Decan Start: March 20, 2024 03:07 UTC

My Thoughts

Dominate!

My final version of this post is a little late, but mostly because I’ve been reading on the cards of this Decan and The Fool. I’m the fool for this decan - the forever novice. My reading has been pretty diverse and wide-ranging. I’m still figuring out my go-to resources. This is the start of the astrological year, and seeds are planted for new projects and plans. I’m always excited for this time of year but a little slow on start-up. (Maybe because I’m a Cancer Rising and this time of the year is my astrological winter… maybe because I live in a wet and humid region, and it’s just starting to get very hot right now… maybe because my clients are at the end of their fiscal year and trying to spend excess money, which means more work travel and projects for me… who’s to know exactly!) All I know is that I prefer to soft-start my spring season and give myself grace.

I first read T. Susan Chang’s blog last spring, and I’ve called this the “Colonizer Card” ever since. There is so much more to it, but as a black woman, I can’t stop thinking about the shadow sides of this particular decan. I’ve recently been thinking about the concept of modernity and the Age of Enlightenment. This may be my Roman Empire (or one of them since I have an obsessive personality). For a quick run-down, the Age of Enlightenment lasted between the 17th and 18th centuries. This intellectual movement in Europe prioritized reason, logic, and rationalism. This era gave us the separation of church and state, scientific empiricism, and modern-day democracies. It also gave us many ideas that we now group as Western esotericism. While there was growth in almost every field at this time, that also meant rapid cultural, political, and geographic expansion. Well, what does this mean for non-Europeans? Colonization, imperialism, and slavery. So when I see a white man looking into the distance with “the whole world in his hands,” it makes me itch - no matter how much this card could probably help me with my season of slow-starts.

The Emperor sits on a stone throne and presides over a barren land. He represents structure, authority, and patriarchy; he is law and order regardless of whether the law is just or order exists despite those at the margins. It’s interesting how many pagans see the shadow side of The Hierophant and organized religion but seldom acknowledge that the shadow of The Emperor can represent white supremacist imperialist colonialism.

On a personal level, you may feel the upheaval of your new projects and goals, as symbolized by The Tower. But it’s also possible that your unbridled growth can cause others to feel like they are being thrown from The Tower. The man in Two of Wands is just starting his plans and making early decisions, but the Hermetic title, “Lord of Dominion,” assumes he will eventually be successful.

The red and white roses represent virtue and passion, but virtue (and morality) is subjective, and passion can quickly become obsession, aggression, and fanaticism. The man in Two of Wands stands before a lush green landscape but is flanked by two scenes with dry and barren lands. And I wonder, how did this come to be? Does the man in the Two of Wands become The Emperor, or is he more a Christopher Columbus type that sails to new lands sponsored by rich European monarchs in search of new passages? The Tower symbolizes upheaval, specifically from materialism and temptation, as it is after The Devil. If he becomes The Emperor, does he become regretful in his old age? I doubt it, as The Emperor still believes in the system and structure. Then maybe it is the latter, but if that’s the case, he is the lightning in The Tower. He causes upheaval in indigenous nations because surely the savage heathens do not know what to do with their gold or gems, or crops or spices. It can be used for the good of the holy empire and for modernity and technological advance.

I give myself grace in this season because I both internalize and externalize the Two of Wands and the first decan of Aries. I internalize it by understanding that I can always prepare some more and that it’s okay just to do it. I can press publish, regardless of whether it is wholly done or I’m happy with the final product. I can simultaneously embody The Fool on this journey while acknowledging my anxieties about trying to teach others about a subject I’m still learning. However, I can also recognize the historical and sociological context for the concepts in these cards. Nothing is without context, and my perspective as a black woman and a descendant of those sacrificed in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in the name of growth and modernity means that some “positive” cards can lead to heavy and sometimes depressing thoughts.

Favorite Resources

Books on the Decans

• 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey Through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot
• 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans
• The Sun’s Paces: Thirty-Six Hymns for the Decans of the Zodiac
• Healing Burnout with Astrology: A Journey Through the Decans of the Zodiac

Astrology Books

• Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness

Tarot Books and Decks

• The Magical Combination of Tarot and Astrology
• Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers
• The Oracle of the Radiant Sun

Websites

• https://www.tsusanchang.com/blog/2019/3/23/reading-the-decans-seeds-of-dominion-aries-i
• https://tarotx.net/tarot-card-meanings/thoth/2-of-wands-thoth.html
• https://mysticsymbolism.com/Dominion-2-of-Wands
• https://supertarot.co.uk/rider-waite-2-of-wands/

For Your Information

• I suggest reading about 1) the connections between the concepts of modernity, colonialism, and imperialism; 2) how the start of post-modernism aligns with many civil rights movements, anti-war protests, and chaos magick; and 3) ways to decolonize your practice and spirituality.
• The phrase “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” was coined by bell hooks to describe America and is sometimes expanded to include “heteronormative”. This is an excerpt from an interview in 2015 where she explains that this phrase comes from the need to understand the complex nature of domination and those at the margins of various systems.
• Interviewer: Over the years, you have used the expression “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” to describe the power structure underlying the social order. Why tie those terms together as opposed to stressing any one of them in isolation?
• bell hooks: We can’t begin to understand the nature of domination if we don’t understand how these systems connect with one another. Significantly, this phrase has always moved me because it doesn’t value one system over another. For so many years in the feminist movement, women were saying that gender is the only aspect of identity that really matters, that domination only came into the world because of rape. Then we had so many race-oriented folks who were saying, “Race is the most important thing. We don’t even need to be talking about class or gender.” So for me, that phrase always reminds me of a global context, of the context of class, of empire, of capitalism, of racism and of patriarchy. Those things are all linked — an interlocking system.

Journal Prompt

• What situations and tasks are you facing? Where does your power come from?
• Are there ways your growth has negatively affected others? Have you been affected by others’ pursuit of progress?

Quotes

• He’s got the whole world in his hands.
• Inside me, I find the power I need.

Decan Spread

Astrology

Oracle of the Radiant Sun

1. Sun in Aries (Assertion): The knight is undeterred by the ferocious dragon and charges into battle against the beast. Was the dragon the original combatant, or did the knight go out looking for trouble?
2. Moon in Leo (Appreciation): The lady takes pride in her creation with an audience of birds symbolizing spring.
3. Mercury in Aries (Restlessness): Modernity and progress reign supreme. A lot of mercurial imagery also reminds me of unbridled progress.
4. Venus in Pisces (Submission): We can leave the cages of our minds and circumstances, but we choose to stay. This reminds me a lot of the 8 of Swords!
5. Mars in Aquarius (Rebellion): May you challenge tradition, societal norms, and the establishment. Have dominion over your thoughts and agency in your life!

While I won’t show Jupiter and Saturn each decan, I want to show at least their placements and the corresponding cards. Jupiter is in Taurus with the keyword “Status,” and Saturn is in Pisces with “Loss.” I think the relationship between wealth for one and loss for another is relevant to the overall themes I feel during this decan!