Regardie

The “Dekanate” cross is more usually called the “Cross of the Dekans,” because here we see three
squares assigned per each Zodiac sign, in accordance with there being three dekans per Zodiac
sign. Although the methodology of deriving these dekans is a good deal more complex than this,
the Golden Dawn following Mathers have been content to express the “Dekanate” attributes using
the signs of the seven classical planets.
Let us begin to examine this diagram by noting that here the attributes of the Hebrew letters of
Tetragrammaton are the same as before, with Yod = FIRE, Heh = WATER, Vav = AIR and Heh (Final)
= EARTH. With this beginning, let us observe how the traits of the four letters / elements govern
three signs each of the Zodiac: each of the letters represents an elemental column aligned from the
4 elements of the EARTH row, such that: Aries, Leo and Saggitarius align with FIRE (given as Yod
in the Dekanate Crosses); Cancer, Virgo and Pisces align with WATER (Heh); Libra, Aquarius and
Gemini align with AIR (Vav), and Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo align with EARTH (Heh-Final).
While the symbols for the signs of the Zodiac are not applied to any of the sub-serviant base-
squares per sub-angle in the final arrangement of “truncated pyramids” on the 4 Watchtowers,
and are only used in the Crosses of the Dekanates; and the planetary glyphs, likewise appearing
only there, used also only to represent the dekans per Zodiacal sign (as we are about to discuss);
their placement is nonetheless very important to a comprehensive understanding of the method by
which this system is derived. For example, Tyson’s completed model of Mathers’ short-hand
notation for the derivation of the “Councourse of the Forces” diagram from Dee’s Enochian
Watchtowers yields the diaganol arrangement for the sub-serviant sub-angle squares’ letters, as
well as the placement for the letters on the Crosses of the Dekanates, by applying the method
described by Mathers of intersecting co-ordinate values drawn from the table of the four
elements. In other words, while the Zodiac signs might not appear for the sub-ordinate sub-angle
squares in the given “truncated pyramids” models we will be looking at next, we should remember
that they are, indeed, there and, moreover, necessarily so in order for the Crosses of the
Dekanates to be formed.
Now, to examine the method of arrangeing the Zodiac signs on the Cross of the Dekanates, because
this method yields different results for each of the 4 Watchtowers, we have to look at the
“planetary rulers” attributed to each “Dekan” (3 per sign) for the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Firstly,
because these lines are all base-6, it would be impossible to sort the 7 classical planets into each.
Secondly, the order given to the planets as they are attributed to the Dekans is derived from a
chart given by Mathers in Regardie’s text contained in Book “T” - The Tarot, which I will not
belabour the student to reproduce here. Suffice it to say that the planets are attributed as dekans
per sign in the following order, beginning with the first third of Aries, the mid-sign of Spring:
Mars, Sol and Venus = Aries;
Mercury, Luna and Saturn = Taurus;
Jupiter, Mars and Sol = Gemini;
Venus, Mercury and Luna = Cancer;
Saturn, Jupiter and Mars = Leo;
Sol, Venus and Mercury = Virgo;
Luna, Saturn and Jupiter = Libra;
Mars, Sol and Venus = Scorpio;
Mercury, Luna and Saturn = Saggitarius;
Jupiter, Mars and Sol = Capricorn;
Venus, Merucry and Luna = Aquarius; and
Saturn, Jupiter and Mars = Pisces.
Such that the sequence progressing thus: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, Luna repeats
with the only exception being the duplication of Mars between final Pisces and first Aries.