The Days and the Planets

Choosing a planetary practice

To find the planet, the day and the color that fit what you are working on.

You need

Paper in the planet's color · A pencil

Time

Ten minutes

1. State your subject in one sentence.
2. Find the planet that rules it in the table.
3. Choose one or two symbols you have on hand: paper in its color, a drawing of a flower, a word, a stone that is already yours.
4. Don't gather everything: a sheet of green paper is enough for Venus.
5. Don't go looking for lead or mercury. For Saturn and for Mercury, use paper in the planet's color.
6. Dedicate the symbol to your intention with a sentence of your own.
7. That same day, on the planet's day if you can, do something that fits the subject.

Wearing the planet's color

To carry the quality of the day's planet with you all day.

You need

A piece of clothing or a detail in the day's color: a shirt, a scarf, a bracelet, a ribbon

When

In the morning, as you get dressed.

Time

One minute

1. See what day it is and which planet goes with it: Sunday, the Sun; Monday, the Moon; Tuesday, Mars; Wednesday, Mercury; Thursday, Jupiter; Friday, Venus; Saturday, Saturn.
2. Choose a piece of clothing or a detail in its color: orange, white, red, yellow, reddish violet, green, or black, brown or gray.
3. As you put it on, think of one thing on your plate today that belongs to that planet.
4. Say the words.
5. Each time you see the color during the day, come back to it for a moment.
6. At night, as you take it off, look at what you did for it.

“Today I wear this planet's color. May it remind me of what I chose to look after.”

The Sun: recognition and expression

To show one of your abilities and put it out into the world.

You need

A circle of orange paper · A pencil · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: a clear quartz, a carnelian or a diamond; a sunflower, a bay leaf or an orange

When

On Sunday, the day of the Sun.

Time

Ten minutes

1. Set the orange circle in front of you.
2. Write on it an ability you want to put out into the world.
3. Lay the stone or the plant beside it, if you have them.
4. Say the words.
5. Present a proposal, share a piece of your work or prepare a conversation in which you will have to explain what you bring.

“May I show what I am able to do, with clarity and generosity.”

The Moon: home, care and receptivity

To open room in your life for rest and welcome.

You need

A bowl of water that you use only for your practice table · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: a pearl or a moonstone; a jasmine, a gardenia or a lotus; something white or silver

When

On Monday, the day of the Moon.

Time

Ten minutes

1. Set the bowl of water on your practice table.
2. Lay the stone or the flower beside it, if you have them.
3. Say the words.
4. Today, take care of something the house needs or a request for support that you can meet.
5. When you finish, water a plant with the water and put the bowl away.

“May my life have room for rest and for welcome.”

Mercury: words, study and exchange

To make a message, a study or a question clearer.

You need

A yellow card · Your notebook · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: amber, topaz, citrine or aventurine; an olive branch, chamomile, anise or rue

When

On Wednesday, the day of Mercury.

Time

Ten minutes

1. Set the yellow card next to your notebook.
2. Lay the stone or the plant beside it, if you have them. The plant only keeps you company: don't prepare anything with it.
3. Say the words.
4. Go over a message before you send it, organize a page of study notes or put a precise question into words.

“May my words be easy to understand, and may my attention let me learn.”

Venus: affection, beauty and meeting

To make room for beauty and for an affection that respects freedom.

You need

A sheet of green paper · Whatever you have for a small arrangement: a flower, a piece of fruit, a piece of fabric, a drawing · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: jade or emerald; a rose, a hyacinth, a branch of apple or cherry; something made of copper

When

On Friday, the day of Venus.

Time

Fifteen minutes

1. Spread out the green paper.
2. Make a small arrangement on it with what you have.
3. Look at it for a moment without changing anything.
4. Say the words.
5. Today, give some time to making art or to a meeting you have arranged with someone.

“May beauty make me attentive, and may affection respect freedom.”

Mars: will, discipline and courage

To take the step you have been putting off.

You need

A red card · A pencil · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: coral, garnet or ruby; a carnation, a geranium or a few mustard seeds; something made of iron

When

On Tuesday, the day of Mars.

Time

Ten minutes

1. Set the red card in front of you.
2. Write on it the action you have been putting off.
3. Say the words.
4. Today, take one concrete step, sized to what you can do.
5. Keep the card where you will see it until the action is done.

“May my strength have direction, and may my firmness never turn into harm.”

Jupiter: expansion and the wide view

To make something bigger with direction and responsibility.

