Of Abramelin the Mage THE SIXTH CHAPTER. concerning the planetary hours and other errors of the astrologers.
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T is true that the Wise in Astrology do write of the Stars and of their movements, and that these attaining thereto do produce divers effects in inferior and elemental things; and such are, as we have already said, natural operations of the Elements; but that they should have power over the Spirits, or force in all supernatural things, that is not, neither can ever be. But it will instead be found that by the permission of the Great God it is the Spirits who govern the firmament. What foolishness then would it be to implore the favour of the Sun, of the Moon, and of the Stars, when the object would be to have converse with Angels and with Spirits. Would it not be an extravagant idea to demand from the wild beasts the permission to go hunting? But what else is it, when they23 have elected a certain day, when they have divided it up into many false divisions such as hours, minutes, etc. “Here,” they say, “we have the Planetary Hours, and the Planet appropriate to each Hour.” O what Planets! O what fine order! Tell me, I pray you, what advantage you get by this division. You will reply: “A very great one, because it shows us in all things, either good or bad fortune!” I tell you, and I repeat absolutely, that this is in no way true; that they produce thus a change of the time and of the Air, I in part concede; but do me the grace to tell me how ye do divide the Planetary Hours. I know that ye begin the first hour of the day with the Planet which itself giveth the name unto the day, as Sunday is ascribed to the Sun, Monday to the Moon, Tuesday to Mars, Wednesday to Mercury, Thursday to Jupiter, Friday to Venus, and Saturday to Saturn; then ye divide the length of the Day into twelve equal portions which ye call Hours, and to each Hour ye assign its planet; and ye do the same thing with the Night, according to whether the days be long or short. Thus do the Hours become long or short. As for example, suppose that on a Sunday the Sun riseth at o'clock and setteth at o'clock in the evening, its course will be ten Hours, the which ye divide up into twelve equal parts, so that each Hour is of fifty minutes length. I say, therefore, that the first Planetary Hour is of the Sun, and is fifty minutes long; that the second is of Venus; the third of Mercury; and so on of the others; at last the eighth Hour returneth unto the Sun; the ninth unto Venus; the tenth unto Mercury; and so the Day finisheth. Then cometh the Night, which is longer, that is to say, fourteen Hours, and each Planetary Hour of this Night will be seventy minutes, and in order to continue the regular succession as we have begun, the first Hour of the Night will be of Jupiter; the second of Mars; the third of the Sun; and so on until Monday, whose first Hour will be 51