The history of the gregorian calendar, julian calendar, precession, time

"Astronomy is the science of continualy correcting your earlier errors"

Astronomy is at the root of the Western spiritual cosmology.
Astronomy, like religion, is the 'science of syncronicity'
between the heavens and the earth.

Our calendar is a device that celebrates the celestial path of the Sun.

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An Astronomical Poem  " 30 days has September, April, June and November  all the rest have 31 except February which has 28  except on years divisible evenly by 4  except at the turn of the century  except again for 1700, 1800 and 1900  but 2000 is O.K., as long as you remember that  "October (meaning 8) is the 10th month  and December (meaning 10) is the 12th".  anonymous astronomer

T h e C a l e n d a r   Important information to help preserve your sanity  At some point, in reading through this information (if you really are trying to follow the flow of it) your mind is going to slam into a "cultural wall" and will not let you "get" the message that is presented here. It's really O.K., I just wanted to let you know that "it ain't your fault" :-) because your thinking patterns are linear and if you try to vary from the linear you will, most probably, go unconscious.  The adjustments that have been made to our calendar have NEVER taken precession into consideration. This oversight has produced great confusion and a multitude of inaccurate and diverse opinions regarding where it is that we are (time wise) within the present Age (Pisces).  Any adjustments to our calendar has created two distinct results.  1) It adjusted the tropical calendar and the wheel of the zodiac .  2) It adjusted our measurement of precession of the equinox.  Some of the information presented here is "counter intuitive" because it has elements of time going in two directions.  1) Forward for the tropical calendar  2) Backwards for the Precessional issues.  We are now in the third millennium and our Macro cosmic timekeeping has been virtually ignored. It's like knowing what day it is but not knowing the week, month, year or century. According to the present scheme (no precessional adjustments) of The Gregorian Calendar we will NEVER enter the Age of Aquarius!

The History of Time as a Measurement 
 

 

The first most obvious cycle to Man was the "day", the second was the lunar cycle or "month" (i.e. Moon). The third cycle was more sophisticated because it included elementary astronomical observations and became a "year". (The annual rising of Sirius with the Sun). All three of these cycles are "circles" and when numerous circles were recorded "time" was "invented".  Time at its very root is nothing more than "circumference", because it (time) measures the outer edge of a circular movement. The Earth rotating on her axis, the moon rotating in her orbit and the Earth's annual circle around the Sun have all provided the foundation for the illusion of time.  When one considers that every circle, regardless of its size, has Pi in common with every other cirrle then one can realize that "time" and Pi share an identity because time, as we measure it is based upon two circles.  .  Historically, the creation of geometry preceded the measurement of time in increments smaller than a day.  Geometry was created by the astronomy of the Sun. A circle's 360 degrees is based upon the approximate number of days that it takes for the Earth to travel once around the Sun (a year).  .  The heavens (the "ecliptic" or path of the Sun and the planets) have always (5000 BC) been divided by Man into 12 equal parts called the zodiac. The planets transit through 12 distinct star groupings called constellations. The constellations of the zodiac (or star groupings), as we know them, have been handed down to us from the Chaldeans (4000 BC).  .  It was a natural step to divide the 360 (degrees/days) by the 12 star groupings to get 30 degrees for each constellation of the zodiac.  Note: Decimals (groupings of 10) were introduced somewhere very early during our evolutionary process because the Egyptians, as far back as 4000 years ago, incorporated the Pi ratio (a decimal) into the construction of The Great Pyramid . Also, Egyptian astrology used "decans" or groups constructed by division of the whole by 10.  .

Where we are with time and how we got here

We measure the length of a day in hours.  If you look up the word "hour" in any encyclopedia it will tell you that it's an   "arbitrary" measurement of time that started, perhaps, with the Egyptians. The Greek word " horoscopus " (331 BC) has its roots in the notion of an "hour" (horo). - An "hour" has its genesis in the geometry of a circle (base 60) and in the twelve ancient signs of the zodiac.  - A "day" (according to our present measurement) is 24 hours in length ( please note that virtually no astronomical measurement comes out exactly to a whole number, it's always some number plus a zillion decimal places) .  The day is measured by the daily reappearance of the Sun in the eastern sky. The actual measurement of a "day" takes place from one "high noon" to the next.  A "day" is actually 3 minutes and 57 seconds (56.55) longer (present consensus mean calculation) than the actual amount of time that it takes the Earth to rotate one time on her axis. The additional time (3 minutes 57 seconds) is necessary because the Earth has not only rotated on her axis but has also moved along in her orbit. It takes an additional 3 minutes and 56.55 seconds for the Earth to return to her daily "relative" position, which is indicated by identical shadows cast by the Sun's previous (yesterday) position. Thus, a day is 24 'hours' in length.

