Planetary rulers of the days of the week
Sunday’s child is full of grace,
Monday’s child is fair of face;
Tuesday’s child loves to race,
Wednesday’s child is kind of heart;
Thursday’s child is very smart,
Friday’s child will never part;
Saturday’s child is good of heart.
Monday’s Child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s Child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s Child is full of woe,
Thursday’s Child has far to go,
Friday’s Child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s Child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay.”
You may have read one of the two rhymes above in children’s books. Many people do not know it refers to the planetary rulers of the days of the week. In addition to the astrology of your natal chart, there is an astrological meaning to the day of the week you were born.
Deities and Days
Some of the planetary associations are obvious, others less may be so unless you have a familiarity with the Norse mythology.
Monday is ruled by the Moon. Both versions of the rhyme refer to “fair of face” relating to the kindness and caring qualities associated with the Moon.
Tuesday is ruled by Tiew, the Norse god of war, roughly equivalent to Mars. Part of the astrological meaning of Mars is a sense of energy; both rhymes can be interpreted as referring to physical movement.
Wednesday is ruled by Woden, the Norse equivalent of Mercury. The two rhymes offer two different versions of Mercury (not really surprising since Mercury is the source of the word “mercurial” meaning changeable) “Wednesday’s child is full of woe” might be interpreted as a person who overuses the Mercury rulership of thought and intellect, tending to overthink every problem, while “kind of heart” may refer to Mercury as ruling communications, including messages of affection.
Thursday is ruled by Thor, the Norse version of Jupiter. Jupiter is associated with travel, thus the rhyme states that “Thursday’s child has far to go.”
Friday is ruled by Freya, the Norse version of Venus. “Friday’s child is loving and giving” and “Friday’s child will never part” refer to Venus/Freya as ruling love, relationships and connectedness.
Saturday is ruled by Saturn. “Saturday’s child works hard for a living” is making an association with Saturn as the planet of discipline while “Saturday’s child is good of heart” may refer to the maturity and wisdom this planet may confer.
Sunday is ruled by the Sun. The rhymes about this day may be a reference to the Sun as source of warmth and energy, as well as the astrological association of the Sun with generosity
Obviously to some extent the verses simply need to rhyme, thus verses are used for different days in the two rhymes. But considering the astrology associations of the days of the week does offer provide interesting food for thought. Do you have a tendency to have certain feelings about specific days of the week? Do those feelings seem like a response to the planets ruling those days?