Saturday correspondences
I don’t plan to make this post as long as my others. I tend to be long-winded enough as it is and am trying to keep things short and sweet!
Saturday and its fellow weekend day Sunday are the odd ones. So far we’ve had Mani’s Day, Tyr’s Day, Woden’s Day, Thor’s Day, and Frigg’s Day. But literally today we have Saturn’s Day, who was identified with the Greek Cronus and the father of Jupiter (Zeus). He is a deity of many things, particularly of agriculture and later on time. He is also associated with wealth and plenty. As a god of renewal, he represents the constant cycle of death and rebirth. This idea of death and rebirth can be seen in our physical world, where time passes and the earth around us dies and grows back (this idea is also linked to the stories of Persephone and Hades as well). There is some link, perhaps, to the name Saetere, an obscure deity of Anglo-Saxon origin.
From Saturn we also receive one of the most well known Roman festivals: Saturnalia, a time of feasting and gift-giving! Saturday the day of the week however is much more somber, at least to me. It is a day to let the energies of the previous week leave you and prepare to replenish yourself for the upcoming week. It is a time to reflect on beginnings and endings, on the ever-changing and shifting flow of time. Saturn especially to me represents the idea of destruction in favor of renewal; the same way the fire destroys a forest yet from the ashes a new forest grows.
Saturday is a day for cleaning and cleansing; cleaning your house and then really cleansing your house is always a good feeling to air out the lingering energy of the previous week so that you may begin your day on Sunday with a fresh feeling.
What’s so interesting about Saturday is the fact that there was no equivalent in the Nordic and Germanic traditions for Saturn/Cronus, and so Saturn was never changed or adapted as the others were. In Spanish and French, names for Saturday are sábado and samedi. Because of Saturday’s odd duality of life-death, beginning-ending aspects, I’ve included deities of death and the underworld in this list though it is by no means necessary for you to acknowledge death gods and goddesses on Saturday. Especially as with in Chinese Traditional Religion, there are dozens upon dozens of deities associated with these aspects.
In Hinduism, Saturday is a relatively unlucky day, and is often dedicated to binding or banishing the bad luck or influence of Shani, a deity associated with the planet Saturn who in varying accounts carries either a sword and rides a giant crow, or a bow and riding a vulture.. Indeed, the name for Saturday in many Indian languages is Shanivar, and many Hindus observe a fast on Saturday to avoid misfortunes
Animals; bat, crow, leopard, phoenix, scorpion, snake, wolf/jackal
Colors; black, indigo, maroon, purple, dark or somber colors
Crystals; Apache tear, hematite, lead, obsidian, onyx, pewter, smoky quartz
Elements; earth, fire
Energies; agriculture, banishment, binding, caution, cleansing, debts, divination, endings, exorcism, karma, protection, psychic growth
Foods; beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes, sesame seed, other root vegetables
Goddesses; Geshtinanna, Hecate, Isis, Izanami no kami, Persephone,
Gods; Anubis, Cronus, Dionysus, Hades, Loki, Osiris
Plants; cypress, hemlock, hemp