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An hour is a geometric creature. An hour, like a degree of arc, is founded upon a numbering scheme called " a decimal base 60 system " (60 seconds of time makes a minute, 60 minutes make an hour - 6 increments of 10). This method is just like geometry where 60-seconds-of-arc make a minute-of-arc and 60 minutes-of-arc make a degree-of-arc. Your wrist watch operates on an identical base 60 principle.  .  Believe it or not, the "hour" was devised by the Chaldeans (pre-Egyptians) but made popular by the Greeks (331 BC) to enable them (the Greeks) to fashion more accurate astrological charts (hour - horo-scope - the celestial bodies that were rising at the hour of one's birth).  .  The day was initially divided (Early Man & pre-geometry) into two obvious parts: daytime and nighttime. Daytime was then divided into two parts (AM & PM). The daytime portion (and night by default) was further divided into two parts each - the first part is the Sun rising to the Mid-heaven (noon) and the second as the Sun descends to the western horizon (sunset).  O.K., now we have the day divided into 4 parts. (Sunrise to Noon - Noon to Sunset - Sunset to Midnight - Midnight to Sunrise). .  Enter the Chaldeans with a base 60 geometry at about 4000 BC. The Chaldeans conformed the day to the (base 60) 360 degree geometry of a circle (based upon a '360+ day' long year). The Chaldeans divided the day into 360 divisions. A day was just another "circle" (cycle) so they made it conform to their geometry.  .  By this time in history the 12 major constellations were carved in stone. The observance of the ecliptic (the path of the Sun and planets across the sky) revealed the 12 constellations that are visited by the Sun, Moon and planets (planets were called 'wanderers' or 'sheep' and they called the Sun, 'The Shepherd', indicating that in 4000 BC the Chaldeans knew of a sun-centered solar system).  It was a natural next step to divide the 360 divisions or degrees into 12 parts (one part for each constellation in the zodiac) of 30 degrees each. The 12 divisions of a day allowed the ancients to dedicate a part of each day ('religion') to the Assembly of Gods who represented the constellations and the ancient spiritual cosmology.  .  The division into 12 was, also, the first gradual step towards the creation of a solar calendar and these 12 divisions became the basis for the eventual shift from the earliest lunar calendar which, by the way, could never be reconciled exactly to the actual length of a solar year.  (Note: The word "month" comes from the word "moon" and there are approximately 13 lunations (lunar month) to a year. Anyhow, the lunar calendar was quite troublesome because it could never be precisely reconciled to the exact length of a year and the lunar calendar was always "drifting" and out of sync with the seasons).  .  With their day now divided into 12 segments (30 degrees per segment) each 'degree' represented 3600 arc-seconds of the Earth's axis rotation. (Additionally, each of the 12 segments was equal to two of our hours, but... we haven't got there just yet).  The 6 segments of daytime  were each then sub-divided into 3 segments belonging to morning and 3 segments to afternoon and a similar division was made for the night (sunset to midnight and midnight to sunrise).  .   We now have Man's first "clock" with the day divided into 12 equal segments.  Each segment was 30 degrees of arc (or 120 of our minutes of 'time').  How then did we get to our present division of 24 segments (hours)?  To further characterize the 12 Gods of the Zodiac each of the 12 segments of a 'day' were divided by 2, thus giving each God rulership over a portion of the day and a portion of of the night.  This cosmology allowed for the 12 archetypesof the zodiac to display their dual natures (light and dark sides) and placed the cornerstone for Man's first religion/science... Astrology, and  simultaneously, the science of horology and timekeeping.   .

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Vernal Equinox
that point of intersection of the ecliptic and the celestial equator, which is occupied by the sun as the Earth changes from south to north declination on or about March 21

