1. A person’s life events are all that is needed for an astrologer to determine their birth chart’s correct Ascendant.

FALSE – I could show you many cases (from my own attempts) in which progressions (from an inaccurate birth chart) for a person’s life events seemed to fall perfectly into place even according to my stringent standards for chart validation.

TRUTH – We must first know we are working with the correct rising sign and/or degree arc range before narrowing things down to a specific degree. That comes from interviewing the person in question and finding out as much as possible about how they approach life.

2. There are software programs that can determine your correct Ascendant if you just plug in your birth data and life events.

FALSE – The very best software can only facilitate rectification. It will give options as to possible Ascendants, or at least will give singular results that vary based on the input parameters you set (orbs, etc). Poor input = poor output. It is still up to the astrologer and their level of astrological literacy to make the final determination.

TRUTH – All software is made by humans and is limited to the degree of knowledge the programmer has about astrology — and rectification, the least known and understood area of astrology. Astrological literacy is more important than software and more reliably effective in rectification work.

3. You can determine every person’s rising sign just by their looks.

FALSE – All astrological information must be taken into account, as well as the person’s own description of themselves (as well as how their loved ones describe them).

TRUTH – This is one of the notions that keeps reinforcing sign-based, superficial stereotypes: the Leo rising person has a “mane” … Virgo rising people look “worried” … Libra rising people are beautiful, etc. It is true that the condition of the Ascendant and 1st house contents of the person’s birth chart does relate in principle to the head, body, and self-identity, but pop astrology has inherited some old worn out physiognomy tendencies for reductionism.

Planetary aspects to the Asc (and even Moon or Sun) can affect a person’s appearance and presentation. So a person with Jupiter parallel their Asc may seem like a Sagittarius rising or that they have a fire sign rising, even if their real rising sign is in another element, because such planetary influences are more specific and stronger than signs.

4. The only life events that can be used to rectify someone’s birth chart are the ones that happen to them, not the ones of their choosing.

FALSE – This is based on two problems:

(a) the astrologer’s misunderstanding of consciousness, free will, and synchronicity, which is not mechanically involved in rectification work itself but affects their approach to it;

(b) their lack of clarity (astrological literacy) in knowing what rulerships or principles are involved in particular life events — the ways those events are reflected in the person’s chart progressions, transits, etc.

TRUTH – Every significant life event, every milestone and its timing does show up in some way in the astrological transits and progressions when an accurate natal chart is used — and declinations are included. In fact there are numerous ways astrologically in which certain types of events can come about and be timed.

I can use any event given to me, and see events as part of an interconnected series that speaks of your unique life experience. This is what allowed me to discover internal chart rectifying metrics.

