Understanding Planetary Days and Hours

Good Stars Jyotish

Happy Monday everyone!

I started today’s podcast with a short rundown of the astrology for the last week of February 2021. The points worth mentioning for the week are:

Mercury stations direct on February 21

Venus enters the sign of Pisces on February 25

Full moon in Virgo on February 27 (culmination of the auspicious moon cycle that started with the new moon on February 11)

I plan to either write and record a quick podcast to cover the last two points later this week, but the main focus of the podcast is understanding planetary days and hours.

Before we go into more detail about what this means, take a minute to ask yourself the question: What is time?

Photo by M on Unsplash

In most cases, your definition is likely to be similar to the one I found when I google “time definition”. In a nutshell, time is a measurement either of periods or hours, minutes, seconds.

However, what if I told you there is actually an ancient system that speaks to the quality of time?

If you think about it, thinking about time in this way really shouldn’t be surprising. We all have experienced those times when we just couldn’t concentrate no matter how hard we tried, when there was a strange aggressive feeling in the air, or times when we find it easy to communicate or enjoy ourselves as well as times when the opposite is true.

You can analyze theses differences, as well as make choices for when to do what, by using the ancient system of planetary days and hours.

So what are planetary days and hours?

Good questions!

This system and method for measuring the quality of time hails back to the Hellenistic astrology, although it may have its roots in ancient Babylonia.

In this system, each day of the week is assigned to one of the seven classical planets as follows:

* Monday is the day of the Moon

* Tuesday is the day of Mars

* Wednesday is the day of Mercury

* Thursday is the day of Jupiter

* Friday is the day of Venus

* Saturday is the day of Saturn

* Sunday is the day of the Sun

This system was one so ubiquitous that it is still reflected in the days of the week. For example, the Romance languages still reflect the Greco-Roman tradition, e.g. lundi, lunes, etc. for Monday (Luna=the moon), but switched the weekend days to indicate “Sabbath” (e.g. sábado) and “the day of the Lord” (e.g. domingo) after the rise of christianity.

In English, we kept Saturn and the Sun for our weekends, and used the names of Germanic deities for the rest of the week, e.g. Thursday which is “Thor’s day,” the Germanic deity that is the equivalent to the Greco-Roman Jupiter/Zeus.

This same system of planets for each day is also reflected in many languages on the Indian subcontinent as well as a number of Southeast Asian language.

However, as the name of this post suggests, this system does more than just give each day of the week to a planet. This same system describing the quality of time is also divided into each hour of the day. Although the break-down of the planetary hours is somewhat complicated (more on that later), how it works as that the first hour at dawn always goes to the planet of that particular day.

For example, at dawn on Saturday, it is the hour and day of Saturn.

After this, the hours follow what is called “Chaldean order”. This describes the classical seven planets from slowest to quickest, and therefore goes as follows: Saturn (the slowest), Jupiter, Mars, the Sun (considered a “planet” in this system, as is the moon), Venus, Mercury, the Moon.

So, in other words, on Saturday (the day of Saturn) we start at dawn with the hour of Saturn which is followed by the hour of Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon and then Saturn, thus the cycle starts again.

This order is the same no matter what the day, e.g. at dawn on Wednesday (the day of Mercury) we get the hour of Mercury followed by the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus and then Mercury again, which restarts the pattern.

However, as I mentioned above, the hours are not usually split into neat 60 minute intervals (except at the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox). They are divided depending how much light there is during the day. For example, when there is less light in the winter, the daytime planetary hours are less than 60 minutes and the nighttime planetary hours are more than 60 minutes; at times of the year when there is more light, the opposite is true.

Although you could figure out the math and calculate the hours yourself if that’s your kind of thing, I suggest just checking out on of the many free planetary hour calculators or apps, like planetaryhours.net. If you don’t know the symbols for the planets, the sun and moon should be obvious as are Venus and Mars (although most people know these already, what they symbolize are a hand mirror (Venus) and a shield and spear (Mars). Mercury looks like the symbol for Venus with two little horns, Saturn looks like an h with a line through the top and Jupiter looks like the number four.

