IMG Abstract: Sagittarius. Own image in watercolour and pen
We’re in the second decan for just a few more days, till the New Moon in Sag 12 December, represented in Tarot by the Nine of Wands.
The keywords here are vigilance and stamina. This figure, stalwart but injured, is resting, battle weary. The second decan Sagittarius native is quick of mind, good with their hands, adventurous, technically proficient, Sagittarius-Aries fire. More generally, this card says we would rather not go it alone. But we’ll do it if we have to. Oh yes. And we’re not done. Oh no. We’re still standing, and we are standing by. Sentinels. Watchmen. Ready. You won’t catch us with our guard down.
Neptune has gone direct in Pisces as of 6 December, having been retrograde since 30 June. We might have been having some mighty odd and vivid dreams just lately. In my own case, there has been a rather entertaining spate of dreams involving raccoons popping up in odd places, possibly reflecting symbolically tricky dealings to do with certain matters. The raccoon can warn against dealing with tricky people and those who aren’t dealing straight with us, wearing its little bandit mask. The raccoon has positive associations too, of course. The raccoon is agile, and endlessly resourceful.
But it’s curious where these things come from. And I wouldn’t mind but we don’t even have raccoons where I am (in the UK, North West W England) I can’t just put it down to watching nature programmes on the box either.
Things have been heavy going in recent months for almost anyone. Something has been weighing heavy on our minds for some time. Problems for which there can be no solutions as such. We’ve just had to do the best we can, maintaining a holding position, and trying meanwhile not to make matters worse.
The New Moon in Sagittarius 12 December suggests new possibilities, and a clearer way ahead. And don’t we all wish that for the whole wide world. Looking into my cards for 2024 there are no clear signs of a lasting resolution in the dreadful conflicts and events in Ukraine and in Gaza. Though there are windows of opportunity, and perhaps I will write more about that later.
But right here, right now, says this card is our individual power of action in our own, personal battles.
The New Moon on the 12 December is in 20 degrees of Sagittarius. We might get the strong urge to go somewhere new, learn something new, change our horizons, however vicariously. Even reading a book is a form of travel. Reading rolls up telepathy, mind reading, space travel and time travel all in one page. Each page a magic carpet.
There are so many sad events, and we might well ask ourselves, what use is philosophy? What use is poetry? (Or Tarot)
We are made that way. Words can lift us up. Why else do we conjure special words for births and weddings and funerals? Words are invocations. Words are comforters. They can help us readjust and regain our equilibrium when everything is dark. Words contain the magical power of Wyrd. We get the word weird from Wyrd, meaning mystery and destiny.
Word. Weird, Wyrd. They are all the same thing.
“I will lift mine eyes up to the hills from whence cometh my help.”
-Psalm 121
The higher we can go, the more bearable or at least, immediately manageable things are when the going is really tough. We don’t have to be religious to feel the truth of this.
“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow (on his pipe. “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails.”
The Scales of Justice and the Claws of The Scorpion
The current Mars in Scorpio transit began 12 October and continues until 24 November. Mars in Scorpio is passionate, intuitive, subtle, cunning, proud, brave, strong and energetic. But may be violent or downright cruel. Vengeful and vindictive. A lot of stuff can get sorted out on a political or personal level, but it is wiser to do it with restraint and respect, or else watch out for the karmic comeback, and that sting in the tail. It may be a long time coming, but come it will.
The Tarot card associated with Mars in Scorpio is the Death card. Other Mars cards are The Tower (shock, storm, cataclysm) and The Emperor (war, government, law and order) Sweet reason and moderation. Desperately needed in the world right now.
But Scorpio steams and bubbles and boils. It is not moderate. It is Life and Death and they are not moderate. It takes a massive surge of energy to get born. It takes a massive release of power to release our hold on life and get ourselves dead, returning to the source or the dreamland from which we have come. Unless we die suddenly, the natural dying process is a job of work, requiring our co-operation. I watched my mother having to work at it, dying with pneumonia that did not respond to three courses of antibiotics.
The fixed water zodiac sign of Scorpio is a metaphor of water (feeling) that bubbles up from deep down, whether this is down on the ocean bed or on land. It emerges under pressure like a geyser.
Such is the power of Scorpio. And the Scorpio native may have healing charisma. But for healing we think more of the Temperance card of Sagittarius or the hopeful Star of Aquarius. It is no coincidence however, the stars that were originally known as the Claws of the cosmic Scorpion, were later made to do double duty as the Scales of Justice in the constellation of Libra next door.
No lasting peace without justice, at home or abroad. We talk about natural justice, but there is no justice in Nature. only natural law is red in tooth and claw. But we are part of nature, so why do we cry out for justice like we do? We’re hardwired for justice. Even small babies have been proven to demonstrate a keen sensitivity to what is fair and what is not, while the Roman writer and poet Manilius apparently observed that a higher than average number of judges in Rome were born under the sun sign of Libra, which had by his time, borrowed, shared or co-opted the stars of the constellation next door. The Claws of the Scorpion were now Libra’s Scales of Justice.
Death in natural. It is deeply painful to lose loved ones. It is frightening to contemplate our own ending. But we can rise to it with a measure of philosophy and poetic understanding. But we can’t do that when we have experienced an injustice. If it is small enough, we may shrug and walk away. But only if it really is small enough. While there may be no justice in Nature, nothing corrodes, nothing eats away at the human heart like Justice denied. It is the sting the corrodes like acid. The sting is pure venom.
Famous Scorpio natives:
Hillary Clinton, politician, born 26 Oct 1947
Dylan Thomas, poet, born 27 Oct 1914
Billy Graham, evangelist, born 7 Nov 1918,
Carl Sagan, astronomer, born 9 Nov 1934
Robert Kennedy, born 20 Nov 1925
King Charles 111, born 14 Nov 1948
Until next time. Thank you for reading True Tarot Tales.
A Mars cazimi is happening Friday 17 November, when Mars conjuncts the Sun in the night sky to within around 1 degree, seen close to Capella, aka the Goat Star in the constellation of Auriga, The Charioteer. Mars is the traditional ruler of (cardinal fire sign) Aries and (fixed water sign) Scorpio in Western/Tropical astrology while the Goat star, Capella, was regarded by the ancients as an omen of high renown.
Via Wiki: Capella is the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga (upper left).
Cazimi comes from the Arabic word word “kaṣmīmī ” which in turn is thought to have evolved from the Greek “kardia” meaning “in the heart” – or in this context translating as, “in the heart of the sun.”
Mars rises at the core. What are our core objectives right now? What are our core values?
This Mars Cazimi marks the start of a new 2 year Mars cycle for each of us, upping the ante wherever it happens to be sitting in your own birth chart. In which astrological House might that be for you?
Mars initiates. It is ardent, proud, fierce and above all pro-active. Living it large. In Tarot, Mars may be expressed through drawing The Tower card, The Emperor or the Death card (modern ruler Pluto) and the potential for destruction could not be plainer, as we are witnessing right now in tragic real time world events.