Despite the fact that The Egyptians, (following the Chaldeans),  developed a solar calendar in about 3000 BC ...... farther to 'the East' there was ... ... The Julian Reform Background -The ancient lunar calendar (presumably Hebrew and seeming angatonistic to anything 'solar') created chaos because a solar year cannot be divided efficiently by lunations (a lunar cycles is 29.5 earth-days). The seasons (solar dependent) were never matching the perpetually drifting lunar (Hebrew) calendar. By the time of Julius Caesar the lunar calendar was "off" by 85 days (Spring was arriving in what would have been December). It was time to switch to a solar calendar!  .  The reformation of the Roman calendar was undertaken by Julius Caesar, who sent for the Greek astronomer Sosigenes to serve as an adviser. The calendar was changed in 46 BC., which came to be known as "the last year of confusion" (although, at the time they had no idea that it was 46 "BC" ) . .  First of all, it was decided that the vernal equinox would fall on March 25th; to achieve this, 85 days were added to the year 46 B.C. ( Please note that choosing March 25th as the Spring Equinox was a somewhat arbitrary decision aimed at conforming the new calendar to the seasonal cycles of what turned out to be only the Northern Hemisphere).  .  The civil year was thereafter fixed at 365 days. The reformers realized (inaccurately) that the solar year had 365.25 days, but they felt that the year would remain in agreement with the seasons if an additional day was intercalated every 4 years. The extra day was not added to the end of February, as it is in the modern calendar, but was inserted after February 24th.  The Council of Nicaea  (The Roman Catholic Church now enters into the calendar process in 325 AD) - The Julian year of 365.25 days was longer than the mean solar year of 365.2422 days. The difference amounted to about three days (3.12 days) every four centuries. It is apparent (arithmetic) that by the time the first ecumenical council was held at Nicaea in 325 AD that a lag of about 3 days in the Julian calendar was to be expected, however, the actual lag was calculated at 4 days and it was determined that Sosigenes made an otherwise unexplained error** of 24 hours in his determination of the vernal equinox in 46 BC.  The Council of Nicea then shifted the calendar back 4 days  in order to have the vernal equinox occur on March 21st.* * The real truth regarding this matter is that the precessional shift ('apparent' reverse solar movement) since the Julian Reform (46 BC)  to the Counsel of Nicea (325 AD) amounted to 3.86 days (whether or not anyone was aware of precession ).  The actual difference then should have been:  a minus -3.86 days (of precessional movement which was ignored),  plus the 3 day "calendar drift" which offsets the precessional movement,  so Sosigenes' alleged 1 day "error" was not an 'error' at all, because the remaining difference is , 20 hours - 38 minutes -24 seconds or approximately 1 day So the calendar was already ('accidentally') correct, **Sosigenes was correct, and the primary cause of any percieved error was because there was no computation of calculations for Precession of the Equinox (1 degree for every 72 years). Sosigenes was, undoubtedly, aware of precession as were the early fathers of the Church. Precession was known around 200 AD (See, Origen, early Christian scholar and theologian) but denied by the early fathers of the Christian church. One reason for the denial of precession is because 'precession' suggested a Sun Centered solar system which was considered heresy (See, Galileo). Sosigenes secretly, (it seems)  included precession in his calculations but did not discuss the matter. Anyhow, they (Council of Nicaea) changed the Vernal Equinox rather than disrupting the evolving church doctrine. This act of changing the Vernal Equinox also changed the zodiac because the resulting 4-day change (rather than admit to precession and heresy) shifted the place of 1° Aries by 4 degrees on top of any original zodiac errors (?) from The Julian Reform in 46 BC.  This event was also the beginning of the end for astrology as a legitmate activity (religion) because 'astrology' then went from the actual positions of heavenly bodies to the tropical fiction of the calendar, not to metion the continually scrambled zodiac because of calendar changes.   ( Note: In 325 AD it still took 8 1/2 minutes for the Sun's light to reach the Earth so the measurements were 'off' by two+ degrees / days because 8 1/2 minutes of earth axis rotation equals 2.12 degrees of arc or  2 . 125 degrees of  the zodiac).  2 degrees = 144 years of precession.

An Intervening Adjustment That Errs Regarding The Timing of Christ's Birth  .  In the year 1278 AUC ( a b u rbe c ondita) * , meaning the number of years since the founding of Rome, Pope John I (Pope from 523 to 526 AD) commissioned Dionysius Exiguus ** , a monk and chronologist, to align the chronology of the date(s) of certain Christian holy days. Dionysius convinced Pope John I that the years of our calendar should start from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ. Dionysius determined (?) that Christ was born in the year 753 AUC. The Pope then decreed that the year 754 AUC was the year 1 Anno Domini (AD) and, it seems, he completely overlooked the fact that his innovation had Christ’s birth occurring after Herod’s death (4 BC) which is a contradiction of Matthew’s gospel . Dionysius also neglected to include a year zero "0" and his alignment started off the Christian era at year "1" (Even a child right out of the womb has to live for 12 months before he or she is considered a year old). Dionysius' error has never been corrected and 1 AD is actually "year zero" so everything in "BC" retrogrades a year (4BC is actually 5 BC). This error has been incorporated into much of our astronomical and astrological software.  .  The Christian era (AD), now used almost exclusively throughout the Western world for civil chronology, was first used in 525 AD by the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus (c. 500-560 AD), who fixed the birth of Christ in the 'year of Rome' 753. It is generally agreed that this date should have been fixed some years earlier. Dionysius's chronology was introduced into historical writings by Bede the Venerable in the 8th century.  © Copyright Simon & Schuster New Millennium Encyclopedia © 1998 Simon & Schuster, Inc.  .  * In Roman chronology the era of the founding of the city (ab urbe condita, or AUC) dates from April 22, 753 BC, and the Julian era dates from the reform of the calendar by Julius Caesar in 45 BC., © Copyright Simon & Schuster New Millennium Encyclopedia © 1998 Simon & Schuster, Inc. .  ** Dionysius Ex•ig•u•us \-eg-©zig-y¡-w¡s\. c.500–c.560. Scythian Christian monk and scholar. In Cyclus Paschalis (525) prepared for Pope St. John I, he introduced method of reckoning the Christian era (Dionysian period) which is still used, making the birth of Christ (incorrectly placed in year 753 of Rome) the starting point of modern chronology. © Copyright Simon & Schuster New Millennium Encyclopedia © 1998 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Gregorian Calendar Reform The Julian calendar continued to deviate (because it is said, they were adding in too many "leap days"). It has been said that Easter, a spring holy day, would have eventually wound up in the middle of Summer (This is a popluar explanation that makes no astronomical sense, unless the date for Easter was tethered, somehow, to the Vernal Equinox, which is what was done in 325 AD). By the time of Pope Gregory VIII, in the late 16th century, the deviation, according to their calculations, amounted to 10 days. The equinox of 1582 fell on March 11th.  Pope Gregory undertook the task of reforming the calendar!  Before you read this part (below), allow me to explain The Precession of the Equinox. It will be of great help in understanding all of this. If your are to meet someone, daily, at 5 O'clock p.m. and your watch (unknown to you) gains 3.14 seconds a day, then after 100 days it will seem, according to your watch,  that the person is showing up 5+ minutes late. Our calendar mirrors a similar situation in that, daily, we are 3.14 seconds ahead of what is actually going on in the heavens (sidereal zodiac). So, as a result, once every 72 years, at the vernal equinox, it seems that the sun has backed up by 1 degree/day. So at the Vernal Equinox the sun is 1 degree away from where we think that its going to be. The 1 degree of 'backing up' is called The Precession of the Equinox and precession is measured at the calendar's annual Vernal Equinox (March 21st) and precession tells us how far along, within the present age, that we have come. So, on the Vernal Equinox of 2007 (March 21st)  the sun was actually at (almost) 28 degrees of Pisces (my calculations) indicating that we have been in the Age of Pisces for 2,012 years, (See, images below). (Note: It is not just the Sun that appears to be backing up, but the entire visible universe as viewed from the Earth).   An 'Age' will continue until there is a 30 degree difference between the Sun's actual position in the zodiac and the tropical (calendar's) Vernal Equinox. At that time (30 degree difference) the Sun will enter (backwards) the 30th degree of a new sign (Aquarius) and a new age will begin.  