Young Master
Tag：
Hellenistic Astrology, Rectification, Whole Sign, Zodiacal Releasing, Fixed Stars, Celebrity Chart
Author: Ori Olwardt
Beginning...
Birth time rectification has always been a major hurdle for astrology enthusiasts. Even for professional astrologers, it can be a real headache. Pinpointing the exact position of the Ascendant—which shifts one degree every four minutes—within a 1,440-minute day can feel like an impossible mission.
Recently, I've become obsessed with the history of Japan's Sengoku period. On a whim, I decided to look at the chart of the great warlord, Lord Oda Nobunaga—the man who nearly conquered all of Japan under his banner 'Tenka Fubu' (to rule the realm by military force), only to be betrayed by a trusted vassal at the height of his power and forced to take his own life in a blazing temple.
If you're not familiar with him, don't worry. The principles are the same, even when you're rectifying the chart of a complete stranger.
So, what was my approach? Birth time rectification, of course. After about an hour of research and event verification, I am highly confident that the chart I landed on is his. Now, let me walk you through how I used Hellenistic astrology and the Whole Sign House system to determine it.
Preparation
Before we begin the actual rectification, we need to define our target. Specifically, we need to zero in on two key aspects of the individual's life.
First, their long-term, stable, and prominent psychological traits. These traits should act as a central theme of their life, consistently manifesting as verifiable real-world events at various stages.
For example, if a trait is "isolation," did the native experience a prolonged lack of emotional support? If it's "addictive tendencies," was there unrestrained abuse of substances like drugs, alcohol, or sex?
Second, major external life events that were significant to the native. For instance, career peaks or valleys, health crises, relationship breakdowns, legal disputes, the death of relatives, and so on.
In a client consultation, this information can be gathered through a questionnaire. For a famous figure, it's much easier. Thankfully, for a figure like this, tools like Wikipedia and LLMs make this information gathering much easier and more accessible. For Lord Oda Nobunaga, I learned the following from an initial conversation with Gemini:
Prompt:
Can you provide a detailed, itemized list of Oda Nobunaga's long-term, stable psychological traits that resulted in verifiable real-world events?
Gemini (summary):
Extreme Rationalism and Pragmatism: He appointed people based on merit alone, gathering talents from all walks of life, including farmers, ronin, and defectors from enemy forces.
Ruthlessness: He often disregarded the lives of men, women, the elderly, and children, systematically carrying out massacres.
Openness & Curiosity: He maintained a strong interest in European culture, protected Christian missionaries of the time, and was a pioneer in using firearms.
An Extremely Inflated Ego: He repeatedly challenged enemies who outnumbered him several times over and, early in his career, declared his intention to unify the realm by force.
Prompt:
Can you tell me about his traits in interpersonal relationships, daily life, and habits?
Gemini (summary):
Impatience and a Short Temper: He was extremely prone to anger, often reprimanding or physically lashing out for no apparent reason. He was known to publicly beat his own retainers.
Rapid, Leaping Thought Process: Often, while others were still trying to understand his last command, he was already thinking...
Wait. Right there, alarm bells started ringing in my head. Openness, impatience, non-linear thinking... these are clear traits of an individual with ADHD. Based on this hypothesis, I inquired further about traits highly correlated with ADHD.
Prompt:
Did he have strong material desires and addictive tendencies, such as sex addiction? And did he exhibit signs of RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria)?
Gemini (summary):
Material Desires/Addictive Tendencies: He showed a strong desire for luxury goods and an insatiable lust for power. Historical records are insufficient regarding his sexual desires.
RSD: This was strongly evident. He repeatedly showed extreme and disproportionately negative reactions to rejection, betrayal, and criticism. This manifested as intense rage and revenge, such as in his letter of exile to Sakuma Nobumori, where he viewed the retainer's poor performance as a personal rejection and absolute contempt.
Okay, at this point, we have a clear picture of the kind of natal chart we're looking for. We can even make some initial hypotheses about its configuration: a prominently placed Mars & Sun (anger, violent desires, ego), an afflicted Moon (emotional sensitivity), and a Uranus/Mercury configuration (openness/non-linear thinking).
These hypotheses may all be valid, or only some may be. We'll need to open the chart and analyze the specifics to determine which planets are most significant and worthy of deeper investigation.
