The second decan of Libra

The middle ten degrees of Libra, where both traditions agree on Saturn and fairness stops being personal.

The technical picture

Degrees: 10 to 20 degrees of Libra
Sun here roughly: October 2 to October 12. The boundary shifts by about a day with the leap cycle, so a birthday within a day of either end needs a calculated chart.
Sign ruler: Venus, over all three decans
Traditional face ruler: Saturn, from the Chaldean order
Modern triplicity ruler: Saturn, by way of Aquarius
Do they agree: Yes. Both traditions give this decan to Saturn, which is true of only nine of the thirty-six.

The core of this decan

Fairness here stops being about the person in front of you. Aquarius colors these degrees and Saturn rules them in both schemes, and the result is a stretch of Libra concerned with the principle rather than the party: what would be right in general, applied evenly, whoever it inconveniences. Planets here are cooler than the first decan and considerably harder to talk round.

How it differs from the rest of the sign

The opening decan of Libra wants everyone at the table to be comfortable. This one wants the rule to be right, and it will accept somebody being uncomfortable if the rule holds. That is a genuine difference in kind instead of degree. Against the third decan, which is quick, social and enjoys the exchange, this one is the most serious and the most willing to be disliked for a position.

The two rulers

Saturn holds these degrees in both traditions. Nine of the thirty-six work out that way. The face system arrives there by continuing the Chaldean count; the modern one because the second decan of an air sign takes Aquarius, which is Saturn's in the traditional scheme. Saturn is exalted in Libra, so this is one of the places where Saturn does its best work, and the doubling makes it the most structurally serious ten degrees of the sign.

Where the friction is

A principle held this firmly is hard to revisit. A planet in these degrees can defend the shape of a rule long after agreeing with the argument against it, because the rule has become the point. Coolness is the other cost. Fairness applied evenly can feel, to the person on the receiving end, a great deal like not being cared for particularly, and this decan is often surprised to hear it.

Working with it

Keep the principle and check it on a schedule, since it will not check itself. When a rule and a person conflict, it is worth establishing which one is actually at stake before defending either. And say the warm thing plainly to the people close to you, because this decan assumes fairness reads as affection and it does not.

Questions to sit with

Which of your positions have you not revisited since you formed it?
When did being fair to everyone leave somebody feeling uncared for?
Who needs to hear something warm rather than something even-handed?

The other decans of Libra

The rulers involved

Start here

Find which decan your own planets fall in.

Educational and reflective. This describes tendencies, not predictions, and is not medical, legal, financial, or psychological advice.

Drafted from an expert brief, reviewed by a practising astrologer with 30 years of experience, and grounded in computed chart data.