It seems that our ancestors identified early on the weird celestial bodies that could show up in different places, as opposed to the fixed stars on whose appearance you could rely from year to year. We call them planets. Since the idea that the planets include Earth and all circle around the Sun is pretty recent, all early cultures included Sun and Moon in the planets and imagined that they all move around the Earth - we call that the Ptolemaic or geocentric universe.
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Early humans must have understood that the slowest, Saturn, is the most distant of all, while the quickest, Moon, is closest to us. The Chaldeans already sorted the planets in the order that carries their name until today:
Saturn,
Jupiter,
Mars,
Sun,
Venus,
Mercury,
Moon.
Seven celestial bodies, seven traditional planets.
If you arrange the planets in the Chaldean order in a circle, that's how they look:
And if you draw a seven-pointed star that connects the planets, you will get the following order:
Saturn,
Sun,
Moon,
Mars,
Mercury,
Jupiter,
Venus.
And that's the order of planetary regents. Each of these planets rules over one day per week.
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Saturn rules Saturday,
Sun rules Sunday,
Moon rules Monday,
Mars, also called Tiw or Tiu, rules Tuesday (Mardi in French),
Mercury, also called Woden or Wodan, rules Wednesday (Mercredi in French),
Jupiter, also known as Donar or Thor, rules Thursday (Jeudi in French), and
Venus, also known as Freya, rules Friday (Vendredi in French).
This connection between planets and weekdays has been known for centuries.
It's a well-established tarot routine to draw a card per day - seven cards from one deck that allow us to get to know the deck better, to hone our reading skills and get new insights about our daily lives. Many tarot boards, forums and blogs present a daily card from a deck chosen for the week.
In this forum, we don't only draw a card per day but we do the Planetary Week group reading.
You can pick any deck: tarot, Lenormand, Kipper, oracle or playing cards. From this deck, you'll draw one card per day - i.e., seven Daily Cards from your Deck of the Week that allow you to get to know the deck better, to hone your reading skills and get new insights about your life.
In a Planetary Week reading, we don't only draw a card per day but also give it a topic. We focus on motifs, topics, patterns in our lives, inspired by the planetary ruler of every weekday (for background information, look here).
On Saturdays, ruled by Saturn: Obstacles and Blockades,
on Sundays, ruled by the Sun: Inspiration and Goals,
on Mondays, ruled by the Moon: Dreams and Fears,
on Tuesdays, ruled by Mars: Conflicts and Challenges,
on Wednesdays, ruled by Mercury: Interactions and Change,
on Thursdays, ruled by Jupiter: Power and Influences, and
on Fridays, ruled by Venus: Love and Attraction.
The focus words I chose for each planet/day are not binding. If on Mondays, you find yourself contemplating the role of intuition or female health in your reading, that's fine. It also belongs to the Moon. Please don't limit yourself to the two short words I gave. Planetary rule means so much more, and my keywords are not supposed to limit your readings.
There are different ways to perform a Planetary Week reading.
Traditionally: draw a card per day and use the prism of the planetary influence to connect the card to your day and life.
Selective: select a card that suits the topic of each weekday and use it as affirmation and empowerment to improve your life.
Day-by-day: draw or pick your daily card one by one through the week.
Summarily: draw or pick all cards together before the week starts and treat them as a complete reading.
Share pictures if you can or want to.
No matter how we do it - by reminding ourselves of the planetary regents and their influence, we re-connect to the sevenfold cycle of time that our ancestors established, with their eyes to the sky.
There will be a new group reading every week on Saturday (with the most distant of visible planets). Jump in whenever you want.
