Days of the Week

Each day of the week is traditionally associated with specific deities and powers, and as such any spell or ritual you may be thinking of performing will have its greatest measure of success if it can be performed on that day.  For those spells or rituals that need to be performed over a series of consecutive days, then (depending on the nature of the goal) they should either be started on or completed on the day most closely associated with its goal.

Sunday: Traditionally the first day of the week and ruled by the Sun, it personified as Helios, Apollo, Lugh, and Beli or Bel. In some traditions, the sun is seen as feminine, personified as Phoebe (East Anglia), and Saule (eastern Europe). The Sun rules the conscious element of the human mind, the ego, the "real" self." Sunday is the day on which this power is most effective.

Magical aspects:  protection, healing, spirituality, strength

Monday: The sacred day of the Moon, personified by such goddesses as Selene, Luna, Diana, and Artimis. The Moon is ruler of flow affecting the changeable aspects of people. If a full moon falls on a Monday, its powers are at their most potent. 

Magical aspects:  peace, sleep , healing, compassion, friendships, psychic awareness, purification, and fertility

Tuesday: Dedicated to the powers of the planet Mars, personified as Ares, Tiwaz, Tiw, and Tyr. 

 Magical aspects:  controlled power, energy, and endurance, passion, sex, courage, aggression, and protection

Wednesday: Dedicated to the Teutonic god Woden or Odin, an aspect of the "All-Father" god of knowledge wisdom enlightenment and combat, the parallel of Hermes. Wednesday is ruled by Mercury.

Magical aspects: the conscious mind, study, travel, divination, and wisdom. This is the best day to engage in anything dealing with communication.

Thursday: Ruled by the planet Jupiter and dedicated to Thor, god of thunder and agricultural work. his parallels in various European Traditions include Zeus, Taranis, Perun, and Perkunas. 

Magical aspects: controlled optimism, energetic growth, physical well-being, material success, expansion, money/wealth, prosperity, leadership, and generosity.

Friday: The day of Venus, Friday takes its name from Frigga, the Goddess of Love and Transformation. She rules the spiritual aspects of people as they manifest on the physical. because of this, Friday is sometimes thought of as unpredictable. 

Magical aspects: love, friendship, reconciliation, beauty

Saturday: Ruled by Saturn and dedicated to the shadowy Anglo-Saxon god Saetere, the equivalent to the Roman Saturn, and the Greek Cronos. It is also associated with the Norns, the Norse equivalent of the Three Fates, and the Trickster-god, Loki.

Magical aspects: longevity, exorcism, endings, apprehension, austerity, caution, and limitations.

Lunar Phases

Another important consideration (some say the most important) when determining the best time for a given magical working is the moon, or lunar, phase-- how much of the moon's face is visible from your location.  Many modern mages operate strictly according to astronomical calculations, timing their rituals down to the last second.  I prefer to go by simple observation, which I believe is a more traditional method and that most likely employed by the ancients.

The Waxing Moon: period from the New Moon to the Full, this is considered the idea time for magic geared towards drawing things to you, for rituals of increase, growth and starting new projects.  The Waxing Moon phase begins at the first visible crescent. 

The Full Moon: period when 100% of the Moon's face appears to be illuminated.  There are three days consecutive days when the moon appears as a fully illuminated disk: the day before astronomical full, the day of astronomical full and the day after.  This is when all magical qualities of the Moon are at their strongest... the time of greatest power.  

The Waning Moon: period from the Full Moon to the New and is a time of study, meditation and decreasing magic... this is the time to work rituals and magic designed to remove unwanted influences and energies, to break bad habits, to end harmful relationships, and to reconcile with the past.  It is a time of endings and conclusions.  The Waning Moon phase ends when the last visible crescent disappears.

The New (or Dark) Moon: Some people don't deal with (or even mention) the period of the New/Dark Moon.  This is the time when there is nothing of the Moon visible, at all and occurs between the end of the Waning Moon phase and the beginning of the Waxing.  As with the Full Moon the Dark of the moon lasts for approximately three days and is when the power of the Moon is at its weakest.  This is a time of rest and introspection where little to no magical workings are conducted.