When I recently made myself a visual diary, I explored the origins of the names of the days of the week. In fact, a while ago, when I went to Japanese language evening class, I was struck by how the days of the week in Japanese were named after certain planets, and knowing a bit of French I was struck by the fact that the French too named the days of the week after the same planets. It’s not so clear in English because we’ve swapped the Greek and Roman Gods for Norse ones – like Woden and Thor, but in fact, these Gods are associated with exactly the same planets for each of the days as we find in the Japanese and French traditions.
One of the things which makes human beings unique is our ability to handle and play with metaphors and symbols. We are great at both applying and discovering meanings. Absolutely everything can be considered to be a representation of something else. This allows us to experience life in a rich variety of ways. So I got to wondering about the Classical myths associated with each of the planets and their associated gods. How would a Monday feel if I was more aware of its association with the Moon? Any different? How about a Friday and its association with Venus? Would the week develop a different rhythm if I reflected on each day and the different qualities related to the myths and stories we’ve associated with each of the planets? Let me be clear, I’m not talking about astrology, I’m talking about myth, narrative and symbolism……the way we use these ways of colouring and even creating our experiences.
I’m still working on this but before I say more about it, there’s another factor affecting my thoughts about it. I’ve just finished reading “La sagesse des jours”, by Andre Guigot. The translation of the book’s title would be “The Wisdom of the Days”, and in it, this French philosopher considers how each day has its own unique qualities which can stimulate our thoughts about different aspects of life and living depending on which particular issues are predominant on specific days of the week. In fact, it wouldn’t be possible to write a book like this in English, certainly not for a UK audience (and probably not for a US audience either), because we’ve lost the kinds of rhythms to life which the French still enjoy. To give you a flavour of his book, he identifies Saturday as market day for example, (I don’t know any towns in France which don’t have a market on a Saturday!) and he identifies Tuesday as the first day of commerce in the week (many shops in France, in fact most shops in smaller towns, close on a Monday) It’s an inspiring little book but translating it into a UK context isn’t very easy.
So I’m wondering how to ascribe certain qualities to particular days of the week. And I’ve come up with a few ideas already. For example, the moon is usually associated with feelings and with reflection. Could Mondays be days to be more aware of what’s going on inside? To be more aware of my emotional reactions throughout the day? Then, Tuesday is Mars day. Themes associated with Mars are themes of physical strength and fitness, and themes of the urge to distinguish oneself as a unique individual. This contrasts a lot with Friday which is associated with Venus. Whilst Mars is associated with maleness, or with yang energy, Venus is associated with femaleness, or yin energy. Whilst Mars is associated with distinguishing ourselves as individuals, Venus is associated with togetherness, with love, relationships and belonging. Wednesday’s name comes from Mercury, the “winged messenger”, a day to play with words and symbols, to be linguistically creative….hey, maybe a day for writing poetry, or for communicating. Thursday is named after Thor, or Jupiter, associated with expansion, of reaching out, of empathy and the understanding of others which comes with travel. Whilst Saturday is associated with Saturn and themes of conservation, of strengthening and consolidating. Which leaves Sunday as a day to celebrate Life and being alive.
You get the idea? This is just a brief outline, but I hope you can see the germ of an idea here. I hope you can see a way of creating your own personal rhythm to the week. I’ll work on this and return to it, but meantime, I’d be really interested to hear your own take on this. How do you distinguish the days of the week from each other? What qualities or characteristics would you ascribe to particular days?
Heroes Not Zombies 
As I no longer work outside the home and so tired that I am now re-tired, days often are hard to distinguish.
One of the things that has helped is to try and set a schedule for myself marked by different days of the week and things that must be accomplished that are unmoving. So even if I am sick, I can usually manage these things as I have all week to do them.
Blogging helps me a great deal. I notice that I start off the week very reflective and introspective and usually heading into the weekend Im more about joking, sex and fun things that I like to talk about. Interesting.
I write my blog posts in the mornings when I first wake up and I feel alive and inspired with thought as I drink my morning latte and look at the calm lake and the evenings when the world is quiet. Especially when I don’t sleep – which is most of the time. I write the responses to my posts in the afternoons/evening.
Maybe it is having a spouse that works, so I am tied to his rhythm? I don’t know. He does the regular 8:30 to 5:30 so I guess my world revolves around that.
The housekeeper comes on Thursday so Wednesday night all of the little chores have to be completed in order that she can actually clean. (Fishing socks from underneath the bed).
I usually do my grocery shopping and run other errands at the end of the week so that I have fresh food for the weekend as we often entertain. That is a big task to be honest, as I buy products at various places. – this often leads me to being tired. I do it normally on Thursday while the housekeeper does her magic on the house and laundry. That way I have energy for the coming weekend.
Weekends are marked as party time for the most part. My husband being part gypsy (you’d swear its true – he loves to go go go). If people aren’t coming over to our place, we are out exploring.
Also there are the “grooming” days. Those suck. Nails, hair and toes. Might as well chuck away a whole bunch of time. A necessary evil though.
On Monday I know I work hard.
Tuesday I see patients and go to noon conference at the hospital- sort of a group education day.
Wednesday I am off. Golf, music, time with the wife, write, play the mandolin, read some medicine.
Thursday I work hard again. At night we often have band practice and I work with a mandolin builder once a month.
I eat lunch at the same Chinese buffet every Friday. One time my daugher came home from college. She looked at her watch and drove to China Buffet rather than home or to the office. Sure enough she found me there.
Sat/Sunday if I am on call I work. If not, it is music or Marfar and I will go to the lake, sometimes both. Sunday I go to church to ask forgivensss for anything I didn’t figure out right. Also, my wife and I play in the church band together.
Monday it all starts all over again.
It sounds like a simple life and it is, but I like it.
Dr. B
I’ve thought about this on a seasonal level before, but not so much a weekly one. This is something I’ll have to think about during the week to figure out!
Every time I visit your blog I come up with some other new thing to think about for a bit! I love it!
@amber….it’s good to become aware of these natural rhythms to our lives, isn’t it? What I’m wondering in addition to that is how to actively, creatively, engage with those personal rhythms and with the wider communal ones and create a different experience of the week.
@Dr T…..thanks for sharing Dr T, nice to see you! In the introductory scene of Lord of the Rings, where Bilbo is describing the life of the Shire, he ends by saying there’s nothing better than a simple life!
@passionkintly….thank you – it’s my real hope you know…that people will come along, read something here and find a new thing to think about!
Bonjour,
je suis l’auteur de “La sagesse des jours”…Je crois partager bien des idées avec vous;merci pour votre commentaire qui m’enrichit
[…] though, so time to start blogging again. Some time back I was learning a bit of Japanese, and was amazed to discover that the words for the days of the week had the same root as the French words for the days of the week. To cut a long story short, I […]
[…] 8, 2009 by bobleckridge I remember how surprised I was to discover how the days of the week are named after the same planets in our solar system in so many different languages and cultures. Learning a little about the […]