Timing Your Magick (Astrology Simplified)

Written: Janurary 1st, 2018 | Edited: 24th March 2019

Hello! It’s me, Raven. I have a post about Lilith, and then a few about Lucifuge Rofocale coming in the next few weeks, so be excited. For now, have something more simple and mundane ^_^

Today i’m here to tell you about astrological timing. People sometimes obsess over when is the “correct” time to perform magick, and this happens to a great degree within the more elaborate ceremonial tradition, though sometimes even folk traditions have this, and almost every religion in the world has certain times of the year or month or day that are considered auspicious.

At times these may seem arbitrary. Why is Christmas on the 25th? Why is 3 am the witching hour? Why do certain types of yoga at sunrise? Well, this is largely based on something that is universally shared by all cultures: astrology.

Not only is it universal, it seems most of the time people’s interpretation of astrology was also the same, surprisingly. You could say this was Synchronicity at play, or you could say that ideas were shared by cultures as they interacted with each other, or you could say that we had the same ideas of astrology based on archetypes that are common to all human beings, and the product of evolution.

Regardless of what you think, astrology is important, and thanks to the rapid spread on information on the Internet in this day and age, it is effectively the same across the planet.

And let’s be honest, it works. Anyone who’s delved into spirituality proper, knows that astrology works. We don’t know if it’s due to forces we can’t understand yet, or if it’s simply psychological, but it works, and there’s no denying it.

I mean, they recently did a study in which they found out that the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth’s surface at any given particular time, affects whether people make good or bad economic investments. I mean, just think about how insane that sounds from a traditional scientific perspective, and yet it seems like it’s true. So who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes? And of course, if it works, why not use it?

Credits:Blue Flame Magick

Imagine, if humanity had never utilised the principle of gravity, to make projectiles, pumps, weights etc. until Isaac Newton discovered it. And ultimately, he wasn’t even fully right. Einstein would give a better hypothesis a century later, and even that was only proven to be true in 2017: THIS year.

Bottom line is, humanity would be very far behind if it refused to utilise principles that we knew existed, just because we didn’t fully understand them. That’s the whole idea of the occult.

Astrological times

In most modern systems of Magick, astrology is a preferred way of planning your rituals, spells, invocations etc. Ultimately, I think you should always keep astrology in mind when you go about your daily business. Start viewing planetary hours, phases of the moon, retrogrades etc. the same way you view the days of the week, hours of the clock, months and years. Just like you know that it gets colder in December, and so you go buy clothes for the winter, without thinking too much about it, you should train yourself to know when it’s, say, a Mercury retrograde, or when the Moon is waning.

However, astrology is fairly confusing, especially to someone not fully familiar with reading charts. As far as I know, I’ve never seen a simplified explanation of the various different factors affecting astrological times, or how to plan magick in accordance to them.

Either I see a new age explanation that condemns it, or something that merely tells people to do things at certain times, without actually giving a reason for it. Sometimes, when you do find it, you get an exceptionally elaborate explanation for seeing when EVERY planet is perfectly aligned, and the moon and the sun are in a specific sign and house, and everything is calculated right down to the degree and minute, in a complex chart that many people may not know how to read.

That’s useful of course, but not exactly convenient for the average magician. So, i’ll focus on the most important aspects, and break it up into sections, based on different types of celestial bodies.

Phases of the Moon

Credits: NASA/Bill Dunford

The most basic and simple thing to keep in mind, of course, is the phase of the Moon. The Moon goes through one complete cycle in about 27-30 days. This has two stages, the Waxing stage, in which the Moon grows larger, going from the New Moon to Full, and the Waning stage, in which the Moon reduces in size and goes from Full to New.

By the way, that’s also the reason a Month is around 30 days long. It’s based on the Moon cycle, though I guess it’s been shifting for centuries, and now the Moon cycle usually begins at ends about halfway through each month. I’m sure at some point it matched each month exactly.

(Unless, of course, you’re reading this 4000 years from now, in which case, it probably does. Good for you!)

The only thing to bear in mind is this:

Magick to bring things to you, or invoke, is best done during the Waxing moon, when it’s growing. The waxing moon is a time for activity and growth. It’s a good time to start things.

Magick to send things away from you, or banishing, bindings etc, is best done during the Waning moon, when it’s shrinking. This is a time for reflection and cleansing. A good time to end, not start, things.

The Full moon is usually considered to be a very powerful time to do anything spiritual. The New Moon is considered a dark and empty time. Also powerful, in the opposite way.

