While the planets exert influence one after the ot...

2010-11-04T09:44:23.642-04:00

While the planets exert influence one after the other on an hourly rate, it is quite clear that the one the begins the day/night is the overall influence for that day/night. Thus, Tuesday morning during the first hour the influence is both primarily and secondarily Mars. The second hour, though, would primarily be Mars and secondarily be the sun. This is why Rashi mentions the mnemonic to remember which one begins which day/night. This also becomes very apparent from the Ibn Ezra's works on astrology, Reishis Chachma and Sefer HaTaamim.

In fact, the names of the days of the week reflect this idea in many cultures. In English we have only retained SUNday, MO(o)nday and Satur(n)day; however, in many of the Romance languages it goes the whole way through. In Spanish, for example, Tuesday is Martes (from Mars, Wednesday is Miercoles (Mercury), Thursday is Jueves (Jupiter from the word Jovian) and Friday is Viernes (Venus). French works out well, too. The focus of the post was on the primary influence and not that of the secondary. Based on that, it is clearly not only out of place, but extremely accurate.

Regarding the terminology used, I am just translating the word mazal as astrological sign. Rabbeinu Bachye (on the parsha) and the Ibn Ezra (in the sefarim mentioned above) both refer to the system of planets as mazalos. The Gemara in Rosh Hashana 11b refers to asterisms as mazalos (i.e. Kimah which is an asterism and Kesil which happens to be a constellation, but not one of the zodiacal signs) and the Ibn Ezra (Shemos 31:18) refers to all 48 of the ancient constellations as mazalos. It seems that the word mazal just refers to objects and influences coming from the sky.

Some have suggested that it comes from the word nozel meaning to drip and that the word shows how these items influence/drip to our planet. Others (like the Mefaresh on the Rambam's Mishne Torah) have suggested that it comes from a word that means to move and they support this from Arabic words. Thus, it applies to the objects that appear to move across the sky throughout the year. So, it would seem that these terms are actually used for all these objects, not just the twelve zodiacal constellations, and my translation was, in fact, correct. Although, I concede that in common usage more often than not it is meant to refer to the twelve of the zodiac.

I haven't checked the Rabbeinu Bachye, but fro...

2010-11-04T04:19:24.700-04:00

I haven't checked the Rabbeinu Bachye, but from the relevant gemara and Rashi, the influence of the planets (known as kochvei lechet, or "moving stars") changes every hour. Each planet rules for one hour at a time, in the following order whose mnemonic is שצ"מ חנכ"ל: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. The sequence begins with Saturn on Tuesday evening, repeating itself every seven hours, for a total of 24 repetitions of the cycle throughout the week.

The assignments you describe for each day of the week are actually the correct assignments for the first hour of the daytime. Similarly, the assignments you describe for each night of the week are the correct assignments for the first hour of the evening.

So in fact there are 24 points during the week when Mars' rule ends and another planet's rule begins:

Saturday night 11 p.m.;
Sunday 6 a.m., 1 p.m., 8 p.m.;
Monday 3 a.m., 10 a.m., 5 p.m., 12 midnight;
Tuesday 7 a.m., 2 p.m., 9 p.m.;
Wednesday 4 a.m., 11 a.m., 6 p.m.;
Thursday 1 a.m., 8 a.m., 3 p.m., 10 p.m.;
Friday 5 a.m., 12 noon, 7 p.m.;
Saturday 2 a.m., 9 a.m., 4 p.m.

After Mars, the Sun always rules, so your inference about the Jewish people being influenced by Saturn would seem out of place.

Also, I'm not sure "astrological sign" is the correct term. That usually refers to the twelve "mazalot", the constellations of the ecliptic, each one lasting a month, not the hourly rule of the "moving stars".

Comments on Astro Torah: Yaakov and Eisav's Interesting Birthdays

While the planets exert influence one after the ot...

I haven't checked the Rabbeinu Bachye, but fro...