Back in my most innocent pre-astrology days, like most folks, I knew what my "astrological Sun sign" was from reading the daily horoscope predictions in the local newspaper. And like most folks... I was totally clueless that my “Sun Sign” was just the metaphorical tip of a vast, expansive iceberg called Western Tropical Astrology.

At one point, during my slow and arduous journey out of my personal "Kingdom of Cluelessness," I briefly became pals with a professional astrologer. Much to my surprise... my new astrologer pal insisted that - in order to accurately calculate my horoscopic chart - it was crucial that she know as exactly as possible (down to the minute) my time of birth.

After going in search of (and dusting off) my birth certificate, for the very first time my astrologer pal was able to provide me with a print out of my unique birth chart based on the exact time, location, and date of my birth.

Here's The Skinny
What my astrologer pal then very likely attempted to explain at the time - that flew in one ear and out the other - is that the time of birth determines the exact location of two of the most important symbols in the horoscopic chart.

These two important points are the very fast moving Ascendant and the Midheaven. The time of birth is important because these two important points both make a full cycle through all 12 signs of the Zodiac every 24 hours. Without getting too technical.... these two important points, in turn, then determine the placements of the planets in the 12 houses of astrology.

Chances are that you’ve never even heard of these two incredibly important and speedy points, the Ascendant and the Midheaven?

The Ascendant
The Ascendant (or Rising Sign) is the Zodiac sign that was rising (and racing) on the horizon at the exact moment of your birth. The Ascendant represents the exact dawning of your life on planet Earth. It's the part of the Sky that came to meet and greet you at the exact moment of your birth.

The Ascendant aids us in answering the question: "who am I in this world?" The Ascendant acts as an "I am filter" through which we process all of our life experiences....

The Ascendant (or Rising Sign) is where you find your most natural expression in the world. That's a simply a fancy way of saying that it's the way you present yourself to folks when they are first getting to know you on a personal level. It's how they will tend to initially see and experience you.

According to archetypal astrologer Dr. Karen Hamaker-Zondag, the Ascendant is analogous to an outer doorway leading to our innermost and private sanctum, a sanctum that we most normally keep hidden away from others.

"The Ascendant reflects a person's natural way of acting, his/her habitual external behavior, and his/her way of responding to new impulses and impressions... It is an important part of our character, sometimes so natural that when people call attention to our traits, we often have difficulty in recognizing these traits as being a part of us or being 'like us.' Only when we have carefully observed ourselves over a period of time, will the Ascendant characteristics become clear to us." “Foundations of Personality”

Dr. Hamaker-Zondag is absolutely right. Further along my journey out of total cluelessness, I happened to meet up with someone that was able to tell me which one of the 12 zodiac signs my Ascendant was located in, and then went on to explain to me some of the major characteristics of that sign.

At the time, I thought this person was absolutely nuts! In retrospect this particular person probably was nuts... nevertheless, they were correct about my Ascendant zodiac sign and that it fit me perfectly.

The Midheaven
Next up is the Midheaven. Generally speaking, the Midheaven is a point on your birth chart that reflects your public "reputation" and/or how you'd like to be known or seen by others in society.

According to Dr. Hamaker-Zondag, the Midheaven is analogous to a flag waving from the highest tower of your castle that tells other folks a little something about the nature of your kingdom (who you are) while they're still approaching your castle from a great distance.

Very often the Midheaven reflects your chosen career or perhaps, some other avocation or interest to which you ascribe import. The Midheaven closely resembles the Jungian term, "the persona." The persona is the outer, external, and impersonal mask that we each construct to protect the true "inner core" of our psyche from the everyday, bumps and bruises of the external "real world."

Sky Maps - Celestial Mirror
At the moment of your birth, the various characters contained in your unique horoscopic chart mirror back a reflection of "who you are" in the world.

Notice that I just chose to use the word “mirror.”

The zodiacal placements of the planets and assorted other celestial points in the birth chart do not cause you to be "who you are." Nope. They don't cause you to be "who you are," any more than your reflection in the bathroom mirror on any given Monday morning causes you to look like you do.

However, functioning as a celestial mirror of the inner-world of your psyche, the various characters contained within your unique horoscopic chart do reflect back and provide a pretty accurate map of where you've been, who you are, and where you're going.

Our natal (or birth) charts are special "sky maps" that reflect (mirror back) the exact moment we drew our first breath. And with that first breath, we each began our own incredible hero's journey through life on planet Earth... The birth positions of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all play their own unique symbolic roles as celestial messengers and ambassadors of the universe...

Find A Recorded Time of Birth If You Can
Through years of experience Dr Z has learned that "Mom's memory" or "Uncle Fred's memory" are seldom going to be all that accurate when it comes to remembering your birth time (unless they happened to be astrology enthusiasts).

It's always... (let's repeat that) always preferable and highly recommended to have and use a recorded birth time such as the one that can often be found on one's birth certificate.

Please... please... please... go ahead - dig a little deeper and take the extra effort and time to locate your recorded birth certificate time (or another recorded time source)! It's in your best interest to exhaust all of the regular options and/or channels of locating a recorded birth time, prior to "giving up the ghost."