Intro to Working with Decans
Today we talk about decans in astrology and how you might work with them.
A Decan is a 10 degree subdivision of a house/sign. 1st decan is 0-9° 2nd decan is 10-19° and the 3rd is 20-29°. They typically have their own planetary ruler and there are so many methods of decans and how to use them. Their main function is just to add depth and nuance to how you understand a placement in a chart. This is so helpful when you have a “difficult” placement or are just having trouble working with something in your chart. I feel if you have read tarot you’re probably familiar with Chaldean but other notable ones are Dorthean and Tripicity*. I mainly use Chaldean because it was easy to learn knowing tarot along with Modality Triplicity. Much like with tarot, I recommend doing your own research and I really encourage you to approach any method with a modern perspective.
I like to use Chaldean for understanding the natal (birth) placement a bit better especially if you consider them as archetypes and sub archetypes. Chaldean order goes Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, and then Moon and repeat. Let’s say I have my Moon in the second decan of Scorpio. This decan is ruled by the Sun and Scorpio is ruled by Mars and we are talking about the Moon. A common archetype of Scorpio is the Alchemist, to me the influence of the Sun means this is where we are actually implementing growth and changing ourselves. In the Suns decan it shines a light on everything you try to hide. The Moon here suggests we will experience deep and constant growth and change of our instinct, emotional processing, and self nurturing. You can go really deep into looking at archetypes but just do what makes sense within the umbrella of the sign meaning. You could also look for each planet in your chart to inform you further. If in that example you had your mars in Aries, that’s cardinal fire so you may have to self initiate the growth. The tarot method is great for a quick look at something and if you’re familiar with it I think it’s a great way to begin to understand your chart. Pull the card for the sign and planetary ruler (Death for Scorpio and the Emperor for Mars), the decan (2nd decan of Scorpio is 6 of Cups), and a card for the planets (High Priestess is the Moon). The combo of Death and the Emperor suggests learning when to release control and when to step into your power, the 6 of Cups reminds you to never forget all the versions of you that you’ve been before as they all serve a purpose in your journey, and the High Priestess reminds you to constantly be curious and open to growth and change as it happens even when you can’t fully see it or feel it. And its not too far off from the previous interpretation.
My favorite method of decans for wanting to master a house in my chart is Modality Triplicity. This starts with whatever modality the sign is in and it’s planetary ruler followed by the next signs planetary ruler in zodiacal order. (ex: Aries would be Mars/Aries, Sun/Leo, Jupiter/Sagittarius or Scorpio, Mars/Scorpio, Jupiter/Pisces, Moon/Cancer). The reason I use this is because I feel to master the house you must master the element and then of course for growth you look to the opposite house and use the same method. For example, an overall theme for lets say the first house is Self Identity. If it were in the sign of Aries this might be Individuality within our environment. The first decan is ruled by Mars/Aries and could symbolize your initiation into your immediate environment. The second decan is ruled by the Sun/Leo and it could symbolize learning to love yourself as you are and your own company. The third decan is ruled by Jupiter/Sagittarius and could be you expanding on the previous things or reaping the benefits of learning who you are and how to love yourself. If your Sun were in the third decan maybe you had a good home life where they saw you for you and loved it but maybe you had to learn how to love your own company because self assured people make others uneasy usually (2nd decan Sun) and you had to learn to hold on to who you are and understand that it wouldn’t be without a fight (1st decan Mars). Lets say you are a Capricorn Rising instead. We still have the theme of Self/Identity but with Capricorn influence. So the first decan is ruled by Saturn and could represent some kind of struggle or restriction from society regarding your sense of self that you have to learn to navigate. The second decan is ruled by Venus/Taurus and could be your finding what you naturally gravitate to and grounding yourself in that. The third decan would be ruled by Mercury/Virgo and maybe this is you learning how to articulate what you like and who you are. If lets say your sun sits in the second decan maybe you understand what you like before you truly acknowledge the obstacles you face (1st decan Saturn) or learn to show up for yourself effectively (3rd decan Mercury). This is why I love this method for this purpose. You can apply the method anywhere in the chart to understand how to grow into a placement.
Whatever method you use make sure it resonates with you as it’s to add nuance to your planets and comes in handy in my opinion when you start doing horoscopes.