IN ‘CHARMED’, PHOEBE SAYS THERE ARE THREE ESSENTIALS IN CALCULATING A SPELL, FEELING, TIMING, AND PHASES OF THE MOON. SHE IS RIGHT! IN THE TIMING, WICCAN DAYS ARE CALCULATED FROM SUNRISE TO THE NEXT SUNRISE. YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN THE SUN RISES WHERE YOU ARE LOCATED WHEN YOU CAST YOUR SPELL. (I usually use http://www.sunrisesunset.com because you can not only custom set your city, but you can view the data for a whole month, and even print out a custom calendar*) .
YOU FIND THIS OUT, YOU DO A CALCULATION BASED ON HOW MANY ACTUAL MINUTES THERE ARE IN THE DAY (SUNRISE TO SUNSET), AND HOW MANY IN THE NIGHT (FROM SUNSET TO THE NEXT SUNRISE). FOR INSTANCE, A SUNRISE TIME OF 6:23 AM AND A SUNSET TIME OF 7:29PM GIVE YOU 13 HOURS AND 6 MINUTES OF DAY HOURS, OR 786 MINUTES. YOU DIVIDE 786 BY 12, AND YOU COME UP WITH A DAY HOUR LENGTH OF 65 MINUTES (do not round up!). SO, STARTING AT 6:23AM YOU ADD 65 MINUTES, AND COME TO 7:28 AS THE START OF YOUR SECOND DAY HOUR. THE LAST HOUR IS YOUR “FLEX” HOUR, WHERE ALL THE REMAINDERS ARE STORED. THIS WILL BE A DIFFERENT LENGTH THAN THE PREVIOUS HOUR LENGTHS, AND THAT IS CORRECT.
FOR NIGHT HOURS, DO THE SAME. 7:29PM IN MY EXAMPLE, TO THE NEXT SUNRISE, WHICH WILL BE WITHIN TWO OR THREE MINUTES OF 6:23AM, THE PLUS OR MINUS DEPENDING ON WHAT TIME OF THE YEAR IT IS. SAY, IT IS 6:25AM. SO, 7:29PM TO 6:25AM GIVE YOU 10 HOURS AND 56 MINUTES, OR 656 MINUTES. DIVIDE BY 12, AND YOUR NIGHT HOURS ARE 54 MINUTES LONG. YOUR SECOND NIGHT HOUR STARTS AT 7:29PM PLUS 55 MINUTES, GIVING YOU 8:24PM. AND SO ON…
(*my listing of certain sources and/or websites is not to be considered a personal endorsement, paid or otherwise, for these items, but merely an honest accounting of what I, personally, do to prepare/execute a spell/curse. YOU USE WHATEVER MEANS TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL THAT YOU WISH! IT IS, AFTER ALL, YOUR WILL!)
CONTACT: sdmany@manyplanning.com