INTRODUCTION:
Many
of us are familiar with the Old Style (Julian) and
New Style (Gregorian) calendars. Birth dates are
often given in one of the two calendars, and this
may give the impression that unless a person is born
in
an exotic place or in a particularly strong ethnic
environment, we can assume that one of these two
calendars are used. Furthermore, we may have the
impression that
there is a particular date when the New Style calendar
is adopted.
Unfortunately,
however, the situation is immensely more complex
than this, and the consequence
of this
complexity is that sometimes astrological charts
can be incorrect. There are several variations
of the Old
Style calendar that were used and the New Style
calendar was adopted at different times in different
countries.
In addition to the problem of determining which
calendar is in use is the problem of determining
if local
time is used or if there is a time zone and if
daylight saving time is used.
Every
year at least a dozen
countries
change their laws regarding observance of daylight
saving time. If you use astrology software that
does not have the daylight saving time tables updated
yearly, then there is an increased risk that
charts you calculate
of current events and babies can be incorrect.
If
the astrology software you use does have tables
updated regularly, you should install an update
at least
once
a year to ensure that your daylight saving time
tables are accurate. CALENDAR &
TIME CHANCES IN ANCIENT & MODERN TIMES:
The
New Style calendar (Gregorian) was
adopted in the year 1582 in many parts of western
and central
Europe,
in 1752
in Great Britain and its possessions, in 1753
in Sweden, in the 1800's in Japan, Egypt, and Alaska,
and in the
early 1900's in several Eastern European countries
and the USSR. Turkey began using the New Style
calendar in 1926. For example, someone born
in Istanbul in the
early 1900's most likely has the birth time
recorded in the Old Style calendar. Furthermore,
there is no guarantee that birth dates are recorded
with
the same calendar that
is commonly
used. We can assume that most people in Turkey
in the early 1900's, for example, knew that
their calendar
was different from that used in most countries,
and there is the possibility that government,
church, or
other official records were sometimes recorded
with the New Style calendar. This is reminiscent
of the
well-known problem of daylight saving time
in the USA paticularly in parts of Illinois and
Pennsylvania
around
the 1950's; in some hospitals birth times were
recorded in standard time even though daylight
saving time was
observed. Some hospitals even had two clocks
in the delivery room, one with the actual time
and
the other
with the time one hour different which was
used to record the birth time.
Adding
even more complexity to the problem of determining
accurate dates is that
through
the
Middle Ages
the year did not necessarily begin on January
1. A common
date for the beginning of the year was in
the Spring but January 1 was also often used. One
authority
states that if a Roman document referes to
month X, it could
possibly refer to 7 different possible time
periods! Sometimes two or more systems were
used simultaneously,
and calendar dates were sometimes distinguished,
for example, by being historical, liturgical,
or civil.
One
example of variations of the Old Style calendar is
descrbied by Lois Rodden: “From
the 9th to 15th centuries, in some cases
as early as the year
1338, various locations of Europe began the
first day of the year on 1 May, on 12 August,
on 1 November,
on 25 December and on 25 March. The
most commonly used New Year’s Day was Easter
and this calendar was known as the Annunciation
Calendar.
Rheims
(Reims), France used 25 March as the first day of
the year until 1390, after which it
named
Easter
as the New Year day.
France, in part, began to use 1 January
as New Year day in 1563 by the edict of Charles
IX and entirely
after 1567.” (http://cura.free.fr/xv/14rodden.html).
Rodden cites the book “Book of Calendars” which
is edited by Frank Parise. There
are also other calendars such as the Islamic, Jewish,
Roman Republican, and Ancient
Greek calendar,
etc.
If a source gives a date as being in the
Old Style calendar, one could ask “which
old style calendar?” as
there were variations.
Another
confusion for dates before the year 1 is the difference
between astronomical
dates and calendar
dates. In our calendar dates there is
no
year zero. The year preceding 1 AD is
1 BC.
In astronomy,
however,
the year 1 BC is the year zero. For example,
the
year 100 BC is the astronomical year
-99. When looking at
ancient dates it is important to be aware
of this distinction.
SUMMARY:
To
summarize, there are many variations of calendars,
and sometimes uncertainty
as to
what calendar
was used for recording birth times
or even what calendar
was
in use in a particular place at a
particular time.
A
simple designation of “Old
Style calendar” is
ambiguous because there are variations
of the Old Style calendar that were
used. A reasonable way to resolve
some of this confusion is to always
use
New Style calendar dates and in notes
regarding the birth data include
information about what the calendar
in use was at the time and how the
date
was recorded.
The
fact that people born in the early 20th century are
born with the Old Style calendar
in use and
that many countries, or parts
of countries, change the dates
when
daylight saving time is observed
every year are
additional issues that
astrologers need to be aware
of. A difference in one hour will change
the rising sign
about half the time
so this is an important issue.
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