Capulus
NGC 869 (Sword Handle of Perseus) · Perseus
Position (2026)
♉ 24°34' Taurus
Magnitude
4.30
Planetary Nature
Mars / Mercury (robson)
Robson: Mars and Mercury. The Sword Handle of Perseus (NGC 869). Position is the cluster center.
Spectral Type
Cluster
Appearance
A rich open cluster in the sword hand of Perseus, visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye
Name Origin
Language
Latin
Original Form
Capulus
Meaning
The Sword Hilt
Part of the Perseus constellation, associated with the hilt or handle of Perseus's weapon. The name is Latin. This is a star cluster (the Alpha Persei cluster region) and was known to the ancients as a misty patch. Allen discusses it in the context of the sword held by Perseus.
Known As
Capulus in Astrology
Capulus, in the sword hand of Perseus, carries Mars-Mercury energy of aggressive, focused determination. It bestows a penetrating, sometimes ruthless quality to the intellect and a willingness to cut through obstacles with sharp, decisive action. You excel in situations requiring bold, incisive intervention.
Mythology & History
Capulus, also designated as the sword handle of Perseus (sometimes identified with the star cluster NGC 869 in the Double Cluster), takes its name from the Latin for 'handle' or 'hilt,' referring to the handle of the sword Perseus wields. Its Mars-Mercury nature concentrates aggressive, incisive energy at the point where intention meets the instrument of action. To grasp the sword handle is to commit to decisive, potentially violent intervention. Ancient astrologers considered Capulus a star of focused, ruthless determination.
Perseus Context
Capulus sits in the sword hand of Perseus, the hero constellation that also contains Algol. While Algol in the left hand represents the trophy of past victory (Medusa's head), Capulus in the right hand represents the weapon of future action. The two together create a figure of the hero carrying both proof of past courage and the means for future combat. Perseus is one of the most dramatic mythological figures: favored by the gods, equipped with divine gifts, and tasked with slaying the seemingly invincible Gorgon.
Learn more about Perseus and its stars.
Natal Conjunctions
Find your conjunctions →Capulus Conjunct Sun
Capulus conjunct the Sun produces a personality of focused, decisive determination and the capacity for incisive intervention at critical moments. You possess the sword hand's quality of cutting through hesitation with ruthless clarity when the moment demands it.
Capulus Conjunct Moon
Capulus conjunct the Moon creates emotional instincts of decisive, sharply focused emotional clarity. Your feelings cut through ambiguity with the precision of someone who does not hesitate when emotional action is required.
Capulus Conjunct Mercury
Capulus conjunct Mercury gives a mind of ruthlessly decisive, incisively focused analytical precision. You think with the sword's quality of cutting through confusion at the moment it matters most.
Capulus Conjunct Venus
Capulus conjunct Venus brings decisive, sharply focused beauty to love and creative expression. You create with incisive clarity and pursue love with the directness of someone who does not equivocate.
Capulus Conjunct Mars
Capulus conjunct Mars amplifies decisive, focused determination into exceptional incisive martial force. You strike with the concentrated precision of the sword at the moment of maximum effectiveness.
Capulus Conjunct Jupiter
Capulus conjunct Jupiter expands decisive focus into broad, philosophically informed incisive leadership. You make the cutting decisions that others avoid with the combined force of philosophical clarity and martial directness.
Capulus Conjunct Saturn
Capulus conjunct Saturn deepens decisive focus into a lifetime of disciplined, precisely timed incisive action. You learn that the most effective sword strikes require patience before the moment of decision.
Capulus Conjunct Uranus
Capulus conjunct Uranus electrifies decisive action with sudden, unexpectedly incisive intervention. You cut through situations that others thought were frozen with startling, precisely focused force.
Capulus Conjunct Neptune
Capulus conjunct Neptune infuses decisive action with intuitive timing and the capacity for incisive intervention guided by inner knowing rather than rational calculation.
Capulus Conjunct Pluto
Capulus conjunct Pluto transforms decisive focus into fundamentally transformative, ruthlessly incisive intervention at the most consequential moments. Your decisive actions permanently alter what they cut through.
Capulus Conjunct North Node
Capulus conjunct the North Node orients destiny toward developing the decisively focused, incisively clear capacity for intervention at moments that demand ruthless clarity.
