©2-18-2010 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
Yesterday’s post, The Incredible Vulnerability a Stellium Creates, started a remarkable share-a-thon in the comment section. As of 9:00 AM today, there were already 80 comments, and more come in all the time. I asked readers who had stelliums in various houses what that concentration of energy meant to them, and particularly what it was like when transits triggered a meltdown.
The result was a deep and insightful sharing of experiences, and since many who will read that article in the future won’t look at the comments, I’d like to reprint some of them here. We all owe thanks to the readers who so bravely offered their take on the meaning their stelliums have had for them.
Leslee said: “I have a stellium of Mercury, Venus and Pluto in the 1st house, with an unrelated conjunction of Moon, Ascendant and Uranus. Lots of 1st house emphasis! Great for self-reliance, but has been very lonely at periods in my life, and off-putting to others. With my North Node in Libra, I work at sharing and relationship. Uranus is just inside the 12th and Pluto in the 1st, so I’d really like to hide so much and can’t! Always felt so utterly exposed. A key has been eccentric and accepting friends.”
Nanette describes her 2nd house stellium: “Saturn, Mercury & Venus in Scorpio. What I value is not necessarily what others in my life value and are therefore not thought of as important enough and usually thought of as trivial in those times of push comes to shove. Not being supported or not having my values respected or acknowledged and me left to the wayside makes me feel as though I am not important enough to those who are important to me, I get depressed and withdraw. When the sky clears, the criticisms stop and tensions are gone I feel like a great weight has been lifted.”
Kachina, who shares her insights so courageously on her blog, says of the stellium in her 3rd clustered around her IC: “I was often punished early in life if I shared my perceptions, and due to this I repressed myself to the extreme in much of my adulthood until just a few years past. I cannot count the times someone I loved told me that I ‘intimidated’ them even though I had no idea how that was possible. Yet with all of these placements it was my nature to want to share with those closest to me and to express that stellium, and still is.
“I have always ‘invited’ others to consider what I share, yet even so, meet often with the anger produced by deep discomfort in others when I show them something (intentionally at times, though usually just by going about my life), they wish not to see. Reading what you shared set off all the right lights…and I am feeling such a lightening of heart taking place.”
Ellen had happiness with her 5th house stellium, but also a balanced outlook: “I have five planets in the 5th. Oh, joy, romance, a loving child are part of my life. Yes. All the time. Creativity has been harder to come by, but I feel I should be special with a gift to offer, in fact I feel compelled by it. When Pluto crossed through that house and hit Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus – well you can imagine. On second thought, don’t.
A mother shares about her adult son: “My son’s Moon in Cancer squares three of the planets in his 6th house stellium (Venus, Jupiter and Saturn). He will stop eating and make himself sick if he has an emotional challenge. As a child, he cried every day he went to school. The big news of the day with the other children was always if he cried that day or not. Unfortunately, he built up a “wall” (a Capricorn shell to protect his soft Cancer heart).”
Karen creates a vivid picture of her 7th house stellium: “I have a stellium in Virgo (Sun conjunct my Dsc, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn) in the 7th, as well as Pluto in Libra there. So, relationships are at the core of my life. I’ve met a lot of very different people from different cultures and different countries, and I’ve had a lot of fun with them. Yet, natal Pluto in the 7th taught me that it didn’t matter how many pals you had or whether you were in a relationship… in the end, you were on your own and nobody could reach you. Transiting Pluto in Sagittarius just proved that… over and over again, until I felt just like what you wrote Donna, far from everything and everybody, an total alien. It’s not the nicest feeling to experiment with an overcrowded 7th house. But well… that’s life.”
A Pluto veteran, Barb gives us a long-range perspective: “I have an 8th house stellium of Mars, Pluto Sun, and Mercury in Scorpio’s house. They are part of a Yod that exits in my 2nd house Moon. There have been many endings in my life. I am now almost 70 and have learned how to live with all this energy, and use it in a helpful, peaceful way. It took me 40 years to get it right, though.”
