4. dabarān دبران • the follower
An Etruscan carnelian scarab c 4th century BCE, via the Met Museum
Letter: د dāl
Indicator: Aldebaran, α Tauri is this station’s namesake and sole indicator
Plants: A specific signature is plants with spines that emit a milky substance (spurge and milk thistle are commonly cited according to various translations of Hermes on the 15 Stars). Also, plants with brilliant red fruits and/or flowers (al-Buni gives pomegranate as a classic example).
Substances: Orangey-red stones (especially carnelian, ruby and red garnet). Perhaps also lapis lazuli.
Animals: The bull, of course. Beetles, especially the sacred scarab. Also snakes and other reptiles. Venomous creatures.
Angel: اسواوس • Iswāwis
Like the previous station, the name of the 4th station is simply the name of its indicator star. Dabarān comes from the Arabic root {D B R} which gives us words related to the “rear” or “behind”—in this case “follower.” Really, he is “the Follower of the Pleiades” because he always seems to be chasing after the girls.
Tread carefully with this one’s magic. It’s typical magical purposes in grimoires are for sowing discord and hatred amongst people. There is also a recipe for a pest control talisman against reptiles and venomous animals given in Picatrix. The tradition working with Aldebaran the star is more auspicious. Its magic seems to be focus, goal and growth oriented, which can bring prosperity and accolades when directed towards those purposes. Al-Buni does not think this is a friendly spirit at all.
Below, I’ll expound upon some of these general themes:
He is often associated with warmth and heat and all the things that go with that: passion, fury, arousal, desire, inebriation.
There is a connection between him and the desert and, like the desert, he is associated with the extremes of temperatures—both hot and cold.
He does not shy away from conflict; some amount of friction is to be expected when the station is activated for one reason or another.
Despite his temper, there’s a big heart inside this bull. He may or may not be friendly in the moment but, really, his quest is all for love.
personal gnosis
In general, I have struggled to connect with the 4th manzil. In the past I’ve tried to approach him as the 4th station as well as through the techniques of fixed star magic, and have always felt a bit rebuffed. Aldebaran is an enormous presence—I feel vulnerable in his intense red light. This bull makes me nervous.
I think examining your own nativity can be a good way to start figuring out which stations and stars to start working with (and which ones might be a more acquired taste). In my case, I have Aldebaran in paran to Saturn as one of my hearthstone stars, a placement I share with many people on my maternal line. Maybe it makes sense that I would experience this star as such a mighty force—he is one of my ancestral guardians.
As I explained with 3 Thurayyā, my gnosis gathering session with al-Dabarān was part of a 5-day ritual in which I invoked the spirits of the each of the first 5 stations successively. The Dabarān’s ritual occurred the day after the full Moon, the first day of the waning Moon. I found it very fascinating to get to observe the Moon on both the waxing and waning sides of full (and I hope to write more about integrating lunar phase with the manāzil someday soon).
Observing the stations in a sequence was very enlightening. The length of each equal-sized station is just slightly shorter than the Moon’s average daily motion, which means that in general she is in a new station each day. When she’s moving fast, though, she completes the length of a station in less than a day, which adds up as you go. In late November 2023, the Moon was moving fast. This means that when she rose in my location on 27 November (the night of the full Moon) she was in the 3rd manzil, but when she rose on 28 November she was already on the cusp of the 5th! Divination led me to work with one station a night centered on the station she was in when she rose on the night of the full Moon (station 3). [1] What this might lose in astronomical accuracy, it gains in the ability to embody the passage of the Moon by observation.
On this, the fourth night, I lit my candle, suffumigated my phylactery with incense and performed the Invocation of the Moon.
grunting. the crunch of grass and gravel under hooves. the smell of animal sweat. endless inky darkness. no sight except a faint astigmatic sparkle in the distance.
“I am the pursuer, the chaser,
the bull-eyed driver of desire.
my eyes are narrowed to their singular purpose,
my heart holds nothing but questing.
i want, let me teach you to have.”
