I'm a clock inspired by nature. My only hand completes just one rotation daily... Tracking the sun's path across the sky, seamlessly... on a 360° dial.
Drawing from global traditions, my 13 months with 28 days each replaces our conventional calendar. The year concludes with the Rainbow Day.
I am a time measurement system Crafted to replace (or complement) the 24-hour clock and the Gregorian calendar.
Natural Time is an open source project
Created with ❤️ by Sylvain (aka "Biquette")For those who appreciate this concept and wish to support its development:
- Make a donation 🙏🥰
- My other projects: biquette.xyz
- My newsletter: Subscribe here
- My shop: shop.biquette.xyz
- YouTube channel: youtube.com/sylvainbiquette
Natural Time is a quiet revolution - a return to the fundamentals of our temporal perception. It's a way of measuring time based on the actual position of the sun in the sky, rather than on artificial conventions. At its core, it's simply a return to common sense - the time system humanity should have chosen from the beginning, since the sun is already a perfect natural clock.
A world where noon truly means the sun is at its zenith. Where time never changes arbitrarily. Where the perception of time is directly linked to the natural cycles that surround us. This is what Natural Time offers.
It reconnects temporal awareness with cosmic rhythms, simplifies our relationship with time, and frees us from the artificial constraints that dictate modern lives.
The conventional time system is a purely human construct, disconnected from astronomical realities. Why should the sun be at its zenith at different times depending on the season? Why "lose" or "gain" an hour twice a year?
Time zones create invisible temporal boundaries where time can literally "jump" by an hour simply by crossing an imaginary line.
This system, born from the needs of industrialization and standardized to facilitate train schedules, has gradually distanced humanity from its natural perception of solar time - the one that guided it for millennia.
The expression "time is money" is deeply rooted in our culture. This is no coincidence: etymologically, the word "calendar" comes from the Latin "calendarium" which meant "account book" or "debt register."
Our modern conception of time is historically linked to the idea that time must be measured to be monetized. The first calendars were designed partly to regularize tax collection!
Natural Time offers an alternative to this forced marriage between time and money. It invites us to consider time not as a resource to be exploited, but as a natural cycle to be fully experienced. As the philosophy of Natural Time nicely puts it: "Time is the art of people" rather than the money of banks.
The way we perceive time profoundly shapes our life experience. Living according to artificial time creates a subtle but constant dissonance between biological rhythms and social organization.
The human body is naturally synchronized with solar cycles - hormones, body temperature, and energy levels fluctuate in harmony with the sun's position. Ignoring these signals to follow abstract time creates chronic stress that scientists call "social jet lag."
Realigning time perception with natural cycles can improve sleep, reduce stress, and help regain a more organic and satisfying rhythm of life. It's like rediscovering an ancient dance that the body has never forgotten.
The concept of Natural Time, in its current form, was developed by Sylvain aka "Biquette" in the French Alps during the spring/summer of 2022. But the idea of living according to solar time is as old as humanity itself.
What makes this approach unique is its proposal to measure time in degrees (0-360°) rather than hours, minutes, and seconds, thus creating a coherent system that directly reflects the sun's position in its daily course.
This contemporary reinvention draws inspiration from ancestral wisdom while offering a practical solution to the problems created by the modern temporal system.
Natural Time is an open concept that anyone can adopt, improve, and spread. Participating in this temporal revolution can take several forms:
Each person who adopts this new perception of time contributes to creating a world more in tune with the natural rhythms that surround us.
Natural Time is a free concept that anyone can adopt and reinvent. Currently, the project is led by its creator, Sylvain, who dedicates time to research and development of this concept.
To support this work and fund the ongoing development of the project, original physical natural clocks are created and available for purchase on his online store shop.biquette.xyz.
The natural clock is a direct representation of the sun's position in the sky. Reading it is intuitive and doesn't require placing the clock in any particular direction.
The hand simply indicates where the sun is at the present moment:
Unlike a compass or sundial, the natural clock doesn't need to be oriented in a particular way - it always indicates the correct position of the sun, regardless of how it's placed on a wall or table.
There's no need to translate this position into numbers. The brain naturally understands the angle formed by the hand in relation to reference points like midday or the beginning of night (indicated by the whiskers).
It's comparable to observing the sun in the sky: the angle between the sun and the horizon on its orbit is the same as the angle between the hand and the beginning of night marker on the clock. This direct correspondence makes reading intuitive and natural.
