Arcturus, al-Simāk al-Rāmiḥ: the fixed star in astrology, its talisman and its election

Arcturus star meaning: the name al-Simāk al-Rāmiḥ

Arcturus is the brightest star of the northern sky, and in Arabic astrology it is al-Simāk al-Rāmiḥ, the lance-bearing simāk, the name Canopy prints beside the Arcturus fixed star in its star picker, its windows and the Chart tab. Arabic star lore knew two simāks: the other is Spica, al-Simāk al-Aʿzal, the unarmed one. What simāk itself means is disputed, so it stays untranslated here; Canopy's natal reading calls the star "the Lance-Bearer".

The name Arcturus is Greek, Arktouros, traditionally read as "guardian of the bear", a different picture from the Arabic lancer. In India the star is Svāti, which names the fifteenth nakshatra. It is also one of the fifteen Behenian fixed stars, each given a stone and an herb of its own, and Canopy's star search preselects all fifteen.

The Arcturus fixed star degree: 24° Libra

By tropical longitude Arcturus stood at 24°33′ Libra in 2025; on October 25, 2026, its star page in Canopy showed 24°34′, as precession carries it about a degree every seventy-two years. The degree falls in the sixteenth lunar mansion, al-Zubānā, the Claws (12°51′–25°43′ Libra), which Canopy files as Naḥs.

The star itself lies about 31 degrees north of the ecliptic, in Boötes: follow the curve of the Big Dipper's handle on past Alkaid and it leads to Arcturus. At about 19 degrees north of the celestial equator it can be seen from nearly everywhere people live, and fails to rise only in Antarctica, beyond about 71° south. It is a red giant about 37 light-years away, magnitude −0.05 in Canopy, and the fourth-brightest star of the night sky.

Arcturus in astrology: a benefic of Mars and Jupiter

Canopy files Arcturus as a benefic star of the natures of Mars and Jupiter, and here the app and Ptolemy agree: the Tetrabiblos (I.9) gives Arcturus the temperament of Jupiter and Mars.

Canopy's star page reads the pairing through the lance: no passive benefic, but a star that rewards initiative and the willingness to venture, the guide who leads others through unfamiliar ground, at sea or in scholarship and trade. Its Talisman Correspondences card lists what to seek under Arcturus, navigation, guidance and prosperity, and one thing to avoid: indecision.

Arcturus conjunct the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven

Canopy calculates your chart from your birth date, time and place and reads Arcturus by conjunction. When the star lies within three degrees of one of the seven planets, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex or either lunar Node, the Chart tab lists the contact under Behenian Fixed Stars, and the star page gives the reading, drawn from the classical sources: Arcturus "brings prosperity through navigation and journeys, whether physical or metaphorical", and "you find success through adventure, exploration, and guiding others. Fortune comes through movement and discovery."

That one reading serves every point, so Arcturus conjunct the Sun, the Moon, Mars or the North Node reads alike; the Descendant and the IC are not tested. The Sun crosses the star's degree around October 17, so a natal Sun within orb means a birth from about October 14 to 20. Canopy measures from the star's place in your birth year, about 23°47′ Libra for 1970. The Today screen's Fixed Stars card also names any transiting planet within two degrees of an aspect to the star.

Spica and Arcturus on one degree

Spica's 2025 position, 24°09′ Libra, lies only 24′ of longitude from Arcturus's, though in the sky the two are more than thirty degrees apart. So a natal planet within three degrees of Arcturus is nearly always within three of Spica too, and the Chart tab lists both contacts, each with its own orb and star page: Arcturus's ventures under Mars and Jupiter beside Spica's skill and harvest under Venus and Mercury.

How to make an Arcturus talisman: jasper, plantain, Mars and Jupiter

Canopy defines the Arcturus talisman by what it shows and when. On a window's About & Correspondences page, the Correspondences card gives the gemstone, al-jawhar, as jasper; the herb, al-ḥashīsha, as plantain; and the planetary nature as Mars and Jupiter. The star page agrees, and its Traditional Uses line names the purpose: "Talismans for safe journeys and prosperity through travel, using jasper and plantain."

That page opens "Nature of Mars (al-Mirrīkh)", since Mars is the first of the star's two planets, then the moment's tier and the app's summary: "Arcturus (al-Simāk al-Rāmiḥ) is a benefic fixed star of the nature of Mars and Jupiter." Canopy gives the materials and the minutes, not a procedure. The planets' own talismans follow other rules (see the Mars talisman and the Jupiter talisman), and electing the journey itself is a separate search: the best time to travel.

When to make an Arcturus talisman: the Arcturus election

The Arcturus talisman and the Arcturus election are one search. A moment qualifies only when the star's degree, 24° Libra, is within one degree of the Ascendant (rising) or the Midheaven (culminating), not the Descendant or the IC. Canopy tests the degree, not whether the star is above the horizon, and for Arcturus the two part widely: lying so far off the ecliptic, the star rises well before its degree in mid-northern latitudes and after it near and south of the equator, and even on the meridian its degree culminates before the star does.

The Moon must be applying to Arcturus by conjunction, sextile or trine within two degrees, which puts her up to two degrees short of 24°34′ in Libra, Leo, Sagittarius, Gemini or Aquarius, never in her fall or detriment. She must not be combust (a Moon conjoining the star at a new Moon near 24° Libra is set aside), nor applying a square or opposition to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn, or a conjunction to an afflicted planet, an undignified Mars or Saturn, or the South Node. The star itself must have no Mars, Saturn, South Node or afflicted planet within three degrees, and dignity is no excuse: Saturn is exalted in Libra, yet Saturn at 23° Libra still sets the moment aside, as does Mars, one of the star's own planets.

A moment that passes is scored on the Moon's aspect (a conjunction counts double), the angle, and the Moon's condition, best when she is waxing and not void of course: conjunctions score 80 to 100 percent, sextiles and trines 50 to 70, Excellent from 70. Neither the star's benefic nature nor the Naḥs mansion of a conjoining Moon counts. Say the degree rises while a waxing Moon at 22°50′ Aquarius, not void of course, applies to a trine of Arcturus: 3 points, plus 2 for the angle and 2 for the Moon, make 70 percent. Add Saturn at 23° Libra and those minutes are set aside. (In purpose searches, such as a wedding, a benefic star on an angle does add to the score.)

Windows last minutes: the exact crossing plus the time the angle takes to move one degree either way, at most half an hour each side and a few minutes at mid-latitudes. Libra ascends slowly north of the equator, so there a rising window runs a little longer than a culminating one. With Spica also selected, as it is by default, a Spica window and an Arcturus window can fall minutes apart. The shared rules are under fixed-star talisman windows in Canopy.

Finding an Arcturus window in Canopy

Open Fixed Star Talismans in the Talismans tab, or Fixed Stars in the Elections tab, the same search with its results called elections. The picker lists all 35 of Canopy's stars with their Arabic names, the fifteen Behenian stars preselected: tap None and choose Arcturus. Set the place (or Canopy uses your current location, then your birth place) and a range of up to about six months, a week by default, and tap Search Stars. The search needs a subscription.

Canopy returns up to fifty of the best-scored windows, sorted Soonest or Top Rated, with filters for the Moon's phase and motion, the angle and the lunar mansion; with Arcturus alone selected, filtering to al-Zubānā keeps only the conjunction windows. Each opens on its own page, headed Arcturus Talisman or Arcturus Election, with the exact time, the window's start and end, the hour and day rulers, both angles' signs and the Moon's aspect.

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