Which planet rules each day of the week?

Each of the seven days is ruled by one of the seven lights the ancient world could see moving across the sky. The pairing is the same in Western astrology, in Vedic astrology and in the Balinese calendar, which is part of why I love it. Three cultures, one week.

What the day you were born says about you

These readings are drawn from the planetary traditions behind each day. Read yours, then read the others. Most of us recognise someone we love in every one.

Born on a Sunday: The Sun

Sunday belongs to the Sun, and the old traditions say a Sunday child carries its warmth. You are made to be seen, and you light a room without trying. You are generous, you lead when no one else will, and you feel most alive when your life has a centre you chose for yourself. Work with it: let yourself be visible without apology, and notice when the wish to be recognised starts steering. The Sun gives its light either way.

Born on a Monday: The Moon

Monday belongs to the Moon, so a Monday child is said to live close to her feelings. You read a room before anyone speaks. You remember how a moment felt long after you forget what was said, and you care for people the way the tide comes in, without being asked. Your moods move in phases, and that is not a flaw. Work with it: keep a rhythm that lets you rest when you wane, and let someone care for you for once.

Born on a Tuesday: Mars

Tuesday belongs to Mars, and a Tuesday child is said to arrive ready. You have courage that shows up in the body first, a fire for beginnings and very little patience for pretending. When something is unfair, you move. People feel safer near you because you will say the thing out loud. Work with it: give your fire a daily outlet, breath, movement, one honest conversation, so it becomes direction rather than frustration. Not every door needs force. Some open when you knock.

Born on a Wednesday: Mercury

Wednesday belongs to Mercury, the messenger. A Wednesday child is said to think quickly, speak well and learn by moving between people, places and ideas. You are curious about everything and you translate easily between worlds. The old rhyme calls Wednesday's child full of woe. I read it as full of feeling, with a mind that never stops asking why. Work with it: write things down, because your mind moves faster than your memory, and when you feel scattered, come back to your breath before you reach for the next idea.

Born on a Thursday: Jupiter

Thursday belongs to Jupiter, the great teacher, and a Thursday child is said to be born with a wide horizon. You are generous, you look for meaning in everything, and people come to you for perspective, often before they come to you for comfort. Growth is your natural direction, in learning, in travel and in faith. Work with it: share what you know, because teaching is how you learn, and watch the habit of saying yes to everything. Expansion needs a little structure to hold it.

Born on a Friday: Venus

Friday belongs to Venus, and a Friday child is said to love beauty and to be loved easily. You notice texture, colour and light. You can make a table, a room or a person feel tended, and harmony matters to you more than winning. Your taste is a form of care. Work with it: treat beauty as a need rather than a reward, choose fewer and better things, and say the honest thing even when it ruffles the peace. Real harmony can hold the truth.

Born on a Saturday: Saturn

Saturday belongs to Saturn, the planet of time and devotion. A Saturday child is said to be patient, serious and stronger than she looks. You build slowly and you build to last. You keep your word, and life often asks more of you early so that it can give you more later. Work with it: honour your discipline, and let rest be part of the practice rather than the prize at the end. What you tend with patience becomes your foundation.

Your Balinese birthday, the otonan

Here in Bali, a birthday comes around every 210 days. The pawukon calendar weaves a seven day week together with a five day market week and thirty named weeks called wuku, and the exact combination you were born on repeats every 210 days. Balinese families mark it with an otonan, a ceremony of offerings and blessings, from a baby's first, at 210 days old, through every return after that. The calculator shows yours, worked out from your calendar date.

Why are the days of the week named after planets?

Ancient astronomers ranked the seven visible planets by how slowly they seemed to move: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Each hour of the day was given to one of them in turn, and the planet that ruled the first hour gave the whole day its name. Twenty four hours later the count lands three places along, which produces the order we still use: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn. English kept Sunday, Monday and Saturday, and borrowed Norse gods for the rest: Tiw for Mars, Woden for Mercury, Thor for Jupiter and Frigg for Venus.

Where to go from here

Your birth day is one thread. The sun, moon and rising calculator gives you your big three, the moon sign calculator goes deeper into what you need to feel safe, and the Human Design chart calculator shows your type and authority. Robindra was born on a Monday and I was born on a Tuesday, which explains a great deal about our marriage.

An honest note

Weekday rulers come from astrology and old folk tradition, not from science, and nothing on this page claims they decide who you are. I use them the way I use the moon: as a mirror and a rhythm to return to. If a reading lands, keep it. If it does not, leave it here.

Common questions

How do I find out what day of the week I was born?

Enter your birth date in the calculator above and it tells you the day straight away, along with its ruling planet. It works for any date from 1800 to 2100. You can also check a calendar for your birth year, or count forward from a date you know: a date moves one weekday later each year, and two in the year after 29 February.

What is the ruling planet of each day of the week?

Sunday is ruled by the Sun, Monday by the Moon, Tuesday by Mars, Wednesday by Mercury, Thursday by Jupiter, Friday by Venus and Saturday by Saturn. The same rulers are used in Western astrology, Vedic astrology and the Balinese calendar.

What does the Monday's child rhyme say?

The English rhyme, first printed in 1838, goes: 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 that is born on the Sabbath day is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Does the day start at midnight or at sunrise?

On the calendar, at midnight, and that is the day the calculator gives you. In Vedic astrology the day, or vara, begins at sunrise, so someone born between midnight and dawn belongs to the previous weekday in that tradition. Tick the box in the calculator if that is you and it shows both.

Is my birth date saved?

No. The calculation runs on your own device and nothing you enter is stored or sent. If you choose to join the Muse-Letter, we keep your email address and the name of your birth day, never your birth date.

With love from Bali,
Myrah