Stories from the Stars

Personal Star Map

The upper part of the image shows the eastern hemisphere of the sky, as seen at the time and location of your birth. It is centered on the east point (E).

The lower part of the image shows the western hemisphere of the sky, as seen at the time and location of your birth. It is centered on the west point (W).

The highlighted stars play a key role in this astrological reading. The red ones appear in chapter II, the blue ones in chapter III and the green ones in chapter IV.

The bright halves of the diagrams show the sky above the horizon; the dark halves show the sky below the horizon.

The horizon is indicated by horizontal lines, the boundary circles themselves represent the meridian. The planets (drawn red) move along the band of the zodiac. Dashed lines indicate the celestial equator and circumpolar circles.

CHAPTER I

Welcome to your stars

The vault of the heavens is an awe-inspiring lace-work of stars. The starry sky, however, is more than just beautiful, it also carries wisdom contained within stories. These stories were placed onto the stars over thousands of years by our ancestors who slowly linked their risings and appearances to human spiritual beliefs and earthly struggles and joys. Amongst the vast array of stories held in the sky, a handful affect you personally. Think of these stories from the stars as the spark which is you before it engages in the journey of your horoscope. The method used that connects the stars to your horoscope is based on the turning of the earth and is called parans, explained below. By working with stars in this way, you can uncover your inner spark, your star-stuff. This spark is an essence of you that is beyond the luminaries and planets on the ecliptic. It comes from the very starry vault of the heavens itself.

"Stories from the Stars" gives you information that allows you to understand these stars in your life, your actions, your choices and your attitudes. For by understanding the role of your stars, you can begin to work with them to encourage their best expression. Think of this as walking with your stars, an endeavour that helps you to connect with the living cosmos and gain a deeper understanding of your life.

This report explores these stories. It contains three sections - the stars that add to your character, the stars that shape your vocation, and the star stories in which you live. Although written as separate chapters, they are interlinked, all of them considering different facets of how the stars engage with you.

About Parans

Parans are the ancient way of working with the stars based on observation. As the earth rotates on its axis it divides the 24 hours of the day into four quarters. These four quarters are, in fact, the "turning points" in the sky where the sun will rise, culminate, set, and then move to the lower culmination point at local midnight. These four turning points, however, apply to all the objects in the sky. The planets also rise, culminate, set, and move over the lower culmination point and so too do the stars. The stars, however, are not tied to the ecliptic and thus their cyclic movement does not follow the sun or the planets. Because these turning points are the result of the rotation of the earth, they are, in fact, the way that the earth engages with the sky. When a luminary or a planet is on one of their "turning points" at the same time as a star is on any of its "turning points", then both the planet and the star are joined together by the rotation of the earth. This special relationship is called a paran and this visual observation is the original way that stars were first used to understand events on earth.

CHAPTER II

The Stars that Shape your Character

This is the starting point for discovering your stars. Your journey begins with focusing on the stars and their myths that add their unique qualities to your character. Star qualities are particular features that contribute to your seed potential. They become apparent as your skills and resources through your life's experiences, for it is only by using them to deal with problems that you discover the potentials they offer you and how you can handle them wisely. Some of these qualities will take a while for you to master; others will be gifts that come more easily. Nevertheless, all these star qualities are of equal strength and presence in your life. As you learn to work with them so you will become more proficient at using them. Each star gains its voice in your life through a particular planet or luminary in your chart. At times it may appear as if one quality is at odds with another quality. Yet these are simply the normal contradictions with which we all live and know about ourselves expressed mythologically.

Five stars will be discussed in this chapter.

 

Al Rescha in Pisces

Al Rescha is a distinct white star which marks the knot that binds the two fishes of Pisces. It represents or is symbolic of the magical quality of knots. Knots are not just about securing, they are also about protecting and they range from the knot of the Egyptian cartouche which protected the pharaoh's name, to the knot of the monk's or nun's robe which symbolised their sanctity. Thus acting symbolically, knots hold things together in order to maintain or help their sacredness. This star involves binding things together to create another thing, giving life to a new idea. With this star active in your chart, it adds the skill of seeing two separate ideas or situations and understanding immediately how they can be brought together. For the star represents the vesica piscis, made by linking two circles together to produce a shape called a mandorla (almond).

It carries the principle of joining different ideas to create wisdom and understanding, or marrying two forms to create a greater concept. It also speaks of being able to bring two different types of people together, so that the marriage produces a surprisingly new path forward. Finding solutions to old problems, making unusual connections, learning to search for clues about how the world, mind, and soul works, is a skill this star adds to your life.

Using diverse resources

On the day you were born, when Mars was in lower culmination, Al Rescha was rising.

