The
Birth Time of Barack Obama: Out-of-Sample Tests
Published June 20, 2008
Updated
December 30, 2008
This
article is to document procedures for confirming a
rectified birth time which may vary from a reported
birth time. In statistics, this procedure is labeled an
‘out-of-sample test.’ Testing continues to support the
proposed rectified birth time of 7:54:28 PM despite the
official birth certificate time reported as 7:24 PM.
No predictions are made, implied, or offered in this
article or by the author.
History
As the
year 2008 began, a reported birth time of 1:06 PM was
provided by Fran McEvoy to Astrodatabank who said ‘she
couldn’t remember who gave it to her. She said that the
person reportedly obtained the time from Obama and
wished to remain anonymous.’[1]
Fast forward to May 15, 2008 when Joni Patry made a
dramatic announcement at the opening ceremony for the
United Astrology Conference that Obama was born at 7:11
PM. Patry ‘said she obtained it from a client who works
for the Obama campaign. She in turn obtained it from a
“campaign manager” who accessed the data through a
closed-access government database.’[2]
The
plot thickened when rumors began to circulate concerning
Obama’s heritage. Jim Geraghty of the National
Review challenged the blog Daily Kos to
produce Obama’s birth certificate in order to squash
rumors that Obama was born in Kenya (making him
ineligible to run for the office of the Presidency) and
that Obama’s middle name was ‘Muhammad’ not ‘Hussein’
(with potential to further inflame rumors that Obama is
a Muslim, not a Christian). Daily Kos did so on June
12. One day later the birth certificate was available
directly through Obama’s official campaign website.
Stated
birth time: 7:24 PM
Rectification
Compare
the stated birth time of 7:24 PM to three different
rectifications.
In
Working Paper #1 published on November 20, 2007, I
proposed a rectified time of 7:54:28 PM, with methods
fully disclosed in my book: A Rectification Manual.
Separately, two Vedic astrologers proposed slightly
earlier birth times in posts on the Mundane Astrology
Yahoo group. On March 2, 2008, Ron Day proposed 14
Capricorn (sidereal zodiac), or 6:49:25 PM. On April
18, 2008, Ron Gaunt proposed a similar time of 6:56:43
PM. All three rectifications yield Aquarius rising in
the tropical zodiac.
Mercury as the Astrologer
Before
giving a brief update here, let me make an important
observation about what the discovery of Obama’s birth
certificate tells us as about astrology and
astrologers. In medieval astrology, Mercury signifies
all things written including astrology. For Obama,
Mercury is in the sign of Leo and moves quickly towards
the Sun as a morning star. What does this tell us?
Mercury under the sunbeams is considered a debility by
medieval astrology because planets under the sunbeams
are ‘blinded by the light’ and lose proper function.
Two things mitigate this condition for Obama: (1)
Mercury is in the bound of Jupiter; and (2) Mercury
falls in the same sign as the Sun which rules Mercury.
As astrologers attempting to recover the birth time
(either directly through receipt of the birth
certificate or indirectly through rectification), what
does Mercury’s condition tell us about Obama’s birth
certificate as a written document?
Consider Fran McEnvoy’s 1:06 PM time: she could not
remember the name of the individual who provided the
time who requested to remain anonymous in any case.
Consider Joni Patry’s 7:11 PM time: this was obtained
third hand from a secret database which could not be
independently confirmed. In both cases, the secrecy
involved confirms the debility of Mercury under the
sunbeams as ‘blinded by the light’ which makes Mercury’s
actions hidden. The photograph of the recovered 7:24 PM
birth certificate raised some questions as well because
it was evidently a copy made in 2007. But the format is
a common type for copies of birth certificates in the
state of Hawaii. Still, it was a copy and not the
original.
Now
consider the interchange between Daily Kos and
the National Review over rumors of Obama’s
heritage which triggered disclosure of the birth
certificate. An important concept in medieval astrology
is a planet’s ruler is both the source and outcome of a
planet’s effects, an adaptation of the Aristotelian
form-matter paradigm. In this example, Mercury rules
the Moon. Moon/Gemini signifies rumors and gossip about
heritage because the Moon’s placement in the 4th house
of father, ancestry, and homeland ties the Gemini Moon’s
need for information to 4th house affairs. Mercury/Leo
is one significator of Obama’s favorable press in the
blogger community (and elsewhere including the astrology
community) because Mercury’s placement in Leo adds the
optimism of Leo, doubly emphasized because Mercury is
received by the Sun.