One last thing: every two to three days, the Moon moves from one sign to another. During the transition, the Moon is said to be Void of Course. Generally, this is a bad time to do magick, as the Moon is said to be unstable. So, if you’re planning any ritual, it’s good to have some sort of calendar that tells you when the Moon is void of course, so you can avoid those periods, which can range anywhere from 30 mins to 24 hours, if not longer. I’d suggest using an app for this purpose. I have one called “Void of Course calendar” on android.

Planetary Days

Most people probably know about planetary days. A week has seven days, and each day corresponds to one of the seven traditional planets of astrology. Most are named after the Norse gods corresponding to the planet.

Just in case you’re unfamiliar, it goes like this:

Sunday: Sun’s Day
Monday: Moon’s Day
Tuesday: Tyr’s Day – Mars
Wednesday: Woden’s (Odin’s) Day- Mercury
Thursday: Thor’s Day – Jupiter
Friday: Freya’s Day – Venus
Saturday – Saturn’s Day

Credits: Cafe Astrology

Now, you may have noticed that I started with Sunday, and not Monday. This is because the Sun is associated with beginnings, not the Moon. The week is traditionally meant to begin on Sunday and end on Saturday, as Saturn is associated with endings.

In fact, the reason everyone’s so miserable on Monday is because the Moon is associated with emotions and feelings. It’s an unnatural imbalance to start the week on Monday. The reason for this imbalance is because Christians used to attend Church on Sundays. They didn’t END the week with Mass, they BEGAN the week with Mass. Sunday was always the first day of the Week, but these days, few people actually attend weekly Mass, and so Sunday has become considered the Week “end”. This is an ancient concept, and Sunday was originally the day of the worship of Ra in Egypt (and other sun gods, to some varying degree in other cultures). Put simply, the Day that has been named the holy day (holiday, lol) of the Sun, should be the beginning of the week, regardless of culture.

Credits: Mortimer Arms

The real “weekend” should be Friday, associated with love, creativity, gratitude and celebration, and Saturday, the day of rest, reflection and endings. That’s why Jews don’t do shit on Saturdays.

Amusingly, it seems the Muslims got it right. Most Islamic cultures count Friday as a weekend, and usually people don’t work or work half days and then go to Mosque later. There’s a reason you feel so happy on Fridays. It’s your natural instinct. And I’m going to say that’s also why weekends go by so fast and people don’t get anything done. People want to party and make plans and enjoy on Saturday, and the energies of Saturn drain them, and then they spend Sunday recuperating, when they should be starting the next week. Friday, the day of celebration, is wasted on trying to finish work. And hey, i’ve been to Europe and noticed that people there too work halfday on Fridays. I’m beginning to think it’s only here in the East that people work full Fridays. (Maybe that’s why everyone is insanely stressed out, huh?)

Now of course, we can’t change the world around us, but we can use what we have learnt. All I can say to you is: stop working late on Fridays, and stop wasting your Sundays. Finish up everything by Friday afternoon, and then treat it like your weekend’s begun. Get on with your weekend plans. Chill out and rest on Saturdays, and around Sunday noon, start preparing for the coming week. Treat Sunday as the beginning of your week, and Saturday as the end, and follow this as much as you can.

I’m at a point where it’s natural for me to think like this. In fact, in my previous post, I talked about Assiatic path workings, in which one must meditate on each Sephiroth for seven days. I used to start each week long meditation on Sunday, not Monday, and it worked out great.

As for magick: all spiritual and magickal endevours can be classified under one of the seven planets. Do your magick on the Day of the planet under which it falls. And extend this to your daily tasks, and do tasks on their corresponding planetary day. The same would apply to invocation and evocations of any Spirit or deity, who also correspond to planets.

Sunday- Beginnings, Goals, Achievements, Self, Light, Heaven, Divine, Purity, Prayer
Monday- Water, Emotions, Astral plane, Dreams, Visions, Reflection, Cleansing
Tuesday- Fire, War, Victory, Passion, Sex, Lust, Movement, God, Strength
Wednesday- Air, Learning, Magick, Meditation, Knowledge, Divination, Travel, Commerce
Thursday- Money, Finance, Treasure, Leadership, Generosity, Kindness, Expansion
Friday- Earth, Celebration, Love, Fertility, Gratitude, Nature, Goddess, Wealth
Saturday- Darkness, Death, Endings, Rest, Introspection, Delay, Business, Legality, Justice, Destruction, Binding, Banishing

I avoid doing any magick on Saturday, unless it’s specifically Saturnine magick. Sunday is good day for almost any and every type of Magick.

Saturn Eclipsing the Sun, photo by Cassini probe

Planetary Hours

Source: http://www.astrology.com.tr/planetary-hours.asp

Now, a slightly more complicated concept, specifically relating to Magick. Each day has 24 hours, and you know that already.

However, each hour of each day is also ruled by a planet. Any planet, is strongest on it’s Day and in it’s own Hour. So, if you want to do a ritual for Money, you want to do it on Thursday (Day of Jupter) in the Hour of Jupiter, as it would be strongest at this time.

However, it is important to note that the planetary hours change on each day of the week. They’re not fixed like the hours on a clock.

On the day of any planet, the hour in which the sun rises, is the first hour of the Day, and the hour of that planet. So, for example, sunrise on Tuesday marks the beginning of the Hour of Mars, as well as the Day of Mars.

Here, we have another example of how modern standardization affects tradition. The sun rises at different times in different regions, and in the old days people would usually say that the Day began at sunrise and Night began at sunset, and still do, because of natural instinct. This has been the case since the dawn of man.

But, for the sake of international convenience, we have decided that the new day begins in any region at 12 am, or 00:00 hours. Generally speaking, modern systems of time keeping don’t designate a beginning for “night”, and, because of modern electrical lighting, we don’t need to worry about night. We do divide the day into two halves, but that is separated at Noon, 12 pm, or 12:00 hours, exactly 12 hours after our designated beginning of the day. It makes no real sense but it is the accepted norm.

This is good for time keeping, but terrible for Magick. The day, according to astrology, begins at sunrise, and night begins at sunset. I’m sure you can see that a problem arises.

That means, once the clock hits midnight on a Monday, Tuesday begins according to accepted norm, but from a spiritual point of view, it’s still Monday. Tuesday will only begin when the sun rises, which in most places would be between 6 and 7 am.

That is why when I write about my rituals, i’ll specifically use the words like “Day of Mars” and “Day of the Moon” instead of Monday and Tuesday, and I recommend making this switch. It may still be the Day of Moon at 2 am, even if most people would call that Tuesday.

(I know it’s confusing. Try to keep up, i’m trying my best)

Now of course, you can adhere to the norm when it comes to general communication, but, for your personal work and for magick, start viewing the day in terms of astrological hours.

Also, bear in mind that the astrological hours don’t necessarily match the hours on the clock. The sun does not always rise on 6 or 7 am sharp. It may, for example, rise at 6:22 am. And, these hours are not always exactly 60 minutes long. They’ll depend largely on where you live, and naturally, they change with the seasons, with the sun rising early in summers and later in winters, for example.

Update (2019): In ancient Japan, a brilliant man named Hisashige Tanaka created a mechanical clock called The Myriad Year Clock, which was finished in 1871. It has been called the “most complicated timepiece ever made” because the dial shifts with the seasons and years, and tells traditional Japanese time. It’s quite impressive, so you may be interested. I think in 2016 a Japanese artist took inspiration from it and created a wristwatch which did the same thing. There’s a documentary on it, so find it if you can.)

And once again, the best way to track this, is with an app or a program. I have a free app on my Android phone, which takes in your location and then tracks planetary hours for you. Other than that, just remember, the first hour after sunrise is ruled by the Planet of that day. It’s called “Planetary Hours” by ‘thereisonlywe’.

So, the first hour after sunrise on Tuesday is the hour of Mars, and on Wednesday, it’ll be the hour of Mercury. Roughly speaking, only the hour of the Planet that corresponds to that day is really important, and it comes 4 times a day, every 7 hours. The other hours between this are ruled by other planets. Although if you have magick that utilises the energy of two planets, you could mix and match this.

Generally, in most places of the world, since the sun will rise between 6 and 7 am, the hour of that day’s ruling planet will come again between 1-2 pm, then between 8-9 pm, and again between 3-4 am. At least, that is the case where I live, in North India.

And THIS is why 3 am is the witching hour. If you think about it, throughout all of history, and even today, it’s difficult to be open about practicing magick. Generally, you want to keep it hidden and not really get others involved. And of course, you want to avoid distractions too.

That means the best time to do magick for most people is around 3 am. I’m sure there’s much more to it, but from a astrological standpoint, this would be the reason. At 3 am, not only is the planet of that day powerful, but it’s also a time when everyone’s usually asleep and there will be very few disturbances or interruptions. Even most animals will be asleep. And you know, darkness if a good simulator of the pineal gland.