I performed this gnosis session at the altar to the Moon goddess my girlfriend, River, had built at her apartment. I didn’t intend it to be like that, but the way the day ended up working out I spent the night at her place that evening, so we did the gnosis gathering session together. Her vision was of blue-shelled clams which held an inviting pool of water to swim into.
Despite trying a couple of different ways before, this was the first meeting I had invited Iswāwis to that I actually felt the spirit attend. In contrast to the chorus of Abūlsīth’s women, he was singular and extremely masculine. His voice came to me in a deep rumble. The vision he brought me was very sensorily rich but, in comparison to the other spirits of the stations, he did not come with many words to say. In my case, I saw almost nothing in his vision except a faint glimmer far in the distance. It was interesting to do this session with River because Dabarān is actually her rising station, and her experience of its energy was very different from mine. He gave her the vision of warm, humid beachside scene. She described his energy as inviting, sparking her curiosity. Her vision depicted the entrance to a kind of quest into the oceanic clamshell portals.
The Tarot reading we were delivered found the World at the heart of this station, an indication of its all-encompassing questing nature. What Iswāwis wants, you shall find. We also received 4 Homeromanteion tokens:
“Speaking good things, but they were contriving evil things in their hearts.”
“I am the very man, back home now after many toils.”
“Or will you alter your purpose? The hearts of the good are flexible.”
“Of a truth child, there’s nothing really wrong with this.”
The Dabarān speaks of the aching wants of the heart, the endless quest for the object of desire. To me, there is deep care and concern in the heart of this station. It can be violent, aggressive, even ruthless in pursuit of its goals, but there is a big heart behind those big eyes.
My encounter with the spirit of the 4th station was intense but fleeting. Though his vision filled me with intense longing and hunger, it also dissipated quickly. I was able to spend the rest of my night in peace, I wasn’t left feeling unsettled or shaken despite how strong he came on. River and I agreed that, to us, Iswāwis seemed to be a distinctly masculine spirit. I thought he had real loverboy vibes!
The song that arose for me in connection to al-Dabarān is called “My Palestine Girl,” a song I haven’t been able to find much about but that has arisen numerous times for me in connection with The Follower.
My gnosis work with this station came about on the 51st day of the ongoing genocide being committed in Gaza by the state of Israel—this essay is being published after 1 year, 2 months, and 3 days of this ethnic cleansing. I’m sorry to say that this essay is being published after more than a year of constant siege on civilians, war crimes which have now spread to Lebanon and Syria as well. The album “My Palestine Girl” comes from is just over 10 years old but its themes of falling love amidst state repression are perhaps more salient now than ever before.
Talking about the ongoing genocide is uncomfortable and taking a stance publicly will never be a popular choice. I find it interesting, then, that this is the song that Dabarān chose to represent itself in my work. The song is filled with erotic longing, but also concern for the safety of the singer’s lover. I believe the 4th manzil is an ally to those refusing to accept the dehumanizing narratives being pushed by major global powers against the Palestinian people. Iswāwis drives us not to look away from the horrors being committed but instead to take a stand against them.
As you read this essay, consider making a donation to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, any of the organizations still accepting donations despite the ongoing blockade or directly to Palestinians in crisis through any of the many, many crowdfunding campaigns available on social media. Take some time to update yourself on Israel’s war on Gaza and its history, and say a prayer for the people of Gaza and all Palestinians whose lives have been impacted by this ongoing ethnic cleansing.
on al-dabarān • الدبران
The indicator of The Follower, α Tauri, is one of the brightest and reddest stars in the sky and so its redness really is at the heart of its cross-cultural interpretive meaning. I think it’s interesting to observe the way that the station has a generally negative connotation among Islamicate and Latinate astrologers but is considered to be perhaps the most auspicious in India (and nearly the opposite could be said for Thurayyā in comparison to its Indian counterpart Kṛttikā). In a way it comes down to different takes on the star’s redness—is Aldebaran a warm, cozy, amorous red, or is it a hot, furious red?