For you, the Sacred Knot is in paran with your Mars and you are motivated to promote unusual ideas or theories or to undertake journeys to places that are on the edge, physically or politically. As a child you were fascinated by the boundaries between things, the limits of your world, the ends of the playground, what lay beyond the wall, and how places join together. This was a call to adventure. Today you continue to be fascinated by how disparate things can be brought together and you have found success working with what many people would consider contradictory resources. You are motivated to link different things together: people, ideas, objects. This quality of edges also generates in you a love of adventure; you explore unusual ideas or unusual places, and you are fascinated by the topography of how things join. On an everyday level this can be expressed as being drawn to cooking that combines unusual flavours. On a professional level you have the skill to bridge between different groups, as well as to promote a political cause. For you are willing to engage in and fight battles on behalf of others and do not shy away from controversy. On the other hand, being controversial just for the sake of it can lead you into choppy waters. Strive to be a bridge between people and ideas, for you can see a bridge where others see none. Conflict results from being a contraire for the sake of it. Achievement comes from looking at things from a different angle.

 

Hamal in the Ram

Hamal is a distinct orange star at the base of the right horn of Aries the Ram. Hamal is a forceful star of action and this star's quality gives you strength of independence, will, and determination. Hamal also indicates that you are a person who is focused and direct, but if your action is blocked, you can become frustrated and angry, for you have a hot temper. You find authority figures difficult to handle and your personal philosophy is that actions speak louder than words. So your default position is to seek a physical solution to your problems. This works well if you are involved in combative sports, such as boxing or martial arts, or even a military or mountaineering team, as long as you are the one leading the group, for you are the independent adventurer seeking challenges in the world. Your greatest vulnerabilities come when you are dealing with authority figures, whether within your family or your career. This is your area of weakness but it also forms the backbone of your life, and if you are to succeed in your chosen field, you need to deal effectively with your frustrations. This can be confronting your difficulty with authority figures, but ultimately, as you learn to approach it with increasing sophistication, it brings your greatest successes.

Non-conforming to social pressures

On the day you were born, when Venus was setting, Hamal was also setting.

You have Hamal in paran with your Venus, so you see these vulnerabilities in your social networks, for this star in this combination influences your social conscience. From an early age you were drawn to figures who were contraires, pushing at the edge of society's conventions. You happily modelled yourself on such figures, even though they and you were outrageous or alien, and often generated anger and confrontation from others. This did not stop you, however, and now, with Hamal in paran with your Venus, you notice these vulnerabilities and you maintain your desire to relate and socialise in independent ways, with little regard for the opinions of others. You willingly go against society's conventions, either in your personal life or in your approach to aesthetics. This could be reflected in the work that you do in the arts as a set designer, in the fashion world, in music production, or in dance where edgy relationships and designs are welcomed. This stellar combination can, however, be taken to extremes in terms of relationships and lead you to think that you know what is best for others, with the result that people see you as a dictator. If this is the case, then step back from engagement and conflict, and concentrate on what you do best in terms of your skills and talents. Be a free spirit, but recognise that others do not have to share your view.

 

Ankaa in Phoenix

Ankaa is the distinct orange star deep in the southern hemisphere located in the body of the Phoenix. Although the Phoenix is a modern constellation, the meaning draws on a much older tradition. The Egyptian and Persian cultures both have myths linked with this star whose symbolism is of a bird that represents cyclic regeneration. The Egyptians thought of it as the Bennu Bird which appeared to be standing in the receding waters of the Nile and thus gave the impression of returning from the underworld and bringing new life. In this way Ankaa carries a sense of transformation or transcendence which, when added to your chart, suggests a quality of being able see beyond a current problem, to consider events within the larger cycle of life and death. The quality associated with this star is therefore one of solving problems by going through death to find life. All has to disintegrate, rock bottom has to be reached, before you can begin to see the light again or notice that new seeds are growing. This is the cycle of the Phoenix and the quality that Ankaa adds to your life. The star is also associated with the willingness to let go of things to allow them to be transformed. The quality of this star is to teach you how to rise from the ashes of a situation renewed, refreshed and re-invigorated.

Striving to make improvements

On the day you were born, when Jupiter was in lower culmination, Ankaa was rising.

This rhythm of destruction and renewal is combined with your Jupiter, giving you an unbridled optimism about human nature and a desire to help others reach their potential, on as large a scale as possible. You are someone who understands the value of timely action, of helping a situation or a community issue at the right moment. You will work hard in your life helping people, institutions or ideas to grow and expand, through donating money, or freely giving your ideas or advice, or working as a volunteer. You are, in essence, a philanthropist and from such activities, no matter how humble, you gain a sense of completeness. This has its roots in your early circumstances when you, or another, took risks that turned out well. Such risks could have been in business, in moving countries or in changing jobs. From this you learned that the quality of life is best maintained through small improvements that affect the whole community, rather than the heroic achievements of one individual. On a personal level your optimism gives you a natural resilience, in body and mind, against life's challenges, and you willingly put yourself forward to help other people develop their own confidence to have a go, to turn adversity into new directions. You are someone who sees new beginnings, rather than endings, for yourself but most importantly for other people or communities.

Being resilient to life's changes

On the day you were born, when the Sun was culminating, Ankaa was setting.

