The days of the week as we have them appear to be of Hebrew origin, and probably were derived from the Chaldeans, for in the first place the appointment of specific duties for the several days of the week, culminating in the day of divine worship on the seventh or Sabbath day, requires such a division of time, and in the second place it can be shown that the order of the days of the week can only be accounted for by reference to the Chaldean order of the planets, which, as has been shown, has reference to their apparent velocities.
The Septenary division of days, etc., is distinctly Shemitic in its origin, and we find accordingly that the system was extended by the Hebrews to a period of seven years, and to a further period of seven times seven years which was celebrated as the Jubilee. The cycle of seven is not elsewhere found. Western nations have done what they can to break down this old institution by associating the Sabbath with Sunday instead of Saturday, and by celebrating the Jubilee at the end of fifty years instead of at the end of forty-nine. But the teachings of the astrologers and tenacity of the Jewish faith have served to keep the astronomical and religious aspects of this institution intact.
But whereas we find difficulty in tracing the origin of the week-days through any authentic records, we have still more difficulty in ascertaining the principles by which the first day was allotted to the Sun, the second to the Moon, and so forth. One cannot tell the day of the week by looking at the sky or by taking into account any known astronomical factor. But whatever may have been the reason for fixing on a particular day as the Sun-day and beginning the week with it, it has been adhered to ever since, and, so far as we astrologers and Kabalists are concerned, it is satisfactory to know that it works out on empirical test.
What are known as the Planetary Hours are derived from the succession of the days of the week, commencing with the planet ruling and giving its name to the day, and following the Chaldean cyclic order. Thus on a Sunday the first hour is governed by the Sun, to which follow in succession, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. On a Saturday the first hour is ruled by Saturn, to which succeed in order, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. Then as there are twenty-four hours in the day and seven hours in the planetary cycle, the latter will be contained three times, making twenty-one hours, and there will be three hours still to run. So if we begin with Sun on Sunday and follow with the cycle through the day, we shall complete the third cycle with Mars, and the twenty-second hour will be the beginning of the next cycle under the rule of the Sun, to which succeeds twenty-third Venus, twenty-fourth Mercury, and the first hour of the next day will be under the rule of the Moon, which will accordingly be Monday, as shown in the following tabular form, which may be extended at pleasure. The planetary hours differ from the statute hours inasmuch as they are divisions of the natural day and night. The day is counted from sunrise to sunset, and the night from sunset to the next sunrise. From sunrise to noon is the space of six planetary hours, and from noon to sunset six. Hence if the day is fourteen hours long, each planetary hour will be equal to one statute hour of sixty minutes and twenty minutes beside, making 1 hr. 20 min. of civil time.
The seventh hour will commence at noon and will last for eighty minutes, and the eighth hour will begin at 1.20 and will also last for eighty minutes. The foregoing table shows the afternoon or second quadrant of six planetary hours on the 5th of July, when the day is found to be 16 hrs. 28 min. in duration, one-half of which is 8 hrs. 14 min. One-sixth of this is 1 hr. 22 min. 20 sec., which is successively added to Noon to find the beginnings of the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth hours. The last hour thus begins at 6.52 and ends at 8.14. The subdivisions of the hour are one-seventh of 1 hr. 22 min. 20 sec., which amounts to about 11 min. 46 sec., say 12 min. This being continually added, from noon onwards, gives the beginnings of the subdivisions of the Hour, as shown in the table. In my Kabala I have shown the practical working of these hours and Periods of the day so that there is no need to repeat the process in this place.
Figure 18.
The Kabalists and Thaumaturgists have always had recourse to the Planetary Hours for the purpose of performing their operations under specific influences, and anybody who will take the trouble to note the time of an event happening and compare it with the nature of the planet ruling in that hour will find ample reason for confirming the scheme as we have it from the ancient Hebrews. But this, perhaps, involves a more intimate knowledge of astrology than is professed by the average man.
Figure 19.