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Julian Assange’s Birth Time Discovered by TMA

Posted by on December 19, 2010 at 8:55 pm21 Comments

Over the past few weeks as the drama surrounding WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange has played out in the news, a different type of drama has unfolded within the astrological community as astrologers have tried to determine the correct birth chart for Assange.

The most important event occurred last week when the astrological magazine The Mountain Astrologer (TMA) announced that an anonymous source had contacted them and disclosed Julian Assange’s birth time from official birth records.

This announcement occurred on December 7, which was the same day that he was arrested in London based on a warrant issued by Swedish authorities via Interpol.   It was actually only a week prior to his arrest that his birth date was finally confirmed, as a result of being listed on the Interpol warrant issued in late November.   This warrant on the Interpol website, which has since been removed, also listed his birth place as Townsville, Australia.

TMA’s source, who apparently had access to Assange’s birth records, reported that his birth time was listed as 2:05, 2:06. or 2:08 PM. The uncertainty surrounding the exact minute is apparently due to the ink on the record being smeared, although the range is narrow enough to give us the location of the ascendant within a degree.

Using the 2:05 time and the birth date originally given by Interpol gives us the following chart:

Julian Assange, July 3, 1971, at 2:05 PM in Townsville, Queensland, Australia

The Reliability of the Birth Time

The reliability of TMA’s anonymous source was questioned almost immediately after the announcement was made.  On one level there is the sense of uneasiness that naturally arises simply from the fact that the source of the data wishes to remain anonymous.  This is heightened since, on the one hand, the astrological community has had a number of high-profile debacles concerning birth data in recent memory, and on the other hand because this is already a very sensitive situation in which a lot of accusations of character assassination and misinformation are being thrown about.

Some eyebrows were also raised because, except in some places, birth times are generally not recorded in Australia, so the initial announcement that the time came straight from Assange’s birth certificate seemed highly improbable.   TMA later responded to this criticism with some additional information from their source, who told them that the time came from a record in the registry files that was appended to the birth certificate – not from the birth certificate itself.

Additional issues were raised by Australian astrologer and data collector Sy Scholfield.  The most lingering question at this point seems to be that Assange’s mother’s surname was not “Assange” when he was born, and the source would have needed to know the mother’s actual surname in order to actively seek out the birth records.   When asked about this, TMA’s source was only able to provide what they acknowledged was a pretty unsatisfying response, that they couldn’t remember exactly what name was listed for Assange’s mother.   The source suggested that the best way to confirm the veracity of the information was to contact Assange’s mother herself.

So at this point, as of December 19, 2010, we lack any kind of confirmation of the birth time.   However, despite some of Scholfield’s valid questions and criticisms, I’m inclined to accept the birth time reported by TMA as being legitimate.  Let me explain why:

The people at The Mountain Astrologer have been in the game for a number of years now, and I would expect that they’ve seen enough controversies surrounding birth data to cause them to be a bit discerning when it comes to deciding when to report data that was given to them by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.  Obviously that puts us, the astrological community, in the less than ideal position of having to just take their word for it that they looked into it and the source seems legit, but honestly it’s not unheard of for something like this to happen.

Sometimes birth data gets leaked by sources who happen to find themselves in the position of having access to a little piece of information that the rest of the world usually considers to be quite insignificant.   Sometimes those sources are forced to maintain their anonymity in order to avoid legal repercussions, despite the fact that this is one of the top 10 things  that keeps astrologers up late at night with bad dreams.

In many ways the situation is rather fitting given who the subject of the present piece of birth data is, and the fact that his organization’s entire focus is providing a platform for anonymous sources to disseminate important pieces of information that is of a private nature.  Sometimes it is only through anonymity that certain pieces of information will ever see the light of day.

A Few Points of Interest in Assange’s Birth Chart

With all of that out of the way, I wanted to make a few brief comments about some things that I thought were interesting in the proposed birth chart.   A lot of people in the astrological community have made comments about Assange’s chart at this point, and my goal isn’t to rehash what has already been said here, but instead just to make a few observations that I feel might contribute to the ongoing dialogue as we watch this person’s life unfold.