With Ankaa in paran with your Sun it is your very identity that seems to have risen from the ashes of a crisis and rebuilt your life. Your history contains an encounter with this journey of transformation. You admire people who can pick themselves up from chaos and try again, for you understand that life is cyclic moving from times of destruction to times of rebirth. You accept this cycle in your life, from the small things you undertake at a daily level to your overall life plan. This could also be channelled into a profession where you help, or instigate this journey for, other people or community projects. Although this journey on a personal level is difficult for you, the result is that you are seen as someone who cannot be defeated by life, for the way you regroup from catastrophe is to find the tiny fragments of good in a situation and, by piecing together those scraps, you can return to full strength. Ankaa with your Sun reveals that you are robust; your strength is not that of resistance and defence, but rather of rebuilding and trying again, and eventually rising to heights that no one thought possible.

 

Vindemiatrix in Virgo

Vindemiatrix is the distinct orange star in the wing of Virgo. The name Vindemiatrix means Grape-Gatherer, for when the star was visible in the dawn sky rising before the sun, it was said to be time to harvest the grapes. This star quality indicates that you are a collector or gatherer of art, artefacts, data, even people. You find great satisfaction in accumulating items that are related to each other in some identifiable way, woven together by their common underpinnings. These items could be collected as a short-term passion, a passing interest with a contemporary fad, or on a more long-term basis, a fascination with something of deeper meaning. What sets collecting apart from compulsive hoarding, the unwillingness to discard, is that collecting is done with an end-structure in mind. You understand at a deep level that collections contain storehouses of knowledge and ideas that help people to make sense of the world. You appreciate how a collector of family data can identify a family's lineage. You realise that a collection can contextualise objects in time and space. It is important to remember, however, that since Vindemiatrix is connected with the picking of the crops, it represents a time of action, thus the directive with Vindemiatrix is to collect but also to use. As you intentionally gather items together, also envisage the purpose of your efforts.

Being a collector of people's lives

On the day you were born, when the Moon was setting, Vindemiatrix was in lower culmination.

You have Vindemiatrix in paran with your Moon, thus the way you gather items together is through being a watcher of people or events. You are deeply connected to the emotional, empathic, human side of life, rather than dry facts. Life has taught you to have patience and also given you a fascination with time and the recognition that time brings change. Additionally, you have always loved stories and thus you are someone who collects people, or the stories of people, and who documents or studies people's lives and cultures. Thus you are the anthropologist or the storyteller with an ever growing and deepening interest in people or animals, the way lives are lived, the stories people tell, and the histories or mythologies of a culture. You are also deeply connected to the environment in which these stories are told and pay attention to data about how the earth changes, its soil, water and atmosphere. In essence this star's quality equips you to collect facts that document and contribute to changes in the stories of people, the stories of life.

 

Alphard in Hydra

Alphard is the bright red star in the middle of the Hydra known as the 'Heart of the Serpent'. Many cultures have a snake or serpent connected with their creation mythology. For the Babylonians this was the dragon of Tiamat. In the Old Testament it was the snake in the Garden of Eden. In these myths it is the serpent that catalyses crisis and upheaval and thus has to be subdued, slain or crushed. Yet as the story proceeds, it is clear that a new order has arisen in the world. Alphard captures this creative process whereby disruption and mayhem create new stability. In our turbulent world this energy can easily erupt as violence, untamed energy or, at its everyday level, as emotional outbursts. Nevertheless, to think of Alphard in this simplistic way is to ignore the bigger picture of its creative energy.

Alphard uses all your passion, strength, and determination to change old patterns in your life, to unblock obstructions, and forge new paths. Thus a more appropriate expression for Alphard in your life is to consciously focus your enthusiasm, forcefulness, and willpower, no matter how obsessive, onto a desired goal and work to see its completion. That way Alphard adds the energy of creative emergence from the void or chaos to your life with much greater control.

Pursuing the truth

On the day you were born, when Jupiter was culminating, Alphard was also culminating.

The intensity of Alphard touches your Jupiter and gives you the desire to probe deeply into the big issues and problems of life or science. You are an explorer willing to go into dark corners to find answers to large problems, or simply to find what is there, to seek the truth. At times you have found wisdom by facing up to a difficult circumstance which has allowed you to flush out hidden problems. With this wisdom, you know that you can keep pursuing a question or problem until a solution is revealed, even if your pursuit causes disruption. For your passion as an explorer of places or people can get in the way of your achievements. Your intense focus can become ruthless in your endeavour to expose what you consider to be the truth of the situation. If your focus is too narrow or fuelled by anger or frustration, then step back to see the bigger picture. You are a brilliant researcher, willing to go into taboo areas to find answers and, providing you keep a balance between a tight penetrating obsessive focus on an issue and what is happening around it, you will be successful.

 

These are your five seed stars, the qualities that give you skills and resources, the unique attributes that you can rely on and develop. Learning about them is the first step on your journey of meeting the stars. Revisit them often and become familiar with what they represent for you. Each star quality has a heading to help you remember it and these are listed as a summary on the Contents page. Carry these stars forward in your mind as you read the rest of your report.