The Tower card represents shocks and storms, both literally and metaphorically. It may describe or detect collapse. Forthcoming explosions. It tears things down whether for good or ill.
The Tower from the Golden Tarot, Emperor from the Legacy of The Divine Tarot and Death card from the Rider Waite
The Emperor of Aries season is law and order on the one hand. Wise governance. Or conquest, excess, tyranny and cruelty or maladministration on the other. Note the Aries Ram’s horns adorning his throne.
Aries is headstrong. In medical astrology it rules the health of the head and brain. When ill aspected it may warn against an excerbated risk of accidents and injuries caused by a) speed b) fire.
The homeopathic tissue salt of Aries is Kali Phos, Potassium phosphate, used as a “coolant” or calming agent on the nervous system.
From The Rider Waite Tarot deck
The Death card of Scorpio, ruled by Mars and Pluto, may, and sometimes does refer, not only to the idea of human mortality, but to the death of someone in the literal physical sense, but more generally stands for any and all kinds of endings. The end of a situation or a job, or relationship, and in this context,the Death card may be a welcome sign of much needed change.
The homeopathic cell salt of Scorpio is Calc Sulph, Calcium Sulphate, used as a cleanser of “overheated” blood for removal of pus, fever and other manifestations of infection, or strain upon the liver and gallbladder .
From the Rider-Waite Tarot deck
The world stage is non stop fieriness between now and the spring/vernal equinox 2024 – bookmarked by entry into ARIES. Even though the spring equinox in 2024 technically occurs during the last day of Pisces season, 20 March, still, the spring equinox is associated with Aries, while there is also the solar eclipse in Aries on April 8 2024 to be factored in here, signifying monumental Mars type events, though I do not personally detect any sign of an impending WW3.
Mars Cazimi is warrior energy. But it is more innocently, newborn optimism. The ebullient primal energy of the first ram lamb of spring. New things. Young energy. Birth itself is a fierce act, whatever kind of birth it may be; a person, an animal, a nation state, a business, or some great creative work; a building, a bridge, a machine, or a work of art, music or literature.
Life, as Professor Malcolm so famously put it in Jurassic Park, “finds a way.” And Mars in Aries MAKES a way, charging headlong, while Mars right now in Scorpio is steaming and blasting or plotting its way through opposition.
The Aries lamb can kill you once it grows to be a ram. It’s not personal. You got in its way and you were on its own territory. If it knocks you down, then stay down, and chances are it will wander off. Unlike the Scorpion which may bide it’s time and catch you later unawares. Both are the faces of Mars.
Where the passion is, and the will-power of Mars, then, like it or not, whether by playing fair or foul, the thing gets done.
The zodiac sign of the Scorpion is also a symbol of rebirth. Another face of Scorpio is the Phoenix. Maps get redrawn. Life is for living and while we live, we can still arise and act to launch or build anew.
That’s the wind now blowing through. We can stand foursquare in our power, raise the roof, blast free and shake off the dust during this Mars Cazimi. If we have been stuck, it looks as though we are going to get ourselves unstuck during the next two years.
Once more unto the breach.
“Happiness we can only find in ourselves, it is a waste of time to seek for it from others, few have any to spare. Sorrow we have to bear alone as best we can, it is not fair to try to shift it on others, be they men or women. We have to fight our own battles and strike as hard as we can, born fighters as we are.”
–Axel Munthe, The Story of San Michele
Bon courage! Let us discover what new things we shall do and build and make over the next two years, driven by that adrenaline of this incoming Mars Cazimi in Scorpio season 2023, and thank you for reading.
The old Norse rune associated with this Mars Cazimi is Tiwaz, associated with Tyr, the god who gave his name to Tuesdays, signifying war, justice, nobility and physical and moral courage.
The rune Tiwaz is reputed to bring good luck in health and legal matters
Tyr put his hand in the mouth of the giant wolf, Fenrir, as surety, and then Fenrir permitted himself to be chained. But when Fenrir discovered he had been tricked and would not be released, he bit off the hand of Tyr,who had known this would happen. But the wolf had to be tricked and bound, or he would have devoured the Sun itself. Perhaps this myth was inspired by the fear of a total solar eclipse.
Tyr matches courage with duty and integrity.
Artist John Bauer, 1911
May Tyr be with us, and may Fenrir never break his chains.
Halloween is designated the season of ghosts. Why is that? We can encounter a ghost any time of year.
But there is an especially potent natural reason for the ghostly season. Halloween or All Hallows Eve is celebrated 31 October each year, marking the cross- quarter of the year, half-way point between the autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere, and the winter solstice, which in 2023 will occur on Friday 22 December.
Halloween began as a pre-Christian Iron Age festival 2000 years ago among the various peoples of Britain and Northern Europe popularly known as the Celts.
In parts of Britain and the Republic of Ireland Halloween is still called Samhain (pronounced Sow-an, from Gaelic/Irish meaning ‘summer’s end.’)
This is a critical turning point of the year from an ancient survival point of view: food production, harvesting and storage as the days grow shorter, the nights longer, vegetation decays, temperatures drop – and more people get sick. We are now in the zodiac sign territory of Scorpio, and the Tarot card correlating with Scorpio is the Death card.
From Halloween in the Anglo-sphere to Alf-blot (Elf Blood) in Scandinavia, to The Day of the Dead in Spanish speaking countries, the period 31 October – 3 November is a festival marking the end of the harvest season.
Russia does not celebrate Halloween as such. It is not recognized by the Orthodox Church, though it has been gaining popularity among young people since the 1990’s.
In France, again, Halloween is not a traditional festival, though certain elements may be catching on nowadays, cultural imports in the twentieth century. But La Toussaint or All Saints Day, is a widely celebrated national holiday celebrated on the first of November.
Now we are preparing for the decay of vegetation, the coming darkness, the time of hibernation of many animals, and the hardships of winter. This is a natural time to be marking the remembrance of the Dead.
Do I believe in ghosts? I have had some deeply strange encounters, and met enough perfectly sensible people who have told me their stories, and had no reason to doubt their common sense, and the validity of their account.
What is a ghost? We have the dictionary definition:
“Now chiefly, an apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image and attempting to right a wrong done in life; this sense of the word is recorded from late Middle English.
The word is recorded from Old English (in form gāst) in the sense ‘spirit, soul’, and is of Germanic origin; the gh- spelling occurs first in Caxton, and was probably influenced by Flemish gheest”. – Source
But the question still remains, what is a ghost, really? Are they sentient? Do they know they are there? Do they have intent? Or are they some kind of an echo? Do they know who they are- or were? Do they know who we are? What do they want?
I recommend reading up about the Cambridge archaeologist and paranormal researcher Tom Lethbridge T.C. Lethbridge
The Moon card
The Tarot card that in a reading can suggest a vivid dream, a vision, a psychic or supernatural experience or even a ghost is The Moon card. And this Halloween, we have only just passed through a Full Moon lunar eclipse. Perhaps you have been experiencing unusually vivid dreams.
