36 Decans — Body Rulerships
36 Decans — Body Rulerships is a Hermetic / Astrological medicine - Decanic body rulerships body system as transmitted through the lineage Hellenistic Egyptian-Greek astrology treated the 36 decans as powers that divide the zodiac and participate in bodily melothesia. Firmicus Maternus preserves the descending sign-to-body order, while Hermetic decanic materials and their medieval afterlives associate the three ten-degree subdivisions with successive bodily segments. This system renders the sequence as twelve sign-level anchors while retaining all 36 sub-rulerships in their governing descriptions.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.
Open in interactive explorerPrimary sources
- Julius Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis, Book II.24, De signis quibus partibus corporis sint attributa (Kroll and Skutsch, Teubner 1897; English translation by Jean Rhys Bram, 1975) — Firmicus gives the canonical descending sign-to-body sequence: head, neck, shoulders, chest/heart, stomach, belly, kidneys and vertebrae, nature, thighs, knees, shins, and feet.
- Teucer of Babylon, decan fragments preserved in Rhetorius and discussed in modern histories of Hellenistic astrology (Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum VII (Brussels, 1908), with modern discussion by David Pingree) — Teucer is an early witness for decan and paranatellon lore; this source supports the Hellenistic decanic framework rather than a single modern coordinate.
- A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1954, chapters on astronomy and astrological transmission) — Basham provides modern historical context for the transmission and reinterpretation of astronomical and astrological body correspondences across South Asian and Hellenistic milieus.
- Spyros Piperakis, Decanal Iconography and Natural Materials in the Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius (Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 57 (2017), pp. 136–161) — Study of the Hermetic 36-decan sequence, its body melothesia, and its later textual and ritual transmission.
- Zodiac man (homo signorum) diagram, Wellcome Collection M0017629 (c. 1483 manuscript image and catalogue record) — Medieval medical-almanac diagram preserving the descending sign/body figure from head toward feet.
- Sophie Page, Astrology in Medieval Manuscripts (British Library, 2002) — Scholarly history of medieval astrological manuscript diagrams and their medical context.
Known lineage variants
- Firmicus gives the canonical twelve-sign order, while surviving Hermetic and decanic witnesses differ in the granularity and naming of the three body subdivisions within each sign. The labels here follow a descending head-to-feet editorial partition that keeps each sign's three successive decans explicit; they should not be read as a claim that every witness uses these exact modern anatomical terms.
- Thirty-six separate points would make the canvas too dense for the body silhouette. The 36 decans are therefore compressed into twelve sign-level anchors at the midpoint of each sign's three-part segment, with the complete three-decan list retained in the governing point description and with small, lighter orbs marking those anchors.
- Bilateral, posterior, and internal correspondences are represented by midline front-view anchors for legibility. Anatomical right is x < 0.5 under the corpus convention, but no side-specific claim is made because these anchors intentionally use x = 0.5; the uncertainty radii are wider than the light orbs.
- The coordinates are editorial front-view projections, not measurements extracted from a single medieval silhouette. Cross-reference zodiac_man_melothesia for the coarser twelve-sign figure; this system is its denser decanic follow-up, not a diagnostic anatomy chart.
Cross-tradition overlaps
- ♏ Scorpio — genitals, bladder, and rectum ↔ ♏ Scorpio — genitals and pelvic organs (coincident)
- ♊ Gemini — shoulders, arms, and hands ↔ ♊ Gemini — shoulders and arms (distance 0.005)
- ♌ Leo — heart, back, and solar plexus ↔ ♌ Leo — heart and upper back (distance 0.005)
- ♍ Virgo — navel, intestines, and lower abdomen ↔ ♍ Virgo — abdomen and digestion (distance 0.010)
- ♐ Sagittarius — hips, thighs, and femurs ↔ ♐ Sagittarius — hips and thighs (distance 0.010)
- ♒ Aquarius — shins, calves, and ankles ↔ ♒ Aquarius — calves and ankles (distance 0.010)
- ♉ Taurus — jaw, throat, and neck ↔ ♉ Taurus — neck and throat (distance 0.015)
Related systems
No other systems share this tradition label.
