One of the most famous natives of the second decan of Cancer is the United States of America. The country's most commonly used birth chart is that Ebenezer Sibly made for the signing of the Declaration of Independence — at 5:10 pm on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This gives the United States the Sun at 13°19’ Cancer.
As an American, I grew up celebrating the Fourth of July. Some years, I saw fireworks on the field of Civic Stadium in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon. Other times, I visited relatives in Seward, Nebraska, which was proclaimed the National Fourth of July City in 1979. Either way, I was typically surrounded by family, which is very fitting for Cancer season.
T. Susan Chang’s 36 Secrets covers the Golden Dawn system that assigns a Tarot card to each decan. Cancer II is associated with the 3 of Cups, an image of celebration. Especially if you’re an American, thinking of Fourth of July observances can be a good way to remember that. The three colors of the United States flag — red, white, and blue — are often prominent during these celebrations.
As established by this point in our journey through the Decans, each Decan has a Chaldean ruler and a triplicity ruler. The Chaldean ruler of Cancer II is Mercury.
The triplicity ruler is more ambiguous. In triplicity rulership, the three Decans of a sign are paired with the three signs that share the same element. For example, Cancer is a Water sign, so the three decans of Cancer are assigned to the three Water signs: Cancer I gets Cancer, Cancer II gets Scorpio, and Cancer III gets Pisces. The ruling planet of the associated sign becomes the ruler of the decan.
The ruling planet of Scorpio is therefore the ruler of Cancer II. So, what’s the ruling planet of Scorpio?
The traditional ruler of Scorpio is Mars, and the modern ruler of Scorpio is Pluto. Kira Ryberg’s The 36 Decans identifies Mars as the triplicity ruler of Cancer II, using the traditional ruler of Scorpio. However, the Solar Fire software program defaults to Pluto, the modern ruler of Scorpio, for Cancer II.
Both Mars and Pluto cover similar themes of power, control, and violence. Pluto is known as the higher octave of Mars. While Mars addresses these concerns on a personal level, Pluto escalates them to a collective arena. Pluto also tends toward subtle and manipulative strategies, while Mars-fueled conflict is usually more open.
Remember that this whole question of decan rulership is going on against the backdrop of the sign of Cancer being ruled by the Moon. If you’re using the traditional ruler of Scorpio for Cancer II, think about the emotional energy of a Moon-Mars connection. If you’re using the modern ruler of Scorpio for Cancer II, think about a Moon-Pluto vibe.
One technique for examining the influence of a planet in a chart is to look at its persona chart. A persona chart for a particular celestial body in a natal chart is a chart cast for the moment that the Sun first conjoins the natal placement of that celestial body. Astro.com will generate these charts for you. The technique was presented by Peter Orban and Ingrid Zinnel in Die innere Tafelrunde. Although the book is only available in German (its title means “the inner round table”), holding Google Lens on your phone over the book’s pages can produce a readable translation in your preferred language.
Die innere Tafelrunde did not discuss persona charts in the context of decan rulers. What the concept of decan rulers does, though, is bring into prominence a planetary influence that’s not necessarily staring you right in the face. Persona charts, which zero in on the role of a particular planet in a chart, are potentially suited to examine these subtleties.
To show you how it works, the July 4, 1776, chart of the United States has the Moon in Aquarius. Its Moon Persona chart is therefore the chart of the moment in February 1777 when the United States first experienced the transit of Sun conjunct natal Moon.
In this particular example, I love how the Moon of the United States Moon Persona chart is conjunct Uranus in Gemini. Of course, this unstable configuration also falls in the chart’s family-oriented 4th house. It reinforces the United States natal chart’s theme of Mars and Uranus straddling the Gemini Descendant, but it gets at the intimate nature of the cultural divides within the United States.
I grew up with a clear split between Mom’s family in Nebraska and Dad’s family in Oregon, and I think a lot of people in the United States have similar stories. The drama may be about red states and blue states in this century, but it was about slave states and free states in the 1800s — it seems like there’s always something, and it seems like that’s baked into our national nature on a deep level.
