HWC Tutorial - Page 4 - Years

Try this alternating pattern of HWC hand moves starting from the index finger:

• back 2
• forward 1
• back 2
• forward 1

That sequence will end at the palm. Now let's start over at the index position again, and let's say you need several of one type of move before alternating to the next type of move:

• back 2, back 2, back 2
• forward 1, forward 1, forward 1, forward 1, forward 1, forward 1, forward 1
• back 2, back 2
• forward 1, forward 1, forward 1

This time we ended on the index position.

The HWC hand moves for the years occur in alternating sets of moves similar to this last example. In fact, the moves shown here are the maximum number of moves you'll ever need to make to find any year on the Gregorian calendar. Start from the index finger position and give them a try: back 2 (three times), then forward 1 (seven times), then back 2 (twice), then forward 1 (three times). You have just found Doomsday for the year 1995 (index=Tuesday). The same pattern repeats every 400 years, so 1595 takes the same number of moves from the same starting position to the same ending position, as does 2395, 2795, and so on. All of these years' Doomsdays are Tuesdays. All the other years in each 400-year cycle can be found in fewer moves.

Of course you'll want to know just how we are progressing through the years while we make these moves. Since the Gregorian calendar repeats its weekday alignment every 400 years in perpetuity, we just need the Dooomsday of the year which is a multiple of 400 (which is always Tuesday) as a starting point. From there, we move ahead by 100's, by 12's, by 4's, and by 1's. We are always moving forward through the years, though some of the corresponding hand moves are backward. The years still advance while we make those backward weekday moves. At each level of increment, we go as high as we can while never going past the target year, then we move on to the next smaller-sized increment. If we get to an increment level at which there are too few years remaining to add those years even once, then we omit that level and go to the next-smaller level. In so doing, we make the right combination of increments (and corresponding HWC hand moves) to find Doomsday for the target year, like this:

• Start on the index finger position while thinking the highest multiple of 400 that does not exceed your target year, such as 1600 or 2000. It's easy to remember that you start with one index finger pointing to the other one.
• Centuries: To add 100 years, move backwards 2 positions. Do this no more than three times (if at all) until you have found the multiple of 100 which has the same lefthand digits as your target year.
• Dozens: To add 12 years, move forward 1 position, as many as eight times (if at all). Simply count off the dozens while moving forward 1 position per dozen: '12, '24, '36, '48, '60, '72, '84, '96, but no higher, so as to stay within the century. Stop at the highest dozen that does not exceed your target year.
• Quads: To add 4 years, move backwards 2 positions. Do this no more than twice (if at all), but not at all after '96, since we must always stay within the target century. Make your way to the highest Quad (multiple of four) which does not exceed the target year.
• Singles: To add 1 year, move forward 1 position. Do this no more than three times (if at all), to find the target year. Never, ever move the fourth single year.

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The Basic HWC System from Start to Finish

• Start from the highest multiple of 400 not exceeding the target year.
• Advance by Centuries, Dozens, Quads, and Singles to the target year.
• At that point, recall the Doomsday date for your target month and assign its numeric day to the position you've just found for the year.
• Then use the elevator technique to find the target day, and read the resulting HWC position as a weekday.

That's all there is to it! Here's the same summary we saw before:

• Year 400x = index
• +100 years = back 2 (limit 3x)
• +12 years = forward 1 (limit 8x)
• +4 years = back 2 (limit 2x, none after '96)
• +1 year = forward 1 (limit 3x)
• Pick Doomsday date for target month (no move)
  • Last or Leap: January 31 or 32, February 28 or 29
  • Elevator of March: March 0
  • Even Steven: April 4, June 6, August 8, October 10, December 12
  • Odd Job: May 9, July 11, September 5, November 7
• Move day-by-day: +1 day = forward 1, or -1 day = backward 1, to the target day.
  As a shortcut (if more than seven days away):
  • Find the elevator: Move day-by-day to the nearest multiple of seven (0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35).
  • Ride the elevator: Redefine to the multiple of seven nearest your target day (no move).
  • Step out of the elevator: Move day-by-day to the target day.
• Read the ending HWC position as the day of the week.

Let's take a maximum example. If you can find October 18, 1995, then you'll be able to find any Gregorian date in the same number of moves or less:

• 16' = index
• 17', 18', 19' = back 2 three times (middle)
• '12, '24', '36, '48, '60, '72, '84 = forward 1 seven times (middle)
• '88, '92 = back 2 twice (side)
• '93, '94, '95 = forward 1 three times (index)
• October 10 (Even Steven) = no move (index)
• 9, 8, 7 = back 1 three times (side)
• 21 = no move (side)
• 20, 19, 18 = back 1 three times (middle)
• Middle = Wednesday