Should I never sign during Mercury retrograde?

The classical advice is to avoid it where you can, and to read everything twice where you cannot. About three weeks three times a year are retrograde; life does not stop. The checker shows the next clear window if the signing can move.

Does the time of day matter?

Yes. The Moon moves about half a degree an hour and can go void or change sign within a day, so the checker judges morning, midday, afternoon and evening separately.

How far ahead does the list for signing a contract go?

Two weeks. The list is recomputed every hour from the real sky, so it is always the next two weeks from now. Bookmark the page.

What if there is no clear window?

Sometimes the sky is busy for a stretch and the next two weeks have none. Then the window checker will show you the least bad part of a day, and the answer is to go with your eyes open or wait.

What time zone are these in?

Central time first, with UTC under it. The embedded checker on this page shows every window in your own time.

Best days to

Best days to sign a contract

Contracts, leases, agreements, offers accepted, the moment you commit in writing. Anything where the words bind you later. The checker below is set to signing a contract; pick a day and it judges each part of it, with the rule and its source.

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Computed hourly

The next clear windows for signing a contract

Right now the Moon is in Aquarius, first quarter. Venus and Saturn are retrograde.Computed Oct 19, 07:58 UTC. The tool shows your own time.

Tue, Oct 20, 8:58 pm Central to Wed, Oct 21, 5:58 am CentralOct 21, 01:58 UTC to Oct 21, 10:58 UTC
Wed, Oct 21, 8:58 am Central to Wed, Oct 21, 11:58 am CentralOct 21, 13:58 UTC to Oct 21, 16:58 UTC

The general sky, in Central time and UTC. Add your rising sign in the checker and it reads against your chart, in your own time.

What the sky weighs

The rules for this

The classical rules for signing are mostly about Mercury and the Moon. Mercury rules the written word, so Mercury retrograde is the first thing the engine checks against: contracts signed then have a reputation for coming back for renegotiation. The void-of-course Moon is the second: an agreement started while the Moon makes no more contacts in its sign tends to drift.

On the good side the engine looks for a waxing Moon (beginnings grow), the Moon in a fixed sign (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius, for permanence), Mercury's day (Wednesday), and the Moon applying to Venus or Jupiter. Each rule that fires is listed with its source.

If the day is mixed and the signing cannot move, read the contract twice and keep a copy of every version.

Every rule that can fire, with its source

-3 The Moon makes no more contacts before leaving its sign. Matters started now tend to drift — nothing comes of them.William Lilly, Christian Astrology (1647); concept from Sahl ibn Bishr, On Elections, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2008)
-2 Mercury retrograde: paperwork, agreements, and messages misfire more easily. Review is favored; new signatures are not.Sahl ibn Bishr, On Elections, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2008); Hephaistio of Thebes, Apotelesmatics Book III, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2013)
-1 The dark of the Moon: weak light, weak starts. Seed privately; announce later.Hephaistio of Thebes, Apotelesmatics Book III, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2013)
+1 Moon in a fixed sign: what you start now tends to stick. Choose it for permanence, avoid it for anything you may want to unwind.Dorotheus of Sidon, Carmen Astrologicum Book V, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2017)
+2 The Moon's next contact is a friendly one to a benefic — the matter lands softly.Sahl ibn Bishr, On Elections, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2008)
-2 The Moon's next contact is a hard one to a malefic — friction arrives before the finish line.Sahl ibn Bishr, On Elections, trans. Benjamin Dykes (2008)
+1 Today's planetary ruler favors this kind of action (Sun-Sunday: visibility; Moon-Monday: home and gathering; Mars-Tuesday: contest and effort; Mercury-Wednesday: contracts and messages; Jupiter-Thursday: growth and asking; Venus-Friday: partnership; Saturn-Saturday: endings and structure).Picatrix (Ghayat al-Hakim) Book I, trans. Dan Attrell & David Porreca (2019)

For a business

How owners use it

Leases, supplier agreements, client contracts, the partnership deed. For a business the stakes are the terms you live with for years, so the fixed-sign rule carries weight: a lease signed with the Moon in Taurus is the textbook election.

Rhythm for Business plans the quarter around these windows: the new moon as the start of a cycle, the full moon as its review, and the clear windows for the decisions that matter. Open Rhythm for Business.