When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true, at least according to Jiminy Cricket from the lovely Walt Disney movie Pinocchio.

Stars have an alluring and entrancing fascination for us, but the fixed stars are much more than a bright light to gaze at in the evening and make wishes on. Fixed stars are potent additions to your astrology chart and can add a lot of information to your chart reading, once you know what they mean and what to look for.

Fixed stars are those that do not appear to move in relation to the other stars of the night sky. In fact, though fixed stars do indeed move (they have proper motion), their movement is so little that the sky you see today looks much the way it did thousands of years ago. Scholars such as Ptolemy were among the first to study the fixed stars. Ptolemy (as well as other notables) also charted the astrological meanings of the fixed stars; this can be a very captivating and absorbing endeavor. However, if you don't have the time to do an in-depth analysis, a basic understanding of the major fixed stars and their meanings can greatly add to your knowledge and enjoyment of astrology.

A fixed star in a prominent part of your chart, through a close (one or two degree) aspect to your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant sign will impart some of those qualities to your basic nature. In close aspect to one of your planets, it will affect the affairs of that planet (for example, Mercury your mind, Venus your love nature, and Mars your energy and sexuality).

Connected to the more generational planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, the fixed stars will affect you and your life through events surrounding you, and through the houses the planets are in.

First, let's start with the Royal Stars of Persia, also called the Archangel Stars. These are Regulas, Alderbaran, Antares, and Fomalhaut. Let's go through them one by one to see where they are located and what they have to say to us.

Alderbaran is at 9 degrees of Gemini and bestows honor, intelligence, and courage on any part of your astrological chart in which he resides. His Archangel counterpart is Michael, the head of all the angels, and a force to be reckoned with.

Regulas is at 29 degrees of Leo, and his meaning is one of fame, success, honor, and wealth. He corresponds to the Archangel Raphael, and his placement in your chart shows you where you can expect to succeed and accomplish all your goals. In a prominent part of your chart, conjunct to your first house of self or your tenth house of career, it can show great fame coming to you through your professional life.

Antares is at 9 degrees of Sagittarius and Uriel is the Archangel who matches up to him. Antares is a fixed star denoting conflict and a rash nature, in keeping with its placement in fiery Sagittarius, whose symbol is the Centaur, a half-human, half-horse. Where Antares shows up in your chart, it is a place for you to be aware that you might have trouble dealing with your emotions, which may be easily triggered.

Fomalhaut is at 3 degrees of Pisces and shows success as a writer or scientist and imparts a lot on creative mental energy. The legendary Archangel Gabriel is associated with Fomalhaut, and this fixed star may bring either positive or challenging energy to the part of your chart it inhabits.

Fomalhaut varies in its placement, since it depends a lot on the surrounding planets and influences around it. For example if Mercury or Saturn is conjunct, trine, or sextile Fomalhaut, the influences would be positive; if the aspect is a square or opposition, the influences will be more challenging.

And those are the Royal fixed stars in the heavens, and they give a lot of depth to your astrological reading. But there are other fixed stars to contend with, and while there are so many of them, they don't all carry the same amount of influence or impact on your chart. Let's take a look at some of the major fixed star influences, and then you can of course continue your study into all the fascinating details and mythology of the bright orbs of the heavens that shine down on us and light our way.

Some fixed stars get a bad rap, and they are considered to be harbingers of doom. That's a carry over of the way astrology was viewed in ancient days, when it had a more fated quality to it. Now astrology is seen by many astrologers to be more of an influence of energy on you, and your life, and in western astrology particularly, free will and conscious choice are the way an individual determines his or her life choices.

Caput Algol in Taurus at 26 degrees has long been held to be the most malevolent star in the heavens, and signals beheadings. It is now considered to be a point in your chart that shows you losing your head over something or someone. An aspect of Caput Algol to your Venus could indicate a tendency to fall obsessively in love with your paramours. If you have a tendency to be a workaholic and focus all your energies in your career, that would be shown by a placement of Caput Algol directly conjunct your Midheaven, your tenth house cusp, or your sixth house cusp, which is the sector of your day to day employment.

The Pleiades, the famed Seven Weeping Sisters of Greek mythology, may be the most famous fixed stars next to the Royal ones. The Pleiades have a long mythology behind them, and one aspect is the sisters' occasional envy and jealousy of each other. The most noted fixed star is Alcyone, long at 29 Taurus but just recently moved to 00 Gemini (due to the movement of the constellation).

Alcyone shows a place of sadness and loss in a chart, and she can tell us that we need to come to grips with our sense of competition with even those closest to us, as well as to let go of our attachment to the people, places, or situations that have passed from our lives and to move on and forge better and stronger bonds in our new circumstances.

Scheat at 29 degrees of Pisces shows endings in a chart, indicated a possible time of trial or tribulation, and impart a place in our charts where we may be prone to sadness or to looking at the negative connotations of a situation as opposed to the positive ones.

It can be a warning for us to not allow ourselves to fall into despondency or despair no matter how tempting it might be for us to feel sorry for ourselves. There is no situation that doesn't change or evolve over time, and if we remember that, we can bounce back from what appears to be a loss and look at the good things coming to us in the future.

Now on to some brighter and more positive lights in the firmaments.

Spica at 23 degrees of Libra is a bountiful and positive ray of light, and it denotes good luck and success in our charts. For example, if you have a job review or interview that is taking place at a certain date and time, and Spica shows up conjunct the house itself (or in good aspect to the Ascendant, the Sun, or the Moon) in a reading for that particular date and time, then you would know that whatever the outcome, it should be in your own best interests.

Vega at 15 degrees of Capricorn bestows a hopeful idealism on any part of your personal chart in which it resides. It also gives you an optimistic and positive way of dealing with the events and issues in the house of your natal chart in which it is placed; this goes for any of your personal planets to which it is closely aligned.

Deneb Adige, at 5 degrees of Pisces, imparts a poetic and dreamy nature to anyone who has this lovely and alluring fixed star near his or her Sun, Moon, or Ascendant. If Deneb Adige is in your third house, the house of your mind, imagination and ability to communicate, then you would be very inclined to enjoy fantasy and poetry, and perhaps have a tendency to daydream a little too much.

As you can see, the fixed stars add a lot to your astrological understanding, and are worthy of your time, attention, and research. The more you know about them, the greater your knowledge of yourself and your life journey will be.