primary_directions_time_key_doctrine - TheDaniel166/moira GitHub Wiki

Primary Directions Time-Key Doctrine

Purpose

This note defines the doctrine of time keys in primary directions.

A time key does not define the geometry of a direction. It defines how a measured directional arc is converted into lived time.

Core Thesis

Time-key doctrine must remain orthogonal to:

  • geometry method
  • direction space
  • promissor/significator doctrine

If these are conflated, the subsystem becomes impossible to reason about.

Shared Meaning of a Key

A key is a mapping from directional arc to time.

It answers:

  • once the arc is known, how many years, months, or symbolic intervals does that arc signify?

It does not answer:

  • what counts as perfection
  • where the relation is measured
  • which method family is being used

Major Key Families

1. Static Keys

Definition

Static keys use a uniform conversion rate.

Examples named in traditional or modern literature:

  • Ptolemy
  • Naibod
  • Cardan

Doctrine

  • one unit of arc corresponds to a fixed unit of life-time
  • the rate does not vary by the actual astronomical condition of the later time

Interpretive Effect

  • favors regular symbolic mapping
  • makes method comparison cleaner

2. Dynamic Keys

Definition

Dynamic keys vary the mapping according to astronomical motion or another non-uniform temporal model.

Examples named in current software ecosystems:

  • Placidus
  • Simmonite
  • Ascendant Arc
  • Vertical Arc
  • Symbolic Solar Arc
  • Kepler in some doctrinal discussions

Doctrine

  • the key depends on a changing or derived astronomical measure
  • the temporal equivalence is not uniform

Interpretive Effect

  • timing doctrine becomes more individually conditioned
  • but the key becomes harder to compare across methods and harder to validate

3. Symbolic Keys

Definition

Symbolic keys use declared symbolic intervals rather than historically central static keying.

Examples from current software:

  • Symbolic Degree
  • Symbolic Year
  • Symbolic Month
  • Symbolic Week
  • Duodenary
  • Sub-duodenary
  • Quarterly
  • Quinary
  • Septenary
  • Novenary
  • Symbolic Moon
  • Meyer's self-measure

Doctrine

  • the conversion is explicitly symbolic or conventional
  • these keys may be mathematically coherent without sharing the historical standing of the classical keys

Interpretive Effect

  • often useful as experimental or modern practice
  • should not be conflated with the core historical doctrine of primaries

Important Classical Keys

Ptolemy

  • the basic one-degree-to-one-year family
  • historically foundational

Naibod

  • a refinement of the Ptolemaic key
  • widely treated as one of the most important classical keys

Cardan

  • historically important in later traditional and software practice
  • should be admitted as a classical static-key peer, not as a miscellaneous modern option
  • current admitted Moira rate:
    • 1 year = 59′12″ of arc
    • equivalently 0.986666... degrees per year

Why Keys Must Be Separate

The same arc can be read under multiple keys.

Therefore:

  • key is not the method
  • key is not the space
  • key is not the motion doctrine

A mature subsystem should be able to say:

  • same geometry
  • same direction space
  • same promissor/significator relation
  • different time key

without ambiguity.

Moira Policy

Moira should eventually formalize:

  • PrimaryDirectionKeyFamily
  • PrimaryDirectionKey
  • PrimaryDirectionKeyPolicy
  • PrimaryDirectionKeyTruth

And each admitted key should be classified as:

  • historically attested
  • historically grounded reconstruction
  • software-conventional
  • experimental

Validation Implications

Key validation should be separate from geometry validation.

The validation questions are:

  1. Is the arc correct?
  2. Is the key mapping correct?
  3. Are software comparisons using the same key doctrine?

Without this separation, disagreements will be misdiagnosed.

Research Sources

  • AstroApp primary directions help: https://astroapp.com/help/1/returnsW_53.html
  • Mastro manual: https://mastroapp.com/files/documentation_en.pdf
  • AstroWiki, Primary Direction: https://www.astro.com/astrowiki/en/Primary_Direction
  • AstroWiki, Naibod Key: https://www.astro.com/astrowiki/en/Naibod_Key