WHAT IS A STELLIUM?
The definition of a stellium is a hot (lol not really) debate between astrologers. There’s several definitions, but the difference between those definitions is that some are more loose or tighter than others. Here’s the definitions I’ve found (and it’s definitely not all of them!!):
Having 3 or more planets in a single house.
Having 3 or more planets, but three of those planets have to be personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars)
Having 3 or more planets if the Sun and Moon are in the House, or 4 or more planets.
Regardless of which definition you choose, I personally think all the definitions are valid in their own way, and stellia should honestly be examined on a case-to-case basis since there’s so many different combinations.
WHAT DOES A STELLIUM EXACTLY LOOK LIKE ON A NATAL CHART?
In this image below, you can see that in the 7th House, there are four planets clustered in there - Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn. Look for close, tight groupings of planets on a natal chart.
WHAT DOES A STELLIUM DO FOR ME?
Depending if you have a house and/or sign stellium, a stellium is an indicator that you will be extremely focused on a certain area of life or be expressing a certain sign to the extremes. A lot of bloggers (including me) will tell you that you don’t want a stellium, and there’s a good reason why. A stellium is crazy. And it is most definitely extreme. You don’t find a “normal” stellium. Normal stellia don’t exist. And if a stellium is crazy and extreme, it’s hard to control. And if a stellium is hard to control, it usually doesn’t manifest that great in life, but it doesn’t mean you’re doomed.
A good thing about a stellium is that while you can get extremely out of control and ruin yourself for eternity, you also have the ability to control your stellium, and yield great rewards only those with a stellium can have. A stellium also comes with an arsenal of beautiful talents and skills. Having a stellium can be your biggest blessing and curse.
A stellium means to have an imbalance within yourself. You have too many planets in a house, you have too many planets in the same sign. You don’t have equality throughout your natal chart. Your main objective with your stellium is to balance yourself and somehow find a way to control it.
How a stellium exactly materializes in a certain sign and/or house will be mentioned in Part 2.
HOW DO I HANDLE MY STELLIUM?
A lot of people (including me, yay) will probably tell you. “Oh, you have a stellium? GOOD LUCK.” and not tell you anything about how to deal with it. Why? Because dealing with a stellium is unique to every individual - and it should be looked as a case-by-case basis like I said earlier. There really isn’t a set, bulletproof way to handle a stellium because they’re all so different and unique.
But one thing a stellium does have is that there is a dominant planet in that stellium. I don’t know how to write this to sound all “mature and professional” but… think of your stellium as a squad of planets. And in every squad, there is a leader. That is your dominant planet in a stellium. I’m not saying that if you handle the alpha dog, all of your other planets in your stellium will be controlled, but life would be a bit easier if you were aware of which planet in your stellium is the dominant one.
I’ve seen different people say different things about which planet’s the dominant planet in your chart. All of these points can work, or only some. Again, case-by-case situation.
If your dominant planet is in your stellium, it’s the dominant planet of your stellium.
The planet with the most aspects (especially conjunctions) in a stellium is the dominant planet.
The first planet you encounter (lowest degrees) or last planet (highest degrees) in your stellium is the dominant planet.
These are just some observations I personally found to be good indicators of dominant planets. There’s a lot more out there, and it’d be nice if people added more indicators or anything in general about stellia!
Part 2 will cover descriptions on the signs and houses stellia. Part 3 will be about interpreting individual planets, aspects within a stellium, and just piecing everything together!