CHAPTERXVIPLANETARY HOURS
No records that are available to us serve to determine at what period in the course of social evolution the need for a week of seven days first made itself felt, nor can we discover who it was first invented it.
Newton believed that Chiron was the first to define the constellations of the heavens, and this also was the opinion of the Greeks. But that is to give to the mythical centaur a personal reality. It is true that we may find him, along with his contemporary Hercules, by whose arrow he met his death, among the constellations, and if it be the fact that the Greeks exalted their heroes to the stars and shaped the constellations so as to record their fame for ever, then we can only conclude that Chiron did not define the constellations of either Sagittarius or Hercules, whatever may have been his part in the matter so far as the rest are concerned.
It is further to be observed that long before the period ascribed to the famous centaur we have mention of the constellations in the Book of Job, where Arcturus, the Pleiades, Orion and the Mazzaroth are mentioned. Both Homer and Hesiod mention some of the constellations,but it is known that Hipparchus, about 150B.C., defined the limits of forty-eight of the asterisms, while Ptolemy gave us a complete catalogue. Some constellations have since been added by Tycho, Helvetius and others. But from what has already been said on this subject it will be evident that the mythology and astronomy of the Greeks was closely connected, but this does not of necessity prove a Greek origin, for we have yet to determine the origin of the myths. That many of these are shared by the Assyfians, Aryans, Persians and Egyptians, seems to show that they had a Chaldean origin. The Chinese have an astronomy which appears to be unique and without parallel among other nations.
If we go back to the earliest record, the Chinese, we shall find that they had no week of days, but a cycle of sixty days, and also one of sixty years. But the days of the month were reckoned from the Moon’s age, the day of the New Moon being called the first day. Thus we find in the earliest record such expressions as “the first day of the first moon he brought things to a conclusion in the temple of his ancestors,” and “on the first day of the twelfth moon,” etc. Even the great Confucius gives no hint of any week of seven days. In his Chun-Tsiu he makes such entries as the following: “In the fifty-eighth year of the cycle and the third year of the reign of Prince Yiu Kung, in the Spring, on the first day of the Second Moon, the day being the sixth of the cycle (of sixty days), the sun was eclipsed.” All his entries are of thesame careful and explicit nature, and expressed in the same terms, that is to say, in reference to the Cyclic year, the number of the month, the year of the reigning Prince of Lu, and the day of the cycle of sixty days.
The earliest divisions of time among the Aryans also follow the Sixty-year period, and the use of the Tithi or Moon day is also to be found in the earliest astronomical records. Nothing more, indeed, is needed for an accurate record of time than an Epoch, a cycle of years counted from that epoch, the number of the last lunation, and the day of the month counted from that lunation. The introduction of a week of days is an adjunct that has no special value in a time sense, and could only have been the invention of a state of civilization in which ceremonies and institutions of a weekly recurrence were required to be indicated and fixed. We find mention of the week, however, in Sanskrit writings, asSomavar(Monday),Kujavar(Tuesday),Buddhavar(Wednesday),Brihaspativar(Thursday),Sukravar(Friday),Sanivar(Saturday) andSuryavar(Sunday), but there do not appear to be sufficient grounds for fixing an epoch at which they came into use.
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 beshown 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 arederived 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 1hr.20min.of civil time.
The seventh hour will commence at noon and willlast 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 the5thof July, when the day is found to be 16hrs.28min.in duration, one-half of which is 8hrs.14min.One-sixth of this is 1hr.22min.20sec., 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 1hr.22min.20sec., which amounts to about 11min.46sec., say 12min.This being continually added, from noon onwards, gives the beginnings of the subdivisions of the Hour, as shown in the table. In myKabalaI 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.Figure 18.
Figure 18.
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.Figure 19.
Figure 19.
Figure 19.
It may, therefore, be of use to the student if the general significations of the planets are here given.
TheSunsignifies the father, ruler, or person inauthority, gold, health, life, matters relating to government, preferment, honours, inaugurations and constitutions, male life generally, the daytime.
TheMoonrelates to the mother, public bodies, silver, white fabrics such as linen; changes, matters relating to public affairs, women, the night, and female life generally.
Marsrefers to all youths and marriageable men, fire, iron and steel, anger, strife, muscular force, cuts, burns and wounds, blood, death, things that are scarlet or red, fevers, enterprises, operations, incisions, soldiers and pioneers.
Mercuryhas reference to boys and scholars, writings, papers, short journeys, buying and selling, deeds of writing, food, clothing, furniture and personal equipment, trade, profession, speech, quotations.
Jupiterhas relation to affairs of justice, gain, increase, expansion; to lawyers, insurance, religion, philosophy; affairs of grandeur and display; hopes and fears, wishes, expectations, money and success.
Venusrefers to young women of a marriageable age, to engagements, births, weddings, social functions, pleasures, theatres, music, art, peace, rest and happiness.
Saturnis related to privation, darkness, solitude, coldness, hatred, jealousy, heavy weights, gravity, soberness, gloom, doubts, difficulties, falling, loss, sickness, aged people, old associations, memories, black and sombre colours, mourning, death.
In a word, the characteristics of a letter or event will be: In the hour of the Sun—Honours; that ofthe Moon—Changes; that of Mars—Strife; that of Mercury—Business; that of Jupiter—Gain; that of Venus—Pleasure; that of Saturn—Loss.
It is to be observed that the use of the statute hour in connection with planetary action has arisen from the consideration of their universality, and an equatorial scheme in which the Sun rises at six o’clock approximately would thus yield a day of twelve hours, and each quadrant would embrace six hours of little more or less than sixty minutes each in duration. But the application of the statute hour to sunrise in high northern latitudes would appear to be without adequate foundation, and in effect we find that the results depending thereon are not consistent. It is these inconsistencies, arising from the introduction of new elements into the ancient scheme, and the general neglect into which the whole subject has fallen, that has given the impression that the ascriptions are fanciful and the matter not worth investigation. I know enough of the matter, however, to warrant my calling attention to these Planetary Hours as most worthy of close study by students of celestial influence.
A considerable field of research lies open to the diligent student. It has to be finally determined, for instance, whether apparent sunrise is to be taken as the basis of the calculations or the true Sun’s centre rising. The latter is not subject to corrections for parallax, nutation, and aberration, but depends on the rising of the Sun’s longitude on the celestial horizon, the false horizon being ignored. The celestial horizon, it should be observed, is always90° from the Zenith. The formula for this calculation is: Log.tang.latitude of place + log.tang.Sun’s declination = log. sine of Sun’s ascensional difference. For North declination add to 90° and for South declination subtract from 90°. The result is the semiarc diurnal of the Sun, and twice this is the diurnal arc or the time the Sun remains above the horizon. Convert to time at the rate of four minutes for every degree and four seconds for every minute of arc.
We have then to determine whether sunrise is the correct starting point, or whether it should not be noon, as in agreement with the original Chaldean conception of the division of the circle into “evening” and “morning.”
I may say that in my experience the count should be made from sunrise, that the true Sun’s centre rising should be taken, and that the Chaldean order of the Hours should be preserved. I have also found that the subdivisions play quite a minor part in the determination of results, and that all events falling within the limits of the Planetary Hour should be found subject to the ruler of that Hour, and only in a subsidiary degree to the ruler of the subdivision of the Hour. I may now pass to a consideration of another aspect of this interesting subject.