Friday,
the sound alone sometimes just soothes the soul... last day of the week, and the first day of the weekend, a time of transitioning from our mundane to our more elevated states.
Friday feels good, as it should. It's a day to celebrate beauty, the arts, the graces, our muses, our sensuality and all things that stem from physical creation and love as expressed through adoration. Get over that bad ole Friday the 13th shit, the Black Friday, get into the TGIF, but don't be forgetting your flair.
No matter what your tradition, the myths live with us daily. Whether you come through the Western world via the Romance Languages or the Old Norse/Germanic sources, we pray to the old Gods, all the time. With very few exceptions - notably, just numbering the day of the week, e.g. 'fifth-day' or observing the preparation for the liturgy of the sabbath, day names we use today stem from the visible planets, and those were given the attributes of the Gods and Goddesses.
First, some wiki-backround stuff, then my own esoterica...
the sound alone sometimes just soothes the soul... last day of the week, and the first day of the weekend, a time of transitioning from our mundane to our more elevated states.
Friday feels good, as it should. It's a day to celebrate beauty, the arts, the graces, our muses, our sensuality and all things that stem from physical creation and love as expressed through adoration. Get over that bad ole Friday the 13th shit, the Black Friday, get into the TGIF, but don't be forgetting your flair.
No matter what your tradition, the myths live with us daily. Whether you come through the Western world via the Romance Languages or the Old Norse/Germanic sources, we pray to the old Gods, all the time. With very few exceptions - notably, just numbering the day of the week, e.g. 'fifth-day' or observing the preparation for the liturgy of the sabbath, day names we use today stem from the visible planets, and those were given the attributes of the Gods and Goddesses.
First, some wiki-backround stuff, then my own esoterica...
The name Friday comes from the Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning the "day of Frigg", a result of an old convention associating the Old English goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess Venus, with whom the day is associated in many different cultures.
The same holds for Frīatag in Old High German, Freitag in Modern German and vrijdag in Dutch.
The same holds for Frīatag in Old High German, Freitag in Modern German and vrijdag in Dutch.
The modern Scandinavian form is Fredag in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, meaning Freja's day. The distinction between Freja and Frigg in some Germanic mythologies is problematic, but they appear together to conglomerate almost all of the Venusian attributes.
The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from Latin dies Veneris or "day of Venus" (a translation of Greek Aphrodites hemera). This includes such as vendredi in French, venerdì in Italian, viernes in Spanish, divendres in Catalan, vennari in Corsican, and vineri in Romanian. This is even reflected in the Celtic Welsh language as dydd Gwener.
In most of the Indian languages, Friday is Shukravar (or a derived variation of Sukravar), named for Shukra, the Sanskrit name of the planet Venus. We might also think of Lakshmi - somewhat of the Hindu Venus - she represents wealth, prosperity, happiness, luxury, beauty, and adoration amongst many other attributes.
In Japanese, 金曜日 is formed from the words 金星 meaning Venus (literally gold + planet) and 曜日 meaning day (of the week).
So, we see, over and over, far and wide, spontaneously and through influence or borrowing, Friday is associated in many cultures with the love goddess Venus, and/or the planet named for her. Venus is symbolized by that planet's glyph ♀ ---- no coincidence, this is the universal symbol for women, as well. Friday is truly the day of the Beloved, best represented within mythology via the relationship between man as humankind, and divinity as the Goddess.
Now, into some of the esoteric ephemera:
Even though Friday has always been held an unlucky day in many Christian countries, still in the Hebrides it is supposed that it is a lucky day for sowing the seed - sowing the seed, the birth potential, the earth as womb, the invocation to the Goddess for fertility - that's all pretty potent stuff.
Here we are, right at the end of fiery Leo, just about to enter the cycle of the Virgin - the Virgin represents Goddess, but rather than some sexual chasteness, the word is more akin to 'maiden', which ultimately is about the young girl budding into woman. The appreciation of the beauty of life, in the cyclical maturation of life.
Fertility cults, pretty important when you're living harvest to harvest in a cruel and capricious world. Therein, the Goddess was imagined and invoked, mythologized and venerated, and in her observance, created ritual. Prosperity, fecundity, fertility - we posit the earth and nature as both being inherently feminine, and their examples are powerful. It's not wonder we still sway to the deepest rhythms of from whence we've come.
So, Friday - consider it a luxurious day, a day to be sensual and indulge your senses, to partake in beauty. Feel prosperous, feel adoring, project love for the sake of loving beauty... Notice prosperity and chance grace in this world of dull cares. Hold a handshake or a hug just a little longer - look right into the eyes of a stranger until they become as clear, inviting and radiant as that of the Beloved.
The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from Latin dies Veneris or "day of Venus" (a translation of Greek Aphrodites hemera). This includes such as vendredi in French, venerdì in Italian, viernes in Spanish, divendres in Catalan, vennari in Corsican, and vineri in Romanian. This is even reflected in the Celtic Welsh language as dydd Gwener.
In most of the Indian languages, Friday is Shukravar (or a derived variation of Sukravar), named for Shukra, the Sanskrit name of the planet Venus. We might also think of Lakshmi - somewhat of the Hindu Venus - she represents wealth, prosperity, happiness, luxury, beauty, and adoration amongst many other attributes.
In Japanese, 金曜日 is formed from the words 金星 meaning Venus (literally gold + planet) and 曜日 meaning day (of the week).
So, we see, over and over, far and wide, spontaneously and through influence or borrowing, Friday is associated in many cultures with the love goddess Venus, and/or the planet named for her. Venus is symbolized by that planet's glyph ♀ ---- no coincidence, this is the universal symbol for women, as well. Friday is truly the day of the Beloved, best represented within mythology via the relationship between man as humankind, and divinity as the Goddess.
Now, into some of the esoteric ephemera:
Even though Friday has always been held an unlucky day in many Christian countries, still in the Hebrides it is supposed that it is a lucky day for sowing the seed - sowing the seed, the birth potential, the earth as womb, the invocation to the Goddess for fertility - that's all pretty potent stuff.
Here we are, right at the end of fiery Leo, just about to enter the cycle of the Virgin - the Virgin represents Goddess, but rather than some sexual chasteness, the word is more akin to 'maiden', which ultimately is about the young girl budding into woman. The appreciation of the beauty of life, in the cyclical maturation of life.
Fertility cults, pretty important when you're living harvest to harvest in a cruel and capricious world. Therein, the Goddess was imagined and invoked, mythologized and venerated, and in her observance, created ritual. Prosperity, fecundity, fertility - we posit the earth and nature as both being inherently feminine, and their examples are powerful. It's not wonder we still sway to the deepest rhythms of from whence we've come.
So, Friday - consider it a luxurious day, a day to be sensual and indulge your senses, to partake in beauty. Feel prosperous, feel adoring, project love for the sake of loving beauty... Notice prosperity and chance grace in this world of dull cares. Hold a handshake or a hug just a little longer - look right into the eyes of a stranger until they become as clear, inviting and radiant as that of the Beloved.
We all seek connection. We all desire fulfillment of our deepest loneliness. We want that union, and the most mundane and yet holy way we can prepare and train ourselves to accept that great love is to find the Beloved in the Divine, and then find the Divine in every place, action, event and consequence.
Friday is a great day to give flowers or sweets to the lover, or to someone lovely - to the artist, the muse, the sweet graceful feminine soul that offers solace. To find your own senses, and within them, your sensuality.
And of course, always an excellent day to give thanks and praise!
And of course, always an excellent day to give thanks and praise!
