The planetary hours are an ancient magickal tool that arises from Hellenistic and Babylonian astrology. It operates on the premise that each magickal hour of the day (that is, one-twelfth the time between sunrise and sunset, or sunset and sunrise) is ruled by one of the seven classical planets, and that the energies of this planet are auspicious during the hour it rules. Modern witches can use day and hour correspondences to maximize the energies of their spellwork, if they are willing to do a little bit of math!
I was first exposed to the planetary hours in my study of the written occult tradition of the West. I was reading different tomes on occult philosophy and practice, and references to the planetary hours kept turning up in different places, giving me the sense that this was a stable magickal concept that could be utilized outside of the Arte of the Grimoires. It seemed ancient and wizardly, to be honest, and that’s what attracted me to the study of them. Once I learned the Chaldean order, the order of slowest to fastest apparent movement of the celestial bodies in the sky, I was able to understand the progression of magickal hours throughout the days and nights. It was my very first experience with memorizing something magickal, and it made me feel powerful and mysterious. I was a young witch then; don’t judge me harshly for my vanity and arrogance.
The Chaldean order is Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. This pattern is repeated over and over again to number the planetary hours of a day. It is also used, when counted by threes, to identify the planetary ruler of a day. Sunday is ruled by the Sun, count three ahead to Monday which is ruled by the Moon, count three ahead to Tuesday which is ruled by Mars, Wednesday by Mercury, Thursday by Jupiter, Friday by Venus, and Saturday by Saturn.
It’s important to note that for magickal purposes, the day begins at sunrise and the night begins at sunset. The first hour is the ruler of the entire day or night. This can get confusing when dealing with nighttime hours. In the use of the planetary hours, magickal Wednesday Night doesn’t follow magickal Wednesday Day (and the same is true of other days and nights). Magickal Wednesday Night is actually the sunset following Magickal Saturday Day, because the night that is ruled by Mercury is the first night of the week. The chart below illustrates this concept.
Calculating the Planetary Hours
To calculate the daytime planetary hours, you need to know the exact time of sunrise and sunset of that day. Once you have the length of the day in minutes, divide that number by 12 to know the length of a single daytime planetary hour in minutes. It will only be 60 minutes around the time of the equinoxes; it will be greater than 60 minutes in the summertime and less than 60 minutes in the wintertime. Beginning with sunrise, add the length of the planetary hour to get the time that the next hour begins. Then add the length again to get the time that the next hour begins. After doing this 12 times, you should get the time of sunset (within a minute or two, to account for stray seconds not accounted for in the math).
To calculate the nighttime planetary hours, you need to know the exact time of sunset and the sunrise for the following day. Once you have the length of the night in minutes, divide that number by 12 to know the length of a single nighttime planetary hour in minutes. It will only be 60 minutes around the time of the equinoxes; it will be less than 60 minutes in the summertime and greater than 60 minutes in the wintertime. Beginning with sunset, add the length of the planetary hour to get the time that the next hour begins. Then add the length again to get the time that the next hour begins. After doing this 12 times, you should get the time of sunrise (within a minute or two, to account for stray seconds not accounted for in the math).
Here is the table of daytime hours for Tuesday, November 17, 2020, in Columbia, MO. Sunrise is at 6:35am, and sunset is at 4:34pm. Length of the day is 9 hours and 57 minutes. Length of the planetary hour is 49 minutes.
| Hour | Start | End | Ruler |
| 1 | 06:35 | 07:24 | Mars |
| 2 | 07:25 | 08:14 | Sun |
| 3 | 08:15 | 09:04 | Venus |
| 4 | 09:05 | 09:54 | Mercury |
| 5 | 09:55 | 10:44 | Moon |
| 6 | 10:45 | 11:34 | Saturn |
| 7 | 11:35 | 12:24 | Jupiter |
| 8 | 12:25 | 13:14 | Mars |
| 9 | 13:15 | 14:04 | Sun |
| 10 | 14:05 | 14:54 | Venus |
| 11 | 14:55 | 15:44 | Mercury |
| 12 | 15:45 | 16:33 | Moon |
Using the Planetary Hours in Magick
There are two ways to use planetary hours. The first is to focus strictly on the hour itself, without regard for the day of the week. The second is to incorporate the energy of the day of the week into the planetary hour. Either way is acceptable, but I prefer to incorporate the energies of the day into the spellwork I’m doing.
Each planetary sphere (and yes, for these purposes the Sun and Moon are considered planets) has a certain magickal energy associated with it. These energies and associations govern which hours are best to work certain types of magick and also let you know which hours to avoid doing magick in. For example, if you’re doing something secretive, an hour of the Sun is probably the worst hour you could choose for it — unless you’re secretly working to shine some light on a shady situation! Similarly, if you’re needing to handle a delicate situation, you would probably want to choose Mercury over Mars because Mercury’s energies are more adept at negotiating where Mars is more unyielding.
I’ve included a table of correspondence here for reference.
| Planetary Ruler | Correspondences |
| Saturn | Long term stuff, career, institutions (such as prisons, hospitals, marriage), investments, cosmic judgment and consequences, bindings. |
| Jupiter | Increase, good luck, gambling, speculation, mercy, long-distance travel. |
| Mars | Enthusiasm, energy, passion, protection, competition, aggression, determination, dealing with men. |
| Sun | Wishes, success, happiness, all-purpose. |
| Venus | Love, luxury, beauty, decorating, romantic or creative things, pleasure. |
| Mercury | Law, education, travel, thinking, communications, dealing with siblings, medical. |
| Moon | Changes, emotions, secrets, dealing with women. |
Blending Different Planetary Energies
Remember that each day and night has a ruler that governs the entire time period. This is very useful in magick! You can do a spell on a night of the Moon in an hour of the Moon and be bathed in lunar energy for your work. Or you can do a spell on the night of the Moon in an hour of Mercury to focus on using mercurial energy to influence some lunar-associated thing — like communicating with a woman you’re interested in or making a clandestine journey. The first hour of a day or night, right at sunrise or sunset, has particular oomph, but so does the eighth hour, when the ruler of the day or night comes through a second time in the sequence of hours. This time usually occurs in the afternoon or in the wee hours of the night, and is often called the witching hour.
The planetary hours are a fascinating aspect of the Western Occult Tradition, rich with symbolism and power. I hope you find them useful in your practice.