One last thing. You know that every 7 hours, starting at sunrise, is the hour of the planet of that day. But, how do you know which planets rule the other hours, without an app or a program?

Well, luckily, the planets have a set pattern, which is based on their order in astrology. I don’t remember what EXACTLY is the basis for this order right now, but i’ll write about it later if I can find it. Right now, just memorise the order so you know which hour comes after which. The order is:

Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter

You may have noticed that this hourly order is different from the order on which the days of the week are based. Again, I don’t remember exactly why the order is how it is, but I’m pretty damn sure there’s a laboriously intricate 10 page Golden Lecture lecture on it somewhere, like there is on all matters.

Retrogrades

Planets generally have two kinds of motions: direct and retrograde.

Other than the Sun and the Moon, all planets go retrograde at SOME point, and during this period they appear to be moving in the opposite direction in the night sky. This is largely an illusion due to their orbit, but it still affects us. All you need to know is that when a planet goes retrograde, Magick corresponding to that Planet does not work very well. Generally, other aspects of life ruled by this planet also suffer, or are reversed.

Now, Planets don’t go retrograde very often, and when they do, it can be for weeks, months, or sometimes even most of an year. The only retrograde the people generally care about is the Mercury retrograde, because it is common. In fact, as I write this, we’re coming out of what has been an especially troublesome Mercury retrograde.

Keep an eye out for Retrogrades, and you’ll be able to expect crazy shit.

Here’s an interesting anecdote. Pluto, which rarely goes retrograde, did so in 2016, and was in retrograde for most of that year. I remember, when 2016 started, and someone told me Pluto would be in retrograde that year, I remarked that we would probably see some weird shit.

I said that lots of people might die, virus might spread, and, most importantly, some extremely wierd political events would occur. The political authority (establishment) would suffer somehow.

Personally, I thought yet another dictatorship would fall. And, as you all know, in 2016 many, many celebrities died, there was a Zika outbreak in Africa, ISIS lost it’s capital in Mosul, Brexit happened, AND, the big one: Donald Trump won the US election.

In India, we had a big thing: demonetisation, and 85% of the currency was scrapped literally over night, in a bold attempt to catch tax evaders. After all, Pluto also rules money and hidden wealth. All of this was in line with the retrograde.

You can use astrology to predict things, and at least have a generic idea of what may happen. It’s much better than going overboard with weird conspiracy theories and urban legend.

Update (2019): 2020 is a very important year. In the last few years, Saturn and Pluto have moved intro Capricorn, and begun to break down established Order, traditions and societal structures. This is all in preparation of the Age of Aquarius, and the transition is now fully upon us. Hippies in the 1960s kept talking about it, but now it’s literally happening. Next year, Jupiter moves into Cancer. All the pieces are set, and things shall begin to happen.

Source: Inuyashiki (no, I have not seen the anime)

The Sun

That’s the major bulk of it. However, there’s a few other things to keep in mind, and these are largely based on the Sun.

Night and Day

The Night and Day cycle of course. Regardless to say, daytime and nighttime are good for invoking and banishing respectively. As I said, I do almost everything at Night, but you can still keep this in mind. Also, invoking Gods and Deities is better in the Day, while Night is good for Spirits and Demons. The Nighttime is also when one should beware of more dangerous influences, especially ‘ghosts’, and take extra precautions. We’re psychologically wired to feel fear in the Dark, especially in locations away from human civilization. But to face the darkness is an Occult act, to go boldly and encounter the unknown.

The Morning (or Sunrise), Noon, Twilight (or Sunset) and Midnight are especially powerful times. The Sun is pretty important, and it’s energy and influenced rises, hits a peak, then fades and disappears over the course of the Day. Consult the legend of Ra, and how he changes forms as the day goes by. Our mood is greatly affected by the Sun. bright sunlight brings joy, happiness and optimism.

Seasons

The seasons are important for folk magick. Generally, you have Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Sometimes, like in India, you also have a Monsoon. Different folk rituals and festivals are based on this cycle. For example, Spring is full of life and beginnings, Summer is about light, warmth and fertility, Monsoons are about rain, growth and nature, Autumn is about barrenness, transformation and death, Winter is about coldness, endings, rebirth and darkness. Consult your local traditions to understand this better.

From a Eastern spiritual point of view, Spring is the first season of the year, as it brings warmth and life. That’s why most Eastern cultures celebrate New Year in April. This is also a harvest season for the East, but not the West, because in most Western countries it snows in Winter so they don’t traditionally plant anything.