After a new Astrological Age begins the span of degrees between 0° Aries and the Sun's actual position at the Vernal Equinox will continue to grow by 1° every 72 years. 2,160 years constitute an "Age" (30 degrees x 72 years each) and 'precession' is how we measure it.   The Roman Catholic Church's Gregorian Calendar (since 325 AD) ignores precession and has always tried to adjust the calendar to pretend that precession does not exist.  As a result, most of us do not have a clue regarding where we are within the present age. Note: Acknowledging precession probably seemed like a throwback for the Roman Catholic Church. Earlier church doctrine (pre Galileo) had the Earth as the center of the unverse, as did the ancient astrological model (still does), but the center of the astrological chart is the 'individual' who is situated on the Earth. Anyhow, after Galileo flip-flopped church doctrine by determining that the solar system was Sun centered there was probably a great reluctance to include a calendar temporal element that, once again, had the entire outer universe rotating around the Earth, which is precession. The acknowledgment of precession would have validated (somewhat) the astrological model of the solar system. Nevertheless, 'precession' was simply dismissed, like astrology was, and not incorporated into the calendar scheme. It seemed that the only 'zodiac component' that was open for discussion was the Vernal Equinox and, eventually, the setting of the date for Easter (the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows , or is on, the Vernal [Spring] Equinox). None of the Gregorian Reform arithmetic makes sense in terms of actual orbital mechanics. Let's examine what was really going on....   Let's pretend, for a moment, that there was no Julian Reform nor a Gregorian Calendar Reform and that the calendar was precise in both 325 AD and in 1582 AD. Also remember that 'precession' has the Sun entering the 30th degree of an astrological sign and backing through the entire sign (30, 29,28, 27, etc., etc).   If the calendar was correct in 325 AD then, at the Vernal Equinox (March 21st) in 325 AD, the Sun was (should have been) in the 26th degree of Pisces and heading towards the 25th degree. The Sun would have, in 325 AD, backed up (precessed) 4.583 degrees since 5 BC when Christ was born. Indicating that there were 1,830 (1830.024) years left in the Age of Pisces and that we had been in the Age of Pisces for a total of 330 (329.976) years. Now, Let's jump ahead to 1582 AD and continue to pretend that the calendar was accurate. At the Vernal Equinox (March 21st) of 1582 the Sun was (should have been) in 7° Pisces (7.983°) indicating that there were 572 years (572.976) left in the Age of Pisces and that we had been in the Age of Pisces for 1,587 (1587.024) years.  So, at the Vernal Equinox of 1582, with the calendar perfectly accurate, the Sun would have been 22 degrees away (past by it already, 'precessed') at 7.983° Pisces. So the people in 1582, if they were unaware of precession, would have claimed that the equinox arrived 22 days early (back in February, 22 days before March 21st). So, without any calendar adjustments they would have (incorrectly) claimed that the Vernal Equinox was arriving 22 days early.  In 1582 Anno Domini, one thousand two hundred fifty seven (1,257) years had passed since the Council of Nicea (325 AD).  The Gregorian Reformers (1582 AD) claimed a 10 day cumulative error in the Vernal Equinox date since the Council of Nicea. The Vernal Equinox (Sun enters Aries) of 1582 AD happened on March 11th (10 days early). That means that on March 21st 1582 AD the Sun was in 10° Aries and that the equinox 'arrived 10 days early'. What it is that would cause the equinox to seem to arrive early is 'precession' OR adding too many leap days. (Note: Re: adding leap days  -  If it takes us 365 days to travel in a circle to get to when the Sun enters Aries and then we add an additional day then it will seem (on the next Vernal Equinox) that we have arrived 1 day late for the equinox, or, alternatively, it would seem that the equinox arrived one day early.) So, we can positively conclude that the problem for the Gregorian Reformers was that too many leap days had been added since the Council of Nicea and that caused the equinox of 1582 AD to arrive 10 days early. (Note: Calculations presume March was 31 days in length in 1582 AD.  