Monday is the day of the week between Sunday and Tuesday.
In many languages, the names given to the seven days of the week are derived from the names of the classical planets in Hellenistic astronomy, which were in turn named after contemporary deities, a system introduced by the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity.
The eanglish names of the day of the week were coined in the Roman era, in Greek and Latin.
The name of Monday is derived from Old English Mōnandæg and Middle English Monenday, originally a translation of Latin dies lunae meaning “day of the Moon”.
According to the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 8601 standard, it is the first day of the week and in countries that adopt the “Sunday-first” convention, it is the second day of the week.
Historically, the Greco-Roman week began with Sunday (dies solis), and Monday (dies lunae) was the second day of the week. It is still the custom to refer to Monday as feria secunda in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. Quakers also traditionally referred to Monday as “Second Day”. The Portuguese and the Greek (Eastern Orthodox Church) also retain the ecclesiastical tradition (Portuguese segunda-feira, Greek Δευτέρα “deutéra” “second”). Likewise, the Modern Hebrew name for Monday is yom-sheni (יום שני).
The second day of the week has been classified as the moon’s day since Babylonian times. The Babylonians were the ones who decided on a seven-day week, and they named five of the days for planets, and one each for the
sun and for the moon.
Ancient Romans followed the same pattern, though they technically thought they were naming every day after a planet, since the Romans thought that the sun and moon were planets in their own right. For the Romans, every planet had an associated god or goddess, and Luna was the goddess that personified the moon.
Germanic and Nordic-speaking people took after the Romans when it came to days of the week, but they changed the names to match their own planetary gods. In Norse mythology, the moon was guided by the god Mani, who pulled the moon across the sky via chariot after his sister, the goddess Sol, pulled the sun across the sky – It being the moon’s day meant it was also Mani’s day.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church Mondays are days on which the Angels are commemorated. In many Eastern monasteries Mondays are observed as fast days – because Mondays are dedicated to the angels, and monks strive to live an angelic life. In these monasteries, the monks abstain from meat, fowl, dairy products, fish, wine and oil (if a feast day occurs on a Monday, fish, wine and oil may be allowed, depending upon the particular feast).
In Islam, Mondays are one of the days in a week in which Muslims are encouraged to do voluntary fasting, the other being Thursdays. There are a number of Hadith which narrated of prophet Muhammad fasting on these days.
In Judaism Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting. The Didache warned early Christians not to fast on Mondays to avoid Judaizing, and suggests Wednesdays instead.
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and a public holiday in some countries. It is the second day of Eastertide. In Western Christianity, it is also the second day of the Octave of Easter, and in Eastern Christianity, it is also the second day of Bright Week.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act is an Act of Congress that moved permanently to a Monday three Federal holidays in the United States—Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, and Labor Day—and that made Columbus Day a federal holiday, also permanently on a Monday. This created long weekends with three days off ending with the holidays, such as Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend.
Cyber Monday is a marketing term for e-commerce transactions on the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It was created by retailers to encourage people to shop online. The term was coined by Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation and Scott Silverman, and made its debut on November 28, 2005, in a Shop.org press release entitled “‘Cyber Monday’ Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year”. Cyber Monday takes place the Monday after Thanksgiving; the date falls between November 26 and December 2, depending on the year.
A number of popular songs in Western culture feature Monday, often as a day of depression, anxiety, avolition, hysteria, or melancholy (mostly because of its association with the first day of the workweek).
“Blue Monday” is a song performed by English rock band New Order. It was released as a 12-inch single on 7 March 1983 through Factory Records.
In order to prepare for the energy of Monday, ensure that you get a good night’s rest the night before.