The first decan of Libra: the Two of Swords.
This is peace, and it was kept by not looking. A stalemate, a decision refused, and the card never says the refusal is wrong. You are allowed not to decide yet. What you may not call it is rest. Her arms are up, and they have been up for a while.
Power draw the Sun is on this card tonight. Sun moves on 3 October.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909. Scan in the public domain.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Blindfolded, on a stone bench, she holds two swords crossed over her chest. Her back is to the sea. Flat water, rocks in it, and a thin moon for the only light.
The Golden Dawn gave the Two of Swords the first ten degrees of Libra, 0° to 10°, ruled by the Moon in the Chaldean order, and Book T (1888) calls it the Lord of Peace Restored. The Sun crosses it every year, about 23 September to 3 October; next from 23 September to 3 October 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 Two 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 Libra I
Birthdays from about 23 September to 3 October 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 Moon in Libra. The old reading is a peacemaker who keeps the balance by not looking too closely at either side.
In the Golden Dawn's scheme a birth here carries four cards: the Two of Swords for the ten degrees themselves, the Lord of Peace Restored; Justice for Libra; the High Priestess for the Moon; and the Queen of Swords, whose thirty degrees take this decan in.
Questions about Libra I
- Which tarot card is the Moon in Libra?
- The Two of Swords, which Book T calls the Lord of Peace Restored. The Golden Dawn gave it the first ten degrees of Libra, 0° to 10°, in 1888, which is the whole reason a numbered card can carry a date.
- What are the dates of Libra I?
- The Sun is in it about 23 September to 3 October every year, and next from 23 September to 3 October 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 first decan of Libra?
- The Moon, 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 Two 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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