Fixed stars
Fixed stars are the stars proper, unlike the planets, which in Greek were the “wandering stars”: when a point of the chart falls on one of them, tradition lends it that star's brilliance or its edge.
The planets are seven and they move. The stars, by contrast, keep their positions relative to one another — which is why tradition calls them fixed. They are not entirely so: through the precession of the equinoxes they advance close to one degree every 72 years, so their zodiacal position depends on the era. The ones listed here are calculated for around the year 2020.
They are used with a very tight orb, one or two degrees: they only count when a planet, the Ascendant or the Midheaven falls practically on top. Each star also has an assigned planetary nature —Algol belongs to Saturn and Jupiter, Spica to Venus and Mars— that describes how it acts.
Algol
The star with the worst reputation in the sky: the severed head of Medusa. Extreme intensity, danger, and also the courage to look at what nobody wants to look at.
Algol is an eclipsing binary: every 2 days and 21 hours its brightness drops to a third for a few hours, because a companion star passes in front of it. To the naked eye it seems to blink, and the ancients noticed it long before they knew why.
Its name comes from the Arabic ra's al-ghūl, “the head of the demon”. In the Greek tradition it is the severed head of Medusa held by Perseus. Almost every culture that recorded it gave it a sinister name — a rare case of cross-cultural agreement.
Aldebaran
One of the four royal stars of Persia, guardian of the east. Honour through integrity: it grants success as long as you don't betray yourself.
Aldebaran is one of the four royal stars of Persia, the guardians of the four points of the year around 3000 BC: Aldebaran the east, Regulus the north, Antares the west and Fomalhaut the south.
Its name comes from the Arabic al-dabarān, “the follower”, because it trails behind the Pleiades on their way across the sky. Tradition credits it with success and honours under an explicit moral condition: they hold as long as you don't betray yourself.
Sirius
The brightest star in the sky. The Egyptians ordered their year by its rising. Fame, ardour, the sacred that burns if handled carelessly.
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, and by a wide margin. It sits barely 8.6 light years away — it is one of our neighbours.
The Egyptians ordered their calendar by it: its heliacal rising —the first appearance at dawn after weeks out of sight— announced the flooding of the Nile and opened the year. Few stars ever had so concrete a civic role.
Regulus
The heart of the lion, royal star of the north. Success and royalty — with an ancient condition: whoever takes revenge falls. It entered Virgo in 2011, after two thousand years in Leo.
Regulus is the heart of the lion and the royal star of the north. Its Latin name means “little king” — Copernicus gave it, translating older names that already tied it to royalty.
It carries the fact that makes it the best example of precession: through the slow drift of the tropical zodiac, Regulus entered Virgo in 2011 after some two thousand years in Leo. Fixed stars advance close to 1° every 72 years, so their zodiacal position depends on the era.
The ancient condition attached to it is specific: it grants success and elevation, but whoever takes revenge falls.
Spica
The goddess's ear of wheat: the pure gift. One of the few stars tradition considers only benefic — talent, protection, harvest.
Spica is the ear of wheat held by the goddess in the constellation of Virgo — hence its Latin name. It is one of the few stars tradition considers purely benefic, with no counterpart and no warning attached.
It is credited with talent, protection and harvest: the gift you receive without having asked for it. It was also the star with which Hipparchus discovered the precession of the equinoxes in the 2nd century BC, by comparing its position against earlier records.
Antares
The heart of the scorpion, rival of Mars (anti-Ares), guardian of the west. Martial intensity: the glory and the risk of burning up in it.
Antares is a red supergiant so large that, placed where the Sun is, its surface would reach beyond the orbit of Mars. Its reddish colour is visible to the naked eye.
Its name means “anti-Ares”: the rival of Mars, because it shares its colour and its nature. It is the royal star of the west, and tradition credits it with martial intensity — the glory and the risk of burning up in it.
Vega
The lyre of Orpheus: charm, art, the voice that tames. Luck through grace — with a streak of idealism that can turn fleeting.
Vega is the lyre of Orpheus, the instrument that tamed wild beasts. It is credited with charm, art and luck through grace, with a streak of idealism that can turn fleeting.
A surprising fact: through the precession of the Earth's axis, Vega was the pole star around 12,000 BC and will be again around the year 13,700. Polaris does not hold the post permanently.
Fomalhaut
The mouth of the fish that drinks the water of the sky, guardian of the south. Large ideals: it lifts when the dream is noble, dissolves it when it is smoke.
Fomalhaut is the fourth royal star of Persia, guardian of the south. Its name comes from the Arabic fam al-ḥūt, “the mouth of the fish” — the Southern Fish that drinks the water poured by Aquarius.
Tradition credits it with large ideals under a conditional edge: it lifts when the dream is noble and dissolves it when it is smoke. It is the most ambivalent of the four royal stars.
Frequently asked questions
What are fixed stars in astrology?
They are the stars proper, unlike the planets, which in Greek were the “wandering stars”. They are called fixed because they keep their positions relative to one another, though in fact they shift close to one degree every 72 years through the precession of the equinoxes.
How are fixed stars used in the birth chart?
You check whether any point of the chart —a planet, the Ascendant or the Midheaven— falls on the longitude of a star within a very tight orb of one or two degrees. When that happens, tradition lends that point the character of the star.
Which are the four royal stars of Persia?
Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares and Fomalhaut. Around 3000 BC they roughly marked the four cardinal points of the year —equinoxes and solstices— and for that reason they were called the guardians of the sky.
Why does the sign of a fixed star change?
Because of the precession of the equinoxes: the tropical zodiac is measured from the vernal point, which drifts slowly. The stars advance close to one degree every 72 years, so Regulus, for instance, entered Virgo in 2011 after two millennia in Leo.