The House Stelliums and What They Struggle with
We can’t include the experiences of all 12 houses, or we’ll be here all day, but mimiof the mimitabby blog took the time to ponder readers’ comments and to come up with an excellent summary of what readers said about the pitfalls of stelliums in all the houses. Here’s what she found:
- Stelliums in Houses
1 Self reliance, loneliness, off-putting to others, no one understands me
2 Values different things from others in their life, feels judged, hidden talents, acquires things.
3 Difficulty with siblings/ communication so important, publishing
4 Difficult to share a home with others who find her intimidating
work with Mother Nature, training in family counseling, stagnating at home
5 Hard to be creative, doesn’t have friends – wants deep friendships, too self involved,
6 Health issues, pets, career confusion, artistic talent? Workaholic, eating disorder
7 Relationships important, met people from all different cultures, do not require someone else to complete yourself
8 Intense emotional person, death and money, endings
9 Writer – when things gets bad, write
10 No private life, very career focused, mission driven.
11 Focus on friends, perhaps no family or children, friends more important than family - 12 Second sight – already know stuff, old before their time
The Stellium Handbook is designed to help you bring out the best potentials of these configurations by understanding the sign, house, and planets involved and learning to use them effectively. If you, one of your loved ones, or an astrology client has this feature, you’re doubtlessly wondering what it means and how to get the most out of it.
This astrology/self help book from Moon Maven Publications will give you a greater understanding of stelliums and multiple conjunctions and provide you with tools to channel their immense potential. It comes in the form of 2 PDF files and is $20.
Download a sampler here: Stellium Handbook Sampler and order here: moonmavenpublications.com.
If you have a stellium and can tell us more about what life is like for you in that area of life, by all means write about it in the comment section.
Sky Writer 
There is a stellium in Pisces as of today. The Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Uranus occupy Pisces until March 1, when Mercury joins the party. Those five planets ride it out until March 6, 2010. What are we to expect from this stellium?
By: Jen on February 18, 2010
at 7:20 pm
Everyone, Nikki Neal has written an excellent post about the transiting stellium in Pisces, which you can see here:
Well done, Nikki. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 23, 2010
at 9:35 am
Dearest Donna, I live in Argentina, although in the distance, we are very close through your words. I write little becouse the language, but I want to thank you for all the love we receive in your words. Have shown yourself vulnerable, has been a great lesson for me because we are human beings and we have big and little worlds within us.
My stellium falls in first house in Sagittarius: Sun Asc Venus Neptune North Node, and learned a lot reading your dear readers.
I’m sorry about your friend, I hope all goes well with her recovery, and I hope you find yourself stronger and out of exile, too, we love you!
Thank you very much for your words, that emerge from the soul.
You are Light.
blessings
Cyn
By: Cyn on February 18, 2010
at 8:16 pm
Since I don’t see a 9th house stellium listed here, I’ll go for that. I have Mars, Venus, and Uranus in 9th house Gemini. (Talk about power houses!) Yes I am a writer (how could it be otherwise, LOL.)
I’m told my chart is a “bucket” type — with no few planets below the horizon (2nd through 6th houses) and only one in first house.
Over the course of my lifetime I’ve had lessons in learning how to communicate well (or at all!) with close family and friends. But I can easily write just about anything. And do.
The Uranus plays out most often with fortuitous news coming my way — which I instinctively know what to do with (or who needs it.) Thank goodness it’s not usually of the “sudden calamity” kind (most of the time.)
Of all the planets and configurations a person can have, I feel that I got lucky with my stellium. I’m very happy with it.
Nancy
By: Nancy Boyd on February 19, 2010
at 11:43 am
I have 2 Stelliums!!
The Second House, which is Mercury Saturn Sun and Uranus, in Scorpio/Sagg… I relate to Nanette with others not valuing what I value. Funny, but I have friends who will be turned off to something “New” if I mention I like it first. They have to be the ones to say is “Hot” or it can’t be shared in our friendship. When I was younger this confused and upset me, now I just think it’s really weird.
However a lot of things I value have become so personal to me because I have to hold onto my values and beliefs very tightly since no once else feels the same. Make sure I don’t forget about them. I know that sounds.. funny. But when you spend a lot of time socializing with others, if you dont make time for your personal values, you can forget about them. My Second House is like another relationship in my life, that will die if I don’t feed and care for it.
Money and control is a theme too (Scorpio rulled) My family would not feed me enough or support school finaicailly as a child (Public school, but you still have to pay for supplies or projects) I was held to some sort of standard that I needed to be a top student in school, yet they didn’t want to invest in me.
