Antares star meaning: the Heart of the Scorpion
Antares is the red star at the heart of the Scorpion, and both its names say so. The Arabic Qalb al-ʿAqrab means "the heart of the scorpion", translated from the Greek, and the Greek name, anti-Ares, makes it the rival of Mars, for a red to match the planet's. That is the short answer to the Antares star meaning, and where Antares astrology begins. Canopy lists the Antares fixed star with its Arabic name, badges it Royal, gives it the natures of Mars and Jupiter, and counts it among the fifteen Behenian stars of the talismanic tradition.
Astronomers call it Alpha Scorpii, a red supergiant and the brightest star in Scorpius. The eighteenth lunar mansion, al-Qalb, the Heart, is named for it, and Canopy reads that mansion as Naḥs. In Hindu astronomy Antares anchors Jyeshtha, "the eldest", one of the nakshatras; Canopy works with the Arabian mansions.
The Antares fixed star: its degree and its sky
The Antares fixed star degree is about 10° of tropical Sagittarius: 10°07′ in Canopy's catalog for 2025, and 10°08′ on the Current Position card of its star page on October 25, 2026, carried forward for precession at 50.29″ a year. Natal contacts use the star's place on your birth date, about 9°12′ Sagittarius for a birth in 1960.
The star is in Scorpius, but its degree is in Sagittarius, because the tropical zodiac is counted from the spring equinox, which slides backward against the stars. The same drift has carried it out of its own mansion: al-Qalb spans 8°34′–21°26′ Scorpio, and the star's degree now sits in the twentieth, al-Naʿāʾim, the Ostriches (4°17′–17°09′ Sagittarius). Aldebaran stands almost exactly opposite, near 10° Gemini.
Antares is the southernmost of the Behenian fifteen, about 26° south of the celestial equator: from 40° north it climbs only about 24° above the horizon, and north of about 63.6° it never rises, so Fairbanks and Tromsø never see it and Reykjavik gets only a graze. Canopy shows magnitude 1.10; the star is variable, nearer 0.9 in current catalogs.
Antares in astrology: Royal, of Mars and Jupiter
Antares in astrology is read by its nature and by the points it touches. Canopy's badge for it reads Royal and its planetary natures are Mars and Jupiter; the Today screen writes "Star nature: Mars–Jupiter". Here the app and Ptolemy agree: the Tetrabiblos (I.9) likens Antares to Mars and, in some degree, Jupiter.
An Antares window's About & Correspondences page opens with the label "Royal Star · Watcher of the West"; Canopy's other watchers are Aldebaran in the East, Regulus in the North and Fomalhaut in the South.
Regulus shares the Royal badge and the same two planets; the Seek and Avoid lists on the star page set Antares apart. Seek: strategic warfare, overcoming enemies. Avoid: peace-making, partnerships. They describe the work the star suits; they do not change a window's score.
Antares conjunct the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant or the Midheaven
Canopy measures Antares against each natal planet, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex and both lunar Nodes, and counts a contact within three degrees. A contact shows on the Chart tab under Fixed Star Conjunctions, tagged "Star: Royal" with its orb, and on the star page under In Your Chart.
Canopy writes no separate text for Antares conjunct the Sun, the Moon, Mars, the Ascendant or the Midheaven; every contact gets one reading, drawn from the classical sources: "Qalb al-ʿAqrab (Heart of the Scorpion) is a Royal Star bringing martial success and adventurous spirit, but danger of rashness. When conjunct a natal planet, you have great courage and strategic ability, but must guard against impulsive actions. Power comes through mastering intensity."
The Sun reaches the star's degree around December 1 or 2, so births from about November 28 to December 5 have Antares on the Sun. The Moon passes it monthly, and the angles turn on the minute and place of birth. On transit, the Today screen's Fixed Stars card picks up a planet's contact within two degrees, and the full reading lists wider aspects under Fixed Star Influences.
How to make an Antares talisman
Canopy's answer to how to make an Antares talisman is a short list of materials and a moment. Open any Antares window, then About & Correspondences:
- Gemstone (al-Jawhar): amethyst.
- Herb (al-Ḥashīsha): birthwort (Aristolochia).
- Planetary Nature: Mars and Jupiter.
The star page agrees under Stone, Plant and Planetary Natures (its herb is plain "Birthwort"), and its Traditional Uses line gives the purpose: "Talismans for courage in battle and overcoming enemies, using amethyst and birthwort." Canopy gives no construction steps, metal or procedure. The old purposes are history, not a promise.
A caution the old lists omit: birthwort is poisonous. Its aristolochic acid, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned, damages the kidneys and can cause cancer; it is never to be taken as a remedy.
