When it comes to performing spells, spell timing can, and often does, play a significant role. Consider timing just another ingredient in the spell designed to lend its magical energy to boost the spell. With that being said, if a spell is urgent, throw timing out the window and perform the spell when you need it. Performing a spell at the "wrong" time isn't going to destroy the spell or prevent it from working. If I am honest, I pay little attention to when I actually cast spells because I cast them when I need them. If I have a job interview coming up, I'm not going to wait until the next full moon or a Thursday if my interview is before those days. However, performing your spell in correspondence to the 'right' time can significantly improve the effectiveness of your spell and can often give it the nudge it needs to be truly successful.
Moon Phases
When it comes to timing, there are several different factors to look at. The most popular timing is in regards to the moon phases. Each phase of the moon corresponds to different needs. Below you will find a shortlist of the correspondences for each moon phase:
The New Moon, which is the first sliver of the moon after the Dark Moon, is the time to start new projects and to take a fresh look at any and all situations. Consider this a time of new beginnings. As the moon is just starting to reveal itself, the magic of the New Moon is gentle, yet consistent. Seeds you plant now will grow as the moon waxes to full.
Magical Workings- cleansing and purifying, new projects, job hunting, goal setting, seed planting
The Full Moon occurs when the entire face of the moon is illuminated by the sun. Most pagans consider the full moon cycle to include both the day before and the day after the actual Full Moon, giving you a couple days to work with the energy of this moon phase. During this time, energy swells and reaches its zenith. This is an extremely powerful time to perform magic, but can also bring upheaval by shining a light on our dark secrets, hidden desires, and subdued emotions. This is a good time to focus on personal growth and spiritual development, divination, manifestation magic, finalizing projects, and fulfilling wishes
Magical Workings- cleansing and purifying, new projects, job hunting, goal setting, seed planting
The Full Moon occurs when the entire face of the moon is illuminated by the sun. Most pagans consider the full moon cycle to include both the day before and the day after the actual Full Moon, giving you a couple days to work with the energy of this moon phase. During this time, energy swells and reaches its zenith. This is an extremely powerful time to perform magic, but can also bring upheaval by shining a light on our dark secrets, hidden desires, and subdued emotions. This is a good time to focus on personal growth and spiritual development, divination, manifestation magic, finalizing projects, and fulfilling wishes
Magical Workings- healing, divination, love, knowledge, money, dreams, wishes, growth
The Waxing Moon represents growth. This is the period during which the moon grows from dark to light over roughly two weeks. As this occurs, the strength of the moon grows. This is the time to work “positive” magic—that is magic that draws things to you or increases things in your life, as well as a time to tend to the seeds you planted during the New Moon. What do you need to do to continue watering the seeds to ensure your spell is on the right track?
Magical Workings- prosperity, health, success, courage, luck, protection, wealth, abundance, communication, fertility, blessing
The Waning Moon heralds in closure and the elimination of ideas, projects, and desires that are no longer needed in our lives. Lasting roughly two weeks after the Full Moon, this is the time the moon goes from full to dark. Use this time for “baneful” magic—that is anything that banishes or rids you of things you no longer want/need in your life. This is also the time to cast curses and hexes, unblock energy, and release that which no longer serves you.
The Waxing Moon represents growth. This is the period during which the moon grows from dark to light over roughly two weeks. As this occurs, the strength of the moon grows. This is the time to work “positive” magic—that is magic that draws things to you or increases things in your life, as well as a time to tend to the seeds you planted during the New Moon. What do you need to do to continue watering the seeds to ensure your spell is on the right track?
Magical Workings- prosperity, health, success, courage, luck, protection, wealth, abundance, communication, fertility, blessing
The Waning Moon heralds in closure and the elimination of ideas, projects, and desires that are no longer needed in our lives. Lasting roughly two weeks after the Full Moon, this is the time the moon goes from full to dark. Use this time for “baneful” magic—that is anything that banishes or rids you of things you no longer want/need in your life. This is also the time to cast curses and hexes, unblock energy, and release that which no longer serves you.
Magical Workings- banishing, ridding yourself of illness, magic related to reducing things, curses, hexes, binding, chord cutting, removal spells, cleansing
The Dark Moon occurs when the moon is completely dark in the sky. Like the Full Moon, this occurs over a three-day period, giving you a time of rest. Some witches believe you shouldn't perform magic when the moon is dark, but I disagree. During the Dark Moon, the magic of the moon is greatly subdued, but still present. This is a liminal time, making it perfect for ancestral and spirit work, divination and mediumship, hiding secrets, finding what has been lost, and performing shadow work. It's also the perfect time for cursing and curse breaking, hexing and hex breaking, banishing, and binding.
