Eclipse of Thales. May 28, 585 B.C.

, predicted by Thales of Miletus, and which stopped a

battle in the war between the Medes and the Lydians. Other historic eclipses were that which
occurred at noon in the first year of the Peloponnesian War, when several stars became
visible, presumed to have occurred August 3, 432 B.C.; and that which occurred when
Agathocles, King of Syracuse, was sailing with his fleet toward Africa, on Aug. 15, 310 B.C.
Saying "The die is cast" Caesar crossed the Rubicon on the day of a Solar Eclipse, March 7,
51 B.C..

Ecliptic; Via Solis, the Sun's path. The Sun's apparent orbit or path around the Earth; or the
orbit of the Earth as viewed from the Sun. So named because it is along this path, at the
points where it intersects the Equator, that Eclipses occur. Its inclination (2327') to the plane
of the Equator is now decreasing at the rate of 50" per century. A comparison of the
calculations of this obliquity by Hipparchus, Ptolemy and Placidus, with those of modern
astronomers, shows that the decrease has been continuous for over two thousand years.
Discoveries of explorers in the Arctic and Antarctic regions indicate the one-time presence of
tropical flora and fauna, suggesting that the poles of the earth were once in the plane of its
orbit, and the present equatorial region was a great ice-belt. However, some astronomers
figure that the inclination will decrease to a minimum of 2230' in about the year 11,500. A
similar condition is observed in Mars and Uranus. Sometimes termed the Celestial Ecliptic to
distinguish it from the path of the Moon's orbit around the Earth - termed the Terrestrial
Ecliptic.

Ego. The conscious feeling that "I am Me." In psychology the ego, as a system of mental
states, is approximately synonymous with the mind. Occult philosophy claims there are two
egos: one identified with mortal personality; the other divine and indestructible.

Elections. Electional Astrology is a method by which to choose a suitable time for commencing
any honestly conceived and reasonable project or endeavor, such as a marriage, journey, lawsuit, building operation, engaging in a new business or profession, the reconciling of opponents,
drawing up a will, buying land or house, planting a garden, launching a ship, or moving into a
new home.
The theory of Elections is a reverse application of Horary procedure in that the latter begins with
a Time and works toward a prognosis, while the former begins with a desired prognosis and
works toward the selection of a suitable time. The selection of the day, hour and minute must
take into account a number of practical, scientific and theoretical considerations, in order to
determine the most propitious birth-moment for the project in prospect, after which the actual
initiating of action is deferred so that it may be begun on the selected moment. The Figure thus
cast, termed the Electional or Inceptional Figure, thereafter becomes a horary figure for the