Lesson 5. Planets,
Days and ChakrasPlanets & Days
The word planet means “wan-
derer.” Ancient peoples observing
the heavens noticed that there were
seven celestial objects that
changed their positions, moving
against the unchanging back-
ground of the fixed stars. These
were the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mer-
cury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
And so they referred to them as the
Wanderers, or planetes in Greek,
even though we now consider our
Sun a star, and our Moon a, well,
moon—and with our telescopes we
have since discovered three other
planets beyond Saturn: Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto (of dubious
planetary status). As they traveled
through the heavenly realms, these
seven visible planets were identi-
fied with seven gods and goddesses
(or angels) in every culture. To the
Egyptians these were, respectively,
Ra, Sin, Set, Thoth, Isis, Hathor, and
Nepthys. In Greece they were called
Helios/Apollo, Artemis, Ares,
Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and
Chronos. The Romans gave them
the names we still use today: Sol,
Luna, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Ve-
nus, and Saturn.
The Moon revolves around the
Earth every 27.3 days, completing a
cycle through all her phases in 29.5
days. These two cycles average out
to 28.3 days, which we call a luna-
tion, or month (from “moon”). Since
at least the 3rd millennium BCE (in
Sumer), every calendrical civilization
has divided these 28-day periods
into four weeks of seven days each.
Initially, these were simply num-
bered, but eventually each day was
assigned to a planet (or deity). Since
the Sun and Moon are the brightest
and most important planets, the first
and second days of each week are
always theirs. The attributions of
the other days are also very similar
across cultures: Tuesday belongs
to the God of War; Wednesday to
the God of Magick and Wisdom;
Thursday to the God of Thunder;Friday to the Goddess of Love; and Saturday to the
God of Time and Death. These seven Planets/Days
have been assigned numerous Correspondences, some
of which are indicated on the accompanying Table.
The system was introduced into Hellenistic
(Greek) Egypt from Mesopotamia, where astrology
had been practiced for millennia and where seven had
always been a sacred number. It became the norm
throughout the Middle East and was used informally
in the Roman Empire by the 1st Century CE. In 321 CE,
Emperor Constantine (ruled 312-337 CE) grafted this
astrological system onto the Roman calendar, declar-
ing the first day of the week—dies solis (“Day of the
Sun”)—a holy day of rest and worship for all. This
new Roman system was adopted with modifications
throughout Western Europe, and is the basis of our
modern calendars.
The recent convention, becoming more common,
to start calendar weeks on Monday, is a result of Chris-
tian influence. The Bible says: “Remember the 7th day
and keep it holy.” Since the time of Constantine, most
Christians think of Sunday as their holy day, so they
prefer to number it as the 7th day, rather than the 1st,
which it is. Historically, however, Saturday has always
been the 7th day, and also the Sabbath (“to rest”), as in
Judaism—even for Moslems and Eastern Orthodox
Christians. In Hebrew, this is Shabbat; in Arabic,
asSabt; and in modern Greek, Savvato.Chakras
Chakras (“wheels” or “lotuses”) are energy centers
of the astral body that are associated with parts of the
physical body. The seven major ones are associated
with areas along the spine and with the central ner-
vous system. Hindu
Yoga teaches that prana
(“life force”) flows
through the body via a
network of very fine
channels called nadis.
This is like an astral ver-
sion of the network of
nerves, or of blood ves-
sels. The main nadi
(sushumna) parallels the
spinal cord, running
from the base of your
spine to the top of your
head. Like the major plex-
uses of the nervous sys-
tem, the Chakras are a
series of resonance
nodes or vortices along
the sushumna. From
bottom to top, these
are: 1 Root, 2 Sex, 3
Solar Plexus, 4 Heart, Mary AnnZapalacSun DayMoon DayTiw’s Day
(Teutonic god of war)Woden’s Day
(Teutonic god of wisdom)Thor’s Day
(Norse god of thunder)Fria Day
(Teutonic goddess of love)Saturn Day
(Roman god of the harvest)Course Three: Practice 137
Corrected pages PM.p65 8 3/25/2004, 2:27 PM