  • If the birth time is correct, the ruler of the ascendant is Mars, and it is placed in the 4th house.   From the perspective of a Hellenistic astrologer this would actually be the source of his fascination with secret matters and things that are hidden.    Yes, the 4th house still has to do with the home and the family in Hellenistic astrology, but there is also this heavy element of secrecy since it is the place that is exactly opposite to the midheaven, underneath the earth in the part of the chart where the planets cannot be seen.
  • Not only that, but since it is the ruler of his ascendant, it shows that this is a large part of what his life will be directed towards, although it will also be the source of some of his greatest difficulties and hardships since it is Mars and it is the contrary to the sect malefic.   Interestingly, he is in a 4th house profection year right now according to Annual Profections from the ascendant, so that very Mars placement in the 4th house is what is being activated this year, ever since his birthday in July.   If the time is correct then 4th house profection years would be the most difficult ones for him, and curiously they are also ones in which danger to his physical health would be the most acute.
  • My friend Nick Dagan Best points out that regardless of the birth time, Assange was born with a pretty tight Saturn-Neptune opposition, and he was having a recurrence transit where there was a Saturn-Neptune opposition in the sky when WikiLeaks was founded.   To underscore why that is interesting, that is the only time that there has been a Saturn-Neptune opposition in the sky since the one that he was born under in 1971.
  • Whether the allegations made against him turn out to be true or false, this will be a very good textbook example to use in the future about how a tight Venus-Pluto square can play out when it is activated by a hard Uranus transit.   As a signature, Venus-Pluto configurations usually have to do with power dynamics in relationships, especially situations  having to do with control, as well as heightened levels of intensity and intrigue.   If the birth time is correct then it’s all the more important for Assange because Venus would be the ruler of his 7th house of relationships.   Note that Uranus made a retrograde ingress back into Pisces within a few hours of when the first sexual encounter is said to have taken place, on the night of August 13th.  In and of itself this is not enough to draw any sort of conclusion one way or another about the allegations that have been made against him though.   Taken in isolation these configurations could indicate either a situation in which the native tends to be somewhat aggressive or manipulative in relationships, or on the other hand in which he finds himself the target of manipulation as a result of romantic encounters.   The Uranus transit was simply acting as a trigger by setting up a situation in which there was a possibility of short term sexual encounters, and this also activated the Venus-Pluto signature in his chart.
  • Along those lines, my other friend Patrick Watson has pointed out a number of ways in which Uranus shows up as a very strong signature in both Assange’s life and for WikiLeaks in general.  He points out that

a) He was born with Sun square Uranus, b) he started WikiLeaks when the Sun was on his natal Uranus, c) he turned himself in and was arrested on the day of the Uranus direct station, d) Uranus is on the degree of the descendant of the WikiLeaks chart, which has the Moon applying to Uranus, and e) he was arrested for hacking in 1991, the year that Uranus was in opposition to his natal Sun and square his natal Uranus.  I’d expect a pretty interesting development with him in 2013-14 when Uranus reaches opposition to his natal Uranus and squares his natal Sun.”

In some ways this makes more sense to me within the context of the proposed birth time because it would make the Sun the ruler of his 10th house, and thus the natal Sun-Uranus square would primarily be relevant to his work, reputation and life direction.  This would mean that his career and reputation would be wrapped up in common Uranian themes having to do with the disruption of existing power structures and institutions, freedom (especially of information), independence, surprising revelations, progress through technology, etc.

    The final point that I wanted to mention is something that I find perplexing about the chart associated with the birth time that TMA obtained.  According to a Hellenistic time-lord technique that I use called Zodiacal Releasing, which can be used to study peak periods in a person’s career and eminence, while Julian Assange is in a “peak period” right now with respect to his career, and he has been for the past year, this is not the highest point that he will hit in his life for his career, life’s work or eminence, if the birth time is correct.  In fact, it is not until 2014 that he hits his 20 year major peak period in which some of his most important or significant work will be done.

    This seems rather surprising to me at this point because I cannot imagine what he could do in the future to become any more prominent than he has already become in the past several months.   This puts me in the position of thinking that either A) the birth time is wrong because he has become an international figure and impacted governments all over the world in the past several months, yet the technique doesn’t show this as being the highest point in his eminence or life’s work, or B) the birth time is correct, and while the technique shows the past several months as being a high point in his career, his most important and lasting work is still yet to come.

    Initially I was inclined to assume that the first option was correct, that the birth time was simply wrong, but the more I’ve looked at his past chronology with the technique, the more it seems to line up with some of the major events in his life.   Now, obviously something could come out of the blue which would cut the man down in his prime, before he has the opportunity to take advantage of this period which seems to hold so much potential for his career.  That is why Ptolemy begins his chapter on the length of life technique with the statement that there is no use making predictions about important events in the future for someone who will not live long enough to take advantage of those periods.   This is not something that I have taken into account in this chart though, but instead I’m simply saying that if he is still around, then things should start to get even more interesting in his life in just a few years from now.