CHAPTER III

The Stars that Shape Your Vocation

This chapter focuses on your vocation. See your vocation as your different desires or passions that pull you towards certain activities and lifestyles. These are the activities or causes that you care about, the areas in which you will allocate parts of your precious time, and they provide you with a sense of purpose and direction. The themes of your vocation stars are fundamental to your idea of what you stand for and what is important to you and how you spend your life, far more than just your job or career. They could, however, become your career or surface in your life as your passion or a cause to which you devote your free time. Hence your vocational stars suggest how you can lead a meaningful life. Pursuing the themes suggested by these stars may not bring you riches but they will allow you to feel that you are in your proper place, living a life of purpose. No matter what other paths you take in your life, your vocation stars will always pull you back to their themes. Over time these stars will become your compass, steering you towards the activities that give you your deepest fulfilment. They have a unique relationship to you, for they shape what influences you and how you influence others.

Now at this stage of your life your vocation should be visible, either as your career or through your other activities. You will recognise your vocation as being that area where you gain a sense of purpose and direction. In this regard these vocation stars will confirm the path that brings you fulfilment or help you focus more clearly on it.

 

Zuben Eschamali in Libra

Zuben Eschamali is a bright star in the northern pan of the scales of Libra. These scales used to be known as the claws of the Scorpion, and it was only around the time of the Greeks that they were given the name The Scales. Zuben Eschamali is found on one side of the scales. Its counterpart, known as Zuben Elgenubi, is located in the southern pan of the scales. These two stars share a common theme, that of social reform or social justice, and their combined image, the scales of justice, are still used today to represent the law and courts. Zuben Eschamali symbolises a more pragmatic attitude than its southern partner, for rather than pointing to a devoted volunteer, it represents your desire to work for a group or a cause as a career, in a way that benefits you as well as the group.

Dedicating your life to improving the lives of others

On the day you were born, when the North Node was setting, Zuben Eschamali was culminating.

So the role you seek in such groups is one that is involved with the side of social reform or justice while giving you, at the same time rank, income and authority.

It is important therefore that your work provides career opportunities while at the same time enabling you to achieve something useful for others. This is what gives your life a sense of purpose. Thus your work could involve improving a group's social standing or it could be to advance a group's collective achievements. To this endeavour you therefore bring not only your dedication to the project and the needs of the group but also your own professional skills, and by working on behalf of a group you also enhance your own reputation. Thus you could be drawn to work as a councillor who wants to help the community but also wants the status of being on the council, or you could engage with charity work as a paid position. This link between a meaningful life and being paid or given power to help a group is a feature you need to understand about yourself. If you feel drained or frustrated in trying to achieve the goals of the group, remind yourself that you personally acquire a great deal from the position you hold in such a group. Your deep desire is to be effective for collective ideas or group needs, so step back and think of other ways to help the group realise its objectives. You can be a leader or a key part of a team, but with this star in your life you feel most fulfilled when working professionally with groups.

 

Pollux in Gemini

This is a story of twins in the heavens and their story lends purpose and meaning to your life. They have many different names but the Greeks knew them as Castor and Pollux, the two brothers that make up the constellation Gemini. They are symbolic of all polarities, the point of balance between black and white, the fragile nature of competition, and the understanding of antithesis. One twin is blessed living an uncomplicated life, never worried by internal conflict and full of self-assurance and optimism. The other twin is destined to wrestle with private demons that lurk in the shadows, plagued by self-doubt, and always struggling to be optimistic. It is this twin that touches your life and as a result, life for you is not easy. You or a loved one have to deal with physical disabilities or with hardship caused by social and economic status, thus self-doubt, uncertainty, worry and anxiety run like a river through your daily life. Yet it is as a result of such difficult circumstances that you find your greatest strength. You find meaning in deeply held spiritual beliefs rather than conventional religious views and these beliefs enable you to tap into your own internal wisdom. This wisdom gives you insights and understandings that go beyond the surface of a problem.

Being drawn to work with disability

On the day you were born, when the North Node was setting, Pollux was also setting.

With these skills you become a social worker or someone to whom others turn for support, help or reassurance. You are also a reformer, someone who can change the system as a result of freeing yourself from personal suffering or by bringing to wider attention the hardships experienced by others. This is the noble expression of this story. The counterpoint of this nobility is when you are fueled with the bitterness of life's adversities and slip into the role of the zealot or the fanatic, unable to see the opposite perspective. From such a position you see your life as conflict-driven, and become labelled as a troublemaker, rather than as someone who can genuinely offer ideas. This would be a waste of your natural capacity for insight. In short you are like the Good Samaritan on life's path. Seek to help another in need and this life-view will slowly and gently define, as well as nurture, you.

This chapter has focused on the vocation stars in your life, your different desires or passions that pull you towards certain activities and lifestyles. These vocational stars are with you your whole life and it is never to early or too late to engage with them so you can create a more meaningful life. Consciously applying these vocational stars to your world, as a career option or lifestyle choice, will give you a sense of being in your proper place and doing your correct work. Your life has meaning; these stars help you find that meaning.

