Apparently, the gods have office hours. Jupiter prefers Thursdays, Venus favors Fridays, and Saturn has claimed Saturdays, presumably because making everyone’s weekend miserable is entirely consistent with his reputation. For practitioners of planetary magic, these associations provide a traditional framework for determining when to perform particular rituals. If you want prosperity, Thursday would be an excellent choice for a Jupiter working, especially during Jupiter’s planetary hour. But what happens when you discover on Monday that your finances are falling apart and your landlord expects payment before Thursday arrives? Are you supposed to explain that your magical efforts have been postponed because Jupiter isn’t accepting appointments?
Traditional planetary magic places considerable importance on astrological timing, and for good reason. Practitioners have spent centuries developing techniques for selecting favorable moments to engage planetary influences, using everything from the days of the week to elaborate electional charts. These methods reflect the belief that planetary powers operate differently depending upon their celestial conditions and that a working may benefit from being performed when the appropriate planet is particularly well situated.
However, anyone who has spent much time dealing with actual human problems knows that emergencies are rarely considerate enough to occur under favorable astrological conditions. Relationships deteriorate, financial difficulties emerge, and people find themselves confronting situations that demand immediate attention. The practical magician must understand how to use traditional timing techniques while recognizing that life has absolutely no intention of organizing itself around an ephemeris.
Why Astrological Timing Matters in Planetary Magic
Astrological timing is based upon the traditional belief that the planets possess different levels of strength and effectiveness according to their positions in the heavens. A planet occupying one of its own zodiacal signs, for example, is considered to possess essential dignity, while certain other placements may compromise its ability to express its natural qualities.
Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces, making those signs particularly favorable expressions of Jupiterian influence within traditional astrology. Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius, while Venus governs Taurus and Libra. These rulerships provide part of the foundation for electional astrology, which involves selecting favorable moments for beginning important activities.
In planetary magic, electional techniques can be used to determine when a particular ritual, talisman, or ceremonial undertaking should occur. Practitioners may examine planetary dignity, aspects, house placement, and the condition of the Moon before selecting a time. The objective is to establish circumstances under which the desired planetary influence is considered particularly supportive of the working.
Consider an elaborate Jupiter talisman intended to encourage long-term prosperity. A practitioner might prefer to construct it while Jupiter occupies Sagittarius or Pisces, forms favorable aspects, and possesses other desirable astrological conditions. If the working can be planned well in advance, there is considerable value within the tradition in selecting an auspicious moment.
Of course, Jupiter takes approximately twelve years to complete its journey through the zodiac. Waiting for one of its domicile placements could require considerable patience, which may be admirable from a philosophical standpoint but offers limited comfort when the electric company is threatening to disconnect your service.
This is where planetary days and hours become particularly useful. They provide accessible methods of incorporating planetary timing into magical practice without requiring practitioners to wait months or years for the most favorable celestial arrangements.
The Seven Planetary Days of the Week
The familiar seven-day week preserves an ancient system of planetary rulership. Each day is associated with one of the seven classical planets, and those associations remain visible in the names of several weekdays.
Sunday belongs to the Sun, while Monday belongs to the Moon. Tuesday preserves the association with Mars through Tiw or Tyr, a Germanic deity connected with war. Wednesday derives from Woden, who was associated with Mercury through the interpretive traditions connecting Roman and Germanic gods. Thursday belongs to Thor, corresponding to Jupiter, while Friday is associated with Frigg and the Venusian sphere. Saturday retains its direct association with Saturn.
For planetary magic, these traditional rulerships provide a convenient way to select a day that corresponds with the nature of a working.
| Day | Planetary ruler | Traditional magical purposes |
| Sunday | Sun | Recognition, authority, success, vitality |
| Monday | Moon | Protection, health-related workings, domestic concerns, bodily rhythms |
| Tuesday | Mars | Courage, defense, competition, overcoming opposition |
| Wednesday | Mercury | Communication, commerce, learning, negotiations |
| Thursday | Jupiter | Prosperity, opportunity, expansion, legal matters |
| Friday | Venus | Love, attraction, reconciliation, artistic endeavors |
| Saturday | Saturn | Boundaries, restriction, stability, protection, endings |
These associations are useful because they provide a basic method of selecting favorable timing without requiring extensive astrological calculations. Someone planning a Venus working for reconciliation might choose Friday, while a person seeking assistance with an important business negotiation could select Wednesday.
The Moon also deserves attention in health-related magical traditions because of its associations with the body and its natural rhythms. In the magical tradition I practice, lunar workings may be directed toward restoring harmony and homeostasis, drawing upon the Moon’s rulership over bodily functions and cyclical processes. These are traditional magical applications rather than medically established methods of regulating physiological conditions, and they should complement appropriate medical care.
