astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

, a dwadasamsa, which is also called a dwad, duad or dwadachamsha, is 1/12 of a zodiacal sign. The dwadasamsa was developed by

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

astrologers who broke the 30 degree sign down into 12 equal parts of 2.5 degrees each. It is based upon the principle of ''the part being a reflection of the whole'', and 12 signs of the zodiac were placed within the confines of one sign. It is believed that these ''signs within a sign'', by virtue of their planetary rulers, account for subtle shadings of expression found in different degrees of that sign. Therefore, in addition to the sign having a primary planetary ruler, it would also have a sub-ruler, based upon which dwadasamsa it is placed in. For example, if an individual's Sun is placed in 10 degrees 51 minutes

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

then their Sun sign would be ruled by

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather ...

, but the dwad, being in the range of 10 to 12.5 degrees would be placed within Gemini (the 5th dwad), so the individual's sub-ruler would be Mercury, which rules Gemini. A listing of the dwads for each sign is found in the diagram below:

Decanates & Duads

Here, we see two ways of dividing the astrological signs combined, first the ten degrees decans, then the 2.5 degree duads:

References

Technical factors of Hindu astrology Technical factors of Western astrology {{astrology-stub