Eight Days a Week

According to Burmese astrology, there are eight days in a week. They are Sunday, Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday (till noon), Rahu (Wednesday afternoon till the next morning), Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Burmese people believe that the astrological day a person was born is a great determinant in his or her personality and life. For example, a person born on Monday would be jealous; on Tuesday. Honest; on Wednesday, short tempered but soon calm again; the trait being intensified on the so called eighth day of Rahu; on Thursday, mild; on Friday, talkative; on Saturday, hot tempered and quarrelsome; and on Sunday, miserly.

Burmese also believe that interpersonal relation between people is also determined by the day they were born. For example, Monday born and Friday born would not get along well while Monday born and Wednesday or Rahu (Wednesday evening) born would get along very well. At the pagodas in Myanmar, there are always eight planetary posts build into the pagoda structure, with the representative animal symbols, where the believers could donate offerings at their respective planets to influence the appropriate powers.