The third decan of Leo: the Seven of Wands.
He is higher than all of them. Six against one reads as terrible odds until you notice that none of the six can reach him, and that he was doing something else when this started. You are winning this and you got dressed in a hurry, and both are true.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
One man on a ledge, six staves coming up at him from below the edge of the card. No hands on any of them. Both of his are on his own staff, mid-swing, and he is wearing one boot and one shoe.
The Golden Dawn gave the Seven of Wands the third ten degrees of Leo, 20° to 30°, ruled by Mars in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Valour. The Sun crosses it every year, about 12 to 23 August; next from 12 to 23 August 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 Seven 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 Leo III
Birthdays from about 12 to 23 August 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 Leo. The old reading is a fighter who holds the high ground alone rather than share it.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Seven of Wands for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Valour; Strength for Leo; the Tower for Mars; and the King of Pentacles, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Leo III
- Which tarot card is Mars in Leo?
- The Seven of Wands, which Book T calls the Lord of Valour. The Golden Dawn gave it the third ten degrees of Leo, 20° to 30°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Leo III?
- The Sun is in it about 12 to 23 August every year, and next from 12 to 23 August 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 Leo?
- Mars, in the Chaldean order Book T uses. The triplicity order, which most horoscope columns use, gives it Mars instead. Both are right in their own system; here are both orders for all thirty-six.
What is drawn on the Seven 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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