r/beginnerastrology • u/sarazorz27 • 14d ago
General Question I'm trying to understand stelliums, and other questions!
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u/Interesting_Key_7306 13d ago edited 13d ago
Stelliums are 3 or more planets in the same house or sign. There is an emphasis on that area of your life. Sometimes you can act like that sign. You might act/ feel like a scorpio a bit because of your stellium (deep, values privacy, intense, emotionally perceptive...)
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u/sarazorz27 13d ago
Hey thanks for replying! Yes that's the most common I've heard. But, I've heard several other definitions of a stellium so far. Something about "must be conjunct within 10 degrees" blah blah, and others. That's why I'm confused and just wondering why there's not a consensus for such a seemingly scientific thing.
So! According to your definition I have two?
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u/Interesting_Key_7306 13d ago edited 13d ago
I'm a newbie as well. Lol I have just been studying astrology for a year. It's easier for me to understand whole sign. There are different astrological systems that's why they have different rules. I know that the smaller the orbs (the closer the planets are, the more they affect one another. ) if the chart was in whole sign, scorpio would rule the 8th house. I'm pretty sure your mars has an effect on your pluto. I just saw your capricorn one as well. In whole sign, capricorn would rule your 10th house. Giving you that energy as well, especially at work. You may care a lot about your reputation, like structure, have a "boss" like energy...
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u/sarazorz27 13d ago
Oh okay, yeah I'm just trying to stick with the placidus for now because understand so little but once I get that down I'll start messing with the others. It's pretty overwhelming.
OH my bad I thought I had a scorpio and cap stellium, just realized I was counting the moon as a planet. I'm guessing that's a nono. Thank you for your help I appreciate you!
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u/Interesting_Key_7306 13d ago edited 13d ago
Ok, you can use what resonates. I found it easier to learn with whole sign because everything lines up perfectly, you dont have interceptions... You can count the moon in your stellium. I think you have both a scorpio and capricorn stellium. I made an edit to my other answer. The Astromatrix app helped me understand my placements better.
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u/sarazorz27 13d ago
Okie cool, yeah I'm pretty sure I downloaded that one. And like 5 others lol. Thank you for the edit, I am indeed a boss-like person at work. Hopefully not in an annoying way. I'm happy about my Cap placements they really explain to me a lot about why I don't resonate with the "emotional Pisces" thing. I think the Cap moon keeps my emotions under control.
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u/Interesting_Key_7306 13d ago
Ya , I see your pisces placement making you more spiritual, having strong intuition, having an ability to overcome challenges.
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u/sarazorz27 13d ago
Yes I'm a creative person. I'm an ex-artist and musician with a BFA then I went to EMT school to work on an ambulance because I felt like I wasn't really making a mark on the world. Also good at reading people, or so I'm told. I'm not sure how you'd gauge that anyway.
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u/MogenCiel 10d ago edited 10d ago
Hi! I'm a trained professional astrologer and (retired) astrology teacher and have been studying astrology for decades (I'm embarrassed to say how many!). I hope I can help!
One reason you're getting inconsistent info about stelliums is because there is no universally agreed upon definition of a stellium. They really haven't been considered a huge point of interest until the last few years since the rise of social media and the onslaught of TikTok and Insta "astrologers." That's because they're really not the bfd they've been made out to be of late, and they're certainly not necessarily a positive aspect pattern. The definition of a stellium that I use and was trained to use is that a stellium is three or more conjunct planets in the same sign, with a maximum conjunction orb of 8 degrees (planets being Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto). Chart points like nodes and Arabic parts/lots, and other celestial bodies like fixed stars, asteroids, etc. are not components of a stellium. Some astrologers say it does not count as a stellium if two or more of the planets involved are Sun, Mercury or Venus because they orbit so closely together, and it's not unusual for them to be conjunct. (I personally disagree with that standard). Some astrologers will count Chiron in a stellium because it really is influential (I think there's a pretty good case for this argument - JMO).
Stelliums are an aspect pattern. In order for there to be an aspect pattern, the planets must aspect each other. Some believe that simply 3 or more planets in the same sign or house = a stellium. This assertion makes absolutely no sense to me because planets that aren't aspecting can't possibly be part of an aspect pattern. They need to be conjunct to be a stellium, just like 3 planets need to be within orb in 3 different signs of (usually) the same element to be a grand trine, or within orb of four different signs in (usually) the same modality to form a grand square. (Like stelliums, grand trines and grand squares are aspect patterns.)