CHAPTER IV

The Star Stories in Your Life

Your star stories are the narrative which provides the stage for your star qualities and your vocation stars. The cultural historian Thomas Berry believed that story was sacred and formed the foundation of all life. He saw life as the force of the cosmos that produces the order of the world, even our daily rhythms. In this way stories are never-ending and always repeating, like the waves on a beach. Some of these stories come from the stars and, like all stories, will make themselves apparent through re-occurring patterns of events, where you find yourself revisiting situations, or falling into old habit patterns. Knowing your star stories enables you to be alert at the beginning of the cycle before you find yourself slipping into old habit patterns with their predictable outcomes. Each story contains different characters but not all will be active all the time. People will step into and out of your story, seeming to take on various roles, just as you play different parts in their star stories. Being aware of your stories means that you can recognise these characters as they emerge and therefore you can engage with them in a far more resourceful manner. You also have more than one star story and at different times one story will take precedence over another. Hence as you read them, one story will probably be more obvious to you than the others. At another time a different star story will be of greater importance to you. All of them, however, are you.

Self-Sacrifice: Salvation through service

Essence: A willingness to sacrifice your energy for others.
Challenge: A tendency to undervalue your life and thus your own needs suffer.
Your Approach: Thoughtfully choose those to whom you willingly give, so can feel quiet satisfaction without exhaustion.

The main character of this star story is Berenice, a young Greek woman deeply concerned for the safe return of her beloved husband from the battlefield. To ensure his protection, Berenice sacrifices her hair to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. The goddess is so touched by this selfless act that she not only grants Berenice her wish and returns her husband unharmed but also places the sacrificed hair into the sky as a constellation. Berenice's act of surrendering her hair may seem minor and unimportant to us today but in the time that she lived, a woman's hair was a sign of her strength, her virtue, and her honour. By offering her hair Berenice surrendered everything that she stood for, her dignity and her status in society, so that her husband would be given safe passage home. At its heart, then, this is the star story of a hero. Unlike the popular idea of superman, however, whose noble feats are performed in blazing moments of glory, this is the act of one who is unobtrusive, who works behind the scenes, whose mission of courage is undertaken away from the public eye and whose success is gained slowly through hard work over a long period time. Berenice never gives up on achieving her goals, but instead maintains a focused dedication to her cause.

This story of the quiet hero is your story and you, too, are drawn to supporting a loved one to succeed with their ambitions. You do this because you feel that what they offer is worthy of your assistance and because you think that others will benefit from their advancement. In this way their successes become your successes. Your desire to help can also be focused into a cause within your community where you will take on the jobs that need to be done, without ceremony or glory - invisibly, soundlessly, and with concentrated diligence. You are the one who works silently in the background in your place of work, willing to do the simple but necessary jobs that keep the group or workplace running. You are also involved with organisations that rely on volunteers and the goodwill of others in order to function efficiently. Each of these expressions gives you a sense of personal fulfilment and adds meaning to your life.

Indeed so strong is this story for you that you struggle to find meaning and satisfaction in your own successes unless they also contain a sacrifice, where you give up something precious. Deep down you recognise that nothing is really gained unless you make a personal sacrifice, that all things in life have a price and this price must be paid so you can move forward. Yet in truth this price is negotiable, for although sacrifice is a part of your story, you can choose its format, such as volunteering a few hours of your time on a weekend to help a charity. Such an act allows you to adopt the mantle of this story, the theme of selflessly giving your energy to others. Yet in wearing this mantle this star story suggests that you can make a real difference, for Berenice's action leads to the safe return of her beloved husband. So while you find personal satisfaction in lending support to another or a cause through your own discreet actions, it is for you to choose how and whom you help. By giving such support, you also pave the way for your own successes. You are a quiet hero.

Your connection to this story is through your natal North Node, which was rising while Diadem was in lower culmination.

The groups to which you are drawn will be those where you see opportunities to perform a job for the sake of the group and not for your own personal recognition. Despite this, even though it is not planned, you often find that you are the one that minority groups choose to represent their concerns. Being such a symbol is often difficult, for its extreme expression leads to martyrdom or victimisation where you sacrifice your personal well-being and safety for the needs of the group. In your devotion to this group or a cause, then, make sure that you find a middle ground. Make some sacrifices for others but avoid giving your whole life to it. As a volunteer, look after the needs of the group but make sure you also have your own voice and your own life. This balanced position of genuine support without desire for personal gain will return much to you. This is the idea of tithing, selfless giving which repays on another level. You are a quiet hero, and through such quiet heroic actions your life is enriched.

The Lovers: The receptive heroine and the potent hero

Essence: Action and self-expression versus passive acquiescence.
Challenge: Balancing the need for action and being receptive.
Your Approach: When you seek a balance between action and receptiveness in both yourself and others, then your creativity flows.

This is the story of the two lovers in the sky, and like all stories of lovers, it is complicated. The constellation Andromeda, the fertile Princess of the heavens who eagerly awaits the arrival of her young suitor, is one of this starry pair. Perseus, the hero fresh from battle, is the other. The Greeks, however, turned this beautiful narrative of love into a tragedy by threading it with stress and calamity. They saw Andromeda as a defenceless young woman, chained to a rock, about to be eaten by a sea monster. The only option she had was to wait for a saviour, her lover, Perseus. The Greeks depicted Perseus as the champion, willing to take on the challenge of rescuing his beloved Andromeda from certain death. In this Greek version of the tale, the characters are two-dimensional, offering only one pathway ahead for each of them. Yet the story is far deeper than this Greek version and although it contains drama and crisis, most importantly it has a happy ending. These two constellations represent creative potential, biologically as well as intellectually, and it is this creative tension between the masculine and feminine that produces life, ideas, actions, and events.

