SACRED CALENDAR
Lunar Calendar & Spiritual Almanac
The timing layer your practice runs on.
The Sacred Calendar is the timing layer that runs beneath everything else in Grimoire. The moon phase, planetary hour, and solar data it tracks are the same data that appears each morning in the Daily Pulse; the Calendar gives you the full month view, while the Pulse gives you today's summary at a glance. When you're planning a working, use the Calendar to find the right window, then use the Spell Builder to build it around that timing.
Sacred dates from your Deity Journal (feast days, personal observances, deity anniversaries) flow into the Calendar automatically, so your devotional practice and your ritual timing live in the same view. If you're still learning the wheel of the year and what each phase calls for, the Lessons section covers sacred timing as part of the foundations of practice.
What's Inside
The Wheel of the Year
All eight sabbats (Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon) with dates adjusted for your hemisphere and descriptions of traditional observance.
Moon Phase Calendar
A full month view of moon phases with exact times for new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter. Current moon sign and days until the next phase always visible.
Planetary Hours
The ancient Chaldean planetary hour system, calculated for your location. Know the ruling planet for any hour of any day, and plan your workings around it.
Auspicious Dates
The calendar surfaces particularly favourable dates for specific types of working: new beginnings, banishments, manifestation, binding, and devotional practice.
Custom Ritual Events
Add your own recurring and one-time sacred dates: deity anniversaries, initiation dates, personal observances. The calendar is yours to fill.
Definition
What is the Sacred Calendar?
The Sacred Calendar is Grimoire's timing layer: the reference where moon phases, sabbats, planetary hours, solar data, and auspicious windows are calculated for your specific location and surfaced in a single view. It runs underneath the rest of the app, feeding timing data to the Daily Pulse, the Spell Builder, the Horoscope, and the Deity Journal.
The Calendar is built to be used as part of practice, not browsed for its own sake. When you need the right window for a working, you come here. When you want to see the shape of the month ahead, you come here. When a sabbat is approaching and you want to know what tradition has assigned to it, you come here.
The Wheel of the Year
What are the eight sabbats?
The eight sabbats of the modern wheel of the year fall at the solstices, equinoxes, and the four cross-quarter days between them. The dates below are for the northern hemisphere; southern hemisphere witches observe each sabbat at the corresponding seasonal moment, six months offset.
| Sabbat | Northern hemisphere | Southern hemisphere | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imbolc | 1–2 February | 1–2 August | Stirring, lambing, the first signs of spring |
| Ostara | Spring equinox (~20 March) | Autumn equinox (~22 September) | Balance, awakening, the return of the green |
| Beltane | 30 April – 1 May | 31 October – 1 November | Fertility, fire, the unbinding of the world |
| Litha | Summer solstice (~21 June) | Winter solstice (~21 December) | Peak light, abundance, the sun at its height |
| Lammas | 1–2 August | 1–2 February | First harvest, gratitude, the bread of the year |
| Mabon | Autumn equinox (~22 September) | Spring equinox (~20 March) | Balance, second harvest, the turning inward |
| Samhain | 31 October – 1 November | 30 April – 1 May | Ancestors, the thinning veil, the year's end |
| Yule | Winter solstice (~21 December) | Summer solstice (~21 June) | The longest night, return of the sun, deep stillness |
Approach
How does Grimoire approach sacred timing?
Sacred timing is one of the most expressive layers of magical practice, and one of the most accessible. A working performed at the right moon phase, on the right day, in the right planetary hour, near the right sabbat, carries the amplification of every layer at once. None of these factors are mandatory; a practised witch can work at any moment that feels right. But choosing timing deliberately is one of the simplest ways to deepen the resonance of a working.
The Sacred Calendar treats timing as a tool, not a rule. It surfaces the data and the traditional associations, but it does not insist that you wait for an auspicious moment to act. The aim is to give you the option of working with the rhythm of the cosmos when it serves your practice, while keeping that rhythm visible enough to consult at a glance.
