Darrelyn Gunzburg
May 2006
The Royal Stars of Persia. The name alone evokes exotic perfumes, spices of the sun, flames of gold, and silk and wool carpets whose sequences of knots tell stories of trees and flowers, birds and clouds.
However, as we have noted before, the Royal Stars of Persia refer to four particular stars – Antares, Aldebaran, Regulus and Fomalhaut – each one guarding one of the four compass points of the heavens. All four Royal Stars are connected with the supreme Persian deity Ahura Mazda, (shown left) father of Spenta Mainyu, beneficent spirit, and Angra Mainyu, the destructor. Each star promises glory, achievement and success but each star only gives this glory if the dark destructor can be avoided.
Thus to have your chart connected in some way with a Royal Star means that there will always be this duality between light and destruction interwoven into your earthly journey. Great glory is promised to you but only if you can overcome the nemesis which can destroy. In recent issues we considered Antares and Regulus. In this issue of the VAN I am focusing on Aldebaran, the Watcher of the East.
Aldebaran as the natal Heliacal Rising Star
Aldebaran is a bright red star in the sky in the southern eye of the constellation Taurus, The Bull, the great cornerstone marking the spring equinox. Aldebaran was seen as the god Mithra, or Ahura Mazda, the slayer of the Cosmic Bull, a great military god who gave victories to his followers but only if they followed the strictest procedure in his worship. As well, Mithra was a warrior king who also held the title ‘lord of contracts’. He considered all exchanges were sacred and in overseeing the business of his followers, insisted on their honesty and purity or else they would be condemned to an ordeal of fire. From these ancient beliefs and customs we can extrapolate a more current and present-day meaning regarding success, for Aldebaran, in keeping with all the Royal Stars, promises the attainment of one’s goals but only, in this case, by maintaining moral integrity. Any compromise on this level and all that has been achieved can be rapidly lost, and possibly in some way involving fire.(1)
I used Starlight to scan my files for charts that contained Aldebaran as the heliacal rising star (see August, 2005 issue of this newsletter for more information concerning the heliacal rising star) and found the following examples:
| Anne Frank, diarist who lived and died in the Holocaust. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement in the Church of England. Harriet Beecher Stowe, American writer and philanthropist. Alois Alzheimer, professor of psychiatry and neurology. Paul McCartney, Beatle. Tom Stoppard, playwright. | Frank Lloyd Wright, architect and writer. Dorothy Sayers, detective novelist. Virginia Apgar, anaesthesiologist and developer of the Apgar Score to evaluate newborns. Alan Turing, Enigma code-breaker. John Nash, mathematician and 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Science for his work on game theory. |
The heliacal rising star is the star that has been walking the path of the underworld and has now emerged to be visible in the world of humans bearing gifts from the land of the person’s past, their family or their genetics. This gift or treasure is handed to the person at birth. The heliacal rising star is a theme in the person’s life. It helps build the person’s philosophies and can, at times, take on a vocational pulse. To have Aldebaran as one’s heliacal rising star indicates that you are born with strong principals and ethics and feel deeply and intensely about certain issues in life and how they can be achieved. You will be challenged to maintain your principals in the face of compromise, and as long as you can maintain your focus, success is yours. We get a glimpse of how these principals have been articulated in the examples of the people above.
Aldebaran in paran with a planet
Ialso used Starlight to search for people who had Aldebaran in paran with a planet or luminary found the following people:
[For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, parans are the original way that astrologers used to work with stars and it allows the star to maintain its relationships within the sky. We do not work with stars projected onto the ecliptic via the north and south pole as we do not feel that this is respectful of the ancient sky. with a planet or luminary.]
| Aldebaran with the Sun: [from Starlight] “Maintaining honour and integrity at all costs.” |
| Abraham Lincoln, US President 1861-65. Martin Luther, precipitator of the Protestant Reformation. Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia. | Here we see three expressions of the integrity of Aldebaran linked with personal identity (the Sun). |
Aldebaran with the Moon:
[from Starlight]
“Physically gifted, or a lover of nature.”
| Michelangelo Buonarroti, painter, sculptor, poet and architect. John Tyndall, British physicist who demonstrated why the sky is blue. Grandma Moses, folk painter. | Here we see three expressions of the integrity of Aldebaran seeking to respect and honour nature in their work (the Moon). |
Aldebaran with Mercury:
[from Starlight]
“The noble thinker, the person with integrity, a naturalist.
| Bram Stoker, author of the popular horror tale Dracula. James Van Allen, American physicist whose research gave new understanding of the effects of cosmic radiation. Thomas Hardy, English novelist who drew upon real life to question Victorian morality. | Here we see three expressions of the frankness and honesty of Aldebaran seeking to find truths through their writing or research (Mercury). |
| Aldebaran with Venus: [from Starlight] “The social commentator, or creative person who is accepted by society.” |
Auguste Rodin, sculptor Charles Haskell Revson, pioneering cosmetics industry executive who created Revlon Cosmetics George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company (1884) and inventor of the Kodak camera. | Here we see three expressions of the desire to influence our world visually (Venus) through the arts, the cosmetic industry and the development of the camera and for these people’s work to have a lasting impact (Aldebaran). |
Aldebaran with Mars:
[from Starlight]
“The successful craftsperson; to gain success through decisive action.”
| Elizabeth I of England, monarch Neil Armstrong, astronaut and first man to walk on the Moon. Galileo Galilei, mathematician and astronomer. | All three of these people show us action (Mars) based on deep integrity (Aldebaran). |
Aldebaran with Jupiter:
[from Starlight]
“Success in large and noble projects.”
| Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of radio telegraphy. Percival Lowell, astronomer who predicted the existence of the planet Pluto. John Kay, inventor of the flying shuttle which helped automate the process of weaving wool, giving us the clothing industry. | All three of these people show us how their broad-based visions (Jupiter) lead to success in large projects (Aldebaran). |
Aldebaran with Saturn:
[from Starlight]
“To be politically aware, to make comment.”
| Charles Darwin, naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution and natural selection. George Armstrong Custer, military officer who led his men to death in one of the most controversial battles in the history of the USA. Thomas Edward Lawrence, scholar and military strategist better known as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. | All three of these people show us how their belief in an idea or a concept (Aldebaran) has lead to huge changes in our social fabric (Saturn). In the case of General Custer we see the darker side of Aldebaran, the results of an integrity compromised. |
This general look at Aldebaran, either as the heliacal rising star or in connection with a planet / luminary in the charts of the well-known, gives us an indication of the nature of this Royal Star, the Watcher of the East, that promises glory through integrity.
If you have Aldebaran rising with one of your planets or culminating or setting, or even reaching the nadir of your chart while one of your natal planets was also on an angle, then it can give you glory, the glory metaphorically symbolized by exotic perfumes, spices of the sun, flames of gold, and knotted silk carpets. However, your challenge will be to maintain your integrity in the face of compromise.
[1] Brady, Bernadette. (1999). Brady’s Book of Fixed Stars, Samuel Weiser Inc: York Beach, Maine.
