The second decan of Capricorn: the Three of Pentacles.
Skilled work, and the arrangement is the point. The craftsman is the tallest and the plans are between them. You are in the middle of something with other people, and the useful thing about it is that nobody has downed tools to admire it yet.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
A job in progress. A young mason stands on a bench with his mallet, a monk and a figure in a patterned cloak hold open a drawing between them, and three pentacles are already carved into the arch over all their heads.
The Golden Dawn gave the Three of Pentacles the second ten degrees of Capricorn, 10° to 20°, ruled by Mars in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Material Works. The Sun crosses it every year, about 31 December to 10 January; next from 31 December 2026 to 10 January 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 Three 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 Capricorn II
Birthdays from about 31 December to 10 January 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 exalted in Capricorn. The old reading is the builder: ambition that shows up with drawings and a team.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Three of Pentacles for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Material Works; the Devil for Capricorn; the Tower for Mars; and the Queen of Pentacles, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Capricorn II
- Which tarot card is Mars in Capricorn?
- The Three of Pentacles, which Book T calls the Lord of Material Works. The Golden Dawn gave it the second ten degrees of Capricorn, 10° to 20°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Capricorn II?
- The Sun is in it about 31 December to 10 January every year, and next from 31 December 2026 to 10 January 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 Capricorn?
- 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 Three 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.
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