Planetary Days (Revisited)

Looking Back on an Experiment From Two Years On

Eclipse season is almost upon us, and it’s good to be aware of the funk that can stir up, both personally and globally. Check out When The Snake Swallows the Sun for some mythological context, and remember to avoid taking important decisions, signing new contracts or making major purchases within a few days of either eclipse. Spiritual practice and prayers are said to be amplified during this time. Otherwise, laying low is a good idea.

Now back to your regularly scheduled planetary programming…

---

image credit: sciencealert.com

Two years ago I wrote about an experiment I was conducting as part of my deepening engagement with Jyotish (Vedic astrology). The experiment involved putting my schedule, insofar as possible, into accordance with the planets who rule the days of the week.

If this notion of planets ruling the weekdays is new to you then you may, like many, be missing the clues hidden in plain sight within the mongrel mother tongue we call English.

Sunday is ruled by, well, the Sun. Monday by the Moon. Saturday by Saturn. Makes sense, no? It’s obvious once you see it.

Only the Norse gods horned in at some point during the Dark Ages and re-christened according to their pantheon, so that Wednesday’s named after Odin (Woden), instead of the original Mercury. (Though even this overlay is in line with the original, seeing as Odin’s something of a mercurial figure; same goes to some extent for Freya and Venus, who’s still Friday’s namesake in other Indo-European languages, e.g. Italian “venerdì,” or Hindi “shukravar).”

The point is, even under the Germanic overlay we’ve got going in English, the planetary rulers are never far below the surface.

With due respect to the Norse gods, here are the associations in their earlier form:

Sunday - Sun

Monday - Moon

Tuesday - Mars

Wednesday - Mercury

Thursday - Jupiter

Friday - Venus

Saturday - Saturn

Back to my little experiment.

For several reasons, I focused my energies initially on Saturn and his day, seeing as Saturn is among the most demanding of planets and the most feared. You can read more about appeasing Saturn here, while still more context can be found in Robert Svoboda’s indispensable The Greatness of Saturn (a translation and commentary on a Marathi vernacular version of the Shani Mahātmya).

So I began with Saturn, fittingly, but things progressed from there. The structural logic of the planets and the week just made too much intuitive sense for me not to run with it. It was almost as if this hidden-in-plain-sight system of correspondences was a missing link, an organizing principle that held some long-lost key. Key to what, you may ask? I would say, to a schedule that makes satisfying sense. To knowing what to focus on when. To an organized life with a place and time for everything.

A year or so on, I would say the experiment has been a success, which is to say it has gone from experiment to simply being how I live. The planetary valences for each day have come to feel second-nature, like remembering something long forgotten. These esoteric-seeming planet/day associations are buried deep in the Indo-European psyche, after all; they’re circuits waiting to be re-activated, and once they’re humming you wonder how you did without them. Or so I’ve found, at any rate. It’s hard to imagine my life now without the structure provided by the planets, their rhythms and moods and themes.

I make no claims that this is the way everyone should be living. But I do suspect some will find it useful. The planetary framework can save a lot of time and effort in decision-making. Though seemingly limiting, it’s actually quite liberating, in the paradoxical way that only constraints can be.

So, like a prospective student testing the waters at strange-yet-familiar new school, you’re invited to join me on a trip through my planetary week.

Of course, no single week actually looks like what I’m about to describe. My life is not free of chaos, crises, lapses, complications, spontaneity, or any of the foibles and fumbles that make things interesting. This is merely a template, a point of departure. And a work in progress.

Sunday

We start out with the day I’ve struggled with most, as Sunday demands setting aside the mundane in order to attend to the the spirit and what’s sacred. For, symbolically, the Sun represents the soul. The Sun is magnanimous and highly visible in nature; as such the Sun asks us to step out into the public realm, setting our differences aside to worship together in some way, shape or form. I’ll admit that as an introvert with lots of projects simmering away, setting aside work and going to be with people in a temple of some kind is not always what I want to do. But it’s often what I need to do.

As it happens, my wife, Julia, hosts dance church in our barn each Sunday. I’ve come to embrace this practice. It’s not always comfortable showing up in community, moving through whatever’s present, bumping up against edges in myself and others. I’m not the world’s most skilled dancer, either. But a big part of the practice is simply showing up, letting myself be seen, feeling the feels, and taking part in something with transcendent potential.

