The third decan of Aries: the Four of Wands.
Nobody hangs flowers on a job still in progress. Homecoming is the usual reading, and it holds, but four plain poles carry the whole thing and the crowd is looking at the garland. Whatever you have finished rests on four ordinary things, and you are the only one who knows what they cost.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Four staves in a row, a garland slung between them, tied with ribbon. Two figures underneath, arms up, holding flowers. Behind them a bridge, a wall, a red roof, and a knot of people who were there already.
The Golden Dawn gave the Four of Wands the third ten degrees of Aries, 20° to 30°, ruled by Venus in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Perfected Work. The Sun crosses it every year, about 10 to 20 April; next from 10 to 20 April 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 Wands 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 Aries III
Birthdays from about 10 to 20 April 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. Venus in Aries, in its detriment. The old reading is warmth that comes fast and wants the thing finished and celebrated by the weekend.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Four of Wands for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Perfected Work; the Emperor for Aries; the Empress for Venus; and the Knight of Pentacles, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Aries III
- Which tarot card is Venus in Aries?
- The Four of Wands, which Book T calls the Lord of Perfected Work. The Golden Dawn gave it the third ten degrees of Aries, 20° to 30°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Aries III?
- The Sun is in it about 10 to 20 April every year, and next from 10 to 20 April 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 Aries?
- Venus, in the Chaldean order Book T uses. The triplicity order, which most horoscope columns use, gives it Jupiter instead. Both are right in their own system; here are both orders for all thirty-six.
What is drawn on the Four of Wands, 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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