This essay will explore the connection between the fixed stars, our stable constellations and the decans, subdivisions of the zodiac that all come with their own set of images and properties.
These topics are two of my favorite aspects of astrology because, first and foremost, they move me. Learning about the stars and decans activated in my chart were both highly significant moments where I felt truly, deeply seen. I believe we should use our emotions more in the study of astrology because if it hits so much for you that it puts your heart on wings, motivates you to be exactly who you are, then it will probably do the same for others.
At first glance, the decans and the star couldn’t be further apart. While the fixed stars extend beyond our own Solar system, drawing our eyes farther and farther away, the decans currently exist as a minor sub-division of the zodiac.
In present times, they are used to divide the zodiac signs into 3 10º sections, 36 in total. You can see them illustrated above, as well as that each is assigned a planet to rule the particular slice of the sky. For example, while all of Libra is ruled by Venus, you can see in the chart that the first 10º, or the first decan, is ruled by the Moon. Venus still has primary lordship but the Moon will influence that first third of the sign to some degree. In the planetary dignity schema, decans are said to be the least important. While Guido Bonatti rated domicile, or a planet within a sign that it rules, as having five points, like a man in his own house, decanic dignity is only worth one point, offering bare power. So Venus will be ranked highly in any form of Libra, while the Moon will have minor help in the first 10º.
But even within this system they’re unique. He likens decanic dignity to a man in a foreign country with no family or friends nearby. What saves him is some special skill or talent that makes others want to keep him around. While all the other forms of dignity— domicile, exaltation, triplicity and terms— all have to do with position, or being in a supportive, sympathetic environment, decanic dignity is the only form that comes from one’s innate ability, regardless of what else is around you; the power of the decans come from within.
But if you go back to the inception of decans thousands of years ago, you see they are intimately linked with, and dependent upon, the stars. Decans are first mentioned in Ninth and Tenth Dynasty coffins in Asyut, in Egypt, marking the nocturnal hours of the day. After extending beyond the ever-shifting roughly month-long lunar calendar, the Egyptian’s created a 36-week year by tracking the rising of stars close to the ecliptic, each one taking the helm about every ten days, making 36 ten-day weeks.1 Specifically, they looked at the heliacal rise, or when a star rises just before the Sun at dawn, to determine which star ruled or had influence for that period of time.2 So, you can see that even in their inception, the decans were tied to the movement of the stars.
(If you want to learn more about heliacal rising stars and their relationship to our soul, check out my class on the subject)
These stellar divisions were said to be linked to gods and daimones who ruled each week, more specifically the “sub-beings very much like daimons” who “represent and report to superior gods” rather than the gods themselves.3 By the Ptolomiac and Greco-Roman periods, we still see decanic cults creating monuments to Egyptians gods like Isis, Osiris and Hathor with stars depicted on the structures.4 The inclusion of deities here demonstrate the divine power of these periods of time as well as to the stars and decans that divide it.
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