The reason the West starts the year on January 1st is because the Romans considered January to be the first month, as it was the month of Janus, the God of Beginnings and Doorways. Western culture is greatly influenced by Rome, and of course, it’s after Christmas so it ties in to the Western holiday season.

Many in the East have big celebrations in April, and many countries also treat it as the start of the Academic and financial year. It’s largely dependent on whether you live in the West of the East. I recommend going with what’s naturally done in your region. However, I start new, important things in April-May, including important Magickal phases. Both January and April have great power.

Months and Zodiac

The Months are important too, as they correspond to the Sun moving through the Zodiac. The Sun moves through each Zodiac sign in about 30 days, same as the Moon cycle. Of course, this has been shifting for centuries as well, so these days the Sun moves from one sign to the next around the 20-22nd of a Month. The Sign that the Sun is in is important, as Magick relating to that Sign is more powerful. The Moon sign also matters, but not as much as the phase of the Moon.
You may also take into account the Signs that the other planets are in, but the Sun and Moon matter the most.

Solstice / Equinox

Each year, we have a Summer and Winter Solstice, and a Spring and Autumn Equinox. Both are important in folk and ceremonial traditions. On each Equinox, the Day and Night are equal, and so these are days of balance and stability.

The Summer Solstice is the longest day, and the energies of light are very strong. It is the height of the Sun’s power. But, after that days start getting shorter, and it marks the waning of the Sun’s power. The Winter Solstice is the longest Night, and the energies of darkness are more powerful. The Greeks believed that the veil between the Mundane and the Spiritual world are thin, and it is easy for things to cross over. But, days start getting longer after this, and it marks the Sun’s revival. Thus, we celebrate Christmas.

Again, refer to local traditions for more information on this. Each Equinox and Solstice marks the official beginning of each season.

Years, Decades, Centuries, Millenia

Finally, years, decades, centuries and millennia matter, but not that much. Usually, each Year is ruled by a specific Zodiac sign. Each decade, there’s generally a miniature paradigm shift in the world, and about every half century, there’s a major one.

Every century or two, the outermost planets, Uranus (84 years), Neptune (160 years) and Pluto (250 years), complete one orbit. They also move from one zodiac sign to the next every couple of decades, and this causes significant changes in magickal energy and causes major changes in the world, as well as generational divides.
These things matter less for Magick and more for those who like to observe current events and study history. This may give you new perspective.

Some Stuff to Muse Over

And, I want to leave you one last thing. Here, it stops being practical and becomes largely philosophical, abstract and unscientific. It’s based on Hinduism, as well as astrology and some theoretical science. I see no harm in sharing ^_^

Roughly every 2000 years, we move from one astrological Age to the next. As you may have heard, we’re currently moving out of the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius.
The Ages can be grouped into groups of 3, and thus, every 8000 years can be considered on Grand Age or Cycle. After the cycle ends, a new one begins and causes a rise and fall of human civilization. This, in accordance with astrology, could be further grouped into 3 sets of 4, that is 12 Ages ( one for each Zodiac) after which it repeats, making a grander cycle of 24,000 years. Generally, 72 of these grander cycles, or 1.7 million years, is said to be the lifetime of the archetypal Man (Adam, Manu etc.).

Interestingly, about 1.8 million years ago the early hominids spread across Europe, Africa and Asia, from wherever they first originated.

Every 230 Million years or so, the Sun completes one Orbit around the Milky Way. Currently, we do not know if our galaxy has any such cyclical motions. The Universe is about 14 billion years old, and may live for about 5 billion years more. Of course, this is all hypothesis and we barely know anything about the nature of the Universe. However, from a occult point of view, the Universe should also have cycles, of creation and destruction, which in modern science are called the Big Bang and Big Crunch.

If our cycle of creation ends, it should be followed by a cycle of destruction of equal length. Brahma, the Creator, goes to sleep, as to him, one creation cycle is one day, and one destruction cycle is one night, and Shiva the Destroyer, awakens.
After a hundred cycles of creation, even Brahma is said to die and a new Brahma will be born.

Ultimately, we can only theorise. We know nothing, and that’s totally fine.

That’s all for now, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. There’s plenty of other cool stuff here, so stick around and have a look, and follow me for more content like this. You can also follow me on Instagram @WhiteRavenMagus

If you’re feeling triggered about something, leave a comment, telling me how angry or upset you are ^_^

That’s all for now, until next time.

~White Raven