RECTIFICATION 1

Rectification Graph - Transits

In my opinion, one of the major problems with astrology is that too many astrologers blindly depend on the time given them by the client, instead of rectifying the time in order to gain some real accuracy. Without this accuracy, transits and especially directions to the angles become next to worthless, or even misleading. If the birth time is out by 4 minutes of time, then the Ascendant is usually out by 1 degree, and a directed event to the Ascendant would be out by one full year. Some of the times may be out by several hours, and assuming that the birth time is accurate is simply unrealistic. The other issue is the one of time zones, and whether daylight savings was in effect or not. In many places, this was under control of the local municipality, leaving a patchwork of time zones all in the same state or province. Rectification will help to correct these unknowns.

    Rectification is based on the observation that one or more of the transiting planets on the day of an important event are in close aspect to a natal planet or angle. If this observation is correct, then a 30 degree graph of the transiting planetary positions on the event dates should accurately reproduce the natal planetary positions and angles. The thirty degree graph captures all the Ptolemaic aspects as well as the quincunxes and semi-sextiles. The graph also constitutes statistical proof that astrology works in a rational and logical manner, just like all other natural phenomena. You need a minimum of 10 major events in your life, NOT more than one per year. Using more than one event per year may cause errors due to graphing several events for the same transit. These events should be timed exactly to the day, or to an error of preferably no more than 1 week. Make a graph using graph paper with 0 to 30 degrees on the horizontal scale, and 0 to 10 on the vertical scale. Use the event date to look up the positions of the planets in an ephemeris, and round off to the nearest degree.
    You can use ALL the planets, Chiron and the Node if the date is exact - for example the birth of a child. The innner planets are more likely to be in exact aspect to the angles on the day of an event than the outer planets. The slower moving planets and points are used when only the month of the event is known because their positions don't change much over the time period of one month. However, this makes the task much more difficult, since there are far fewer data points to graph. If most of the events you have been given are timed to the month only, then use a computer to calculate the Solar Arcs for those event dates, and graph them instead. If the planet is retrograde, round the position down to the lower degree if the planet has less than 50 minutes of arc, or up to the next degree if the planet has more than 50 minutes of arc. Round off planets in direct motion up to the next degree if the minutes are greater than 30, or down to the lower degree if the minutes are less than 30. Plot the positions of the planets on the graph with each subsequent event in the same degree causing a peak in the graph. Before plotting the positions of planets on an event date mark their degree positions for the birth day at the bottom of the graph to allow easy identification of all peaks. Usually, there are two large peaks in the graph, which give the positions for the ascendant and midheaven. Always try for exact dates, since these will make the task a lot easier, because the inner planets produce most of the action in the graph. WATCH FOR THE POSSIBLE POSITION OF THE MOON, since its position in the graph will give you an approximate time of birth, like an hour hand on a clock. Since the position of the Moon changes by 1 degree every two hours, its graphic position is an excellent indication of approximate birth time. One other fact about the Moon is that transits to its natal position usually produce a double peak. There will be one peak exactly two degrees before the natal position, and another one exactly on the natal position.
    Some astrologers try to rectify the chart by using the assumption that only hard aspects produce notable events. This assumption is false and does not agree with reality. Therefore, using a 90 degree wheel or other method to divide the events into cardinal, fixed and mutable does not produce reliable charts. ALL aspects, including semi-sextiles, quincunxes, trines and sextiles contribute toward generating events and therefore peaks in the graph. I generally take the planetary positions for the 15th of the month if all I am given is the month of the event, and not a more precise date. Take the highest peak position as the starting position for the Ascendant, then use a rectification assist on your computer to determine the other angle. If you own "Jigsaw", the computer program will do the graphing for you. If not, then you can use Excel or Lotus to graph the planetary positions. If a computer is not available, an ephemeris and a table of houses will do a reasonable job as well. Note that the degree position of the ascendant from the rectification graph is not precise, and should be refined by use of the Solar Arc Rectification described below. An example follows. As a final check, follow the transits of Saturn across all the angles - there should be difficulties and problems at each hit especially on the Ascendant/Descendant axis

Events relating to the angles: Physical moves of residence or long trips. Changes in relationships Changes in jobs - promotion, graduation, awards, job loss. Changes in health, surgery, childbirth, illness. The birth of younger siblings, the death of a close family member

EXAMPLE

Birth date: May 8, 1929 Place: Hamilton, Ontario Longitude: 79W51 Latitude: 43N15

Events:

Father died: Oct 29, 1939

College Graduation: May 8 1951

Marriage and move to Toronto: Nov 24, 1951

Move residence: Dec 1953

Signed offer for house: June 27, 1955

Appendectomy: July 27, 1960

Daughter born: June 28, 1961

Daughter born: Feb 24, 1966

Mother died: April 7, 1973

New Career: Nov 20, 1973

Daughter's wedding: September 3, 1983

Grand daughter: Aug 2, 1986

Brother died: Dec 9, 1986

Grand daughter: December 2, 1987

Trip to Orient: Nov 1, 1988

The above dates are reproduced as given to me by the client, and are the source data for the graph and chart. It can be seen from the two peaks for the Moon's position at 4 and 5 degrees that the approximate birth time is 3 AM. By use of Solar Arc rectification, that time is refined to 3:00:26 AM. The Solar Arc directed Ascendant conjoins the natal Moon on April 7, 1973, the day the client's mother died.

The following Jigsaw graph is an image of the computer screen

Click here for Jigsaw Graph                    Click here for Excel Graph

Solar Arc Rectification

The most accurate method for rectifying a chart is by use of Solar Arc Directions, using the daily motion of the Sun (True Solar Arc) as the yearly arc. This is especially useful where the birth time is known to a fair degree of accuracy. A planet directed across an angle or an angle directed across a planet will produce certain predictable events when the planet conjoins the angle precisely. There is no orb or tolerance with this technique, and the client should know the EXACT day the event occurred. In some instances where a lot of planning is involved such as marriage, you need to look at the decision date rather than the event date. In this case you look at the date of engagement rather than at the actual marriage date. The sudden death of a parent or an accident is an excellent opportunity for an event date where the decision making process does not apply. Whether the chart is directed clockwise or counter clockwise (converse) does not matter either, since the mathematical relationship between any planet and angle is the same, no matter in which direction either one moves. Directions are especially useful for fine tuning charts for which at least an approximate birth time is known. Using the Solar Arc allows rectification to the nearest second of birth time, and prediction of events with a plus or minus one day accuracy. Try to verify the time with at least two Solar Arc events to the angles, one early in life and one later.

For example: Say a client gives you a birth time which results in an ascendant of 25 Aquarius rising. His Sun is at 16:08 Aquarius. He tells you that his family emigrated to another country when he was 6 months past his twelfth birthday. This yields an arc of 12:04, which, when added to his natal sun position yields a sum of 28:11. So the correct ascendant is 28:11 Aquarius. It is important to find out the decision date, NOT the actual event date, since this is where the correlation is best. Some of the events to look for when a Solar Arc directed planet conjoins the ascendant or descendant, or when the directed angle conjoins the planet, are as stated previously under transits. When decision dates are not available, the event date gives one time boundary, the latest possible time of birth.

The birth of children does NOT yield precise solar arc rectification dates, but they still give very good approximations.  Rectification is nothing more than prediction moving backward in time, rather than forward. Essentially, you are predicting that at a certain moment in time in the past, a given event occurred. I call this fine tuning, since deriving the birth time in this manner is fairly routine.

Rectification Graph - Directions

Click here for Solar Arc graph

Solar Arc Directions can also be used on a 30 degree rectification graph, using the positions of the directed planets. This method works very well in cases where the client does not have exact dates, and you have to depend on the month of an event only. Jigsaw will display a graph of Solar Arc Directed positions with a click of the mouse. If you don't have Jigsaw, then the way to do this is to print out the directed planetary positions for an event date using a computer, and then manually or electronically graphing the resulting information. DO NOT use the Moon position data, as this is yet to be determined, but all other planetary positions are allowable. In both cases it is important to note the Moon's approximate position to help establish the time of birth.
One thing to keep in mind for the novice rectifier is that both methods may result in double peaks for the same planet that are caused by the planet generating events two degrees before the aspect perfects. In the example, the Moon produces a double peak for the graph of directions. It is also important to note that unless the client has a high profile career, the peak for the MC will be lower than that for the Ascendant. In some cases, the client will respond more to planet/planet events than to planet/angle events, so there is never a lack of challenges. If a high peak present in the Transit graph is much lower in the Solar Arc graph, then this is a sure indication it is an angle. In the graph for this example, the peak for the MC is much lower than in the transit graph. This lady's personal life was far more important to her than her career. Since she was born on the day before a solar eclipse, her life has been a series of extreme events. She was also born the day before Neptune coruler of her ascendant goes direct, so her personal life and her work is fairly successful.