Class V: Magickal Times
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to harvest what was planted...
—Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (King James Bible)building up, such as health, wealth, success, and ad-
vancement. Destructive magick is concerned with the
ending and tearing down of things, such as a love
affair, a bad habit, or a way of life.
The very fact of whether a ritual or spell is done
during the day or at night plays a major role in its
aspects. Generally, rituals for positive and beneficial
purposes (such as healing) are done during the day—
preferably before noon so that you have some hours
of daylight left to increase the power generated. Spells
done during the dark hours are usually for enchant-
ments, or for promoting your desires and advantages
over others (as in winning a contest or a competition).
These are also frequently planned so that there will be
some hours of darkness following to enable the cur-
rents that have been set into motion to continue.
When at all possible, the seasons of the Earth
and Sun should be taken into consideration. This, of
course, may not be possible for every ritual, and is
usually reserved for special occasions, such as the
eight great Sabbats. In this manner, spells that would
be of the type done during a waxing moon
would be done between Winter Sol-
stice and Summer Solstice. Rituals
that might normally be appropri-
ate during the waning Moon
would be done between Sum-
mer Solstice and Winter Sol-
stice. As you can see, the
power of the Sun is on the
increase from Winter to
Summer, and on the de-
crease from Summer to
Winter. Thus the degree
and amount of power the Sun
bestows on the Earth is re-
garded in the same way as the
phases of the Moon.
The four large seasonal cycles
marked by the Solstices and Equinoxes
are called the Elemental Tides, and each has
its own special type of magick. From Spring Equinox
to Summer Solstice is the Tide of Planting (or
beginnings). Summer Solstice to Autumn Equinox is
the Tide of Harvest (or culmination). Fall Equinox to
Winter Solstice is the Tide of Planning (or calculation).
And Winter Solstice to the Vernal Equinox is the Tide
of Destruction (or replacement).- Introduction:
Timing is Everything
S WITH ANYTHING ELSE IN LIFE, THERE
are favorable and unfavorable
times for working various spells
and rituals, and the more favor-
able times you can line up to-
gether, the more powerful will be
your magick. This doesn’t mean
that you cannot work a spell or
do a ritual unless those vibrations are correct. It merely
means that these are the ideal conditions under which
to do your work. During these times you are taking
advantage of the natural tides and currents of the
Universe rather than working against them. If, how-
ever, you have something of great importance and
urgency to do, you can plan it fairly well just with the
aid of the table of planetary hours I’ve given below in
Lesson 6.Lesson 2. Moon Phases,
Times & SeasonsThe two greatest divisions for
magickal workings are the wax-
ing or waning phases of the
Moon. The Moon is both
your clock and your calen-
dar for working magick.
Work of a beneficial and
constructive nature, as well
as charging an amulet or tal-
isman with power, is usually
done when the Moon is wax-
ing to full. The greatest power is
between the first and second quar-
ters, when the Moon is rapidly grow-
ing full. When the Moon is waning to
darkness, the times are perfect for destructive
magick and rituals of a more earthly nature. Necro-
mancy (communicating with the dead), spells of bind-
ing and blighting, and all works of trouble and deceit,
are done during a waning Moon. The dark of the Moon,
the most ominous time of all, is reserved for works of
definite destruction and death.
Constructive magick is done for increase and
Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 11 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM