Aries II
Sun Decan · 10°–20° · Lord of Established Strength
"In the second face of Aries rises a woman clothed in red and green, crowned, ornamented, and of beautiful aspect — this is a face of nobility, leadership, and the glory that comes after conquest."Picatrix — Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, Book II (c. 1000 CE)
The Second Face
The 3 of Wands — Lord of Established Strength
The title distinguishes this decan from its predecessor with surgical precision. Aries I was Dominion — the claim of authority. Aries II is Established Strength — dominion that has been tested and confirmed. The lord has not merely declared command; the command has held. The three wands are planted, and they stand.
The Sun rules this decan, and 19° Aries is the Sun's exaltation — the degree where traditional astrology places the Sun at its greatest power in the zodiac. The Sun in exaltation in Aries is the king at the height of his authority: not the first assertion of will (that was Mars), but the radiant center of an established order that has proven its strength. Solar light has triumphed over the darkness of winter; the kingdom is real.
In the Waite-Smith image, the figure stands on a height looking out over the sea — ships in the distance, suggesting commerce, far vision, the confidence to send out one's forces and await their return. This is the Sun: the center that radiates outward, that can afford to wait because its authority is not in doubt. Crowley renders it as three fire-wands blazing outward from a central point — solar radiation as the archetype of strength.
The Sun's Exaltation — Greatest Power in the Zodiac
Every planet has a sign where it is exalted — a sign where traditional astrologers understood its qualities to manifest at their highest and most benefic. For the Sun, that sign is Aries, and the specific degree is 19° Aries — which falls within this second decan. The exaltation is distinguished from domicile (the sign the planet rules): domicile is the planet's home, where it operates naturally. Exaltation is the degree of honor — the place where the planet's highest qualities shine most brightly.
The Sun in Aries is the Sun at its most triumphant. The vernal equinox marks the moment when the Sun's light overcomes the night — day and night equal, but from the equinox onward the light gains. By 19° Aries, the light has not merely equaled the darkness; it has decisively overcome it. The Sun is rising in power, climbing toward its summer peak, blazing in the fire sign that is its most natural ally.
Marsilio Ficino placed particular emphasis on the Sun in Aries as the time of maximum solar influx available for magical work. A talisman made at 19° Aries (the exaltation degree), under the Sun, with solar materials — gold, amber, saffron, the image of the king at noon — would be charged with the most potent solar virtue accessible in the annual cycle. This is the solar power that Picatrix invokes and that Renaissance natural magic sought to capture.
Picatrix — The Talismanic Image
"The second face of Aries. In it rises a woman clothed in red and green, crowned with white cloth and adorned with gems. She is of beautiful aspect. This face signifies nobility, highness, and dominion; rulership and leadership among the people; glory and greatness."Picatrix, Book II, Chapter 11 — trans. John Michael Greer & Christopher Warnock
Sun in the House of Mars — Light Through the Forge
The Sun ruling the second decan of Aries creates a composite quality: solar consciousness channeled through Martian territory. Aries is Mars's sign — the terrain of the warrior. But the Sun's light illuminates that terrain rather than merely charging through it. Where Mars in Aries (Aries I) is force without reflection, the Sun in Aries is force that has achieved self-knowledge — the king who understands that his kingdom exists to serve a larger light.
In Kabbalistic terms, the Sun corresponds to Tiphareth — the sixth sephirah, the sphere of beauty, harmony, and the sacrificed god who connects heaven and earth. Mars corresponds to Geburah, one sephirah above on the Pillar of Severity. When solar Tiphareth operates within Martial Aries, the Kabbalistic reading is of beauty manifest through strength — the king whose authority arises not from fear (Geburah alone) but from the recognition of his central, solar nature.
Mythologically, this is the hero who has won the battle. Where Aries I is the warrior charging, Aries II is the warrior crowned. The solar light in Mars's sign produces heroes, leaders, and those who establish lasting authority through demonstrated courage rather than inherited power. Achilles, Alexander, any figure whose authority radiates from their own inner solar center rather than from position alone.