Magical Workings- ancestral work, spirit communication, divination, hiding, secret-keeping, shadow work, banishing, curses, hexes, binding, removal spells
Because the Waxing and Waning Moons last the longest, it is likely that your spell will be cast during one of these periods. As I mentioned before, sometimes we are in a pinch and need to perform a spell immediately. You may not be able to wait until the Full Moon, but you can certainly tune into the energies of the Waxing or Waning to boost your spell. Let's use getting a new job as an example. During the Waxing moon, you could perform a spell to draw the job, money, and general prosperity toward you. During the Waning moon, the same goal can be reached by banishing poverty, unblocking roadblocks hindering you from getting a new job, and purging your fear and nervousness before going to the interview. During the Waxing Moon, you can draw love to yourself, while banishing loneliness during the Waning Moon. With a little thought, the phases of the moon can easily be incorporated into your spell to aid in your magical endeavors.
Days of the Week
If working with the Moon phases isn't your thing, you can't figure out how to rework your spell to match the current phase, or you want to add more energy to your spell, you can use the days of the week. Each day has its own correspondences and lends slightly different energy to a spell.
Sunday gets its name from our closet star, the Sun. It's the best day of the week to work magic involving fathers and other authority figures such as your boss, work on questions regarding leadership, money, prosperity, and power. It's also a great time to perform spells regarding courage, advancing your career, and manifesting your dreams.
Monday is dedicated to the moon, from which it gets its name. Its energies are ripe with fertility at the beginning of the week and can be used to increase psychic powers and prophetic dreaming. It is also a good time to work magic focusing on mothers, nurturing, fertility, woman issues, and growth.
Tuesday comes from the Germanic God Tiu. Like the Roman god Mars, Tiu is associated with war. Tuesday is full of masculine energy, but focuses on the more raw nature of the masculine aspect; think courage, success, war, and lust. This is a good time to deal with issues of violence, competition, conflict, endurance, and survival. Cast protection spells, bind an enemy, stimulate energy, and fix ongoing problems.
Wednesday gets its name from Woden's Day. However, Wednesday also belongs to the messenger Mercury or Hermes. This is a great day to work on communication, thought, wisdom, self-expression, and the arts, as well as divination especially runes.
Thursday takes its name from the Norse god Thor, and is also associated with Jupiter and Zeus. This is a great day to work magic regarding growth, expansion, prosperity, business, abundance, and success. This is a great day to work money spells and new job spells.
Friday comes from the Old English name frigedaeg, which comes from the Norse goddess Frigga. Frigga, like Venus and Aphrodite, is associated with love, making this a great day to focus on romance, passion, fertility, friendship, beauty, and trust.
Saturday, which derives its name from the god Saturn, is a great day to use divination and psychic abilities. Furthermore, its energies will aid in magic concerning the elderly, end-of-life issues, death, and binding spells.
Times of the Day
Apart from using each day magically, the different times during the day also lend different energies to a spell.
Morning Magic: Sunrise
The Sun is up and so are you! You may notice first thing in the morning, even if you are a late sleeper, you awake "fresher." Well, so is your energy and that makes it the perfect time to work magic to start something new, especially regarding school and business. This is also a great time to dispel or banish negativity that is lurking around you and yours, including addictions, bad behaviors, bad habits, and bad feelings. If you work magic outside, you may find working during sunrise best. It is cool, the animals are just waking up, and you can use both the energy of the sun and the moon.
The Sun is up and so are you! You may notice first thing in the morning, even if you are a late sleeper, you awake "fresher." Well, so is your energy and that makes it the perfect time to work magic to start something new, especially regarding school and business. This is also a great time to dispel or banish negativity that is lurking around you and yours, including addictions, bad behaviors, bad habits, and bad feelings. If you work magic outside, you may find working during sunrise best. It is cool, the animals are just waking up, and you can use both the energy of the sun and the moon.
Magical Workings- new beginnings, success, banishing, habit breaking, awakening, fertility
Midday Magic: Sunshine
During the middle of the day, the Sun reaches its peak and is therefore is strongest. This is a good time to call upon its strength and work on magic to overcome weaknesses, gain inspiration and insight, or ask for guidance. Feeling tired? Ask the sun to lend you strength.
Midday Magic: Sunshine
During the middle of the day, the Sun reaches its peak and is therefore is strongest. This is a good time to call upon its strength and work on magic to overcome weaknesses, gain inspiration and insight, or ask for guidance. Feeling tired? Ask the sun to lend you strength.
Magical Workings- inspiration, insight, strength, courage, manifestation, cleansing, abundance, wealth, prosperity, healing
Evening Magic: Crepuscular Light
As the light fades and the evening draws near, we often feel tired and cranky after a long day. I find meditating during this time is best. Focus on breaking up bad routines, banishing bad habits, relaxing, and boosting your willpower.
Evening Magic: Crepuscular Light
As the light fades and the evening draws near, we often feel tired and cranky after a long day. I find meditating during this time is best. Focus on breaking up bad routines, banishing bad habits, relaxing, and boosting your willpower.
Magical Workings- banishing, meditation, rest, protection, healing, letting go
Nighttime Magic: Resonating in Tune
Most people perform magic after the Sun has set as they are better able to feel the energy of the Moon. This is a great time for divination, working with psychic energies, and issues involving love, lust, and beauty. It is also a great time to reflect upon the day if you haven't done that already. Night offers a time to gain clarity of the day's events.
