The third decan of Gemini: the Ten of Swords.
The worst outcome, and the end of it. The most overstated picture in the deck, on purpose: one sword would have done. Ten is the end of the line and the suit has nothing further to do. If this is the bottom for you, the card's one comfort is that it does not go lower.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Face down at the water's edge, with ten swords in his back. Red cloak, black sky, a band of yellow at the horizon, and the water flat. His hand is not slack.
The Golden Dawn gave the Ten of Swords the third ten degrees of Gemini, 20° to 30°, ruled by the Sun in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Ruin. The Sun crosses it every year, about 11 to 21 June; next from 11 to 21 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 Ten 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 III
Birthdays from about 11 to 21 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. The Sun in Gemini. The old reading is someone who thinks a thing all the way to its end, including the ends nobody wanted.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Ten of Swords for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Ruin; the Lovers for Gemini; the Sun for the Sun; and the Queen of Cups, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Gemini III
- Which tarot card is the Sun in Gemini?
- The Ten of Swords, which Book T calls the Lord of Ruin. The Golden Dawn gave it the third ten degrees of Gemini, 20° to 30°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Gemini III?
- The Sun is in it about 11 to 21 June every year, and next from 11 to 21 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 third decan of Gemini?
- The Sun, in the Chaldean order Book T uses. The triplicity order, which most horoscope columns use, gives it Saturn instead. Both are right in their own system; here are both orders for all thirty-six.
What is drawn on the Ten 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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