The Second Decan of Libra

This is the second ten-degree segment of Libra, the cardinal air sign, spanning 10 to 20 degrees. Its ruler in the Chaldean order of faces is Saturn, which is exalted in Libra, so the face ruler here falls in a sign of its dignity. Historically the decan is the most ancient layer of the tradition: the thirty-six were Egyptian star groups, a calendar and a night-clock older than the zodiac, folded into the twelve signs only after Babylonian astrology reached Egypt.

The Golden Dawn, from 1888, mapped the numbered minor cards onto the decans; this segment carries the Three of Swords, to which they gave the title Sorrow, its Saturn-in-Libra attribution taken from the face ruler, Saturn's weight on the airy suit matching the card's famous image of the pierced heart. That tarot layer is a modern Western construction over the ancient decan scheme rather than part of the inherited material.