The planetary hours of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and Moon is an ancient system of astrology and magic lost to the West in the 16th century but still in use in Asia, and is incredibly powerful, if you know how to use it.

At the heart is the relative speed of the planets as seen from Earth  known as the Chaldean Order, which goes Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.  This astrological system fell out of favour after Copernicus and then Kepler proved that the Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun, and that the Earth was not flat. However, we now know that it was common knowledge in the West that Earth was a sphere. In the rush to distance themselves from the heresy that the Earth was no longer the centre, Western astrologers throw the celestial baby out with the bath water. How pervasive this system was is seen from the influence of the bible of astrology, Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblios, which was approved by the Vatican. Today, the Tetrabiblios is an embarrassment to astrologers. who simultaneously acknowledge its historical importance but then ignore it.

Structure of the Planetary Hours

Historically each day began at sunrise, not at midnight as we know it. Sunrise to sunset is the day, and sunset to sunrise is the night. The day and night periods divides into twelve, which means of course that length of the hours varies with latitude and time of the year. To know the planetary hours for your location requires knowledge of the latitude, longitude and height above sea-level – easy today as most of us have GPS in our phones. In the past of course a sundial was used. The week started on a Sunday, and the first hour is ruled by the Sun, and as we cycle through the seven planets in the 24 hours, we find that the 25th hour is the Moon at Sunrise on Monday. Remarkably the cycle of the Chaldean order through the 24 hours generates the days of the week, and it is this fact that is most commented upon.

Experiencing the Planetary Hours

The wave of energy from the planets can easily be experienced if you know when to expect it. I am sure you have had the experience of waking up minutes before the alarm clock goes off, and something similar happens with the hours. Rather than make daily calculations it is easier to use an app. I use Chronos XP on my pc, which is free. You have to enter latitude and longitude, which you can search for online or use your phones GPS. Lunarium works well on Iphones. For Android, Planetary Times works well.

You can time-travel backwards and forwards with all these apps – see what the planetary hour was when you were born.

Despite attempts by some authors, the outer planets of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto are nothing to do with the system. The ignorance of modern writers on the subject is exemplified by one author who reversed the sequence! Rather than go by writers, experience the hours for yourself.