There are astrologers that believe that oppositions and squares work with stars ...well...Algol at least
for example:
Now to the matter of squares and oppositions: all too often when one expects to find Algol, at historical beheadings, for instance, or massacres, what turns up instead is a square or opposition to the star: for instance, when King Charles I of England was beheaded, the Sun squared Algol from Aquarius. At the St. Bartholomew's Massacre (of the Huguenots, 1572), Mars in Scorpio opposed it. 1945 Fire bombing of Dresden? Sun in Aquarius square Algol. This made me suspect that some other stars were actually the culprits in those cases, so I rounded up the likeliest suspects: zeta Librae at 25 Scorpio 17, beta Lupus, 25 Scorpio 18 (the Akkadians called Lupus "The Beast of Death"), and gamma Librae (Zubenelakrabi), 25 Scorpio 24; in China, this area was "The War Chariot" and "The Mounted Guard". In Leo, square Algol, is omicron Leonis (Subra, the Lion's Paw) at 24 Leo 31. Now for the squares from Aquarius: in the constellations of ancient China the area between 23 Aquarius and 10 Pisces was associated primarily with mourning and burial; some asterisms here had names like "The Lamentations", "The Howling Dogs", and "The Tombs". The alpha Equuleus and beta Aquarius area (about 23-24 Aquarius) is called "The Funeral Mound" - this certainly would jibe with the traditional Algol effect. This area of Aquarius housed Pluto during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, and Uranus at the Great Fire of London in 1666, and Mars at the terror bombing of London on May 10, 1941; the Sun at the fire bombing of Dresden (2/13/45 11 PM), the SaturnJupiter Great Mutation of 1345 (4/1, 12:03 UT) as the Black Death swept from Asia into Europe; Uranus at the start of the influenza pandemic of WWI; Jupiter at the Challenger disaster, etc etc. So it is not really possible to know whether those events are squares to Algol, or effects of stars like lambda & mu Capricorni, gamma Cygnus, beta Aquarius, iota Aquarius, etc. - or both! Besides, there is a sort of "via combusta" of heavy star influences that starts around 21 Taurus (and 21 Taurus 26 is Septile 0 Aries), then goes to 23 Taurus (Zanrak-Capulus-Gyrus), then Algol, then the very powerful Pleiades at 29 Taurus and next the Hyades at 5-6 Gemini, the Bull's North Eye at 8.2 Gemini and his "Royal" South Eye, Aldebaran, at 9.6 Gemini. Major news events of all sorts increase when planets tick these off; quakes, storms, wars, riots (especially race riots), summit meetings, nuclear disasters, plane crashes, floods, shipwrecks, etc. So it is difficult to isolate just one star; they frequently combine their influences. Just remember, if you see a square or opposition forming, dexter or sinister, to 25 or 26 Taurus, duck!
ye-stars.com/oldalgol.htmCaput Algol – the Ghoul, or Demon Star
Algol, or Caput Algol – Ras al-Ghul, the brightest star of the Gorgon's Head – has consistently and universally been seen as a malefic star that brings calamity and loss to humanity. On a personal level it means to lose one's head, in other words, it makes people act rashly, without forethought or due consideration.
Algol is such a malefic fixed star that its zodiacal position assumes the importance of a critical degree that must always be considered when looking at unfolding trends (eg transits, solar returns, etc.). At present Algol is at about 26° Taurus.
The Implications of Algol
The implications of this for natal astrology are that certain Taureans will have Algol strong in their birth-charts. Any Taurean born between the 15th-20th May will have at least their Sun conjunct Algol's zodiacal degree. So these Taureans will manifest the positive or negative traits of Algol.
At best they are very passionate and intense people who won't tolerate injustice. They'll have the capacity to deal with the intense situations life presents them with. At worst they will be ruthless, brutal and destructive people. These Taureans will feel Algol's influence on their birthday and any other time there is a transit to 26° Taurus. To a lesser extent, the other fixed signs will also feel the effect of the Uranus-Algol square, especially Leo's born 17-22 August, Aquarians born 14-18 February and Scorpios born 17- 22 November. The same applies to anyone (or any entity) that has a planet or point at 26° Taurus.
