Human Birth

What it is ?

This is a question, which, unfortunately, is most often never asked, never answered, and seldom understood. In fact, this question has now become a deadly defensive in the discourse of rationalists targeting astrology and astrologers. The question of what actually constitutes birth has always perplexed the common person.

Does ‘birth’ mean the time when the head of the child is first seen? Or ‘birth’ takes places when the child is fully out from her mother’s womb? Or is it that ‘birth’ takes place when the umbilical chord is severed? This question of what actually constitutes ‘birth’ has long remained answered in our ancient Indian scriptures, epics and astrological texts of high repute. Only recently, medical science has accepted the fact, after sufficient research proved that ‘still-born’ babies are not technically ‘born’, that ‘birth’ happens when the child cries out after taking in the first breath.

The process of birth in humans normally begins at the end of the gestation period with the release of several hormones that stimulate the mother's uterus to contract. Contractions signal the first stage of labor. In order for the fetus to leave the uterus and enter the birth canal (comprised of the cervix and vagina), it must pass all the way through the cervix, the opening of the uterus.

During the first stage of labor, which can last 12 hours or more, the contractions of the uterus move the fetus toward the cervix, causing the cervix to dilate (widen). With dilation, the cervix opens to accommodate the passage of the baby's head. The amniotic sac also usually ruptures, releasing amniotic fluid that streams out of the vagina. (The amniotic sac is a membrane filled with fluid in which the fetus floats while developing in the uterus.)

During the second stage of labor, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, the mother uses her abdominal muscles to help push the fetus through and out of the birth canal. In a normal delivery, the baby's head appears first (called crowning) and the rest of the body follows. The umbilical cord that connects the fetus to the placenta is tied and cut. The place on the baby's abdomen where the umbilical cord is attached is the navel, or belly button. The baby is now separated from the mother and must breathe air through its own lungs.

In the third stage of labor, usually lasting from a few minutes to a half hour, contractions cause the placenta and fetal membranes to separate from the wall of the uterus and be expelled from the vagina. The placenta and fetal membranes together are called the afterbirth.
 
Way back in 1901, Dr.William Benham in the United States wrote in his book ‘The Laws of Scientific Hand-Reading’ that life begins after a child takes in her first breath and cries out.We must not forget that Dr. Benham was trained in medicine.
 
Unfortunately, common person is not aware about the true event that constitutes birth. Even in American states, where the husband is allowed to remain present in the labor room of his wife/partner to witness child-birth, the recorded birth time may still be faulty for the simple reason that the husband-father does not know when the ‘birth’ took place.
 
The situation is worst in countries like India, where we depend on third parties like doctors or nurses to “kindly note down the time of ‘birth’ for family reasons.”
 
Thus, there is absolutely no guarantee that the so-called ‘accurate’ birth time given by clients to their astrologers can safely be relied upon.
 
As a result, it is increasingly becoming an imperative to the astrologers to rectify the given birth time before they embark upon their astrological diagnosis and prognosis. However, there are numerous techniques of birth time rectification, which are not only cumbersome in their approach and procedure, but also lack consistency in results. In the following sections, I would elaborate a rectification technique that I personally found to generate high degree of accuracy in predicting.
 
I would also elaborate on a novel mean to ascertain whether this ‘rectified’ (new) birth time shows any connection with the origin of the native.

Birth Time Rectification

In order to read and predict a horoscope, the astrologer must, erect the chart first. That requires an exact time of birth (preferably accurate to within a few minutes), the place of birth (city and country) and the birth date (date, month, year).

However, even though the native or her relative seldom misinforms the date of birth and the place of birth to the astrologer, the accuracy of the reported birth time has long been a major area of concern for the scientific minded astrologers.

Many people don’t have a clue about their actual time of birth because birth times are not always given much importance in the Western world. Eastern cultures tend to place much more importance on accurate birth times, since the practice of using astrologers is traditionally part of their culture. So often one of the first things an astrologer will ask a client is what is the source of the birth time? Is it taken from a birth certificate or other hospital records? Does the time come from your mother’s memory (or the testimony of another close relative that was present at the birth)? Was the time rectified (worked out retrospectively) by another astrologer or diviner? Since astrology is the science of time, accurate birth times are important if the reading itself is to be accurate.

This data will allow the astrologer to cast an accurate map of the planetary patterns that were current when you were born. From there, the astrologer will be able to interpret the meaning of the various patterns, placements and conditions of the planets, what they mean, and how they affect you.

In situations where the birth time is either unknown or only approximate, rectification will be necessary. This involves taking known events and dates from the client’s past and working forward to come up with a time of birth. This can be time consuming and the astrologer may need to charge a bit extra for the time and effort involved.

The accuracy of any astrological prediction is fundamentally dependent and strongly based upon three major inputs:
a) Accurate birth details of the native,
b) Sound knowledge and experience of the astrologer about the science of astrology and
c) The correct casting of the horoscope.

Of these three critical inputs, the correct casting of the horoscope is an essential sine qua non for which the accuracy of the birth details is of utmost importance.
 
This is because, as students of astrology, we are amply aware that wrong birth time would invariably lead to a wrong degree rising on the East as the Lagna (Ascendant) with wrong planetary degrees at birth. The problem is augmented more so due to the wrong longitude of Moon at birth (emanating from a wrong birth time) resulting in a wrong balance of Dasha at birth and the subsequent periods.

Since all the prediction is based on the cascades of Vimsottari Dasha periods of the nine planets, wrong time of birth will lead to prognostications of dubious quality for no fault of the astrologer or the science of astrology.

Therefore, what we require is an effective technique of birth time rectification, which would be robust in its application and yield consistent results. However, a mere rectification through a robust logic is not enough.

The rectified birth time should show immediately and clearly that the new (rectified) birth time is reflective of the native’s birth origin and life events. In this article, we will discuss a modern and well researched approach of rectifying birth time based on the principles of Krishnamurthy Paddhati (K.P.).
 
In addition to this, I would provide a novel means to ascertain whether this ‘rectified’ birth time truly reflects the origin of the native.