That is such a valuable service - thank you for letting others know what you can do for them!
AT LAST! So, you are a Pisces ascendant after all!
I'm very curious as to what is the difference between a "spiritual birth", and a physical birth. Apparently the spiritual occurred quite a bit earlier. Is it when the baby first came out of the womb, but before the cord was cut?
Thanks Arian for the compliments - and for your willingness.
Freedomlover, there is not a consistent time interval between the recorded birth time that sets the Asc of the usual chart (termed "astrological survey" by Edgar Cayce) and what Cayce termed the "spiritual" birth moment. I don't attempt to directly identify that moment, but use the mechanics of a person's own astrology to make the chart adjustment so that the Asc sign matches the person and the degree matches up with transits/progressions of known life events.
Evidently the moment that sets the birth chart exactly correct on the Asc occurs at the moment in which the incarnating Soul commits its spirit/energy to the body of the baby (before or after the moment of phys birth). Master Astrologer John Willner identified birth windows by secret formulas involving Sun, Moon, Uranus, Asc. I don't have those formulas or the software (Incarn, Incarn2) that uses them. So I have to look very closely at the chart (set by birth time) against a backdrop of the person's physiology and personality, as well as a series of life events.
For me, it is a matter of practicality. I look to identify the correct Asc figure by sign and degree, starting with the recorded time of birth, so that the chart that results is useful for the whole of the person's life. My own needed only a 2* Asc adjustment from 15 to 17 Virgo.
My theme is,
For astrology to be real it must be seen in the body of the person. This is why I place emphasis on certain patterns of physical features related to quality and element of the signs on the Asc. In ArianMaverick's case, her face is more Piscean than Arian, slender/tapered rather than chiseled ovate. Other things in her personality also pointed to Pisces, so it was pretty obvious. Pisces is the least ego-driven sign of the zodiac, Aries the most. When you tap into issues that can highlight those issues, then you can get a clear differentiation. It is not an intellectual process, but an intuitive one of either observing the person's energy directly (behavior, etc) or getting enough information (visual, auditory, etc) to observe it indirectly
So I don't attempt to identify a "spiritual birth moment" as such, but instead go through a thorough rectification process. With some charts, like Tiger Woods' it is nearly immediately clear that his chart is nearly exactly correct as is. Recent events in his life (since fall '09) show this in the transit of Uranus opp n.Asc. In general at least about 40% of birth charts need to be adjusted into a different sign. Around 60% are in the correct sign, but may still need significant adjustment by degree and minute of arc.
The Sun sign and first house signs come into play strongly, though. Examples are a Cancer rising when either the Sun or Moon is in a fixed sign. That person will most often take on a more rectangular face outline of a fixed sign. There will be other physical characteristics there that indicate a Cancer type, however, as well as personality. What we are really talking about is how to read the energy from the person so that you can differentiate between a Pisces rising with first house Aries planets and an Aries rising with those same first house planets. There is a readable difference.
In Arian's case, there are facets of her personality that definitely are core to her that are not Arian. To be a triple 1st house Aries type is to be clearly and purely the Aries type. With Pisces on the Asc there is a refined sensitivity, acute listening skill and intuition that does not appear in the same way with Aries rising.
I encourage people to develop their understanding of the signs well enough to know if they actually fit the profile of the sign supposedly belonging to the Asc of their chart. Studying the signs this carefully will also show you how they display in an array of expressions from one person to another, thus cutting out stereotypes or caricatures.