The second decan of Gemini: the Nine of Swords.
Anguish manufactured indoors, by a mind, at night. The swords are real and they were there before tonight. The picture stays dark for exactly as long as she keeps her hands where they are. Whatever woke you is not in the room, and you have already checked.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Nine swords in a row on the wall, and none of them touching her. She sits up in bed with both hands over her face, and the quilt over her legs, roses and the signs of the zodiac, is the only colour in the room.
The Golden Dawn gave the Nine of Swords the second ten degrees of Gemini, 10° to 20°, ruled by Mars in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. The Sun crosses it every year, about 31 May to 11 June; next from 31 May to 11 June 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 Nine of Swords 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 Gemini II
Birthdays from about 31 May to 11 June 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. Mars in Gemini. The old reading is a quick, sharp tongue, and a mind that works hardest at three in the morning.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Nine of Swords for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Despair and Cruelty; the Lovers for Gemini; the Tower for Mars; and the King of Swords, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Gemini II
- Which tarot card is Mars in Gemini?
- The Nine of Swords, which Book T calls the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. The Golden Dawn gave it the second ten degrees of Gemini, 10° to 20°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Gemini II?
- The Sun is in it about 31 May to 11 June every year, and next from 31 May to 11 June 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 second decan of Gemini?
- Mars, in the Chaldean order Book T uses. The triplicity order, which most horoscope columns use, gives it Venus instead. Both are right in their own system; here are both orders for all thirty-six.
What is drawn on the Nine of Swords, 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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