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The Decans (also bakiu (Egyptian), dekanoi (Greek), drekkana (Sanskrit) ) are a way of grouping stars or reckoning time that originated in Ancient Egypt. Such stars, comprising 36 'constellations' are parallel to the ecliptic and 'co-rise' with the constellations of the zodiacal belt.
[edit] Ancient Egyptian origins
Decans first appeared in the 10th Dynasty (2100 BCE) on coffin lids. The sequence of these star patterns began with Sothis/Sirius, and each decan contained a set of stars and corresponding divinities. As measures of time, the rising and setting of decans marked 'hours' and groups of 10 days which comprised an Egyptian year.
There were 36 decans (36 X 10 = 360 days). plus 5 added days to compose the 365 days of a solar based year. The reason for the discrepancy between decans as a measure of time and the solar year is due to the ancient Egyptian year being 6 hours too short - over time, this would cause a substantial discrepancy between the solar year and the Egyptian calendar. For example, over 40 years the calendar would be in error of 10 days. Decans represented on coffins from later dynasties (such as King Seti I) compared with earlier decan images demonstrate the calendrical discrepancy.
[edit] Decans in Hellenistic astrology
[edit] Decans in Hermeticism and gnosticism
[edit] Decans in Indian astrology
[edit] Use of decans in Renaissance magic
[edit] External links
- Decan meanings, from Paul Christian's The History and Practice of Magic.
- Decan meanings, from Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Henry Cornelius Agrippa and Astrolabium Planum by Johannes Engel.
