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Zodiacal Hour Calculator

Divide sunrise to the next sunrise into twelve symbolic zodiacal periods, beginning from the Sun’s approximate sign.

Zodiacal hour

Scorpio hour

This first model divides sunrise to the next sunrise into twelve zodiacal periods, beginning with the Sun’s approximate zodiacal sign for the selected date.

Cycle begins: 12:35 PM / 12:35

01 Virgo12:35 PM / 12:35
02 Libra2:35 PM / 14:35
03 Scorpio4:35 PM / 16:35
04 Sagittarius6:35 PM / 18:35
05 Capricorn8:35 PM / 20:35
06 Aquarius10:35 PM / 22:35
07 Pisces12:35 AM / 00:35
08 Aries2:35 AM / 02:35
09 Taurus4:35 AM / 04:35
10 Gemini6:35 AM / 06:35
11 Cancer8:35 AM / 08:35
12 Leo10:36 AM / 10:36

The tradition

Before clocks imposed equal hours, the day was divided by light. Sunrise to sunset made twelve hours and sunset to sunrise made twelve more, so an hour stretched and contracted with the season — long summer days, short summer nights.

The zodiacal division applies the same instinct to the signs rather than the planets: the daily circuit is cut into twelve zodiacal periods, so each stretch of the day carries a sign's character. It is a way of reading the day as a compressed year.

Reading the instrument

  • The instrument divides sunrise to the following sunrise into twelve periods, beginning from the Sun's approximate sign for the chosen date.
  • Because the periods are keyed to actual sunrise, their length shifts with latitude and season — this is a feature of the system, not drift.
  • Compare against planetary hours: the two schemes divide the same day differently and are often used together rather than as alternatives.

Where it descends from

The unequal-hour tradition
The seasonal-hour reckoning shared by Greek, Roman, and medieval timekeeping, from which planetary and zodiacal hour schemes both descend.
Picatrix and Agrippa
The magical literature in which hour divisions are put to electional use.

What this does not claim

Sunrise and sunset are computed approximately and depend on the location supplied. At high latitudes, and near the solstices, the model degrades — verify locally before relying on a boundary.

Continue

Planetary HoursCelestial Timing SuiteSacred Calendar

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