Inspired by Jim's Napoleon thread:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2389
Beethoven's exact birth has been under dispute ever since Beethoven himself was alive. His date of baptism is 17 December 1770, and newborn babies were typically baptized one, two, or even three days after birth. December 16 is commonly accepted as Beethoven's birthday, December 15 being second most likely, and December 14 is more far-fetched. Beethoven and friends seemed to have celebrated his birthday on the 16th but I can barely remember where I got that information.
The most striking feature of the 16 December chart is the Sun-Mercury opposition to Mars while Moon trines Saturn and squares Neptune. An ancient astrologer, if we could get him to use a time machine, would note how Beethoven's biggest aspects are with the two traditional malefic planets (Mars & Saturn). Beethoven's life and music full of strife and suffering seem to reflect this to a T. The two benefic planets (Venus & Jupiter) have no strong aspects at all.
With the 15 December chart: Sun-Mercury have an even tighter opposition to Mars but the Moon loses the aspects to Saturn and Neptune, so it seems to be missing something.
With the 14 December chart: the Sun has the strongest opposition to Mars but Mercury drifts away. Mercury gains a trine with Saturn while the Moon has a weak sextile with Venus. Like with the December 15 chart, the Moon loses the significant aspects with Neptune and Saturn.
December 16 seems to be the most likely birthdate if we only go by astrology.
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(16 December 1770 3:40 am)
Exact time of birth is also an issue. Astrotheme gives his time of birth as 3:40 am, giving him a 13 degree ASC in Libra. Saturn culminates at the MC in Cancer (in detriment). Beethoven's luminaries are in the second house, the house associated with possessing resources and self-reliance, which seems to fit.
(16 December 1770 1:29 pm)
Deborah Houlding from Skyscript analyzes a chart with 1:29 pm as the time of birth. Beethoven's ASC becomes 16 degrees in Aries. The Moon's aspects with Saturn and Neptune weaken by one degree. Uranus is near the ASC by 4 degrees. Pluto culminates sharply on the MC in Sagittarius. The luminaries are now in the eighth house, the house of probing mysteries and grand world views, but it also means Beethoven is deeply insecure and overcompensates by being aggressive. All these factors seem to match Beethoven on a deeper level.
(16 December 1770 11:03 am)
The last chart is proposed by astro.com cites Tyl's rectified birth time for Beethoven as 11:03 am. Beethoven's ASC becomes 27 degrees in Capricorn while Saturn sits close to the DSC. The Moon weakly conjuncts the MC and the luminaries are in the tenth house, the house of achievement, career, and public recognition. To me, this chart feels as weak as the 3:40 am chart.
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My personal opinion: I think the 16 December 1770 3:40 am chart is the least likely as Lyndoe rectified it to 1:29 pm. The 16 December 1770 1:29 pm chart offers angular Uranus and Pluto and those seem to better fit Beethoven's character. The 16 December 1770 11:03 am has a Moon near the MC and that just feels out of place for me.
Is Beethoven's Chart Right?
Re: Is Beethoven's Chart Right?
Any thoughts, opinions, comments would be fantastic. Thanks.
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Re: Is Beethoven's Chart Right?
If you have dates of events in his life you can probably figure this out. Look at what happened to him and when. That's solid fact to work from. Check out the progressions or lunars at those times for your various speculative charts.