Regulus

Alpha Leonis — the Little King, the heart of the Lion

Position (J2000)

29°50′ Leo

Magnitude

1.36

Colour

Blue-white

Spectrum

B8 IV

Distance

79 light-years

Nature

Mars · Jupiter

In the sky

Regulus is the brightest star in Leo at magnitude 1.36, a hot blue-white star about seventy-nine light-years away. It rotates at roughly 320 kilometres a second at its equator, fast enough to be visibly flattened rather than spherical, and not far from the speed at which it would break apart. It lies almost exactly on the ecliptic, less than half a degree from the Sun's own path, which is why it matters so much in this tradition: the Sun crosses it annually and the Moon and planets pass over it repeatedly. It marks the base of the Sickle, the backward question mark forming the Lion's head.

One point affects any modern reading. Because of precession Regulus moves about a degree every seventy-two years, and in late 2011 it left Leo and entered Virgo after roughly two thousand years in the Lion's own sign. The calculator places it where it stood in the year of birth rather than where it stands now.

The myth

The Babylonians called it Sharru, the King. The Persians made it a Royal Star, the Watcher of the North. Ptolemy knew it as Basiliskos, the little king, and Copernicus supplied the Latin name still in use. It lies in the Lion's chest, and every tradition that named it treated it as the heart of a ruler.

The idea carried into the astrology is a specific one: not fame and not luck, but authority that is recognised rather than seized. With it comes the oldest condition attached to rule, that a ruler who avenges himself on his own people has ceased to be one. Every source repeats this in some form, and it is the only condition of its kind in the fixed-star literature.

What it gives

• Recognised authority The native tends to end up in charge of something, spoken of, and remembered, frequently without having planned it. Position here is conferred rather than taken.
• Ambition that arrives somewhere Unlike several other fortunate stars, Regulus is associated with ambition that reaches its object. The tradition rates it among the most favourable placements available, particularly on an angle.
• Largeness of manner There is a generosity of bearing that makes others willing to follow without being persuaded, and it operates independently of the native's actual rank.
• Nobility in whatever it touches Where the star falls, that faculty takes on authority: the mind becomes commanding, or the voice does, or the work of the hands.

What to watch for

• Retaliation This is the condition every source agrees on. Greatness under this star is withdrawn from those who answer injury with injury, and the withdrawal is described as reliable rather than possible.
• Elevation outrunning preparation The star lifts quickly, and the foundations are the native's own work. A rise that arrives before the competence to sustain it is the ordinary pattern here, not the exception.
• Pride following early success This is the commonest failure of the placement and the one its natives identify last.
• Brilliance of short duration The tradition associates the star with rapid ascent and, in some natives, with a career that burns hot and ends early.

How to work with it

Decline retaliation as a settled policy rather than deciding case by case. Stated positively, this star rewards magnanimity above every other quality, and the natives who keep what it gives them are those for whom forgiveness has become a habit rather than an effort made under provocation.

Build underneath the elevation while it is happening. Assume the rise will outpace readiness, and put in the ordinary competence quietly while attention is elsewhere.

Keep two or three people who knew the native before the elevation and are willing to say so. This is the practical guard against the pride the placement produces.

In brief

Regulus describes legitimate authority: position conferred by others, ambition that reaches its object, and a manner that makes people willing to follow. It is among the most favourable placements in the tradition and the only one carrying an explicit moral condition, which is that its gifts are withdrawn from natives who take revenge. Its ordinary risks are elevation arriving before competence and pride arriving with success.