At The Thresholds - On Magical Timing
There is a time for everything. With even a measure of reflection, we recognize that certain moments are more fitting than others to act. We plan weddings, change careers, or launch new ventures not only by choice, but also by timing. Our lives are structured by it: we eat at set hours, we follow daily routines, and we mark the passing of days with ritual habits. It should come as no surprise, then, that the timing of our magical actions is just as decisive.
When it comes to magic and timing, several factors come into play, depending on the schools and traditions we follow, as well as our own lived experience. In Serbian folk belief, for instance, particular days of the week hold power: Tuesday and Friday are considered the most auspicious for divinatory and magical acts. No explanation is given as to why, but common sense suggests they are liminal days. Tuesday follows Monday, the day of beginnings, often avoided for magical work; while Friday stands at the threshold of the weekend, leading into Saturday, the day set aside for honoring the dead. In a broader cultural frame, pre-Christian Europe also observed the planetary days inherited from Rome. Each day was linked to a deity and a celestial body: Tuesday to Mars, favoring acts of force, decision, or conflict; and Friday to Venus, aligned with works of attraction or protection.
The luminaries themselves, however, hold perhaps the greatest weight in magical timing, with beliefs about their influence spanning all Indo-European cultures and folk traditions. The waxing Moon is the time for growth and increase; the waning Moon is for reduction and banishment. The Sun’s daily course mirrors this rhythm: morning until noon corresponds to undertakings that build, while afternoon favors what must be diminished or concluded. Liminal hours — twilight, midnight — are reserved for contact with the otherworldly, for those forces themselves are thought to dwell in thresholds.
Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps synchronicity, that in the long preparations for my family protection amulet the gathering of all necessary ingredients concluded just before the New Moon in Virgo, giving me the chance to act at precisely the right moment. I began with an opening rite of offering to my patrons and ancestors—those whose lineage I honor through this work—on Friday night, just before the New Moon’s culmination on Saturday morning. I continued into the night, completing the amulets before the New Moon culminated, ensuring their creation was held within its influence. In this way both auspicious markers were joined: Friday, long held as favorable for beneficent work, and the New Moon in Virgo, which ties us to Hekate, the goddess of thresholds. The New Moon belongs to her sacred timing, while Virgo evokes the virginal aspect of earth—another current in which Hekate is often perceived as a virginal chthonic goddess.
The amulets, brought into being under this elected hour, now undergo a second passage of time. They remain on my altar, present in the daily acts of offering, until their release at the Full Moon eclipse in Pisces. New-age doomsaying about eclipse work doesn’t concern me; a competent practitioner observes and uses correspondences to advantage. Here, the Full Moon marks culmination. The launch will take place at 6 PM local time, two hours before the Moon’s culmination, when its influence is most potent. The eclipse itself adds to their virtue: as the Earth interposes and shields the Moon from the Sun, that gesture of protection is fixed into the amulets. And in Pisces, this veil is joined to waters that cleanse and carry away what must be shed. For this work, the timing is exemplary.
At this point, we may also ask the cards what influence this chosen timing bestows upon the amulets.
Jean Noblet Tarot, hand-stenciled majors by Jean-Claude Florny. In my private collection.
The answer could not be more fitting: Force, the Empress, and the Charioteer. The sequence unfolds like a ritual gesture — raw strength contained, authority conferred, and motion released. The woman of Force bends what is untamed, her eyes turned to the Empress, who stands as the arbiter of order and giver of sanction. With that assent secured, the Charioteer drives forward, carrying the work with unstoppable momentum. Containment, confirmation, propulsion — a rare alignment, and a blessing of clarity and power.
Thus the amulets stand, bound to their moment: conceived at the New Moon in Virgo, resting through the waxing days, and set to be released under the eclipse in Pisces. They carry the seal of lineage, the sanction of timing, and the blessing of the cards. Their task is clear — to hold, to shield, to endure.
This stands as a clear example of why we concern ourselves with magical timings at all. What may at first seem arbitrary is in fact patterned, carrying a force that has been observed across aeons and still endures the test of time. If we wish to lend true momentum to our acts, such influences must be acknowledged and harnessed. In the end, it is attention and consistency of action that remain the most reliable agents of any magic worth the effort.
Crafted from the preserved knowledge of my great-aunt Marija and my aunt Vera, this amulet is made as an all-purpose safeguard against wrongdoers, malice, and bodily harm. It was created under the New Moon in Virgo and will be released at the Full Moon eclipse in Pisces — a deliberate rhythm chosen to seal its protective current.
Each amulet contains rare and difficult-to-obtain ingredients, alongside others that cannot be revealed, some of which may never again be available to me. Only thirteen amulets have been made. Each is delivered in a pouch of red dupion silk, sewn by yours truly.
The Ancestral Amulet will be released on September 7, 2025, at 6 PM CET. Full details and launch information are available on the product page.
