Affinity (Decanate Ruler) Card Calc
Most of us are familiar with our Planetary Ruling (Ego) Cards by now and as I have stated many times, the Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card of an individual is the second most important symbol of their personality after the Birth (Self) Card. I do readings for my Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card just as I do for my Birth (Self) Card and I always include these in relationship readings where they often make a big difference.
"Arne Lein, one of my teachers, emphasized the importance of the Planetary Ruling Card in his book, What's Your Card?, which is currently out of print. But Arne took it one step further and also used what is called the Decanate Ruler. This article will attempt to explain what that is and how you can use this for yourself." - Robert Camp
Astrologically, each sign of the zodiac is broken into three equal pieces called decanates. Since each sign governs a period of roughly 30 days, each decanate governs a 10-day period of that sign's rulership. However, each decanate has its own planetary ruler just as each sun sign is ruled by a planet. We might consider these decanate rulers to be sort of 'sub-rulers' of the signs.
SIX of Spades: The Card of Fate - Life Spread
Sun | Moon | MER | Venus | MAR | JUP | Saturn | URA | NEP | PLU | REW | LSN |
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6c | Qh | ![]() |
8d | Ks | ![]() |
Ac | Qc | 10s | 5c | 3d |
For example, from December 22nd until January 19th, the sun is in the sign of Capricorn. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn so anyone born in that time period will have a Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card that is the Saturn Card in their Life Spread. Someone born on January 8th would be a 6 Birth (Self) Card with an 3
Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card since the 3
is the Saturn Card in the 6
Life Spread.
Self
Ego
Affinity
But January 8th falls into the second decanate of Capricorn which governs the time period of January 1st to January 10th. This particular decanate is governed by the planet Venus giving the January 8th 6 person a Decanate Ruler of the 10
, their Venus Card in their Life Spread. So, we might say that those born on January 8th have a 6
Birth (Self) Card, an 3
Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card and a 10
Decanate Ruling (Affinity) Card.
"I have read many of Arne Lein's descriptions of people where he incorporates all three cards of a person into his description of their life and personality. So far, I have seen a lot of truth in using these decanates. They add another dimension to a person's personality that helps explain some behavior patterns more clearly."
For instance, in the example above, January 8th is the birthday of Elvis Presley, Kim Jong-un and David Bowie. Perhaps it is that Decanate Ruling (Affinity) Card, the 10 , that accounts for the high success that the three of them have achieved. The 3
Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card and 6
Birth (Self) Card do not necessarily bring that sort of drive for fame, but the 10
does.
Arne Lein and his book "What's Your Card?"
I invite you to look up your Decanate Ruling Card using the following table and see if it doesn't have something new to tell you about yourself, or point to an aspect of your personality that you have emphasized more than others at certain points in your life.
How to Use the Decanate Rulers
Well, one of the first things you may notice when you read the table for the Decanate Rulers is that the first decanate of each sign is ruled by the same planet that rules the Sun Sign (Self). So, for people born in the first Decanate of their sign, there is no separate ruler to consider in their analysis of their personality traits (Sorry).
Sign |
1st Decanate (0-9.59 deg.) |
2nd Decanate (10–19.59 deg) |
3rd Decanate (20–29.59 deg) |
Aries |
Aries |
Leo |
Sagittarius |
Taurus |
Taurus |
Virgo |
Capricorn |
Gemini |
Gemini |
Libra |
Aquarius |
Cancer |
Cancer |
Scorpio |
Pisces |
Leo |
Leo |
Sagittarius |
Aries |
Virgo |
Virgo |
Capricorn |
Taurus |
Libra |
Libra |
Aquarius |
Gemini |
Scorpio |
Scorpio |
Pisces |
Cancer |
Sagittarius |
Sagittarius |
Aries |
Leo |
Capricorn |
Capricorn |
Taurus |
Virgo |
Aquarius |
Aquarius |
Gemini |
Libra |
Pisces |
Pisces |
Cancer |
Scorpio |
However, even in these cases, it would be wise to consider just how important and even more emphasized is their Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card, which now has a sort of doubled influence.
If we extend that one step further with Leos, we find that the Leo birthdays within the first Decanate will only have their Birth (Self) Card to consider. These people, born from July 23-31, are a triple influence of their Birth (Self) Card. These special birth dates should examine their lives to see how they have less diversity than most other people. They are probably less complicated in some ways, and probably a 'super version' of their Birth (Self) Card in every respect. I have met many people in this range and I can see that they are very dramatic about the qualities of their Birth (Self) Card.
