Your Birth Data is critical. So what happens when someone gives false or wrong birth data to an astrologer? Here are some common examples of this problem and what to do about it.
Patsy Stone Syndrome – The Wrong Year
Whenever Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous (played by Joanna Lumley, further down) gives her age, she reverts to the decade before. Joanna genuinely looks absolutely fabulous, by the way (I was lucky enough to be invited to the Green Room at the BBC after the show and saw her in all her vegetarian glory) – but Patsy is certainly paranoid about looking old.
People who don’t give their true year of birth often work in television or the film industry where casting depends on age. This becomes even more of an issue if they have had cosmetic surgery and are angling for parts designed for people years younger.
I am always wary of anyone who has worked in Hollywood, who either has no authentic birth certificate, or who has only produced one after a first rejected attempt. And that includes Donald Trump.
Actually, Donald Trump (as the media reported in December 2017, below) does not know when his birthday is. So the original birthdate, time and place supplied by him, back during the election, produced wrong horoscope predictions. No wonder so many astrologers – me included – did not see him getting into the White House. That may not even have been his chart.
Working Without a Correct Date of Birth – or Time of Birth
Can any truth be found in a chart with the wrong year? It really depends on what the question is. If it concerns the individual’s need for power and control, the Pluto sign may not have changed. That helps. If we can narrow it down to the right decade, a Pluto signature in Leo, Virgo or whatever can be found, at least. This is why astrologers use country/national charts for politics. Why? Countries don’t lie about their foundation or ‘birth’ date!
Mother/Mommy/Mum and Birth Data
It is very common for mothers (even) to get the birth data wrong – quite understandable when you consider the long labour that some women go through, or the use of medication in the hospital ward. This is why Lois Rodden developed her Rodden Rating System (you can see it for yourself at Astrodienst). Astrologers prefer a birth certificate over anything else and if a birth time has been written down from the clock/watch time when the umbilical cord is cut, so much the better. Of course, in Scotland, this kind of information is mandatory. (This is why astrologers used to spend a lot of time casting charts for people like the Bay City Rollers).
Fudged or Faked Birth Certificates
If you want to know how easy it is to have someone create a fudged or fake birth certificate, just look up Uncle Google. It does happen. Why does it happen? People do have their reasons. But the chart will always be wrong. In fact, you will be creating a chart for someone who never existed – or perhaps someone who does exist – but turns out to be living a different life! Or a lie.
Date/Year Reversals
People record their date of birth differently, in different parts of the world. That’s why astrologers can sometimes read 7.6.76 as June 7th 1976 or July 6th 1976. This is a common problem between Great Britain and the United States.
Wrong Chart, Right Reading
What happens when the chart is wrong but the reading is right? Sometimes it’s just old-fashioned odds. If someone has a wrong chart and is asking a question where the odds are 50-50, an astrologer can get it right without too much trouble (and so could Paul the Octopus, stretching out a tentacle). In other cases, the astrologer may be operating purely as a psychic.
Angles!
The biggest problem for astrologers using false/wrong data is the impact on the angles of the chart. That’s the Ascendant (image), Midheaven (vocation), Descendant (partner) and Immum Coeli (home). So many questions relate to moving house, or getting a job, or finding love and you really need accurate angles for that – which depend on a precise birth time.
Cusps!
Without an accurate birth time, horoscope factors can fall in different signs. If your time is wrong and you were born as the Sun was changing from Aries to Taurus your Sun sign may be completely wrong. It’s the same if an asteroid like Psyche was moving from one sign to another. Signs rule houses in the Natural House system (life departments) so something as simple as a fluffed birth time could skew the chart.
Beware Round Numbers
Very few people are born right on the hour or half-hour. Beware round numbers. Look around the hour to check.
Computer Says No
Sometimes people come to astrology events and wave a tatty old horoscope at me, which they had printed out for them years ago – and I can see it’s wrong. The computer software has not processed the latitude/longitude correctly, or daylight saving has not been adjusted.
Vague and Forgetful Astrologers
Last but not least, we have vague and forgetful astrologers (just as we have vague and forgetful plumbers and ballerinas). If you are working with a huge pile of paper charts on your desk, or absent-mindedly reach for the wrong file on your computer, it is possible to give a reading from entirely the wrong chart. Of course, if you believe astrology is divination, then it won’t always matter. For more on this theory, see the remarkable work of Maggie Hyde or The Moment of Astrology by Geoffrey Cornelius.