I devolped a amazing artistic talent in my middle school years, this was treated also like I should support this all by myself, so I would work to pay for school and my supplies for art (paint, sketchbooks) I started selling my art and having galleries in High school.
At the time, I thought this was just how my life was, I wasn’t a rich kid, so I needed to work hard because nothing was going to be handed to me.
I moved out at 16 because of control issues. Constantly would visit my family every six months becuase I was worried that maybe I was being dramatic and immature, and what I “Belive” was going on, wasn’t really. Last year was the last attempt. I’m old enough now that I can nolonger excuse things because I “might not have understood because I’m a child”. I finally feel secure in my beliefs, and have divorced my family.
I’ve been looking back on my childhood for the past couple of years, and I realize that while my family was a little poor, I was being controled fanacially. Resources weren’t limited, but actually withheld, thats goddamn abuse!! Playing with the idea that maybe I wasn’t really wanted. My siblings are not held up anywhere near my standards, and are taken care for, and my parents take responsiblity of them.
I think my Mother used reverse psychology to neglet me in a lot of ways. This plays into what I vauled and believed as a child, and what values and beliefs others wanted me to have.
In present day, my last relationship I used money as a issue alot. While not meaning too (I had no clue I was doing it, plus they really like me playing sugar mommy, so it took awhile to reconise what I was doing) I had more control over the relationship. In fact I was always on their case because they couldn’t bee 50/50 money wise with me, or make as much as me. While equality in relationships is ideal, I’m sure I wasn’t all good intentions. I was being controling by pressureing them to my standards of money, and how it should be spent and saved.
I mentally abused my ex becuase he couldn’t take care of his own resources, and couldn’t get them for himself (Like food or landry money, or something, if He was hungry and wasn’t getting paid for a couple days, I would feed him, but not as much as if he would feed himself. I would hord, even though it is my money and resources, and hes a grown adult, I don’t think its okay I did that knowing where I’m coming from.)
I’m concerned over this because I don’t want to become a mother later in life, and hord resources from my children like my parents did me. That may not sound like it would be that hard to do, because I’d love my kids and wouldn’t want to deprieve them like I was, but I can already see little excuses I’d make in subtle ways that I couldn’t detect was I was even doing. Like putting certain bills, or future things, like saving for college, above what they needed at the moment or currently… I think thats very evil of me, and scary that I wouldn’t be able to easily keep myself from doing it.
Now…..
5th house Stellium as well. Mars Jupiter and Moon, all in Pisces.
Cronicilly depressed as a child. Found art and lived for art. Creating became like breathing for me because life had always such as pain. But also pain was something I thought was normal. So art became a “addiction” for me sense it pleasure and joy for the first time.
When Pluto moved through Sagg, my art died alot. was distroyed, would disappear. None of my pieces from middleschool/highschool exist anymore.
When I was 19 I sufferred a “personality death” as I call it. I left a 7 year friendship, that I shared my creative side with… and felt I couldn’t create anymore.. I felt like I was dead. Lasted 6 months, but when I became Alive again I still did not create. (Kinda sounds like a solar eclispe event)
Since then I have gone through phases of trying to create, and tap into my talent and skills but they just don’t exist anymore. I have to start from scratch which is crazy to me because I was divinely able before, skill from noware like a genius or something.
So creativity is hard for me now. I actually channel a lot of that energy into astrology now (for the past 4 years) because it doesn’t hurt or feel frustrating.
Sex and love and children are important to me. My last relationship, one of the issues was me being addicted to sex. I was always “high” or felt “withdrawell” from my partner. When I hadn’t had sex in a couple days I’d start to go crazy, depress and suicidal. Too much sex and I start to lose my sense of self, and don’t spend time with myself of my inner needs, I’m addicted to the merging with another.
My Ex was the first to notice it and tried to talk to me about it, but never seen anything like it before, he kinda didn’t know how to express what he thought the problem was. The rest of my life is effected if I don’t have some balence in with 5th house related things. Not really sure what do about it.
When sex is fine, and I “force” myself to “spend time” doing things that matter to me, I act sane. Too much sex with the merging and I start to lose it. I have to really watch it.
Sleep is a pleasure for me too. But when I undulged too much, sleep becomes painful and I have to make myself do something for myself (Create) or I act like I’m hungover at work.