Well, that’s the ruler of the sign of Cancer. Let’s start looking at the different candidates for the ruler of the decan of Cancer II beginning with Mercury, the Chaldean ruler. The United States experienced the transit of Sun conjunct natal Mercury within its first month of life. While the Sun had moved into Cancer III by then, the Mercury Persona chart’s Mercury is conjunct Venus in Cancer II.
Is the United States a Moon-Mercury country? Yes, our intellectual arguments are pretty emotional — and issues related to women and children and childbearing seem to be a particularly intense focus.
Now, let’s move on to the persona charts of the triplicity rulers. The United States has natal Mars in Gemini, so the transiting Sun first conjoined that in June 1777, toward the end of its first year of life. (No persona chart is more than a year younger than the natal chart it is based on.) The Mars Persona chart’s Mars is in Libra I, tightly square Mercury in Cancer I and trine Venus in Gemini I. The only significant placement in Cancer II in this chart is the North Node.
Is the United States a Moon-Mars country? We have a reputation for being more open to individual gun ownership than other countries, and the underlying concern with personal self-defense could fairly be described as a Moon-Mars motive.
Of the three possible rulers of the decan of Cancer II, my personal favorite for the United States is Pluto. We are definitely a Moon-Pluto country in terms of giving money to other countries with massive strings attached. The obsessive nature of political conflicts related to women and children and childbearing also plays into this.
The Pluto Persona chart for the United States reinforces this theme of power and control. It has Jupiter in Cancer II opposing the Sun and Pluto in late Capricorn, close to the MC/IC axis of 0° Leo/Aquarius.
For comparison, Canada is another country with the Sun in Cancer. However, its establishment on July 1, 1867, gives it the Sun in Cancer I, a decan with Venus as the Chaldean ruler and the Moon as the triplicity ruler. Canada doesn’t have a reputation for Martial internal conflict or Plutonic interference in the affairs of other countries that the United States does. When Canada has problems that make international news, they are typically problems of the Moon gone wrong — of the government attempting to nurture its citizens in ways that wind up trampling their personal freedom.
In conclusion, the correspondences of the Decans reveal that not all Cancers are created alike. Cancer II is associated with the celebratory 3 of Cups, but its Chaldean ruler Mercury and triplicity rulers Mars and Pluto show the potential for the party to get out of hand. We might as well try to enjoy the fireworks.
About the Author
Eva Sylwester (she/her) Eva Sylwester began exploring astrology and other new frontiers in spirituality shortly after she earned her B.A. in psychology and religious studies from the University of Oregon in 2007. She now writes daily horoscopes for Tarot.com. She is the editor of Impossible Dreams: Hopes, Fears, and Expectations for Saturn in Pisces and the author of Booby Prize: An Astrological Novel. She lives in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Substack: Eva’s Substack
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References
Astro-Databank. “Nation: USA No. 1.” Accessed June 17, 2024. https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Nation:_USA_No.1.
Chang, T. Susan. 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press, 2021.
Fourth of July in Seward. “Proclamations.” Accessed June 17, 2024. https://www.julyfourthseward.com/proclamations.
Orban, Peter, and Ingrid Zinnel. Die innere Tafelrunde: Astrologie und Persönlichkeit. 2nd ed. Neuhausen am Rheinfall: AGM-Urania, 2006.
Rueger, Laurien. “The Astrology Chart of Canada, Part 1.” Astrology, Eh? Accessed June 17, 2024. https://astrologyeh.ca/the-astrology-chart-of-canada-part-1/.
Ryberg, Kira. The 36 Decans. Purchased May 29, 2024. https://www.kiraryberg.com/guidebooks.
Further Reading on Persona Charts
Hoffmann, Karin, ed. “Persona Charts.” Astro.com. Accessed June 17, 2024. https://www.astro.com/astrology/in_person_e.htm.
This is a translated and edited excerpt of Die innere Tafelrunde.
Sylwester, Eva. Booby Prize: An Astrological Novel. Eugene, Oregon: Eva Sylwester, 2022.
In the astrology section of Booby Prize, I explore the phenomenon of transits to persona charts.
Sylwester, Eva. “Two Years of College German.” Eva’s Substack. December 15, 2023.
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In this post, I provide a detailed overview of the contents of Die innere Tafelrunde.