The Druidcraft calendar can be used for many additional purposes beyond being a simple calendar. In this article I would like to explain how the calendar can be used as a very simple clock for roughly telling the time.

Because the calendar marks the position of the sun in the sky, and the calendar itself is circular, we can simply rotate the calendar to get a rough idea of what time it is day or night.

First you must place the calendar on a flat surface in a location where you can see the horizon all around you. Then you stand to the north of the calendar facing south with the calendar in front of you.

Next, imagine dividing the calendar into 24 segments to represent the 24 hours of the day. 12:00 (noon) is at the top of the calendar (winter solstice), 18:00 (6pm) is to the right (autumn equinox), 00:00 (midnight) is at the bottom of the calendar (summer solstice) and 06:00 (6am) is to the left (spring equinox).

With this understanding you now simply rotate the calendar until the the sun peg is pointing towards the sun. Then, wherever the sun peg is indicates the time. For example, if the sun peg is currently near the bottom of the calendar in the summer, and you rotate the calendar so that the sun peg is at the very top, then it is 12 noon. If you rotate and the peg faces due east, then it is 6am.

To tell the time at night, rather than point the sun peg at the sun, simply point the moon peg at the moon, and then check the position of the sun peg as before to determine the time. This works because the calendar maintains the relative positions of the sun and moon. But what if it is the new moon, and the moon is not visible? Well in this instance you also have the sidereal zodiac on the calendar. Instead of pointing the sun peg or moon peg, you can line up (roughly) the constellations, and again check the position of the sun peg to check the time.

If it is cloudy and you can’t see the sun moon or stars, well then I am afraid you are out of luck. If only there were other ways of telling the time.