2
Hello

Good questions!

Though Lilly didn't have the luxury of Topocentric Houses, I still have read where he stated that synchronizing primary directions to the events of the life is the only real way to verify/rectify a birth chart. I think that is likely a correct conclusion.

In Primary Directions, the very slightest change in birthtime shifts the maturity of aspects very far in time. If one finds the correct sequencing of Primary Directions to the events of the life, then the birthtime is fixed to a very tight timeframe...seconds really.

Isaac has written a wonderful program (Polaris) that automates this search for the correct Primary Direction sequence. If one has a pretty close birthtime, the free program Astro (which does Topocentric Primary Directions) can be used to hone in on an exact birthtime.

I used Astro and got to my birthtime (rectified 1 min 16 secs from my birth certificate time) without too much muss and fuss. Later, that time was corroborated with Polaris and by Isaac's separate rectification.

I've had quite a number of events since the rectification was performed, including finding the dates for my maternal grandparents, as well as the subsequent (to the rectification) deaths of my (one-time) step-Father and my ex-Wife.

Death of Grandfather under a Neptune-MC direction (0? 2' orb) [correct symbolism as per Polaris manual for expected directions]

Death of Grandmother under a Pluto-Node conjunction (0? 4' orb) [perfect symbolism... Pluto (planet for death) conjoining the Node (associations, often familial ones, and especially maternal relationships)]

Death of step-Father under an 8th House-Mercury direction (0? 0' orb) [8th House (death) and Mercury rules my 12th House (mournful, undermining things) as well as my 3rd House (notification from my Brother)] as well as a Moon-Pluto conjunction (0? 2' orb) [emotional shock as I had no idea he was even ill... Pluto rules my 5th, ie. the 8th of the 10th]

Death of ex-Wife under a Moon-8th House direction (0? 5' orb) [One of the very first listed aspects for the event "Death of Wife" in the Polaris manual, which makes sense, the symbolism is perfect]

Additionally, these events are cross-coroborated by many other systems including Secondaries, PSSR aspects, and Age Harmonics. (the transits are tighter than "average" since the birthtime is known so specifically)

Re: Secondary Progressions

If you get your chart rectified to match the correct Primary Direction sequence, then those same Topocentric House cusps will be hot spots in Secondary Progressions as well. You will notice conspicuous aspects to the appropriate cusps at the time of events (3rd House for birth of Brothers/Sisters, 5th House for birth of one's children, 8th House for issues surrounding death, etc.)

Using Primary Directions (through Astro or Polaris) if you know the birthtime pretty tightly would be my recommendation for rectification. If you don't know the time tightly, but have quite a few events, then I wholeheartedly recommend Polaris.

Peace

James

5
Hello varuna2

Re: "I am assuming you meant www.astro.com has primary direction calculations..."

Actually, I meant the program, Astro, by Alexander Marr. It's an older DOS program (the author passed away some 12 years ago or so), but is one of the few sources (and perhaps the only FREE one) that do Topocentric Primary Directions correctly. It was designed under older computers, so to use it on newer computers requires a DOS-wrapper, such as DosBox. It's not hard to set up, so don't be intimidated by the extra step.

Re: "After some years of studying astrology I have no reason to believe the birth records are widely in error."

I assume by this that you mean no reason to believe YOUR birth records are in error. Having surveyed many, many charts with documented times, it becomes quickly obvious that the average error of margin is greater than 4 minutes, ie. the wrong degree on the Midheaven!

Re: "I have been comparing around 36 exact known dates for various types of significant life events and they are spread out over more than one decade."

Want to be the subject of a public rectification? ;)

Please continue to look into Topocentric Primary Directions. For correcting birthtimes, you will continue to be pleasantly rewarded for the time well-spent.

Peace

James

Astro can be downloaded for FREE at http://www.jamesalexander.de/resources.html

7
Hello varuna2

Sounds good...no problem.

If you decide to do the rectification with Primary Directions, and you run across any sticking points; I'd be glad to help... just drop me a PM.

Have fun!

James