    So if indeed the birth time is approximately correct, then regardless of what happens over the next few months, I don’t think that we’ve heard the last of Julian Assange.


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    About Chris Brennan

    Chris is a practicing astrologer from Denver, Colorado, USA. He is the former President of the Association for Young Astrologers, as well as the former Research Director of the National Council for Geocosmic Research. He offers personal consultations and teaches online classes through his website at www.ChrisBrennanAstrologer.com.




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    21 Comments »

    • Lynn Hayes says:

      Chris, you are versed in horary which I am not. But I wanted to see a chart for Mary’s 12/7 article about the disclosure. There’s no time stamp but the first comment is Gary’s at 12:32 pm, so I ran the chart for noon. Between 11:41 am and 12:55 pm on 12/7 Pisces was rising, which is not surprising given the nature of the controversy over the birthtime. The Sun is on the midheaven, reflecting the wide publicity her post has received, and the Moon is in an applying square to Saturn so it’s not surprising that this birthtime has been met with such skepticism.

    • john y says:

      Nice work as usual Chris

    • Chris Brennan says:

      Lynn, I would probably look more at the time that TMA first received the email from their source with the birth time, as that would probably tell you something about the intentions of the sender. We should look and see if we can find that data as well.

    • Adam Galblum says:

      Fascinating!

    • Wasted Ink says:

      I don’t know how reliable can be that birth time.

      I’ve been thinking that Assange might have a Taurus Ascendant, with a Saturn in the 1st house, Sun and Mercury in the 3rd, Pluto in the 5th,Uranus & Moon in the 6th, Neptune in the 7th and Mars in the 10th. Venus in the 2nd.

      If Assange’s birth time is really 2 pm, I must say that this must be somekind of a bad joke from the USA, and where overestimating Assange’s value.

      I’d be quite disappointed with that natal chart.

      It doesn’t make sense.

    • ourania seven says:

      1971 WAS THE YEAR ELLSBERG RELEASED THE PENTAGON PAPERS AND SERPICO EXPOSED NYPD. SERPICO WAS BORN APR 14 1936, THE PREVIOUS SAT/NEP OPP. I THINK YOU’RE RIGHT THAT HIS FINEST HOUR LIES AHEAD.

    • ourania seven says:

      SORRY FOR THE CAPS. I’M TYPING FROM MY PHONE.

    • ourania seven says:

      Another thought, it was the movie, serpico, which catapulted his fame. Perhaps we should anticipate Assange, the movie.

    • konsyltacii says:

      The basis of legal protection, Mr. Julian Paul Assange of WikiLeaks could be justification for its compliance with existing international law and fundamental human rights (including this and the right to know who controls the people and what they as an intellectual, moral or and professional level, in so far as regards their ability to regulate public social processes).
      In addition, there is legal justification of his right not to disclose sources of information, if released information corresponds to reality and affects the basic rights of many people.
      Regarding of formal charges, Julian Paul Assange (Julian Paul Assange) from WikiLeaks: judging by the charges against him (published in the online information), it probably is not the accused should be, it is likely the victim, because of the very essence of the charges it is clear that it is the actual discrimination and baseless carping from the opposite side, having little to do with human rights and simple logic.

    • konsyltacii says:

      If it is true what is written on the Internet, Julian Paul Assange got into this situation by formally put forward claims of activists of the feminist movement, which I think is unreasonable requirements, violating his rights as a person. Formally put forward the claim to be in violation, in my opinion, international law and established international human rights law, even in Sweden and have such laws, so distorting the relationship between men and women. Human rights can not be waived or prohibited by national law any country – is repealing the Human Rights Act would be unlawful. The discussion should not abuse the rights and on equality – it means respect for the equal rights of men and their parity, negotiation of reciprocal rights with mutual responsibilities. Me it seems to that in this case is present abuse of right, overstatement of rights for one side due to the illegal diminishing of rights for other side. Therefore, even if in terms of morality, not really nice to meet two girls, from the point of view of the law – he is innocent, if they met voluntarily and without violence.

      I do not understand the position of the Australian Government. Julian Paul Assange, if I understood correctly, is the citizen of Australia, a prosecution was pulled out him in one country, detained in other country. The government of Australia is not interested in the fate of an Australian citizen and it does not want to fulfill their responsibilities to protect its citizens?

    • konsyltacii says:

      Невід’ємні права Людини.
      Неотъемлемые права Человека.
      Droits inaliénables de l’homme.
      Unveräußerlichen Rechte des Menschen.
      Inalienable human rights.