You need

A reddish violet card · A pencil · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: lapis lazuli; an oak leaf, a sprig of cedar, a tulip or a hydrangea; something made of tin

When

On Thursday, the day of Jupiter.

Time

Ten minutes

1. Set the card in front of you.
2. Write what you want to expand.
3. Below it, write the responsibility you will take on along with it.
4. Say the words.
5. Go over a proposal, look for information or prepare a collaboration.

“May my growth find direction, and may what I receive also have something to give.”

Saturn: structure, limits and permanence

To set a commitment you can keep up over time.

You need

A sheet of paper · A gray pencil · If you like, something of its family that you already have or can draw: onyx, hematite or obsidian; a pine branch, a violet, a head of garlic or a drawing of mistletoe

When

On Saturday, the day of Saturn.

Time

Ten minutes

1. Draw a gray square on the sheet.
2. Inside it, write a commitment you can keep up.
3. Say the words.
4. Put a procedure in order, repair something or set a realistic pace for your work.
5. Keep the sheet where you work.

“May I build without rushing what takes time. May my limits protect what matters.”

The square of Saturn

To give a firm shape to a long-term commitment.

You need

A sheet of gray paper, or a white one and a gray pencil · A ruler

When

On a Saturday.

Time

Fifteen minutes

1. With the ruler, draw a square and divide it into nine boxes: three rows of three.
2. In the first row, write 4, 9 and 2.
3. In the second row, write 3, 5 and 7.
4. In the third row, write 8, 1 and 6.
5. Check that every row, every column and both diagonals add up to fifteen.
6. Below the square, write your commitment in one sentence, and the date.
7. Say the words with your hand on the sheet.
8. Keep the sheet where you work on that commitment.
9. Every Saturday, look at it and note on the back what you did that week.

“As these numbers hold one another up, may my days hold up what I have promised. I build slowly and in order.”

A candle for the planet of the day

To dedicate a request, and the step that goes with it, to the planet of the day.

You need

A small candle in the planet's color, or a white one on paper of that color · A heatproof plate · Paper and a pencil

When

On the planet's day: Sunday, the Sun; Monday, the Moon; Tuesday, Mars; Wednesday, Mercury; Thursday, Jupiter; Friday, Venus; Saturday, Saturn.

Time

Fifteen minutes

1. Clear the table and set the candle on the plate, away from curtains and papers.
2. On the paper, write your request in one sentence and, below it, the step that depends on you.
3. Light the candle.
4. Name the planet aloud and read your request.
5. Say the words.
6. Stay silent for a few minutes, looking at the light.
7. Put the candle out before you get up.
8. Keep the paper and take the step you wrote down before that day of the week comes around again.
9. If the request is still open, light the same candle on the same day the following week.

“On your day I light this flame. Stay with what I ask, and give me the constancy to do my part.”

Care: Never leave the candle alone, not even for a moment, and put it out when you finish.

A week of qualities

To practice one quality each day, with its planet's color as a reminder.

You need

Colored paper · A pencil

When

For one week, Monday through Sunday.

Time

Five minutes each day

1. In the morning, find the day's quality and color in the table.
2. Take a piece of paper in that color.
3. Write the quality on it and, next to it, one small action for today.
4. Leave the paper where you can see it.
5. Do the action before the day is over.
6. If you prefer, stay with a single quality all week: keeping it up matters more than collecting all seven papers.

The planetary hours

To choose the moment of the day that belongs to the planet of what you are working on.

You need

The sunrise and sunset times for your city · Paper and a pencil

Time

Fifteen minutes

1. Write down what time the Sun rises today, what time it sets and what time it rises tomorrow.
2. Count the minutes from sunrise to sunset and divide them by twelve: that is how long each hour of the day lasts today.
3. Count the minutes from sunset to tomorrow's sunrise and divide them by twelve: that is how long each hour of the night lasts.
4. Give the first hour, the one that begins at sunrise, to the planet of the day. You will find it in the table.
5. Hand out the hours that follow in this order, which repeats without end: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. Enter the series at the planet of the day and keep going, day and night.
6. Check yourself with this example: if the Sun rises at 6:00 a.m. and sets at 6:30 p.m., each hour of the day lasts 62 and a half minutes, and each hour of the night, 57 and a half. On a Monday, the first hour is the Moon's and runs from 6:00 to 7:02; the second is Saturn's and ends at 8:05.
7. Mark the hours that belong to your subject's planet. The planet of the day comes back in the eighth hour of the day and in the third and tenth hours of the night.
8. In one of those hours, do your practice or take the first step of what you have set out to do.