An Amateur's Attempt at Determining Birth Time for Astrology
Birth time can be important to astrology, and my astrologically themed divination exercises (“challenges” to use the social media term) and my “Astrology Fun” sentence builders (and Part 2 is here) assume that you know yours, but not everyone does. That can make some of the nuances of astrology, such as rising sign and House positions, impossible to enjoy, which is a shame because they’re fun to dig into.
I want to help y’all solve that problem, so I’ve come up with a way to help you figure it out for basic astrology purposes. And no, I’m not a professional astrologer. I’m a self-taught hodgepodge student of astrology, so you might be able to get more complete advice from a better trained source. That said, my method blends basic astrology with personal assessment and goal manifestation, which are arguably more important aspects when determining one’s fates than precise birth time. (Your astrological chart is a jumping off point and set of vague boundaries/guides, not a step-by-step plan for life.)
First things first, if you get a lot of “You’re such a {fill in the blank sign},” and it’s the same sign over and over, and it’s not your Sun sign, then that could very well be your rising sign, and you don’t need much more help. (If that’s not you, skip this paragraph.) You can do a little searching online to confirm that this fits for you. If it does, read through some others to confirm that most don’t fit equally well (if they all fit well, then either you need a more precise interpretive aid or you have such an open personality that this might be a challenging exercise for you). If you’re feeling good about your rising sign, you can confirm it by looking up your Midheaven (three signs before). And with that done, if you’re set on your rising sign, skip to “The Last Step.”
Now, it’s time to explain some science. The Earth spins once per day, so we get to “see” all of the signs rising over the horizon at some point during the day even if some aren’t visible because they’re hidden by daylight. This is called your rising sign, also known as the Ascendant. The day you were born makes no difference to what rising sign you could be. The time you were born determines your rising sign and, as a result, the position of your twelve astrological Houses (I use Roman numerals to label them, House I through House XII).
Meanwhile, the Moon is spinning around the Earth. Regardless of the Earth’s position in space, the Moon passes through every sign over the course of a lunar month (~28 days), so there’s a less perfect mapping of signs to days. The Moon takes about 2.5 days to move through a sign, so depending on the day you were born, you might have only one Moon sign option. However, you might have two Moon sign options, and time of birth can also affect that.
Therefore, you might have one factor or two factors to consider to help determine birth time (in broad, good-enough-for-astrology terms). Since that may not be enough for you, we can also look at your Midheaven at the end, represented by the sign on the cusp of House X. For approximating purposes, we will use the Equal Sign House system, so your Midheaven is in the sign three “behind” your rising sign. Precise astrologers may find this absolutely absurd, and people who want to be told what their future holds as if it’s handed to them will find this challenging, but I want you to use your aspirations to help create your fate. Truly, the stars don’t give a shit. Their work was done when you were born. It’s your turn now.
With this, we should have plenty of indicators to help most people find the rising sign that fits them best. If not,I may be able to help you narrow things down further, but that’s getting into the weeds, so I will cover that in a later post if I get asked about it enough times.
So let’s get started. And, again, this is for determining birth time to help understand astrological / self-determined fate factors. It’s not a method for determining literal birth times, and a professional astrologer may be able to get you a more precise birth time estimation, but this is free, so why not start here?
Step 1
Look up the Moon sign for you birth date at 12:01 AM and at 11:59PM in your place of birth (or nearest big city). If they’re the same, then you know your Moon sign, and you can skip to Step 3. If they’re not, you have two possible Moon signs, and time of birth is a factor in that, and you should continue to Step 2. Either way, your Moon sign might be able to help narrow down your birth time options.
Step 2
If the Moon changed signs on your birth date, find the time that the Moon shifted into the other sign on your birth date at your place of birth (or nearest big city). You can do this by narrowing down some guess-and-check work. Assume that the Moon moves 1 degree every 2–2.5 hours and do the math. If it was at 26º Aries at 12:01AM, it’s probably going to be close to moving into Taurus at 9:00AM. You can look up the Moon sign at 9:00AM and confirm or correct your estimation. You don’t have to get precise here.
Step 3
Whether or not you have two Moon options, look up “Moon in “ Sign A and, if relevant, "Moon in “ Sign B. Your Moon sign is how you process emotion and what you want and feel beneath the surface and when you’re enjoying yourself by yourself. Some of your worst traits can come from your Moon sign because they’re deeply internal aspects that are hidden from the light of day—it’s the id rather than the ego—but some of the best stuff is in there too. It may be helpful to think about how you express yourself online behind the veneer of technology and distance (or even anonymity) or when writing, an activity that allows you to fully express yourself. If you are choosing between two Moon sign options, one of these may call to you more strongly, but even if you have only one option, it can help you pin down a time using night rulership.
