Peacock, al-Ṭāwūs: the fixed star in astrology, its talisman and its election

Peacock star meaning: a name from the 1930s

The Peacock fixed star is Alpha Pavonis, the brightest star of Pavo, the Peacock, a far-southern constellation first drawn in the 1590s. In Peacock astrology the name comes first, and it is young. In the late 1930s His Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, compiling the Air Almanac for the Royal Air Force, found two of its navigation stars without a classical name: Alpha Pavonis became Peacock, from pavo, Latin for the bird.

Canopy gives the star the Arabic name al-Ṭāwūs, the peacock: a modern rendering, not a medieval star name. The older Arabic sky paired the star with Alpha Indi as al-ṣuradān, the Two Shrikes. Neither name comes from the astrological tradition, so the readings below are Canopy's, not classical ones. Nor is the Peacock one of the fifteen Behenian stars.

Where the Peacock fixed star sits: late Capricorn, far to the south

By tropical longitude the Peacock stood at 24°10′ Capricorn in 2025; its star page in Canopy, which gives the day's position, reads about 24°11′ on October 25, 2026, with magnitude 1.94.

The star lies about 36 degrees south of the ecliptic and never clears the horizon north of about 33°N, though it rides high over Sydney. Its degree still comes to the Ascendant and the Midheaven each day, even where the star itself never rises, and that degree is all Canopy tests: the Peacock "rising" in the app means 24° Capricorn on the Ascendant, not the star, which rises at another time even where it can be seen.

On the equal spans of the lunar mansions, the degree falls in the twenty-third, Saʿd Bulaʿ (12°51′ to 25°43′ Capricorn), a Mixed mansion in Canopy's reading. No other of Canopy's thirty-five stars lies within three degrees of it.

Peacock in astrology: a benefic star of Venus and Jupiter

Canopy files the Peacock as a Benefic star of Venus and Jupiter: a Benefic badge and both planets' glyphs on its star page, "Star: Benefic" on the Chart tab, and on a window, a benefic fixed star "of the nature of Venus and Jupiter".

The Today screen's Fixed Stars card names any transiting planet within two degrees of an aspect to a star. On a day the Peacock leads it, the card adds what to seek, public recognition and display, and what to avoid, humility-requiring situations.

Peacock conjunct the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven

Canopy calculates your chart from your birth date, time and place, returns the Peacock to its degree at your birth, and tests one aspect, the conjunction, within three degrees of the seven classical planets, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex and the lunar Nodes. A contact appears on the Chart tab under Other Conjunctions and opens the star's page, whose reading runs:

“Al-Ṭāwūs (The Peacock) brings fame, vanity, and the power to captivate audiences. When conjunct a natal planet, you have natural charisma and the ability to draw attention. Success comes through display and performance, though humility must be cultivated.”

One text serves every point, so the Peacock conjunct the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant or the Midheaven reads alike; the Descendant, the IC and the outer planets are not tested. A natal Sun within orb belongs to births from roughly January 11 to 16; on the angles, to about 21° to 27° Capricorn rising or culminating.

How to make a Peacock talisman: labradorite and lavender

Canopy pairs the Peacock with labradorite and lavender, the Gemstone and Herb on the star's own page. The classical Behenian lists do not include this star, so the pairing is Canopy's. Its Traditional Uses line reads: “Talismans for public recognition and artistic performance.”

A window's own page does not repeat them: its correspondence card reads "Correspondence data unavailable for this star", and its About Peacock row leads back to the star page. Canopy gives no method of making. For talismans of the star's planets, see the Venus talisman and the Jupiter talisman.

When to make a Peacock talisman: the Peacock election

In Canopy the Peacock talisman and the Peacock election are one search. A moment qualifies while the star's degree is within one degree of the Ascendant or the Midheaven and the Moon applies to it by conjunction, sextile or trine within two degrees. It is set aside if the Moon is combust, applies by square or opposition to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn, or closes on an afflicted planet, an undignified Mars or Saturn, or the South Node; or if Mars, Saturn, the South Node or an afflicted planet stands within three degrees of the star. The shared rules are under fixed-star talisman windows in Canopy.

Capricorn is the Moon's detriment, and a Moon in detriment, or in her fall, Scorpio, is turned away unless she is joining the star in its own sign. That exception carries every Peacock conjunction, as it does Vega's, at 15°38′ Capricorn. The Moon reaches 24° Capricorn by conjunction from Capricorn, by sextile from Pisces or Scorpio, by trine from Taurus or Virgo; only the Scorpio sextile is lost, leaving four approaches a month, each three to four hours long.

Jupiter, the star's second planet, is in his fall in Capricorn, so Jupiter within three degrees of the star, or a Moon applying to join him there, sets the moment aside. From about January 4 to 22, a Moon joining the star is combust.

A passing moment scores out of ten: 6 for a conjunction or 3 for a sextile or trine, 2 for the angle, and up to 2 for a Moon waxing and not void of course; the star's benefic nature adds nothing. A Moon in late Capricorn waxes while the Sun runs from late Cancer to the star's degree, so 100 percent falls between about mid-July and early January; otherwise a conjunction peaks at 90.

A waxing Moon at 23° Capricorn, not void, as the degree culminates: 100 percent, Excellent. Put Saturn at 26° Capricorn, in his own sign, or an exalted Mars there, and the same moment is set aside. A waning, void Moon at 23° Virgo as the degree rises: 50 percent, Good; at 23° Scorpio, set aside.

Windows last minutes. Capricorn is a sign of short ascension in northern latitudes, so the degree holds the Ascendant about seven minutes at 40°N, against nine or ten at 34°S, and the Midheaven about eight anywhere. Expect few.

Finding a Peacock window in Canopy

Open the Talismans tab and choose Fixed Star Talismans, or Fixed Stars in the Elections tab. The picker lists all thirty-five stars with their Arabic names, the fifteen Behenian ones preselected: tap None, then Peacock. Set the place and a range of up to six months, and tap Search Stars.

Filters narrow the results by the Moon's phase and motion, the angle and the lunar mansion; Saʿd Bulaʿ alone keeps only the conjunction windows. Results sort by Soonest or Top Rated, each opening as Peacock Talisman or Peacock Election, with al-Ṭāwūs, its score and a “Why this time?” list.

Questions