Planetary Influences, Days & Hours by Robin Baker

Planetary Influences, Days & Hours by Robin Baker

Planetary Influences
Ancient cultures as far back as Mesopotamia knew of, and used, only seven of the planets we know today. These astrological bodies were the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Certain powers and attributes were associated with each planet. These seven planets were also connected with certain days of the week and certain hours of the day and the night. This knowledge was applied to both ceremonial rituals and magical spells.
The waxing and waning of the moon was also taken into consideration when planning the time of a spell. The waxing moon was used for increase, building, and growth, while the waning moon was used for decrease, release, removal, destruction, and binding. The use of planetary hours will be discussed later in this lesson.
The following list of planets and their elements does not provide all the correspondences. However, the examples will aid you in making other association, such as different but similar deities.

Sun: Sunday is the day of the week associated with the Sun. The word Sunday is derived from the words “Sun’s day.” Its color is bright yellow or gold. The metal traditionally listed is yellow gold; however, anything that is a true shining gold will work. Associated stones are goldstone, topaz and chrysoleth. The Sun is said to rule the sign of Leo. Oils and incenses associated with the Sun are Egyptian Kyphi, heliotrope, cloves, frankincense, cinnamon, and vanilla. Use for rituals involving healing and health, prosperity and success, confidence, physical vitality, quick money, honor, friendships, and active change.

The Moon: The weekday of the Moon is Monday; the word Monday is derived from “Moon’s day”. Corresponding colors are silver, pearl-white, light blue, and lavender. The metal is silver. Stones are the moonstone, clear quartz crystal, and beryl; some list the pearl also. The Moon rules the sign of Cancer. Oils and incenses would be lily, jasmine, lotus, and white rose. Use for rituals involving visions, divination, dreams, love, birth, emotional problems, and domestic and family situations.

Mars: The weekday of Mars is Tuesday; the modern word comes from the Old Norse “Tiw’s day.” The metal is iron or steel. The associated color is red. Corresponding stones are garnet, bloodstone, red agate, ruby and red topaz. Oils and incenses would be dragon’s blood and any peppery scents. Use for rituals involving energy, courage, conflicts, surgery, physical strength, endurance, destruction, defense, and winning.


Mercury: The weekday for Mercury is Wednesday; the modern word Wednesday comes from “Odin’s or Wodan’s day”. Mercury is associated with changeable colors, or colors connected with changeable ideas or emotions, such as orange, violet, and multi-colors. The traditional metal is quicksilver, which is unsafe to handle; substitute an alloy metal such as aluminum instead. Associated stones are the carnelian, fire opal, and agate. Mercury is said to rule the signs of Gemini and Virgo. Oils and incenses can be white sandalwood and storax. Use for rituals involving creativity, scientific reasoning, business, divination, eloquence, writing and speeches, inspiration of all kinds and healing nervous disorders.

Jupiter: The weekday of Jupiter is Thursday; the word comes from the Old Norse ‘Thorr’s day.” The metal is tin and the colors are blue and purple. Corresponding stones are lapis lazuli, amethyst, turquoise and sapphire. Oils and incense would be lilac, storax, saffron, cedar, and nutmeg. Jupiter rules Sagittarius and Pisces. Use for rituals involving honor, prosperity, success, good health, friendships, good luck, religion, legal matters, trade and employment.

Venus: The weekday of Venus is Friday; the modern day is associated with the Old Norse “Frigg’s day” or “Freyja’s day.” Colors can be light green, light blue and pink. The metal is copper and the stones are amber, malachite, jade, peridot, and turquoise. Venus rules Taurus and Libra. Corresponding oils and incenses are apple blossom, verbena, rose, and red sanders or sandalwood. Use for rituals involving love, marriage, artistic creativity, fertility, partnerships, spiritual harmony, and children.

Saturn: The weekday of Saturn is Saturday, or “Saturn’s day.” Colors are black and indigo, while associated stones are onyx, obsidian, jet, and star sapphire. The metal is lead. Corresponding oils and incense would be myrrh storax, and civet. Saturn rules Aquarius. Use in rituals involving knowledge, death, reincarnation, binding, overcoming curses, protection, intuition, and dealing with karma.

The Days and Hours
Just as the days of the week are connected with the seven planets, so is each hour of the day and the night. By carefully considering the phase of the moon, the planetary day, and the planetary hour, a magician can fine tune spells, thus making the rate of success much higher.

When working with planetary hours, one should not think of them in the same manner as one thinks of clock hours. Planetary-day hours technically are measured from sunrise to sunset, while planetary-night hours are measured from sunset to sun-rise. Each span of time (sunrise to sunset or sunset to sunrise) is then divided into twelve equal parts. Each part is then considered to be a planetary hour. No consideration need be given to time zones. However, this calculation can become very involved and time-consuming, as the span of time measured changes each day.

Planetary hours do not remain the same from one day to the next through any given week. The calculations begin with Sunday and end with the following Saturday. The sequence of the planetary hours are rotated so that at the end of twenty-four hours the next planetary hour on the next day will be that of the planet ruling that day.

