Author: Maria Kay Simms
Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: April 2001
ISBN: 156718622X
Price & More Info: Click Here
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Almost everyone involved in the Western magickal tradition or a system derived from it has heard of the planetary hours. Each 1/12 of a day's total time of daylight and each 1/12 of a day's total time of night is a planetary hour, ruled by one of the astrological planets. Spells performed during a planetary hour favorable to the goal of the spell receive a boost in power, are easier to cast, etc. according to the specifics of the tradition one is working in.
While the chart listing which planet is associated with which planetary hour is simple, determining when a specific planetary hour occurs on a given day can require quite a bit of calculation as the length of day and night are different every calendar day. While the calculations aren't really complex, they are tedious and error-prone. Many people simply ignore planetary hours rather than go through the hassle of computing them every time they need to perform a spell or ritual.
A major portion of A Time for Magick is a set of tables which reduces most of the calculations to simply looking up the time in a set of tables and modifying it to match your location. If you use -- or would like to use -- planetary hours in your workings, these tables are easily worth the price of the book just in the time and effort they will save.
The rest of the book covers issues like what basic astrological meanings of the planets are and what areas they rule. There are also rituals and mediations for each planet. If you are a beginner, this material will probably be useful. If you aren't a beginner, this additional material will probably be much less useful to you.
The meat of A Time for Magick, however, is in the charts for figuring planetary hours. Since using the tables makes calculating planetary hours a quick and easy task and this book is far cheaper than the professional astrological programs I've see which calculate them, it's probably a worthwhile addition to any magician's bookshelf. It's certainly one of the more practical and useful books in the magick section of my bookshelves.
Reviewed by Randall
Additional Books by Maria Kay Simms
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