HOURS
In traditional astrology, the period between sunrise and sunset was subdivided into 12
hours, each ruled by a different planet. The tradition, to which there have been no
serious modifications since the discovery of planets beyond Saturn, stipulates that the
day should be divided into 12 equal segments between sunrise and sunset, which will
thus vary in length according to the season. On a particular day, the first of these
hours is ruled by the planet ruling that day of the week. In other words, on Saturday,
the first hour would be ruled by Saturn; on Sunday, the first hour would be ruled by
the Sun; and so forth. The succeeding hours are ruled by the next planet in the follow-
ing order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, and the Moon. After reaching the
Moon, one begins again with Saturn and repeats the same order.
Ancient astrologers were careful to carry out certain activities during appropri-
ate hours. It was said, for example, that Paracelsus (a sixteenth-century German
alchemist and physician) always chose to prepare chemical compounds on days and
during hours when the ruling planet matched the therapeutic intent behind his com-
THEASTROLOGYBOOK [335]
HoursAn image of Horus and Anubis from The Dawn of Civilization: Egypt and Chaldeaby G.
Maspero, 1894. Reproduced by permission of Fortean Picture Library.