Capulus Conjunct Ascendant
Capulus on the Ascendant gives a decisively focused, incisively clear presence. Others sense the sword hand's quality of readiness for the cutting moment of decision.
Capulus Conjunct Midheaven
Capulus on the Midheaven builds a career through decisive, incisively focused professional intervention. Recognition comes for the ruthless clarity of your professional decisions at critical moments.
Paran Interpretations
Parans describe what happens when Capulus and a planet simultaneously occupy the four angles (rising, culminating, setting, nadir) at a given location.
Capulus in Paran with Sun
Rising
Capulus rising with the Sun marks someone who enters life with decisive, incisive focus and the sword's quality of readiness.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with the Sun places decisively incisive action at the peak of public career achievement.
Setting
Capulus setting with the Sun suggests a legacy of decisive interventions and incisively focused contributions.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with the Sun reveals deeply private reserves of decisive focus that power all outward incisive action.
Capulus in Paran with Moon
Rising
Capulus rising with the Moon instills early emotional decisiveness and the instinct for sharply focused feeling.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with the Moon brings decisively incisive emotional clarity to its most publicly effective form.
Setting
Capulus setting with the Moon indicates emotional decisiveness that grows more incisively focused with experience.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with the Moon conceals deep reserves of emotionally decisive, incisive clarity beneath composed surfaces.
Capulus in Paran with Mercury
Rising
Capulus rising with Mercury bestows exceptional early decisive analytical focus and talent for incisive communication.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with Mercury elevates decisively incisive thinking to the highest professional distinction.
Setting
Capulus setting with Mercury suggests a mind that grows more incisively decisive with decades.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with Mercury reveals hidden reserves of decisive analytical precision beneath measured speech.
Capulus in Paran with Venus
Rising
Capulus rising with Venus shapes early love with decisive clarity and incisively focused creative beauty.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with Venus brings recognition for beauty expressed with decisive, incisive clarity.
Setting
Capulus setting with Venus suggests creative expression that grows more decisively incisive with maturity.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with Venus conceals a private decisive aesthetic and incisively focused creative clarity.
Capulus in Paran with Mars
Rising
Capulus rising with Mars channels early energy into decisively incisive, precisely focused competitive action.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with Mars places ruthlessly precise, decisively incisive fighting at the apex of achievement.
Setting
Capulus setting with Mars indicates decisive fighting ability that grows more incisively precise with experience.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with Mars conceals extraordinary reserves of decisively focused fighting energy deployed at critical moments.
Capulus in Paran with Jupiter
Rising
Capulus rising with Jupiter expands early decisive focus into broad, philosophically incisive leadership.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with Jupiter brings peak achievement through expansive, decisively focused incisive leadership.
Setting
Capulus setting with Jupiter indicates growing scope for decisive, incisive action in the later years.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with Jupiter reveals vast inner decisive philosophical vision and incisive clarity.
Capulus in Paran with Saturn
Rising
Capulus rising with Saturn demands early discipline in developing the patiently decisive, precisely timed incisive action of maturity.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with Saturn achieves lasting authority through decades of disciplined, decisively incisive professional precision.
Setting
Capulus setting with Saturn builds an enduring reputation for precisely timed, decisively incisive contributions.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with Saturn establishes inner reserves of disciplined decisive patience and incisive timing.
Capulus in Paran with Ascendant
Rising
Capulus rising with the Ascendant stamps the personality with decisively incisive, sword-hand clarity and focused presence.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with the Ascendant projects decisive, incisively focused authority onto the broadest stage.
Setting
Capulus setting with the Ascendant draws others who sense your decisive readiness and trust your incisive clarity.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with the Ascendant grounds identity in deeply private decisive focus and incisive readiness.
Capulus in Paran with Midheaven
Rising
Capulus rising with the Midheaven launches a career defined by decisively incisive professional intervention.
Culminating
Capulus culminating with the Midheaven represents peak career achievement through ruthlessly precise, decisive action.
Setting
Capulus setting with the Midheaven indicates a career legacy of decisive interventions valued for their incisive quality.
At the Nadir
Capulus at the nadir with the Midheaven builds career success on hidden foundations of decisive discipline and incisive timing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the name Capulus mean?
The name Capulus comes from Latin: Capulus, meaning "The Sword Hilt." Part of the Perseus constellation, associated with the hilt or handle of Perseus's weapon. The star is known by 1 different cultural name across world traditions.
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