When to text them
Pick your sign, their sign and your town. This page looks at the next seven days and finds the three best hours to send your message, by the old rules of planetary hours and the Moon, with late nights left out.
How the three windows are chosen
- Planetary hours from your own sunrise. The daylight between your sunrise and sunset is split into twelve equal hours, and so is the night. Each hour belongs to one of the seven classical planets in the old Chaldean order, and the first hour of each day belongs to that day's planet: Venus on Friday, Mercury on Wednesday. The hours run long in summer and short in winter, which is why your town matters.
- Venus hours first. In the old tables Venus rules love, pleasure, beauty and making peace, so its hours are the traditional pick for a warm message. Mercury rules speech, letters and messengers, so Mercury hours, the hours for clear words, are added only when Venus hours with a good Moon are scarce.
- A Moon that suits you both. Choosing a moment by the sky is called electional astrology, and its first rule is to look at the Moon, which changes sign every two and a half days or so. A window counts only while the Moon is in a sign that is the same as, or in sextile or trine to, both of your signs. When your signs sit on opposite sides of the zodiac's old polarity (fire or air with earth or water), no Moon sign can do that. For those pairs this page uses its own rule, not a traditional one: the Moon must be easy for the person reading the message and never square or opposite yours. The result page says when that is the case.
- Quiet hours left out. No window starts in the quiet hours, 10 pm to 8 am your time, and a window that runs into them is cut short where they begin.
- Retrogrades, flagged. If Mercury is retrograde during a window, the page says so: tradition does not forbid sending in one, it says reread before you send. Venus retrograde, which comes about every nineteen months and lasts around six weeks, is flagged on Venus hours too, since tradition reads it as a time for old ties and second looks more than first moves.
- The next three. The soonest three windows in the next seven days, with at most two on any one day. If fewer than three turn up, the search runs on to fourteen days.
Which Moon signs are easy for each sign
A Moon sign is easy for you when it is your own sign, or two signs away (a sextile, 60 degrees) or four signs away (a trine, 120 degrees). Every sign has five. A send window needs the Moon in one of yours and one of theirs at the same time, which is why some pairs get more windows in a week than others.
| Sign | Easy Moon signs |
|---|---|
| Aries | Aries, Gemini, Leo, Sagittarius and Aquarius |
| Taurus | Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Capricorn and Pisces |
| Gemini | Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra and Aquarius |
| Cancer | Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio and Pisces |
| Leo | Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra and Sagittarius |
| Virgo | Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio and Capricorn |
| Libra | Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius |
| Scorpio | Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces |
| Sagittarius | Aries, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius |
| Capricorn | Taurus, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces |
| Aquarius | Aries, Gemini, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius |
| Pisces | Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces |
What this can and cannot tell you
Planetary hours and the Moon's signs are an old timing system, used by astrologers for centuries to choose a moment to begin something. They describe the hour you send in, not the person you send to. Nothing here can tell you whether they will reply, how they will feel, or what they will say, and a good hour does not make a message wise or unwise.
If they have asked you not to contact them, the kindest timing is no message at all.
If you are not sure the message should go at all, it can help to talk it through with someone first. Comparing your two signs is free and takes a minute.
Talk it over with a love psychic first Free: compare your two signs
Questions people ask
What is the best time to text someone, according to astrology?
Traditional astrology has no single best hour for everyone. It uses planetary hours, which start at your own sunrise, and the sign the Moon is passing through. A Venus hour, the hour tradition gives to affection, with the Moon in a sign that sits easily with both of your signs, is the classic choice. That changes every few hours, which is why this tool works it out for your town and your week.
Why Venus hours, and when are Mercury hours used?
In the old planetary hour tables, Venus rules love, pleasure, beauty and making peace, so its hours are the traditional pick for a warm message. Mercury rules speech, letters and messengers, so its hours are the pick for saying something clearly. This tool looks for Venus hours first and only adds Mercury hours when Venus hours with a good Moon are scarce.
What if I do not know their sign?
Open "Not sure of their sign?" and enter their birthday. It is turned into a sign right away, in your browser when it can be, and the date itself is not stored or sent on. If they were born on the day the Sun changed sign, their sign may depend on the time of birth, so pick the one they would recognise.
Does a retrograde mean I should not send it?
No. Mercury turns retrograde three or four times a year for about three weeks, and tradition reads it as a time when messages go astray or come out wrong, not as a ban: reread before you send. Venus turns retrograde about every nineteen months for around six weeks, and tradition reads it as a time for old ties and second looks more than first moves. Either way the page says so and leaves the choice to you.
Why are late nights left out?
A window never starts in the quiet hours, 10 pm to 8 am your time, and a window that runs into them is cut short. A message that lands while someone sleeps is read later, out of its hour, and late messages are easy to misread.
What do you keep, and for how long?
Your two signs, the name of your town, your time zone and the times of the windows, for 30 days. No birthday, no names and no message. Every plan page has a button that deletes it at once, together with any reminders still waiting. If you turn on reminders, the notification address your browser makes for them is kept too, with a record of each reminder sent for up to 30 days. The address carries no name, sign or town, and it is deleted within a day once it has no reminder left to receive, unless you also asked for the daily reading on that phone.