Behenian Stars
Definition
The Behenian Stars are a canonical set of fifteen fixed stars treated as the talismanically operative ones in the medieval-Hermetic and Renaissance magical tradition. Each is given a planetary equivalent, a stone, a herb, and an engraved image used to draw down its influence. Cornelius Agrippa names them the "Behenian stars" in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, a word taken as a synonym for "Arabian," placing the corpus within the Arabic-Persian reception of Ptolemy's fixed-star catalogue. The standard list is Aldebaran, Pleiades, Algol, Capella, Sirius, Procyon, Regulus, Algorab, Spica, Arcturus, Polaris, Alphecca, Antares, Vega, and Deneb Algedi.
In Tradition
Practitioners hold that fixed stars cast no rays of their own, so a Behenian star works only through conjunction with a planet or angle. A planet conjunct a same-natured star has its signification strengthened. The fifteen are singled out from the wider catalogue precisely because the tradition assigns each a complete talismanic kit, making them the working stock of stellar magic rather than mere natal modifiers.
In Practice
To work with a Behenian star, first find its current zodiacal longitude, adjusting the old catalogue figures forward for precession, the slow drift of the star background. Check whether a natal planet, angle, or Lot sits within a tight orb of it, and read the star's planetary nature as colouring whatever that point signifies; a planet conjunct a star of its own nature is read as reinforced. For talismanic work, time the consecration of an object for when the star culminates overhead, ideally with the Moon well aspected, then engrave the star's assigned image and set it with its matching stone and herb, following the per-star recipes Agrippa preserves. Use the star's planetary equivalent to slot it into the rest of your interpretation. Treat the longitudes as era-dependent and recompute them for the chart's date rather than relying on the inherited medieval positions.
Historical Origin
The fifteen-star corpus is set out in the medieval Latin Liber Hermetis, dated to around the thirteenth century, which gives each star's nature, stone, herb, and character. Cornelius Agrippa added the talismanic images in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book II Chapter 47, and applied the label "Behenian." Francis Barrett's The Magus carried the material into the nineteenth century, and Phil Legard's modern survey gathers the sources together.