But most of us will have a separate Birth (Self) Card, Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card and Decanate Ruling (Affinity) Card to consider. For us, we must look at all three cards to determine how their meanings are identities that we use or have used throughout our life.
December NINTH the Day of FLAMBOYANCE:
Moon | Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Reward | Lesson | |
Jh | 9s |
|
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6h | 4c | 2d | Js | 8c | 6d |
Sagittarius Jupiter = Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card
As an example, a client of mine is married to a man who was born on December 9th. This makes him a 9 with a K
Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card and a K
Decanate Ruling (Affinity) Card. This man is a professional actor and it is his Decanate Ruling (Affinity), the K
, that is an important indicator of this. In this regard, the Decanate Ruling (Affinity) often pertains to our choice of occupation.
October SIXTEENTH the Day of ESSENTIAL JUDGMENT
Self
Ego
Affinity
Lifetime Karmic Path | |||||||||||
SIX ![]() |
|||||||||||
Sun | Moon | Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Reward | Lesson |
![]() |
8h | 6s | ![]() |
10c | 8d | Ks | ![]() |
Ac | Qc | 10s | 5c |
How about someone born on October 16th? This would be a 6 with a Q
Planetary Ruler (Ego) (for Venus) and a 3
Decanate Ruler (Affinity) (the Uranus Card in the Life Spread). With this 3
, wouldn't you imagine that perhaps people born on this day would have artistic ability? I know three people with this birthday that all worked as professional artists or designers at some point in their life. The Q
could be an indicator of this as well, but that is more of a mothering influence usually. The 3
though is a strong creative urge that often manifests itself artistically in the careers of people.
"I invite you to look up your Decanate Ruler and that of people you know and see if you don't see some correlation with that card and their personalities and choice of work. One important word about those born on the cusps. The dates given in the table are the average starting points of particular astrological signs but there are many times when a sun sign will begin a day or more earlier or later than the date listed. If you are born on or close to the beginning of any astrological sign, you must first make a positive determination of what your sun sign actually is before you determine your Planetary Ruling Card or Decanate Ruling Card."
For example, if you were born on July 21, you may be a Cancer or a Leo. You are technically only one of these even though you may share some of both qualities.
You will need to run an astrological chart that uses your time and place of birth to determine which you are. Then you can determine your Ruling (Ego & Affinity) Cards as described here.
July TWENTY-FIRST the Day of TRAGICOMIC CONTROVERSY: CANCER-LEO CUSP
Moon | Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Reward | Lesson |
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5d | Qs | Jc | 9d | 7s | 2c | ![]() |
Jd | 4h | 4d |
NINE of Hearts (Ego) and KING
of Clubs (Affinity)
July TWENTY-SECOND the Day of OCCUPATIONAL FLUCTUATION; CANCER-LEO CUSP
Moon | Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Reward | Lesson |
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6s | Qh | 10c | 8d | Ks | 3h | ![]() |
Qc | 10s | 5c |
EIGHT of Hearts (Ego) and ACE
of Clubs (Affinity)
Birthday Self Range |
Sun Sign Ego/ Ruling Planet |
Decanate Affinity Ruling Planet |
January 1 - 10 |
Capricorn -Saturn |
Venus |
January 11 - 19 |
Capricorn -Saturn |
Mercury |
January 20 - 29 |
Aquarius - Uranus |
Uranus |
Jan 30 - Feb 8 |
Aquarius - Uranus |
Mercury |
February 9 - 18 |
Aquarius - Uranus |
Venus |
February 19 - 29 |
Pisces - Neptune |
Neptune |
March 1 - 10 |
Pisces - Neptune |
Moon |
March 11 - 20 |
Pisces - Neptune |
Pluto / Mars |
March 21 - 30 |
Aries - Mars |
Mars |
Mar 31 - April 9 |
Aries - Mars |
Sun |
April 10 - 19 |
Aries - Mars |
Jupiter |
April 20 - 29 |
Taurus - Venus |
Venus |
Apr 30 - May 9 |
Taurus - Venus |
Mercury |
May 10 - 20 |
Taurus - Venus |
Saturn |
May 21 - 30 |
Gemini - Mercury |
Mercury |
May 31 - June 9 |
Gemini - Mercury |
Venus |
June 10 - 20 |
Gemini - Mercury |
Uranus |
June 21 - 30 |
Cancer - Moon |
Moon |
July 1 - 11 |
Cancer - Moon |
Pluto / Mars |
July 12 - 22 |
