Decan: 10°-19° Libra

Dates: 3-12 October 2024

Ruling planet/luminary: Saturn

Zodiac sign: Libra ~ Cardinal Air 🜁

Tarot card: 3 of Swords

Golden Dawn Title: Lord of Sorrow

Associated Major Arcana:

The World (Saturn) & Justice (Libra)

Hard lessons learned

This is our 3rd encounter with Saturn, the great teacher and taskmaster, as we make our way through the Decans. This time in the element of Air and the suit of Swords. And it carries some karmic weight.

In the 3 of Swords, Saturn, God of Time, brings some tough but necessary lessons to be learned that may cause anguish and anxiety in the mental realm. This is the card of separation, loss and sorrow.

These bloody lessons likely have their roots in the past – perhaps highlighting patterns that keep repeating until they are recognised and broken. Lessons that will keep popping up until they are learned, absorbed and integrated – before we can move on and ‘grow’ – The World.

It brings to mind phrases like ‘no pain, no gain ‘ and ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. The kind of phrases that get trotted out in times of strife that make you want to tell well-meaning people to just f*ck off!

There is often a sense of unfairness in painful times, which is reflected in the 3 of Swords. Injustice, as we know, does not sit well with Libra, who will always seek balance and harmony even if they have to bend themselves out of shape to achieve it.

But, in the 3 of Swords, there is no easy route to the restoration of peace and Justice. Only the hard and sometimes painful road, paved with harsh reality, limitations and delays.

As with previous Decans, I have found it useful to look at some keywords to see what ideas they may spark about the current Decan of Libra II

When hearts break

I want to be very careful when writing about the 3 of Swords, not to trivialise it and the pain that it may reflect in a person’s life. We do not all experience the same hardship in this life. We do not all have the same resources or support to deal with the challenges that may come.

The 3 of Swords was a scary card for me as a teenager (with no experience of real loss or pain) because honestly what could be worse than impending heartache? Now, older and wiser and many heartbreaks down the road, I understand that wounds heal and that scars can be beautiful. Healing does indeed make you stronger.

Experiencing loss, pain and separation is unavoidable in this life, but what we learn is how to carry on and how to hold others when their hearts are breaking.

This understanding and empathy is what makes us human and whole.

Prompts for 3 of Swords ~ Saturn in Libra

In times of disconnection, mental anguish, separation and loss…

Ask yourself:

• Where is your pain?
• What events and past wounds do you need to heal from?
• What can you do to promote that healing process?
• Who around you is in pain? How is that manifesting and what can you do to assist their healing?
• Looking back, what painful learning experiences of the past can you be grateful for?
• How have they made/changed/transformed you?

Observations and synchronicities ~ Libra II

I’m making space here to return to over the coming days of Libra II to add any thoughts, ideas and synchronicities as they arise…

This is my Decan!

My birthday falls within the 2nd Decan of Libra. And I am writing this on the eve of Libra II, the night of the new moon and annular eclipse in Libra. I can’t claim to know what all of that means. But it’s big news in the Libraverse, so I’d better get this post out on time.

Notes on the Decan Walk 2024/25

For more information on Decans, Astrology and Tarot and how they all synchronise please read this Substack article by Rebeka Kulcsar-Kurdi and T. Susan Chang’s 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

And, if you care to join me for this continuing solar return, you’ll find me on Facebook and Instagram hanging out on the corner of #decanwalk2024 and #decanastrology And I will be following @astroco_op and @tsusanchang

Here’s to another trip around the Sun!