# Simplified Scientific Astrology/Time and Place

TIME AND PLACE AS FACTORS IN CALCULATION OF THE HOROSCOPE
A HOROSCOPE is simply a chart of the heavens showing a certain position of the planets and zodiacal signs relative to each other and the earth. The constellations remain in the same position one to another, and are therefore called “fixed stars,” but the earth and other planets constantly change. They do not return to the same relative position until after about twenty-six thousand years. Thus every scientifically calculated horoscope is absolutely individual and shows a stellar influence different from that exerted in any other life commenced at a different time. Because of the revolution of the earth upon its axis a new degree of the zodiac rises every four minutes and thus even the horoscopes of twins may differ considerably. The student will therefore realize the importance of Time as a factor in casting a horoscope. There are however, various methods of approximating the time and erecting a correct horoscope for those who do not know the hour of their birth, but that subject belongs to an advanced grade of this study.
​ Time is not the same the world over, however, When the Sun rises where we live, it sets in another place, and that makes another difference in the horoscopes even if east for children born at the same moment of time but in opposite parts of the world, for if it were noon in the birthplace of one, the Sun would be high in the heavens above the earth, and in the birthplace of the other child it would be midnight with the Sun directly below the earth. We know that the chemical effect of the solar ray varies with its position, and when the change is physically noticeable, the spiritual effect must also differ. It Is therefore evident that Time and Place are the basic factors in calculation of the horoscope. We shall first show how to locate the place of birth, then we take up the matter of time.
PLACE
Geographically, the earth is divided by two imaginary sets of circles. One circle runs east and west, halfway between the North and South Poles as shown in the accompanying charts: it is called the Equator. Other circles called Parallels of Latitude, are imagined running parallel to the Equator, and their use is to measure the distance of any place North or South of the Equator. Now get an atlas and look at the map of North America. Along the right and left hand borders you will see certain numbers. Note that a curved line runs from No. 50 on the right to No. 50 on the left. That is the fiftieth parallel of latitude. ​All cities along that line, in America, Europe or Asia are equidistant from the Equator, and said to be located in “Latitude 50 North.”
Another line runs from number 40 on the left border to number 40 on the right. Let us note some of the principal cities on or near this line. San Francisco is a little further south, Denver right on the line, Chicago and New York a trifle north. Now turn to the map of Europe. There the right and left hand numbers with their connecting circles are also latitudes, and at the number 40 you will see Lisbon and Madrid. Proceeding eastwards Rome and Constantinople appear a little to the north of our line.
These places may be said, for the purposes of elementary instruction, to be in the same degree of latitude, and therefore another determinator must be used to differentiate the location of each place from all others.
This is accomplished by dividing the earth longitudinally from pole to pole by another set of imaginary circles called Meridians of Longitude, and shown in our chart. All places along such circles have noon at the same instant, regardless of how far they are from the Equator, or whether near the North or South Pole.
Thus, by latitude we obtain the location of a certain place north or south of the Equator.
By longitude we designate its position east or west of Greenwich.
When the location of a place is stated in terms of latitude and longitude it marks a certain spot beyond all possibility of confusion with any other place, and gives the astrologer one of the primal factors necessary to calculate a scientific horoscope—place.
Latitude is the principal factor in locating the signs of the zodiac by means of “Tables of Houses,” which apply to all places in a certain degree of latitude. These tables are as nearly unchangeable as the fixed stars to which they apply; they remain the same from year to year, at least the change is so small as to be unappreciable in a lifetime.
Longitude is the prime factor in all calculations connected with the movable planets. To calculate their places at the time of a person’s birth it is necessary to have an astronomical almanac for the year of birth. This is called an ephemeris because it records the ephemeral or momentary position of the planets as seen from the observatory at Greenwich each day at noon.
TIME
A Solar Day is the period of time it takes the Sun to move from any certain meridian of longitude till it returns to the same meridian the next day. Owing to the variable motion of the earth in its orbit, and the obliquity of the ecliptic, the Sun’s path, the solar days are not all of equal length, but as the purposes of social and civil life require a uniform division an average is struck of all solar days in a year, and this is called a Mean Solar Day. It commences at midnight when the Sun is at the nadir. Clocks are regulated to show its beginning and end, also its equal divisions into twenty-four hours. There is thus a difference between sun-time and clock-time.
From the time when the Sun is nearest to the earth (perihelion) December 24th, to the time when it is farthest from the earth (aphelion) June 21st, clock-time is in advance of sun-time. From June 21st to December 24th, the Sun is in advance of the clock, the greatest difference being 16 minutes in the beginning of November.