Precessional movement, over 1,257 years is 17.458 degrees or 17.2 actual days (The Sun's apparent movement is .98564 degrees or 98 1/2 % of 1 degree daily) which would have placed the actual Vernal Equinox (Sun enters Aries) on March 4th or 17 days before the March 21st date set by the Council of Nicea in 325 AD (17 days earlier than March 21st because of reverse precessional movement).  So there were genuine cumulative 'errors' (from their perspective and being oblivious to precession)  that were made totaling 17 days (March 4th to March 21st = 17 days) and not the mere 10 days that they calculated. Nevertheless, to correct the perceived error they cut 10 days off of the year 1582 (Thursday October 4th 1582 was followed by Friday October 15th). This is very curious? Precessional movement, just by itself , was 17 days which would have had the Sun appear to enter Aries and 'preceed the calendar equinox by 17 days.  Yet the claim was that the equinox of 1582 arrived only 10 days early.   One activity that would produce this result (without considering precession) is adding too many leap days since 325 Anno Domini. (Remember, when we add leap days we are not changing what is happening 'in the stars' we are just changing the calendar, which is supposed to match what is happening in the stars). Each (additional) 'leap days' would have increased the 'error' adding to the 10 day early arrival of the equinox, because each extra added leap day would pass the actual equinox by one additional day. (e.g. The calendar says the Vernal Equinox is on March 21st, we add an extra erroneous leap day in February causing the equinox to occur (calendar wise) on March 20th.     I know that my 'Gregorian figures' are accurate because they cut off 10 days to correct the 'error'.  So...  analyzing the data .... it seems that between 325 AD and 1582 AD the precessional movement alone would have shifted the actual sidereal (star) equinox  by 17 days (arriving 17 days sooner than expected).   On the calendar date of March 21st 1582 (If the calendar then was correct)the sun would have been in (approx.) the 8th degree of Pisces. Indicating that the Age of Pisces was 1587 years along. However, the claim (decoded) is that the Sun, on March 21st 1582, was actually in the 10th degree of Aries and was expected to be at 0° Aries. Something was really goofy! Since 325 AD, 1,257 years had elapsed and (supposedly) there would have been 314 leap days added during that period of time. The leap days would have been excessive because the exact length of a year was not known during that entire period and they were adding a leap day every 4 years which was an over compensation that would have produced earlier and earlier Vernal Equinoxes.  What a mess!  So somehow ????? in 1582 they claimed that there was only a 10 day disparity between the calendar and the 'actual' zodiac position of the Sun. This was an error. On the Vernal Equinox (March 21st) of 1582 the Sun SHOULD have been in 8° Pisces and they were claiming that the Sun was at 10° Aries which indicates that the zodiac, at that time, was 'off' by 32 degrees! They then cut off 10 days which makes the remaining unresolved error a total of 22 days/degrees! A tempest in a teapot? The unresolved error is seemingly inconsequential because when was the zodiac ever perfectly aligned?  How can the zodiac be properly adjusted? I went to the Great Pyramid ( the 'Rosetta Stone' of the solar system) to find an answer. The answer is here.       Note: Each day added or subtracted or otherwise shifted in the calendar varies the perceived length of the Age of Pisces by 72 years . See, "Precession of the Equinox"  The 'true length' of the solar year, 365.2422 days, was known by the 16 th century ( however, they were unaware (also) that it took approximately 8 minutes for the Sun's light to get to the Earth and the measurements of the Sun's apparent position were off (warped ) by 2 degrees ) and Pope Gregory undertook to reform the calendar. He cut 10 days off from the year 1582 so that, starting the following year, the equinox would fall on March 21st. The day after Thursday October 4th 1582 became Friday October 15th (which is why, to this day, nobody takes their vacation in October :-)). The original error, ("equinox creeping") however, was not corrected (too many leap days) so a widening gap continued to separate the Julian and Gregorian calendars as the years passed. Note: The "light speed error" inserted an additional two day "warp" in the astrological/astronomical wheel (setting the degree of the Spring Equinox) which was, subsequently, projected backwards throughout the calendar. Gregory then promulgated an edict establishing that 3 days would be dropped from the calendar every 400 years, thus correcting the discrepancy between the Julian calendar and the solar year. It was decreed that years ending in two zeros would not be leap years, except when the first two digits were divisible by 4. Thus, in the old Julian calendar, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, and so forth would be leap years. In the Gregorian calendar, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years; but 1600 was, and so was the year 2000.  (This was, perhaps, the last major calendar adjustment which Man shall ever make because no one now has the political power necessary to change the calendar of the Western World except perhaps a Pope and The United Nations. Consider the computer chaos (Y2K was a piece of cake by comparison) that would be created in the western world if a spiritual leader attempted to alter the calendar by adding 5 days to the year 2005 ! ).  There is a remaining inexactness in the calendar which is actually caused by the leap year adjustments. We add one full "leap day" once every four years to compensate for a deficiency of .9688 days.  So we are adding an extra .0312 days every 4 years.  The "excess" [.2422 times 4 = .9688 or an excess of .0312 days] amounts to 3.14 (Pi) days every 10,000 years, after compensating by skipping some leap years.  The discrepancy has been left unattended because there is no convenient way to adjust our calendar to accommodate for this slight difference and it seems that our present calendar is as close as we can get (conveniently) to the reconciliation of solar time (the 24 hour calendar day) and actual sidereal (star) time.  Food for Thought regarding the Gregorian Time Warp  The 3.14 (Pi)  day per 10,000 year "difference" has now, in itself, accumulated (since the Gregorian Reform of 1582 AD) to 2.98800 hours of time (notice the light speed association in meters per second 299.792.458 meters per second!).  I am unaware of any subsequent adjustments to our calendar after modern science realized that it takes approximately 8 minutes (2 degrees of Earth's axis rotation) for the Sun's light to reach the Earth and that the Gregorian observers were "seeing the light" but not the actual position of the Sun. A 2 degree difference is significant in the calculation of precession and the determination of where we are within the present age. In 1582 AD when they were determining that the Sun was at 0 degrees Aries (actually "setting" the zodiac) the actual degree of the ascendant was 2 degrees Aries . The 2 degree difference actually varied the perceived length of the Piscean age by 144 years (2 degrees of precession) after we became aware that the transmission of light was not instantaneous.  (note: astrological calculations use "delta factors" to adjust the astrological wheel in an attempt to compensate for "situations" similar to the one described above.)  .  Conclusion Our present calendar is a "patchwork quilt" that has evolved as Man's knowledge and measuring devices have evolved. The only creation of Man that has more patches than the calendar is the Windows Operating System . Our calendar as it exists now is simply the most recent expression of what we think is true regarding the Earth's movement around the Sun. Today we are just as certain of our calculations as were the astronomers of "ancient times". None of the adjustments to our calendar included any consideration regarding precession and the length of the age and the collective effect of all of the calendar changes has been to virtually scramble the zodiac and banish astrology to the comic's section of the daily newspaper.  Our calendar is highly accurate insofar as the measurement of years is concerned, ( see, Orbital Variance Theory ), however, we are virtually uncertain as to our present "location" within the "ticking" of the astrological age.  ( The "uncertainty", however, is quite typical for the mythological attributes of this Age. Neptune , the planetary ruler of the Age of Pisces, favors "impressionistic watery expressions" rather than calculating precision.)  We precisely know the second, the minute, the hour, the month, the year, the century and the millennium ( if we don't get too close to the edges ), HOWEVER, the start of our counting was not based upon the precise transition of the Age because nobody could find The Star of Bethlehem.  Our counting started at a somewhat arbitrary point. If we are "pushed" for an answer to the question " why did it start when it did "?, we have no alternative but to shrug our shoulders.  The astronomical - astrological "star configuration" described in this archive is, beyond a doubt, the true place from where our "counting" can begin with perfect accuracy within the parameters of a "Pi factor".

