SOLAR SPOTLIGHTS
The 3rd Decan of Virgo
Beginning on September 12th the sun will move into the third decan of Virgo, until the 22nd—when the sun will cross over the cardinal zero-point degree of Libra for equinox… until then—the third decan of Virgo, as astrologer Austin Coppock writes, “shows the fate of all matter… this discussion reveals the importance of things as they are—arising and receding—and deserving of love and attention…”
Tarot writer T Susan Chang writes “it’s the story of the life of matter…”
The 10 of Pentacles in the tarot is associated with this decan—a card that represents wealth… and legacy—Chang writes that , “we spend our lives doing something; we save lives; our lives have value… we built a livelihood, we sought our purpose, we fashion an inheritance for our successors—it is also a reminder, in case we forget (distant as we are from the divine source), that there is much more to life than what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel.”
Restoration is also an essential detail of this card…
It’s a really good time to gather in reunion—with family, with professionals, with previous class-mates, with like-minded communities… or, simply reuniting with those you adore whom you haven’t seen in too long. It’s also a time of year when ‘outsiders’ tend to approach and ask for entrance in some manner, or attempts to return.
Other approaches to the blessings of this card suggest that this is the time of year that ‘affluence, magic, parties, elders, stability, windfall, protection, and family life’ all come into a greater, stronger focus… it is the time of year that these opportunities and potentials are more likely to emerge, too, in a much more illuminated way—as well as within a much more opportunistic manner toward potential for growth, evolution, or even advantage.
It is this time of year—from September 12th-September 22nd—that offers opportunity toward legacy, toward that for which you may be remembered… it is a time of year to create memories.
Through an alternative view toward this card, tarot writer Jessica More writes, “the ten of pentacles seems to me the ‘lesser secret’ that most closely corresponds to the greater secret of the World, one in which, having transcended the way of seeing in terms of pairs of opposites—self and other, individual and collective, internal and external—there is diversity, plurality, and the overwhelming experience of connection…”
This sounds like a celestial point of preparation for Libra, yes?
This decan may not be so simple as arranging a family reunion… it would seem as though there’s so much more to these energies. Energies such as union—whatever that may mean to you, as well as the rigid rules and etiquette that are inherently associated with the like of legacy, and stability, and protection, and affluence, which is very much a Virgoan/Libra midpoint of vibration.
Dore continues, that it is through this decan and card that we are “hoarding soul inside interiority, we feel justified in also hoarding resources; we act out of self-interest rather than in the interest of the whole… too afraid to relinquish our partitions, we relinquish our membership in community for an illusion of control—what, then, would it take for us to re-member ourselves?—what would we need to be willing to feel in order to give up the life jacket of individualism and the idea that freedom for any single individual is adequate?”
This is also an ideal time to learn something new…
The 10 of pentacles is also a card that represents “everything we have worked to achieve—our harvested crops! our publications!, our 401ks!, our grimoires!, our works of art!, our houses and cars and clothes!… but, as we all know, we can’t take any of that with us… for all these treasures to retain their essence, they must be given away so they can take root anew.” Chang quotes Crowley of this card, that “this may imply that the acquired wealth, being inert, will be dissipated unless put to further use by devoting its power to objects other than mere accumulation…”
Perhaps these memories and advantages that we aim to make and achieve through these next ten day/degrees—perhaps these memories/legacies should be authentic, and genuinely intended toward (re)union… rather than mere propaganda for instagram likes—after all: we tend to receive back what we give out.
How can you deepen or strengthen your involvement/participation in any of the above-mentioned 10 of Pentacle associations?
Through this third decan of Virgo the sun will exact its opposition to Neptune at 24*02’ on September 16th, and its trine to Pluto at 26*12’ on September 18th… and meeting in inferior conjunction with a retrograded Mercury at the zero-point degree of Libra on September 22nd.
Your reputation is very much being highlighted—whether you realize this or not—as well as the guarding thereof. It is a time to ‘live up to your highest ideals…’ though these may absolutely be a bit blurred or confused at this time, in a way unlike any other time before. Very meaningful transitions are very much underway—and so this should be forgiven for now, rather than resented or stressed over.
Further, and this year in particular—you may have the opportunity, or responsibility, to ‘pass the torch’ on to an/Other, or an otherwise transference of obligation or entitlement… through the means of reunion, family life, legacy, or protections.
Finally, something quite meaningful and powerful is emerging… and I will write further about this in a separate post to highlight the inferior conjunction between the sun and Mercury upon the zero-point degree of Libra… stay tuned.
Chang, T. ‘36 Secrets.’ Anima Mundi Press; 2021.
Coppock, A. ‘36 Faces.’ Three Hands Press; 2014.
Dore, J. ‘Tarot for Change.’ Viking; 2021.
Reed, T. ‘Tarot: No Questions Asked.’ Weiser Books; 2020.
Roche, D. ‘The Sabian Symbols.’ Astrology Classics; 1998, 2010.