The three decans of Virgo.
The Sun is in Virgo about 23 August to 23 September each year, ten days in each of its three decans. The Golden Dawn gave each decan a numbered card, so a Virgo birth is one of three: the Eight, Nine and Ten 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 Virgo am I?
Eight of PentaclesVirgo I · Sun · 0° to 10° · Lord of PrudenceBorn about 23 August to 2 SeptemberThe Sun in Virgo. The old reading is a craftsman's birth: the work done properly, then done again.
Nine of PentaclesVirgo II · Venus · 10° to 20° · Lord of Material GainBorn about 2 to 12 SeptemberVenus in Virgo, in its fall. The old reading is pleasure taken carefully, in a garden of one's own making.
Ten of PentaclesVirgo III · Mercury · 20° to 30° · Lord of WealthBorn about 12 to 23 SeptemberMercury at home in Virgo. The old reading is a mind for systems, inheritance and the long game, at ease among ledgers.
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 Virgo?
Six, in the Golden Dawn's scheme. The Hermit is the card of the sign itself. The Eight, Nine and Ten of Pentacles are its three decans. And two court cards hold thirty degrees each across it: the King of Pentacles over Virgo I and II, and the Queen of Swords over Virgo III and the first two decans of Libra. 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.
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