Anatomy of a murder: Reading a multi-ring wheel with unknown birth times. Part 2 of an astrology lesson series.

George, Derek and an EMS report of confirmed DOA.

We don't have a time of birth for George or Derek but we do have the EMS report with the documented "time" confirming death by EMS personnel. Having worked as EMS in the past, I can tell you that this time is not accurate and can be inaccurate by more than a few minutes from actual event. Remember, this is the time that EMS confirmed death and made their report. This is AFTER the time necessary for them to arrive on scene, confirm death, call medical command and get a response and then do their paperwork. The most accurate time will be the time or slightly before the call to EMS was made about George being unresponsive.

However, this is the only documented "official" time we have so we are using it as a framework for everything else, including an ascendant for the chart. For those of you who are new to astrology, it takes approximately 2 +/- hours for an ascendant to change signs. That is about 4 minutes per degree (give or take a minute depending on calculations of factors). The MC is less easy to estimate because the degree on the MC involves the calculation of latitude which can move the MC dramatically from where you would expect it to be based on simple math.

How to look at this chart for beginners.

First, remember we do NOT have a time of birth for Derek or George. There is no Asc or MC for them so we are using the EMS report of DOA as our wheel and putting their planets in those houses. This means that you will ignore ALL house placements for each individual since this is not their natal "house" positions we are looking at.

Example: You will see Venus/Neptune rising on this chart and on the Ascendant. This middle wheel displays all of George Floyd's natal planets. This chart does not show George with Venus/Neptune rising on HIS chart (that we are aware of). Because the EMS report is confirmed DOA by EMS, it may not even be early Sagittarius rising for the event but actually late Scorpio rising as the actual time of death. (We have no way of knowing for sure about the actual time of death.)

You might also see that Derek's (the outermost ring on the wheel) sun is in the 4th house. This does NOT mean Derek has a 4th house sun. It only means that placed in the transit chart for the EMS report, his sun falls in THEIR 4th house on the wheel (and again, this may not be accurate for previously stated reasons about time of death discrepancy).

These charts can be confusing to look (especially after I have inked everything up) so here is what helps. The first thing I have done is removed all the transits from the inner wheel. This chart only shows George and Derek's planets in the chart wheel for the EMS report.

Before jumping to synastry and trying to see where all the connections are, familiarize yourself with each ring and its planets, separately. For now, the easiest thing to do is to use individual charts and not a multi-ring wheel.

Moon signs and degrees in charts of unknown birth times

Because we have unknown birth times, the actual degree and position of the moon is not accurate. What we do know is that the moon takes approximately 2.5 days to change signs so we are spanning 30 degrees over the course of 72 hours, or approximately, half a degree (0.42º ) per hour. This means that in the course of 24 hours, the moon has a range of 10º that it may be found at. That is much too large an orb to operate on faith and guessing with. This is especially true if we find the moon at the beginning or end of a sign for a noon or midnight chart. If the moon is comfortably sitting in middle degrees of a sign, we can assume that the moon sign is the correct one.

In the case of Derek, he likely has a Scorpio moon. There is a slim possibility that he has a 0 degree Sagittarius moon if he was born closer to midnight at the end of the day.

In the case of George, he likely has a Taurus moon. There is a slim possibility that he has a Gemini moon if he was born closer to midnight at the end of the day.

*Interestingly, with both their charts set for noon, their moon placements are almost exactly opposing each other by sign and degree*

In both cases, we have to play it by ear and see if other known facts about their lives or temperaments indicate a sign that is clearly not the one showing up in our 'noon' or 'midnight' chart.

Below are the individual charts for George and Derek.

Remember:

1. the house positions of planets do NOT exist in these charts because we do NOT have a birth time for them. The wheel is just an easier view when trying to see aspects quickly. 
2. The moon sign might be incorrect. We are estimating moon sign and degrees based on a noon chart. If Derek was born late into the night, his moon might be Sagittarius. If George was born late into the night, his moon sign might be Gemini. Investigation to see what makes sense is all we have to work with here.
3. You can get all the information you need by looking at just the planetary line up of a chart. Times help specify time tables and give us more exact information about how something might be expressed or where in life we would see the most focused activity. The planets and their relationships to each other is what builds the picture of the person and what their evolutionary drives and challenges are. Strong astrology skills and a real understanding of human development and needs are required to create meaningful pictures not con artist cold readings based on memorized keywords from astrology books.
4. Suspend judgment. There are millions of people running around the planet that share the same constellation and grouping of planets in their chart with the one you see in front of you. Serial killers share the same planetary alignments with church going insurance agents who volunteer with children's hospitals. Time of birth will NOT select out who will become a serial killer and who will not because again - millions of people sharing these aspects. What determines how we will fulfill our evolutionary demands depends on circumstances, opportunities, support and environment. Rapists don't appear in a vacuum. Neither do neurosurgeons. 

If astrology isn't teaching you how to see people as whole, dynamic and playing out their charts in the circumstances they are working with - then you aren't doing astrology. You are playing judge and jury using the celestial canopy as your bench and gavel. If this is the case, you should take a good, hard and honest look at your life and how it is failing you. Your own natal chart would be a great place to start. :-)