The Fixed Stars

Aldebaran

Alpha Tauri, Cor Tauri, the Eye of the Bull, the Follower

The follower, for it rises following the Pleiades across the sky. It stands at about 10° Gemini (tropical).

One of the fifteen Behenian stars

The red eye of the Bull, one of the four royal watchers of heaven.

The great red star of Taurus and one of the four royal stars of the old Persian reckoning, the Watcher of the East. Robson gives it the nature of Mars: honor, intelligence, eloquence and courage, high position won and as easily lost, for its fortunes turn on danger and violence when the gift is misused. It is a Behenian star of the talisman books, the manzil Al Dabaran, and the heart of the nakshatra Rohini, the red one, read in the Vedic tradition as the star of desire, growth and abundance. It burns apart from the Hyades that seem to surround it, nearer to us and unrelated to the cluster.

♂︎ Nature. Mars.

☾︎ Mansion. A determinant star of Al Dabaran, the follower.

★︎ Nakshatra. Counted among the stars of Rohini, the red one, the growing one.

⚖︎ Workings. talismans for honor and public favor, in the old recipessteadying courage before a contest or reckoninggarnet or carbuncle set for the Martian virtue

One of the four royal stars; its promise of honor carries the royal warning that what is granted can be withdrawn.