of Leo, giving it the power of the lion, signifying the strength of kings with large implications. The constellations of the royal stars were said to be fixed because their positions were close to the four fixed points of the sun's path. The sun was then surrounded by four bright stars at the beginning of every season. From this observation individuals began to denote them the royal stars. Uses The royal stars were used primarily for navigation. They were also believed to govern events in the world. Major disasters, breakthroughs, and historical phenomenons were seen as caused by the stars and their alignment in the sky during the time in which the event occurred. When the stars were aligned accordingly, favourable conditions followed, and when they were negatively aligned, disaster was predicted. Because Regulus was the most influential of the royal stars, events that took place while Regulus was in dominance were amplified and grave, foreshadowing destruction, depending on what planet or planets might be in conjunction with the star. Criticism The idea there existed four royal stars of Persia was analysed in a 1945 article in Popular Astronomy, where the idea was criticized as largely a relatively modern invention, and/or a misunderstanding of the original source texts. See also Archangel Astrotheology Four Dwarves (Norse mythology) Four Heavenly Kings Four Holy Beasts Four Living Creatures Four sons of Horus Four Stags (Norse mythology) Four Symbols Four temperaments Persian astronomy Tetramorph Notes References Further reading Calendars History of astrology Persian mythology Stellar groupings Technical factors of astrology