A stellium is when four or more planets are all in one sign or house of a chart. There are different types of stelliums, some which everyone has. Let's go over some of them and what they do.
To understand some part of this article, you might need to read these two lessons on Planets in Signs One and Two.
Stelliiums involving Sun, Mercury, and Venus
This is the most common type of stellium, because Mercury and Venus follow the Sun around. This means that they're often in the same sign as a person's Sun, Mercury a little more than Venus.
If you're a millennial who is a Capricorn or Scorpio, you've got a pretty good chance of having a stellium in your Sun sign. This is because your generational planets are already in those signs. If three personal planets are also found there, then, ta-da!, you have a stellium. Even if you're not a millennial Capricorn or Scorpio, if you have these three planets conjunct another planet, then you have a stellium.
When your Mercury and Venus are in the same sign as your Sun, it means that your communications and aesthetics operate in the same archetype as your creativity. How this manifests depends completely on the sign itself.
If these three planets are in Aries, for example, the Sun becomes exalted while Venus is debilitated, putting pressure on how you want to be versus how you want to appear to others. Because it's Aries, your planets can compete for dominance. If these three planets are in Capricorn, you have a better chance of getting the planets to work together. If in Scorpio, the stellium might make you extremely focused with the debilitated Venus, again, deciding much of the action. In Pisces, a stellium may provoke paradox after paradox.
Pay attention to what order the Sun, Mercury, and Venus are in as well. The order they run in will tell you about your creative process.
If a planet is too close to the Sun, it will be combust, meaning that it gets wrapped up with your creation of your own energy and ego. If Mercury is combust, your thinking, speaking, and writing skills might be something you completely identify yourself with.
Planetary Stelliums that don't involve the Sun
These stelliums are much more rare. If you have Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars conjunct another planet, then the type of stellium you have is caused by a phenomenon called the Great Conjunction. Conjunctions between planets actually happen according to a finely tuned pattern, proceeding clockwise around the wheel.
When you have this type of stellium, your privileges and oppressions (Jupiter and Saturn) come out in the same way. You may feel privileged by your oppression or oppressed by your privilege. With Mars added to the mix, there a lot of head butting that you're doing to deal with all of this.
You will find people in your same generation who were born on the same conjunctions. Because Jupiter and Saturn are social planets, it's helpful to seek those people out and talk to them. This stellium is about issues bigger than your personal identity. Always find means of support.
These two types of stelliums are not exclusionary, by the way. You might have your Sun, Mercury, and Venus conjunct another conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. Mars might be involved in your generational planets. You'd have to tailor your interpretation of these stelliums to what planets are involved, what cycles the planets make, and whether they create any patterns in yourself or your generation. These are just the two most common types of stelliums.
When you read your stellium, make sure to distinguish between personal planets and generational ones. I'll tell you why in the following section.
The other thing about stelliums, is that, in actuality, everyone has one. There's a bunch of objects in the sky and, with all the asteroid and comets, it's more rare to not have a stellium than to have one. However, planetary stelliums differ from other stelliums because planets have rulership.
Rulerships and Stelliums
When a bunch of your planets are in one part of your chart, the houses that those planets rule over always come back to the same area of life. This is one of the most important things about stelliums.
For example, if someone had Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto all in Scorpio in the fifth house, then Mars actually deposits every single other planet in the stellium except Pluto. Pluto's influence, then, would be to find ways of excavating the personal identity that Mars comes up with.
This stellium might look like the following: someone who is extraordinarily creative tends to get completely wrapped up in their personal vision for who they want to be. Every talent they have, every skill they develop, and every gift they accept bring them closer to authenticity. However, their authentic persona is constantly destroyed and demanded to be rebuilt according to changing societal values.
The third and tenth houses, beginning with Taurus and Libra (and ruled by Venus), will rely on the fifth house. Thinking and goals come down to this personal vision. The second house, ruled by the Sun, rely on the fifth house, meaning that the personal vision is responsible for the state of this person's resources. The ninth and twelfth houses, ruled by Mercury, will also depend on the fifth house. The politics and subconscious environment of this person will be dependent on their own willpower. Lastly, the fourth house, ruled by Mars, is also impacted by the fifth.
In this scenario, this person has almost every house of their chart riding on the persona they create and how that persona disrupts or creates social values. They might process their entire being through their creativity.
Distinguish between personal and generational planets, because your personal planets will have rulership over some area of your chart. The personal planets build the structure of the stellium itself. The generational planets have more affect over the entire stellium. They show the inevitable changes happening in the general zeitgeist that influence your stellium.
Transits and Stelliums
When you have a stellium, transits will affect you all at once. When a planet like Saturn or Jupiter conjuncts, squares, or opposes on planet in the stellium, they will have the same aspect to every single other planet in the stellium.
Think of a bunch of dominos being knocked down at once, one after the other. Everything happens at the same time.
When Saturn returns for someone born on a Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Chiron conjunction, then that return impacts a lot more than just their sense of responsibility. It also impacts their politics, agency, and how they respond to pain.
If Jupiter squares someone with a Sun, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Neptune stellium, not only are they personally impacted, but the need to expand can be seen on other members of their generation. It just impacts this person in terms of how they find themselves.
In conclusion
Don't freak out if you do have a stellium! Chances are, there are many people who are your age who have the same stellium that you do. Find those people and make friends with them, especially if generational planets are involved. You won't be able to understand yourself until you reach out.
It will be helpful, to look at what houses your stellium does rule and to prioritize the house and sign your stellium is in. In our example, someone had a fifth house stellium. Imagine how confused they could be if they didn't prioritize creative expression in their daily life. Then, imagine what huge potentials they can create for themselves and their generation, just by prioritizing creativity everyday.
Love your stellium! And love yourself.
