The third decan of Scorpio: the Seven of Cups.
Choice, fantasy, too many doors. The sharper fact is that the cups are in the air and nothing has been lifted down. You are not choosing between these yet. You are looking at them, which is a different afternoon and can be extended more or less indefinitely.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Seven cups float in cloud, each holding something different: a head, a veiled figure lit from inside, a snake, a castle, jewels, a wreath hung over a skull, a dragon. Below them a man drawn as a black shape, one hand out.
The Golden Dawn gave the Seven of Cups the third ten degrees of Scorpio, 20° to 30°, ruled by Venus in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Illusionary Success. The Sun crosses it every year, about 12 to 22 November; next from 12 to 22 November 2026.
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 Seven of Cups 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 Scorpio III
Birthdays from about 12 to 22 November 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 Scorpio, in its detriment. The old reading is a rich imagination with a taste for the one cup it cannot see into.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Seven of Cups for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Illusionary Success; Death for Scorpio; the Empress for Venus; and the King of Wands, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Scorpio III
- Which tarot card is Venus in Scorpio?
- The Seven of Cups, which Book T calls the Lord of Illusionary Success. The Golden Dawn gave it the third ten degrees of Scorpio, 20° to 30°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Scorpio III?
- The Sun is in it about 12 to 22 November every year, and next from 12 to 22 November 2026. 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 Scorpio?
- Venus, in the Chaldean order Book T uses. The triplicity order, which most horoscope columns use, gives it the Moon instead. Both are right in their own system; here are both orders for all thirty-six.
What is drawn on the Seven of Cups, 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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