If your Moon sign (or each of your Moon signs) doesn’t feel at all right, and it’s not just because you’re not good at self-reflection, it could be because you were born when the sun was down. Look up “Moon in” your Sun sign instead of in your Moon sign (or possible Moon signs). Does it feel more like you? If so, look up “Sun in” your Moon sign (or possible Moon signs) instead of in your Sun sign. If that also feels more like you, then you were probably born at night (i.e., any time before sunrise and any time after sunset).
For some folks, time of birth affects how you express your Moon sign and Sun sign. Being born when the sun was down (hidden and unseen, like your inner world) and the Moon is the only guiding light in the sky (your ego and life path) means that you have a night chart (or nocturnal chart). For many astrologers, this has no impact on how you should understand your Sun and Moon signs. But it’s possible that your Moon sign and Sun sign should be “switched” for interpretive purposes. (It doesn’t change where your Sun or Moon were, just which you use for thinking about your ego and life path and which you use for understanding your emotions and inner world.) As far as I know, using a night chart like this is not widely accepted, but this is where your personal drive and will to engage with your own life purpose and experience is so important. If swapping Sun and Moon like this feels like a better fit for you, then you were probably born when the sun was down, which generally cuts out about half the day. If you feel like a blend of the two options, then you might also have a night chart; however, this could also indicate that you aren’t identifying strongly enough with the signs, and you can check that by trying to blend your Sun sign with other signs. If many blends feel like a good fit for you, you could just have such a mixed chart and/or open personality that nothing feels quite right; you should not assume that this means that you have a night chart.
Caveat. If your Sun sign and Moon sign feel right according to normal astrological interpretations (i.e., without switching them), that doesn’t necessarily mean that you were born during the day. Normal astrological interpretations can still apply to night charts.
Step 4
If you’ve narrowed down your options, either by finding which of two possible Moon signs fits you best or by determining that you have a night chart (or both), you should now limit your possible rising signs. If everything is still up for grabs, continue on to Step 5.
If you have a night chart, look up the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) at 12:01AM on your birth date and then the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) at sunrise on your birth date. These signs and anything between them in the normal Aries–Taurus–…–Aquarius–Pisces order are options. Then look up the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) at sunset on your birth date and then the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) at 11:59PM on your birth date. These signs and anything else between them in the normal zodiacal order are also options. Anything that doesn’t fall in that list (probably four or five signs) can be cut from the list of possible rising signs.
If the Moon switched signs on your birth date, and you’ve determined that your Moon sign is the first option on that date, then look up the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) at 12:01AM and the time that the Moon moved into the other sign on your birth date at your place of birth (or nearest big city). These signs and anything between them in the normal Aries–Taurus–…–Aquarius–Pisces order are options. If you also know that you have a night chart, you can narrow this further by excluding signs that only rose during the hours between sunrise and sunset (do not cut out signs that were rising at sunrise or sunset since these carry over to/from nighttime hours too).
If the Moon switched signs on your birth date, and you’ve determined that your Moon sign is the second option on that date, then look up the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) when the Moon moved into that second sign on your birth date and then look up the sign that was rising at your place of birth (or nearest big city) at 11:59PM on your birth date. These signs and anything between them in the normal Aries–Taurus–…–Aquarius–Pisces order are options. If you also know that you have a night chart, you can narrow this further by excluding signs that only rose during the hours between sunrise and sunset (do not cut out signs that were rising at sunrise or sunset since these carry over to/from nighttime hours too).
Step 5
Now, finally, you get to think about which of your possible rising signs suits you best. Goodness gracious, there’s an end in sight after all. You will ultimately need to look up “Rising sign in {fill in the blank sign}” to match personal details to sign specifics, but you should do some reflection and note-taking before you just look all the rising signs up. It’s very easy to think that everything sounds right. So before you look anything up all, consider how your rising sign might already be recognizable in the way that it manifests for you. Don’t rely on just one category of associations: look for some cross-category validation.
A common method for identifying your rising sign is to think about how people who interact with you in person (or at least face-to-face) think of you. (While it’s true that energies transfer remotely—hello, tarot readings from afar—it’s easier for rising signs to manifest in person or face-to-face because they’re tied to your outward persona and physical appearance.) If you get a lot of “You’re such a {fill in the blank sign},” then that could be your rising sign, especially if it’s not your Sun or Moon sign. Write down this sign (or these signs if there are a couple) as a first option. But write down the other signs in the same element (e.g., Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are all fiery) and the opposing sign since people often know the signs in fairly shallow terms without realizing the overlap in even opposing signs (e.g., Taurus and Scorpio can be seen as “sexy or hedonistic” but in totally different ways, Gemini and Sagittarius are both often seen as “curious and charming” although with different areas of interest, Cancer and Capricorn can both seem “closed off” for very different reasons). You might also consider adding the other sign ruled by the same planet to the list. In traditional astrology, there are five pairs: Capricorn–Aquarius (Saturn), Sagittarius–Pisces (Jupiter), Aries–Scorpio (Mars), Taurus–Libra (Venus), and Gemini–Virgo (Mercury); the Sun and Moon each only rule one sign.