Cancer - Moon |
Neptune |
July 23 - Aug 1 |
Leo - Sun |
Sun |
August 2 - 11 |
Leo - Sun |
Jupiter |
August 12 - 22 |
Leo - Sun |
Mars |
August 23 - Sep 1 |
Virgo - Mercury |
Mercury |
September 2 - 11 |
Virgo - Mercury |
Saturn |
September 12 - 22 |
Virgo - Mercury |
Venus |
Sep 23 - Oct 2 |
Libra - Venus |
Venus |
October 3 - 12 |
Libra - Venus |
Uranus |
October 13 - 22 |
Libra - Venus |
Mercury |
Oct 23 - Nov 1 |
Scorpio - Pluto/Mars |
Pluto / Mars |
November 2 - 11 |
Scorpio - Pluto/Mars |
Neptune |
November 12 - 21 |
Scorpio - Pluto/Mars |
Moon |
Nov 22 - Dec 1 |
Sagittarius - Jupiter |
Jupiter |
December 2 - 11 |
Sagittarius - Jupiter |
Mars |
December 12 - 21 |
Sagittarius - Jupiter |
Sun |
December 22 - 31 |
Capricorn - Saturn |
Saturn |
Your Decanate (Affinity) Ruling Cards - Revisited
The cards and astrology are intimately connected in many wonderful ways. One important way is that our Planetary Ruling Cards are derived from our astrological Sun Sign. Take a look, for a minute, at the Planetary Ruling Card of several people you know. First of all, if you look carefully, you will see that each
Planetary Ruling (Ego) Card is a card from the person’s Life Spread, always.
July TWENTY-FIRST SEVEN of Clubs: CANCER-LEO CUSP: The Cusp of OSCILLATION July 19 - 25:
Sun | Moon | Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Reward | Lesson |
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5d | Qs | Jc | 9d | 7s | 2c | Kc | Jd | 4h | 4d |
Furthermore, it is the card in their Life Spread that corresponds to the planet that governs their Sun Sign, as shown in the list here. A planet rules each sign, and the card in the Life Spread that corresponds to that planet is emphasized, thus the term Planetary Ruling Card (Ego).
If you were to memorize the table displayed here, you could actually know what a person’s Planetary Ruling Card is without having to look it up. There is another ruling card that I do not discuss much though I am finding that it holds a lot of significance. The more and more I look at it, the more I see that is it important, especially in the area of relationships. This is called the Decanate Ruling (DR) (Affinity) Card.
Aries Mars
Taurus Venus
Gemini Mercury
Cancer Moon
Leo Sun
Virgo Mercury
Libra Venus
Scorpio Mars/Pluto
Sagittarius Jupiter
Capricorn Saturn
Aquarius Uranus
Pisces Neptune
Like the Planetary Ruling Card, the Decanate Ruling Card is found among the cards in your Life Spread. However, it comes instead from the planetary card that governs the sign of the Decanate you were born under. Which Decanate were you born under? The first thing you need to understand is how Decanates of signs are derived. Each sign of the zodiac is 30 degrees in size. Twelve signs give us the total 360 degrees of the circle that surrounds our planet. But each 30-degree sign can be broken down into three Decanates, each 10 degrees.
The first of these three Decanates is governed by the planet that rules that sign naturally. For example, if your birthday is June 24th, the Sun was in Cancer at around 2 degrees of that sign at that time of the year and will be reflected as such in your natal chart. This would make you the first Decanate of Cancer, which is also governed by Cancer.
The second Decanate of each sign is governed by the next sign of the same element when progressing through the zodiac in natural order. Below is a table that lists the Decanates of each sign. In order to use this, you must know exactly how many degrees your Sun Sign is. If you do not know this, go to ww.astro.com and do one of their Free natal charts and look to see just how many degrees your Sun is of it’s particular Sun Sign. One you know how many degrees your Sun is in it’s sign, you can use the table below to determine which Decanate your Sun is in, and which planet governs that Decanate.
Self
Ego
Affinity
December SIXTH the Day of EXTRACTION: SAGITTARIUS I
If your birthday was December 6th for example, your Sun sign would be approximately 16 degrees of Sagittarius, making you the second decanate of Sagittarius, in this case governed by Aries, which in turn is governed by the planet Mars. For this birthday, the Decanate Ruling Card will be the Mars Card in their Life Spread. December 6th is a Q and the Mars Card in the Life
Spread of the Q is the 3
. Therefore, a Sagittarius Q
will have an Affinity Card of the 3
, even though their Ego Card is the A
.
