About the source classifications of each chart
Every chart in this collection states where the birth date and time came from, and how reliable that origin is. The rating describes the quality of the source, not of the chart: a chart without a time is not a bad chart, it is a chart that honestly states what is not known.
Collection profile
12,634 charts in the collection
100% with a classified source
51% with a birth record
10% without a time, declared
Why this matters
The Ascendant changes every four minutes, and the houses change with it. Without knowing where the time came from, there is no way to judge which parts of a reading hold up. A collection that does not state its sources silently passes that risk to the reader.
The classifications
| Rating | Criterion |
|---|---|
| AAA | Rectified with primary directions; Properly verified |
| AA | Birth record in hand; Birth record cited; Official registered source |
| A | Memory; News report; Documented registered source, news |
| B | Biography/autobiography; Historical registered source |
| C | Questionable accuracy; Unknown source origin; Rectified from approximate time; Time obtained by the Trutine of Hermes; Registered, unknown source origin |
| DD | Conflicting/not verified; Dirty data, conflicting times |
| AAX | No time - official source |
| AX | No time - documented source |
| BX | No time - historical/organizational source |
| CX | No time - unknown source |
| DX | Conflicting dates |
| XX | Time not informed; Rectified without time; Questionable/speculative date |
| XXX | Not informed |
| X | Time not informed |
Ratings ending in X indicate a missing birth time, not a weak source: for those charts we show the planetary positions and omit Ascendant and houses. XXX is the exception — it means the quality of the date and time was not informed.
The scale follows the standard established by Lois Rodden, adopted internationally for natal data collections, with additional criteria for cases without a birth time.
What the rating does not cover
The rating judges the document, not the moment. A flawless record may have been filed days after the birth, written down by shift rather than by clock, estimated in a house with no clock, or adjusted by whoever signed it. None of that shows in the scale, and no scale of provenance could carry it: that is the limit of the method, not a flaw in it. Which is why the rating is where the assessment of a chart begins, not where it ends.
Where the data comes from
The data used to calculate the charts comes from public sources, as do the description texts, Wikipedia among them. Every chart page states the origin of its own data and links to it where one exists. What we add is our own calculation, the reading in three languages, and the record of the disputed times.
How to cite
Every chart has a permanent address and shows its source rating on the page itself. When citing data from here, include the chart address and the source rating.