Time Factors

Time Factors

No horoscope can be accurately erected until you have mastered several basic factors concerning time. Dating from the early history of Society, the various governments of the world have tried to simplify man's relationship to time. In so doing, and in continually changing these simplifications, they have created endless difficulties for the astrologer, who is trying to calculate the true Sidereal time for a given event or birth. In this Lesson, the reasons for the calculations to be made are explained, and definitions are given for all terms used. (As the same understanding is required of a student of astronomy, surveying, aerial or marine navigation, fuller explanations of the principles involved will be found in textbooks dealing specifically with these subjects.) As much of this is of interest to the general public, the same explanations can be conveniently found in a necessarily restricted section of Whitaker's Almanac. Every practicing astrologer should always keep a copy of the current edition of some Almanac, as it is extremely useful for reference.

LOCAL MEAN TIME
Before we can calculate a horoscope, we need to understand the various kinds of time. LOCAL MEAN TIME gives us exactly noon when the Sun is directly overhead, or rather, at its highest place in the heavens. Since the Sun apparently moves in relationship to the Earth, it stands to reason that the actual time of noon will vary as we happen to live in various places, for example, when it is 7:00 A.M. in Philadelphia, it is noon in London.
The Sun moves approximately sixty miles every four minutes. This average sixty miles forms one degree of longitude, hence the Sun travels one degree of longitude in four minutes of time, or 15 degrees to the hour. Suppose a certain city is sixty miles or so west of your birthplace, the Sun will not reach this other city for four minutes. In the past, each city or country place maintained its own time, but as people moved more frequently, they argued about the correctness of their watches so much, that Standard time was introduced. Before we can set up the angles of the horoscope, we first need true Local Mean Time. Therefore, when the birth time is given, it is given in Standard time, and it is necessary for us to convert it to Local Mean Time. This procedure is very simple and should cause you no trouble. Remember that this correction is simply to find the true local mean time. More computation is necessary before we can erect the chart but this is our beginning.

STANDARD TIME
On November 18, 1883, Standard Time was inaugurated in the U.S. (and Canada). However, the geographical lines of the Time Zones were not definitely established until March 19, 1918. For example, the state of Georgia did not change to Eastern Standard Time until then. Previously, it had been on Central Standard Time.
Since the meeting of train schedules, etc., is impossible on the basis of local time, Standard Time Zone meridians were spaced at intervals of 15 degrees of longitude east and west of Greenwich, and all clocks within each zone were adjusted to the mean Solar time of the mid-point of the zone. The material which follows need not be memorized. You will refer to it many times in the future and eventually it will become part of you.

Time Belts of the U.S.
1. Eastern Standard Time - E.S.T. is calculated to the 75th meridian west longitude.
2. Central Standard Time - C.S.T. is calculated to the 90th meridian west.
3. Mountain Standard Time - M.S.T. is calculated to the 105th meridian west.
4. Pacific Standard Time - P.S.T. is calculated to the 120th meridian west.
5. Alaska was standardized in 1918 on 150th Meridian west, but in actual practice, other zones are and have been in use: 120° 150°, 165°.*

 

*If you look in an Ephemeris or an Atlas, and you find that the place where you were born is exactly on the 75th, 90th, 105th, or 120th meridians, you need make no calculations for Local Mean Time. It will coincide with Standard Time. Again, if you were born previous to November 18, 1883, no correction is needed. In the following exercises, the meridians are correct only to the nearest degree.
With this method, discovering the L.M.T. for anyone born in the U.S. is a simple matter. You need only be able to add and subtract, and these computations will never involve difficult numbers.

Foreign Standard Time
Europe is divided into three belts of time.
I. Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T.) is set for zero longitude. At an International Meridian Conference in 1884, it was agreed by astrologers of the leading nations that they would use the meridian of Greenwich as the zero degree on all maps. Greenwich Mean Time is used throughout Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, Spain, Portugal, Algeria, and Morocco.
2. Middle or Central European Time (M.E.T. or C.E.T.) is standardized on 15 degrees east longitude. It is used in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. The time is one hour fast of Greenwich, hence subtract one hour to obtain G.M.T.
3. Eastern European Time (E.E.T.) is standardized on 39 degrees east longitude. It is used in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Egypt, Palestine, and the Union of South Africa. The time is two hours fast of Greenwich, hence you subtract two hours to obtain G.M.T.
You will find the following notes on time in foreign countries useful, particularly if you ever become interested in Mundane Astrology.

India went on Standard Time on January 1, 1906. It is standardized on 82'/2degrees east longitude, i.e., 5'/2 hours fast on G.M.T. Note that Calcutta is not on this standard. It is 5 hours 53 minutes 21 seconds fast of Greenwich.

Burma is standardized on 97'/2grees east longitude, i.e., 6'/2 hours fast of G.M.T.
Indo China and Thailand are standardized on 105 degrees east longitude, i.e., 7 hours fast of G.M.T.
Western Australia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines are standardized on 105 degrees east longitude, i.e., 8 hours fast of G.M.T.
Japan and Korea are standardized on 135 degrees east longitude, i.e., 9 hours fast of G.M.T.
Eastern Australia is standardized on 150 degrees east longitude, i.e., 10 hours fast of G.M.T.
Marshall and Soloman Islands are standardized on 165 degrees east longitude, i.e., 11 hours fast of G.M.T.
New Zealand, Guam, and Samoa are standardized on 172'/2 degrees east longitude, i.e., 11'/2 hours fast of G.M.T.

PLACES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Argentina and some of the West Indian Islands use Atlantic Time, which is standardized on 60 degrees west longitude, i.e., four hours slow of G.M.T.
Newfoundland, Labrador, and Uruguay are standardized on 52'/2 degrees west longitude, i.e., 3'/2 hours slow of G.M.T.
Canada uses Atlantic Time for places east of 60 degrees west longitude, such as Nova Scotia. From 60 degrees west to 90 degrees west, Canada is standardized on the 75th meridian, i.e., four hours slow of G.M.T.
Puerto Rico, Chile, and Paraguay use Atlantic Time, four hours slow of G.M.T.
The Panama Canal Zone uses Eastern Standard Time, five hours slow of G.M.T.
Hawaii is standardized on 157'/2 degrees west longitude, i.e., 10'/2degrees hours slow of G.M.T.
The U.S.S.R. is divided into ten zones of time, extending from 30 degrees east longitude to 150 degrees east. These zones occur regularly at intervals of 15 degrees, each equivalent to one hour of time.