Degrees of the zodiac
3° Sagittarius
Sagittarius at 3° — 1st decan, bound of Jupiter.
- Degree
- 3° of Sagittarius (the 4th degree of the sign)
- Decan
- 1st decan, 0°–9°59′
- Decan ruler (Chaldean)
- Mercury
- Decan sign (triplicity)
- Sagittarius
- Egyptian bound
- Jupiter
- Degree-theory sign
- Cancer
- Status
- An ordinary degree, read through its decan and bound
Every sign is thirty degrees wide, and a placement's exact degree changes how the sign reads. A planet at 3° Sagittarius is not simply "in Sagittarius" — it sits in a particular decan, inside a particular bound, at a early point of the sign. An early degree of a sign is the sign at its rawest — the quality arriving, not yet tempered by the ones it has passed through.
The decan: Mercury's ten degrees
Degrees 0 to 9 of Sagittarius form the 1st decan. In the Chaldean order this decan is ruled by Mercury, which adds thought, speech and the handling of detail to everything Sagittarius already does.
By the triplicity system the same ten degrees belong to Sagittarius, the same sign again — so this decan is the sign at its most concentrated. Read together: Sagittarius's i see, delivered with Mercury's thought.
The bound: Jupiter's degrees
The Egyptian bounds divide each sign into five unequal stretches, each governed by one of the classical planets. 3° falls in Jupiter's bound. In traditional practice the bound ruler is a quieter but real influence — it describes the working conditions a planet meets at this exact degree, and it is one of the reasons two planets in the same sign can behave so differently.
Degree theory: the Cancer degree
Modern degree theory runs the twelve signs through the thirty degrees, so every degree carries a second sign's flavour. 3° is a Cancer degree — cardinal water: feeling that initiates. In Sagittarius, that reads as Sagittarius's i see coloured by Cancer's i feel: two different instincts sharing one degree — expansively, honestly, with an eye on the horizon, but with Cancer's instinct underneath.
Degree theory is a modern layer rather than a traditional one, and astrologers differ on how much weight to give it. It is most convincing when a chart has several planets on the same degree number.
A planet at 3° Sagittarius
What this degree does depends entirely on which body is sitting on it. The Sun at 3° Sagittarius is an identity; the Moon at 3° Sagittarius is a need; Mars there is a way of fighting. Start with the body, then add the degree:
Your birth chart report gives every placement to the exact degree and minute, so you can look yours up here.