The 36 Flames

The 36 Flames — An Interactive Journey Through the Decans

Today I want to share something that lives at the meeting point of astrology, symbolism, and imagination: the decans.

Many people know the twelve zodiac signs, but astrology also contains a more detailed layer. Each sign is divided into three smaller sections of ten degrees, known as *decans*. Across the full zodiac, that gives us thirty-six distinct energies , thirty-six subtle variations within the familiar signs.

My deck, ‘The 36 Flames’, is inspired by these thirty-six decans.

I think of them as flames because a flame is never static. It moves, shifts, brightens, softens, and transforms. Each flame has its own character. Some flare up quickly and brilliantly. Some burn with a steady glow. Some consume and change everything they touch. The decans feel much the same to me. They bring texture, nuance, and variety to astrology, expanding the zodiac from twelve broad archetypes into thirty-six living expressions of experience.

But rather than approaching the decans as something purely theoretical, I like to explore them through image, intuition, and participation. The aim is not to memorise meanings. It is to notice what symbols awaken in us, and what they reveal.

 The Flame That Calls You

One of the simplest ways to begin is to lay out several cards from The 36 Flames face up and just look.

Not analytically. Not with the pressure to “get it right.” Just look.

Usually, one card begins to stand out. Your eyes keep returning to it. Something in the image catches you, a colour, a shape, a movement, a symbol, or simply a feeling you cannot quite explain.

That moment is worth paying attention to.

The image that calls to us often mirrors something already alive in our lives. It may reflect a question we are carrying, an energy we are developing, or an experience that is asking for attention. In that sense, symbolic cards do not tell us what to think. They help us recognise what we are already noticing, often below the surface.

That is one of the quiet powers of working with a symbolic deck: it becomes a conversation between the image and the inner life.

 Igniting a Flame

Another beautiful way to work with the deck is through a single drawn card.

A volunteer shuffles the deck, draws one card, and places it where everyone can see. Before naming the decan or discussing its astrological associations, the first step is simply to sit with the image.

What kind of energy does it carry?

Does it feel calm or intense? Focused or expansive? Like a beginning, a challenge, a revelation, or a turning point?

When people respond freely, certain words often emerge: determination, courage, transformation, curiosity, tension, balance, endurance. What is striking is how often these intuitive responses closely echo the traditional meanings associated with the decan itself — even among people who have never studied astrology.

That resonance says something profound about symbolism. Images speak in their own language. We recognise more than we often realise.

 Weaving the Flames

Life rarely unfolds as a single moment. It moves in phases, through openings and obstacles, decisions and changes. That is where a three-card sequence can become especially powerful.

Imagine drawing three cards and reading them as a progression.

The first flame is the spark — the beginning of something.

The second flame is the movement — the challenge, effort, or development.

The third flame is the transformation — what the energy becomes through the process.

Placed together, the cards begin to form a narrative. One may suggest inspiration, another tension or labour, and the third clarity, completion, or renewal.

What matters is not arriving at one fixed interpretation. Different people will see different stories, and that is part of the richness. Symbols become most alive when they interact. One image beside another begins to create rhythm, contrast, and meaning. A story emerges.

That sense of weaving is central to The 36 Flames. Each card holds its own energy, but in relationship with others it becomes part of a larger pattern.

 Why the Decans Matter

The decans offer a more nuanced way of understanding the zodiac. They remind us that no sign is only one thing. Every sign contains shifts in tone, emphasis, and expression. Through the decans, astrology becomes less like a fixed system of labels and more like a spectrum of living forces.

Working with the decans through a visual deck opens another dimension entirely. It invites us to approach astrology not only through knowledge, but through direct encounter — through colour, symbol, mood, and story.

This is where imagination becomes a form of insight.

A single image can bring something into focus before the rational mind has found words for it. A sequence of images can reveal a process unfolding in our lives. And sometimes the card that draws us most strongly is the one carrying exactly the energy we are meeting, resisting, or ready to grow into.

A Final Reflection

Fire has long been a symbol of transformation. It brings light into darkness, warmth into cold, and movement into stillness. The decans feel like thirty-six sparks within the zodiac cycle, thirty-six ways life expresses its force, character, and change.

When we work with *The 36 Flames*, we are not only learning astrological correspondences. We are learning to notice patterns, to listen to symbols, and to recognise the stories emerging within and around us.

Sometimes one image is enough to illuminate something we had not yet seen.

So if you find yourself drawn to this deck, take a moment to explore it. Look through the cards. Draw a flame for yourself. Notice which one calls to you.

Because sometimes the flame that catches your attention is the one already burning somewhere in your life.