In my
opinion, Obama’s favorable media publicity (media as
Mercury/Leo) caused political opponents to start rumors
about his heritage in attempted smear campaign (rumors
as Moon/Gemini) which in turn were squashed with
publication of Obama’s birth certificate (astrology as
Mercury/Leo).
The
fact that the Gemini Moon was interested in 4th house
affairs (ancestry, heritage, homeland) and not 3rd house
affairs is another event which confirms the general
configuration of Obama’s chart based on the 7:54:28 PM
rectification because in only this later proposed time
does the Gemini Moon fall near the 4th house cusp. In
both 7:11 PM and 7:24 PM birth times, the 4th house is
Taurus, not Gemini. And no matter what time is used,
Taurus is the 4th house cusp by whole sign houses.
Finally
a comment about what Mercury tells us about
astrologers. Mercury in the sign of Leo is optimistic,
especially here because Mercury is received by the Sun.
However, just as Mercury’s placement under the sunbeams
created problems for uncovering Obama’s birth
certificate, so too does it pose problems for
astrologers. Mercury’s weakness means that astrologers
are also ‘blinded by the light’ in their optimism for
Obama’s fame and will bias their predictions
accordingly. This is something that needs to be
watched.
Out-of-Sample Tests
For
many astrologers, production of a birth certificate copy
with a time of 7:24 PM is sufficient to settle the
debate. For myself, whether a natal birth time
originates from a birth certificate or a rectification,
it requires out-of-sample tests to confirm. On April 2,
2008, I published two out-of-sample tests on my
rectified birth time of 7:54:28 PM on this site. I
compared dynamic activity to relevant Arabic Parts for
the resignation of Obama’s foreign policy advisor
Samantha Power and for the Rev. Wright fracas. I
updated the post slightly on June 20, 2008; adding
Ascendant profections to the out-of-sample tests. What
follows is my ‘end-of-year’ wrapup of out-of-sample
tests for all of 2008.
Parts
Measuring dynamic activity to Parts (more accurately
named Hellenistic ‘lots’) is an excellent method not
only for rectification but for out-of-sample tests.
Because most parts include the Ascendant and two other
planets, Parts are essentially customized Ascendants for
specific life topics. The additional specificity
offered by parts goes along way to rescuing
rectifications from an underspecified predictive model
which assumes all major life events are timed by
transits, progressions, and directions to the angles.
There
are two ways that parts can be tested against life
events. First to examine aspects between solar return
planets and parts (see A Rectification Manual, Chapter
11). Second to examine dynamic activity of any kind to
parts (see A Rectification Manual, Chapters 5, 15, 16).
Let’s apply these methods to the Part of Faith and the
Part of Servants.
Part
of Faith. 28SA24; antiscion, 1CP36
Obama
was baptized in 1988 (no exact date published).
Assuming the baptism followed his August 4, 1988
birthday, note that Venus 28GE14 and Saturn 26SA26 align
with the Part of Faith in the 1988 solar return. By
whole sign houses, Venus and Saturn rule the natal 9th
by sign and exaltation. In the 1988 return Saturn is
conjunct the part; however Venus opposes and separates
from Saturn. Bonatti would say when Saturn is with the
Part of Faith, men belong to a severe and laborious
faith whose members wear black vestments. This
certainly fits the pessimism of Saturn in Sagittarius;
but consider that Venus also has claim over the natal
9th house and separates from Saturn. I suggest that in
1988, Venus delivered Obama from Saturn’s pessimism.
Venus/Gemini signifies love of talk; lord Mercury/Leo
signifies a flamboyant speech. This delineation appears
a match for Wright’s ‘Audacity of Hope’ speech which
triggered Obama’s decision to convert.