When the unequal motion of the earth in its orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic act together, the difference between sun-time and clock-time is greatest but four times a year, April 15th, June 15th, September 1st and December 24th, they agree.
A Sidereal Day is the time which elapses between a fixed star’s leaving a eertain degree of longitude ​until it returns to it the following day. This is the exact time of one complete revolution of the earth upon its axis; it is the only absolutely uniform motion observed in the heavens, having undergone no change since the earliest observations on record.
Owing to the motion of the earth in its orbit about the Sun a solar day is longer than a sidereal day, for as the Sun moves farther to the east during the time of the earth’s daily rotation on its axis, the earth must turn further upon its axis before a certain meridian comes in line with the Sun. The solar day is therefore about four minutes longer than the sidereal day, but owing to the variable motion of the earth in its orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic previously mentioned, this difference also varies each day.
In bygone days clocks in each city or hamlet differed from the timepieces of every other place because all were set to local time, but this caused much confusion to the traveling public; therefore America adopted what is called Standard Time on November 18, 1883. For persons born subsequent to that date a correction is necessary to convert the time shown by clocks to true local time, for that is the time used to calculate the horoscope. The diagram will aid students to understand what Standard Time is, how it overcame confusion, and how the before-mentioned correction is made.
It was suggested, that if the country be divided into time-zones each about fifteen degrees of longitude ​in width (this being the distance the Sun travels in one hour), and all the clocks in each division set to one uniform time, gauged by a meridian located in the middle of the resulting time-zone, confusion of travelers would be avoided.
Accordingly America was divided into four such zones by three imaginary lines, as illustrated in the diagram,
In the Eastern Time Zone clocks are set true to the 75th meridian, 5 hours earlier than Greenwich Mean Time.
In the Central Time Zone time is regulated to the 90th meridian which is 6 hours earlier than Greenwich.
In the Mountain Time Zone timepieces are governed according to the 105th meridian, 7 hours earlier than Greenwich Mean Time,
In the Pacific Time Zone time is standard to the 120th meridian, 8 hours earlier than Greenwich.
(There is a fifth zone in the far East, comprising Maine, Nova Scotia, etc. This zone we omitted in order that our diagram might be larger.)
In all cities located on these Standard Meridians (see diagram on the opposite page), such as Philadelphia and Denver, standard time is also true local time, and no correction is required in calculation of horoscopes. But Detroit, which you will see located on the dividing line between the Eastern and Central Time Zones, is 7 degrees east of the 90th meridian, ​
To the nearest Standard Meridian Time, add four minutes for each degree the birth place is East of the Meridian corresponding to that Time.
If the birth place is West of that Meridian, subtract four minutes for each degree it is West thereof.
When a child is born the exact moment it draws its first breath should be noted, as that moment and not the time of delivery is the time of birth from the astrologer’s point of view.
The reason for taking the time of the first inspiration, usually accompanied by a cry, as the moment of birth, is that the chemical condition of the atmosphere changes at each moment as the vibrations from the stars change. We note such a change in the atmosphere according to the position of the Sun in the sky at different hours of the day or night. The night air is different from the atmosphere at noon. These are not sudden changes, but are brought about by, to us, imperceptible degrees. We who are more callous from continued changes, do not feel them, but the little ​sensitive form of a new-born child is eminently susceptible to the inrush of that first charge of its lungs, and as the oxygen contained therein surges through the body, by mixture with the blood every single atom receives a peculiar stamp which is retained all through life, although atoms change, in the same way that a sear perpetuates itself on the body despite the change of atoms. That first stamping is the physical basis of the idiosyncrasies and temperamental characteristics which cause each of us to act differently under the same stellar conditions; it is the basis of the tendencies of our physical nature and in harmony with our stage of attainment as required by the law of causation, which gives us in each life the faculties evolved during all our previous existences. Thus we do not have a certain fate because we are born at a certain moment, but we have been brought to birth at the time when the stellar rays will give us the tendency to work out the fate generated in past lives.
This distinction is very important, for it marks the difference between the view of the materialistic astrologer and the religious conception of Astrology.
In March 1918, the U. S. Goverment passed the Daylight Saving Act, by which all clocks were set ahead one hour at midnight preceding the last Sunday in March and then set back one hour at midnight preceding the last Sunday in October. This Act was in force in 1918 and 1919 only. All recorded dates in the periods affected should have one hour subtracted in order to obtain Standard Time.