The Hidden Energies of Hours

The ancients viewed life in a very different perspective from that of most of us today. Their perceptions were much more tightly attuned to mysterious forces of nature that have only recently begun to be rediscovered by science, after several centuries of "rational" ignorance and misunderstanding...

Each day is now divided into 24 equal hours of 60 minutes each, as defined by the clock. However, in earlier times, time was not so rigid. For those dwelling in the days when time was measured by the sundial, things were more flexible. This is the time when astrology was first developed, as a way of understanding the natural rhythms.

In ancient times, before the invention of the telescope, there were only seven visible planets ("wandering stars") including the Sun and Moon. The planets were imbued with divine, occult power, and were widely worshipped as gods. The days themselves were named after the seven planets: seven days making up one quarter of the Moon's regular monthly cycle of approximately 28 days, corresponding to the four main phases of the Moon. This seven day lunar phase is now our week. Each day of the week thus has its traditional planetary ruler, and the planetary hours are calculated accordingly. Here is a table of the days and their traditional planetary rulers:

This table is in the order of the days of our week, starting with Sunday, but the hours of the day are ruled by planets in the Chaldean order: from Saturn inward to the Moon. This is the order of planetary speed from the slowest and most distant, Saturn, down to the fastest and nearest, the Moon, which is also displayed in the structure of the Tree of Life.

Days began at sunset, not midnight, and the period of daylight was divided into twelve equal parts, as was the period of the night. Thus hours, known as "unequal hours" at any times other than the Equinoxes, could be more or less than 60 minutes each, as judged by today's "atomic clock standard", though not by theirs (although, of course for more precise measurements as needed, say, in cooking, they did have instruments like the water clock and the hourglass). The astrological day follows the same flexible system.

Hours also vary with the location for which they are calculated. According to Anthony Louis:

"The first hour of the day, starting at sunrise, is ruled by the day ruler. For example, the first "hour" after sunrise on Monday is ruled by the Moon, on Tuesday by Mars, on Wednesday by Mercury, on Thursday by Jupiter, on Friday by Venus, on Saturday by Saturn, and on Sunday by the Sun. The remaining hours are assigned rulers in Chaldean order (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon) so that the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd hours are ruled by the same planet.

"Traditionally, for a horary chart to be considered radical, the planetary hour ruler had to be compatible with the horary Ascendant ruler. Either the hour ruler and Ascendant ruler had to be the same planet, or the two rulers had to be of the same nature or triplicity. In electional astrology, it is considered fortunate to act during the planetary hour whose ruler makes a good aspect to the Moon, especially if the hour ruler is also the day ruler and the planet ruling the hour also rules the matter of the election."

This is the hidden reason for the order and so the names of the days of the week. In ancient Sumeria, the planets were conceived in the Chaldean order, with Saturn as the first. The subsequent days were designated by the planetary hour that rose at sunrise. If Saturn ruled the first hour, it also ruled the 8th, 15th and 22nd. As Jupiter would then rule the 23rd, and Mars the 24th hour; the first hour of the following day would then be ruled by the Sun, making Sunday, and so on. The days thus came to be known by the ruler of the first hour, resulting in our present order of the days of the week. Saturn begins the week in this schema, but at some early stage and probably for religious reasons, the day of the glorious Sun was given prominence, being made the first day.

The World of the Initiate

Levels of Consciousness

Many intelligent and sensitive people in our society now recognise that life and consciousness exist on many levels, both concrete and subtle. Our five senses have been proven by science to be quite limited in their ability to perceive reality. Even our most sensitive machinery has been shown to interact with its environment in such a way as to actually affect the results of the experiment that is being monitored (in other words, nothing that is looked at behaves in quite the same way as it would were it not to be looked at!).

The ancients had a rather more relaxed and holistic view of the world, which is after all the matrix of our existence (at least those among them who had been initiated into the meaning of the mysteries of life). They perceived the living unity of reality and its periodic subdivision into a universal system of hierarchies, consisting of greater or lesser degrees of consciousness and life force.

These varying degrees, or units of consciousness, have been described by many people who have come into personal contact with such forces, or beings, in both past and present times. The Church refers to these forces as angelic (or demonic) entities. Knowledge of such powers is widespread and fully documented, though much scoffed at and pooh-poohed in modem times. Perhaps I should add that such energies are also known (and named) in all other religions and ancient philosophic systems, as well as in the Judeo-Christian-lslamic ethos, with which most of us in the West are more familiar.

Myriads of Beings

Myriads of intelligent and crypto-intelligent entities inhabit every part of the universe, at every level. Some are localised; others are extremely wide-ranging. Some are denizens of the earth; some inhabit the elements, according to their natures. People may refer to these energies as Allies, Guides, Guardian Angels, Genii, or Spirits, but every one of us has at least one of these beings assigned to travel with us along our journey through life. Some stay with us always; others appear for specific reasons, like stations on our track.

It is possible to contact and communicate with these beings, or energy structures; it can also be quite useful and mutually beneficial to do so. It has traditionally been considered easier to make contact with these essences at particular times and under conditions that are harmonious with their natures. Without going into any great detail about the methods that should be explored, this article presents tables indicating the planetary and angelic rulerships of the hours of the day.

Please have a look at the tables that I have supplied, so you can put this information to work for you! In order to understand the method of reading the tables, click here: How to Read the Tables.