To obtain the true local time of your birth, follow these steps.
1. Find the meridian of longitude that marks the normal
beginning for the time zone in which you were born.
For the United States and Canada, these are:
Newfoundland
53.5 West
UTC -3:30, P
Atlantic
60 West
UTC -4, Q
Eastern
75 West
UTC -5, R
Central
90 West
UTC -6, S
Mountain
105 West
UTC -7, T
Pacific
120 West
UTC -8, U
Alaska-Yukon
135 West
UTC -9, V
Aleutian-Hawaii
150 West
UTC -10, W
Samoa
165 West
UTC -11, X
For the rest of the world, see the List of Time Zones,
find your birthplace and its UTC,
and follow the same procedure.
UTC +12, M
180 East
UTC +11, L
165 East
UTC +10, K
150 East
UTC +9, I
135 East
UTC +8, H
120 East
UTC +7, G
105 East
UTC +6, F
90 East
UTC +5, E
75 East
UTC +4, D
60 East
UTC +3, C
15 East
UTC +2, B
30 East
UTC +1, A
15 East
UTC Z
0 E/W
UTC -1, N
15 West
UTC -2, O
30 West
UTC -3, P
45 West
UTC -4, Q
60 West
UTC -5, R
75 West
UTC -6, S
90 West
UTC -7, T
105 West
UTC -8, U
120 West
UTC -9, V
135 West
UTC -10, W
150 West
UTC -11, X
165 West
2. More likely than not, you were born some distance to the west
of the normal beginning meridian.
If so, subtract one minute from your birth time for every quarter-degree (15')
of longitude west, or four minutes for every full degree.
If you were born to the east of the normal
beginning meridian, add one minutes to your birth time for every quarter-degree (15'),
or four minutes for every full degree.
3. If daylight saving time was in effect at the time of your
birth, subtract one hour from your birth time.
Notes:
The popular expression "I was born under..." usually refers to the classic division
of the zodiac that the sun occupied for the period of approximately
thirty days since you were born.
I think that in current practice of the divinatory arts,
a "culminating"
fixed star means one that occupies
the same degree of the zodiac as does the midheaven.
Please let me know if I am wrong.
Instead,
this little program gives the name of the fixed star
that a person was literally "born under."
So far as I know, there is nothing similar available online.
I chose to ignore the effects of precession, and to set the vernal equinox
on March 21. Star positions are Epoch 2000. None of these simplifications
should really matter much.
Whatever other predictive value it may have (if any),
"reading the stars" is an important system of lay counselling thruoghout
most (maybe all) of the world.
As a youngster, I was very interested in astronomy and math, and the study
of the use of the stars in divination helped me learn analytic geometry,
trigonometry, and popular psychology and counselling.
"Reading the stars" also enhances the general public's knowledge of, and appreciation for,
scientific astronomy.
At least on this page, I am not addressing the question of whether
the stars really exert an influence by occult means.
Actually, I hope the little program will prove useful to those interested in doing
fair and honest research. I will not describe my own informal studies here,
beyond
reaffirming that when I applied simple controls, all results supported
the null hypothesis.
As an adult, my own sense is that "the stars" serve the counsellor primarily
as props, and that the system (which is enormously complex)
is set up to enable support for any
ideas that will be helpful.
If you have reached a different conclusion about reading the stars
as a "science" with actual predictive value, I must ask you to forgive me.
Most people in the mainstream sciences believe that extraordinary claims
require extraordinary evidence.
Whatever you decide, the pretense of the supernatural may make good counsel that much more palatable.
And the advice in such magazines as Horoscope
and "American Astrology"
seems generally sound. For example, a counsellor may tell a wife in
a failing marriage, "You have Mercury trine Mars, so you can
take the initiative and continue your education
in order to become eligible for a job
to support yourself if you do become single again."
The wider the range of choices, the easier
the counsellor's job
in giving wise and good advice to those in need. Hence this program.
As Shakespeare put it, "For my part,
if a lie will do thee grace, I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have."
Whatever your beliefs, I hope your intentions are good. And I hope
that you find this little program helpful and fun.
I was born under a wand'rin' star...
