Home | Bio | Art | Music | Literature | Civilization & Culture | Philosophy of Wholeness | Theosophy & Spirituality | Astrology
Click on to purchase your lifetime ticket for The Astrology of America's Destiny
THE ASTROLOGY
OF AMERICA'S DESTINY

A Birth-Chart for the USA
by Dane Rudhyar, 1974





THE ASTROLOGY
OF AMERICA'S DESTINY


Table of Contents











APPENDIX TO CHAPTER ONE

At the time this book went to print I was not aware that Manly P. Hall, the founder of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, had discovered in the Library of Congress documents which confirm the claim that the Declaration of Independence was voted upon by the Congress late in the afternoon of July 4th, His findings have recently been published in the magazine The Aquarian Agent (Spring 1974), obtainable from the National Astrological Society, 127 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. The following paragraphs are the most relevant. They are prefaced by the statement that according to the Bulletin of the Philadelphia Historical Society, the first signature was placed upon the Declaration at 5 P.M.
The first rather fortunate break I had in this matter was to run across a letter by Thomas Jefferson, written in the closing years of his life. Apparently someone (unfortunately, the other side of the correspondence is not preserved) wrote to Jefferson and asked him the direct question: When was the Declaration of Independence signed? In his letter of reply, Jefferson says that he is well along in years, and his memory is not what it used to be; therefore, that he is not able to answer this question with actual minutes, or with the actual time, but it was sometime late in the afternoon — that he knows this definitely. Now, late in the afternoon in midsummer would not be far from the probabilities.
      In another letter, written at another time, Jefferson says that the Declaration was signed in the very early part of the evening. Now, just what would be the very early part of the evening? That is another question of doubt. One of the secretaries, or someone present on the occasion, left a slip of paper (also preserved in the files of the Library of Congress, unsigned, but obviously contemporary) on which he stated that the business of the Committee of the Whole, which had the responsibility of signing the Declaration, took most of the day; that there was a great deal of debate and a great deal of discussion; that finally it was signed, and immediately after signing, all members went to dinner. Therefore, it would obviously be necessary to assume that they signed before dinner. Now, dinner is a kind of problematical term — back in 1776 folks dined at different hours. But let us imagine that the person writing did know what he was saying — namely, that the discussion, debates, and various business of the committees took all of the day. That would mean that they did not stop at noon, which is one of the prime hours speculatively assigned; it would assume that they did not stop at 2:00 o'clock; if they spent all day, they must have spent well into the late afternoon. It is also noted by another author — a note which does not, perhaps, add anything to our insight, but does add to the humanity of the occasion — that a large part of the afternoon was spent swatting flies, which were extremely bad at that particular season. Again, John Adams and John Quincy Adams also left some records on the time question; both left the statement that the Declaration was signed late in the afternoon.
      There are in existence a number of pictures, and paintings, some of them apparently quite early, bearing upon the signing of the Declaration. These can be seen in a number of our important national galleries, and there is one in the Library of Congress. In every one of the pictures that I have been able to see — and I have examined a number — there is no indication of artificial light. In every instance, a long shadow of light is pouring in through the window a length of shadow which would suggest late afternoon. There is no indication, therefore, that the various problems extended into the dark of the evening. This would rule out several other charts, all of which are set for late hours, some as late as 2:00 o'clock in the morning.




By permission of Leyla Rudhyar Hill
Copyright © 1974 by Dane Rudhyar
and Copyright © 2001 by Leyla Rudhyar Hill
All Rights Reserved.



Visit CyberWorld Khaldea

Web design and all data, text and graphics appearing on this site are protected by US and International Copyright and are not to be reproduced, distributed, circulated, offered for sale, or given away, in any form, by any means, electronic or conventional.

See Notices for full copyright statement and conditions of use.

Web design copyright © 2000-2004 by Michael R. Meyer.
All Rights Reserved.