Chronology of The Birth of Christ  as recorded in  the gospels of Matthew and Luke    . The Birth of Jesus Christ occurred in Bethlehem on February 18 th 5 BC  Click here for actual chart (opens in new window) Within the time prescribed by Jewish law and custom Christ was presented at the temple within 40 days after his birth (Luke 2:21, 22) and his parents made the "offering of the poor" which was a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:24) .  The presentation of Christ at the temple was before the arrival of the Magi. The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Luke 2:11) would have removed any necessity of having to make " an offering of the poor " at the presentation.  The Magi arrived at Herod's court sometime prior to the summer solstice (June 25 th ) of 5 BC (see box below) inquiring as to the whereabouts of the "new king" stating that they had " seen his star " (past tense) and had come to worship him (Matthew 2:2) .  Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star had appeared (last March) and ordered that they return to him to report the result of their search (Matthew 2:7) . Herod, sometime after it became clear to him that the Magi were not returning and prior to his death in March 4 BC, ordered the slaying of all male children two years old and under (Matthew 2:16) . (Note: Christ was in his second year of life at the time of Herod's demise).  Herod's death in March 4 B.C. is an historical fact. His passing was marked by a lunar eclipse (chart appears in new window).  After the visit of the Magi, Mary and Joseph took the Christ child into Egypt and remained there until they received word of Herod's death. They then returned from Egypt to Nazareth (Matthew 2:12 and 2:19-2:21) . The predominate indicators of the time that theMagi located the Christ are written in astronomical - astrological "code" (below) . The number of the Magi is also revealed. (The idea that the Magi were three in number has only been presumed by the number of gifts which were offered).  Matthew 2:9 -  When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over (the house) where the young child was.  Matthew 2:10 -  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  Matthew 2:11 -  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  .  The Astronomical - Astrological "translation" of Matthew's words (above) are as follows:  The only "star" which " stands still " is the Sun at the winter and summer solstices. The word solstice means "Sun-stationary" and marks the Sun's apparent stopping (momentarily stationary) and turning around points (Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer) from its travel through the northern and southern hemispheres. The "Sun-stationary" point marks the beginning of the summer or winter seasons.  The term " house" is an (ancient) astrological term indicating a component of an astrological configuration . In archetypal astrology the 4th house is the house of the mother (astrological sign of Cancer) the beginning of which also marks the place where the Sun "stands still" at the summer solstice .  The time of the summer solstice marks the day with the greatest amount of light in the northern hemisphere. The date for the summer solstice, at the time of Christ, was June 25th.  The astrological sign that the Sun leaves to enter the 4th house is Gemini (The Twins).  The astronomical/astrological "code" shows the Christ (the Son/Sun) with his mother (in the 4th house - the ancient astrological house of The Great Mother - The astrological sign of Cancer - the house of the "psychological base" in contemporary astrology) as the Magi (approaching "from the East") found the Christ (Sun / Son) and is a perfect symbolic "picture" of the Sun between the signs of Gemini (the twins) and the sign of Cancer (the Mother) which occurs precisely at the time of the summer solstice when the Sun "stands still".  The symbolism fits perfectly suggesting that the Magi were two in number (the Twins/Gemini). ( Not that the Magi were actually "twins" but that they were two of the "same thing" ). It is from these symbols that I have concluded that the Magi "located" the Christ child (revealed the location) at the time of the summer solstice in 5 BC, and that the Magi (like the solstices) were (are) two in number.  Here (chart on right) is the actual astrological/astronomical (June 25th 5 BC) chart (portion) representing the "arrival of the Magi". It is, after all, both astrologically and astronomically, the planets Mercury and Venus which ALWAYS "follow the star" which is our Sun. The symbolism is a powerful representation of Christ's teaching to align the mind (Mercury) and heart (Venus) with God (the Sun, spirit/soul). Thus, the "wise men" are those who have united their mind and heart and follow THE LIGHT OF THE SUN (soul/spirit/son/star, etc.).  Note: The chart (portion) shows the Sun, Venus and Mercury approaching from the East and "The Star"(The Sun in this instance) proceeded before them until it "stopped over a house" (solstice = Sun Stationary)  Matthew's gospel clearly indicates that "the ancients" knew that the Sun is a "Star" and were aware of the "Sun centered solar system" with the planets Mercury and Venus, inside of the Earth's orbit, always "following the Star" from the astronomical perspective of the Earth!  Note: Given the dual nature of 'mind' (Mercury) and 'heart' (Venus) they too can also be 'the two thieves'. Additional Astronomical / astrological observations  Christ has been associated with the Astrological Age (sign) of Pisces (a water sign) and with the astrological sign of Cancer (also a water sign). The third water sign of the astrological triplicity is Scorpio . Christ is also linked, symbolically, with the astrological sign of Scorpio in the following way:  Christ's "hidden life" existed for 18 years. Nothing is written in the gospels about Jesus Christ after his visit to the Temple when he was 12 years of age up until his (almost 30) 30th year when he was baptized by John. For a total of 18 years there is a "blank" which has caused many scholars to speculate upon what may have happened during this time period.  An astronomical/astrological event parallels the "gap of 18 years". The Sun actually "leaves the zodiac" for 18 days (annually) while it is transiting (crossing) the astrological sign of Scorpio (the third water sign). During this 18 day period the Sun is outside of the boundaries of the traditional zodiac and enters the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer). In a sense, the Sun (Son) is "missing" for a period of 18 days, like the Christ was "missing" for a period of 18 years.   Note: This 18 day/year similarity also underscores the "day for a year' method (Old Testament) of progressing a star chart.  Symbolically, the Sun's leaving the watery sign of Scorpio to enter the "airy" region of "The Serpent Bearer" (Ophiuchus) is a perfect metaphor for "walking on the water" (crossing over the top of Scorpio, a water sign) and mirrors one of Christ's great miracles.  The Star that "rises in the East" is the Sun  The appearance of the Seal of Solomon  that is, beyond any doubt, the Star of Bethlehem   (March 1st - 7th 5 BC)  fits perfectly into the time frame and perfectly matches the description of the star established by the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  .  The existence of the "star" validates the portions of Matthew's gospel which make reference to the star and to the wise men. The "Star" which is introduced in this archive appeared between two "Great Months" (The Ages of Aries and Pisces) and between two "Great Years" (25920 years) all within a "Pi Factor". The timing of the star's appearance gives us more precise information which we can utilize to adjust our "macro-cosmic" time keeping system. The "Star" is an astronomical "landmark" and is the only one that history shall ever reveal. You can set your clocks and the astrological wheel by the timing of its appearance. It allows us to know, for the first time in history, precisely where it is that we are within the present "Age".    Research Materials ( calendar ) - The New Encyclopedia Britannica and The Encyclopedia Americana  (zodiac and solstices) - Isaac Asimov - Of Matters Great and Small , Doubleday, 1975  Sitemap or use browser's "back" button to return to the previous page  © 1997 John Charles Webb, Jr. John Charles Webb, Jr. © Copyright 1997 - 2008 All Rights Reserved - United States of America updates are automatically copyright protected under law and international treaties