Time-Factors-2

Time-Factors-2

Daylight Savings Time

This is sometimes referred to as Summer Time. It is the pet aggravation of astrologers. This was originated in England in 1916. It consists of the arbitrary setting ahead of the clock by one hour, thereby shifting all the day's activities an hour earlier, ending the work day that much sooner and leaving an hour more of daylight in which to indulge in seasonal recreations. In general, it commences at 2 A.M. of the Sunday following the third Saturday in April, and ends on the Sunday following the third Saturday in October. For births occuring during this time, the astrologer must subtract one hour to obtain the correct Standard time.

 

WAR TIME was invented during World War II. This means that the clock was set one hour ahead during both the summer and winter. In the U.S., War Time began February 9, 1942, and ended September 30, 1945. All you must do for people who were born during this time is subtract one hour, from the birth time to obtain true Standard Time. Remember this calculation must be made regardless of whether it was winter or summer as War Time embraced the entire year.

 

DOUBLE SUMMER TIME - During World War II, some European countries used War Time all the year around, but during the summer they employed what they called Double Summer Time. This simply means that the clocks were turned ahead by two hours. You must subtract two hours when computing the horoscope of a person born during this time. Any almanac will list which countries employed Double Summer Time.

 

GREENWICH MEAN TIME - The position of the planets in some ephemerides is given in Greenwich Mean Time, which is simply the Local Mean Time of the suburb of Greenwich, four miles South East of London. Through this suburb the zero degree of longitude passes. The Royal Observatory is located there. In London, time is sometimes stated in Greenwich Civil Time, meaning that no correction has been made from Greenwich for the four mile distance. However this does not concern you. This Civil Time is stated simply for reference.

 

SIDEREAL TIME (S.T.) - Sidereal Time is time measured by the stars, and not by the Sun. Sidereal Time is slightly faster than Sun Time. If a fixed star if exactly overhead on any particular day, and the Sun if also overhead then on the following day, that is, 24 hours later, the Sun will arrive at the same overhead portion approximately four minutes later than the fixed star. The star or sidereal time is therefore much more accurate and that is why we use it. There are many more complicated aspects of sidereal time but this is all you are required to know at this point.

 

Sample Chart Erection

In order for you to accurately erect a horoscope, you need an Ephemeris, a Table of Houses, and a lot of concentration and patience. The Ephemeris which we use and strongly recommend is The 200 Year Ephemeris, by Hugh MacCraig. We feel that it is the most useful and inexpensive for our students and graduates. The Table of Houses we employ is the A-P Table of Houses. It not only includes computations for the Equator to 66 degrees North Latitude, but also a simple method for using the same tables for Southern Latitudes.

 

With these two books and the simple application of our chart erection principles, you can compute the figures for any horoscope. All you need now is a sheet of blank horoscope charts. In this lesson we show you reprinted pages of these books to demonstrate their use. You may use any ephemeris and table of houses. The following is a sample of the computations for the erection of a natal horoscope. (Just to refresh your memory, we refer to a natal horoscope as a nativity). In the erection of this chart we follow the method employed by Hugh MacCraig in the above-mentioned 200 Year Ephemeris. The Table of Houses which we use for this example is the A-P Table of Houses. With these two books, we are equipped with all the necessary data for calculating any astrological chart. In all astrological work, it is at all times advisable to adopt a regular method of procedure, which will save you time and make your work more efficient and satisfactory. The following principles of procedure have been adopted by us, and we recommend them to you.

Principle I. Write down all the birth time information.

Ex: The birth information for our hypothetical chart is June 6, 1949, 11:20 AM. in Bronx County, New York City.

Principle II. Using MacCraig's Ephemeris, we find and make note of 1) the Longitude of the Bronx, 2) the Latitude, 3) the Longitude calculated in time. (Note: The Bronx is part of New York City, hence there is no separate listing for it Therefore, the longitude and latitude of New York City will suffice.)

Ex.: 1) Longitude: 73W57 2) Latitude: 40N45 3) Longitude in Time: 4:56. This is necessary for a slight time correction which will be explained in a future principle.

The Concepts of Longitude and Latitude

On almost every map you will find lines drawn North and South. These are the longitude lines or meridians. The lines from East to West are called Latitude lines. Any city or town is located by:

1. The number of degrees east or west of London or rather, east or west of the Greenwich Observatory, which is the starting place of the zero degree of longitude. SEE DIAGRAM I, LONGITUDE LINES

2. The number of degrees North or South of the Equator, which is the zero degree of Latitude. SEE DIAGRAM II, LATITUDE LINES

It is obvious why longitude and latitude are so important when we are studying the concept of time in relationship to a given point on the Earth.

Principle III. We must determine:

1. Which Standard Time Zone the time is given in.

2. If Daylight Savings Time was in effect at this time.