Nighttime Magic: Resonating in Tune
Most people perform magic after the Sun has set as they are better able to feel the energy of the Moon. This is a great time for divination, working with psychic energies, and issues involving love, lust, and beauty. It is also a great time to reflect upon the day if you haven't done that already. Night offers a time to gain clarity of the day's events.
Magical Workings- ancestral work, spirit communication, divination, hiding, secret-keeping, shadow work, banishing, curses, hexes, binding, removal spells, prophetic dreaming, love, lust, beauty, reflection, divination
Astrological Signs
Finally, you can use astrological signs to lend energy to your spells. I find this to be the most complicated in regards to spell timing and the one I pay attention to the least.
Aries (March 21-April 19) is ruled by Mars and Fire, making it the perfect time for courage, new projects, business ventures, personal growth, self-improvement, protection, and any other matters that need a little extra push. Being associated with Mars, this is also a great time to work spells related to war and the military.
Taurus (April 20-May 20) is ruled by Venus and Earth. This is the time to cast spells regarding the arts, stability, security, peace, prosperity, self-improvement, protection, and love spells focused on long-term relationships, marriage, and partnership.
Gemini (May 21-June 20), is ruled by Mercury and Air. Cast spells related to divination, prophecy, wishes, luck, communication, success, and wisdom, especially related to school and learning.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) is ruled by the Moon and Water. Cancer is a gentle, yet emotional time, best used to promote familial love and peace, calm emotional turmoil, heal past traumas and pain caused by family members, bless your home, protect your home, and practice kitchen and garden witchery.
Leo (July 23-August 22) is ruled by the Sun and Fire. This is certainly a firey and explosive time, best used for spells related to lust, passion, sex, success in sports, removing barriers, curbing obsession, and increasing passion for the arts.
Virgo (August 23-September 22) is ruled by Mercury and Earth. This is a great time to purify your home, cleanse and consecrate tools, dedicate a new altar, purchase new items for the home, perform healing spells, get organized, and take care of other home-related matters.
Libra (September 23-October 22) is ruled by Venus and Air. This is the perfect time for spells related to justice, legal matters, marriage, divorces, and to ensure people get what is coming to them. This is also a time to work on strengthening relationships, beauty and glamour spells, and growing friendships.
Scorpio (October 23-November 21) is ruled by Mars, Pluto, and Water. This is the time to banish, exorcise, perform protection and self-defense magic, increase courage, connect with the dead, and even promote lust, sex, and fertility.
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) is ruled by Jupiter and Fire. Focus on wisdom, knowledge, success in school or your studies, reading, connecting to spirits and deities, divination, and religious activities.
Capricorn (December 22-January 20) is ruled by Saturn and Earth. This time is deeply associated with masculine energy, male fertility, and fatherhood. Magic related to healing, honoring, or promoting these relationships is best performed during this time. This is also a time for banishment, moving up the corporate ladder, success, and other business-related endeavors.
Aquarius (January 21-February 18) is ruled by Saturn and Air. This is a time to focus on others. Instead of performing magic for yourself, focus on big picture issues, community, family, friends, and organizations you support. This is also a great time to strengthen friendships, find new friends, make new connections, conduct dreamwork, reveal secrets, and uncover that which as been hidden.
Pisces (February 19-March 20) is ruled by Jupiter, Neptune, and Water. This is the best time for psychic work, divination, dreamwork, personal development, and spiritual development. Focus on growing your own path during this time.
Void of Course
Void of Course occurs when the moon leaves one sign and ends when it enters another. It's basically a time when the moon isn't technically in one of the zodiac signs, acting as a magical void. Best practice dictates that magic should not be performed during this time. The reasoning is still up for debate, but if I am honest, I haven't noticed a difference between days that are void of course and days that are not. I'll leave the decision up to you.
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There are of course other times to perform spells, such as during a planetary retrograde, during a sabbat, or during a monthly Full Moon. Each of these has slightly different magical correspondences, but I felt adding these to this post would be daunting. Instead, I wanted to provide you with the basics so you can understand how timing a spell can impact the success or failure of said spell. Your task this week is to map out these dates for the next week and see how you could potentially use them to enhance the energy of your spells. If possible, try doing this for an entire month. Pick up a journal and track your mood, health, dreams, and other thoughts and feelings during each of these events to see if you can find a pattern as to how they impact you and your spell work.
Interest in the rest of the series?
Spellcrafting Series
Looking for more information about writing your own spells? Check out my posts on the topic:
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Fantastic post and (super) handy reference guide for new and more experienced magickal folks alike.
ReplyDeleteWhen possible, I do like to enhance my workings by utilizing various dates and happenings in the starry heavens, but like yourself, am not going to wait for the "perfect" day if a spell is urgently needed. Making the most of the present moment and working with what we have in the here and now is, IMO, amongst the best and most beneficial skills we can embrace as witchy souls.
Autumn Zenith 🎃 Witchcrafted Life