engineering approach - hugging the uncertainty in order to understand what may be going on better, conduct further research, and come up with solutions that give us a birth time that is "resonant" with the native I am looking at. Afterall, predictive astrology is nothing more than a view of likely manifestations when symbolism resonates with the birth chart in various ways.

So, in my view, Rectification is necessary for everyone, even if you have a purported birth certificate time. The aim of Rectification is to get a time that resonates effectively with the being of the person, the intention of their life at birth, the memory they carry of their and their family's past, and the promise of potentialities in the future. Even if someone has stood at birth and collected the Water birth time (cutting the umbilical cord) to the second - if the resultant person is strongly Earth oriented, it may be couple of minutes off.

Now that I am getting into the fractal nature of Vedic astrology, this is going to open up even more avenues for exploration.

I am becoming more confident in my methods as I continue to test and research into them. I welcome additional views on the matter by way of practical discussion.

I believe that embracing the uncertainty of Rectification will alllow astrologers to finally or definitively not just theorize conception charts, but also help us understand (away from theory) how conception charts can be used in the matters of destiny