THE HISTORY OF DAYS
By Mayo Téllez

Have you ever wondered how the days of the week were born? I have occasionally wondered myself, but I believe I don't have a decisive answer. There will be many hypotheses, but the interesting thing is the meaning of each of the names given to the days. Many probably already know, but still a brief mythological explanation of traditional legends may help us understand better why they gave these names to the days of the week and equally we may be able to build our own hypotheses.

Let´s begin with SUNDAY; the thing is we can find from the most remote times in the history of all nations special days consecrated on worshiping the sacred. The order in which days occur, their designated names and the ceremonies used surrounding them, has varied with the passing of time and the difference between manners and places. In India for example the assigned day for rest and prayer was named SABBATH. It is the same name it carries in Hebrew, corresponding to our Saturday. When Christianity appeared, the traditional observance of that day was transferred to the following one, in which the resurrection of The Savior took place; amongst the first Roman congregation it was named DOMINICAN, of DOMINICUS, that means of the Lord. That's where the Castilian form of the word DOMINGO comes from. There were nations that believed the sun was the creator of life and the dispenser of all goods, and for this reason they adored it like a God, devoting the first day of the week to it which they designated as the DAY OF THE SUN.
MONDAY, even though there is no relation between the week's term and the stars movements, from very ancient times we can find five days of the week dedicated to planets and mythological divinities, which have the same names. Monday, or day of the moon, is the name for the second day of the week, dedicated to our satellite, which the Romans named after Diana and considered it as Febo's consort, the star of the day. Because the second day of the week is consecrated to the moon from time immemorial, with the name Monday.
TUESDAY, is Mars, the fourth great planet of the Solar System, the one closest to Earth, but the smallest and more distant from the sun. It has received his name from the war god, Mars, who according to Greco-Roman tradition, was one of the twelve great Gods of ancient times, and who carried out a most important part in heroic legends. Its cult was spread out all over the pagan world.  Mars was considered as the God of virile force and warrior's inspiration in itself; he was the hero soldier's prototype of the epic legends, who thrown into fighting wouldn't obey anything other than the brutality of his instincts and bloodthirsty furor, getting carried away by the crazy desire of wounding and killing, from where he got the wolf symbol as cruelty's emblem. In the Roman families' medals. Mars appears under the aspect of a youth in life's plenitude. The third day of the week is dedicated to this tutelary God of the armies of warriors, soldiers and gladiators, named TUESDAY.
WEDNESDAY means the day of mercury which is the closest planet to the sun. Its name is taken from Latin mythology, which speaks about mercury, the Gods' messenger, and God the same one of eloquence, commerce and thieves. It also presided over mercantile relations among men, and for that reason its image was seen at the markets' entrance of the main cities of Greece. The invention of measurement, weights and scales was attributed to him and everything that had to do with markets. The word mercury is derived from the Latin MERCARI that means to buy or to trade. Mercury is represented with the imagine of a warrior  accompanied with a crow by the hand - rapacity's symbol.
THURSDAY, is the fifth day of the week and its name is an abbreviation of the Latin words JOVIS DIES that in Spanish mean day of Jove or Jupiter.  Jupiter the greatest planet in our solar system. For the Greeks, Jupiter was the gods' father and also one of the men. It's usually represented on an armed car or the lightning bolt, signifying the luminous god who flees the darkness' geniuses; he holds an extraordinary horn, symbol of force and power.
FRIDAY, the sixth day of the week.  Its name is worth as much as VENERIS DIES Latin words that mean days of Venus.  She is a beautiful and kind goddess, in which ancient people symbolized all charms of nature.  She is the graceful morning star which brightens up the dawn and the evening star that appears on the cloudscapes of the twilight across the firmament.
SATURDAY, the last day of the week.  Its name has a Hebrew origin, meaning resting day, for that reason an absolute relaxation was a severe law for Hebrews during that day, which they dedicated to prayer and fervent cult in the synagogues. After long periods time of varied labors during the week, it was fair to rest one day and to devoting it to God.