Real Life Rectification
Rectification is the process of determining a birth time where it’s not recorded or the record is questionable. Birth certificate times can be unreliable or inconsistent with the memory of those present, and some birth certificates don’t even list a time. Rectification can be done through timing techniques and transits, but the most important part of this process is speaking with the person and having intimate conversations. Recounting life events is vulnerable and requires trust. This is a story of rectifying my beloved partner’s birth chart, and Max has given consent for this information to be public.
Through our initial messages the inquiry of birth data came up through a joke, and Max sent me the full details which included a 4-5pm time range. The Ascendant went from Capricorn to Aquarius at 4:05pm, and after our first meeting to get to know each other more, I felt comfortable calling it as Aquarius Rising. He told me that his birth certificate had a time recorded that was later, but his mom remembers that being incorrect. The 4-5pm time range he gave me was the time his mom said when he asked then.
Fast forward about a year, and I was having dinner at their family home with Max and his family. Astrology came up, along with birth stories, and his mom remembered his birth time differently. While she told him between 4-5pm when he asked a year prior, she told me between 2:30-3pm that night.
This is when I went into major research mode. I began asking about documentation, and out came a box. We looked at birth certificates, baby photos, all types of sentimental memory holders that you can imagine. Max's birth certificate was found with the time listed as 6:50pm; his mom swore that was far too late.
Clearly we now had a problem because there are 3 possible Ascendants at play on that day and in that location. Capricorn was rising from 2:01pm until 4:04pm. Aquarius was rising from 4:05pm until 5:51pm. Pisces was rising from 5:52pm until 7:27pm.
In this brief moment of crisis, I did what any normal human living in these times would do… I tweeted about it.
To be fair, I already knew the recorded time was thought to be incorrect, but the overall shock of the moment between seeing the document and hearing it from his mom got to me.
This is when I realized I would need to have a proper sit down with my beloved and ask a tidal wave of questions. Max is very supportive of my practice even though he isn't an astrologer, knows how sensitive birth times are from our conversations, and thankfully agreed to help rectify.
Admittedly, this was probably the easiest rectification that I’ve ever done or will ever do. Max and I had already been together for more than a year. I knew exactly what to ask about and how to track it. Compared other rectifications I’ve done, there was a narrow window of time I was examining. Depending on which signs they are, 3 zodiac signs can be a lot to think about, but there’s something undeniably loud about the transition between Jupiter and Saturn.
When we sit down for our rectification conversation, I very quickly ruled out Pisces Rising. Although mom’s memories can be unreliable, Max’s mom was continually adamant that the recorded time on the birth certificate was too late, and I wholeheartedly agree. The man is not ruled by Jupiter, suggested by his demeanor and the timing techniques.
This left me with Capricorn Rising or Aquarius Rising, and the two hold some similarities being both ruled by Saturn. Knowing he was Saturn ruled regardless was a -slight- comfort, but not much… and this is where things get very personal.
Spoiler alert: I believe that the original time his mom gave is closest to the real time, making him an Aquarius Rising. I’m going to include two major events that helped me pinpoint his Ascendant. I’m also going to be emphasizing angularity because he has multiple fixed planets. Max has Venus and Jupiter in Leo, Moon in Scorpio, and Saturn in Aquarius.
Max and his family are from Haiti, and they moved to Miami when he was very little where he grew up and spent his childhood. The first major event was his family moving from Miami to the Tampa Bay Area in 2006. Max was in a 3rd House year and about to enter a 4th House year; his birthday is September 11th and the move happened right before he began the school year as a freshman in high school. He entered a 4th House year right as he moved, and this happened while Jupiter was in Scorpio and Saturn was in Leo.
Despite not wanting to move and having to leave all his friends behind, Max recalled feeling the desire to be more outgoing and open at a new school in a new place because he had always been more introverted. This marked a shift in who he was connecting with and how he wanted to be perceived as he took charge and decided to be more confident.
Jupiter being in the 10th House would align with this move being to a place with hopefully better opportunities and with the specific hope of being more outgoing to be seen authentically. Saturn in the 7th House would align with being isolated from all the friendships that had been cultivated for so many years. Max has a day chart with a Jupiter and Saturn sign-based opposition in his natal chart, meaning this transiting configuration would be making hard aspects to his natal Jupiter and Saturn. The two day planets making a hard aspect to each other in angular houses, if the time lines up with Aquarius Rising, speaks to the change that took place when the place of home shifted. This move has shaped Max’s life in so many ways, from the close group of friends he has to the very public job he holds.
The second major event, and arguably the most major tell, was Max tearing his Achilles tendon. He was playing a game of pickup basketball with some friends, and someone stepped on the back of his heel. I can’t overstate that Max is an athlete. He played basketball in school and started rock climbing in college, and being active is part of his lifestyle in every way. An injury this severe was massive.
This occurred during a 4th House year, which would be activating Venus as time lord if the time lines up with Aquarius Rising. Max has Venus in Leo, making a hard aspect to this house Venus rules.
The rupture happened on July 3, 2019 — the day after a New Moon in Cancer and the day that Venus moved into Cancer, which is the 6th House in an Aquarius Rising chart. Max was immediately put into a boot. He’s a rock climbing coach for a competitive kid’s team, so he had to fly across the country a few days later to go to Nationals with his kids. Two weeks later on July 19, he had surgery on his Achilles tendon to repair the damage. After the rupture happened, Mercury in Leo moved retrograde. On the day of the surgery, Mercury moved back into Cancer.
The way the injury dates lined up was spookily perfect, in the hauntingly beautiful and picturesque way that astrology describes life. An angular house was activated, ruled by a planet in an angular house, with transits all happening in the 6th House that affected 6th House matters of injury and work. Angularity speaks to immediacy and potency being loudly in front of you the way that angles are obvious turning points.
This was an injury with rippling effects into the future. He doesn’t play basketball anymore, at least not any type of serious game with a lot of people. Since the injury, he’s come back stronger than ever before.
-cue record scratch-
Fast forward to a new version of myself, hey hi, I wrote all of that above in a draft a few months back and am finally editing it. However, there’s an update.
Max has ruptured his other Achilles tendon, and he did it while playing basketball. It happened while the Sun in Aquarius was at the bending, or squaring the nodes. The Moon was in Taurus and was about to join Uranus. It happened right as the Leo began to rise.
The most wild part is that I felt sure of his Ascendant at our first meeting; it was a feeling so sure and steady that I couldn’t deny it. Watching transits and time continue to unfold have only increased that knowingness.
Recently I tweeted about rectification because I’ve been doing it more lately for clients and am falling thoroughly in love with it. These grateful sensations continue to strengthen as the skies unfold their stories and we weave within them.
