The First Decan of Aquarius

This is the first ten-degree segment of Aquarius, the fixed air sign, spanning 0 to 10 degrees. Its ruler in the Chaldean order of faces is Venus, reached by continuing the planetary sequence around the thirty-six decans. The decans are the oldest stratum of astrology, beginning as thirty-six Egyptian stars whose risings marked the ten-day weeks of the year and were absorbed into the Greek zodiac as ten-degree subdivisions of the signs only later.

The Golden Dawn of 1888 assigned the thirty-six minor arcana to the decans in order; this segment bears the Five of Swords, titled Defeat, its Venus-in-Aquarius planet taken from the face ruler, the fives of the mental suit marking conflict, here the hollow victory and loss the card depicts. That tarot correspondence is a modern Western overlay on the far older decan scheme, not a feature of the Egyptian or Hellenistic decan material on which it was imposed.