Blood Memories book

"Thank you so much for the beautiful reading. I have listened to the recording a number of times, and each time I do, I hear something different, or something else drops a level in my understanding. I was so inspired by your knowledge and clarity that I have signed up to study with you on your philosophy course.” - Fiona C

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Why Time Matters

Irish clients bring me extra challenge!  Not always, of course—and the charm, warmth and spiritual sincerity more than compensates. But the fact is, lots of you dear Irish (particularly of a certain age) haven’t a clue about your birth time. And despite your best detective work, nothing comes clear. Your birth time doesn’t exist in anyone’s memory. The hospital down the country where you were born folded decades ago, its records of 55 years past gone to who knows where. And if you ask Mammy if she remembers your birth, the conversation goes something like this. (No, I am not making this up.) 

. . . . It was not too long after the Angelus bells, she says, that I know. I was in agony . . . and sick with the nausea too. The windows were wide open with the heat, and the smell of fresh manure off the fields was making it so much worse. The pains kept coming on top of each other. Then finally you popped out and I heard those bells.  . . . Or maybe I heard the bells and you came after? Can’t remember for sure. But the Angelus I do recall . . .  with that smell of manure and the heat.

But Mammy, you say, I was born in January. It couldn’t have been hot that day. 

Oh, January was it? Must have been Maeve then, or maybe Fergus. They came in May. Or maybe it was June? Months are a bit of a muddle to me, but high summer and those Angelus bells I’ll never forget.  . . . . January? Can’t remember much about January. 

The reality is that your mother had eleven children, and you were number eight. She suffers from mild dementia these days. And at the time of your birth, once those babies landed safe and sound on terra firma, no one bothered about the clock. What did it matter? 

But for Jyotish it does matter, very much! In 24 hours, there are a total of 1440 minutes. In which one did you take your first breath? For some charts—particularly when the ascendent is near the border of a sign—minutes can be crucial.  

Precise time matters because that ascendent (which is the degree of the zodiac on the horizon at the moment of birth) determines the basic structure of your chart. In 24 hours, the earth spins on its axis. That means the entire zodiac crosses over any given point of the earth, and the twelve houses of the chart find their boundaries according to that ascendent point. Time matters, and so does space! Think about it. In any moment of time, the position of the planets in the heavens remains constant for everyone around the globe. But for each unique point of longitude and latitude, the orientation to those planets around the zodiac will vary, and so the houses will be different. 

The houses determine in what area of life the karma promised by the planets’ position in signs will manifest. It’s complicated and needs to be assessed in each chart individually. But by way of a simple example, think of a strong Jupiter bringing expansion. In what area of life will it manifest? Will Jupiter expand your creativity? Your enemies? Your wealth? Or your waistline? Makes a difference, doesn’t it? 

Fortunately, everyone knows their birth place. And the exact longitude and latitude of every town in the world (almost) I can find. That’s another vital piece of information. Every degree of longitude equals four minutes of time. In other words, it takes four minutes for a degree of longitude to rise. Time zones, you see, are merely a convenient approximation to make society run smoothly. They are not 100 percent true to time and space. Think about 6:00 am sharp in Galway, the western edge of a specific time zone, with all locations within its boundaries going by the same clock time. At that same moment, 6:00 am sharp in Newcastle on the east coast of England, the Sun will be in a very different place in the sky. Approximately eleven degrees of longitude separate those two cities in the same time zone, so according to Sun time, Galway is 44 minutes behind.  

Jyotish is a precise science. But all is not lost for those of you with no birth time. I can still analyse your chart from the position of the Moon. You can understand how the planets manifest through the signs and how their degrees of maturity affect the quality of this incarnation. Though it takes a lot of extra work, I can attempt to rectify your brith time also. I analyse the important events of your life aligned with each of the twelve possible ascendents, and so at least narrow the time down enough so your houses are reasonably accurate, even if not to the exact degree. 

I’ve done this a number of times for people I know well, and it’s been a great learning experience for me as well as for the client. Once you understand your chart, you have a powerful tool to guide you through life. And the deeper you get into the layers of meaning in your chart, the more you’ll be amazed at what it reveals. I certainly am! 

For twelve years, I’ve been studying Jyotish, the length of one Jupiter return. Jupiter is called Guru in Sanskrit, and he is one of my personal allies. By the grace of Guru and his constant luminosity, the learning for me never stops. The more I learn, the more I understand what I do not know, and the hunger for deepening just increases. Even though I’ve spent years pondering my personal chart and have had numerous readings by prominent Jyotishis, I’m still uncovering the layers of insight. You can understand the dynamics of your chart too, probing the mysteries of life in the context of your own unique incarnation. True knowledge is your greatest power. And also your greatest wealth.

So do not be disheartened if you don’t know your birth time. I can still interpret something of your chart, and the process of delving into it just might inspire you to mine the depths of this profound science—advancing both your self-awareness and your spiritual evolution. Besides, if you were fortunate enough to be born in Ireland back in the days when time was a more fluid concern, the magic and mystery of the spirit world that belongs to that landscape most likely has shaped something of your soul essence too. 

For as Sri Yukteshwar (guru of Paramahamsa Yogananda) says, “A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with her individual karma.” (And part of that mathematical harmony is precise place too.) It is the beauty of Jyotish. Nothing is accident, including your birth hour lost in the mists of time! Every unfolding of karma provides the opportunity for the soul to evolve. 

Om shanti ❤️