I’ve got AA friends who swore up and down I needed help with the drink (LOL! I dont drink, smoke or do drugs) Now they know whats going on (After I figured it out)
Hope My life story helps some other stelliums to reflect all the ways theres works for them throughout their life.(LOL! I’m very Jupiter.Neptune, So I go all over the place when I talk. LOL)
By: BelovedMoon on February 20, 2010
at 4:02 pm
Carrie, You’ve clearly done a lot of work on understanding yourself and looking at where they come from. That’s a good first step in getting balance. I’ve come to see that the difficulties we have related to Pluto or Scorpio can take years and years of effort, working at them on deeper and deeper levels. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 20, 2010
at 4:08 pm
Dear Donna,
My husband and I both have stelliums in the 11th and our composite of course is that. He has it one through the 10th as well. I can say that the most interesting thing for me, (6 planets in Libra) is accepting that friends just have to move out of my life, now and then. I was just contemplating this, as it is something I used to abhore, but as one learns and grows it does seem like some relationships are no longer aligned or related or something. I am always impacted if this happens but have found that it always makes room for a deeper intimacy with myself, and a call to deeper creativity.
I sometimes worry that I will never fulfill that deep longing to create and express my own deep self due to the impact of “friends and causes”
….but your words have helped. A timely help.
Thank you, Puja
By: Puja Dhyan Parsons on February 20, 2010
at 8:15 pm
Hi, Puja. That about friends coming and going is very painful to me, too. But I believe that real friendship comes out of affinity, and so when I encounter my true friends again years later, it’s as though no time or space had come between. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 21, 2010
at 2:27 am
Hi Donna,
I have a stellium in the 9th house….Sun, Jupiter, NN, Moon in Pisces and Mars in Aries. Mercury is still in the 8th but 2 degrees from the cusp of the ninth so feels pulled in with the group at times.
My life has had so much focus on spiritual growth. I have studied world religions and native american culture. I have wanted to be a writer ever since I can remember but my saturn in Virgo opposes the stellium and life has been filled with responsibilities. Other 9th house focus has been on travel…long distance for me has been across the country many times but not out of the country. Still waiting to go! Maybe with Uranus and Jupiter playing in the 9th it will happen! Like many others, there are times I have had difficulty interpreting it all…which planet is in charge, strongest, etc.
Thanks for the great article and to those insights by others.
By: Terry on February 21, 2010
at 5:50 am
Hello Donna!
I am so happy I found your side! I love the way you write.
I have two stelliums on my chart. One in the 3rd house in Virgo incl. Uranus, Moon, Pluto and Mars (everything between 12°15 and 16°01), the other one in the 9th house in Pisces incl. Saturn, Chiron, Venus and Sun (between 9°47 and 25°40).
The older I get the more I have the feeling my life is all about learning. The more I learn the more I feel like longing for even more. Of course this is the case in learning astrology but also in the other stuff I have been learning lately.
I do agree that the siblings are a topic in my life, it’s no wonder when having Uranus, Moon, Pluto and Mars in the 3rd house. I have 5 siblings and I think each of those 3rd house planets describe one sibling, the 5th sibling being the ruler of the 3rd house. I feel that we all are very strong personalities but we also are in good terms with each other and hold to each other. Even if the contact between all of us is not that active nowadays.
Communication is highly valued in my life 🙂
I also consider the question of whether to believe or not and WHAT it is I believe in as important topics in my life, topics that have been activated several times here and there.
The two stelliums in the 3rd and 9th houses are kind of underlined by the moon node axis (sn in Sagittarius, nn in Gemini).
I personally have the feeling that by learning new stuff I am kind of closer to myself and funny enough I think I learn also when being together with other people, no matter whether with boyfriend, siblings, friends or colleagues.
I consider myself as an analytical and a spiritual personality. I don’t have any problem giving both of these areas enough space. I also don’t think that they automaticly exclude each other.
One more thing, I moved abroad when I was 22 years old, which I regard as “the thing to do with Sun in the 9th house”.
By: Jaana on March 8, 2010
at 2:12 pm
Jaana, even though there are oppositions between the 3rd and 9th house stelliums, it sound like you’re doing a good job balancing those energies. They’re a bit like oppositions between Gemini and Sagitarrius, and I’ve always felt they were more benign and manageable oppositions than, say, fixed signs like Taurus and Scorpio. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on March 8, 2010
at 5:19 pm
Donna, I am a fan of your unafraid and clear writings on the human condition and very glad to have found your site.
