← Encyclopedia of Astrology · lesson 188/235
Vega
Vega is the brightest star of Lyra, the Lyre — in Greek myth the instrument of Orpheus, whose music could charm animals, trees and even the gods of the underworld. A brilliant blue-white star, it is among the five brightest in the night sky and rides high overhead on summer evenings in the northern hemisphere. Some twelve thousand years ago it was the pole star, and it will be again in the distant future. Its Arabic name is usually read as "the swooping eagle". In astrology it is a star of charisma, artistry and refinement, with a touch of the magical.
In the zodiac
Vega stands today at about 16° Capricorn. It moves forward about one degree every 72 years through precession, so a chart from 1950 places it about a degree earlier, near 15° Capricorn.
Its nature
Ptolemy gave the stars of the Lyre the nature of Venus and Mercury: Venus's grace and sense of beauty joined to Mercury's skill and wit. The tradition said Vega made people kindly, idealistic, hopeful and refined, though also changeable, and some writers added a solemn or rather showy manner. Modern astrologers usually read it as magnetism and creative gift — music, the arts, persuasive speech — and as the ability to charm and influence, which asks to be used with sincerity.
In a chart
A close conjunction — within about a degree, a degree and a half at most — is what usually counts. On Venus, Mercury or the Moon it often colours taste, voice and feeling with an artistic or musical touch; on the Sun, the Ascendant or the Midheaven it can describe a charismatic presence that others notice. The star lends its quality to the point it touches; the planet still speaks in its own sign and house.