The Third Decan of Taurus

This is the third ten-degree segment of Taurus, the fixed earth sign, spanning 20 to 30 degrees. Its ruler in the Chaldean order of faces is Saturn, following the unbroken sequence of the seven planets around the thirty-six decans. The decan is the oldest layer of astrology: the thirty-six were originally Egyptian star groups, recorded on coffin lids as a star-clock for the hours of the night, and were fitted into the twelve signs of the zodiac only after Babylonian astrology reached Egypt.

The Golden Dawn, from 1888, mapped the numbered minor cards onto the decans in order; this segment carries the Seven of Coins, to which they gave the title Failure, its Saturn-in-Taurus attribution drawn from the face ruler, Saturn's heaviness on the earth sign matching the card's theme of stalled labour. That tarot correspondence is a modern Western overlay on the ancient decan scheme rather than anything inherited from Egypt or the Hellenistic world.