The natural clock reconnects us to an ancestral conception of time marked by the sun's movement. Unlike the conventional time system, completely disconnected from living rhythms, natural time doesn't cheat: the sun is always in the same place and always moves at the same speed, just like the hand of the natural clock.
This approach breaks free from daylight saving time changes and artificial time zones, allowing the clock to truly coincide with your location. No more "looking for noon at 2 PM" as in the artificial system!
The main advantage is the consistency between direct observation and the clock's indication:
This synchronization is particularly valuable for lifestyles connected to nature and natural cycles.
Natural time can be used without any particular graduation - the simple positioning of the hand is already sufficient indication. Divisions become necessary only when we use this clock as a common reference for meeting up, for example.
Among all the possibilities for dividing the dial, the convention of the 360° circle was chosen for several reasons:
Everyone can then subdivide these 360° according to their preferences. This flexibility allows adapting the reading of time to one's needs while maintaining a common reference.
The whiskers in the center of the dial indicate the duration of day and night according to the season and latitude. They serve as visual references for sunrise and sunset:
Left side (sunrise in the northern hemisphere):
Right side (sunset):
The small bar pointing to 90° and 270° symbolically represents the equinoxes, when day and night have the same duration.
Although the day length changes gradually from one day to the next, the brain easily adapts to locate the actual sunrise and sunset between these markers. With a little practice, this information becomes so natural - like when you instinctively evaluate the time remaining before sunset by observing its position relative to the horizon.
The natural clock shows the exact position of the sun at the observer's location. Unlike the conventional system that divides the Earth into 24 artificial time zones, natural time respects the geographical reality of our planet.
Here's how it works:
This approach may seem complex compared to current time zones, but the latter create paradoxical situations. Take a concrete example: Brittany and Albania share the same time zone (Central European Time), despite being separated by a great distance. As a result, all conventional clocks there indicate the same time, but the solar reality is very different. When the sun rises in Brittany, it has already been shining for 1 hour and 40 minutes in Albania!
Since humans choose to follow the clock rather than the sun, this creates an artificial distortion that disconnects us from the rhythm of life. Natural time, on the other hand, faithfully reflects the actual position of the sun at each location.
Important: Only longitude influences the position of the hand. From the South Pole through the equator to the North Pole, everyone living on the same meridian has the same natural time. Latitude only varies the shape of the whiskers (duration of day and night), but not the sun's position on the clock.
The complete format of natural time combines the date, time, and longitude in a single expression: YYY)MM)DD SUN° NT(+/-)LONGITUDE.
For example: 010)05)22 202°63 NT+5.2 means:
For rainbow days, the notation YYY)RAINBOW is used for the 365th day, and YYY)RAINBOW+ for the 366th day (when it exists).
This notation may seem complex at first glance, but it offers a consistency that the conventional format (DD/MM/YYYY) does not have. For example, by sorting dates alphabetically, they automatically end up in chronological order.
The calculation is surprisingly simple: the difference in longitude between two places = the difference in angle between their natural clocks.
In practice: if you are 30° east of your friend, your natural clock will be 30° ahead of theirs
Example: Between Paris and Buenos Aires (approximately 60° difference), when it's solar noon in Paris (180°), the natural clock in Buenos Aires shows 120°. This difference is constant and never changes, unlike time zones which can be modified by political decisions.
Understanding the NT+/- notation: To precisely indicate the natural time of a place, the notation "NT" followed by the offset from the 0 meridian (Greenwich) is often used. For example:
This notation allows you to immediately know where the clock is located relative to the reference meridian, just like conventional time zones (UTC+1, UTC-5, etc.).
For international appointments: The 0 meridian could be used as a universal reference, with the notation "NTZ" (Natural Time Zero). For example, "meeting at 210° NTZ" means the moment when the natural clock at Greenwich indicates 210°.
To convert NTZ to local time: Add your longitude (if you are east) or subtract it (if you are west). At 30° East, 210° NTZ becomes 240° on your local clock (NT+030).
At the regional scale: In daily life, inhabitants of the same region can simply use a central location as a reference, with minimal adjustments of a few degrees according to their exact position.
During conventional time changes, we observe all the absurdity of the modern system: it's 2 AM and a second later, it's 3 AM (or vice versa). Yet, the sun never jumps in its course - it never changes its cruising speed.
Natural time doesn't implement these artificial adjustments. What matters is only the position of the sun. While modern human activities break free from external conditions (going to work at the same time in winter and summer), the natural clock remains faithful to the solar rhythm.
