How do I use Sliding Scale pricing?
I offer a sliding scale of $55-$85 per 75 minutes reading for those who are queer, trans, non-binary or non-gender-conforming, disabled, immigrants or displaced peoples, Black, Indigenous, people of color, sex workers, anyone who has experienced systematic oppression or violence, or of any other marginalized identity. No questions asked.
Email me to coordinate our session and payment at holly@hollyshabtai.com
What if I don’t know my birth time, place, or date?
Birthplace: Even the state or country you were born in can be helpful, giving the most attention to the time zone if that information is available. I do not need to know the exact city if that information is not available.
Birth time and/or birth date: Most parents’ recollections of the birth time are unreliable. It was a big, exciting day! It’s understandable how memories can be skewed, so I like to rely on official documentation if available. I even encourage going as far as pursuing your birth certificate before our appointment time, because it is that important for some methods in astrology. Sometimes a difference in mere minutes can drastically change the chart, depending on what we are looking at.
How do I find my birth data?
Public records request, look through personal records, baby books, family bible, contact the hospital or vital records department from where you were born.
If all else fails, ask parents or relatives about the details of your birth in an attempt to get a vague timing (which is very helpful) for instance:
“You were born sometime in the morning”
“…right after evening chores”
“…in the evening”
“…during the 1994 Winter Olympics opening ceremony”
I am still unable to provide any birth data, but I know my age/know my date of birth:
We can still get plenty of useful information from your chart! We will lose some specificity, and some timing techniques will be out of reach. That being said, there is PLENTY to work with sans houses. Most people in the history of people have not known their birthday much less their birth time. We can do it!
What are whole sign houses? Why do you use them?
The whole sign house system is one of the earliest on record to be used in Astrology, and the foundational concepts of astrology were crafted within a whole sign framework. This is known thanks to translations of ancient astrological texts in their original language, unavailable until relatively recently.
Quadrant house systems came later, and many are thought to have been used for specialized astrological techniques. If I am to use Hellenistic-era timing methods like profections or zodiacal releasing, it makes the most sense to use the house system those techniques were designed/discovered within.
Whole sign houses are defined by the 1st house sharing the same 30 degrees as the entire zodiacal sign in which the ascendant degree is found. If you are a Scorpio rising, your entire first house will be Scorpio, and your ascendant degree will no longer be at the cusp of the house but floating within the sign/house. Each house spans 30 degrees, which is different from other systems where houses can cross more than one sign and be larger than 30 degrees. In this way, using the example above, the second house shares the degrees of Sagittarius in the whole sign system, the 3rd house holding Capricorn, and so on.
I am happy to show your chart in your usual system alongside whole sign to start, so we can get oriented!**
What if a different house system completely changes my chart?
House systems are like different languages. Even if they sound different, we get to about the same story in the end. Just because something in your chart changes between house systems, that doesn't mean you were mistaken or read your chart incorrectly. Both lenses are valid to look through and can provide useful information. In fact, I find it really illuminating to compare charts in multiple systems to see which things hold across them.