Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

day associated with the appropriate planetary at-

tributes, but also on the hour as well. The most power-

ful magickal alignments, therefore, would be created

by matching up the hour, day, and sign of the Zo-

diac—all with the same purposes.

On the previous page is Abano’s basic “Table of

the Planetary Hours.” To use it, first check an almanac

to find the exact times of sunrise and sunset for the

day. Midway between them is either midnight or noon,

and these are the actual times you should go by. Note

that these times seldom fall at exactly 12:00 noon or

12:00 midnight by the clock. From this, you will be able

to see what planet rules which hour.

Lesson 6. Clock of the Flowers

The great Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-

1778) once planted a timekeeping flower bed which he

called “Flora’s Clocks.” Arranged in a clock-face de-

sign, these became very popular in the ornamental

gardens of 19th Century Europe.

But flower clocks are rare today because of the

difficulty in finding and cultivating flowers that will

keep time in various seasons and localities.

Here are examples of common flowers found in

England and the US whose times of opening and clos-

ing are regular enough to keep time within ½ hour on

a sunny day. The exact times may vary somewhat in

different locations, but will still occur hourly.

Lesson 7. Moon Signs

And then the Moon, always punctual,

To mark the months and make division of time:

The Moon it is that signals the feast,

A luminary that wanes after her full.

The month derives its name from hers,

She waxes wonderfully in her phases,

Banner of the hosts on high,

Shining in the vault of heaven.

—Ecclesiasticus 43:6-9 (Jerusalem Bible)

As the Moon moves across the sky from night to

night in its 28-day cycle, it advances by 12.86° on

each successive evening, taking it through each of

the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Thus it spends 2.3 days in

each sign. The Moon rises an average of 50 minutes

later each night, but close to the Equinoxes, it rises

just 25 to 30 minutes later across the US, and only 10

to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe.

When the Moon is in a certain sign, the lunar

attributes will be influenced by the characteristics of

that sign, and different sorts of magick may be worked.

Because the actual constellations vary greatly in size,

while the signs are assigned 30° each, the Moon may

sometimes appear in a constellation different from its

official sign. Here, starting with Aries, are the 28

colorful names and magickal workings traditionally

associated with each position of the Moon among the

stars. Names in parentheses are those of the nearest

constellations or named stars.

1. Horns of Aries— Destruction and discord.


2. Belly of Aries— Finding treasures; reconciliation.


3. Showering (Pleiades)— Good fortune to hunters,
   sailors, and scientists.


4. Eye of Taurus (Aldebaran)— Discord, revenge,
   separation; destruction of man-made things.

20 03

The Planetary Hours

(German woodcut,

1490)

184 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 13 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM