Most of my consultations can be performed without a birth time. So, if you don’t know, don’t worry! There’s still a large amount of information at our disposal.
Locating Your Birth Time
An accurate birth time is especially important for TIMING events using your birth chart. To locate your birth time:
1. Birth certificate – This is the best way. This is the time recorded by your hospital of birth. Occasionally, this time can be off by a few minutes (but by working with an experienced astrologer regularly, a small time discrepancy can usually be spotted and rectified).
IMPORTANT: If you order a birth certificate, the time may not be printed. In some counties/states, there are different versions of birth certificates available; standard or long-form. Call the BIRTH RECORDS office of the COUNTY in which you were born. You can also email the birth records division of your state. Many will provide a birth time for you over the phone or in an email. If you would like a copy of your birth certificate with the time printed on it, request a LONG-FORM certificate. Sometimes, you cannot request standard or long-form on their website. You have to call and request. When in doubt, get someone on the phone.
2. Other birth record: Hospital certificate, newspaper or birth announcement – although not as reliable as a birth certificate, still good information.
3. Parent’s memory (or other relatives) – Not as reliable, but it’s better than no guess at all! It’s a good start and gives us something to work with. (Our “memory” of my son’s birth is 10 minutes after the hospital recorded time; these discrepancies occur often)
4. No birth information available – No worries. There’s still plenty of information with which we can work and predictions can still be made, but there are certain astrological tools that cannot be used.