The planetary day establishes a general correspondence, but it is only one available timing technique. Someone who needs a Mars working on Friday has another option that doesn’t require postponing the matter until Tuesday.
That brings us to planetary hours.
What Are Planetary Hours, and How Are They Calculated?
Planetary hours are divisions of the day and night assigned to the seven classical planets according to a repeating sequence. They provide opportunities to work with a particular planetary influence regardless of which planet governs the day itself.
The first thing beginners need to understand is that a planetary hour does not necessarily last sixty minutes. Traditional planetary hours are calculated according to sunrise and sunset, which means their duration changes throughout the year.
The period between sunrise and sunset is divided into twelve equal portions, producing twelve daytime planetary hours. The interval between sunset and the following sunrise is likewise divided into twelve portions, creating the nighttime planetary hours. During summer, when daylight lasts longer, daytime planetary hours are correspondingly longer than nighttime hours. During winter, the relationship reverses.
The planetary rulers follow a traditional sequence known as the Chaldean order:
Saturn → Jupiter → Mars → Sun → Venus → Mercury → Moon
Once the sequence reaches the Moon, it begins again with Saturn.
The planet governing the first planetary hour after sunrise determines the ruler of the day. On Sunday, for example, the first hour after sunrise belongs to the Sun. The following hour belongs to Venus, followed by Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. The sequence continues throughout the day and night, eventually producing the familiar order of planetary weekdays.
This means that every day contains hours governed by each of the seven classical planets. A person can therefore perform a Jupiter working during a Jupiter planetary hour on Monday or a Venus working during a Venus hour on Saturday.
The calculation depends upon the local times of sunrise and sunset, so geographic location matters. Someone living in New York will have a different planetary hour schedule from someone living in California, even though both may be performing the same type of ritual.
Fortunately, you no longer need to spend your afternoon calculating planetary hours with a pencil, an astronomical table, and an increasingly questionable level of enthusiasm.
There are several free phone apps that calculate planetary hours based upon your location. One I personally use is simply called Planetary Hours. These applications can make the process considerably easier by displaying the planetary ruler of each hour, allowing you to identify an appropriate time for your working without performing the calculations yourself. Make sure the application is using your correct location and local time.
For most beginners, understanding how the system operates is sufficient. Learning to calculate the hours manually can be useful, particularly for those interested in traditional astrology, but it shouldn’t become an obstacle to beginning a magical practice.
What Happens When the Planets Refuse to Cooperate?
Now we arrive at the part of planetary timing that I consider particularly important, because the difference between understanding magical tradition and becoming imprisoned by its rules is sometimes remarkably small.
Imagine someone who needs to perform a Saturn working for protection and boundaries. Perhaps they’re dealing with an individual who continually intrudes upon their life, refuses to respect their personal space, or has become increasingly threatening. Under ideal circumstances, the practitioner might prefer a favorable Saturn election, selecting a time when the planet possesses considerable strength and appropriate astrological support.
But consider Saturn’s current passage through Aries, the sign of its fall. During its retrograde period, the planet also appears to move backward through the zodiac, introducing another condition that traditional electional astrologers may consider undesirable.
Saturn’s fall in Aries is an established technical condition in traditional astrology. Aries stands opposite Libra, where Saturn possesses exaltation, making Aries the sign of Saturn’s fall. A practitioner concerned with constructing a particularly powerful Saturnian talisman might reasonably consider these circumstances when planning the working.
Unfortunately, a stalker probably doesn’t give a damn about Saturn’s essential dignity.
Someone who is harassing another person is unlikely to suspend their activities until Saturn enters a more agreeable sign. An intrusive individual isn’t going to consult an ephemeris before deciding whether to violate someone’s boundaries. The circumstances requiring protection exist regardless of the planet’s condition, and the need to respond may be immediate.
Are we seriously going to suggest that someone wait until Saturn is better positioned before attempting to establish greater protection?
In such circumstances, the practitioner can work with the available planetary conditions. Saturday may be preferable, but a Saturn planetary hour on another day offers an alternative. And if waiting for that hour is impractical, the working may need to be undertaken when the opportunity presents itself.
Naturally, magical protection should never replace practical safety measures. Anyone dealing with stalking or threats should prioritize their immediate safety, appropriate documentation, and assistance from relevant authorities or support services. A ritual may accompany those actions within someone’s spiritual practice, but personal safety cannot be postponed for astrological reasons.
The same principle applies to less dangerous circumstances. Someone experiencing an unexpected financial crisis may choose a Jupiter planetary hour rather than waiting for Thursday. A person facing an important negotiation might work with Mercury on the day the conversation is scheduled, regardless of whether Wednesday would have been more convenient astrologically.