I
present this background because Venus is important to
judging Obama’s Part of Faith and the Reverend Wright
affair of 2008. Natal Venus 1CA48 falls in the Part’s
antiscion. So not only does Venus rule the natal 9th
house (by whole signs) but Venus is the planet which
most closely conjoins natal Part of Faith by Ptolemaic
aspect, antiscia, or contra-antiscia.
Bonatti
says when Venus is connected to the Part of Faith, the
native ‘will be of good will, a lover of games and joys’
[3]. This is cookbook; we can do better. Viewed
against the position of Venus in the July 4, 1776
Declaration of Independence figure, consider that Venus
falls in the sign of Cancer and the bound of Mars/Cancer
for both the USA figure and Barack Obama’s natal
horoscope. As I have delineated in my new study of the
Declaration of Independence figure, USA Venus/Cancer in
the bound of Mars/Cancer signifies white racism [4].
With Venus/Cancer falling in the contra-antiscion of
Obama’s Part of Faith, medieval delineation rules state
that white racism has influenced Obama’s religious
faith. Sermons preached by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright,
released on March 13, 2008, confirmed white racism as a
theme espoused by Barack Obama’s religious mentor.
Why did
the Wright affair emerge during the 2008 campaign? Both
Mars and Pluto appear the culprit, and though I am not a
big Pluto fan, it does appear relevant here as a
disruptive (Pluto) critical (Virgo) force in the 8th
(12th from the 9th – secret enemy of religion) which
consistently timed key moments in the Rev. Wright
fracas.
Though
the Mars Cancer Ingress on March 4, 2008 - entering the
sign of Venus in Obama’s horoscope - is sufficient to
set off criticism of Wright (Mars – like Pluto – also in
Virgo and in the 8th), I suggest the transit of Pluto to
the Part of Faith and its antiscion is the principal
timer of the Wright affair. Consider first that Pluto
at 26SA34 in the 9th house of the 2007 solar return is
conjunct the natal Part of Faith within two degrees.
Though Pluto did transit the Part of Faith in early 2007
when Obama’s relations with Wright started to rupture,
consider that the most destructive part of the Wright
affair occurred during the 2007 solar return year proper
(e.g., between August 2007 and August 2008). Here is
the complete event list:
|
Date |
Event |
Dynamic to Part of Faith 28SA24; antiscion,
1CP36 |
|
9-Feb-2007 |
Wright disinvited to announcement of Obama’s
Presidential bid (10-Feb). |
tr. Pluto 28SA18 |
|
6-Mar-2008 |
New York Times reported disinvitation of
9-Feb-2007 |
tr. Pluto 28SA48 |
|
13-Mar-2008 |
Good Morning America airs video clips of Wright |
tr. Pluto 1CP03; also Mars Cancer Ingress on
4-Mar-2007. |
|
18-Mar-2008 |
Obama delivered speech on Race in America |
tr. Pluto 1CP05 |
|
28-Apr-2007 |
Wright praised Farrakhan at National Press Club
talk, dissed United States |
tr. Pluto 1CP00 - retro |
|
31-May-2008 |
Obama quit membership at Trinity United Church
of Christ; followed 29-May-2008 rap against
Hillary Clinton by Trinity priest Michael
Pfleger. |
tr. Pluto 00CP19 - retro |
|
8-Sep-2008 |
Rev. Wright sex scandal pushed in media cycle. |
tr. Pluto 28SA29 |
What I
also find of interest is Pluto did not quite reach 1CP36
in the spring of 2008 before it went retrograde at 1CP08
on 3-April-2008. Similarly, Pluto’s direct station on
10-Sep-2008 at 28SA30 followed another Wright scandal by
just two days.
The
major limitation of this analysis of the Part of Faith
is that arguably the transits of Pluto could be read as
afflicting the planet Venus (only) and not the Part of
Faith which could fall at some other degree.
Nevertheless, delineating Pluto/Virgo/8th as
enemies/critics of Obama’s religious faith does appear a
delineation match to the events as they transpired.
Part
of Servants. 25AR54; antiscion, 4VI06
There
were three high profile employee departures during the
2008 campaign:
7-Mar-2008. Resignation of Samantha Power, foreign
policy advisor.
11-Jun-2008. Resignation of Jim Johnson, VP selection
committee.