Apart from the Uranus square (see below for details), the only other recent transit to Algol was the Mars conjunction of 5-8th April. This period saw the US assume a much stronger role in trying to end the violence in Israel-Palestine amid fears the conflict would spread. President Bush announced that Secretary of Sate, Colin Powell would go to the region. Interestingly, Bush and Blair held their scheduled 'war council' on Iraq that weekend, but it was overshadowed by the conflict in Middle East. Powell, an Aries, left on the 7th, two days after his birthday, so Colin Powell's solar return for this year has Mars conjunct Algol (he – and any other Aries born around 5th April – would be well advised to, literally, keep his head down when in a war zone). Meanwhile the Israeli incursions continued and the violence over this period was the worst to date, culminating in the deaths of 13 Israeli troops and more than 100 Palestinians at a refugee camp in Jenin.
Long Term Significance
Now let's look at the significance of the long-term Algol-Uranus cycle.
Uranus forms its last incoming (most malefic) square to Algol, basically from February/March this year through to January/February 2003. (For those who are interested in specifics, the exact square is in force three times over this period: 7-24 Mar; 17 Aug to 11 Sep; 26 Dec to 16 Jan 2003.)
By looking at the past critical phases of this cycle we can get an idea of what's in store. But, given the symbolism of Uranus and Algol, we'd expect to see sudden, shocking events that have the potential to bring calamity, grief and loss for large numbers of people. These are likely to be either natural calamities (Algol), or political/ideological ones (Uranus).
World War II
As already mentioned, the cycle began with Uranus conjunct Algol over the period March 1941 through March 1942. (The aspect was exact only once during this period, from 27 Apr to 14 May, however, Neptune also trined Algol in May/June, while Saturn was conjunct in June/July and again in November 1941 and March 1942.) This was the stage of WWII when Hitler ordered a surprise attack against Russia with the largest land army ever seen (June 41), which, by November 1941, proved to be a crucial tactical error for the German war machine. It was when he proposed his "Final Solution" for European Jews (July 41), and when the first death camp opened (Dec 41). And it was when the USA fully entered the war once Japan attacked Pearl Harbour (Dec 41).
Cold War Crisis
The first outgoing square occurred over three periods, from October 1960 to January 1961, and again in August to September 1961, and finally from February through June/July 1962. (The exact square is in force two times over this period: 17 Aug to 1 Sep 1961; 29 Mar to 10 Jun 1962. ) This period was marked by events which led to the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 – Castro's Cuba aligned with the USSR, Kennedy was elected (Nov 60) and went ahead with the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion (Apr 61), the Berlin Wall went up (Aug 61), the Soviets began shipping missiles to Cuba (May 62). The missile crisis was the most severe crisis of the Cold War when the USA and USSR were a hair's-breadth away from all-out nuclear war. Another interesting fact is that the Sandanista rebels appeared in Nicaragua in 1961.
Middle East
The opposition was in force over two periods, from October 1980 to January 1981, and again from May to October 1981. (The exact opposition was in force two times over this period: 21 Nov to 6 Dec 1980; 17 Jun to 20 Sep 1981.)
The events of this period also have a strong ideological flavour. Saddam Hussein of Iraq sought to become the hero of the moderate Arab/Muslim world by going to war with the recently established fundamentalist regime in Iran (Sep 80), however, this proved to be an inconclusive 8 year war, the longest conventional war of the 20th century. Reagan was elected on a platform of making America great again, especially vis a vis the "Evil Empire" (Nov 80), and, around the same time an anti-Sandanista rebel army, organised and funded by the US, was established in Honduras (1980-81).
In Israel, Begin was re-elected with Ariel Sharon as defence minister (Jun 81). Sharon immediately launched an illegal and ill-fated campaign against the PLO and Syrians in Lebanon (this lasted until 1983 and left Israel's international reputation in tatters). The pretext for this was the shooting of an Israeli diplomat in London by a fringe PLO group that took their orders from Iraq. Israel also destroyed Iraq's only nuclear reactor before it was able to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Later in the year, President Saddat of Egypt was assassinated for his commitment to peace in the Middle East (Oct 81), while vice-president Mubarak miraculously survived the hail of bullets, assumed power, and remains President to this day.
