Fixed Star – Altair

The first degree of Aquarius is a breath of fresh air after the stringencies of Capricorn, no disrespect to that honourable sign.  I hope one day to write about one of the Fixed Stars associated with the latter, but am starting with Altair, a Fixed Star which is at one degree of Aquarius, in the constellation of the Eagle.  This degree is topical this month, as Mars enters Aquarius today and the Sun enters Aquarius next week on 20^th January.  If you are new to this topic, you might ask what is a Fixed Star? Fixed Stars are those stars within the bodies of the constellation which form a fairly fixed backdrop in the sky and in our charts, as distinct from the planets, which wander.  I will be meandering in this piece, but start with Bernadette Brady (“Brady’s book of Fixed Stars”) who equates Altair with the quality of boldness,  and Alan Oken (“Complete Astrology”) who emphasizes its connection with Mars and Jupiter (which planets are presently sextile to each other) bestowing courage, generosity and self-assertiveness.  Both Brady and Oken draw from the same traditional sources, and are similar in their conclusions, and Oken’s chapter is a good introduction to the subject, while Brady has made it her speciality.  “Starlight Elixirs & Cosmic Vibrational Healing” by Michael Smulkis and Fred Rubenfeld was written in 1992, and I was guided to this book in early 1993 and have worked with it since.  This work included leading a meditation group which sat once a week for two years in 2000 and 2001. We recorded our impressions of each star in a book with a silver holographic cover, which I have just unearthed.  The picture of Altair painted by Smulkis and Rubenfeld, and obtained through Jon Fox channeling the Master Hilarion, relates to the forces of resistance, potential and flow.  It states: “Saturn can bring a great teaching that takes place in overcoming one’s obstacles and in having the courage to move forward.  Altair can bring a far higher vibrational level of understanding of this into one’s awareness.  The combination of Altair and Saturn elixirs is useful when working with matters that are not only physical but have some spiritual component of resistance.  This may related to deeper understanding of your own patterns or a difficult family situation that has been repeated over and over.  You may then find that there is not only greater encouragement, but deeper awareness of the higher principles involved.”  Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn and the old ruler of Aquarius and is therefore very connected with this cusp.  Resistance is the gap between observing our problem and resolving it or gaining the illumination which enables us to move on from it.  Altair is one of the brightest stars as seen from Earth, and one of the first to be described in “Starlight Elixirs”.  Elixirs are not the only way of working with these stars, direct observation and meditation being other ways, in case you are panicking that you don’t have any in your fridge.  Another book which gives pride of place to the principle of resistance is “Ecstasy is a New Frequency” by Chris Griscom.  One of the cornerstones of the philosophy of this book is the idea that “Where there is no resistance, there is no harm”.  The first paragraph of the first chapter states: “Surrender and resistance are coupled energies.  In linear terms, resistance is first, surrender follows, and ultimately the two precipitate ecstasy.  The moment we embrace any of these energies, the torch of enlightenment is lit”.  When we go into meditation sometimes, we can experience the expanded energies which show us a higher way of seeing things, and this can help us through the resistance, the karma, or the Saturnian obstacle (Saturn having been the prime embodiment of karma in the horoscope before the outer planets were discovered).   One of the fascinating stories about Altair comes from the Paris fashion guru Paco Rabanne, who says he came from this “crystal planet” several thousand years ago.  In pre-Atlantean days, he said “`I travelled to Earth from the planet Altair. I simply came to help organise civilisation on this planet. There is no great mystery to it. Logistically speaking,’ he added, `that trip was simply a matter of applied physics.’  This story appeared in articles from the early 1990s and he has written about it in his books.   Mars entering Aquarius today connects us with the electrical energy we need to move spiritually, and the Sun entering Aquarius next Thursday connects us more holistically with our higher intelligence and the star Altair whatever that should mean for you in your experience, if you should wish to work with some of the ideas it is associated with during the course of this week.  I had written in our star meditation book on stardate 16/1/2001 “We have in our genes a little of all the stars which have in our far past had strong connections with the earth people!”  I have no idea if it is true.