The first decan of Virgo: the Eight of Pentacles.
He chose the distance from the town. He is looking at the point where the chisel meets the metal, and one of the eight is on the floor and nobody minds. You went somewhere quieter to get good at this, and the card thinks that was the right call.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Hammer in one hand, chisel in the other, and he is cutting a star into a coin. Five finished ones run up the post beside him and a sixth sits lower down; the town is a long way off behind his back.
The Golden Dawn gave the Eight of Pentacles the first ten degrees of Virgo, 0° to 10°, ruled by the Sun in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Prudence. The Sun crosses it every year, about 23 August to 2 September; next from 23 August to 2 September 2027.
Why this card can carry a date
A decan is a third of a sign, ten degrees of the zodiac, and there are thirty-six of them around the year. The Golden Dawn gave one to each numbered card, so every numbered card is also a place on the calendar, and when the Sun, the Moon or a planet is inside those ten degrees the card is, in an old and literal sense, in season. All thirty-six are listed here, and where the Sun is today is computed on the server so anyone can check it.
The Sun spends about ten days in each decan every year. The Moon passes through each one for under a day, roughly once a month. Mercury and Venus run close to the Sun; Mars, Jupiter and Saturn move slowly, and can sit on one card for weeks or months. What this site prints about the Eight of Pentacles is computed at the minute you read, so it can be checked against any ephemeris, and it stops being printed the hour it stops being true.
Born with the Sun in Virgo I
Birthdays from about 23 August to 2 September fall in this decan. The boundary moves by a day or so from year to year, which is why the birth card page works from an ephemeris and not a table. The Sun in Virgo. The old reading is a craftsman's birth: the work done properly, then done again.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Eight of Pentacles for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Prudence; the Hermit for Virgo; the Sun for the Sun; and the King of Pentacles, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Virgo I
- Which tarot card is the Sun in Virgo?
- The Eight of Pentacles, which Book T calls the Lord of Prudence. The Golden Dawn gave it the first ten degrees of Virgo, 0° to 10°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Virgo I?
- The Sun is in it about 23 August to 2 September every year, and next from 23 August to 2 September 2027. The boundary moves by a day or so from year to year, so a birthday on the edge can fall either side; the birth card page settles it from an ephemeris rather than a table.
- Who rules the first decan of Virgo?
- The Sun, in the Chaldean order Book T uses. The triplicity order, which most horoscope columns use, gives it Mercury instead. Both are right in their own system; here are both orders for all thirty-six.
What is drawn on the Eight of Pentacles, and the four things people go to on it. Draw a card and if this is the one that turns, the reading will say which body is on it. The sky, and why a card here can carry a date.
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