When to make an Antares talisman: the Antares election
The tradition worked under a star as it rose or culminated; Canopy reduces that to degrees. An Antares election needs the star's ecliptic degree within one degree of the Ascendant or the Midheaven (never the Descendant or the IC) while the Moon applies to it by conjunction, sextile or trine within two degrees of exact. Canopy tests the degree, not the star's light, so even at Tromsø, where Antares never rises, a search can still return windows.
That puts the Moon between about 8° and 10° of Sagittarius for the conjunction, of Libra or Aquarius for a sextile, or of Aries or Leo for a trine, so her detriment and fall, Capricorn and Scorpio, never enter an Antares window. A conjoining Moon lodges in al-Naʿāʾim, not in the Heart mansion named for the star; the free tonight's mansion tool shows where she is now.
The shared tests, set out under fixed-star talisman windows, still apply: a combust Moon, or one applying by square or opposition to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn, or by conjunction to an undignified Mars or Saturn, the South Node or an afflicted planet, sets the moment aside. Antares conjunct Mars in the sky closes the door outright: while Mars, Saturn, the South Node or an afflicted planet is within three degrees of the star, nothing is offered.
A passing moment scores out of ten: six for the Moon's conjunction or three for a sextile or trine, two for the angle, and two for a waxing Moon not void of course, one if only one holds. So every Antares window scores 50 to 100 percent; 70 or more is Excellent. The Royal nature adds nothing here, but it counts in Canopy's purpose searches, such as a wedding: there a malefic, Saturnine or Martial star on an angle sets a window aside, while Antares, filed as Royal, counts in its favor. Windows last minutes, at most thirty either side of the exact time.
Two imagined Antares windows
In one imagined sky the star's degree culminates and a waxing Moon at 9° Aries applies by trine, but Mars stands at 8° Sagittarius, two degrees from the star. The Moon is clear of Mars, yet the star is afflicted, and the moment is set aside. In another, on a mid-October morning, the degree is rising and the Moon, at 8°40′ Sagittarius, closes on the star by conjunction, the Sun far back in Libra: waxing, not void of course, applying by no square or opposition, with Mars and Saturn nowhere near. It scores 100 percent, Excellent.
Finding Antares in Canopy
Talismans, then Fixed Star Talismans, and the Elections tab's Fixed Stars run the same search; the second titles each window "Antares Election" instead of "Antares Talisman". The picker lists all 35 stars with their Arabic names, the Behenian fifteen preselected: tap None, then Antares. The angles are local: set the place, or the search uses where you are, else your birth place. Pick up to about six months and tap Search Stars; scanning needs an active subscription.
Canopy keeps the best-scored windows for each star, so expect a short list, sorted Soonest or Top Rated and filtered by Moon phase, angle, Moon motion or mansion. Each opens on its score and a TIMING block (exact time, start and end, hour and day rulers, the angles' signs, the Moon's aspect), then Celestial Configuration, "Why this time?" and About & Correspondences.
See whether Antares touches your chart, and when its next window opens where you live.
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Questions
What does Antares mean in astrology?
In Canopy, Antares is a Royal fixed star of Mars and Jupiter, one of the fifteen Behenian stars, suited to strategic warfare and overcoming enemies rather than peace-making and partnerships. On a natal planet, the Ascendant or the Midheaven, its reading, drawn from the classical sources, gives courage and strategic ability but warns against rashness.
What does the name Antares mean?
Antares is Greek, anti-Ares, the rival of Mars, for its red color. The Arabic Qalb al-ʿAqrab means the heart of the scorpion; the eighteenth lunar mansion, al-Qalb, is named for it.
What degree is the Antares fixed star?
About 10° of tropical Sagittarius, though the star lies in the constellation Scorpius: 10°07′ for 2025 in Canopy's catalog, 10°08′ on its star page on October 25, 2026. It moves about a degree in 72 years; natal contacts use its place on your birth date.
What does Antares conjunct the Sun or Ascendant mean?
Canopy gives one reading for any natal contact within three degrees, to a planet, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex or a Node: great courage and strategic ability, with a warning against impulsive actions. Births from about November 28 to December 5 have Antares on the Sun.
How do you make an Antares talisman?
Canopy shows the materials and the moment, not a method: amethyst, birthwort and the natures of Mars and Jupiter, timed to the star's degree on the Ascendant or Midheaven while the Moon applies to it. Birthwort (Aristolochia) is poisonous; never take it internally.
When is the best time to make an Antares talisman?
When its degree rises or culminates where you are as a waxing Moon, not void of course, closes on it by conjunction from about 8° to 10° Sagittarius. If nothing sets that moment aside, such as Mars or Saturn within three degrees of the star, Canopy scores it 100 percent.
