Electional Astrology · Choosing the Moment
Pick what you need to do, then see which day — and which clock hours — are fit to begin
What this page reads
Western electional has its own rules for beginning things: the Void-of-Course Moon (between the Moon's last aspect in a sign and its entry into the next, what you start tends not to land), Mercury retrograde, and the lunar phase — then today's fast transits to your own natal points. The first three are the same for everyone born on any date; only the last is yours.
What are you planning?
Pick a scenario and the tool compares dates with the matching event weights.
What electional astrology does
Electional astrology is the branch of Western practice concerned with when to begin something, and it is a different craft from reading a birth chart. Its hardest rule is the void-of-course Moon: between the Moon's final major aspect in a sign and its entry into the next, what you start tends not to come to anything. That rule is natively hour-level — the conclusion lands as "do not sign between 14:07 and 18:32 today". Above it sit Mercury retrograde, the best-known electional caution in the English-speaking world, and the lunar phase, where a waxing Moon suits beginnings and a waning one suits finishing. On top of all that we lay the day's fast transits — Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars — against your own natal points. This page computes all four layers and gives you a date and an hour.
How to use it
01
Pick the task
Different tasks watch different natal points: a negotiation reads Mercury and the Midheaven, an investment reads Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, a wedding reads Venus, Moon and Sun. The weight of the void Moon shifts too — launches and signings fear it most, focused solo work barely notices it.
02
Enter birth time and birthplace
The birthplace is required. Without coordinates there is no Ascendant and no houses, and computing anyway silently produces a different chart — no error, nothing empty. We would rather stop and say so.
03
Read the day, then the hours
Under the top pick you get the day's usable clock windows, to the minute. They are cut from the task's workable hours minus that day's void-of-course span, and each window says why it qualifies.
How this differs from other date pickers
The void Moon is computed, not looked up
We scan a real ephemeris for the Moon's major aspects to nine bodies — outer planets included — and its sign ingresses, reconciling to within a minute of published VOC tables. Nothing is hard-coded, so any year works.
Windows are minute-accurate, not two-hour blocks
A void-of-course conclusion already lives at a precise minute. Forcing it into a two-hour slot throws that precision away for nothing, so this page reports real clock intervals.
Mercury retrograde is read per task, not as a blanket ban
In the Western reading, retrograde favours the re- work: revisiting, reviewing, revising. So deep work scores slightly better during a retrograde, while signings and launches take the full penalty.
Where this tool stops
Three of the four layers are the same for everyone
Lunar phase, Mercury retrograde and the void Moon sort days, not people — on any given date they are identical for every reader. Only the transits to your natal points are yours. So the honest reading of this page is "is this moment fit to begin", not "is today your lucky day".
Fast planets only
Jupiter through Pluto move in windows measured in years; those belong to the transit report, not to date selection. Here we read Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars — the bodies that actually operate on the scale of a single day.
Questions people ask
Why is the birthplace mandatory?
Without coordinates there is no Ascendant and no house system. Left blank, the calculation falls back to a default point on the equator and carries on — no error, nothing empty — producing a chart that looks fine and has every house wrong. Blocking is the honest response.
Is the void Moon really that important?
In the electional tradition it is the first hard rule. We weight it by task: beginnings — launches, signings, opening day — take it most seriously, while heads-down solo work barely feels it, since classical sources read a void Moon as favouring stillness.
Can I read this alongside BaZi?
Yes — that is the combined page. There, astrology does not vote; it gates. A void Moon or a Mercury retrograde can push down a day that both BaZi and Zi Wei liked.
Does it cost anything?
No. Everything is free and spends no credits. All positions come from a local ephemeris computed on the spot, with no AI involved in judging the dates.