-- "Paint Your Wagon"
A star danced, and under that was I born.
-- Shakespeare's Beatrice
Monsieur Parolles, you were born under a charitable star.
-- Shakespeare's Helena
My nativity was under Ursa Major, so it follows that I am rough... Tut, I [w]ould have been [who] I am, [even if]
the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my [birth].
Natal Chart Generator -- this is really good Natal Chart Generator -- Astrolabe, gives free chart and offers more interpretation for a fee Brady's Fixed Stars: Book Aquamoonlight -- traditional divinatory meanings for a few stars, plus links Astrologycom.com Behenian fixed stars -- those considered very powerful, with correspondences and magical signs Beheniah fixed stars -- another table, with magic powers The Fixed Stars -- Bernadette Brady explains and illustrates her system Fixed Star Meanings. Zyntara -- software for practitioners. Explains the concept of "paran". If a particular fixed
star rises, reaches its highest point, sets, or reaches its lowest point at the same time
as a particular planet for a particular place, it is said to be in
"paran".
My link is now down. This is yet one more complication,
and I looked in vain for what it means.
Note that all "predictions" on the entry page are after-the-fact. The Fixed Stars Yahoo! group. Constellations of Words -- lots of star lore, from Anne Wright. Enjoyable.
A Few Suggestions on Using the Fixed Stars: Link is now down. Some notes
here from practitioner Anne Wright. Note the importance of
personal impressions and the use of the imagination rather than controlled study.
You'll need to decide for yourself whether this is an intuitive
gift, the result of deep study of a tradition,
or merely seeing faces in the clouds.
The Fixed Stars
in Mundane [i.e., political] Astrology. Anne Wright. Link is now down. Very little is known as to the effect of the fixed stars in mundane astrology although there is no doubt that their influence is of supreme importance in this branch of the subject. The Fixed Stars
in Mundane Astrology. Same quotation -- it turns out the source is Vivian E. Robson (1890-1942), "the fixed
stars and constellations in astrology". Galactic Center -- Yet
another system, this one from India. Again, someone might conclude that
adding the fixed stars simply adds another
level of complexity enabling the
practitioner to
obtain the divination of choice. Typical is "Markab is a star of honors
and success with great sorrows." The material on the fixed stars has been removed (Nov. 2007). Special and Malefic
Degrees and Fixed Stars -- a tabulation of data, with the author making no
attempt to conceal that the system is elaborate and
not internally consistent. Yet again, someone might conclude
that the purpose is to allow the practitioner to
choose the result. Old Algol --
a star traditionally linked to disasters, especially decapitations. The
practitioner's method is obvious. The practitioner chooses a disaster,
then finds one of the very large number of possible points that are
within an unspecified distance from Algol. There are of course no controls,
and Jayne Mansfield's decapitation, cited here as fact, is an urban legend.
Interestingly, the practitioner states that one can do "an entire reading based
only on star (and black hole) positions", i.e., there are a sufficient number
of props to get the desired result without even including the planets or zodiac.
The National Council for Geocosmic Research
special-interest group concerned with the fixed stars seems to be inactive.
For skeptics:
Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos introduced by Ed Fixed Stars and Astrology. By a true-believer,
but the introductory remarks are most telling.The reason there isn't more written
about fixed stars in astrology is because astrologers never go out and actually
look at the night sky.... The night sky is awesomely beautiful. Few of us get to see
it in all its glory. Skeptical Studies, with a focus
on physicist Shawn Carlson's famous paper in Nature (December 5, 1985) in which double-blinded controls were applied
to astrologers' claims. The results did not support belief in the system's
predictive value. Like pseudoscientists usually do, the astrologers responded
primarily with personal attacks instead of substantive criticism.
However, the link also showcases
another truth... people go to astrologers primarily
for advice on personal problems, i.e.,
they are seeking help from a lay counsellor who may simply be using "the stars"
as window-dressing.
The Carlson Paper from Nature. Click on the miniatures to read the entire article as jpg scans.
The beautiful illustration at the top of the page comes from a professor
at U. of Otago, NZ, whose skeptical page unfortunately no longer appears online.