Learn › Unknown birth time

What the time sets

Four things need the hour: the rising sign and the house positions that follow from it, the Midheaven, the exact Moon degree on days when the Moon changes sign, and the hour pillar of the Four Pillars. Everything else is the same at 2 am and 2 pm.

What the app does instead

Tick time unknown and revolutionary.life draws a solar chart, which puts the Sun on the horizon and reads the houses from there, the method astrologers have used for untimed charts for centuries. It leaves out what it cannot know rather than guessing, and says so in the reading.

Narrowing it down

A birth certificate, a hospital record, a baby book or a parent’s memory of “early morning” or “after dinner” all help; the app takes a range, not just a time. Then it does something unusual: as you log turning points, it scores candidate birth times against them. The time whose houses best explain your own life rises to the top. This is called rectification, and it used to take an astrologer days.

Where to look for the time

• The long-form birth certificate (the short form usually omits it). In the United States, order it from the state’s vital records office.
• Hospital discharge papers, baby books, christening records.
• Parents, older siblings, anyone who was there. “Just before the news came on” is a usable range.

Questions

Can I get a birth chart without a birth time?

Yes. The Sun, Moon, planets, aspects, three of the four pillars and the full slow-planet forecast all come from the date and place. Only the rising sign, houses, Midheaven and hour pillar need the time, and the app draws a solar chart in their place.

How accurate does the birth time need to be?

Within about fifteen minutes keeps the rising sign right most of the time; the Ascendant moves a degree every four minutes. A range like “morning” still lets the app rule out most of the possibilities and score the rest against your events.