It’s important to note that planetary aspects and configurations don't change much throughout a single day. Our main task is to decide which houses these high-energy planets fall into.
Chart Analysis
Let's open our astrology software, enter the date, and set the time to noon. When rectifying a chart, I love to take a quick look at fixed star conjunctions. If a major planet conjoins an important fixed star, it's like hitting the jackpot. So...
Boom! Mars in a precise conjunction with Regulus! It's obvious. We can set aside all other hypotheses and focus entirely on this Mars. Remember what we said earlier? His life was that of a king who conquered the world, yet died by betrayal due to his arrogance. Now we just need to decide where to place this Mars in Leo.
The two primary options are: either Leo is the Ascendant, placing this Mars in the 1st house where it becomes a core part of his self-identity; or Mars is in the 10th house, which would make the Ascendant... Scorpio! In that case, Mars becomes the chart ruler. Now, let's lock in on these two charts and see which one seems more plausible at first glance.
We can see a stellium of the Sun, Uranus, and Saturn in the 9th house (in the left Scorpio rising chart). If we choose Leo as the 1st house, this Sun stellium would fall in the 12th house. The house containing a stellium is a heavily emphasized area of life.
So, which house theme was more important in Nobunaga's life? I believe it was the 9th house. As a daimyo who waged war across the land, the archetype of "long-distance travel" is far more significant than that of the "inner unconscious."
Thus, we can tentatively confirm the Scorpio rising chart as Nobunaga's (June 23, 1534, 14:00).
(A quick technical note: It's crucial to emphasize that in the Hellenistic astrology and Whole Sign House system used in this article, the primary goal of rectification is to determine the correct rising sign. Once the Ascendant is set, the houses from 1 to 12 are fixed, and the fundamental framework of life events is established. This differs from the modern astrological methodology, which seeks to pinpoint the exact degree of the angles down to the minute. Our core task here is to verify whether "Scorpio" works as Nobunaga's rising sign.)
Next, it's time for the fact-checking phase.
Event Verification
Remember the second aspect we discussed—major life events? Now we're going to quickly check them against his timeline. This is often the most time-consuming and exhausting part. We all know that analyzing transits for a single year can involve printing out dozens of lines of data and staring at a screen for an hour before the brain can weave the information into a story.
So, today, we won't be using transits for our fact-checking.
Instead, let's bring in the crown jewel of Hellenistic astrology: Zodiacal Releasing.
We just need to identify the L1 period transitions and LB (Loosing of the Bond) years from the Lot of Spirit, translate what they signify in the chart, and verify if they match historical events. It's a simple yes or no. The predictive power of L1 transitions and LBs in Zodiacal Releasing is so precise that its major indicators consistently correspond to pivotal real-world events.
(A reminder: The calculations for Zodiacal Releasing are based on the Lot of Fortune and the Lot of Spirit. These points also move quickly and are not directly tied to the Ascendant's degree. So if things don't line up, first check if the issue is with the calculation of the Lots.)
Before we begin the verification, I must clarify the power of this technique and the principles we will follow.
First, its algorithm is fixed, and the results are objective. The major life periods (like L1, L2) and key turning points (LB) calculated by Zodiacal Releasing are purely mathematical results derived from the birth chart data. The astrologer cannot subjectively choose or alter them.
Second, our verification will strictly avoid "confirmation bias." We will not pick a few events from Nobunaga's life and then search for astrological correlations. On the contrary, we will adopt the most rigorous approach: we will interpret, in chronological order, the first three most important time periods given by Zodiacal Releasing, without skipping any. These are: his first L1 major period (birth to age 19), his first LB turning point (age 17), and his first L1 period switch (age 19).
If this chart is correct, then these "factory settings" of his destiny, calculated by the system, must align perfectly with his actual key experiences in his early life.
Let's begin!
Prompt:
From his birth in 1534 to age 19, Nobunaga's L1 period was in Gemini, the 8th house. Since his Lot of Fortune is in the 5th house, the 8th house is angular (by square) to the Lot of Fortune, which means the energy of this L1 period is intensified.
