← Encyclopedia of Astrology · lesson 179/235
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, a brilliant white star in the mouth of the Great Dog, the constellation that follows Orion across the heavens. It is the original Dog Star: the Egyptians watched for its first appearance before dawn, which heralded the Nile's flood, and the Greeks counted the hot "dog days" of summer from its rising. In astrology it is read as a star of distinction — fame, honour and ambition, and the wish to burn brightly.
In the zodiac
Sirius now stands at about 14° Cancer. Like every fixed star it creeps forward through the zodiac by about one degree every 72 years, because of precession, so in a chart from 1950 it sits about a degree earlier, near 13° Cancer.
Its nature
Ptolemy gave the bright star in the Dog's mouth the nature of Jupiter and, to a lesser degree, of Mars: generous and expansive, with heat and drive behind it. The tradition said it brought honour, renown, high office and the trust of others — guardians and custodians were one old association. Older writers also warned that its fire could scorch, and modern astrologers usually put it this way: Sirius lends brilliance and ambition, and asks that the success it brings be carried with responsibility rather than consumed in pride.
In a chart
A close conjunction — within about a degree, or a degree and a half at most — is what is usually counted. On the Sun or the Midheaven, Sirius is often read as a wish to be seen and to achieve something that lasts; on the Moon or Ascendant, as a warm, bright presence others notice. With Mercury or Venus it tends to colour the mind or the talents with intensity. The star does not act alone: it heightens what the planet it touches already describes.