Even from this cursory overview it's evident that current world events may bear some relation to this Algol-Uranus cycle. Taurean people and Taurean entities the world over are either responding to, or acting out, the energy of Uranus square Algol. The rest of us may well be doing the same if we have a planet or point at 26° Taurus or in aspect to that degree.
Twenty-two years after his first botched attempt to deliver a knock-out blow to the PLO, Ariel Sharon is at it again. (Sharon is a Pisces with Moon conjunct Algol and Neptune square it. Israel itself is a Taurus country with Sun close to Algol and Mars square it. While the chart for Palestine makes it a Libran entity with Moon close to Algol. Arafat, a Virgo, also has Moon close to Algol. And last but not least, Iran, which supports the Palestinians with money and arms, is a Taurus country with Mars-Jupiter square Algol and Saturn opposing it.)
Twenty-two years after the Iran-Iraq war Saddam Hussein is again the centre of world attention, and his response has been to attempt to influence world oil prices. (Hussein is a Taurus with Mercury conjunct Algol.) He also figures strongly in the Israel-Palestine equation, not least because he grants $50,000 to the family of any Palestinian who martyrs him- or her- self for the cause.
Meanwhile, Tony Blair, (a Taurus with Jupiter conjunct Algol) will need all his skills of persuasion to rally support at home, let alone abroad, for any proposed bilateral action with the USA against Saddam Hussein. Pope John Paul II (a Taurus with Sun-Moon conjunct Algol) appears to be fading fast, while the church he leads is embroiled in a paedophilia scandal. And Queen Elizabeth II (a Taurus with MC-Saturn opposing IC-Algol), lost her sister in early February and her mother in late March.
Finally, American readers might want to watch the US Attorney General (Ashcroft is a Taurus with Uranus conjunct Algol). I suspect that whatever new measures his office has the capacity to instigate will be ones that "necessarily" curtail basic rights and freedoms.
astrologycom.com/uranusalgol.htmlIn my Astrological Nativity:
Mars in 25'54 Aquarius
Alphard in 26'53 Leo
Algol in 25'47 Taurus
I have Mars square Algol with only 7 minutes of arc.
I even have them in square in 3D (taking also latitude into account) with 50 minutes of arc.
If I include oppositions to fixed stars, I have Mars oppose Alphard with 59 minutes of arc an an overall t-square with all aspects within 1 degree
Alpha (α) Hydra, Alfard, is an orange star in the neck of the Watersnake.
Alphard, Alfard, and Alpherd,—Alphart in the Alfonsine Tables and Pherd with the 17th century English orientalist Thomas Hyde,— are from Al Pard al Shuja', the Solitary One in the Serpent, well describing its position in the sky. The 17th century Dutch astronomer Caesius gave Alpharad, which on the Reuter wall-map was Alphrad; and a still more changed title is Alphora. The Arabs also knew alpha (α Alfard) as Al Fakar al Shuja', the Backbone of the Serpent; but the 15th century Tartar astronomer Ulug Beg changed this to Al 'Unk al Shuja', the Serpent's Neck; and it shared the Suhel of other bright stars as Suhel al Fard, and Suhel al Sham, the Solitary, and the Northern, Suhail.
The 16th century Danish astronomer Tycho first called it Cor Hydrae, the Hydra's Heart (in snakes the heart is located in the neck),— The Italian astronomer Riccioli's (1598–1671) Kalb Elhavich and Kalbelaphard,— which, with the alternative Collum Hydrae, the Hydra's Neck, is current even now.
In China it determined the 8th sieu (Chinese Moon Mansion), and was the prominent star of the Red Bird that combined the seven lunar divisions of the southern quarter of the heavens. Its longitude is said to have been ascertained there in the 19th century before our era, but the statement may be questionable; as also that it was observed passing the meridian at sunset on the day of the vernal equinox during the time of the emperor Yao, about 2350 B.C. It culminates on the 26th of March.
The Euphrateans called Hydra the "Source of the Fountains of the Great Deep"
Ptolemy states that it is of the nature of Saturn and Venus, but according to Alvidas it is similar to the Sun and Jupiter in sextile. It gives wisdom, musical and artistic appreciation, knowledge of human nature, strong passions, lack of self control, immorality, revolting deeds and a sudden death by drowning, poison or asphyxiation. [Robson*, p.130.]
