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1st decan of Aquarius: dates and rulers

Aquarius’s first third is said to live its love of the collective in the warmth of friendship, or in fierce independence.

  • friendship
  • independence
  • ideal
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1st decan of Aquarius: Venus (faces), Aquarius (triplicity)
The essentials

The 1st decan of Aquarius at a glance

For you

Aquarius’s ideal lived together or apart: friendship with Venus, independence with Saturn.

A strength

Bringing very different people together around a shared project.

Something to watch

Keeping one’s distance to the point of seeming cold, or wanting to please an entire group.

Decan planet
♀︎ Venus
Read more
Calculate my decan

By Thomas Guilhot · updated

The 1st decan of Aquarius: the meaning

The series of faces, after the Sun of Capricorn, passes to Venus: it therefore opens Aquarius.

The triplicities give these first ten degrees to Aquarius and Saturn; modern astrologers add Uranus. Between the planet of affectionate bonds and that of thoughtful distance, this decan would offer two faces of the same attachment to shared ideals, in the heart of winter.

Venus would make this person the center of an immense network of friends: she organizes the reunions of old classmates, brings together people who would never have met, and joins an association warmly. Saturn would make her more solitary, more independent, able to defend a countercurrent idea for years, with unfailing loyalty to her principles, even if it means being the only dissenting voice in a vote.

Venus might push toward wanting to please the whole group, at the risk of diluting one’s convictions; Saturn, toward a coldness that discourages loved ones. The entry into Aquarius would do well to reconcile the two: defending its ideas without cutting itself off from people, and letting friendship soften an occasionally excessive rigor. A disagreement voiced warmly is often more convincing than a truth pronounced from afar, and it preserves the friendships that matter.

Sign
AquariusAir, fixed; ruler: Saturn (modern: Uranus)
Degrees
0° to 10°Longitude 300° to 310°
Faces (Chaldean)
VenusPlanet 5 of the Chaldean order
Triplicity
Aquarius (Saturn (modern: Uranus))The sign itself

The 1st decan of Aquarius: tradition

What tradition says

Venus finds no dignity in Aquarius; Saturn is there in its diurnal domicile, Capricorn being its nocturnal domicile.

How is it calculated?

The faces give Venus; the triplicities give Aquarius itself and its ruler, Saturn.

Frequently asked questions about the 1st decan of Aquarius

Venus or Saturn: which ruler for the 1st decan of Aquarius?

Venus for the faces, since the series reaches it right after the Sun of the end of Capricorn; Saturn for the triplicities, with Uranus among the moderns. The two readings diverge sharply, one sociable and warm, the other independent and thoughtful. The site sets them side by side to show the range of interpretations, without declaring either one better.

Does Uranus rule the 1st decan of Aquarius?

For astrologers who adopt the modern rulerships, Uranus is associated with Aquarius, and so with its first decan when reasoning by triplicities. But neither the faces nor the ancient authors know it: the planet was not discovered until 1781. The site presents Uranus as a modern addition.

What are the dates of the 1st decan of Aquarius?

It begins when the Sun passes into Aquarius, in the second half of January, and lasts a little under ten days, until early February. Its limits move slightly from one winter to the next; the table gives them to the minute, in Paris time, and an older birth can be checked with the sign tool.

Neighboring decans

The three decans of Aquarius

The decans of Venus (faces)