I check the moon phase and planetary hour before most workings, not because a waning moon prevents a spell from working, but because the timing adds a layer that, over twenty years of practice, I have found genuinely meaningful. The most precise version of this is the planetary hour: knowing that the hour of Mercury is the right moment for a communication working, the hour of Saturn for a banishing, changes the quality of attention I bring to the ritual.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
What is the Sacred Calendar?
The Sacred Calendar is the section of Grimoire where the timing layer of your practice lives. It shows the moon phase and sign for any date, the eight sabbats with hemisphere-aware dates and traditional descriptions, the planetary hour table calculated for your location, and auspicious windows for specific types of working. Sacred dates from your Deity Journal flow in automatically. It is the view you open when you are planning a working rather than doing one.
What is the wheel of the year?
The wheel of the year is the eight-festival cycle observed in modern Pagan and Wiccan practice: Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, Samhain, and Yule. The four cross-quarter sabbats fall between solstices and equinoxes; the four solar sabbats fall on the solstices and equinoxes themselves. The framework was synthesised in the mid-twentieth century by Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols, drawing on older Celtic, Germanic, and folk traditions, and has since become the backbone of contemporary witchcraft's seasonal practice.
Why does timing matter in magical practice?
Timing matters because magic is a layered language, and timing is one of its most expressive layers. A working performed at the right moon phase, the right planetary hour, on the right day of the week, and during the right point of the wheel of the year carries the amplification of every layer at once. None of these factors are mandatory (a practised witch can work at any moment that feels right) but choosing timing deliberately is one of the most accessible ways to deepen the resonance of any working.
What are the moon phases and what do they mean for ritual?
There are four primary moon phases, each lasting roughly seven days. The new moon is for beginnings, intention-setting, and quiet inward work. The waxing moon is for growth, drawing in, and building. The full moon is for peak power, manifestation, and high ritual. The waning moon is for releasing, banishing, and letting go. The dark moon (the days immediately before the new moon) is for endings, deep introspection, and underworld work. Most workings benefit from being timed to the phase that matches their intent.
How do planetary hours work?
Planetary hours are a system from the classical and medieval magical tradition in which each hour of the day and night is governed by one of the seven classical planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, or Moon. The cycle begins at sunrise with the planet that rules the day (Sun on Sunday, Moon on Monday, and so on through the week), and rotates through the planetary order. The Sacred Calendar calculates these hours for your location, accounting for the actual length of day and night. The planetary correspondences themselves are catalogued in The Vault.
Are sabbat dates the same in both hemispheres?
No. The wheel of the year is tied to seasonal events, so the southern hemisphere observes the sabbats six months offset from the northern. A southern hemisphere witch celebrates Beltane at the start of November and Samhain at the start of May, at the corresponding seasonal moment rather than the calendar date used in the north. The Sacred Calendar adjusts sabbat dates automatically based on your hemisphere setting.
How does the Sacred Calendar connect to the rest of Grimoire?
The Calendar is the timing layer that other features draw on. The Daily Pulse surfaces today's moon phase, planetary hour, and solar timing as part of your morning practice. The Spell Builder uses the Calendar to suggest auspicious windows for the working you're composing. The Deity Journal lets you mark feast days and personal sacred dates that flow back into the Calendar view. And the Horoscope reads the same celestial data through the lens of your natal chart.
What you'll find inside
Explore More
From the Blog
Beltane for Solitary Witches: Celebrating the Fire Festival Alone
Beltane is one of the great fire festivals. Here is how to celebrate it as a solitary witch, simply and meaningfully.
Beltane Energy and Intentions: What to Manifest at the Fire Festival
Beltane is the sabbat of commitment and full bloom. Here's how to work with its energy intentionally, and what it's most potent for.
Working With the Moon: A Practical Guide
The moon does not care whether you are ready. But if you learn her rhythm, she will meet you exactly where you are.
Begin your practice
Grimoire is available now on Android. Download it today, or join the waitlist to be first to know when it arrives on iPhone.
