The third decan of Virgo: the Ten of Pentacles.
The person presumably responsible for all of it has only the dogs attending to him. That is not a sad picture. What you built is going to outlast your part in it, and the card counts that as the good outcome, whether or not you do.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
A courtyard under an arch. An old man in a robe of grapes sits at the edge with his hand on a white dog, a couple stand talking, a child reaches for the second dog, and ten coins lie over the whole scene, held by nobody.
The Golden Dawn gave the Ten of Pentacles the third ten degrees of Virgo, 20° to 30°, ruled by Mercury in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Wealth. The Sun crosses it every year, about 12 to 23 September; next from 12 to 23 September 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 Ten 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 Virgo III
Birthdays from about 12 to 23 September 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. Mercury at home in Virgo. The old reading is a mind for systems, inheritance and the long game, at ease among ledgers.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Ten of Pentacles for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Wealth; the Hermit for Virgo; the Magician for Mercury; and the Queen of Swords, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Virgo III
- Which tarot card is Mercury in Virgo?
- The Ten of Pentacles, which Book T calls the Lord of Wealth. The Golden Dawn gave it the third ten degrees of Virgo, 20° to 30°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Virgo III?
- The Sun is in it about 12 to 23 September every year, and next from 12 to 23 September 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 Virgo?
- Mercury, 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 Ten 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.
← Nine of Pentacles · Virgo: Eight of Pentacles · Nine of Pentacles · Ten of Pentacles · Two of Swords →