Virgo- Decan II
Lord of Gain
Following on the previous musing I did on the Sun’s ingress into Virgo, including discussion on the first decan, I want to now reflect on the Sun entering the second decan of Virgo and also Venus’s ingress into Virgo that will also take place during the second decan of Virgo.
The decans in astrology refer to a degree point within a sign’s house. The decans date back to Egyptian practice, using them for astrology and ritual. The decans are split into 36 sections or faces of 10 degrees each, each sign hosting three decans. This adds up to the zodiacal wheels total of 360 degrees. Each day then equals one degree, therefore ten degrees in a sign equals ten days or one full decan, and each sign is essentially a month or thirty degrees, and three decans exist within each sign.
Individual decans were assigned a planetary ruler, and it was thought that there would be a blending of the decan planet and the primary ruler of the sign, and this would merge with the individual’s own temperament and attributes.
For instance, my rising sign degree is at zero degrees Virgo, exactly on the ingress point into Virgo. Virgo is a Mercury ruled sign. Zero to ten degrees is the first decan, and the planetary ruler assigned is the Sun. Therefore my ascendant is ruled by a Sun/Mercury blend. In my own natal chart, I have the Sun and Mercury in the 11th house of Cancer, conjunct an exalted Jupiter. Concerning my own temperament and personality, which is first house attributes, I am very self-reliant, slightly obsessed with books, words, and learning. I am one to be very diligent, structured and habitual with my day to day practices, and gravitate towards outlets that also have structures, patterns and tangible outputs of creation. I am patient with these projects, paying attention to details, and knowing that it is the constancy of repetition that bring success. I am known to grind out the reps and follow my goals to the end.
Highlights of activities in my life that have brought me the greatest purpose and pleasure include running and racing, knitting and fiber arts that follow patterns and produce useable and tangible goods, mountaineering involving precise routes and movements that bring one to a destined goal, esoteric studies that are rooted in deep philosophies such as religious studies, tarot and astrology and are applicable to everyday life. My overall life’s movement is guided by this Sun/Mercury combination, when I feel most engaged in my life, this is a very strong undercurrent. When the current is not in place, I feel swept away in boundless confusion and lacking direction.
Today, September 2nd, we have moved into the second decan of Virgo, and this will remain until the third and final decan of Virgo, which begins September 12th. The second decan of Virgo moves us into the 10-19 degree points, and this decan is ruled by the planet Venus. One thing to know is Venus in Virgo is in its fall, which means Venus has the tendency to trip itself up. Venus in its fall in Virgo can show up as perfectionism or being overly critical, anorexia as an example comes to mind. Seeking a distorted beauty at all costs of balanced health, this could be Venus in Virgo. Yet in the degree points of 10-19, the second decan, Venus has some strength, which can bring harmonious improvements around aesthetics, home and art. Beautiful poetry may pour out at this point, or you may find yourself drawn to music that is exquisitely structured like opera or symphonies. Venus in this decan takes pleasure in the details. She is also independent and seeks the comforts of her own home and space.
Venus is also in its own bounds from the degree range of 7-17 and it does have triplicity strength by day. Both an added strength that Venus could use.
This month of September, we actually have the ingress of transiting Venus into Virgo on Monday Sept 5. On September 11th at 7 degrees it will move into its bounds and then will just move into decan two as the Sun moves into decan three at 20 degrees. Venus just misses her mark and she will have challenges this month being in her fall and receiving a square from Mars. The square will incite issues around what we think is beautiful and just. The ruler of Virgo, Mercury, also goes into a retrograde period in the sign of Libra during September. This retrograde period is hosted by all sorts of pushbacks including a Jupiter and Mercury opposition and then a Neptune opposition when it retrogrades back into Virgo.
Venus will feel all of this deeply, and where she will get confused is the end of September. Venus will oppose Neptune after her square with Mars, and this may be a point of not knowing what is truly right, just and beautiful in the rational world, and may feel a deep desire to escape into deeper emotional waters. Venus wants out of rational and dry Mercury, here she feels an intense, confusing division and harmony may feel like a real challenge.
The second decan of Virgo, from the dates of September 2nd-Sept September 12 has potential of the greatest harmony and reciprocation of the harvest. The tarot assigns the nine of pentacles to this decan, which is also known as the Lord of Gain. In the Rider-Waite deck, nine of pentacles features a solitary woman standing independently, confidently, and peacefully in an abundant garden. She exudes Venusian properties of growth, beauty, grounding, and prosperity. It seems she is enjoying the fruits of her hard work, and a cycle is completing. She is connected to the gardens around her, and the natural world. In the image she is handling a bird who seems under her command, a snail featured at the bottom carrying its own home on its back. Again a sense of independence and self-sufficiency is communicated.
What positive areas of growth in your world can you connect to in the coming days? Where do you feel the most secure and successful? What areas have you not given yourself enough credit for? Take some time to connect to your inner strengths and allow to feel the confidence flow forth into your heart, allow yourself to turn towards the Sun a little more this coming week. Like the sunflowers seeking the Sun, we all could use a little more light in the growing darkness of Virgo season.