Charts Cast at Conception

 

June 25, 2004

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/june25.html

 

Hi Eric!

Why are birth charts cast around the time of birth rather than the moment of conception? Leaving aside the fact that people generally aren't clock-watching at such a moment (some women may disagree!), conception is when the new life is created. By the time the baby is born it has already had some of the most intense experiences of its life. Research now shows that newborn babies already have a great many thinking patterns installed, can recognise familiar sounds and even know their own names if they were given one in the early stages of pregnancy. Surely all of our prenatal experiences must have occurred under cosmic influences.

(I ask this having read an interesting piece called "The Planets and the Development of the Embryo." A popular medieval text, De humana natura, attributed the characterization of the developing foetus to the influence of the seven known planets (incl. the Sun and Moon) ruling in turn.)

Kind regards,

Ross

 

 

Dear Ross,

This is a great question, one that many people ponder. And the answer is very simple. Astrology is dependent on things that can be timed. Birth can be timed; conception cannot.

Even if someone happened to glance at the clock mid-orgasm (at such moments most people are paying attention to more compelling matters than the time of day), that would not give you the timing of conception, which can happen within three days of the sex that led to it.

The birth time also points to the individual's journey in this world. In the womb, the foetus is in a kind of "interworld" and its life is very much entwined with that of the mother -- and her chart. Entering the outer world is a point of no return. Astrology thrives on the timing of such events, which are the truly decisive moments of life.

Now that being said, the before-birth charts can be very helpful. The most commonly used ones (by the few astrologers who check) are the prenatal new and full moons; and the prenatal solar and lunar eclipses. If you know enough astrology to have a sense of your birth chart, I assure you these charts will be interesting. Use the exact time of the eclipse as given in the ephemeris and cast them for your place of birth. Look at the connections; look at your life story developing, like a fetus.

One last thing. If you want an interesting astrological experience, cast the charts of your parents and put your birth chart around theirs as a transit chart. Your birth was an event in their lives. By studying their transits at the time of your birth, you can learn a lot about what your entry into their lives meant, and how you may have responded.