To Our Students:
This course was originally designed in the early 20th Century, a time when the mathematics involved and tools used to erect or calculate an astrological chart were so basic they were familiar to elementary school children. Because of this, in this Lesson you will encounter unfamiliar things and concepts like Tables of Houses, Ephemerides and Logarithm charts.
Times have changed and since this course was designed by C. C. Zain, the Aquarian Age—beginning in 1881—has rushed ahead with sophisticated technology, enabling easy access to calculators that replace the cumbersome tools and mathematics that were familiar to students until the 1970s. We now have computer-generated chart programs that render a higher degree of reliability and accuracy than hand-calculated charts that are vulnerable to human error.
We still think it is important to have a course on how to hand-calculate a chart for those who are inclined. Such a course should be designed around the modern tools that are conveniently available to everyone. Although this course is not currently available, it will be shortly. For now, we consider your path to becoming a student of the Hermetic Arts to be fully fledged, even if you are not able to hand-calculate or progress a chart by hand.
With regard to the Final Exam for this course, you are not responsible for producing any of the chart calculations referenced or discussed in this Lesson. Beyond the math, there is a great deal of experience and astrological observation that has gone into the Hermetic System of Astrology. We think this is important information for any student of astrology and will help them to establish a true North in their astrological practice. It is for these concepts you will be tested.
