The third decan of Capricorn: the Four of Pentacles.
That is the arithmetic of holding on, and it is why the card is not about greed: he is not enjoying any of it, he is occupied by it. Whatever you have been clamping to your chest, it is doing nothing at the moment except keeping your hands full, and the town has gone on without you.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
One coin balanced on his crown, one clamped to his chest with both arms, two under his feet. The crowned man sits on a block of stone outside a city, and his back is to it.
The Golden Dawn gave the Four of Pentacles the third ten degrees of Capricorn, 20° to 30°, ruled by the Sun in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Earthly Power. The Sun crosses it every year, about 10 to 20 January; next from 10 to 20 January 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 Four 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 Capricorn III
Birthdays from about 10 to 20 January 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 Capricorn. The old reading is a holder of ground and of assets, slow to spend either.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Four of Pentacles for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Earthly Power; the Devil for Capricorn; the Sun for the Sun; and the Knight of Swords, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Capricorn III
- Which tarot card is the Sun in Capricorn?
- The Four of Pentacles, which Book T calls the Lord of Earthly Power. The Golden Dawn gave it the third ten degrees of Capricorn, 20° to 30°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Capricorn III?
- The Sun is in it about 10 to 20 January every year, and next from 10 to 20 January 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 third decan of Capricorn?
- 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 Four 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.
← Three of Pentacles · Capricorn: Two of Pentacles · Three of Pentacles · Four of Pentacles · Five of Swords →