On days when I play hooky from the dance, I’ll often go hike up the closest we’ve got to a mountain around here. A little nature communion in a high place—I think the Sun gives that a pass.

Bottom line: the Sun — king of the planets, spiritual center, the radiant soul itself — deserves his due.

A word on another common Sunday activity, watching sports: this may not be the highest expression of the Sun’s energy, since the spiritual component is arguably lacking in the NFL or the Premier League. But at the same time, setting aside the mundane to watch a public spectacle in which people strive for excellence—well, there’s something solar in that. Television may put it at a distance, but the atmosphere in a packed stadium can definitely approach religious heights of devotion and fervor. A reminder that ritual takes many forms.

Food-wise I’ll sometimes make Sunday gravy, which is Italian-Americanese for red sauce. Pasta, moussaka, something like that. In India, the sun’s color is red.

Sundays still aren’t my strong point, but they’re starting to come into focus.

Monday

Mondays can have a domestic flavor, with time for laundry and making a pot of soup for the week ahead (the Moon rules water, nourishment and home). I haven’t been seeing clients on Mondays, though this is going to change soon, so I often have time to work in the garden and on the Heartward Sanctuary grounds (the Moon rules agriculture). Monday is sometimes a rest day if the weekend’s been full, and it’s one of the days I’m apt to indulge in a long shower or soak (the Moon is watery).

Mondays are moody, I find, which makes sense as the Moon rules emotions. It’s a good day to make space for the feels. At one point we tried to hold a regular Monday meeting but it tended to get overly emotional. Since the Moon is the most changeable and quick-moving of the planets, so Mondays are one of the most variable days. I try to stay a bit flexible (with an eye to the naksatra, or asterism tenanted by the Moon that day) and take Mondays as they come.

If I’m really on my game, I’ll refrain from eating red meat on Mondays (Moon is a Sattvic or pure-minded planet who’s honored by such abstention) and instead cook something involving rice and coconut (lunar foods). In practice it’s often fish night.

My mother and I have a standing Monday phone date (Moon is the archetypal Queen Mother of the planets).

Tuesday

Tuesday is, by design, one of my main clinic days, as Mars rules all manner of cutting and poking: acupuncture fits the bill. Heat therapy (moxa) is Martian in nature, too.

I make sure to get some good exercise in on Tuesdays: to break a sweat, at least. Martial arts of all kinds are well supported this day. If I were a martial arts teacher I’d make Tuesdays my biggest day of the week for classes and competitions.

I’ll often make a Turkish style red lentil soup with tomato and chili (Mars rules red foods and spicy ones). Usually some red meat, too (around here that means lamb or mutton — beef being taboo for anyone doing more than dabbling in Vedic tradition).

Hanumān-ji is one of the deities who embodies the positive aspects of Mars—vital warmth, energy, courage, prowess. I’ll often make a point of chanting the Hanuman chalisa. Just as often it’s a rock n roll type day, though: a good day for singing loud in the car, getting some energy out.

Tuesday’s not a great day for activities where you need to make peace or keep it mellow, and (according to the principles of muhurta), not a great day for initiating important new projects, as a rule. Mars energy can be edgy and isn’t always easy, but it can be harnessed to good cause.

Wednesday

Wednesday is Mercury’s day, the crossroads of the week where the fleet-footed messenger god resides. It’s a busy day that always seems to be chock full of meetings, astrology consults (Mercury is the astrologer among the planets), writing (Mercury’s a communicator), financial work (Mercury’s a merchant and a numbers guy)—a little bit of everything. Mercury is versatile like that. Thrives on varied activity, and lots of it. Buzz buzz.

For me the key to Wednesdays is to go with the million-things-at-once energy, staying nimble and willing to shift gears frequently. Other days may be better for deep, focused work. Wednesday is for the million other things that also need some attention.

Sometimes Wednesday are game nights (Mercury loves games). They seem to go well on Wednesdays.

What Wednesdays aren’t is consistent, but Mercury prefers some variety, and I find it’s better to go with it.

I try to eat something green in honor of Mercury, and plenty of good fat to feed and calm the nerves that can be frayed be Mercury’s frenetic tempo.

Thursday

Thursday belongs to Jupiter, benevolent priest and teacher to the gods: a figure of gravitas, wisdom and optimism. It’s one of the most auspicious and expansive days, so it’s nice to lean into these qualities.

