I'm reading When: The Art of Perfect Timing by Stuart Albert. It's an intriguing book that explores the concept of timing and how it applies to the business world. He identifies 6 different types of timing that can be applied to business or life. Each of these types of timing can be applied to space/time magic as well, provided we understand them and how they can be used in magical work. The concept of timing is important in magic because when we do a working we don't always want it to manifest right away, or we want it to manifest it right away and in order to do that we need the timing to be applied in order to align the variables favorably and manifest the possibility into reality.
The first type of timing is: Sequence. I wrote about sequence in Magical Identity as a useful tool that allows your linear perspective of time to accept non-linear possibilities. Sequence simply demonstrates the temporal order of events, but what's important to note about sequence is that it can be changed and rearranged provided you create consistency in your sequence which allows the linear consciousness of your min to accept the new sequence. Sequence examines the order, interval and duration and location, and helps you consider these variables in your space/time workings. Knowing where and when you need to be somewhere or where and when something needs to occur is important in the timing of your working. Similarly understanding how long a given action in the sequence occurs can helpful for considering variables that can either change that action or change the length of time needed for it to be accomplished.
The second type of timing is: Temporal Punctuation and borrows from the grammatical aspects of language. If you consider punctuation in English for example, you know that a comma, colon, and period each signify different temporal actions. This awareness of punctuation can be applied to the timing of your workings. For example if you want to pause the timing for an event to occur, apply a comma to the working. If you want a specific list of actions to occur, use both the colon and the comma. If you want something to come to full stop, apply the period.
The third type of timing is: Interval and Duration. The intervals are used to measure time and actions within time. A application of them to space time magic asks how long until or how much time. Duration is the overall time needed for the working to occur and it can be useful to situate the intervals in the duration in order to factor in what needs to occur when in order to move a possibility into reality.
The fourth type of timing is: Rate. Rate examines how the environment changes in relationship to temporal events. The rate of speed for a given event can be effected by multiple variables and unless we understand those variables we may not fully see the whole picture as to why an event is unfolding slowly or quickly. We may even make assumptions about a series of events related to the speed with which they unfold, without recognizing that other variables are having an effect on the speed. Magically speaking we can influence the rate of a given event by understanding how to slow it down or speed it up as needed.
The fifth type of timing is: Shape. The shape of a temporal event is rarely a straight line, though we often fool ourselves into believing it is. If you examine the processes of a given organization you'll see the principle of shape in action in the form of bottle necks or in organizational bureaucracy. For space/time magicians, shape can be quite useful because it provides us a way to think about time which captures some of the hidden possibilities and realities of it. We step out of linear time and recognize how time isn't a straight line, but instead is often curved and effected by other variables that we didn't consider. Shape also helps us understand time in terms of changes. For example a helix shape is a cyclical shape that nonetheless shows a progression in time...useful for charting where we are in a cycle as well as what is changing in that cycle.
The sixth type of timing is: Polyphony. Polyphony is the comprehension and application of all the other types of timing simultaneously. I also think of it as polychronic time, which is the experience of multiple events and possibilities of time occurring in one space. Polyphony adds a vertical element to timing that allows us to more fully explore the possibilities and integrate them into reality. Polyphony allows us to understand how different temporal events overlap each other and provides us a way to explore and integrate variables into our magical working by charting where they are in relation to the possibility we want to manifest and the reality we want to manifest it in. Polyphony teaches us how to comprehend multiple possibilities in a given space and choose which ones are most favorable for our desired outcomes.
I feel that to one degree or another I use these various aspects of timing in my own magical work. I find that when you apply timing to magic, it makes the magical work more precise and focused. Instead of just doing a working and leaving it to the universe to manifest it, you set up the parameters for when it'll manifest and this consequently holds you more accountable to making the magic work, because you know that if certain things don't occur within your timing, you need to go back and figure out where n your process you mucked things up.