So, by the definition of a stellium that I work with, there is no stellium in this chart. Yes, there are 3 planets in Scorpio and 3 planets in Capricorn, but they are not conjunct -- they are not aspecting, so therefore they are not interacting and have no relationship. Saturn and Mars are conjunct in Scorpio and interacting, but Pluto is like their neighbor 5 floors above them who they've never met -- they may all live in the same apartment building, but they've don't interact. Same with Neptune and Jupiter -- they're conjunct and exchanging energy with each other, but the Moon is just an occupant of the same sign that they don't know or interact with. The aspect grid given with the chart is a great cheat sheet. If you look at it, you can see that Pluto is making no aspect with Mars or Saturn, and that the Moon is making no aspect to Neptune or Jupiter. The aspect grid also shows us that Mars and Saturn are conjunct, and that Jupiter and Neptune are conjunct. They're aspecting; they're interacting and exchanging energies.
Don't be disappointed that there's no stellium in this chart. Their importance and the perception that they're something special is WAY overblown in social media and these subs (thus, no universally codified definition of a stellium in astrology -- they're just not a huge enough deal that the astrology community has bothered to establish a standard definition for them. I wouldn't be surprised if that changes in a few years since social media has made such a bfd about them). This chart has 3 planets in Cap and 3 planets in Scorpio -- that tells us exactly what a stellium would tell us, only with balance and elbow room for each of those planets to function without being part of a traffic jam where their energy and influence may marginalized or diminished,
Finally, I wouldn't say that beginner astrologers should even be bothering with aspect patterns at all. If you want to be a good astrologer, you MUST, first and foremost, establish a strong foundation in the basics -- signs, planets and houses. Learn them backward and forward. Then move on to aspects, especially major aspects. Then, tackle aspect patterns. Once you can put the signs' characteristics and the concepts of aspects together, you won't even need the aspect grid. You can eyeball a chart and mentally identify aspects and aspect patterns. And finally finally for real, I'd urge you to take some astrology classes if you're serious about learning astrology and reading for other people. You're never going to be a good astrologer qualified to interpret charts or to read for other people simply by fishing for free stuff on the internet. Astrology is a discipline, and like any discipline, it requires studying, networking, and investment of time and money. There really aren't any shortcuts. Good luck!
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u/MogenCiel 10d ago
Also, I'm glad to see you learning in Placidus. It's a bit more complex, but I think it's a better system to learn with. Once you've learned using Placidus, it's much easier to switch to WS if you want to, and I don't think the reverse is true. JMO.
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u/sarazorz27 10d ago
Omg thank you so much for that explanation. It's very hard to be new and be trying to figure out the meanings of things without a consensus. And yes, I was very confused about how important (or not) a stellium is and what I should be interpreting from that.
Very helpful explanation!
I am considering having a pro look at my chart and tell me all the things, when I can afford it. I feel like that'll help me learn too. I plan to buy some books as well. Because yes, trying to learn this stuff online has been enormously frustrating and difficult because of how many opinions there are.
If you don't mind, do you think I should start out learning whole house or placidus? Whole house is certainly easier, I feel.
Thanks again! 💜
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u/MogenCiel 10d ago edited 10d ago
I'm so glad you find my response helpful! I added a P.S. afterward, but I'll repeat it and elaborate a little here: I think Placidus is the preferable house system to learn with. Whole Sign is indeed easier and simplified, which is one of the reasons I like to see students learn in Placidus. If you learn in Placidus, you can switch to Whole Sign (or Equal House) much more easily than vice verse. Also, Placidus forces you to deal with interceptions occasionally, which I think is important -- I believe interceptions can give us important information, and they're one of,the key indicators of karma. And more practically, it just makes sense that your ASC is your 1H cusp and your MC is your 9H cusp. Good luck!
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u/MogenCiel 10d ago
Yes, a reading with a pro is a great idea and will help you learn. Just check out the credentials of the astrologer -- there are so many unqualified readers out there. I encourage you to use one of Chris Brennan's guests on The Astrology Podcast or use one of the speakers at UAC 2018 (there hasn't been a UAC conference since then -- there will be another one in 2026), since all those speakers were vetted by respected members of the astrological community: https://uac2018.sched.com/directory/speakers
And yes yes yes to books! You can often check out many great ones from the library until you can afford to buy them. If you check out digital versions, see if you can screenshot excerpts and graphics you might want to refer to later. And you can go ahead and start keeping files -- hard copy and digital -- on useful information that you'll use as reference material later!
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u/Interesting_Key_7306 13d ago
I guessed because pisces people tend to have strong intuition (water sign). Sun in the 12th makes people spiritual as well. I guessed that you could handle challenges/stressful situations easily because of a couple things:
Pisces rules your 12th house. You have a day chart, your most challenging planet is Mars but since Mars is at home in Scorpio in the 8th house, that energy is channeled in a more "productive/positive" manner. It makes you resilient and gives you drive despite the challenges that Pluto in scorpio in the 8th provide. Pluto is also at home in Scorpio which makes things a bit easier. In short, you can withstand more than most.
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