Parapegma

Art as magic. The tools we make that let us craft vision are the implements of our magick arte. The Book of Changes makes it clear that calendarmakers are magi. This is a Parapegma - a carved counting board for tracking time. It has 88 slots through which the nail moves. Each of these slots is one day of the Mercurial orbit - as measured from its north Draconic node. This board accurately track's Mercury's year in earth days. The days are also mapped onto a sequence of the 88 constellations that snakes across the celestial sphere. Each day is thus named after a constellation, and constellations of consecutive days are adjacent to one another. What this means is that a fully committed and meditative cycle through the Mercurial year amounts to the construction of a memory palace for the constellations. Several such years will equip the calendricist with the ability to call up an accurate and stable celestial map, purely with the power of memory and imagination. A community attuned natively to this count will quickly outpace its rivals in wit, intelligence and celestial knowledge. This is true magick.