From The Gilded Tarot Royale, illustrator Ciro Marchetti
This time of year represents a ‘liminal’ space, a threshold – a doorway of some kind, an ‘in-between’ space between outside and inside, one room and another, or between summer and winter, night and dark, and therefore symbolically, between Life and Death.
Being half-awake or half-asleep is an ‘in-between’ state of mind or consciousness, when we are might have a powerful frightening or psychic dream experience or even experience sleep paralysis, traditionally known as a visit from The “Night Hag” aka The Mara, as portrayed in a famous painting in its several variants, The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli.
This is a not uncommon experience that can occur when the brain is in-between deep and lighter sleep stages. The person thinks they are awake when they are not. There is a strong sense of threat, a malevolent presence, and they cannot move a muscle to defend themselves. I have experienced it myself, very unpleasant. Read here for the scientific medical explanation.
The Death card bears the Rider of the Pale Horse who comes for one and all. But the white rose is a symbol of the sanctity of life, and is a promise of resurrection.
A True Ghost Story
Some years ago, my phone rang one Saturday night, about 8 PM, a lady calling from Preston, about ten miles away from where I live. She had found my number in the psychic pages of the online telephone directory, and she wanted a psychic medium.
Note. I have never advertised as a psychic medium, but there is no separate listing for Tarot readers who are frequently listed under that same heading, along with astrologers and clairvoyants.
This lady was calling to ask me to come over to her house. Right now, please! There was ‘something’ in the hallway and it was blocking the stairs. She, her partner and the children were huddled in the sitting room with the door shut, too terrified to leave the room.
I could not go in person, sadly. Nor do I advertise such a service. But there are others who do. I gave her the name and telephone number of a local lady who specialized in clearing ‘haunted houses,’ -I didn’t know her but she had positive reviews, and meantime I reached for my cards, asking the lady what exactly had happened?
Her youngest child had been upstairs, she told me, when an invisible lady started whispering in her ear. The child panicked. Then her siblings panicked. Then the mother panicked too, and so did her partner.
Now there was something outside the sitting room door; a cold spot, a moving shadow.
I asked, what had this invisible lady said to the little girl?
The caller said, the ghost told her youngest child, her hair was very pretty.
I was looking through my cards while we were talking. This figured. The cards confirmed a benign presence – or influence. A grandmother?
The cards also indicated the lady on the other end of the phone had been under a lot of strain. I asked about this, and she confirmed a prolonged period of acute financial and other worries. Her mother had died three years earlier, and she was still missing her, really quite badly. But, she said, the littlest child was too young to remember her grandmother. Why, the lady wondered, if the ghost was her mother, had her mother not talked to her, but instead to the child, she had never known in life?
It was because the little girl happened in that moment to be the one tuned in on the ‘right’ wavelength to receive such an incoming message. The little girl had ESP in other words, and was hyper sensitive to atmosphere. This was why she alone had heard it. If there was a ghost, if the grandmother was still around, then she was tuning in to the living, seeking to deliver comfort to the mother who was her child.
The little grand-daughter was the most receptive conduit.
First things first. The lady had called to ask for help. I had given her the number of a reputable medium but she needed support right now, and help to restore order in the household.
To do this she needed to assert herself and reclaim her territory, ‘psych it out’, and show the children it was safe to go anywhere in the house.
The living can talk to a ghost, or say boo, just as it can say boo to us.There was no nastiness in these cards. If there had been, then the living can use aggression too. And tell the presence to GET GONE.
This presence was not nasty. Or at least the original one was not. But it was not wanted. I suggested that she tell the family, ‘it’s all gone now’, open that sitting room door, put lots of lights on, go herself down that hallway, alone if need be, put the kettle on, serve up something for supper. Light, movement and noise will shatter such a spell, and fear is contagious and feeds upon itself.
I later heard directly from the medium whose number I had given the lady. The lady gave her my number. The medium and her team had gone to the lady’s house next day, taking with them an array of electronic equipment. The medium confirmed there was an old lady’s ghost in the house, that it was the grandmother, and that the mother’s state of stress had called the ghost forth. The ghost had behaved in character, affectionately, but since the child had been startled, and then the mother had reacted with fear, everyone became frightened, and the thing took on an unpleasant aspect. The medium said that now the mother was consciously aware of it, the house should stay quiet now.
No suggestion of judgement attaches to the lady’s handling of the situation by the way. None whatsoever. Fear was and is a natural reaction to such an inexplicable experience. But if it happened again, now that she had some kind of explanation, however questionable, and reassurance that it was not malevolent, she could choose a more controlled and matter of fact response, whilst not dismissing the child’s experience.
“The Mind has many corridors” – Emily Dickinson
Psychic author Cassandra Eason has written a book with advice for parents with psychic children available from a range of second hand book sellers online.
From my point of view, since I had never spoken with this lady medium myself before her visit to the house, but had simply provided contact details, I was interested that my tarot and this lady, this psychic medium, had detected virtually identical stories.
The power of the physical, the element of Earth, is the power of the living moment, here and now. We are exalted in the Earth. We take in air. We take up space.
From The Gilded Tarot
This time is ours. Our inheritance of Earth. Our ace card in otherworldly dealings, the Ace of Pentacles. A nice cup of tea? How about a biccie? Fed the cat. Take the dog a walk.
RIP Mam who wrote this poem (23 December 1939- 27 February 2023)
I saw my darling mother’s ghost just once, the day after she died in her own bedroom at home, released from hospital on end of life care. A movement caught my eye and there it was, a faint cloud, a movement on the turn of the stairs.
But she did not linger long. She was out and through “the valley” by the tenth day, and smiling up at hills the other side, clouds chasing sunlight across the tops. A child of the Pennines always. I reckon she has found her way to her own perfect heaven.
Life is for living. But Time is not linear. There is much wisdom in superstition, and we give thanks this All Souls season and every day, for the time we have shared with all those we have loved, who have gone on before us.
Most of us know our sun sign or sign of the Zodiac, but what does the constellation look like in the night sky, and what’s the story behind it?
The season is the reason.
It’s time to meet Virgo again, and get to know her better.
Virgo Season 2023
We are entering the zodiac territory of Virgo 23 August and we’ll stay there until 23 September.
Virgo is a mutable Earth sign, representing the changing of the seasons as we approach the end of summer and the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere (or the end of winter and into early spring in the southern hemisphere.)
It is harvest time- ‘the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ (From An Ode to Autumn by English poet John Keats) Virgo represents the classical Hellenistic goddesses of wheat and agriculture. The brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, far brighter than our own sun, is Spica, aka ‘the ear of wheat’.
Virgo the Maiden is the sixth sign of the zodiac, and rules the sixth house and the concepts of daily routines; work, service, order, analysis and analytics, food, harvests, health, digestion, hygiene- and crafts
Virgo is traditionally ruled by Mercury, planet of communications, inquiry, science, commerce, trade and travel. This symbolic planetary influence brings to the Virgo-born subject, an enlarged curiosity and a combination of analytical ability, but also a certain contemplative, humanitarian or even mystical quality.
