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I received an anonymous e-mail just before Christmas and didn't give it much thought at first. But now, deep into reading the Harry Potter books, I find the content of the message fascinating. I have checked out the claims of "AD" against JK Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." In short, she does give us enough information to calculate a birth chart for Harry Potter! The most important clue is on page 43 in "Sorcerer's Stone":

"Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday--and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television-- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday." And, upon Hagrid's appearance, Harry sends his acceptance to Hogwarts, by owl, on the last possible day according to Professor McGonagall's letter (July 31, p. 51), and has to spend one more month with the Dursleys (p. 88) before he departs on the "First o' September" (p. 86).

Bingo! Harry has a real birth date. Now we are on the trail. A check of the ephemeris, the book of planetary positions, shows that there are only two July 31 dates that fall on a Tuesday in the time span we are considering--in 1979 and 1984. Both dates have astrological possibilities. (Astrological charts need the date, time, and city of birth. I had the date, but I don't know where "Little Whinging" is, so I used Surrey (County), England, for a birthplace and a sunrise birth time. This is standard practice for astrologers when the exact time is not known--close enough!)

According to an interview with Harry's creator, JK Rowling, Harry was conceived (it almost sounds like he was "channeled") about seven years before the 1997 first publication date of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Since he is described as an 11-year-old boy at the time of the story, and since other details (for example, Dudley's birthday presents include "a video camera...16 new video games and a VCR" ) suggest that the times are reasonably current, a birth date near 1979 makes sense. This first possible horoscope for Harry has his sun in Leo conjoined by Mercury and Jupiter.

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The planet Mercury, always present in acts of magic, is the messenger between the ordinary and non-ordinary worlds. In this version of Harry's chart, both the sun and Mercury come under the philosophical, expansive, and positive influence of Jupiter. This gives us a character somewhat like Disney's "Lion King"--the lion is the symbol of the astrological sign of Leo--who must meet many challenges before assuming his rightful place. In this chart, too, Harry's Jupiter has an exact trine (positive aspect) to Neptune in Sagittarius, suggesting his place in a royal lineage of magicians as one with vision and the magical power to achieve the improbable. (It doesn't hurt his Quidditch game, either!)

With a moon in Libra, we would expect Harry to be kind, considerate, and of passive temperament in his early years. This aspect also suggests steadfast and helpful companions--for example, the faithful Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione. As a name, Hermione is another word for the god Hermes or Mercury, and Hermione does function like Harry's sun conjunction to Mercury--knowing all the incantations and rituals required for the successful execution of magic. (In Book 3, "The Prisoner of Azkaban," we find that Hermione is almost certainly a Virgo.)

These three planets, however, are in a square to Uranus in Scorpio. (A square

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is a right angle relationship of tension and stress.) This correlates with the series of magical contests where Harry is pitted against powerful and unpredictable forces of the Dark (that is, Scorpio), represented by Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, the Slytherins--and "You Know Who."

Harry's life completely turns around on his 11th birthday as he finally finds out that he was born of wizard parents, that his mother and father were killed by a powerful sorcerer on the Dark Side, and that he is to begin his training at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

For the 1979 natal chart to apply, there would have to be important astrological transits occurring in 1990. (Transits are particular relationships between the positions of planets at different times.) Such is the case. Near Harry's 11th birthday, in the spring and early summer of 1990, transiting Saturn was square his moon, suggesting the despair he faced at the repression of the Dursleys. But, in addition, transiting Neptune trines Harry's Saturn throughout the last half of his 11th year, indicating the opening of his true destiny. This long-term aspect was exact at the time of Harry's birthday, a prime symbol for the beginnings of occult and spiritual studies. Given these considerations, I would conclude that July 31, 1979, gives the best chart for Harry Potter.

An alternative (the next July 31st on a Tuesday, in 1984) should be given some consideration, however. Interestingly, this chart works pretty well, too. Here the sun in Leo is in trine to Uranus and square to Scorpio, suggesting the same themes of Light versus Dark, access to magic and higher mind, and a destiny to lead. And, remarkably, in the spring before this 11th birthday (1993), transiting Saturn is opposite Harry's moon, a very similar aspect to the one that occurred for the 1979/90 chart! In passing, I'll note that many of the gods and heroes of antiquity (for example, Venus) are "twice-born," and thus have two birth charts.

So, do we have Harry Potter's true horoscope? And is Harry Potter real? That's for you to decide.