Similarly, if there are personality traits that others strongly associate with you, and it’s not tied to your Sun or Moon sign, then this could be another big clue to your rising sign. This can be especially true if you reject that personality trait or if acquaintances associate that personality trait until getting to know “the real you” (e.g., a Leo rising may struggle to understand why everyone thinks they love drama when they don’t, a Taurus rising may be thought of as lazy because they’ve been working slowly when there’s a perfectly good explanation for the delays, such as some Virgo Moon fastidiousness). If these people know you primarily through social media or an online persona (or in writing rather than face-to-face exchanges), then you should check your natal chart (you can select any time) to see if they’re actually just noticing your Mercury sign and if so, it might still be your rising sign, but it’s less likely. For example, my online friends almost always think that I’m an Air sign or a Virgo, but that’s probably because of my Mercury in Gemini (Virgo’s Mercury-ruled cousin). Mercury is how you think and communicate, and that’s often tied to how people see you online or through your writing.
A very different approach would be to think about your physical characteristics, the ones that are remarkable or that you and others associate with you. Are your feet webbed and your eyes limpid pools? Pisces might be your rising sign. Do you have lusciously thick hair and keen eyes? You might be a Leo rising. Are you gorgeously symmetrical? Libra may have blessed you at birth. Do you have RBF (or “resting android face” as I call mine) and troublesome knees? You could be a Capricorn rising. I’m sure that you see where this is going. Of course, we all have lots of characteristics that have nothing to do with our rising signs (my knee problems are genetic “gifts,” not astrological ones), but there are probably some that stand out more than others. Focus on these.
You should then think about all of these things in relation to your childhood. For most rising signs, these characteristics can be strongly expressed during childhood. If you were called an “old soul” as a kid and got along better with your friends’ parents than your friends, you may want to consider whether Capricorn and Aquarius is your rising sign. If your childhood self wanted nothing more than to explore and you were more than willing to get into trouble to do so, you might find some familiarity in the fire signs. Rising signs change every two hours, so their characteristics can often be superficial, and it’s possible that you’ve outgrown some of them. As with personality traits / misconceptions that have been foisted upon you, these outgrown childhood characteristics can also be a sign that they’re part of your external face (your rising sign) rather than something more deeply rooted.
Once you have your list of possible rising signs or, more useful, a dozen key characteristics or physical features, read through the characteristics of each of your possible rising signs while looking for resonance with what you’ve already recorded. Remember that you may have been able to rule out some rising signs, and if you have and feel good about it, don’t bother reading about those signs; they’re distractions.
You should take your time here. This is not something that you should need to do multiple times, so investing a little time up front pays off in the long run.
Step 6
After all this, you may finally have your one and only rising sign, in which case you skip this step. But if you still need help narrowing your last few options down (and if you have more than three, you’re not trying hard enough), you can look to your Midheaven. The Midheaven is tied to career and status and aspirations, and, for our very simplified purposes, it sits in House X, three signs behind your rising sign (e.g., if your rising sign is Libra, your Midheaven is in Cancer). Many people consider it a sign of their calling, so it’s a great tool for helping you decide what rising sign you are. Look up your Midheaven options. Which of those sounds most like you? What do you aspire to? Which one (of that small, winnowed down set) do you wish were your Midheaven? Pick it. Own it. Believe it. Make the future you want feel destined and go for it. Now that you have your Midheaven, you know your rising sign.
The Last Step
Now that you have your rising sign, look up the sign that was rising on the horizon at your place of birth (or nearest large city) on your birth date at 12:01AM, 2:00AM, 4:00AM, etc. until you get to your sign. Then do some guesstimating to find the band of time that includes all of that sign, from 0º0’0” to 29º59’59” (the whole sign). Hooray, you know your time of birth within a two-hour range, and you can print out your full natal chart. Using the middle of that range will probably be close enough for almost anything you need astrologically, but you may also want to consider using the Whole Sign method for calculating Houses (assuming you have the option).
If you want to get into the weeds, you can start reading up on your planets and see if they fall in the “correct” House. If so, yay! If they fit better in one of the neighboring Houses, you can start to adjust birth time to try to get them to line up properly, but it’s hard to get them all to “work” properly thanks to aspects, retrogrades, dignities, and all the rest of that astrological fun.
As always, I want to be clear that I’m not a professional astrologer with a lifetime of rigorous study, training, and experience. I’m just someone who likes to collect data points and analyze their patterns. And I like to use those talents to help people understand complicated things by breaking them down into their (many, long-winded) pieces. Since I’m an amateur of astrology (someone who loves to study it but doesn’t do it professionally, per se), I’m applying that to astrology. If you know of a better way to calculate birth time, use that. If you want an in-depth astrological reading of your natal chart, I strongly encourage you to invest in someone whose work you love. I have. This is just a free little resource to get you started if you feel left out of the fun because of one missing piece of information, so take it for whatever it’s worth to you.