Traditional Associations
Zodiac symbol of Virgo
Date: August 23-September 22
Symbol: The Virgin
Element: Earth
Quality: Mutable (Sagittarius and Pisces are also Mutable, suggesting these subjects are capable and versatile; generally inclined to conform and go with the flow for the greater good.)
Ruling planet: Mercury (Travel and all forms of communication)
House: Sixth, ruling health, habits and routines
Colours: green, white and yellow
Body: The digestive system
Birthstone: Carnelian
Flowers: small bright flowers such as the buttercup
Tarot: Major Arcana card: The Hermit (introspection, perception, analysis, health, care for nature)
Minor Arcana cards: The 8,9 and 10 of Pentacles/ Coins.
The Hermit from The Golden Tarot, Kat Black
Astronomy
Via Wiki: Credit Till Credner
The zodiac sign of Virgo gets its name from the constellation of Virgo; the largest constellation in the zodiac, and the second largest in all the visible sky after the constellation of Hydra
It’s mind-boggling to consider that our own Sun is just one star of the Milky Way, and the Milky Way is part of a collection of galaxies known as the Local Group. This contains three large spiral galaxies: the Milky Way, Andromeda, and the Triangulum Galaxy, as well as a few dozen dwarf galaxies.
But The Local Group is just one member of the Virgo Cluster; a collection of 1200-2000 galaxies that stretch across 15 million light-years of space. And the Virgo Cluster is just one cluster in the Virgo Supercluster.
The Virgo constellation is visible from all around the world. In the northern hemisphere, it’s most visible in the evening sky from mid-March – the start of the planting season- to late June. In the southern hemisphere, look for it in the autumn and winter.
Own image. Free to share. Credit Katie-Ellen Hazeldine, True Tarot Tales.com
It’s a bit of a stretch, picturing a person. But add in a few more of her stars and now we can see her, lounging semi-recumbent, dangling something, holding it in one hand. This is the star Spica, a blue-white giant. Its name comes from the Latin, meaning an ‘ear of grain’- a sheaf of wheat.
The star Vindemiatrix, ‘the Grape-Gatherer,’ as soon as it was seen at daylight, is the sign, or used to be, that now was the optimal time to pick the grapes.
But if the constellation of Virgo is most visible late March- late June, then why are the birth dates for the sign of the zodiac August 22-September 23rd?
The constellations of the zodiac are not to be confused with the signs which were named after them. Once upon a time, the dates of the signs reflected the constellations directly overhead at the same time, but they have since separated.
This drift away from that real time matching up of constellations and zodiac signs is due to the effect of the Earth’s wobble over a long period of time; every 26 000 years, creating an effect known as the precession of the equinoxes.
This does not change the symbolic link between the constellation and the sign named after it. Western or Tropical astrology is based on a symbolic, and an arithmetic, and not a strictly astronomical model. The western zodiac as we know it today, the celestial wheel of 360 degrees divided by the 12 constellations fully straddling the ecliptic, and with the signs named after those 12 selected constellations, was codified in the second century AD by Ptolemy, Greek astrologer, astronomer and mathematician.
History & Mythology
Virgo from Urania’s Mirror, Public Domain
Shala was an ancient Sumerian (Iraq) goddess of grain -and also compassion. Why link these two things? Famine is suffering. A good harvest was seen as a blessing of the gods. What is planted in the spring must yield a crop in the autumn or famine follows. But this cannot be guaranteed from one year to the next.
From early times, more than ten thousand years ago, Shala was associated with the constellation of Virgo and vestiges of symbolism associated with her continue, such as the naming of Spica, the ‘ear of grain’, even as the deity’s name changed from age to age, and culture to culture.
The Shala Mons is a mountain on Venus named after the goddess Shala.
In 10th century BC the Babylonians called part of this constellation, “The Furrow,” again, referring back to Shala.
While this is only one myth of the origin of Virgo, she is seen as a bringer of crops throughout all myths. In Egyptian mythology also, the arrival of Virgo in the night sky meant harvest time. Ceres (we think of the word ‘cereal’) or Demeter, the Greco-Roman goddess of the harvest, was the mother of Persephone.
It was the same with the Greeks and Romans “Spicifera est Virgo Cereris” — “The Virgin with her sheaf belongs to Ceres,” The Astronomica“, Manilius, 1st century AD.
When lonely Hades abducted Persephone to live with him in the underworld, her distraught mother, Demeter, went searching, and was enraged to discover that Zeus had known all along where Persephone was, but had turned a blind eye to Hades’ abduction.
Demeter demanded that Zeus help her bring Persephone home, and when he didn’t, she went on strike and the harvests failed. The people and the livestock starved. Humanity might have perished altogether had not Zeus finally intervened and insisted that Hades send Persephone home, and sent Hermes to collect her.
Hermes descended to the Underworld where he discovered Persephone, no longer a wretched, weeping, homesick girl. She had become a woman, a wife. She was the radiant queen of the gloomy Underworld, the apple of Hades’s eye, and he had built for her the most beautiful gardens he could contrive, with underground pools, and gems and stalactites.
Persephone now loved Hades. But she missed her mother, Demeter, and she desperately missed the light, and if she hadn’t developed the most almighty vitamin D deficiency by now, she was either eating plenty of fish or the nutritionists don’t know their stuff.
So Hermes passed on the order from Zeus, “send the girl home, pronto,” and Hades agreed that Persephone could go home. But he had conditions. Persephone must not eat anything until she arrived home again to her mother.
Hades had no intention of giving up Persephone, Zeus or no Zeus, and he gave her a handful of pomegranate seeds, knowing how much she loved them. A few seeds didn’t count as food, he said. And Persephone believed him and ate some on her way home. Or who knows. Perhaps she knew perfectly well what he was up to.
Painting by Frederick Leighton, Public Domain
Persephone went home to her mother. But a deal is a deal, and because she ate the pomegranate seeds, she returns to Hades and her life in the Underworld for four months of the year, and then Demeter mourns her child’s absence, the winter returns and the land lies cold and fallow.
The Virgo Archetype
Public domain
All zodiac signs are archetypes, meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing,
The signs of the zodiac paint a ‘typical’ portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season. A baby born in the summer arrives into a different physical environment from a winter born baby. Different conditions; temperatures, available hours of daylight, seasonal foods available to the mother and so on, with potential physical and constitutional effects.
The archetype of Virgo is the Craftsman, paying careful attention to every detail, taking pride in doing the job, whatever it is, to the highest standard possible. There’s no substitute for skill and hard work, according to Virgo.
The major arcana card in the Tarot representing Virgo is The Hermit, as previously mentioned, denoting a deep-rooted sense of connection to Nature. Here is wisdom, maturity and the value of solitude and self-sufficiency. The Hermit represents work and the principle of service – the desire to help Humanity.
Virgo is ruled by agile Mercury, the fastest moving planet of communication. Virgo’s brain is in overdrive most of the time, but they stay anchored and grounded in common sense by their associated element, Earth.
Virgo is practical but artistically gifted. They are hard-workers who love to better themselves. They think deeply, they love to analyse, and their perceptiveness means that they can always find or create order within chaos. They are honest friends although, being discerning, and analytical, they might have a tendency to analyse you, and point out your strengths and also your mistakes and weaknesses. This can undoubtedly be annoying, though it’s well meant. They may also give great advice because of those same analytical abilities.