29-Jun-2008. Disassociation of Wes Clark after making
McCain comments.
The Wes
Clark flap arguably does not belong because he was not
technically an employee of the campaign; yet given his
status as a VP contender, he is probably relevant. How
were these events timed? Consider that employees are
assigned to the 6th house. I suggest that the 1st
signifies death or termination of employees (8th from
the 6th) and can be signified for Obama by either Saturn
(by rulership of the 1st) or the South Node (placed in
the 1st by position). tr. Saturn 4VI08 timed the Power
resignation; c. tr. South Node 4VI05 timed the Johnson
resignation; and tr. Saturn 4VI25 timed Clark’s
withdrawal from the campaign (a bit late). These
measurements are within a degree; the first two are
within 3 minutes of one degree. They suggest a
commensurate level of accuracy for the rectified
Ascendant.
Profections
Profecting the Ascendant at the annual rate of 30
degrees per year to planets and their aspects is one of
several predictive methods which can be used to rectify
or test charts.
For the
7:54:28 PM time, consider:
|
Date |
Profection |
|
9-Jun-2008 |
Ascendant trine Mars |
|
12-Jul-2008 |
Ascendant conjunct Saturn |
|
17-Sep-2008 |
Ascendant conjunct Jupiter |
On
9-Jun-2008 Obama announced his proposal for a windfall
profits tax on energy companies. Is this event a match
to Mars/Virgo/8th? Consider that Mars signifies cutting
and Virgo is an earth sign. In Working Paper #1 I
delineated Mars/Virgo as the real estate developer Tony
Rezko because cutting the earth is an action performed
by most property developers. In client work, I have
also seen many examples of Mars/Virgo signifying natural
resources development of all types – ranging from hard
rock mining to oil well drilling. I suggest placement
in the 8th is consistent with taxation.
The
12-Jul-2008 profection timed two events. First is an
injury which might be expected with Ascendant ruler
Saturn in the 12th of self-undoing and hospitalization.
Obama saw a doctor on 27-Jul-2008 for a sore hip from
basketball which had been bothering him for a few
weeks. In medical astrology, hips are assigned to
Sagittarius; Obama’s Saturn/Capricorn is a miss. Yet
Capricorn assigned to the knees which is only one body
part away from the hips. It is quite possible that
there was an unreported knee irritation in connection
with hip soreness. Sore ‘for a few weeks’ is a rough
match to an injury occurring near the 12-Jul-2008
profection.
The
second probably event match is Obama’s 21-Jul-2008
meeting with Iraqi officials where it was later reported
Obama requested a delay in troop withdrawal until after
the November 2008 US Presidential election [5]. For
further discussion of this event, see A Rectification
Manual, 2nd edition, p. 697.
The
final profection for 17-Sep-2008 timed the campaign’s
rollout of a new line of ‘faith merchandise’ in a move
to attract religious voters. Announced 15-Sep-2008, a
series of buttons, bumper stickers, and signs including
‘Believers for Barrack, Pro-Family Pro-Obama, and
Catholics for Obama’ were released. This event was a
delineation match to Jupiter (religion) in Aquarius
(level playing field) ruling the 11th (politics).
Astute
readers will note that Obama’s largest fall in the polls
occurred between July and September. The Ascendant
conjunct Jupiter profection on 17-Sep-2008 marked
Obama’s successful turnaround which Obama parlayed into
his successful election victory.
Solar Arc Directions
24-Jul-2008. d.s.a. ASC trine Sun.
Reliably, all Sun-angle directions have timed
significant periods of fame for Barack Obama. This
solar arc direction marked the exact date Obama spoke at
the Victory Column in Berlin, the most high profile
campaign event of 2008 prior to the Democratic National
Convention. The following day he met with French
President Nicolas Sarkozy. In mundane astrology, France
is assigned to Leo. Obama met with French (Leo)
President and discussed what amounted to a partnership
with France for defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Business partners and open enemies are assigned to the
7th house, the location of Obama’s Sun.
This
concludes my comments for Barack Obama. May the
President-elect have great success in meeting the
challenges facing America at this juncture in history!
Dr. H.
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