The Earthly Book of Hours — Horae Terrenae in Latin — is a daily primer of art, literature, and ecology (a primer can be a devotional object or an introductory learning tool). This contemplative archive of images, readings, and natural phenomena is neither a mystical text nor a self-help manual, but something in between — a portiforium poeticum or, perhaps, a modernist breviary. It is designed for encountering the day (or night) and yourself in it, for observing biological and cultural rhythms: seeing inside or under or through. Use it to navigate the nychthemeron and chart your chronotype.
The project draws formal inspiration from earlier books of hours, the illuminated manuscripts of medieval Europe that organized daily prayer around the eight canonical hours (matins, vespers, etc.) and often included calendars, seasonal illustrations, and a variety of short readings. My contemporary adaptation of the form offers a poetic rendition of the original hours, dividing the day into eight three-hour blocks meant to evoke to the natural, psychological, and sociological rhythms of the day:
- Void (midnight through 2:00 a.m.)
- Hush (3:00 a.m. through 5:00 a.m.)
- Chorus (6:00 a.m. through 8:00 a.m.)
- Transit (9:00 a.m. through 11:00 a.m.)
- Fulcrum (noon through 2:00 p.m.)
- Doldrums (3:00 p.m. through 5:00 p.m.)
- Convivium (6:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m.)
- Denouement (9:00 p.m. through 11:00 p.m.)
Each block includes four elements:
- a selection of artistic and scientific images;
- a collection of readings drawn from literature, philosophy, and other domains;
- a list of natural phenomena occuring around that time; and
- a brief poetic statement, or versicle.
When you visit, the site displays content from the current hour; you can refresh your browser window or click "turn the page" to view alternate images and readings for that time. As the day changes around you, so does the site's content — a gentle reminder that the world moves in cycles, and that each section of the day has its own particular, if unpredictably varying, character.
The Sources page provides full documentation of the reading and images included in the hours, along with links to recommended editions, freely available texts, and contextual essays for further reading.
The materials gathered here are drawn primarily from the public domain, representing works whose passage into common inheritance makes this kind of curation possible. Any works subject to copyright restrictions are included in the spirit of fair use: for educational, illustrative, and non-commercial purposes, in the belief that brief encounter leads to deeper reading. Some links to books and editions across the site are provided through Bookshop.org; any small commission supports independent booksellers and helps sustain this project. If you are a rights holder with a concern about a specific work, please be in touch.
This site is an ongoing project. If you have suggestions for quotes, images, or natural phenomena to include, or if you'd like to follow along with this work and related activities, subscribe to Lectio Terra on Substack or visit my space, Otherwise, on DFOS.