The Virgo appearance is generally neat and well groomed.”Slob” is not in their vocabulary. The quest of self-improvement includes personal presentation. They can be incredibly concerned about the impression they give, and even worry about it, but at the same time, they are very ready to help others, maybe sometimes even too generous. Others may try to take advantage of Virgo in a way they would not with, say, Aries, Leo or Scorpio..
But of course there is no such thing in reality as THE Virgo personality. We are all unique individuals. Your zodiac sign (sun sign) is a major clue, the keynote, the baseline, but doesn’t claim to represent the full picture in real life – or even in astrology.
But the Decans tell us just a little more.
What are the Decans?
The decans are nicknamed the ‘thirty six faces of astrology,’ and though they are not regarded as powerful influences in a horoscope chart, they do provide added insights and texture. The first ten days of your zodiac sign are the first decan. The second ten days or so are the second decan, and the last ten days are the third decan.
The decans were a feature of Egyptian astronomy, later adopted by the Greeks and incorporated into astrology.
The visible area of sky as seen from earth is what we call the wheel of the Zodiac, and represents an imaginary circle of 360 degrees. This circle divided by arithmetic into twelve ‘slices’- the zodiac signs we know today.
Each of the zodiac signs represents a 30 degree slice of this imaginary ‘pie in the sky,’ as seen from Earth. Each zodiac sign can be further sub-divided into three blocks of ten degrees, equivalent to about ten days in length. This is not exact, and may vary by a day or two because not every month is the same length. These three sub-divisions of all the zodiac signs are what we call ‘decans,’ from the Greek word for ten.
There is more than one decan system. For the avoidance of confusion, we are using the traditional system, based on the seven planets known to the Ancients.
The Tarot cards shown below are from the Rider- Waite deck, which many Tarot practitioners now refer to as the Waite-Smith, in recognition of the artist, Pamela Colman Smith.
First Decan Virgo
Dates: 23 August-1 September
Planetary ruler: Sun
Tarot card: The Eight of Pentacles: ‘Lord of Prudence,’ art, craft, industry, skill, concentration, application, studiousness, apprenticeship, crafts, heritage, buildings
Look at him. This person is absorbed in his work, and he seems to be enjoying himself. This work has meaning and purpose for him. This is typical of this decan. There is a mixture of quiet warmth and a cool mind with a talent for acute observation and incisive analysis; however this is expressed artistically, commercially or scientifically or in administrative tasks. Virgo is a master of the spreadsheet.
They see more than they say, but they have a talent for communication via the spoken and written word; making many of these subjects potentially great teachers. They are hard-working, industrious. ‘We reap what we sow,’ goes the old saying. This is not necessarily always true or fair. Misfortune strikes plenty of people who have done nothing to ‘deserve’ it. And plenty of wrong-doers escape justice.
However, it is broadly true to say, we can’t reap what was never sown. Wild berries had to be first sown by the wind, or by birds. First decan Virgo understands this better than almost any other sign, except Capricorn and Taurus.
They are serious people but they are cheerful company, faithful friends and partners, devoted in their quiet way.
Second Decan Virgo
Dates: 2-11 September
Planetary ruler: Venus
Tarot card- Nine Pentacles: ‘Lord of Material Gain’ beauty, luxury, hard work that pays off, horticulture, agriculture, viticulture, gardens, vineyards
This decan is associated with Venus, planet of love, beauty –and money. A perfectionist; conscientious, devoted, and above all focused, they can turn anything they do into an art form in its own right.
Notice the hooded falcon on her wrist. She has ‘tamed’ wildness – or chaos. She has tamed her own impulses, learned patience and self-discipline. She will not trade away her tomorrows for today’s gratification.
She has cultivated a home, a garden, a business, and made it thrive, healthy and beautiful. She is financially self-reliant but that doesn’t mean it came quick or easy, any of it. To achieve this she has learned to control the wild falcon representing her impulses, wants and desires. She has learned self-discipline and self-control, the power of deferred gratification.
A squirrel will have no nuts in the winter if it scoffs them all at once, or if it can’t remember where it hid them, because it wasn’t paying attention. This, the second decan of Virgo is often the most capable, conscientious provider for themselves and for others, and they enjoy spoiling their loved ones. But though they have learned how to do without (and at times, life, they have probably had no choice) still, they do crave and value beautiful things.
Third Decan Virgo
Dates: 12-22 September
Planetary ruler: Mercury
Tarot card- Ten of Pentacles:keywords: ‘Lord of Wealth,’ commerce, messages, deliveries, Hermes, home, homeland, ancestry, genetics, inter-generational relationships, inheritance, gifts, legacy, bequests, town planning, art, museums, banks.
Third Decan Virgo is both a creative and a practical thinker. These are proud people, not vain, but dignified – big difference. They need to be their own masters and it’s not about the money, or at least, not for its own sake. These people are careful, prudent, but they are not misers. They have a winning way with people and may work in the public eye; such is their talent for communication; personal, professional, artistic, written and spoken.
Notice the old man surrounded by family, adults, children, and dogs too. Virgo cares for animals. What he or she has built, was created in order to share, to pass on, seeing themselves as part of a bigger picture, a link in a chain of legacy. This could mean money. It could mean ideas. It could mean a place that means everything to them, their own home or their homeland, with a sense of belonging, of being in the right place – to feel this way is a treasure beyond price.
These are family minded people. They enjoy family outings, a walk in the woods, or a trip to the seaside. And they will organize it. Realists with a ‘can do’ attitude, Virgo are makers and menders, and they are usually good with animals too, as shown by The Hermit cards. Eco-warrior is not really their style. But they do care about the environment. Virgo is about food for the mind and the spirit, as well as the body.
Virgo has both feet on the ground. And yet, it is something of an artist, something of a scientist. Like the Hermit himself, something of a sage.
Grounded, rooted in the earth, but looking inwards and upwards, moving to its own dance, steering by your quiet inner star.
Planetary influences this Virgo Season
The month of August 2023 began with three of the five outer planets (Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto) in retrograde, along with the inner planet Venus retrograde in Leo, and the “wounded healer” Chiron.
Mercury goes retrograde on the day of writing, as Virgo season begins on August 23, and then Uranus goes retrograde on August 28
So what?
Retrogrades symbolize a time for reflection and review. In this case, many of us may be feeling that a whole way of life is coming to an end, and we are feeling our way through it – at times it may feel like a veritable sh*t storm.
We may need a cool head and a calm nerve this Virgo season, and Mercury retrograde advises that when the going gets tough, we need to be very careful how we react, and to guard what we say in the heat and stress of the moment.
It’s not necessarily anything to worry about. It’s just, change happens, and sometimes a lot of it happens at once.
“I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden.”
Change is inevitable. We take the rough with the smooth and we learn. We may be wiser and sadder but that’s just Life.
