Plate18

Precession

n. — entry, filed for reference

PRECESSION

1. Astron. The slow gyration of a spinning
   body’s axis, such that the pole traces a
   circle against the stars over 25,772 years.
   The pole star is a temporary appointment.

2. The condition of going before; of preceding.

3. Of simulacra: the state in which the model
   no longer follows the thing but is issued in
   advance of it, so that the thing, arriving,
   is assessed for accuracy.

Hold the first and the third sense together and do not let go of either.

The sky rotates out from under its own description on a schedule so long that every civilisation that has used the pole star has believed it to be fixed, and has been correct for the duration of its use, and has been wrong.

You are living inside the same interval. Whatever is currently fixed is fixed for the duration of your use.