Spica, al-Simāk al-Aʿzal: the fixed star in astrology, its talisman and its election

Spica star meaning: the name al-Simāk al-Aʿzal

In Spica astrology the fixed star answers to two names. Spica is Latin, from spīca virginis, the Virgin's ear of grain, the brightest star of Virgo. To the Arabs it was al-Simāk al-Aʿzal, the name Canopy prints beside it in the star picker, on the Chart tab and on the Today screen. Al-aʿzal means "the unarmed"; what simāk meant the sources do not settle, so the name is best left as "the unarmed simāk". Canopy's natal reading calls it "The Unarmed One".

Its armed partner is Arcturus, al-Simāk al-Rāmiḥ, the lance-bearing simāk, and the two nearly coincide in the zodiac: Canopy places Arcturus only 24 minutes of arc past Spica. Spica is also one of the fifteen Behenian fixed stars, each given its own stone and herb by the talismanic tradition; hence its talisman and its election.

Where the Spica fixed star sits

By tropical longitude the Spica fixed star stood at 24°09′ Libra in 2025; on October 25, 2026, its star page in Canopy showed 24°10′. Spica is about two degrees south of the ecliptic, near enough for the Moon to pass in front of it. Some 11 degrees south of the celestial equator, it rises everywhere but the high Arctic, beyond about 79°N. Canopy shows it at magnitude 1.00.

The lunar mansions show how far it has traveled. The fourteenth mansion, al-Simāk, is named for Spica, but by the tropical spans Canopy uses it ends at 0°00′ Libra. Spica's degree now lies in the sixteenth, al-Zubānā, the Claws (12°51′ to 25°43′ Libra), a Naḥs mansion: a Moon applying to conjoin Spica is a Moon in al-Zubānā.

Spica in astrology: a star of Venus and Mercury

Canopy files Spica as a Benefic star of the natures of Venus and Mercury, on its star page and on the Today screen ("Star nature: Venus–Mercury"). The star page reads the pairing as both planets at their kindest: beauty, eloquence and skill, the abundance of disciplined craft, a star of the harvest and of reaping what earlier effort sowed.

Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos (I.9) gives Spica the temperament of Venus and, to a lesser degree, Mars; Canopy gives it Venus and Mercury, the pairing of the later Behenian lists. On the star page, the Talisman Correspondences card lists what to seek under Spica, harvest, success and abundance, and what to avoid, destruction and waste. On a Spica window's About & Correspondences page, the first line reads "Nature of Venus", then the tier of the moment.

Spica conjunct the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven

Canopy calculates your chart from your birth date, time and place and reads Spica by conjunction. When Spica lies within three degrees of one of the seven classical 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: Spica "is one of the most fortunate stars, bringing success, riches, and love of art and science", and "grants the ability to harvest rewards from previous efforts".

That one reading serves every point: Spica conjunct the Sun, the Moon, Venus or the North Node, Spica on the Ascendant or the Midheaven. Canopy does not split it planet by planet, does not test the Descendant or the IC, and checks only the seven classical planets, so Spica conjunct Pluto gets no reading.

Because Arcturus sits 24′ beyond Spica, their three-degree orbs overlap almost entirely, and a chart with Spica on the Ascendant nearly always lists Arcturus there too, with its own reading of the Lance-Bearer, a star of Mars and Jupiter: prosperity through journeys and through guiding others.

The Sun reaches Spica's degree in mid-October, so a natal Sun within orb belongs roughly to births from October 13 to 20. Day by day, the Today screen's Fixed Stars card names a transiting planet within two degrees of an aspect to Spica, with "Nature: Benefic" and the first two things to seek and to avoid; the full reading uses each planet's wider orb.

How to make a Spica talisman: emerald, sage, Venus and Mercury

In Canopy a Spica talisman is three correspondences and a moment. A Spica window's About & Correspondences page carries the Correspondences card: the Gemstone row, al-jawhar, reads emerald; the Herb row, al-ḥashīsha, sage; the Planetary Nature row, Venus and Mercury. The star page's Traditional Uses line agrees: "Talismans for abundance, artistic success, and knowledge, using emerald and sage."

This guide goes no further than the stone, the herb, the natures and the minutes: it gives no method of making. Nor does the window wait for a planet. A talisman made while Jupiter or Venus crosses Spica is a different election, which the Today screen will notice but the Spica search neither seeks nor scores. The planets' own talismans follow other rules: see the Venus talisman and the Mercury talisman.

When to make a Spica talisman: the Spica election

The Spica talisman and the Spica election are one search in Canopy. A moment qualifies only while Spica's zodiac degree stands within one degree of the Ascendant (rising, in the app's word) or the Midheaven (culminating); the Descendant and the IC do not count. Canopy tests the degree, not whether the star is above the horizon, though Spica lies so near the ecliptic that at mid-latitudes the star itself reaches the angle within minutes of its degree.

The Events search also looks for Spica: when its degree sits within a degree of the Ascendant, Midheaven or Descendant, Canopy counts it in favor of the four marriage purposes, proposals, weddings, first dates and friendships and alliances.

The Moon must be applying to Spica by conjunction, sextile or trine within two degrees. She must not be combust, nor applying a hard aspect to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn, a conjunction to an afflicted planet or to the South Node, nor applying to an undignified Mars or Saturn (only Algol and Alkaid are excused from that). Spica must have no Mars, Saturn, South Node or afflicted planet within three degrees; a moment that fails any test is set aside. The refusal of a Moon in Scorpio or Capricorn never touches Spica, since a Moon applying to 24° Libra by conjunction, sextile or trine stands in Libra, Leo, Sagittarius, Gemini or Aquarius.

A moment that passes scores 6 points for a Moon conjoining Spica or 3 for a sextile or trine, 2 for the angle, and up to 2 for the Moon's condition, full when she is waxing and not void of course; the total over ten is the percentage, Excellent from 70, Good from 50. Spica's benefic nature does not enter the score. A waxing Moon at 23° Libra, not void, conjoining Spica as its degree culminates gives 6, 2 and 2: 100 percent. Put Saturn at 22° Libra in that sky and the moment is set aside. A waning, void Moon at 23° Aquarius trining the star as Spica's degree rises scores 3, 2 and 0: 50 percent, Good, still listed.

Windows last minutes: the exact crossing, plus the time the angle takes to move one degree either side, at most half an hour each way and a few minutes at mid-latitudes. With all fifteen Behenian stars selected, a Spica window often comes with an Arcturus window minutes behind it on the same angle; each is judged alone. The rules every star shares are under fixed-star talisman windows in Canopy.

Finding a Spica window in Canopy

Open the Talismans tab and choose Fixed Star Talismans, or the same search under Fixed Stars in the Elections tab. The picker lists all 35 of Canopy's stars with their Arabic names, the fifteen Behenian stars preselected: tap None, pick Spica (add Arcturus for the pair), set the place and a range of up to about six months, and tap Search Stars. Scanning 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 Spica alone chosen, the mansion filter set to al-Zubānā keeps only the windows in which the Moon conjoins the star, the highest-scoring kind. Each opens on its own page, headed Spica Talisman or Spica Election; an empty range reads "The great stars offer no moment here."

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