We have a Blue Moon in Pisces 30 August. A moon to dream on. To daydream on. We may experience powerful dreams or even have psychic experiences at this time. We are physically and psychically subject to the tidal pull of the Moon, and the Moon card in tarot is associated with Pisces; 12th House of deepest mysteries. This is a moon for seeing ghosts (though Pisces also rules the feet, and we can hardly get more grounded than that.)
Venus, planet of money matters, luxuries, pleasures, self image and relationships stations direct again 3 September, and The New Moon in Virgo 17 September, start bringing things more back to normal again. Back to school, and all that.
But for so many of us, this will be a new normal. Something has shifted so profoundly, that we know nothing will be quite the same again.
The Lion’s Gate Portal is an astronomical event that happens every year when Sirius, Earth, and the Orion constellation are all in alignment with each other. This happens every year between July 28 and August 12, and reaches its peak of closest alignment on August 8 (8/8) when in the northern hemisphere we see the brilliant star Sirius on the eastern horizon before dawn. Sirius has been out of sight since early in the spring.
But now it is rising again.
The Lion’s Gate Portal is seen by many as a particularly auspicious portal in time, but auspicious for what? Action, that’s the theory. Any action tending towards conquest, achievement or the creation of something new- and lasting.
But how and why?
Sirius, the brightest star in our galaxy, the Milky Way, is the stellar cornerstone.
Here, the photographer has captured Sirius hanging low; a brilliant blue white star, apparently following along behind the constellation of Orion, the Hunter.
The name Sirius comes from the Greek and means “scorching” or “glowing.” Its other names, Canis Major, or the Dog Star, derive from the ancient Greek myth that says that once upon a time Sirius was one of the two hunting dogs of Orion. (The other is the Little or Lesser Dog, Canis Minor.)
Wiki
See Orion running out of the right hand side of the picture? See the Belt of Orion, and the sword hanging down (or the hunting knife) and three stars that make up the belt; Alnilam, Alnitak and Mintaka? See Betelgeuse, the bright red giant star of his right shoulder? Some sources call it the left shoulder- it depends how you picture The Hunter. Do you see him with his back to you, or do you see him swaggering past, moving left -right with his face in partial profile?
Now see the brilliant white orb of Sirius, running along behind the Hunter?
As a girl I would go outside to the coal bunker (yes, coal) on a clear winter’s night, and fill up the coal scuttle for the fire, and look up and wonder where Orion was running to, with Sirius bounding along behind him.
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky- within the Milky Way- and about 8.6 light years away from earth and is actually a double star, Sirius Alpha and Sirius Beta. Sirius Alpha is much brighter than the dwarf Sirius Beta, and has twice the mass of our own Sun.
We don’t know if there are planets in the Sirius star system, and it’s possible, there may actually be three, not two stars in the system but we don’t know for sure.
To the people of ancient Egypt, the return of Sirius was a welcome sign that the Nile flood was on its way, ending the long season of drought, when desperate desert lions would come looking for water in plain sight of the city walls.
This was an anxious time of year. No Nile flood in the seasonal time frame of Leo meant famine. The dawn re-appearance of Sirius was a welcome sign that the worst of the drought was now in sight, and the farmers all along the Nile- and everyone else -waited expectantly, almost holding their breath.
The auspicious star of Sirius was associated with the goddess Sopdet, the fertility goddess of the Nile, correlating with deities of other societies and other times; Isis/Ishtar and Demeter, as represented in the tarot deck by the Empress card.
Wiki
The Zodiac/Celestial Zoo
“As above so below,” the saying goes. But – and perhaps this is being pedantic- “as below, so above,” was how these ancient stories first began.
Astrology, astronomy, cosmology; it all started right where we stood. Some might say, what’s the fuss, any of this astrology stuff. It’s all just random patterns in the sky. But that’s exactly the point. We are a hunting animal. We are a pattern seeking animal. We look for patterns in everything, and we ascribe meaning to those patterns. In time, the pattern and the meaning become conjoined. Hardwired. They are now archetypes, and are part of our ancient collective algorithm, so to speak, lending themselves to anticipation, planning- and potentially, prediction.
People looked up, saw patterns, saw life on earth mirrored in the stars, gave them names. “Ooh, look up at that, will ya? Do you see it too? I can see a crouching ram!”
(If you say so) The brightest star shown here at the bottom is Hamal, the head of the Ram.
Shepherds in the Near and Middle East, looked up at the starry skies, watching their precious flocks by night and pictured the star Hamal as the head of the Ram, critically noting that it was always’seen’ overhead at lambing time. They saw that those patterns repeated over and over. And so in time we got Aries -and by a similar approach- all the rest of the zodiac pantheon based on the 12 constellations visible within a narrow arc of sky, the imaginary pathway known as the ecliptic.
The word “zodiac” comes from the Greek meaning “circle of animals.” The only non-living symbol in the astrological Zodiac is the scales of Libra, but even these are formed from the same stars that make up the claws of Scorpio, the celestial scorpion next door.
The Lion
The Gilded Tarot
My darling mother, a Capricorn sun sign native, first decan, and with a massive dose of Sagittarian vision and curiosity; beautiful, brave, self-reliant, wise, witty, and above all, a most determined person, was saying to me, not long before she died in February this year, that there was this theme tune on the box that made the hairs on her neck stand up every time she heard it.
She had been watching that drama series, Versailles, on the box. The theme tune was Outro by M83, as also used in the movie, Cloud Atlas, based on the novel by David Mitchell.
“I’m the king of my own land Facing tempests of dust, I’ll fight until the end Creatures of my dreams, raise up and dance with me Now and forever I’m your king!”
-(Outro- M83)
Listen here– as being used as the score for a film, “Melancholia” by Lars von Trier. (Don’t be thrown by the really long pause in the introduction.)
She greatly admired, and had a great sympathy with lionesses, for their courage, but also for their incredible devotion, duty and unselfishness, she said.
Number 8
The Lions’ Gate portal is a cosmic, and perhaps karmic expression of the power of the number 8.
The number eight is like a lemniscate- a symbol of infinity, only now it’s standing upright. Note the lemniscate above the head of the figure with the lion in the Rider-Waite tarot deck.
The Strength card in the Tarot is major arcana number 8. The Strength card is about moral fortitude and stamina as much as it is about physical strength and courage.
Strength is self- mastery. Self-control. Taming the inner lion. Leo rules the heart, and the passions of the heart.
The word ‘Karma’ means ‘action’. This is read by some as a celestial signal for Action. Plan, execute, and materially manifest. The glory and the grandeur of the Lion contain on occasion something lonely and forlorn.
For folk not familiar with a tarot deck, in a 78 card deck of cards deck we have five cards that bear the number 8. Besides the Strength card, major arcana 8, we also have 4 minor arcana cards bearing the number 8
(22 Major arcana cards=greater secrets or mysteries. 56 Minor arcana cards =lesser secrets or mysteries, but these are no less important in any reading)
We have:
8 of Cups (Pisces)- acceptance of disappointment in developments, walking away
8 of Swords-Gemini- mental impasse, drama, entrapment, indecision, refusal to face a problem
8 Wands -Sagittarius- speed of developments, generation of news and activities
These apparently immovable number eights all belong to the MUTABLE signs of the zodiac- the signs where one season gradually merges into another.