I have 5-planet Scorpio stellium in the 10th house: Venus, Neptune, Sun, Jupiter and Mercury, which together rule 6 houses. Sun and Neptune are in conjunction of less than 1 degree and square my ASC exactly. Three of the planets sextile Pluto in the 8th. The stellium is also conjunct MC, which has NNode conjunct on the 9th house side.
I wonder whether it is the Neptune ruling the 3rd in me (not to forget the Scorpio) that makes it very hard for me to articulate the workings of this stellium.
Yes, I do put a lot of emphasis on career, and notice that the 10th house sucks up all the ‘relationship’ houses – 5 , 7, 8 and 11 – which are ruled by the stellium planets. From a teenager I have sublimated my energies into vocational pursuits, to the detriment of my relationships. I do enjoy work (the 5th is ruled by one of the stellium planets), have many friend-colleagues (the 11th too), but have been devastated on several occasions when my workplace has become a destructive and poisonous environment. I put too many eggs in the vocational basket and then react extremely emotionally when things go wrong, or become very disillusioned when work does not deliver what I unrealistically expect. I expect more of a job than it will give, but how could it be otherwise with such a stellium?
When Neptune squared the stellium while transiting the Ascendant about a decade ago, I experienced a kind of ego-wipeout, which took me a long time to emerge from, possibly 7 years, possibly still happening. When Uranus traveled across it I was a schoolgirl I became a rebel without a cause and felt (surprise) that school was a prison. When Pluto traveled through the stellium it was like I was reborn into a self I had previously been avoiding/skating over; it was a very intense and transformative time. Currently solar arc Pluto is beginning the same journey and I can smell change in the air…
I feel very unbalanced at times, and marvel at people who spread their energies more evenly.
I really felt for you with your story about your friend and your 11th house stellium. In the 11th I have only Saturn, and I know that feeling of aloneness very well.
Thank you.
MRL
By: MRL on June 5, 2010
at 4:24 am
Wow, 5 planets in the 10th! You have such a great deal to contribute to the world, and I thank you for sharing your journey! It’s not surprising that the square by transiting Neptune to natal Neptune was a huge passage for you. That aspect is part of the midlife cycle we all go through–a major learning curve where the Neptunian parts of our being are concerned–but for someone with a high-profile Neptune, it’s huge, and no wonder it was so devastating!
There are many posts on this blog that you’ll find illuminating, especially the ones on Neptune and on boundaries. Either use the onsite search engine, or, better, for a complete listing with links, download the new index. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 5, 2010
at 4:45 am
hey Donna, I have an 11th house stellium too: sun, Mercury and Pluto in libra 11th with saturn on the brink i think ( makes them four). I have few friends, and mostly focus on my goals. Life for me is lonely and I wonder what will happen when I become older.
By: yellow71 on August 5, 2012
at 6:28 am
Thank you Donna, I’ll have a look. Boundary-lessness is my second name!
By: MRL on June 5, 2010
at 4:58 am
“Ellen had happiness with her 5th house stellium, but also a balanced outlook: “I have five planets in the 5th. Oh, joy, romance, a loving child are part of my life. Yes. All the time. Creativity has been harder to come by, but I feel I should be special with a gift to offer, in fact I feel compelled by it. ”
I can relate to this statement.
I have Uranus,Sun,Mars,Mercury in Scorpio in 5th house.
Though with time I’ve been able to let out the creative and imaginative parts of my personality and I don’t have children of my own.
By: Robin on October 24, 2010
at 9:36 pm
Wow, your blog on your 11th house stellium made me realize that I too am enveloped by the energy of my stellium (4 planets in the 2nd house, 3 in Aquarius, one (Sun) in Pisces. I am most happy when I am creating value in the area of $ around my skills. When, however, there is no $ coming in and therefore I don’t employ these skills, I feel like you did in the ether world, isolated, joyless, abandoned. And it’s funny, I have no planets in the 5th, 6th, and 11th houses, and only a node in the 4th. People (friends) are important to me, but again lie within the context of self-worth and prosperity, 2nd house values.
By: Pawntucky on July 8, 2011
at 9:15 am
I have a 5th house stellium including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, and, the Sun. All are in Capricorn and the first planet in the stellium to the last is 8 degrees. I have Scorpio Moon, Jupiter, and pluto conjunct the IC all in the third. jupiter and the moon are conjunct. My ascendant is Virgo and saturn is very isolated in Aquarius in the 6th house. thats my only planetary “male” placement.