Your first sense of the presence of these two lovers comes through your desire to build family. Yet such creative tension is bigger than just fundamental yearnings. The lovers offer you the gift of turning discord and disharmony into a resource simply by taking action. This occurs when you are beset with worry, pressure, and even crisis, for it is then that your ingenuity rises to the surface. Look at your life and you will recognise this theme. Although distressing, such a state tells you that you are about to make a breakthrough, so learn to recognise these times and step forward, rather than pull away from them or continue to be surrounded by stress, for it leads to a positive outcome and something precious is gained. It doesn't always have to be intense, however, and by acknowledging these starry lovers you can begin to change your times of personal crisis or drama into minor tensions that naturally lead to you a truly creative space. For at its heart this story is about being original and creating something where nothing existed before.

The difficulty is that you can become swamped by one of the characters. If Andromeda dominates your life, then you become the helpless individual who must wait for her saviour, becoming a victim to circumstances, anticipating in vain a potential inheritance or the goodwill of another. So if you are Andromeda-driven, work on your independence by making some of your own decisions and acting without help from others, even at the simplest level of daily life. If, on the other hand, you are overwhelmed by Perseus, the highly-energised aroused lover who is the protagonist and rescuer, then you contain an enthusiastic desire to save others, whether they wish to be saved or not. You feel the need to interfere in situations just to experience the challenge. You rush in when cooler heads take pause. If you are Perseus-driven, learn to accept assistance from others by asking for help with small daily tasks.

These starry lovers give you a talent for originality and creativity, and the more you strive for a balance between these two characters, the more your creative energy can flow. Always remember, however, that this creativity comes from tension. If you are proactive with your life and engage with the struggles that problems present, then you will encounter your most creative insights.

Your connection to this story is through your natal Sun, which was culminating while Mirfak was also culminating.

You are someone with a great deal of vitality and enthusiasm. This enthusiasm is captured in the starry story of Perseus, the warrior, the one who rushes in with his razor-sharp sword to save others from what he perceives will be certain death and destruction. You thrive on helping friends at times of crisis. You bring your eager and passionate approach to bear in solving their issues and enjoy being seen as a champion as well as saviour. Some people see this as helpful and useful; others see this as interfering. If taken too far, this can cause upsets and splits in friendships. So if you are someone who seems to easily offend those around you with your exuberance, rethink how you can use this energy productively. Consider engaging in competitive team sports or community activities where drama and tension are part of the game plan. You are someone whose big ideas and plans can bring dormant groups to life. The way to avoid disaster, however, is to include others in those plans. If you seek their support and allow their input, you will harness their best abilities. Then they will be inspired by you, rather than feeling alienated. In this way the starry warrior teaches you how to use his sword with precision, as well as with safety.

Another connection is through your North Node, which was setting while Mirfak was in lower culmination.

This story adds to your life the perspective of Perseus, the highly aroused, energised lover who is the champion and the saviour. You, too, contain this enthusiastic desire to save others, whether they wish to be saved or not, and you will intervene in situations just to experience the challenge, for it is through struggle that you feel alive. This can backfire on you and turn to disproportionate anger. You could become the butt of someone else's rage. You could also find yourself forced to save others. So look at your life and you will see this theme of tension, imposed worry, pressure, and even crisis. You will also see how, under such challenging conditions, you can resolve it through a creative act, giving you a positive outcome. For this starry prince offers you the gift of focused determination rather than uncensored energy, and in its structured form you will find you are the one who can teach others how to compete or fight for practical outcomes.

Another connection is through your North Node, which was rising while Mirach was culminating.

For you, this story is experienced from the perspective of Andromeda, where your struggle with the material world can find you adopting the position of the helpless individual. So rather than being over-optimistic about someone coming to your rescue financially, or waiting in vain for a potential inheritance or the goodwill of another, begin to work on your independence. Make some of your own decisions and act without help from others at the simplest level of daily life. For this starry princess gifts you with the talent of originality and creativity. You have a flair for colour, design, and sensuality in the world of fashion, in constructing websites or even in working with pastries, chocolate, and bread. You also have good social networking capabilities and can build connections between groups where your creativity is appreciated. So be active with your life, build social networks, and engage with the struggles of any problems that come your way, for this is where you encounter your most creative fulfilment.

The Shadow Walker: Living with both destruction and achievement

Essence: An innate passion to right wrongs and an acute sensitivity to injustice.
Challenge: To avoid feeling thwarted as it can lead to destructive rages or periods of self-pity.
Your Approach: Find techniques to stabilise your emotions, so the energy that would be wasted on extreme reactions can be used to pursue your passions effectively.