“The Apis Bull” (1820) by Giovanni Belzoni, from Plates illustrative of the researches and operations in Egypt and Nubia, via Wikimedia
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In the tradition of Hermes on the 15 Stars • De Quindecim Stellis, the star Aldebaran is said to be associated with spurge. Traditionally, this was often also translated as milky thistle and, even though that probably isn’t the accurate identification of the plant in question, the comparison does make sense and has served our practitioner-ancestors for many generations. The traits of spurge that I have drawn out to connect with Dabarān are that it is succulent and/or xerophytic and that it emits a toxic milky white latex that seeps from the slightest wound. It is very irritating to the skin and dries extremely quickly when exposed to air (which makes it hard to remove from your skin/fur). If you get it in your eyes, it can cause severe damage, including permanent blindness, without immediate medical attention.
Al-Dabarān appears to be connected to spiny or thorny plants, as well. As anyone who has spent time in the desert can tell you, there are many sharp, prickly plants out here. Any number of them could be approached in a working with the 4th station! I myself have been experimenting with using all manner of desert plants and succulents with him—there are many succulents who happily grow in pots indoors that could be used as allies in building altars to Iswāwis. I’m especially interested in a potential correspondence between station 4 and the desert plant ocotillo who thrives in my bioregion.
Aside from these desert-y significations, the 4th station is strongly associated with the color red, with Aldebaran being one of the brightest and reddest stars in the night sky. In comparison with the other famously red station indicator, Antares (indicator of 19 Qalb), Aldebaran is a more of an orangey red while Antares is a darker, almost brownish red. I tend to follow this distinction when seeking correspondences with the red stations. I feel like carnelian is the best encapsulation of the color of Dabarān in a stone, which is why I chose the image of the carnelian scarab at the top of this page to represent it. It really captures its orangey-ness!
The station’s redness also applies to the plant and animal kingdoms as well. Al-Buni gives pomegranate peel as an incense for it, but any plant with red flowers or fruits could work. I think the red of hibiscus is another good example—and it also has that same sweet-tart flavor that pomegranates have. I haven’t tried it, but I think água de jamaica would make a good offering when working with the more benevolent side of Iswāwis (after all, hibiscus is known for its strong support for cardiovascular health).
Speaking of Iswāwis, I find his name quite interesting. Investigating the etymology of angel names is hopeless in an academic sense, but can be interesting for esoteric contemplation. His name feels to me like it could be related to the three consonant root {S W S} which gives us words related to “management” or “directing” (as in directing employees to do something) as well as a common Arabic word that means policy, politics, or administration depending on context (siyāsa • سياسة) as well as the terms for politician and diplomat.
In the Invocation of the Moon from PGM VII 756-94, the 4th symbol of the Moon is the scarab, the sacred solar bug. This is a correspondence I’ve explored a bit in my own work with the Follower. While preparing this essay, I did a personal deep dive into scarab amulets in Egyptian culture. These amulets sometimes took the actual shape of a scarab beetle, but were equally as common to only represent the insect in a metaphorical sense. The image at the top of this post of the carnelian amulet is an example of such an artifact—the only leftover resemblance the stone has to the beetle is its general oval shape. These amulets are one of the most commonly found artifacts of Ancient Egypt, which really speaks to their lasting popularity throughout the centuries, and often had protective qualities. As I build my personal spellbook of lunar station magic, I intend to write some more about crafting a scarab amulet under the auspices of Iswāwis and the 4th manzil.
