--- title: "Ras Alhague Fixed Star: Meaning & Talisman — Canopy" description: "Ras Alhague fixed star: Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ, head of the snake-charmer, near 22° Sagittarius. Its astrology, natal reading, pearl and artemisia, and its election." canonical: https://canopyastro.com/ras-alhague.html markdown: https://canopyastro.com/ras-alhague.md date_modified: 2026-10-25 publisher: Stellar Apps LLC app: "Canopy: Arabian Astrology (iPhone, iPhone Duo and Android)" --- A fixed star in Canopy # Ras Alhague, Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ: the fixed star in astrology, its talisman and its election Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ — head of the snake-charmer, Alpha Ophiuchi 6 min read · From the classical sources · Updated October 25, 2026 ## 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*](https://canopyastro.com/lunar-mansions.html#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](https://canopyastro.com/fixed-stars.html#questions). ## 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](https://canopyastro.com/denebola.html), 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](https://canopyastro.com/fixed-stars.html#the-fifteen-behenian-stars) 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](https://canopyastro.com/saturn-talisman.html) and the [Venus talisman](https://canopyastro.com/venus-talisman.html). ## 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](https://canopyastro.com/talismanic-timing.html#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. ![Canopy on iPhone Duo in Coffee Cream: at left, the Today screen's fixed-star card, with the Moon applying by trine to a fixed star, its nature and what to seek and avoid; at right, that star's own page, with its nature badge, magnitude, Planetary Nature card and current position](https://canopyastro.com/images/app/duo/coffee-cream/08-fixed-stars-today-800.webp) ![Canopy on iPhone Duo in Midnight: at left, the Today screen's fixed-star card, with the Moon applying by trine to a fixed star, its nature and what to seek and avoid; at right, that star's own page, with its nature badge, magnitude, Planetary Nature card and current position](https://canopyastro.com/images/app/duo/midnight/08-fixed-stars-today-800.webp) *On iPhone Duo: a fixed-star contact on the Today screen, beside that star's own page.* Find Ras Alhague in your chart, and its next window. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/canopy-ancient-arabian-astro/id6780314504?pt=638207&ct=seo-in-ras-alhague&mt=8&ppid=27c6fd93-918a-48f6-b7e0-0ee4b89bf83b) [Get it on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stellarappsllc.com.canopy&referrer=utm_source%3Dcanopyastro%26utm_medium%3Dseo%26utm_campaign%3Dinline-ras-alhague&listing=timing-planets-stars) Free to download · 7-day free trial where offered · then a subscription · **Supports iPhone Duo** ## Questions **What does Ras Alhague mean?** Ras Alhague is the Arabic *raʾs al-ḥawwāʾ*, the head of the snake-charmer: the star at the head of Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer. Canopy names it *Raʾs al-Ḥawwāʾ*. **What does Ras Alhague mean in astrology?** Canopy reads it as a benefic fixed star of Saturn and Venus, drawn from the classical sources: a star of healing wisdom and the power to handle poison. On days it leads the Today card, Canopy says to seek healing and medicine and to avoid poison and deception. **What degree is the fixed star Ras Alhague?** About 22°49′ of tropical Sagittarius: 22°48′ in 2025 and 22°49′ in Canopy on October 25, 2026, in the lunar mansion *al-Balda*. **What does Ras Alhague conjunct the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven mean?** One reading covers any contact within three degrees, to a classical planet, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Vertex or a Node: the ability to understand and transmute difficult forces, with medical skill, occult knowledge and dangerous materials as its themes. A natal Sun there means a birth about December 11 to 17. **How do you make a Ras Alhague talisman?** Canopy gives materials and a moment, not a procedure: pearl and artemisia on the star's page, under Saturn and Venus, and the minutes its degree holds the Ascendant or the Midheaven. The classical Behenian lists do not include Ras Alhague. **When is the best time to make a Ras Alhague talisman?** When its degree, near 22°49′ Sagittarius, is within one degree of the Ascendant or the Midheaven and the Moon applies to it by conjunction, sextile or trine within two degrees. A waxing Moon conjoining it scores highest, but for most of December the Sun is too close for that. **Is Rasalhague the same star as Ras Alhague?** Yes: Rasalhague is the one-word spelling astronomers use for Alpha Ophiuchi, the star Canopy lists as Ras Alhague. ## Keep reading - [The fixed stars](https://canopyastro.com/fixed-stars.html) — al-kawākib al-thābita - [The Saturn talisman](https://canopyastro.com/saturn-talisman.html) — Tilsam Zuḥal - [The Venus talisman](https://canopyastro.com/venus-talisman.html) — Tilsam al-Zuhrah ## The snake-charmer's head, on the angle. Canopy reads Ras Alhague against your birth chart and the day's sky, and finds the few minutes its degree rises or culminates, every reading drawn from the classical sources. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/canopy-ancient-arabian-astro/id6780314504?pt=638207&ct=seo-ras-alhague&mt=8&ppid=27c6fd93-918a-48f6-b7e0-0ee4b89bf83b) [Get it on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stellarappsllc.com.canopy&referrer=utm_source%3Dcanopyastro%26utm_medium%3Dseo%26utm_campaign%3Dras-alhague&listing=timing-planets-stars) ![QR code that opens Canopy in the App Store or Google Play](https://canopyastro.com/images/qr-get-canopy.svg) On a computer? Scan with your phone's camera to get Canopy. Featured in [Thrive Insider](https://thriveinsider.com/business/canopy-ancient-arabian-astrology-app/) --- *Markdown rendering of https://canopyastro.com/ras-alhague.html. Readings in Canopy are drawn from the classical Arabic sources; the HTML page is the canonical version.*