Hora (planetary hour)
A hora is a planetary hour. Day and night are each divided into 12 horas, ruled in turn by the Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars; the first hora at sunrise belongs to the weekday’s lord.
Also known as: Hora muhurat, Horai
Daytime from sunrise to sunset is divided into 12 equal horas, and the night into 12 more, so a hora is about an hour: longer by day in summer and shorter in winter. The rulers follow a fixed cycle: Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, then the Sun again.
This cycle explains the order of the week. Sunday’s first hora belongs to the Sun; 24 horas later the cycle reaches the Moon, so the next day is Monday, and so on through Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. The word ‘hora’ is traditionally traced to ‘ahoratra’, day-and-night.
People match the hora to the task: Jupiter for learning, finance and religious work; Venus for the arts, shopping and romance; Mercury for writing and trade; the Moon for travel and public dealings; the Sun for dealings with authority. Saturn and Mars horas are usually avoided for new starts. This hora is different from the Hora (D-2) chart used in Kundli analysis.