a collection of star lore
In comparison to the incomparable impact of the Pleiades on cultures across the globe, I have discovered a bit less about Aldebaran. Often its stories are related to its proximity to the Pleiades (as I’ve discussed above) but also as it relates to the Hyades, an open cluster like the Pleiades that Aldebaran seems to rest in. [2] I found it interesting to find that, astronomically, Aldebaran isn’t actually related to that cluster at all, it just appears to be a part of it because of the perspective we observe it from. Despite confirming this astronomical fact relatively recently, there are numerous indications that ancient peoples actually saw Aldebaran and the Hyades as distinct entities that co-occupied a region of the sky. As an example, al-Buni describes the station, al-Dabarān at great length in the Shams al-Ma’arif and includes a separate note about the Hyades, calling them al-nawq al-ṣighar “the small camels.” The image it conjures for me is that of our red chasing the twinkling Pleiades while just happening to be surrounded by a herd of little camels. These stories mark those three as a distinct figures, a fact that is corroborated over 1000 years later by astronomers. Isn’t that fascinating?
Al-Buni also passes down to us the rhyming-in-Arabic aphorism “when Dabarān rises, crops scorch and streams dry up” which would have been familiar to many in the Arabic-speaking world. As I’ve said, his scorching nature is comes through very strongly at the forefront of Arab starlore. On the other hand, the Sanskrit name for Aldebaran is Rohini, who was especially famous because, out of the Moon’s 27 wives, she was the favorite. Defouw and Svoboda explain that Rohini was considered the favorite because she was so especially beautiful and charming (as well as skilled “in the conjugal arts” which I assume means sexual prowess). The Indian perspective on the 4th station is especially feminine, something to take into account as we ponder the presence of gender among the stars. [3] I’d like to especially shout out JM Hamade’s recent book, Procession of the Night Theatre: an Exposition on the Lunar Stations, as a place to learn more about resolving some of the apparent contradictions between Indian and Arab takes on the stations (both in general, and especially as it relates to this one).
Aldebaran is depicted on a 4500 year old star map discovered in Malta called the Tal-Qadi Sky Tablet. As one of the 7 brightest objects closest to the ecliptic, Aldebaran taught our ancient ancestors how to observe the passage of time through the rotation of the ecliptic and was likely integral to the observation and prediction of eclipses.
Among the Anishinaabe, the macro-group of peoples indigenous to the area called The Great Lakes in English, Aldebaran was one of the brightest stars of the very large constellation called Biiboonkeonini, the Winter Maker, representing one of his hands. The Anishinaabe have a tradition of winter stories which can only be told when there is snow on the ground and Biiboonkeonini is a key part of astronomically predicting when these stories are appropriate to be told (breaking this cultural taboo is known to lead to being taken advantage of by trickster spirits). Some Anishinaabe also give this constellation a different name in the summer, which relates specifically to Nanabozho, the Anishinaabe trickster hero. Rather than “following” Bagonegiizhig (who we call The Pleiades), the Anishinaabe saw this constellation as pointing to it. [4]
Notes
[1] Interestingly this problem was also identified in Chinese culture. They used a constellational system, in which the stations were of extremely unequal lengths, meaning that the Moon could often transit 2 or 3 of their stations in a single day. To solve this problem, they assigned each day to a different station in order. In practice, the xiù appear to be used in a way that uses an extremely astronomically accurate constellational system as its theoretical basis, but a one-xiù-per-day system in a practical sense. That’s where I got the idea for how to approach this technical issue!
[2] Read more about the astronomy of Aldebaran and the Hyades. The Hyades in particular are one of the closest open clusters to Earth and has been intensely investigated at this point.
[3] Hart Defouw and Robert Svoboda. 1996. Light on Life: An Introduction to the Astrology of India. Chapter 8: The Nakshatras.
[4] These stories are conveyed with much gratitude from the following sources: Carl Gawboy, Winona Ominika, Michael Wassegijig Price, Zhaawan, and Annette S. Lee’s Native Skywatcher project and especially its Ojibwe Giizhig Anung Masinaaigan • Ojibwe Sky Map. I share this information with the intent of showing a glimpse of the depth cultural knowledge regarding the stars and reminding my fellow astrologers that our stories are not the only kinds of stellar relationships out there.