The three decans of Capricorn.
The Sun is in Capricorn about 21 December to 20 January each year, ten days in each of its three decans. The Golden Dawn gave each decan a numbered card, so a Capricorn birth is one of three: the Two, Three and Four of Pentacles, depending on the day. Which one is yours is below, with the planet that rules it and what the tradition reads into a birth there.
- 78cards
- 24spreads
- 36decans
- The Sun, now☉ 1.8° Libra, Two of Swords
Which decan of Capricorn am I?
Two of PentaclesCapricorn I · Jupiter · 0° to 10° · Lord of Harmonious ChangeBorn about 21 to 31 DecemberJupiter in Capricorn, in its fall. The old reading is a juggler of two lives, both of them serious, both of them kept in the air.
Three of PentaclesCapricorn II · Mars · 10° to 20° · Lord of Material WorksBorn about 31 December to 10 JanuaryMars exalted in Capricorn. The old reading is the builder: ambition that shows up with drawings and a team.
Four of PentaclesCapricorn III · Sun · 20° to 30° · Lord of Earthly PowerBorn about 10 to 20 JanuaryThe Sun in Capricorn. The old reading is a holder of ground and of assets, slow to spend either.
The boundary between decans 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.
Which tarot cards are Capricorn?
Six, in the Golden Dawn's scheme. The Devil is the card of the sign itself. The Two, Three and Four of Pentacles are its three decans. And two court cards hold thirty degrees each across it: the Queen of Pentacles over Capricorn I and II, and the Knight of Swords over Capricorn III and the first two decans of Aquarius. A reading here that turns any of them says so.
Why a sign has three cards and not one
A decan is ten degrees of the zodiac, a third of a sign, and there are thirty-six of them around the year. Book T (1888) gave one to each numbered card of the minor arcana, which is the whole reason a card can carry a date. All thirty-six · where the Sun is today · who rules each decan, in both orders.
Aries · Taurus · Gemini · Cancer · Leo · Virgo · Libra · Scorpio · Sagittarius · Capricorn · Aquarius · Pisces