8 of Cups= Pisces, winter becomes spring, 8 Swords= Gemini, and spring becomes summer, 8 Pentacles, Virgo, summer becomes autumn/fall, and 8 Wands= Sagittarius, when autumn now segues into winter.
The eights are mutable, twining, stable because symmetrical and yet subtle, complex, shifting.
There are no easy answers in life. The miracle is that we are here at all. But we do know from all the entire known history of the human species that the experience of happiness is found through a sense of connection with others. Who wants a paradise all to themselves and all alone, except in small doses? The misanthropes can object all they like.
We were never meant to be a solitary animal, any more than the lion, who suffers trauma as a young adult male; when he leaves the pride aged two or three.He must leave or else he will be driven out, to go and fight for, and create his own pride; exiled from his home turf and everyone he has always known.
The lionesses do the dangerous work of hunting. But the lion controls the territory and all its resources on behalf of the pride.
We want- we need- to share our joys and sorrows alike. Part of the tapestry of all Humanity. But we come in alone. We leave alone. And sooner or later, if we are ever to become The Lion, then at some point, we will have to face- and outface- and defy- “tempests of dust.”
The zodiac sign of Leo rules the human heart. Leo can be loud. The dreams are big and bold. But Leo understands what it is to be lonely- or simply alone.
But like the lion in exile, who must fight tooth and claw for his own patch of turf, for his place in the world, for his chance of founding a pride of his own, and for his very survival, we will and must sometimes stand alone, in rising to meet a challenge.
Harvest Moon, Samuel Palmer,1833, Yale Center for British Art via Wikimedia Commons
Today, 1 August 2023, marks the start of Lammas, or “Loaf Mass”, marking the start of the Anglo-Saxon harvest season as first recorded in the 10th century.
Word origins Old English hlaf, ‘loaf’ and mæsse, ‘mass.’
Neo-Pagans and many others see Lammas as being one and the same marker in the calendar as an older pre-christian Celtic festival, Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-na-sa), named for Lugh Celtic god of justice, victory, statecraft, crafts and the harvest. Lugh was widely worshipped in Europe before the advent of Christianity.
This connection seems entirely likely, though there is apparently no known surviving documentary evidence.
We are at the height of summer and now at harvest time we are entering the final stretch, but Haer-fest/harvest was the Old English word for autumn. August was also known in Old English as “weed month” (Weodmonað) meaning the month of long grasses. This didn’t necessarily suggest unwanted plants, only plants that were wild and uncultivated one, and this time of year is prime growing season as gardeners can attest.
Around 7 August is the half way point between the summer solstice and the autumn/fall equinox.
The Tarot cards associated with August are Strength (Leo), the Six of Wands, the Seven of Wands (Leo decans), the Eight of Pentacles (the first decan of Virgo) and The Empress, manifesting as Harvest goddess/Ceres/Demeter.
She is the principle of creation. Fertility. She is all things female. She is all mothers. She is Gaia. Mother Earth.
The Legacy of the Divine Tarot, artist Ciro Marchetti
Tonight is the first of this month’s two full Moons. Tonight’s full moon is in Aquarius. We have a New Moon in Leo 16 August which promises to be…lively and then we have another full supermoon 31 August, this one in the zodiac sign of deepest Pisces.
Not only do we have two full moons this month, so that August 2023 is a Blue Moon month, but these will both be a supermoon, coming closer to Earth than usual, 15 % larger and brighter in the sky.
It has been shown that we sleep less deeply and that we also sleep at least 20 minutes less on average during a night of full moon, and with 30 % less of that sleeping time spent in restorative deepest sleep, compared with other nights in the lunar cycle. One way to combat this effect is to reduce our exposure to blue light in the evening. Switch off your computer at least two hours before you settle to sleep tonight.
Or don’t. Test it out and see what, if any difference you notice.
Tonight’s moon rise is in the east at a distance of 222,159 miles (357,530km) when the supermoon will be visible shortly after sunset from around 9pm – if the skies are clear enough. At its furthest point away from the Earth, when it is in apogee, the Moon is about 405 696 km (252 088 miles) away
Let’s call the maximum range a difference of roughly 30 000 miles. But the Moon and the Earth are drifting apart at a rate of about an inch and a half every year. It’s the effect of gravity, it seems a ridiculously small change, and we need not concern ourselves about it personally, but multiply that effect over millions of years and they will become profound.
Once a year, Earth flies between the sun and Saturn. In 2023, this will happen August 27. Saturn, old Father time, the astrological planet of law and order, and of discipline and restriction, is also now getting closer and brighter…
Old heads on young shoulders. Wise heads on old shoulders. Money stuff, work stuff, and family responsibilities get serious
Image via Earthsky
Tarot Full Moon Guidance 1 August
Well, what do you know. We have only drawn The King of Swords.
So what?
Tonight’s Full Moon is in Aquarius,and the King of Swords is THE court card associated with the zodiac sign of Aquarius (the major arcana card of Aquarius is The Star and the decan cards of Aquarius are the 5,6 and 7 Swords.
Typical tarot. Real time synchronicity – or coincidence if you prefer.
From The Rider-Waite Tarot
The King of Swords may be male or female. This doesn’t matter for the purposes of guidance.
The Tarot is sensing a collective and individual need to stay especially cool, clear, calm and collected during the next few days.
You do not have all the information you need in respect of critical decision making right now. Seek advice, or further research is required before you make any far reaching decisions or enter into long term commitments.
This king operates strategically and judicially. S/he can be ruthless and intent on conquest, but his primary objective here is to guard and protect his/her space, resources and those things and people s/he holds most dear.
S/he is analytical, forensic, surgical in accuracy. In real life s/he may be a leader, a military person, a judge, a doctor, pilot, IT specialist and so on.
Volodymyr Zelensky is an Aquarius subject. Several people were tragically killed yesterday in his home city in a Russian missile attack, but now the Ukrainian counter offensive is underway and Moscow has finally experienced a taste of its own airborne aggression, although Ukrainian drones have not been targeting residential areas, so far as we know.
There does seem a strong likelihood that the war may achieve some formal ending or resolution before entering its second winter, and this is to be welcomed, but seems almost certain to be brokered in terms which neither side will find satisfactory.
Meanwhile, in general we can achieve a lot this month, with the caveat that we seem best served by staying watchful, keeping a cool head, looking every gift horse in the mouth, separating workable fact from opinion or wishful thinking, and cutting our cloth with care by the light of tonight’s full moon, and its afterglow in the next few coming days.
Clearing, sorting, sweeping clean, ordering our paperwork. We have 5 planets in retrograde by the end of August. Venus, Mercury, Pluto, Saturn and Neptune. This is a time for avoiding random choices , knee jerk reactions or sudden moves. The end of this month is a time for deep reflection, reviewing, reassessment, risk avoidance and judicious, methodical planning.
Your zodiac or sun sign is not the whole story of your horoscope. Your birthday decan provides further insights into your zodiac persona or archetype.
