Here are the Moon charts for June/July:

• June 22nd: New Moon at 01° Cancer 30′
• A new Moon/U.S.natal comparison chart
• July 7th: Full Moon at 15° Capricorn 24′
• A full Moon/U.S.natal comparison chart
• A new Moon/full Moon comparison chart
• A page with background information

This is the sixth Moon cycle of year 2009.

At this time we find the Sun and new Moon at 1° Cancer and the full Moon balanced against the Sun on the Cancer/Capricorn axis at about 15° Capricorn. This new Moon occurs at the time of the summer solstice. On July 7th, at the time of the full moon, there will be a penumbral eclipse at 9:40 AM GMT.

Read more »

Lately things electrical have been coming to mind. Namely

• the drift of electrons in electric current
• the operation of inductors
• Electricity -- a mixture of electricity and magnetism
• Electrical potential

A drift of electrons

When I was first studying electronics, I asked an electrical engineer about the flow of electricity. He said it was comparable to water. So for a long time I thought of electrical flow as being like water flowing in a river.

Then, when studying electricity in physics, I came across this equation for electric current:

Rearranging the members of this equation so that the relationships between the quantities is unchanged in order to find

Hang in there, I know this can be boring. If you must, skip to the last paragraph. I think you'll find it interesting.

Where

• I  = current in amps
• n  = number of electrons per cubic meter (using a value of 1 electron per atom contributing to the current flow)
• e  = electronic charge
• A  = cross-sectional area of the wire carrying the current
• v_d = drift velocity of the electrons travelling throught the wire

Using the following values (after computing them where necessary)

• I  = 1 amp (value selected for convenience)
• n  = 8.45 X10²⁸ electrons per cubic meter
• e  = 1.602 X 10^-19 Coulomb per electron
• A  = 1 mm² or 10^-6 meters² (value selected for convenience)

And the answer is --
v_d = 7.39 X 10^-5 meters per second, less than 0.1 millimeter per second.

If electrons drift along lazily about the width of a hair per second, why does the light in my room go on as soon as I flip the switch?

According to my physics textbook (University Physics, Alvin Hudson and Rex Nelson, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982)

...when a circuit is connected to a source of [power], the electric field is established in all parts of the circuit a nearly the speed of light. So when the final connection is made, forming a complete closed path with the [power source], electrons start to flow more or less simultaneously in all parts of the circuit. Even though the average drift speed of each electron is slow, all parts of the circuit feel the effects of the current almost instantaneously. ...

Journal entry dated 23 March 2007

Rosslyn Chapel: stones that record music
I was looking for this information about Rosslyn chapel earlier this year. There's even a recording of what the stones yield.

Rosslyn Chapel: A more conservative view
Also here is a description of the chapel

Ripple Tank Simulation
This Java applet is really cool. It demonstrates waves in a ripple tank.

This article consists mostly of quotes from The Kybalion by the Three Initiates, a book about the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (thrice-greatest). It should be noted that this book is based on hermetic philosophy, but is not the work itself.

From the introduction--

There is no portion of the occult teachings possessed by the world which have been so closely guarded as the fragments of the Hermetic Teachings which have come down to us over the tens of centuries which have elapsed since the lifetime of its great founder, Hermes Trismegistus, the "scribe of the gods," who dwelt in old Egypt in the days when the present race of men was in its infancy. ...

The Seven Hermetic Principles, upon which the entire Hermetic Philosophy is based, are as follows:

1. the principle of mentalism
2. the principle of correspondence
3. the principle of vibration
4. the principle of polarity
5. the principle of rhythm
6. the principle of cause and effect
7. the principle of gender

the principle of mentalism
The All is Mind; the universe is mental.

the principle of correspondence
As above, so below; as below, so above.

the principle of vibration
Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.

the principle of polarity
Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.

the principle of rhythm
Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; they pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.

the principle of cause and effect
Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything happens according to law; chance is but a name for law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the law.

the principle of gender
Gender is in everything; everything has it masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.

The italicized quotes above are from the original hermetic literature.

When I look at this list, I wonder 1) what is the difference between polarity and gender; and 2) how do vibration and rhythm differ? More about this later.

Category: Fundamentals, That which returns
Journal entry dated 26 Feb 2006