Your life is touched by a star story that captures the tension, passion, and dynamics of two different forces. One side of this story features the ancient figure of a woman who is deeply angry at injustices, and willing to take on the world in any context to correct such wrongs. This is the star Algol and she represents a force that can be both supportive and destructive. Her theme is focussed obsession, and she will guard the ones she loves with her life. This obsessive energy can rise like kundalini energy, with its sexual emphasis and passion, or it can turn into anger and even unmitigated rage. The other character of the story is a young warrior seeking the challenge of beheading a monster and saving both his mother and his lover from death. This force is symbolised by Capulus, the sword of Perseus, a sword that represents Perseus' masculinity and sexual energy, as well as his power and ability to penetrate both sexually and in battle. Hence your star story embraces both masculine and feminine passion. Algol is brooding, intense, obsessive, and deeply concerned with protecting life, loved ones, and her own relationships; Capulus is the male energy of procreation, of direct, assertive action without fear for personal safety.

To have this star story touch your life indicates that you prefer to follow a road that contains vitality, drive, and vigour. Thus what you seek from personal relationships is strong emotional bonds and the superficial conversations of a party or the notion of casual friendships are an anathema to you. The way you reach out to others is through trust and fidelity and you build social networks based on mutual emotional support. Fundamentally what you seek from others is a deep assurance of loyalty. If this is not present in a relationship or comes under question, you will react by either cutting off the relationship without further negotiation, or fighting for it with all your might. You are an all-or-nothing person, undertaking something with all your passion, and as you seek this from others, so you are prepared to respond in kind.

The difficulty with such a raw, passionate, and intense star story is that if such energy is unbridled, it can erupt as uncontrollable temper, even a desire to attack or hurt another. This is a waste of the sheer volume of raw energy that is gifted to you. If you can learn to constrain a knee-jerk reaction to attack or become angry, you will gain access to the deeper energy these stars represent. It can also express itself by turning inward as brooding melancholy, sulking, or over-processing. If this happens, take a breath and step to one side of your emotions, teach yourself not be drawn into a chasm of self-pity or to be consumed by self-obsession but instead to use this life-force energy in a much more creative and productive way.

This energy is a deep resource for you to use in your own creative work or in your relationships. Life for you is a rainbow which embraces the full palette of colours, beautiful blues, dark pulsing purples, and raging reds, along with gold and silver, all of which you can use to paint the story of your life. This is a gift but a gift that requires you to moderate it and to focus it.

Your connection to this story is through your natal Mars, which was setting while Algol was in lower culmination.

The sheer quantity and vitality of nature that defines this star story means that you are willing to take action when you are motivated by great feeling. In so doing, you encounter crisis situations that require you to redefine what you hold most dear. These could be financial with the loss of money, or practical with loss of property, or the death of someone close to you, or your own near-death experience. Crises seem to emerge from the force of your desires, some of which appear to be destructive. You are drawn to sports such as motorcar racing or skydiving, or other activities with high levels of danger. Yet such seemingly destructive situations also yield great creativity, such as the war correspondent who sheds light on global turbulence. From these intense situations you learn how to handle crisis, to engage with situations that fulfil your desire for intensity but which allow you an outlet for the emotions that arise. You are someone who undertakes all that you do with all of your energy. This is a rare gift and one that gives great satisfaction once you learn how to focus it. If you find that life is burning your fingers, step sideways and think of other ways for you to get the same intensity in your life.

As you keep living these stories and recognise the roles you play, so you can use the star stories' momentum to empower you, steering rather than being steered. Remember your stories are like the waves on a beach, they visit the shores of your life frequently and you are always offered the chance to respond differently. So think about your stories and look around your life, at the events and the people, so you can to learn to recognise the themes. Invested with that knowledge, you can then actively make different choices, rather than allowing old patterns to reoccur. The waves on the beach help shape the beach, thus if you become an active part of your own stories you can help shape your own life.

 

Conclusion

The Stories from the Stars report is the voice of stars in your life. The information contained in this report represents a different view of your astrological links to the heavens. These stars are the spark which is you, their qualities, their vocational attributes, and the narratives of the star stories, all filtered through the lens of your horoscope. You are, in a sense, born from a field of stars, and your natal planets, luminaries, and nodes touch part of this field by the turning of the earth, known as parans. It is through your horoscope that these ancient star themes colour your life. Sometimes the stars complement or expand on what you already know about your horoscope. In many cases, however, the stars add insights into your understanding of who you are.

This report therefore is a resource. The best way to make use of it is to focus on one or two of the stars that seem to apply to your current circumstances and then consciously take actions that use the stars' meanings in a positive way. As events occur in your life, return to this report for advice on how to deal with a situation, a recurring pattern, or decisions about your vocation.

When you look up at a starry night you may feel small, but by understanding your relationship with the stars, you can begin the journey of walking with them. Such a journey will give you the sense of what it is to be a part of a living cosmos. As you come to understand your stars through this report, go outside on a clear night and learn to see them in the night sky. Visually connecting with the stars can help you to understand your personal alliance with them.

