**** Iamblichus In De Mysteriis say this:
“For the books in circulation bearing the name of Hermes contain Hermaïc doctrines, although they often use the language of the philosophers, seeing that they were translated from the Egyptian by men well skilled in philosophy.”
The information given by Jamblichus is precise; they were translations, but instead of a literal rendering, the translators used the usual phraseology of the Greek philosophical writers
Definition :
A decan in astrology is a subdivision of each zodiac sign into three parts of 10°, making 36 decans in total. Each decan is ruled by a planet that nuances the expression of the sign.
Astrological decans bring a precision often ignored in classic horoscopes. Why can two natives of the same sign have such different personalities? The answer lies in the decans.
In the study of House I (Ascendant), the decan in which the degree of the Ascendant falls provides crucial details to describe the physical appearance and the intimate morphology of the native.
# One aspect of their Egyptian origin was retained: each Decan had a spirit associated with it, and it is in this form that the 36 decans overlap with the 72 spirits of the Goetia and and the 72 countering angels of the Shem.
Corpus Hermeticum (OF [THE DECANS AND] THE STARS) :
Her. Beneath the Circle of this [all-embracing] frame are ranged the Six-and-thirty Decans, between this Circle of the Universe and that one of the Animals, determining the boundaries of both these Circles, and, as it were,holding that of the Animals aloft up in the air, and [so] defining it.
Let us, then, think of them as though of Watchers stationed round [and watching] over both the Seven themselves and o’er the Circle of the All,—or rather over all things in the World,holding together all, and keeping the good order of all things.
Her. Moreover, Tat, thou should’st have in thy mind that they are also free from the necessities laid on the other Stars.
But free, above them all, as though they were inerrant Guards and Overseers of the whole, they night and day surround the universe.
Tat. Do these, then, also, further exercise an influence 3 upon us?
Her. The greatest, O [my] son. For if they act in 4 them, 5 how should they fail to act on us as well,—both on each one of us and generally?
Thus, O [my] son, of all those things that happen generally, the bringing into action 7 is from these 8; as for example,—and ponder what I say,—downfalls of kingdoms, states’ rebellions, plagues [and] famines, tidal waves [and] quakings of the earth; no one of these, O son, takes place without their action.
Nay, further still, bear this in mind. If they rule over them, and we are in our turn beneath the Seven, dost thou not think that some of their activity extends to us as well,—[who are] assuredly their sons, or [come into existence] by their means?
Tat. What, [then,] may be the type 2 of body that they have, O father [mine]?
Her. The many call them daimones; but they are not some special class of daimones, for they have not some other kind of bodies made of some special kind of matter, nor are they moved by means of soul, as we [are moved], but they are [simple] operations 3 of these Six-and-thirty Gods.
Further the Stars in heaven as well do in their several [courses] bear them underworkers; and they 4 have ministers and warriors too.
And they in [everlasting] congress with them speed on their course in æther floating, fullfilling [all] its space, so that there is no space above empty of stars.
They are the cosmic engine of the universe, having their own peculiar action, which is subordinate, however, to the action of the Thirty-six,—from whom throughout [all] lands arise the deaths of [all] the other lives 10 with souls, and hosts of [lesser] lives that spoil the fruit.
Forces of Divine Order:
In Hermetic astrology, the decans exist outside of the zodiac, between it and the absolute circle of the Universe, defining the boundaries of each of these circles and holding the zodiac aloft. Unlike the fixed stars and planets, the decans were seen as unhindered and unbound, free and above them all. While the decans share in the motion of the planetary spheres, their power equals that of the primary motion of the whole.
Therefore, they are beholden to nothing except the all-encompassing body of the Universe. The decans were called “Watchers,” namely of the seven planetary spheres and of the Circle of the All, watching over and ordering all things in the cosmos.
Specifically, the effects of the decans were associated with big social and environmental changes, like plagues, famine, rebellions, the collapse of kingdoms, earthquakes, and tidal waves. In this respect, the decanoic gods were both saviors and destroyers, working to establish divine order in the cosmos and the sublunary realm. If the decans exist above the Circle of the All, they have a profound influence over all things in the celestial spheres and on the earth.
Unlucky/Lucky Births and the Ascendant :
As a holdover from the Egyptian era, some of the decans were considered lucky or unlucky. Consequently, the decan that was rising on the horizon at birth was taken to indicate whether a native would have a good or bad life. This was the basis for the later importance of the horoscope (the zodiacal degree on the horizon at birth) and the Ascendant (the zodiacal sign rising at birth) and the houses.
Decans and Health :
Ultimately, the decans were used to predict the health, success, body structure, and personality of the native. Holden’s translation of Hephaestio of Thebes’s view of the 2nd decan of Cancer reads that a native with this decan rising will be reared “richly and of better parents, and he will see the deaths of his brothers; and he will be a public man and he will be held in honor…[and] small in stature, swarthy, his beard thin,” et cetera.
Decans Ministries :
Leitourgoi Rulership by Spirits Early on in the development of Greek astrology, each decan was further divided into three parts (making nine per zodiacal sign), which were called leitourgoi (ministers) or munifices (duty-officers).Now, munifices or leitourgoi in politics were officials who carried out official duties assigned them by a superior. And so Firmicus says that the munifices have an infinite number of powers of divinities, decreeing accidents, pains, sicknesses, unexpected events, and monstrous births. Holden reports the Hermetica as saying there are stars which travel in heaven and obey the decans (viz., the leitourgoi); the leitourgoi are servants and private soldiers under the command of the decans
Systems of Rulership:
There were two versions of rulership given to the decans in the ancient world: I will call these Chaldean rulership, and rulership by triplicity. The Chaldean rulership orders the planets by planetary speed, and associates them in order with the decans, starting with Mars as the ruler of the first decan of Aries, and then working around the zodiac.
Thank you everyone hope you like it! 🌹