In summary, during time changes, the natural clock doesn't move one iota - it simply continues to follow the sun.
Moving from one system to another is not the main objective of natural time. The idea is rather to gradually absorb this new way of perceiving time, without constantly making translations.
However, to facilitate the transition or for practical needs, here are the equivalences between the two systems:
| Degrees | Conventional time | Degrees | Conventional time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1° | 4 minutes | 90° | 6 hours | |
| 5° | 20 minutes | 120° | 8 hours | |
| 10° | 40 minutes | 180° | 12 hours | |
| 15° | 1 hour | 270° | 18 hours | |
| 30° | 2 hours | 360° | 24 hours | |
| 60° | 4 hours |
Simple formula: To convert degrees to minutes, multiply by 4 (1° = 4 minutes).
The essence of natural time is to learn to directly feel these angles without mentally translating them. A duration expressed in hours is an abstraction, whereas an angle represents living and organic information for the body - like when observing the sun's position in the sky.
With a little practice, you end up naturally thinking in degrees rather than hours, and conversions become superfluous.
We no longer say "what time is it?" because the concept of hours, minutes, and seconds no longer exists in natural time. Time is an abstraction that we are so imbued with that it seems real to us - yet it's an artificial concept that we manipulate with time changes and time zones.
The real question in natural time is not "what time is it?" but "where is the sun." This is the information that really matters to know when night will fall, for example...
Thus, the question becomes "where is the sun?" and the answer could be "the sun is at 222 degrees."
Absolutely! Making your own natural clock is relatively simple.
The main difficulty is finding a clock mechanism that rotates at the speed of the sun, but it's not as complicated as one might think. There are clock mechanisms that make one complete revolution in 24 hours (instead of two 12-hour revolutions).
To create a natural clock, you just need to:
Creating your own clock is a strong symbolic act. It represents taking back power over your own lifetime - the only resource that everyone possesses equally on Earth. Some have more money than others, but everyone has 360 degrees in their day.
Natural time uses mean time (like UTC) to smooth out the natural variations in Earth's rotation.
Looking carefully at the natural clock, you may notice that the sunrise and sunset indicators (yellow/orange color) are not always perfectly symmetrical with respect to the 0°-180° axis. This asymmetry is not an error, but reflects a fascinating astronomical reality.
This peculiarity is explained by two different approaches used in the application:
In reality, the Earth does not rotate at a constant speed throughout the year. Natural time, like UTC, uses an average of these variations to create a regular and practical temporal flow for daily use, while preserving the accuracy of actual observations for sunrise and sunset. It's a balance between pure astronomical precision and everyday practicality.
This dual approach allows the natural clock to be both precise in its indications and regular in its movement - an elegant compromise between complex astronomical reality and our human need for regularity.
To be honest, when we say that in natural time "180° really corresponds to noon," it's a slight simplification. In reality, true solar noon (when the sun is exactly at its zenith) varies slightly each day. We use an average for practical reasons, not because it's too difficult to calculate, but because it would add unnecessary complexity to daily life.
The 13 moons spiral uses 13 months of exactly 28 days because it's mathematically more harmonious: 13 × 28 = 364 days, to which we add 1 day to reach the 365 days of a solar year.
This mathematical elegance contrasts with the irregularity of the Gregorian calendar (31, 28/29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31 days).
These periods are called "moons" because their duration is close to the lunar cycle. Although the complete lunar cycle (from one new moon to the next) is about 29.5 days, the 28-day period represents a practical average that has been used by many civilizations throughout history.
The rainbow day is a special day that belongs neither to a moon nor to a particular week. It's a day "outside of time," dedicated to celebration and marking the end of the year.
This day is situated around the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. Some years may have two rainbow days, similar to leap years in the conventional system, but their occurrence is determined by the actual position of the stars rather than by a complex mathematical formula established arbitrarily.
This approach allows us to stay in harmony with the real astronomical cycles rather than following artificial rules.
The 13 moons of the natural calendar are not perfectly synchronized with the actual lunar phases, since the complete lunar cycle lasts about 29.5 days, compared to 28 days for each moon of the calendar.
However, since each moon has a constant duration of 28 days, the gap between the actual lunar phases and the calendar moons remains relatively constant and predictable. This makes it easy to project the moments of full moon and new moon from one month to another.
The main advantage is living in coherent cycles that are easily understandable for our brain.
