There are many ways to utilize timing to add power and focus to your magical workings. Some are more recognized in hoodoo/rootwork and others are not. Ultimately, it comes down to the practitioner and what influences they care to utilize. Many, myself included, will just “know” when the time is right or will askew conventions altogether when the need is great or immediate. As with most things of a metaphysical or magical nature, it really is all about what works for you.

UNDISTURBED TIME — Before I get into this little primer on timing, I want to first acknowledge what I think is the very best time to perform any working; when one is undisturbed and free of distractions. It won’t matter one sorry bit if the Moon is at just the right point on that perfect night that comes around only once every twenty years if little Magnus is pounding on the bathroom door whining because his brother is hogging the Xbox. You simply won’t be able to fully focus and tap into that power because, let’s face it, your attention will be divided. Taking time and making space for yourself and your magic will work wonders. DO IT!

TIMES OF SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE — Times of special significance can be very personal or even universal depending on the focus and intent of the working. Times of a personal nature may be birthdays, anniversaries, or other days or times of a numerological or emotional significance. Times of a broader, universal nature would be something like holidays, significant days in history, or the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR — The year is split into four different seasons — Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Even if you live in a desert wasteland like I do, they are still there, doing their thing, passing with time. Because they are so universally recognized and so fully about nature, it makes them easier to tap into and plan work around.

THE PHASES OF THE MOON — The Moon has nine phases. The five considered the main phases, the new, waxing, full, waning and the dark, are the most frequently recognized and utilized of the nine. Note also that there are special types of moons in each month of the year and special astrological occurrences, like Blue Moons and Super Moons, which offer their own influences. I will not get into them here, but you may want to explore them further to see if they are something you would like to utilize at some future time.

THE MOON’S SIGN — The Moon passes through each sign of the zodiac as it moves through its monthly orbit. It resides in each sign for the span of about two to three days before moving on to the next. Those times of residence provide additional emphasis and magical power in regard to the areas of influence that sign governs. For example, a residence in the sign of Taurus would be a good time to initiate works concerning financial security or good health, whereas a residence in the sign of Aquarius would be a good time to initiate works concerning friendships or the environment.

OTHER TIMES OF ASTROLGICAL INFLUENCE — Because the planets in our solar system are constantly moving, it seems that at least a couple of times a month something is happening of a special astrological interest. One does not need to be an astrological expert to take advantage of or avoid those celestial events when they come along, e.g. eclipses, Blue Moons, transits, and unusual planetary alignments, such as grand trines.

A very common example of such an event would be a retrograde. All of our planets except the Sun and Moon go retrograde, but Mercury seems to cause the most issues. Technology and things communications-oriented go haywire or are misinterpreted during Mercury retrogrades. They can be useful for completing things that do not require the intervention of others, but many consider starting things during a Mercury retrograde to be a mistake. Furthermore, since contracts establish an understanding between two entities, they avoid signing legal papers as well.

THE DAYS OF THE WEEK — Each day of the week has a planetary association that makes that day better for particular types of works. Utilize the day’s influence to make your works more powerful.

THE PHASES OF THE DAY — The phases of the day are frequently used, but some people will only work the day and the night, while others will work the morning, noon, and night. Morning is seen as the waxing phase where one is initiating and working for increase. Noon is seen as the full Moon phase where work is culminated and the power is at its peak. Night is seen as the waning Moon where power is diminishing and work is being done to remove or reverse things.

THE HANDS OF THE CLOCK — Working by the hands of the clock has fallen out of fashion with the use of digital time. Essentially, if both hands on the clock are rising, then works for drawing/positivity are initiated or continued. When both hands are falling, works for releasing/negativity are begun or continued. The highest time of power for drawing/positive works is 12:00 PM/Noon. The highest time of power for releasing/negative works is 12:00 AM/Midnight. It helps me to remember that the left side of the clock is rising and that the right side of the clock is falling.

THE HOURS OF THE DAY — All of the hours of the day are associated with a particular planet and a particular angel. Since the planetary/angel charts are based on the times of the sunrise and the sunset, finding the actual time of a particular hour requires some calculation.

Getting Started

• Decide what kind of working you want to do.
• Decide what day would be the best to do it.
• Decide what planet/angel you would like to work with on that day.
• Determine what hours that planet/angel is available on that day.
• Calculate the planetary hours.

Say, for instance, you want to do a work to help your gambling luck. You decide to do it on Thursday. Ideally, the first hour of that day would be perfect as Jupiter rules luck and the first hour of Thursday is governed by **Jupiter. However, you are not available then. You want to try for some time later in the morning. Looking at the chart, you see that the eighth hour of the day is the next hour associated with Jupiter. Therefore, you will need to calculate the planetary hours for that Thursday to get the correct time for the eighth hour. You consult a Farmer’s Almanac and determine that sunrise is at 5:00 AM and sunset is at 7:00 PM.

Doing the Math

The difference between 5:00 AM and 7:00 PM is a matter of 14 hours. Multiply those 14 hours by 60 (the minutes in an hour); the result will give you the number of minutes between sunrise and sunset. In this instance, the result is 840 minutes.

Divide those 840 minutes by 12 (1/2 the number of hours in a day) to determine the daytime hours; the result is 70 minutes (1 hour and 10 minutes).

From 5:00 AM to 6:10 AM — the first “hour” of the day — belongs to Jupiter. However, since you are not available then, you need to keep going. You calculate the second “hour” of the day to be from 6:11 AM to 7:21 AM; Mars governs it. (Note that using planetary hours does not mean working within nice, neat 60-minute intervals. In this case, we are working with 70-minute intervals.) You keep going until you get to the eighth hour of the day. Once you calculate the eighth hour of the day, you can stop. Now, that you have completed the calculations, will the actual timing of the eighth hour work for you? If not, pick another time and recalculate. Say, for instance, you had to use the 15th hour of the day, which is the 3rd hour on the night chart. You would make the same calculations from sunset on Thursday to the next sunrise on Friday to determine nighttime hours.

Again, you consult the Farmer’s Almanac and find that there are 10 hours between sunset at 7:00 PM on Thursday and sunrise at 5:00 AM on Friday. Multiply that 10 hours by 60 minutes, and the result is 600 minutes between sunset on Thursday and sunrise on Friday. By dividing the 600 minutes by 12 hours (1/2 the number of hours in a day), you determine that the interval is now every 50 minutes. Therefore, the planetary influence will change from “hour” to “hour” every 50 minutes. Starting at 7:00 PM to 7:50 PM the first nighttime hour is in the Moon. From there you would figure the next two hours to get to the next Jupiter hour — 7:50 PM to 8:40 PM is the second nighttime hour, it’s governed by Saturn. At last, 8:40 PM to 9:30 PM is the 3rd hour; Jupiter rules it, the hour during which you will work.

**(The planet with which the whole day is associated governs the first hour of every day.)
PLANETARY / ANGEL DAYTIME HOURS — Start @ Sunrise

PLANETARY / ANGEL NIGHTTIME HOURS — Start @ Sunset