December 6th QUEEN ![]() |
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Sun | Moon | Mercury | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Reward | Lesson |
Qc | Ac | 10s | 5c | 3d | As | 7h | 7d | 5s | Jh | 9c | 9s |
I invite all of you Sagittarius Qc people out there to look at your 3d Card as a secondary ruler and see if you can identify with it and its characteristics. If a person were born on December 18th however, the Sun would be more than 20 degrees in Sagittarius, making it the 3rd Decanate ruled by the sign of Leo, governed by the Sun. Since the Birth Card is the Sun Card, a person in the third Decanate of Sagittarius would have a DR Card that is the same as their Birth Card.
If your birthday falls in the first Decanate of your Sun Sign, your DR Card will be the same as your Planetary Ruling Card, making you a ‘doubleruler’ birthday. This may explain why people in this first Decanate are more dramatic examples of their card. I have always found this to be true. People in the first Decanate of
their Sun Sign are what I call the ‘early degree’ people of the zodiac. They are often more dramatic or extreme versions of their card, much in the same way that a Leo person, because of their double Sun/Planetary Ruling Card mix are Dramatic versions of their Birth Cards.
There are actually a couple of other Decanates that will act in this manner. Those would be the ones that yield a Decanate governed by the sign of Leo. These include the 2nd Decanate of Aries Sun Sign and the 3rd Decanate of the sign of Sagittarius. Though not normally considered to stand out in any particular way, you will notice that these people exhibit this same dramatic flair in their personalities.
The Decanate Rulers and Relationships
Aries Aries Leo Sagittarius
Taurus Taurus Virgo Capricorn
Gemini Gemini Libra Aquarius
Cancer Cancer Scorpio Pisces
Leo Leo Sagittarius Aries
Virgo Virgo Capricorn Taurus
Libra Libra Aquarius Gemini
Scorpio Scorpio Pisces Cancer
Sagittarius Sagittarius Aries Leo
Capricorn Capricorn Taurus Virgo
Aquarius Aquarius Gemini Libra
Pisces Pisces Cancer Scorpio
If you haven’t already done so, I would highly recommend figuring out your DR Card or Cards. Also take some time to look up those cards for any people in your life who are really close to you. I am sure you will be surprised at what you discover.
I took Camp's advice and discovered that my Affinity Card the SEVEN
of Spades is her Ego Card and that explains the instant attraction to Jane Marie when we met in China six years ago. The obvious next question - what's her Affinity Card? The FOUR
of Hearts - the description of the 4
is Jane Marie in Hearts and why I'm so lucky she chose me,
FOUR
of Hearts: The FAMILY Card: Here we have the first Four in the deck, the first to seek stability and foundation. The Four of Hearts seeks this in relationships. These people have high ideals about love and family and when these ideals are not reached, the pain can be so great that they need some form of escape to soothe themselves. If their ideals are combined with truth and objectivity, these people can have wonderful lives of fulfillment in family and other love areas. Many are healers and protectors and others come to them for love and support in times of need. They all have a need for self-expression and do well with groups and organizations as teachers and event organizers. Some have great scientific minds as well. They are very good with money and have no one but themselves to blame if their lives are not happy and productive. They must maintain good health habits as this card, more than others, never gets away with indulgence, either physical or emotional. Satisfaction comes in giving.
JACK ![]() |
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Sun | Moon | MER | Venus | MAR | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | NEP | PLU | REW | LSN |
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Qs | 9d | ![]() |
2c | Kc | Jd | ![]() |
4d | 2s | 8h | 6c |
October 11 Libra Venus Ego - Libra Libra Aquarius Gemini - Aquarius Uranus
Affinity
If you are doing readings for others, look up their DR Cards. Often the connections you seek are located there. Be aware of who is Moon to your DR Card or Cards and who your DR Cards are Moon to, or karmically connected
to. I believe you will discover that you make many connections with others through those cards, both yours and theirs.
It is possible that there are undiscovered distinctions between the Birth Card, Planetary Ruling Card, and Decanate Ruling Cards. Perhaps each of them represents a particular part of our personality or our lifetime Karma. I have yet to see these distinctions though I have an intuition that they exist. For now however, I see that they are very important. So important that I plan to include them in the next revision of my software.
I hope you enjoy discovering yours and seeing how they contribute to the way you are in the world and who you connect with. Robert Camp Love Cards.
In my humble opinion Robert Camp's Relationship Readings explain the who, why and how anyone is in our life