Appendix

The journey of the "Stories from the Stars"

The stars have been a part of astrology from the very beginning. Their intermittent use, however, has meant that today, in contemporary astrology their meanings are covered with layers of cultural dust. This has led to their older meanings being judged as obscure or even fatalistic. As a result, the stars have tended to linger in the background of astrology as if they did not exist. Yet despite this fact, most people interested in astrology do look up at the starry night and wonder at the meanings of the stars and the constellational patterns, often developing a personal affinity to a star or constellation.

It was this awe at a starry night that begin the journey in the 1980s that has eventually lead to this report. In re-exploring the astrological role of the stars the original method of working with the stars known as parans was employed. Parans were used for the stellar theology of the Egyptians in the period of the Old Kingdom in the third millennium BCE, also by the astrologer-priest of the Babylonians in the seventh century BCE, and then much later by the astrologer-scribes and astrologer-mathematicians of the Hellenistic era in both weather and astrology. In working with parans thousands of charts and biographies were used to gain an understanding of the meaning of each star in a contemporary framework.

Parans, the original method

All the star meanings in Stories from the Stars are based on this research and using the method of parans. The full name of the technique as used by Vettius Valens in the first century CE is paranatellonta. He used the term to talk of constellations that rose, culminated or set at the same time and thus formed a sky narrative. Another important work in this period was by the first century polymath Claudius Ptolemy who wrote The Phases of the Fixed Stars by taking each individual star’s unique pattern of rising and setting. Later, in the fourth century CE, the astrologer simply known as Anonymous of 379, also wrote of parans, suggesting that the best way to work with stars and natal planets in the horoscope was by looking for the times when planets or luminaries were on a turning point - rising, culminating, setting or on the lower culmination point - at the same time as stars.

Star and planet parans are therefore not new to astrology. Parans, however, fell into neglect, for although they are visually quite logical, they are impossible to list in a simple table format for general use, even for a set date, as they are sensitive to latitude shifts. Today however, since computers can easily reconstruct the sky for a time of birth, parans can be returned to the astrologer’s tool kit.

Parans, however, are a little different to the other components of a horoscope in that they are not sensitive to changes in your moment of birth but are instead based on your day of birth. To find all the parans for a given day all the planets and luminaries are moved through an entire 24 hours. The actual day is taken from sunrise before your birth to sunrise after your birth. In that period every time a planet or luminary is on one of its turning points then the sky is checked to see if a star is also on one of its turning points. If so, then that natal planet or luminary is in a paran relationship to that star.

The Stories of the Stars report is created first by finding all these parans but also by filtering them using the features of your own natal horoscope and then combining them with the star’s current position within its own annual cycle with the sun. This unique blending produces the significant parans for your horoscope on the day you were born.

The Stars used in this report

On a clear moonless night in the country you may be able to see around 9,000 stars. A key question to ask, however, is what stars are important for astrology. There are 15 quite bright stars in the sky with a magnitude of 1 or less —the lower the magnitude the brighter the star, -1 is very bright, 1 is bright, 6 or more is dim-to-invisible to the naked eye. It is easy to think that the brighter stars or those in the zodiac would have more meaning. However, research into people’s lives and their stars revealed that it is the stars that are heavy with mythology which carry the greatest astrological significance.

Hence of the 9,000 stars in the sky, there is a set of sixty-four stars, all rich in mythology, which appear to share their myths and meaning through parans to the planets or luminaries of a natal horoscope. It is this set of sixty-four stars that has been used for Stories from the Stars.

Learning the sky and finding your special stars

Once you start thinking about your stars, you may wish to see if you can find your special stars in the sky. An easy way to do this is to use your smart phone or tablet, for there are many inexpensive apps that you can download which enable you to simply point your phone or tablet at the sky and turn it into a sky map and identify the names of stars or planets. These will also help you learn the sky. If you do wish to learn the sky, then start with an obvious constellation, for example Orion, and learn to find it at different times of the year along with the constellations that are located near to it. In this way, using this gate keeper constellation, you can slowly begin to widen your knowledge of the sky. You can also download the free planetarium software called Stellarium by typing its name into a search engine on the web. This will allow you to play with the sky and animate it for any location which also helps you become familiar with the sky.

If you wish to do your own astrological research into fixed stars and parans, then consider the software Starlight, (www.zyntara.com) which is the software which Bernadette Brady developed out of her research work to help astrologers learn to work with the night sky.

Images used in this report

The image on the front cover of the report is Johann Bayer’s Capricorn, Uranometria, 1607. The images of the constellations for Chapter II and III have been adapted from those of Sidney Hall (1788 – 1831). The images in Chapter IV, the Star Stories, were created by the authors.

Further reading for exploring the stars

Current Astrological Texts on Stars:
Brady, Bernadette. Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, 1998.
Brady, Bernadette. Star and Planet Combinations, 2008.
Non Astrological Texts on Stars:
Allen, Richard Hinckley. Star Names Their Lore and Meaning, 1963.
Cairns, Hugh, and Bill Yidumduma Harney. Dark Sparklers, Yidumduma's Aboriginal Astronomy, 2003.

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