In this system:
This regularity makes temporal projections much more intuitive. For example, calculating the number of days between the 13th day of the first moon and the 27th day of the third moon becomes simple, because all moons have the same number of days. The same exercise with the Gregorian calendar is so complex.
More importantly, when someone mentions a date like "the 21st of the next moon," you can immediately visualize its position in the cycle, transforming abstract data into visual information that our brain processes naturally.
The 7 colors can symbolize whatever each person wishes to see in them. The number 7 is found in many natural harmonics: the 7 musical notes, the 7 colors of the rainbow, the 7 chakras, etc.
Using colors as names for the days of the week is optional, but it offers the advantage of making the calendar more universal. When arriving in a foreign country, you only need to learn the names of colors in the local language to know the days of the week, which greatly facilitates intercultural communication.
The term "calendar" etymologically comes from the Latin "calendarium," which meant "account book" or "debt register." It is therefore historically linked to the idea that time is associated with money and taxes. The first calendars were designed partly to regularize tax collection.
The natural system prefers the term "spiral" because it better reflects the nature of time, which is not a closed circle but a progression in a spiral. This image is reinforced by the arrangement of the 13 moons in a spiral shape, with the rainbow day at the center.
This terminology invites a more organic and less mercantile perception of time.
Although the Gregorian calendar has proven its robustness since its adoption in 1582 (succeeding Julius Caesar's Julian calendar), it presents several major disadvantages:
If we wanted to compare the calendar to a measuring tool, the Gregorian calendar would be like a ruler where each centimeter has a different length - an inconsistent measuring tool.
The natural year begins after the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, around December 21st in the Gregorian calendar.
To determine the beginning of the year precisely, an astronomical calculation is performed: first, the exact position of the sun relative to the Earth at the time of the solstice is determined, then we wait for the sun to cross the date change line located at the antimeridiian (+180°E) in the Pacific Ocean. This moment "officially" marks the beginning of the new global natural year.
Locally, the year begins at the next local midnight (0°) after this global moment. Thus, each region of the Earth enters the new year at its own midnight following the solstice, creating a natural wave of celebrations that follows the Earth's rotation.
The choice to make year 001 of the natural calendar correspond to the year 2012 of the Gregorian calendar is arbitrary, but symbolically significant. It's a nod to the Mayan civilization, or at least to the modern interpretation of their calendar, which had identified this period as marking a great change of cycle during the winter solstice of that year. Basically, 12/21/2012 was like a mega jubilee of the year 2000 for the Mayan "long count."
For many, 2012 represents a change of era or consciousness. Rather than choosing an ancient date as a starting point, this calendar opts for a recent date that symbolizes a new beginning.
Although this choice is arbitrary (like any calendar starting point), its symbolic significance makes it an interesting temporal reference for a system that seeks to renew our relationship with time.
Natural time is a universal convention just like the meter or kilogram. It's therefore entirely normal that it should be free to make its way independently of its designer.
This application was created (naturaltime.app) to understand and play with the natural time clock. It is hosted on github and released under the Creative Commons Zero license.
The source code of natural time is divided into three parts:
Don't hesitate to contribute to the evolution of natural time; to make it your own or reinvent it in your own way!
This isn't really an application... But rather a website that can work offline. So don't look for it in the AppStore or PlayStore, simply go to naturaltime.app and then click on:
The hand of the natural time clock indicates the position of the sun in the sky at a precise location on Earth. Longitude is necessary to calculate the course of the sun in the sky. Latitude is useful for knowing the duration of day and night.
Don't forget to change the geographic position when you travel. You can also activate geolocation so that the application can automatically find your position. No personal data is recorded, astronomical calculations are entirely performed on your device.
Astronomical calculations are entirely performed on your device. No personal data is recorded. The application works perfectly offline by the way (except for the interactive map).
To get an idea of the application's traffic, a self-hosted Matomo server (open source equivalent of Google Analytics) is used. This server only records the number of unique visitors and the number of page views. No personal data is recorded.
A big thank you to the mountains, goats, llamas, and
ants for their inspiration.
Infinite gratitude to Toto and Uncle Skywalker, two time
explorers. Thank you for existing.
Thanks to Don Cross, the author of astronomy engine which allows the application to calculate the movement of celestial bodies in the sky. Thanks also to the entire open source universe that offers the world mature solutions and resources such as Vue3, Vite, OpenLayers, OpenStreetMap, ... used to create this application.
Natural time was born in the French Alps during the
spring/summer of 2022.
For any questions:
sylvain441@pm.me –
@sylvain441
(telegram).
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