Points
- ♈ Aries — crown, eyes, and ears — First sign / decans 1–3: cranial subdivisions
- ♉ Taurus — jaw, throat, and neck — Second sign / decans 4–6: cervical subdivisions
- ♊ Gemini — shoulders, arms, and hands — Third sign / decans 7–9: upper-limb subdivisions
- ♋ Cancer — breasts, ribs, and heart — Fourth sign / decans 10–12: thoracic subdivisions
- ♌ Leo — heart, back, and solar plexus — Fifth sign / decans 13–15: upper-trunk subdivisions
- ♍ Virgo — navel, intestines, and lower abdomen — Sixth sign / decans 16–18: abdominal subdivisions
- ♎ Libra — kidneys, lumbar spine, and loins — Seventh sign / decans 19–21: renal-lumbar subdivisions
- ♏ Scorpio — genitals, bladder, and rectum — Eighth sign / decans 22–24: pelvic subdivisions
- ♐ Sagittarius — hips, thighs, and femurs — Ninth sign / decans 25–27: proximal-leg subdivisions
- ♑ Capricorn — knees, patellae, and knee joints — Tenth sign / decans 28–30: knee subdivisions
- ♒ Aquarius — shins, calves, and ankles — Eleventh sign / decans 31–33: distal-leg subdivisions
- ♓ Pisces — heels, soles, and toes — Twelfth sign / decans 34–36: foot subdivisions
Frequently asked
What is ♈ Aries — crown, eyes, and ears?
The Aries anchor sits at the midpoint of the cranial opening of the decanic sequence. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan crown and vertex, second decan forehead and eyes, and third decan ears and temples; the point compresses those three ten-degree rulerships into one light field focus.
What is ♉ Taurus — jaw, throat, and neck?
The Taurus anchor marks the transition from the face into the cervical region. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan jaw and lower face, second decan throat, and third decan neck and cervical spine; these are a descending subdivision of the broad Taurus neck/throat assignment.
What is ♊ Gemini — shoulders, arms, and hands?
Gemini occupies the paired shoulder-to-hand interval in the sign/body order. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan shoulders, second decan upper arms and elbows, and third decan forearms and hands; the midline anchor preserves the pair without asserting a side.
What is ♋ Cancer — breasts, ribs, and heart?
Cancer marks the upper thorax in this decanic rendering. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan breasts and upper chest, second decan ribs and lungs, and third decan heart and breastbone; the compact anchor represents the sign's broad chest/heart region rather than a clinical organ point.
What is ♌ Leo — heart, back, and solar plexus?
Leo continues the descent through the central upper trunk. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan heart, second decan upper back and spine, and third decan stomach and solar-plexus region; the front-view point keeps the cardiac/trunk correspondence visible while the back reference remains descriptive.
What is ♍ Virgo — navel, intestines, and lower abdomen?
Virgo is the belly interval of the descending body sequence. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan navel, second decan intestines and digestion, and third decan lower abdomen; the anchor is an editorial midpoint for the sign's belly assignment.
What is ♎ Libra — kidneys, lumbar spine, and loins?
Libra marks the renal and lumbar transition between abdomen and pelvis. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan kidneys, second decan lumbar vertebrae, and third decan loins and upper hips; the single midline point is a display compression of bilateral and posterior correspondences.
What is ♏ Scorpio — genitals, bladder, and rectum?
Scorpio occupies the pelvic and generative interval in the classical sequence. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan genitals, second decan bladder, and third decan rectum and anus; the point is symbolic and does not identify a diagnostic or therapeutic site.
What is ♐ Sagittarius — hips, thighs, and femurs?
Sagittarius carries the descent from the pelvis into the proximal lower limbs. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan hips, second decan thighs, and third decan femurs; the point sits at the editorial midpoint of this large bilateral region.
What is ♑ Capricorn — knees, patellae, and knee joints?
Capricorn is the knee interval in the traditional sign/body chain. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan knees, second decan patellae, and third decan knee joints and tendons; these names refine the canonical Capricorn knee region without implying modern anatomy as a causal model.
What is ♒ Aquarius — shins, calves, and ankles?
Aquarius marks the distal leg before the feet. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan shins and tibiae, second decan calves, and third decan ankles; the point is placed between knee and foot as a midpoint of the three decanic segments.
What is ♓ Pisces — heels, soles, and toes?
Pisces closes the head-to-feet decanic body sequence. Its three recorded sub-rulerships are first decan heels, second decan soles, and third decan toes; the anchor marks the feet as a symbolic terminal region rather than an anatomical treatment point.