Education, arbitration, counseling, spiritual discourse, long-term planning—all these things are supported on this day. As for me, I’m in the acupuncture clinic again on Thursdays—more of a Martian activity as mentioned above—but I try to make a special point of recalling the Doctor as Teacher principle and sharing some counsel, say through I Ching consultations with patients.

I’m not doing any formal teaching at the moment, but if I start I might aim for a Thursday class. Thursday’s a good day for writing, too (though since I work early on this day, I can struggle to fit it in).

For listening I’ll often put on an educational podcast during my Thursday commute.

Food-wise, I’ll make something full of butter and cheese for dinner. Jupiter likes rich, fatty but pure (sattvic) foods. Bonus points for anything orange/yellow/golden. Pumpkin gnocchi, a risotto (add saffron) or just a simple grilled cheese would fit the bill nicely.

Friday

Friday is Venus’ day, the day for some luxury and sweetness. It’s marriage day around here, the day Julia and I have set aside for our weekly date, or as much of the day as we can manage, say from 12 or 1 pm on. The best is when we set aside the whole day so we don’t have to switch out of work mode in order to connect, but we don’t manage that often because, well, life.

Venus rules the water element, and we’ll either have a bath or go swimming, or at least walk by the lakeside, depending on the season. Usually, in winter anyway, we’ll start with a bath to soak away the week and get on the same page. Sometimes these Friday baths make for emotional heavy lifting a we work through unresolved funk from the previous seven days. But we almost always end the bath in better stead than we started it, even if it takes two hours. It’s probably not news to anyone that relationships take work.

But we make a point of getting to the fun parts, too. Friday is the day we’ll eat out, take in a flick, hit up a vintage shop or see some music. The point is that we do our best to put all the stresses of daily life aside on Fridays and really soak in beauty and pleasure.

Fridays help make the rest of the week worth it. For anyone facing relationship challenges, especially, I highly recommend creating your own version of a Friday Venus ritual. It’s been a game-changer around here, a touchstone we’ve come to count on to keep things juicy.

Saturday

Last but not least, Saturdays remain a get-’er-done work day in my world. They start, however, with some altar time during which I’ll chant the Hanuman Chalisa (Hanuman being especially indicated for assisting with Saturnian difficulties) and recite a Saturn mantra. Slowly.

Then it’s into work clothes for a morning dump run (I refer to our local Chatham County Transfer Station), and from there to all manner of maintenance projects here at the Sanctuary. Slow and steady is the name of the game on Saturdays: such is Saturn’s tempo and how the race is run (and won).

Saturn rules iron and old things, so it’s fitting for me to get onto the old International 254 (a tractor from the same vintage as me) and do some bush hogging or whatever. The hand tools and chainsaws are apt to get a workout on Saturdays.

Being in the midst of sadhe sati (an intense Saturn transit lasting about 7.5 years), I eat strictly vegetarian till at least sundown on Saturdays and avoid indulgences like dessert until then, too. Perhaps it’s possible to honor Saturn without being austere, but for those undergoing more intense Saturn cycles, some voluntary austerity helps to keep one to keep pace with Saturn’s ox-cart. The alternative is to be dragged along behind.

Odd as it may sound, I’ve come to relish these Saturdays and the hard work they encourage. So much of my life is spent in more abstract or heady endeavors, it’s good for me to put on dungarees and get good and dirty on a weekly basis. Saturn has a way of putting things in perspective and helping one appreciate the simple things, like a shower and change of clothes at the end of a satisfyingly sweaty day.

---

Well, there you have it. The above is a highly personal and idiosyncratic take on living with planetary rhythms, and no one but an obsessively-inclined jyotishi (one with a fairly flexible work schedule) is likely to go so far with it. But most anyone stands to benefit from paying the planets a bit more heed when it comes to the calendar.

An example given in Light on Life (the best English language intro to the Vedic astrology) concerns a woman who found her business meetings to be riddled with conflict and tension. An astrologer suggested she move the standing meeting from Tuesday to Thursday, and the problems evaporated.

There’s a whole art of choosing an auspicious moment to begin a thing, and in truth the weekdays are just one piece of it, but they’re an important piece, and an accessible one. A good place to start.

In closing, my real hope here is to encourage folks to experiment with these dynamics and the ways they’re already operative in your life. Are there ways you’re unwittingly honoring the planets with the schedule you’ve devised for yourself? Ways you’re going against planetary rhythms that could be making unnecessary waves? Unsure how to adapt these principles to your more rigid 9-to-5 schedule? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.