      For lawyers, attorneys Julian Paul Assange from WikiLeaks.

      I think that Americans must remember, what people wrote their Constitution, what country they dreamed about, must remember about Bill of Rights.

      Necessary to protect not only the rights of women, but as it turns out, and the rights of men.

    • I think that this time is close to accurate. He founded wikileaks.org on Oct 4th, 2006 under his 10th house Leo period:

      Le -> (Aq) -> (Aq) -> Aq

      The parentheses indicate that these periods passed the loosing of the bond on those levels which means that Leo has the remaining times after those periods which makes the Sun the active lord for reputation in addition to Saturn at the time of the founding. Given that the 4th is a place of secrets and the laying of foundations and that the bond was loosed from darkness to light on 2 levels this is fitting symbolism for the foundation of an organization in which information goes from the shadows into the light.

      It is interesting that the only planet with any sort of dignity is Mars and it is both Kurios and Oikodespotes because the predominator is the Moon. When the Kurios and Oikodespotes are the same, one can accomplish much. I was expecting to see angular trigon lords and this is the case with Mars and the Moon, but Venus ruled over his early life in Gemini (8th) with an ascensional time of about 33.5 years which activates his Mars trigon around early 2005, shortly before founding wikileaks. Venus receives no help from the Moon but Mars does and is also domicile lord.

      He is currently in a Leo period handing over to Gemini and the most important period during the 19 years of Leo is his Cancer period because that is where the Sun is found – so it becomes the focus of the general times. The latter half of 2011 should be a very important time in his life. When following the domicile lords in this way the focus date is Dec, 11, 2011.

    • Chris Brennan says:

      Yeah, that striking ZR lineup on the day WikiLeaks started is one of the reasons that I thought the birth time might be correct.

    • He also has the lot of accusation conjunct the midheaven to the degree (7 Leo). The date of the founding of wikileaks puts the lot of accusation at 12 Leo. Fortunately for him, benefics witness the place.

    • Correction to the above time lord sequencing for ZR Spirit:

      Le -> (Aq) -> (Aq) -> (Aq)

      The bond was loosed on 3 levels. Hat trick!

    • Ace McEvers says:

      Hello Chris, Good insights all around, yourself and input from friends Nick and Patrick

    • Thanks, Chris, for your commentary on Assange’s chart and the proposed birth time of 2:05 PM. I read it with interest, especially your conjectures about why 2014 could be a big year for Assange, though in your opinion it didn’t make any sense. However, it does make sense in his Vedic chart, as Assange enters a 17-year Mercury Maha (major) Dasa on Nov. 24, 2014. This is favorable for him, using the 2:05 PM birth time.

      I too sent two posts to the TMA blog on Assange and his birth time, on Dec. 13 and 14,2010 and turned them into an article, posted at my website Dec. 31. Go to: http://www.edithhathaway.com/articles.html

      More observations are inevitable since writing the article! I pointed out the exact Jupiter-Saturn opposition on Aug. 10, 2010 coinciding with his misadventures in Sweden. (He arrived there Aug. 11th.) But it is possible that the next and last Jupiter-Saturn opposition March 28, 2011 could coincide with the resolution of that particular situation, at the very least. This planetary combination is more significant since Assange himself has natal Jupiter opposite Saturn. I use the sidereal zodiac, so am looking at tr. Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn in Virgo. The opposition is never quite exact in Dec. 2011 and Jan. 2012, and this is another reason to see the pressure letting up on him and be directed elsewhere.

      Edith Hathaway

    • Dharmaruci says:

      I’ve been wondering about Julian Assange having both Sun and Moon in Water signs – Cancer and Scorpio – and yet he seems known for his unawareness of the feelings of others, his very low ‘EQ’ as an Icelendic MP who is a friend of his put it, and his very strong functioning through the intellect. I find it interesting generally in terms of how the elements play out, and I haven’t worked him out yet! Have you a Hellenistic take on this?

      I can see the square from Uranus to his Sun would detach him from his feelings when it comes to his beliefs and career (if the birth time is accurate), but that still leaves the Moon.

    • […] astrological techniques that this was not the end for Julian Assange, and should he survive,  it even looks like he will top himself. It is hard to imagine how he could do that unless he releases confidential files on UFO’s or […]

    • Chris Brennan says:

      Assange recently published an autobiography and in it he says that he was born around 3:00 PM. Sy Scholfield has the quote here: http://aussiestars.tripod.com/charts/activists/julian-assange.html

    • Tricia says:

      Finding this interesting- especially looking forward to seeing what he will do at his “peak” in the coming year or so.