Ras Alhague, Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ: the fixed star in astrology, its talisman and its election

Ras Alhague star meaning: Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ, the head of the snake-charmer

Ras Alhague is a Western spelling of the Arabic raʾs al-ḥawwāʾ, "the head of the snake-charmer", and that phrase is the whole Ras Alhague star meaning. The snake-charmer, al-Ḥawwāʾ, is the Arabic name of Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer, and this star marks his head. Canopy reads the Ras Alhague fixed star in the Arabian tradition and prints Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ beside it on the Chart tab, the Today card and the star picker; its natal reading glosses the name "Head of the Serpent-Bearer".

Astronomers write the name as one word, Rasalhague, for Alpha Ophiuchi. It is one of Canopy's thirty-five fixed stars, not one of the Behenian fifteen.

Where the Ras Alhague fixed star sits: 22°49′ Sagittarius

By tropical longitude Ras Alhague stood at about 22°48′ Sagittarius in 2025; moved on for precession, its star page in Canopy reads 22°49′ on October 25, 2026. The degree falls in the twenty-first lunar mansion, al-Balda, the City (17°09′ Sagittarius to the sign's end, by Canopy's spans). Canopy gives the star magnitude 2.07.

The star stands nearly thirty-six degrees north of the ecliptic, so it and its degree rise at different times. Canopy measures the degree and does not check whether the star is above your horizon. Its signs are the twelve tropical ones, so the degree reads in Sagittarius; the hub answers whether Ophiuchus is a thirteenth sign.

Ras Alhague in astrology: a benefic of Saturn and Venus

In Ras Alhague astrology as Canopy reads it, the star is a benefic of the natures of Saturn and Venus. Its star page shows the Benefic badge and both planets on its Planetary Nature card, Saturn first. Label and planets are separate entries: Denebola, with the same two planets, is labeled Malefic.

When Ras Alhague is the Today card's leading fixed-star contact, the card says to seek healing and medicine and to avoid poison and deception. In Canopy's purpose elections, a benefic star's degree on an angle never sets a moment aside.

Ras Alhague conjunct the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven

Canopy casts your chart from your birth date, time and place and reads Ras Alhague by conjunction alone, its degree corrected for precession to the day you were born, within three degrees of a classical planet, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex or a lunar Node. The Chart tab lists the contact under Other Conjunctions with its orb and "Star: Benefic", and the star page gives the reading, drawn from the classical sources: "When conjunct a natal planet, you have the ability to understand and transmute difficult forces — medical skill, occult knowledge, and the management of dangerous materials are associated themes. The star grants wisdom through direct encounter with what others fear."

One reading serves every point: Ras Alhague conjunct the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant or the Midheaven, or a natal Saturn or Venus, the star's own planets. The Descendant and the IC are not tested. The Sun reaches the degree about December 14, so a natal Sun in orb belongs to births from about December 11 to 17.

How to make a Ras Alhague talisman: pearl, artemisia, Saturn and Venus

Canopy answers how to make a Ras Alhague talisman with materials and a moment, not a procedure. The Correspondences card on the star's page gives pearl as its gemstone and artemisia as its herb, and its Planetary Nature card gives Saturn and Venus. The classical Behenian lists do not include Ras Alhague, so pearl and artemisia are Canopy's own pairing. A window's page does not show them; its About Ras Alhague row opens the star page.

The Traditional Uses line there records the purpose: "Talismans for healers, physicians, and those working with dangerous substances; associated with medicine and serpent wisdom." That describes a tradition, not a remedy. Talismans timed to the planets themselves are other elections: the Saturn talisman and the Venus talisman.

When to make a Ras Alhague talisman: the Ras Alhague election

In Canopy the Ras Alhague talisman and the Ras Alhague election are one search under two names. It admits a moment only while the star's degree is within one degree of the Ascendant (rising) or the Midheaven (culminating), with the Moon applying to the star by conjunction, sextile or trine within two degrees: conjoining it from about 21° Sagittarius, sextiling it from Libra or Aquarius, trining it from Aries or Leo. Canopy refuses a Moon in Capricorn, her detriment, or Scorpio, her fall, but neither sign holds an applying aspect to Ras Alhague, so that rule never touches it.

Other faults do: a Moon within 8.5 degrees of the Sun, which rules out the conjunction for roughly the first three weeks of December; a Moon applying by square or opposition to any of the five planets, or by conjunction to an afflicted planet, an undignified Mars or Saturn, or the South Node; and Mars, Saturn, the South Node or an afflicted planet within three degrees of the star. Saturn counts even though it is one of the star's own planets.

A passing moment scores 6 points for a conjunction or 3 for a sextile or trine, 2 for the angle, and one each for a waxing Moon and a Moon not void of course: out of ten, Excellent from 70 percent. The star's benefic nature does not enter the score. A waxing Moon at 21° Sagittarius, not void, conjoining the star as its degree culminates scores 100 percent; the same Moon in early December, with the Sun at 15° Sagittarius, is combust, and the moment is set aside.

Expect few, short windows: an angle crosses a degree in minutes, and the search returns the best-scoring, not every moment. The shared rules are under fixed-star talisman windows in Canopy.

Finding Ras Alhague in Canopy

Open Fixed Star Talismans in the Talismans tab, or Fixed Stars in the Elections tab, where the same search is called Fixed Star Elections. The list shows all 35 stars with their Arabic names and opens with the fifteen Behenian stars selected: tap None, choose Ras Alhague, pick a place and a range of up to about six months, and tap Search Stars.

Each result gives the times, the Moon's aspect, the exact time and the score and, once your chart is saved, a line on your natal Saturn, the star's first planet. A window opens on a page headed Ras Alhague Talisman or Ras Alhague Election, with its reasons under "Why this time?" and an About row to the star page.

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