Planets in Signs
The first decan of Pisces runs 0 to 10 degrees, roughly February 19 to February 28, ruled by Saturn. What a decan is, where the idea came from, and the tarot card that shares these ten degrees.
The Sun covers about a degree a day, so a decan takes roughly ten days. These are the calendar dates the Sun spends in the first decan of Pisces, computed across 1930 to 2035.
| Degrees | 0 to 10 of Pisces |
| Dates | February 19 to February 28 |
| Length | 10 days |
| Ruler | Saturn |
| Sign ruler | Neptune and Jupiter |
| Tarot card | Eight of Cups |
The first and last days shift a little between years, because the Earth's year is 365.2422 days rather than 365 and the whole zodiac drifts about six hours a year against the calendar. February 19 and February 28 are the edges, and both have their own page with the exact figures.
A decan is a third of a sign: ten degrees out of thirty, which the Sun crosses in about ten days. Twelve signs give thirty-six of them, and each one carries its own planetary ruler on top of the sign's. That makes a decan roughly three times more specific than a Sun sign while still needing nothing but a birth date.
The idea is older than the zodiac it now divides. The Egyptians used thirty-six groups of stars, each rising about forty minutes after the last, to tell the time at night. Ten of them were visible across a night, which is one of the threads that led to the day being divided into twenty-four hours rather than some rounder number. The decans were on coffin lids and temple ceilings a long time before anybody attached planets to them.
The planetary rulers came later, from Hellenistic astrology, and they run in what is called the Chaldean order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, which is the planets ranked by apparent speed from slowest to fastest. Starting at the first ten degrees of Aries and counting that sequence forward one decan at a time gives every decan its ruler, and it comes out the same every time because it is arithmetic rather than opinion.
Pisces is Water and Mutable, ruled by Neptune and Jupiter, and the traits usually attached to it are compassionate, imaginative, absorbent, escapist and gentle. Every Pisces has that. What the first decan adds is Saturn, and the result is a Pisces who runs slower, harder and more durable.
In practice the pairing shows as building it properly or not at all. A Pisces from this decan is recognisably Pisces, with weight, caution and a long horizon laid over the top. Compared with the other two thirds of the sign it is the Saturn version, and the difference is usually obvious once you know to look for it.
| Decan | Degrees | Ruler | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| First (this one) | 0 to 10 | Saturn | weight, caution and a long horizon |
| Second | 10 to 20 | Jupiter | scale, optimism and a taste for the bigger version |
| Third | 20 to 30 | Mars | heat, urgency and a willingness to fight for it |
That table is the argument for decans in one block. Three people can all be Pisces and be running it through Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, which is a genuine difference and one a Sun sign on its own throws away.
The standard English tarot deck was built on this same system. Every pip card from Two to Ten corresponds to one decan, which means the first decan of Pisces and the Eight of Cups are two descriptions of one ten-degree stretch of sky.
That correspondence is not decoration and it is not something the tarot borrowed loosely. The Rider deck of 1909 was drawn to a scheme in which the thirty-six pips map onto the thirty-six decans in order, and the card's traditional meaning was derived from the decan's ruler and sign rather than the other way round. Reading the card is another way of reading these ten degrees, and it is frequently the more vivid one.
Saturn in Pisces is the third description of the same thing, this time as a birth chart placement.
Your Sun is in this decan, which narrows it from one sign in twelve to one stretch in thirty-six. Worth doing something with: read the Saturn pages as well as the Pisces ones, because half of what is usually described as your sign is being coloured by a planet most descriptions never mention.
The full account of the Sun in Pisces is here, and Pisces season covers the whole stretch of the year.
A decan is the Sun, more precisely. The Moon, the rising sign and the houses all need a birth time, and they are where most of what people actually recognise about themselves lives. If you do not know your birth time, this covers how to find it.
Roughly February 19 to February 28, which is 0 to 10 degrees of Pisces. The edges move by a day either way between years.
Saturn, from the Chaldean order counting forward from the first decan of Aries. Pisces itself is ruled by Neptune and Jupiter.
The Eight of Cups. Every pip card from Two to Ten corresponds to one decan, and this is the one.
By your birth date, and more precisely by your Sun's degree. The first ten degrees of a sign are the first decan, ten to twenty the second, twenty to thirty the third.
RubyAstro writes about astrology for reflection and self-understanding. Nothing here is medical, legal or financial advice, and none of it is a prediction of events. Read our full disclaimer.
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