Rhythmo Mate 1.1 Manual


INTRODUCTION

USE

Setting up the configuration file

Running Rmate: The syntax

a) Directly using Astrolog's output

b) Using Astrolog's text output saved to file

Saving the Rmate output to a file

Reading the output

Calculating other than 7-year rhythms

KNOWN PROBLEMS/BUGS

CONTACT

DISCLAIMER

COPYRIGHT

THANKS


INTRODUCTION

Rythmo Mate (rmate) was programmed to calculate the times when planets are triggered ("ausgelöst"), according to astrological rhythm theory. Please not that this manual is not intended to introduce you into rhythm theory. If you don't know what this is, you may consider reading a good book on the topic? I have also tried to give a very (!) rough outline on the Rmate Homepage.


Rmate is not a stand-alone program but it requires Astrolog 5.4. Astrolog is a freeware program that can be downloaded from the internet at http://www.magitech.com/~cruiser1/astrolog.htm . Currently, I also offer it for download at the Rmate site: http://rz-home.de/~dahug/astro . I may remove it if I run short of webspace.


USE

Setting up the configuration file

Before using rmate, you have to edit the configuration file 'rmate.sys'. Just set the paths according to your system. If you are using a Windows system, make sure that the astrolog path points to the DOS version of Astrolog 5.4! You only have to edit the configuration file once. The template configuration file ("rmate.sys") that comes with the rmate package is well documented and it should be no problem to set it up correctly. Note that if you don't directly use Astrolog's output, you don't have to set an astrolog_path and an astrolog_dat_path. Just enter "c:\" or so, so that Rmate does not get confused.

Please remember to use the 8.3 form of long file- and directory names! "Personal Files" becomes "person~1" and so on... This is important!


Running Rmate: The syntax

a) Directly using Astrolog's output

This option works only with Astrolog 5.4 for Linux or Astrolog 5.4 for DOS! It does not work with Astrolog 5.4 for Windows! If you insist on using Astrolog for Windows, please read "Using Astrolog's text output saved to file"!

Running Rmate this way is basically done like this:

rmate mychart.data

The file "mychart.data" is a Astrolog chart info file which looks something like this:

If you want to be sure that rmate used the right set of data, you can make it print out the file used for the calculations using the '--echo' (or '-e') switch after the infofile name:

rmate mychart.data --echo

If you want to calculate rhythms other than 7 years, use the '-o' switch with the number of years you want one mansion to symbolize:

rmate mychart.data -o 5

The '--echo' (or '-e') and the '-o' switch are mutually exclusive.

There is an online help available via the '--help' (or '-h') switch:

rmate --help


b) Using Astrolog's text output saved to file

Instead of directly using Astrolog's output, you can also use a saved text output from Astrolog. This is a possibility to use Rmate with Astrolog for Windows. You first need a textfile with the astrological data. This looks like that:

To get this text output, you may either type:

astrolog -i mychart.data>joe.txt

You will have a file "joe.txt" in the directory you are currently in.

There is also another way which leads to the same results:

astrolog -i mychart.data -os joe.txt

Using Astrolog for Windows you click on -> "File", then -> "Save Chart Text Output".


If you have the Astrolog text output saved to a file, you invoke Rmate with the text file as a parameter, just as you did before, using the chart info file:

rmate joe.txt

Using the --echo switch is possible here as well:

rmate joe.txt --echo

You will get an output that looks like this (--echo is switched off):

If you get something that looks different and wrong, please read the "Known Problems/ Bugs" section.


Saving the Rmate-output in a file

To save the output in a file, type

rmate mychart.data>output.txt

In this case, the output does not appear on the screen but is saved in the file "output.txt" in the directory you are currently in. You can now open it with any text editor, e.g. "Notepad", "Word for Windows" and so on.



Reading the output

The output contains the following information:

Sun : 4Y 7M H10 1148': [10] <- 754'(65.7%)-> Sun <- 394'(34.3%)-> [ 9]
-----1----- -2- --3-- -------------------------4--------------------------


1: The planet "Sun" will be triggered at 4 years, 7 months (using 7 year rhythms).

2: The planet is in mansion 10.

3: Mansion 10 has the size of 1148 minutes. (60 minutes (') are 1 degree (°), so it is 19°9' in size.)

4: The planet "Sun" is 754' away from the END (not: cusp!) of mansion 10. 754' are 65.7% of the mansion size. The planet is 394' (34.3%) away from the END of mansion 9.


(3 and 4 are only included just in case you want to do some calculations on your own. Maybe you find them useful, maybe not.)


Calculating other than 7-year rhythms

If you want Rmate to calculate other than 7-year rhythms, use the '-o'-switch and a the number of the rhythm you want, for example:

rmate mychart.data -o 5

This will calculate 5-year rhythms instead of the standard 7. Any value from 1 to 24 is valid. In the output, you will see the rhythm period displayed in the first line under the dash.

The '-o' and the '--echo' or '-e' switch can't be used at the same time.


KNOWN PROBLEMS/BUGS

1.) You must not let Astrolog output seconds (the -b0 switch). If you do, Rmate will be confused and the Rmate output will be nonsense. Why not use seconds to get a more precise output? Well, adding more mathmatical accuracy is often misunderstood as gaining more general accuracy. This is usually not so. Calculating the day of the set-off of a planet is (in my humble opinion) just pseudo-accuracy. Mathmatically, I can even give you the hour and minute of the set-off, but that has not much to do with reality. The input data is not precise enough to allow for this accuracy in the output.

Rmate itself invokes Astrolog with the switch '_b0' (seconds off), so this problem should only arise if you let Rmate read a text file with seconds on. To create a suitable file for Rmate, try something like this:

astrolog -i mychart.data -R0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 _b0 -c 0 -os output.txt


2.) Using Astrolog for Windows, you can not directly use Astrolog's output, but you must first write the chart text output to a file and then let Rmate read this file. You can, of course, install Astrolog for DOS in a seperate directory of you Windows computer, say 'c:\astrodos'. Then, have the astrolog_path in rmate.sys point to the DOS version of astrolog and you can directly use Astrolog's output. This is the way I do it if I use Windows (which I seldom do, but anyway).


3.) It is possible to confuse Rmate, so if you have serious problems, try to create a text file that looks very much like the one in this manual (see above). Take care that you have all planets, all houses, no seconds displayed.


CONTACT

My name is Daniel Hug and if you want to contact me, please write to d.hugABC@wiesbaden-online.de If you write to me, please remove the ABC in the address, I have added them as a spam protection.

Rmate is available at http://rz-home.de/~dahug/astro


DISCLAIMER

If you use this software, you do so at your own risk. I do not take any responsibility for it. The calculated dates may be wrong, your system may crash, your house might burn down because of this program- that's your responsibility. By using the program, you agree that you accept this. I have tried to program a good, stable and useful program. I hope you enjoy using it and I hope that it will serve you well.


COPYRIGHT

You are free to use Rhythmo Mate 1.1 on any number of machines and you are allowed to give it to others as long as it is given freely, with no kind of payment or fee. You are only allowed to give the software away unchanged. I hold all copyrights that are applicable.


THANKS

Thanks to W.D.Pullen for sharing Astrolog with the stargazing (monitor-gazing?) crowd. Also thanks to Alexander Nikopol. ;)