If that still doesn’t make sense, then just google astrological symbols for the planets and you’ll find them all over the place, but go ahead and ignore the outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, which aren’t part of this system.

Ok, that’s kind of interesting, but also abstract and technical. What the heck does it all mean?

As I mentioned above and in the podcast, this system measures the quality of time. What this means is the days and hours of each of the planet have a quality that supports and/or manifests the following:

Day and/or hour of the Sun promotes visibility or vitality. This day and/or hour would be great for asking for a promotion, making a presentation or performance, improving your health or social status. NOT as ideal for work in the background or intense, solitary concentration.

Day and/or hour of the Moon is ideal for doing things that bring you comfort or make you feel nurtured or nurturing towards others. This is a great time to “watch Netflix and chill,” take a long leisurely bath, cook a delicious meal (with lots of butter and cream), indulge in rich desserts or undertake any domestic activity that is not too strenuous. NOT as ideal for doing things that are strenuous, require (unpleasant) levels of concentration or that take you out of your comfort zone.

Day and/or hour of Mercury is deal for abstract thinking, writing, analyzing and rational and logical communication (opps, I think I forget to mention this planet in the podcast!). This is a great time for business transactions or visiting a busy market, which are also ruled by Mercury. NOT as ideal for emotional or artistic communication (more the realm of the moon and Venus. One more thing worth mentioning is that the days/hours of particular planet also carry the quality of that planet’s condition at the time. For example, when Mercury is retrograde, which happens three times a year, the typical miscommunication, technology hiccups and transportation snafus that happen will be particularly pronounced during its days and hours.

Day and/or hour of Venus supports any social occasions, love, marriage, improving your appearance, art and increasing harmony. This is a great time to get a new haircut or shop for new clothes, sing or play a musical instrument, go on a date or socialize in general. NOT as ideal for activities where its important to be assertive or do strenuous exercise (other than the very Venusian sexual intercourse).

Day and/or hour of Mars supports physical exertion, assertiveness and boldness. However, this energy can be confrontational and/or aggressive as well, so its NOT ideal for times where more diplomacy is called for (this would be Venus), rational discussion (Mercury), etc.

Day and/or hour of Jupiter is great for success is all things, great beginning (e.g. for starting a business or project) or financial and spiritual pursuits. In general, you really can’t go wrong with Jupiter, who brings good luck and optimistic buoyancy. However, some caution is advised as Jupiter tends to overdone and is sometimes prone to excess or being overly (i.e. blindly) optimistic.

Day and/or hour of Saturn is great for anything that requires discipline, intense focus and concentration, solitary pursuits and work that is tedious but needs to get done. This energy is also great for working of breaking bad habits and accepting responsibility. NOT ideal for any kind of socializing other than perhaps deep scholarly discussions or anything that needs a light and easy feeling of buoyancy.

If you would like the support of a particular planetary energy, waiting for the day and hour or that planet is best, but if that’s not possible, then shoot for that planet’s hour on any given day.

A few more thoughts about planetary days and hours.

This system really is amazing and can bring a lot into your life. However, don’t just take my word for it. Do a little investigation yourself.

When you notice that the energy in the air is really tense and heavy, or particularly cheerful or pleasant or aggressive and combative, note down the time or take a peek in your planetary hours calculator. Chances are you’ll be able to see a pattern, e.g. the first will be a Saturn-toned day/hour, the second Venusian and/or Jovian and the third Martial. For research purposes and testing the system, I suggest doing it retrospectively like this rather than looking ahead, as this will rule out suggestibility.

Don’t get hung up on tracking the hours compulsively. This system is definitely helpful, but it still not something that should take over your life. However, for important decisions or strategies it can be super helpful.

Want to post something on your blog that gets you attention and comes across as pleasing to your reader? Then shoot for the day and hour of Venus or perhaps the day of the Sun (visibility) and the hour of Venus (pleasing energy).

Need to confront your spouse on a topic that you tend to fight about? Do not do this during the day and hour of Mars! Instead, go out for a jog and have that talk in the hour of Venus or Mercury instead.

Have fun and feel free to share your stories below.

XOXO

Rebeccah

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