The purpose of planetary timing is to support the working. It should never prevent someone from addressing the circumstances that made the working necessary.
When Is a Full Astrological Election Necessary?
The flexibility of planetary days and hours does not mean that more sophisticated electional techniques are unnecessary. Traditional astrological magic contains elaborate methods for selecting favorable moments, and certain practices place considerable importance upon the precise celestial conditions under which an object or ritual is created.
Talismans provide an excellent example. In historical systems of astrological magic, talismans were frequently constructed under specific planetary configurations intended to establish a lasting connection with the desired celestial influence. The condition of the relevant planet, its relationship with other bodies, and the placement of important points within the electional chart could influence the selection of a suitable moment.
A practitioner preparing such a talisman may have the luxury of waiting for favorable conditions, particularly when the objective involves an ongoing concern rather than an immediate problem. A long-term Jupiterian prosperity talisman, for example, may justify considerably more preparation than a simple candle working undertaken during an unexpected financial difficulty.
The distinction involves the purpose of the ritual and the amount of preparation its particular tradition requires. Someone constructing an elaborate talisman according to the instructions of the Picatrix may need to observe conditions that would be unnecessary for a contemporary devotional candle ritual.
There are also situations in which a practitioner may decide that the current planetary conditions are sufficiently unfavorable to warrant postponement. Such decisions require judgment and should reflect the nature of the working, the methods being used, and the consequences of waiting.
Learning traditional electional astrology can deepen someone’s magical practice by providing additional techniques for selecting favorable conditions. However, understanding those techniques should make the practitioner more resourceful rather than less capable of acting.
A magician who possesses extensive knowledge of planetary dignity but cannot figure out how to perform a necessary working without waiting eighteen months has developed a rather peculiar relationship with the concept of practical magic.
Using Planetary Timing in Everyday Life
For beginners, the most useful approach is to become familiar with the planetary days and learn how to identify planetary hours. Those two techniques provide a workable foundation for incorporating astrological timing into ordinary magical practice.
Suppose you want to undertake a Venus working to encourage reconciliation after a disagreement. If Friday is approaching and circumstances allow you to wait, choosing that day may provide an appropriate correspondence. You could refine the timing further by selecting a Venus planetary hour. However, if the situation requires immediate attention on Monday, a Venus hour that day provides another opportunity.
The same reasoning applies to other planetary workings. A Mercury ritual intended to support an examination can be performed during an appropriate Mercury hour before the test, while a Mars working for courage may be undertaken before an important confrontation. There is little practical value in waiting until the correct planetary day if the event requiring assistance will already have passed.
Planning ahead also creates opportunities for more elaborate timing. Someone preparing to launch a business or begin a long-term creative project may have sufficient flexibility to select favorable planetary conditions well in advance. In those circumstances, electional astrology can become a valuable part of the preparation.
The important consideration is understanding what the situation requires and selecting an appropriate approach from the techniques available.
Keeping a journal of magical workings can help practitioners develop greater familiarity with these choices. Recording the intention, planetary day and hour, broader astrological conditions, and subsequent developments provides a way to evaluate their experiences over time. It may also reveal personal preferences regarding ritual methods and timing, although such observations cannot establish that a planetary configuration caused a particular outcome.
As with other aspects of planetary magic, experience contributes to judgment. Studying the rules gives practitioners a foundation, while applying them to actual circumstances develops the flexibility necessary for a living magical practice.
The Gods May Have Their Schedules, but So Do We
Planetary days and hours offer methods of selecting times traditionally considered appropriate for working with particular celestial influences. Their value lies in providing practitioners with options that can be adapted to different circumstances, from carefully planned talismanic operations to simple workings undertaken in response to immediate concerns.
There will undoubtedly be occasions when the astrological conditions align beautifully with the intended ritual. Performing a Jupiter working on Thursday during Jupiter’s planetary hour, while the planet occupies Sagittarius or Pisces and enjoys favorable additional conditions, would be a particularly attractive arrangement within the traditional system. If you have the opportunity to take advantage of such circumstances, by all means do so.
But magical practice also has to accommodate the considerably less cooperative schedule of human existence. People need protection while Saturn is in Aries, assistance with financial difficulties while Jupiter occupies less favorable conditions, and help with relationships on days that Venus doesn’t happen to govern.
The planets continue moving through their cycles, indifferent to whether their current positions coincide with our preferred circumstances. Understanding those cycles allows practitioners to make informed decisions about timing, but the practical application of that knowledge requires an appreciation of what is happening in the world around them.
After all, the gods have had thousands of years to establish their preferred arrangements. The rest of us have bills to pay, boundaries to enforce, and occasionally a life to put back together before Thursday rolls around.
