Today's astrologers make little use of fixed stars - my guess is that this is a result of astrologers no longer actually viewing the heavens, as they did in ancient times, and the difficulty of incorporating fixed stars into astrological calculations and interpretations. This may be a loss, as in ancient times the idea of astrology without the calculation and interpretation of fixed stars would have been unthinkable. Food for thought. -- DJMc.
Like many precious gems of varied hue, the constellations differ in brightness. The beautiful constellation of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters were believed by ancient astrologers to shed their happy influences on earth and were closely associated with human destinies in ancient times. In every region of the globe benign astrological influences were ascribed to these stars. They were known in Greek mythology as the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. According to tradition, they were supposed to have died from grief in consequence of the death of their sisters the Hyades, or on account of the fate of their father who, for treason, was condemned by Zeus to bear on his head and hands the vault of heaven, on the mountains of northwest Africa which perpetuate his name.
All ancient writers agree that, after their death or translation, the seven daughters were transformed into the stars named Alcyone, Electra, Maia, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta and Celaeno. They are referred to in the Book of Job (ch 38: 31-32), when God speaks out of the whirlwind and asks the patriarch: "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?"
The Greeks were attracted by this group of stars at a very early period. Their heliacal rising was considered a favorable time for setting out on a voyage and their midnight culmination, which occurs shortly after the middle of November, was celebrated in some countries with festivals.
Mazzaroth, alluded to in the Book of Job, is believed by some astronomers to refer to Sirius, a star which outshines every other in the firmament. Its surpassing brilliancy as compared with other stars has ever rendered it a matter of fascinating interest. The ancient Egyptians worshiped it as Sothis, and believed it to be the abode of the soul of Isis.
The races who inhabited the regions of the Nile began their year with the rising of Sirius, and its appearance was regarded as a forerunner of the rising of the river with its fertilizing flood, which was attributed to the influence of this brilliant and lustrous star.
Perhaps for local reasons, it was regarded by the Romans as a star of evil omen. Its appearance above the horizon after the summer solstice was believed by them to be associated with pestilence and fevers, consequent upon the oppressive heat of the season.
The "dog days of summer" (Sirius being known as the "dog star") were reckoned to begin twenty days before and to continue twenty days after the heliacal rising of Sirius. During that period a particular influence was believed to be diffused which caused diseases in men and madness among dogs. Certain drugs and medicines were supposed to have deleterious effects if administered during this period, a belief which persisted down to the end of the seventeenth century.
Homer thus alludes to the star:
"Whose burning breath
Taints the red air with fevers, plagues and death."
Sirius is said to emit seventy times the quantity of light and to be three times more massive than our Sun, and at the distance of this star, fifty billion miles, our Sun would shrink to the dimension of a star of the third magnitude.
Another of the remarkable and variable stars is Mira, 'the wonderful,' in the constellation of Cetus, which was first observed by David Fabricius in the sixteenth century. When at its maximum brilliancy it shines for two or three weeks as a star of the second magnitude. It then begins gradually to wane and at the end of three months becomes invisible. It thus remains for five months, and during the three months ensuing, regains by degrees its former brilliancy.
Algol, the demon in the constellation of Perseus which adorned the head of Medusa, is one of the variable stars with a sinister reputation, and astrologers ascribed to it many evil influences. For about two days and thirteen hours it is visible as a star of the second magnitude but then begins to decline, and in about four hours sinks to the dimensions of a fourth magnitude star, and remains in this condition for twenty minutes. It then increases gradually, until after four hours it regains its former brilliancy which it retains for two days and thirteen hours, and then goes again through the same cycle of changes.
The colors emitted by various stars may be compared to those of precious stones. Some, like Sirius, have been compared to the sparkle and flash of the diamond of yellow, blue, and red; others, such as Antares, have a ruddy hue similar to the ruby, while the topaz, emerald, aquamarine, and sapphire may all be said to be represented in the galaxy of the heavens.
The romance of the stars was interwoven with mythology and so became associated with the art of foretelling the future and other branches of astrology.
Original text by C J S Thompson, edited and revised © 2004-2006.
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