All zodiac signs are archetypes; something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing,
The zodiac signs paint a typical portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season. The idea here is that we are affected by the seasons in which we were physically gestated, and the season into which we arrive. This might seem like nonsense until we really think about it. A baby born in summer for example, arrives into a different environment from a winter born baby, just as a spring lamb is different to an autumn lamb. The weather is different, and the hours of daylight and the food resources vary, that are or were available to the pregnant mother, in the days long,long before shops and supermarkets.
The zodiac sign of Capricorn, for example, is associated with the knees. Why? Well, Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, also known as Old Father Time, and knee trouble is commonly associated with advancing age.
The winter born baby arrives into an environment with minimal hours of daylight and therefore experiences minimal vitamin D exposure, as perhaps, so does the mother in the later stages of pregnancy. Vitamin D, together with vitamin K2, is required for calcium absorption into the bones. Chronic deficiency is associated with osteo- arthritis—and arthritis of the knee.
Other zodiac signs may be more challenging to explain so easily in these kinds of terms. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a symbolic, seasonal and ancient natural, biological, physiological or metabolic association with each and every zodiac sign.
What are the decans?
The visible area of sky as seen from earth is what we call the wheel of the Zodiac, representing an imaginary circle of 360 degrees. This circle was then arithmetically divided into the twelve zodiac signs we know today, as codified by the Greek mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, Ptolemy in the second century AD.
Each of the zodiac signs represents a 30 degree slice of this imaginary ‘pie in the sky,’ as seen from Earth. Each zodiac sign can be further sub-divided into three blocks of ten degrees, equivalent to about ten days in length. This is not exact, and may vary by a day or two because not every calendar month is the same length- again, for reasons of astronomy.
These three sub-divisions of the zodiac signs are what we call the decans.
The first ten days of your zodiac sign are the first decan, representing the first 10 degrees of your sign. The second ten days or so are the second decan, and the last ten days or so of your sun sign are the third decan.
The Leo Archetype
Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac, is a fixed fire sign representing the height of summer in the northern hemisphere (and winter in the southern hemisphere.)
Leo is ruled by the Sun, bestowing radiance, warmth and vitality. The major arcana card in the Tarot representing Leo is Strength, Major Arcanum number 8, ruling the greater part of August, the 8th month of the calendar year, and denoting not only physical strength and courage, but moral courage; resilience, stamina and fortitude in the face of adversity.
There is no Strength without self control. The figure in this card has the lion on a loose chain. But it is on a chain all the same. The lion represents her own inner fire, passions and impulses, and she has them under control.
Image from The Gilded Tarot Royale.
But Leo is of course also associated with the Sun card, its planetary ruler. The image below is from The Gilded Royale Tarot deck, illustrated by Ciro Marchetti.
The court card representing the fixed fire sign of Leo is the energetic, capable and charismatic King of Wands.
There is of course no such thing in reality as THE Leo personality, and this applies to all zodiac signs. You are a unique personality. Your zodiac sign (also known as your sun sign) is a major keynote of your natal chart but it’s nothing like the whole story. These archetypes are based on thousands of years of observation, however, and your decan, which depends on where your birthday falls within your zodiac sign, digs a little deeper.
If you don’t feel like a ‘typical’ Leo, well, you’re not. You are unique, with a uniquely individual natal chart. But it may also because you are a second decan or third decan Leo, rather than the ‘most typical’ first decan Leo.
First Decan Leo
Proud, passionate, purposeful.
Dates: 23 July-1 August
Planetary ruler: Sun sub-ruler also Sun
Tarot card: Five of Wands: ambition, test of strength, contest, competition, stress, conflict, honest intention, summer thunderstorms (Gilded Tarot Royale)
This is Leo-Leo, ruled by the sun twice over, this could be understood as the most ‘typically’ or archetypal Leo decan.
This Leo born native, ruled by the Sun twice over, does not just enter the room. It makes an entrance, and can be charm itself, lively, confident, warm, talkative. Others who are quieter, or who are less confident or energetic may find these Leo natives too loud, overpowering, self-centred or even arrogant. And they may be all these things but the chances are, really, it is just a natural exuberance.
This decan is generally attractive to others and may well play the field, but once committed, is devoted to its own pride of loved ones. This Leo is hardworking, and likely to be something of a perfectionist.
This decan is cardinal in quality, which is to say, it likes to start new things. It is exceedingly determined and persistent, even more so than the other two decans, and that is saying something. First decan Leo will finish what it starts, whatever it takes.
They have high levels of energy and stamina, and set themselves exceedingly high standards and targets, though they tend to be fair minded and realistic in their dealings with others, and as employers, ask only that others do their best. First Decan Leo is a loyal, faithful friend, unless given cause to feel betrayed, which on occasion, indeed they may be, attracting to themselves, not only admiration, but envy.
Tarot card- Six Wands: victory, progress, pride in success, determined effort (From the Gilded Tarot, the predecessor of the Gilded Tarot Royale)
This is Sagittarius-Leo, co-ruled by massive and expansive Jupiter. Subjects of this decan may be literally taller and bigger than other Leo decans, and with a tendency for having rather noticeable square white teeth.
The influence of its sub-ruler, cheerful, outgoing Sagittarius makes this Leo the life and soul of the party when they are in the mood, but this smoothest-talking decan is somewhat restless, for travel, for adventure – or learning. This is Leo on a quest of some kind, with a visionary quality, hungry and ambitious to know more and less settled in temperament than the other two decans. They are still solid and tough, but versatile with it, and generally good at problem-solving.
Leo in general tends to be a cat walks alone. Yes, it loves people, but all the same it retains a certain aloofness. Its sub-ruler Sagittarius however, is about groups and communities, and it is this, somewhat more communal spirit, which sets the second decan Leo slightly apart from the other decans.
They too, are faithful to their loved ones, and they make loyal friends. Second decan Leo in particular may be an artist, writer or poet. They are something of a philosopher. They are interested in social causes, and keen to do their bit to champion the underdog.
Third Decan Leo
Fire, focus and curiosity.
Dates: 12 August -22 August
Planetary ruler: Mars sub-ruler Aries
Tarot card- Seven of Wands: courage, moral courage, stamina, endurance, outnumbered but fighting your own corner, defeating the odds(Gilded Tarot Royale)
This decan is sub-ruled by fiery Mars, Aries- this is Leo with a double dose of warrior energy. The third decan Leo is confident and competitive-combative on occasion. Driven, ambitious, sometimes this Leo decan loses patience and may not finish what it starts, due to restlessness, but it operates on its own terms, and is an excellent planner and problem-solver, finding failure almost intolerable.
This decan needs peace and quiet when its mind is working on something, to figure things out in its own way. It has the usual Leo warmth but with, possibly, an explosive temper at times. Leo in general however, is quick to forgive and forget and is not known for bearing grudges, though others may not necessarily be so forgiving in return.
The third decan Leo is particularly intense, and deeply curious about other people and other cultures. They also have a reputation for being excellent listeners. This is the sort of person who talks to perfect strangers and hears all kind of stories.
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