ARIES III 20° - 29°59: A Visual Representation

By Olivia "Bonni" Heart

Apr 15, 2024

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Periodically, the Astrologers Co-Op will feature art from Olivia “Bonni” Heart, a professional game developer and illustrator. Featured below is her first installment, created for Aries III. We hope you enjoy!

As part of this project I’ve created a piece for Aries III, the Venusian decan in the last 10 degrees of Aries.

Image depicts a man holding a small wooden staff, sitting on a throne with skulls and roses. In the foreground there is a ram to the right with roses on its head. To the left is a bush. The background depicts four standing goblets ablaze.

I’m largely using Agrippa’s (Purdue, 2021) writings as basis for my work, which describe this face as “A pale man, dressed in red, wearing a golden bracelet and holding a staff. He is restless and angry, because he cannot perform the good he wishes.“

Image is of an open book with the page largely blurred except for one paragraph which reads, “In the third face rises the figure of a white man, plan, red hair, and dressed in red, with one hand wearing a gold bracelet and holding forth a staff. His likeness is as if [he is] restless and angry, because he cannot perform the good he wishes. This image confers talent, tameness, joy, and beauty.”

This image can be found in the Rider Waite Smith tarot card »The Emperor«, the 4th card of the major arcana. Mars, ruler of Aries together with Venus »The Empress« and ruler of this decan can be found in the 4 of Wands, the card assigned to this decan. A wild yet brief celebration!

Image depicts three tarot cards, from left: The Empress, the four of Wands, and the Emperor

Additional sources were 36 Faces (Coppock, 2014), 36 Secrets (Chang, 2020) & The Decans of Albumasar (Abu Ma'shar, 2018) in which he describes a similar image: “In the third face of Aries there arises a young man called Fecius, sitting on pillows in a throne, and he is two-faced.” Alongside a description of the neighbouring star constellations.

The two-facedness speaking again of someone in discomfort of being in a foreign environment, may it be Venus having to adapt to Mars’ hot and choleric nature, or Mars having to humour Venus, who is bringing the adornments and festivities with her (the golden bracelet).

About the Author

Olivia “Bonni” Heart (she/her) is a professional game developer and illustrator. She’s a practitioner and student of Hellenistic and medieval astrology which has greatly influenced her creative work. She has a special love for the decans and is currently working on a video game that follows the decanic journey.
Bonni is open for commissions.
Website: https://www.oliviaheart.co.uk/illustration/
Twitter / X: BirdsOnNeptune

References

Abu Ma’shar, A.-B. 2018. The Decans of Albumasar: The images of stars rising with the 36 facies. Create Space, Independent Publishing Platform.

Chang, T.S. 2021. 36 Secrets: A decanic journey through the minor arcana of the tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, A. 2014. 36 Faces: The history, astrology and magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

Cornelius, A. von N.H. and Purdue, E. 2021. Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.

The Astrologers' Co-Op: Journey through the Decans

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