Of a Saturn nature, however, there is a measure of influence of Venus and Neptune. This combination is of a disadvantage in most cases. Particularly matters connected with 'poison' are accentuated badly, e.g. blood poisoning, murder by poison, attempts of poisoning, poisoned hatred in women, gas poisoning, danger to life by wrong use of drugs and over indulgence of good living, smoke inhalation and danger of suffocation, snake bite, bites by poisonous insect bites, or bites from dogs with rabies. Danger is marked if either Sun, Moon, Mars, Neptune, Ascendant or MC are linked up with this star. A 'poisoning' is also possible in a relationship between man and woman in marriage. This is especially true in a male chart. On the material plane, nearly always unhelpful, though if the native is able to conceive it in the spiritual sphere, the Saturn-Neptune combination may give enlightenment. [Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation, Elsbeth Ebertin, 1928, p.50, under the name Alphard.]
www.constellationsofwords.com/stars/Alfard.htmlMaybe Algol seems to be so damned bad because the star is square Alphard!
Maybe squares work with Algol because of conjunctions and oppositions to Alphard.
If squares work with Algol, then why not Alphard and the other fixed stars?
Bernadette Brady's Star and Planet Combinations:
Algol
Magnitude: 2.12
Right Ascension:3hr08m10s
Declination: 40'57 N
Celestial Longitude: 26'10 Taurus
Celestial Latitude: 22'26 N
BV Colour: Blue-Green
Principle of Algol, the head of the beast, intense focused passionAlgol was called Ras al Ghul by the Arabs (the Head of the Demon), and they considered this demon to be the wife of the Devil. The Chinese called the star Tseth She, meaning Piled-up Corpses. In Talmudic Law, she is the first wife of Adam, Lilith who left him because she refused to be submissive to his needs. Lilith then fled Paradise and became a demon of the wind. She was considered a curse, as she contained sexual pleasure and was the cause of all wet dreams. Algol came to embody everything that men feared in the feminine. She is not the mother face of the goddess but rather the passionate lover or the whore. She is female kundalini energy. This star contains immense female passion and power, or the potential power of Mother Nature, strong but not evil.
Alphard
Magnitude: 1.98
Right Ascension: 9hr27m35s
Declination: 8'40 S
Celestial Longitude: 27'17 Leo
Celestial Latitude: 22'23
The Principle of Alphard the Heart of the Serpent, obsessionAlphard, as the Heart of the Serpent, carries the symbolism of the great serpent of creation and thus can easily manifest in our turbulent world as violent, untamed energy and/or emotional outbursts and even chaos. Nevertheless, to think of Alphard in this purely violent way is misleading, for only when its driving force is submerged in the unconscious will its expression be murderous and violent. Its preferred expression is through conscious passion focused, even obsessively, on a desired goal with strength and determination. It is the creative emergent energy of the void or chaos.
It just seems that astrologers put too much emphasis on the power of Algol and overlooked the power of Alphard.
Both stars are the alpha stars of constellations that represented monsters
My Alphard energy is actually strong in Declination
Moon - 8'31 South
Alphard - 8'31 South
I have them in exact parallel
according to Bernadette Brady (these are for parans only for she works with stars only with parans...she doesn't believe in projecting stars onto the ecliptic and doesn't seem focus on Declination nor Right Ascension even though Astronomers look at both)
for your Draconic Sun conjunct Tropical Algol:
Sun-Algol: To passionately link oneself to an idea or cause, to destroy or create, to seek the end of change. Knowing no limits to one's desire for intensity. Passion that can inspire or destroy.
my Mars square Algol:
Mars-Algol: Encountering crisis situations through actions motivated by one's intense passion. An obsession which may lead to a destructive situation but can also yield great creativity. A constructive, but also destructive, situation emerges
My Mars oppose Alphard:
Mars-Alphard - To have an aggressive aptitude in achieving one's goals. A passionate environmentalist whose desire to help can lead to damaging other groups. The ruthless action of an individual or group.
My Moon parallel Alphard:
Moon-Alphard - To have difficulties with receiving love and nurturing, a tragic mother figure. A ruthless attitude to life, a passion for one's own pursuits. A period when the safety of the home or homeland is at risk.
the interpretation for Moon-Alphard really hit home for me