Circuit of Time

Ken Cone, CAMM <cammoftville@gmail.com>	12/3/12
to theokronos888

The seven-day system we use is based on the ancient astrological notion that the seven known celestial bodies influence what happens on Earth and that each of these celestial bodies controls the first hour of the day named after it. This system was brought into Hellenistic Egypt from Mesopotamia, where astrology had been practiced for millennia and where seven had always been a propitious number. In A.D. 321 the Emperor Constantine the Great grafted this astrological system onto the Roman calendar, made the first day of this new week a day of rest and worship for all, and imposed the following sequence and names to the days of the week. This new Roman system was adopted with modifications throughout most of western Europe: in the Germanic languages, such as Old English, the names of four of the Roman gods were converted into those of the corresponding Germanic gods:

    Celestial           Germanic  modern     modern
    Body      Latin       god     English    Italian
    -------   --------  --------  ---------  ----------
    Sun       Solis               Sunday     domenica
    Moon      Lunae               Monday     lunedì
    Mars      Martis    Tiu       Tuesday    martedì
    Mercury   Mercurii  Wodan     Wednesday  mercoledì
    Jupiter   Jovis     Donar     Thursday   giovedì
    Venus     Veneris   Freya     Friday     venerdì
    Saturn    Saturni             Saturday   sabato

The Latin names for the weekdays survive in the modern Romance languages (though the weekend day names have been altered). Also, Japanese words for the days of the week also correspond indirectly to the same planets.
However, Prof. Neves of Universidade Nova de Lisboa informs me that there are remarkable exceptions: at least in Hebrew, in Greek, in Arabic, and in Portuguese (and in languages that were informed by those, like the Timorese Tetum), the days of the week are numbered. Sunday is number one (or day of the Lord in Portuguese - Domingo- and in Greek -Kiriaki). Friday is number six (except in Arabic, which calls it Day of the Gatthering) and all 4 languages call Sabbath (Sabado,as-Sabt, etc) to Saturday.

Months

Two of the English month names are also have planetary connections: January is named for Janus and March is named forMars.

More origins from mythology