Now to talk about one of my favorite astro topics: fixed stars.

Fixed stars are experiencing a resurgence of interest in the astrology community... but they used to be treated with utter respect and high agency by astrologers of yore.

Let us dive into why.

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Demetra George says in Ancient Astrology Volume 1, "The ancient philosophers envisioned a geocentric cosmos where the earth formed the center of an ordered system surrounded by seven wandering planets & a multitude of stars."

Plato envisioned there was an order to divinity.

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The outside sphere, where everything emerged from, was called various names such as The One, or Unity. Next were the fixed stars, who *lent their image to the zodiac*. This is important.

Then there was the zodiac, then the planets, the daimones, the elements, & earth.

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Why were the fixed stars considered higher divinity? Because they did not have apparent motion in the sky (they move verrrry slowly, about 1 degree of arc every 72 years). Quoting Demetra again (next tweet!)...

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"Because they were seen to move across the night sky with perfectly regular & circular motion - a prime feature of divinity - they were believed to be closer to the source of unity."

What about the fixed stars "lending" their images to the zodiac? (next tweet)

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Prior to the Greeks, the Egyptians had used the fixed stars to create what we call the Decans--a calendar divided into 36 "faces," each assigned to a deity. BUT the reason there are so many different lists for the decans, is bc the Egyptians ran into the precession problem.

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We often forget that the Egyptian empire existed for a few thousand years, prior to the Greeks. Every 72 years, the fixed stars moved position by 1 degree. So the Egyptian calendar would have to shift with those changes. Bc of that, over time there were several decan lists.

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So what about images? Magic and sorcery really developed into sophisticated systems by the time the Egyptian empire emerged. And the idea of "faces" and "images" was considered a powerful part of that. When Plato states the fixed stars "lent their image to the zodiac"...

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He's alluding to the idea that the zodiac became talismans of power, imbued by the divinity of the fixed stars and then bestowed as gifted domiciles to the more erratic, less divine planets.

This also means YOU, dear reader, are a living talismanic agent. How cool is that?

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Fixed stars feature in Ptolemy's writings--an entire book about the star phases and their importance in a chart. Valens extensively talks about the fixed stars (especially apparent when he describes the zodiac). William Lily used at least 50 stars in his horary readings...

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Fixed stars have phases (technically called paranatellontato, aka parans), which were tracked extensively by the Babylonians, Egyptians, & Hellenistic Greeks. This is a visual method of measuring that had to do with the apparent rise, culmination, and setting of the stars.

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Taking an example directly from Brady, "A star is rising as Mars is setting below the western horizon. They are both on the line of the horizon at the same time, and this places them in a paran relationship." (see image!)

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Anonymous 379, a Greek astrologer, gives us a blueprint for interpreting the combination of planets and stars. He blends the nature of the planet and the star itself, showing how stars can often bend the abilities and focus of a planet within a chart.

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Adding in the phase of the star, gives us more nuanced delineations.

First, the basic twitterized short philosophy behind this.

Essentially, when a fixed star disappeared due to the sun moving into the same part of the sky, it was considered to have gone to the underworld.

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When it re-emerged, it was considered a resurrected deity. This is the Heliacal Rising fixed star phase. And, until one fixed star returned from the underworld, the star that had heliacally rose before it was said to govern that time period.

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To quote Brady again, "The heliacal rising star is a link, a psychopomp, between you and the 'other place'; the divine or the enchanted... It is focused into the realm of one's soul, one's spiritual pathway. It seems to pull you or steer you through your life."

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The Heliacal Setting Star is a star that is normally seen to rise or set during the night, that becomes visible for the entirety of the night (and therefore does not "touch" earth). This is due to the Sun's movement around the ecliptic.

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When it does not touch the earth at any point during the night, the star is seen to be in the realm of the immortals. To quote Brady again, "At the time of your birth, this star is the 'divine being' which has most recently returned to earth & is offering you a gift."

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Heliacal Rising stars are considered something that shows up in the first part of life.

Culminating stars are considered something that shows in the mid part of life.

Heliacal Setting stars are considered something that shows up in the later part of life.

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BUT, its worth noting that not everyone uses parans. Many just use conjunctions, oppositions, and squares with the planets. The orb is very tight, usually based on the apparent magnitude of the star (how bright it is). That orb is usually 1-2.5 degrees... except...

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The Persian Royal Stars, Regulus, Fomalhaut, Aldebaran, Antares, plus the stars Sirius and Spica, and the "most malevolent star in the sky," Algol, are usually given larger orbs. This is due to their history of being incredibly impactful in both a mundane and personal sense.

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There is a lot more to fixed stars than I can fit into a single thread! I highly advise Bernadette Brady's books on the fixed stars, as I appreciate her more grounded and spiritual approach to delineations. I also recommend looking at star lore from around the world!

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I've used both the parans & the conjunction method & I have found they both work. The conjunction method is used in astrological magic today, to great effectiveness!

I'll talk more about Behenian Stars paired with planets, as my schedule allows. Hope you guys enjoyed!

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If you're interested in getting a Parans-based fixed star reading, where we talk about how to work with the prominent stars in your chart, I now offer a 1 hour recorded Zoom reading for $75 USD https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=18652937&appointmentType=15970284