The Sixth Chapter. Concerning the Planetary Hours and Other Errors of the Astrologers

THE SIXTH CHAPTER.

CONCERNING THE PLANETARY HOURS AND OTHER ERRORS OF THE ASTROLOGERS.

T is true that the Wise in Astrology do write of the Stars and of their movements, and that these attaining thereto do produce divers effects in inferior and elemental things; and such are, as we have already

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said, natural operations of the Elements; but that they should have power over the Spirits, or force in all supernatural things, that is not, neither can ever be. But it will instead be found that by the permission of the Great God it is the Spirits who govern the firmament. What foolishness then would it be to implore the favour of the Sun, of the Moon, and of the Stars, when the object would be to have converse with Angels and with Spirits. Would it not be an extravagant idea to demand from the wild beasts the permission to go hunting? But what else is it, when they ¹ have elected a certain day, when they have divided it up into many false divisions such as hours, minutes, etc. "Here," they say, "we have the Planetary Hours, and the Planet appropriate to each Hour." O what Planets! O what fine order! Tell me, I pray you, what advantage you get by this division. You will reply: "A very great one, because it shows us in all things, either good or bad fortune!" I tell you, and I repeat absolutely, that this is in no way true; that they produce thus a change of the time and of the Air, I in part concede; but do me the grace to tell me how ye do divide the Planetary Hours. I know that ye begin the first hour of the day with the Planet which itself giveth the name unto the day, as Sunday is ascribed to the Sun, Monday to the Moon, Tuesday to Mars, Wednesday to Mercury, Thursday to Jupiter, Friday to Venus, and Saturday to Saturn; then ye divide the length of the Day into twelve equal portions which ye call Hours, and to each Hour ye assign its planet; and ye do the same thing with the Night, according to whether the days be long or short. Thus do the Hours become long or short. As for example, suppose that on a Sunday the Sun riseth at 7 o'clock and setteth at 5 o'clock in the evening, its course will be ten Hours, the which ye divide up into

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twelve equal parts, so that each Hour is of fifty minutes' length. I say, therefore, that the first Planetary Hour is of the Sun, and is fifty minutes long; that the second is of Venus; the third of Mercury; and so on of the others; at last the eighth Hour returneth unto the Sun; the ninth unto Venus; the tenth unto Mercury; and so the Day finisheth. Then cometh the Night, which is longer, that is to say, fourteen Hours, and each Planetary Hour of this Night will be seventy minutes, and in order to continue the regular succession as we have begun, the first Hour of the Night will be of Jupiter; the second of Mars; the third of the Sun; and so on until Monday, whose first Hour will be (according to this rule) of the Moon. Now tell me, I pray you, doth it always happen that when the Day of Monday commenceth, that is to say, when the Sun riseth in its horizon, that the Moon riseth also together with him, and that she setteth also together with him? They cannot answer this. Wherefore then do they apportion unto the second day of the week and unto its first hour the Moon? They can tell you no reason, except a likeness to the name (of the Day). ¹

O! how gross an error! Hear and tell me when it is that a Planet hath the greatest force in the Elements; whether when it is above or when it is below your Horizon or Hemisphere? We must however avow that it is more powerful when it is above, because being below it hath no power save according unto the Will of God. Why then, even further than this, should we attribute unto a Planet a Day and Hour, if during the whole period of such Day it appeareth not above the Horizon!

ABRAMELIN as a most excellent MASTER in natural things taught unto me a very different form of classification

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[paragraph continues] (which also well examine, and see whether it be not more surely founded than the aforesaid rule of the Astrologers), and made me to comprehend what should be the true Planetary Hours. When the Planet beginneth to appear upon the Horizon then doth its Day begin (whether it be Light or Dark, Black or White), and until it hath passed its elevation ¹ its Day lasteth until it riseth anew, and after that it hath set its Night endureth; so that as well in the Days of the Sun as in those of the Moon and of the others, the Days of all the Planets be mingled, only that one commenceth sooner than another, according to which nature they be mingled together in the Celestial Signs. Now it is requisite that I should tell unto you what be the Planetary Hours! Know then that each Planet hath only an hour during the which it is very powerful, being over you and above your head, that is to say when it is in the Meridian. Then, naturally, will sometimes arrive the Hours of two Planets together and beginning at the same moment; they then produce an effect according unto the nature, quality, and complexion of these stars. ² But all this only hath power in natural things. Here have I declared and proved unto you the errors of the (common) Astrologers; keep yourselves carefully from the insensate follies of their Days and Hours, because if ye make use of these as do the false Magicians and Enchanters, God will chastise you; and in order to chastise you will pay but little attention unto the awaiting of the Hour of Saturn or of Mars.

I therefore now conclude this chapter, having sufficiently treated of the false and useless method employed by the Astrologers in the Election of Days and of Hours.

Footnotes

61:1 I.e., the Astrologers to whom Abraham refers in the first sentence of the chapter.

62:1 I.e., the Moon and Monday; Sun and Sunday; Mars and Tuesday (Tuisco is a name of Mars); Venus and Friday (Freya's day, after Freya, the Scandinavian Goddess), etc.

63:1 "Et jusqua cequil tremonte son jour dure jusqua cequil se leve derechef."

63:2 This is the initiated Rosicrucian teaching, which is very different to that of the outer and uninitiated World.