22 SIMPLIFIED SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY
and its clocks are therefore 28 minutes slow in actual fact, for when they show noon, according to the 90th meridian standard, the true local time is 28 minutes past twelve. Chicago you will see a little east of the 90th meridian (2 degrees). When the clocks there are twelve noon it is really 12:08. San Francisco clocks show noon when the true local time is only 11:50, because that city is 2½ degrees west of the Standard Meridian. Correction is therefore necessary. The rule for obtaining the true local time is:
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