The 8th house contains a dignified Mercury and Venus, which trines Jupiter in the 3rd and Pluto in the 4th. Jupiter is at the critical 29th degree of Capricorn, as the ruler of the 2nd house of personal wealth, enhancing its financial signature. This is a Venus-Jupiter trine. The 8th house represents others' resources, the 4th house represents family, and the 3rd represents the mind.
I would infer that he was naturally intelligent but had a rebellious character (Venus-Jupiter indulgence) and came from a wealthy family.
Gemini:
Accurate! The Oda clan controlled numerous ports and had accumulated vast wealth. Nobunaga was a typical scion of a rich and powerful military family.
During his childhood, he disregarded the traditional etiquette of a samurai family, wore bizarre clothing (it's said he once wore a woman's kimono in public), and spent his time with low-born commoners. This greatly disappointed many of the family's retainers, who then shifted their support to his younger brother.
Prompt:
Between 1551-1552, at age 17, Nobunaga experienced an LB (Loosing of the Bond) within his L1 period. This signifies a major reversal in his daily life. Based on the previous context, did his family suffer a downfall, or did his behavior undergo a 180-degree turn?
Gemini:
Yes! In 1551, Nobunaga's father passed away. This caused the already precarious family situation to collapse and incited neighboring rivals like the Imagawa and Saito clans to attempt to annex the Oda territory.
In these two years, Nobunaga rapidly transformed from a rebellious youth into a capable leader. He suppressed rebellions and consolidated his power, almost overnight becoming the nascent form of the "Demon King" that would later terrorize Japan.
Prompt:
Between 1554-1556, the L1 period switched from Gemini in the 8th house to Cancer in the 9th house. The 9th house contains a Sun-Saturn-Uranus stellium.
Cancer is associated with family, and both Saturn and Uranus are the rulers of Aquarius, the sign on the 4th house cusp (family). This triggers a 4th-9th house emphasis, i.e., a "family-long distance journey" activation. Did Nobunaga experience a major relocation of his home over a significant distance during this time?
Gemini:
Perfectly accurate! Nobunaga moved his base of operations from his childhood home to the capital of his province, Kiyosu Castle! This was a move of immense strategic importance.
At the time, Kiyosu Castle was the nominal and de facto political center of the entire province. To control Kiyosu was to control the province. In 1554, Nobunaga assassinated the "ruler" of Kiyosu and, under the pretext of avenging him, marched on the castle, successfully capturing it in 1555.
Alright, three for three. All events align perfectly. We can now be quite certain that this is his authentic birth chart. To be extra sure, I would typically test a few random L2 periods. In a client setting, I would use this chart to briefly describe what happened in the past year. But we won't go into further demonstrations here.
In Conclusion...
And there you have it. By using psychological traits to create an initial filter and then aligning key life events with Zodiacal Releasing, we can confirm a chart that is accurate for year-by-year event timing, establishing the correct house system and rising sign.
This process showcases a core advantage of Hellenistic astrological techniques in birth time rectification: efficiency and precision. By using a macro-predictive tool like Zodiacal Releasing, we can directly tap into the fundamental rhythm of major life events instead of getting lost in the myriad details of daily transits.
Once the "skeleton" of the chart (the Ascendant and house placements) is firmly anchored to a real-life trajectory in this way, other techniques like transits and profections can truly serve their purpose of adding the finishing touches.
If you are proficient, this entire process can take as little as 1-2 hours on a good day (when you find a clear planetary signature). On a bad day, it might take up to 3 hours to nail down the culprit.
I am immensely grateful to the creators of Project Hindsight for reviving Zodiacal Releasing, a technique so fast and effective it's almost frightening, as it has dramatically reduced the overall workload.
As for the exact degrees of the four angles, I personally don't favor over-rectifying them. Hellenistic predictive techniques are not overly concerned with the precise position of the angles, and their practical utility isn't indispensable.
Even the exact moment a planet crosses an angle in transit often has a margin of error. We usually view the trigger time as a probabilistic window rather than the precise day of the crossing.
By the way, after finishing this article, I glanced at my software's fixed star table and saw this:
Three out of the four Royal Stars. Young master, you've earned yourself a full chart analysis in a future post .
If you are interested in my research, feel free to leave your [email address] to subscribe to future updates. For a personalized chart reading, you can also check out this [link].
Thank you for reading, and see you next time.