Decans and How They Help Define You As The (Insert sign here) That You Are.
One of the most regularly asked questions I get when I'm speaking with some of the less informed astrology interested people (or on the fencers of "believing") is "why is it that when I read things about (insert sun sign here) that I find that it doesn't really match up with how I am?" There are plenty of variables that help make each person differ in their sign from others in astrology but today we will go over a simple one: decans!
A decan is a segment of a Sun sign. Each decan has their own planet that sub rules their sign. With that planet as the overseer of the decan, the decan gets a new set of qualities and characteristics added in to influence how the person develops. These new traits added in can make some general qualities of the Sun sign react more aggressively, passively, or nearly nonexistent. However, the decan doesn’t make the Sun sign owner less of that Sun sign. If they’re a Leo, they’re still a Leo.
An easy way to understand a decan is to use the DID phenomenon (dissociative identity disorder) or better known as multiple personality disorder to describe it. Sagittarius is Janet. Janet has a 3 personality DID. 3 times a year one of the personalities takes control of Janet for 121.33 days. Janet finds herself taking up refuge more often to dive deeply into her understanding of life and how people's interactions with her life affect it. She also tends to be more of a people pleaser during this time.
The next stint of 121.33 days, the switch flips and Janet is now less of a people pleaser and is more determined to focus diligently to accomplish her goals that she has been working on. Her hard work and dedication to her mission tends to influence and inspire others around her. However, things have to be done her way and she won't back down to any usurping attempts from others.
For the last 121.33 days, most of Janet's friends are unable to find her. The reason is because she is constantly on the road, visiting new locations and meeting a plethora of new people. Whilst traveling, Janet is documenting her new experiences with the intent of creating a book so she can help others learn from her mistakes made abroad.
On leap years, Janet just sits in the house and watches the paint dry on February 29th. (Nobody is home lol)
In every situation, Janet doesn't know to what degree her personalities are affecting other people until they make her aware of it. She's always being her Sagittarius self, just certain traits are more prominent during this time than others. In this story, the characteristics are more to the extreme to elaborate on the subtle differences.
Decans are another tool in the astrology arsenal to give us our own individuality and uniqueness within our sign. The further down the astrology pipeline you go, the easier it becomes to understand that even though you might be in a room full of Ariens with similar attributes to yourself, there is still only one YOU.
*For additional context - In western astrology, the zodiac is broken into 12 Sun signs. Each Sun sign holds 3 decans, making for 36 decans total. Since the zodiac is a circle (360 degrees) and the ancient Egyptians initial calendar year was a 30 day month 12 times for a year, each decan takes up 10 degrees of the zodiac. The sun moves at approximately 1 degree per day which explains the 10 degrees. The Egyptians have long ago corrected the calendar year and added the additional 5 days into their astrology.