According to astrological and magickal users, the influence of a planetary hour would be strongest on the week day of its corresponding planet. For example, Mars hours would be strongest on Tuesday. In addition, the planetary hours and days would be strongest during the month ruled by that planet. Therefore, Mars would be most influential on Tuesdays in the astrological month of Aries, March 21 to April 19.
When choosing planetary hours, the magician should recognize that the meanings for the hours can be slightly different than the meanings for the planetary days.

The Sun: Sun influences tend to be full of activity and dealing with those in a position of authority. Use Sun hours for business advancement, quick money, working on stalled enterprises, entertaining for social purposes, and dealing with any governmental agency.
The Moon: Many people consider the moon unstable and negative. However, this is not necessarily true. Moon influences may be changeable and emotional, but this is not bad. Use Moon hours for domestic affairs, short journeys, making changes that will be temporary in nature, and anything of an emotional nature. Moon hours can also be beneficial in divination of all types.
Mercury: Mercury influences deal primarily with the intellect, memory, understanding, and expression. Use mercury hours for work dealing with speeches, writing, business conferences, study, advertising matter, publishers, printers, scientific studies, newspapers, and lawyers.
Venus: Venus influences are associated with happiness, love, friendships, the arts, beauty, dinners and banquets, houses, furnishings, and land. Use Venus hours for starting exercise programs, to go on a diet, get a new hairstyle, learn to use cosmetics, meet with friends, settle disagreements, hold low-key business conferences and make travel arrangements.
Mars: Mars influences tend to boldness, aggressiveness, and ambition. Use Mars hours for anything that requires physical energy to accomplish or anything that needs courage and resolution to gain what you desire.
Jupiter: Jupiter influences always have a beneficial effect. Use Jupiter hours for studying religious materials, advancing spiritual growth, beginning new enterprises, applying for a loan, healing and health matters, and working with anything that requires justice.
Saturn: Saturn influences tend to be conservative, organizational, cautious, and karmic in nature. Use Saturn hours for anything to do with building, leasing, property improvement, mental healing, working out karmic relationships and issues, endurance, breaking up blockages, delays, and hindrances, and reaching or getting decisions that have been a long time in consideration.

The first five planets, excluding the Sun and the Moon are sometimes called the “physical” planets, as they are associated with the five physical senses Mercury
rules sight, Venus the emotions and sensations, Mars taste, Jupiter smell, and Saturn hearing. The Sun is connected with the life force or physical vitality, while the Moon rules the body in general and the form it takes, and emotional reactions to people and events.
Although the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not given space in planetary hour charts, or assigned to week days, they do have influence upon humans and events. The three outer planets play an important part in human life, as they affect less physical and more spiritual, matters. They can be used through the hours of other specific planets.
Uranus rules the human aura, intuition, and clairvoyance. It can cause sudden, unexpected events, as well as anything odd, unique, and rather revolutionary in nature. It rules the occult sciences, metaphysics, telepathy, inventions, reforms, natural healing (no chemical drugs). and the fields of radio, television, and computers. It is applied through the hours of Mercury.
Neptune is associated with mental perception and reasoning ability, psychometry, psychic phenomena, séances, perfumes, chemicals, brewers, and all parts of the fishing industry. It is applied through the hours of Venus.
Pluto is associated with exposing injustice, revitalizing ideas, astral and dream experiences, hypnotism, surgery, legacies, taxes and insurance, exposing crimes, and spiritual laws. It is applied through the hours of Mars.
There are, however, some additional rules of planetary hours about which you hear little. To observe these rules, you must have a correct natal chart and understand which planets in your chart might be considered adversely aspected. Adversely aspected planets are primarily those in opposition or squared to other planets. For example, if you have an adversely aspected Saturn or Mars in your natal chart, some astrologers believe it is best to avoid using Saturn or Mars hours. These astrologers believe that the hours of these planets are not fortunate to anyone. They teach that the best planetary hours are those that fall between ten am and noon, provided the hours are not those of Saturn and Mars.
When worked with a proper attitude and caution, any planetary hour can be used to benefit the magician, regardless of the chart’s adverse planets. The magician, however, must be well aware of the adverse planets and plan the energy use in
strictly positive ways. This is particularly true of Saturn, which rules karma and karmic events. If you have an adversely aspected Saturn, and are working in that hour and/or on that day to help other people feel their karma immediately, you will find yourself dealing with your unsolved karmic issues first.
When choosing a planetary hour, wait at least fifteen minutes into that hour before you begin your magical work. This will put you safely within the desired time regardless of whether you are north or south of the equator, or what latitude you live in.
It is best to work first by doing any magical spellwork on a specific planetary day. It is easiest for apprentices to start with this method. Then, work with both the day and a specific planetary hour. These two combinations will usually be sufficient for most magical needs. If you have enough preplanning and foresight, you can add the correct planetary month to the equation.
If you find that the spell did not work correctly according to the planet you chose, carefully consider the planetary energy needed for the magic. You may need to choose a different planet and plan the spellwork to approach the result from a different angle.