I came from an abusive household where my father was meth-addicted and raped my half-sister and my mother died of a heart attack when I was three. I then moved in with my maternal grandmother and grandfather when my father was arrested. Pluto in scorpio conjunct imum coeli and moon in scorpio really show up there.
Living with my grandmother, I felt an intense duty to please her. I kept my grades sublime and never failed to impress her jealous friends. She was good to me even though it was hard to care for me and my troubled half-sister, who she didn’t favor as much. I was picked on in school and did not have many friends at all. My grandmother came to school and ate lunch with me to distract me from how lonely I was. I bragged about my achievements as a child because my brain was my only asset and teachers favored me.
My grandfather soon died and my grandmother found a boyfriend who is as dumb and stubborn as a mule and not long after, I was wreaking havoc unto the household because I was jealous that she seemed to drop everything desperately to have his attention. Soon I had a baby sitter when for years I was trusted to behave alone at home. I was heartbroken and offended and soon she gave me up to the Los Angeles foster care system.
I went through many (15) homes in a matter of 5 years. I ran away at 15, exasperated at the fact I couldn’t get the respect and privledges I deserved.
No one trusted me and constantly treated me as if I was a bad kid.
I am now nearly 18 and have lived technically homeless for 2 years. I am preparing to take the GED. I am troubled because I am trying to build a life on a base of sand amidst an earthquake.
I have a boyfriend who is very good to me and has unmeasurable patience for me. I am clingy, jealous, and posessive. I am almost paranoid emotionally.
SEX. It is kind of a tough subject. I feel as if I am addicted. I am proud of my sex drive even though it is a burden. I feel that it is the only way to release energy sometimes. If i am not getting enough, I am cruel to my boyfriend and feel suicidal or depressed and doubt his love for me. I manipulate and seduce in order to get it. I am very attractive and this is easy, but I feel my decisions are sometimes swayed by the need for sex.
I used to do a lot of art and I am a gifted writer but I only write passoinately about love and obsession or hatred. It is hard for me to write because I can’t seem to find my muse anymore. I also live for the idea of my children. I have none yet, but it is a substantial part of my life. I am building it for the chance of them. it is the only thing that keeps me out of deep depression. (the cusp of my 5th is sag.) I am never satisfied in love and that is hard to deal with.
Life is hard because I have an inner pride and sense of entitlement but I am homeless and I am gonna get a job soon, but the criticism is tough and I don’t fit a single stereotype of homelessness. I am sober, I live in an abandoned shack which I maintain well. I have aspirations. I am clean and shower every day. I keep my cell phone on each month and its hard for even myself to believe my age.
I never seem to be good enough for myself.
THANKS FOR THE INSIGHT INTO STELLIUMS IN YOUR ARTICLES.
By: Nicole on December 3, 2011
at 6:00 pm
Hey there Nicole (Stellium in 5th house), don’t lose hope. You are a special person in your own way. You don’t have to fit with anyone’s standard. Ignore the criticism; just have faith and never lose hope. You are wonderful the way you are. It’s a miracle that you made it through all that anguish.
By: yellow71 on August 5, 2012
at 6:40 am
hey Donna, I have an 11th house stellium too: sun, Mercury and Pluto in 11th with saturn in scorpio on the brink ( makes them four). I have few friends, and mostly focus on my goals. Wonder what it would be like when am 40 though.
By: yellow71 on August 5, 2012
at 6:28 am
My lessons with regards to 8th I can summarize as follows:
* You are the only one that you can control. Anything/everything else is obsession.
* Know when to let go.
*Being open about your feelings and expressing passion about things you believe in is productive. Keeping everything (including frustration) within isn’t.
*It’s okay to be tender; especially to those you love.
*You really can heal your life.
My lessons with the 9th house are;
*Check the facts. Exaggeration is not intelligence.
*Have faith is your own abilities and your human hood.
*Whether you kneel to Allah or to Jesus. You are still on your knees. Get up!
*Truth is relative and there is no “be all” and “end all”.
*There is far too much to take in here in one lifetime. Pace yourself!
*You are really trying to understand yourself and your purpose in respect to the cosmos.
*Your search for “God” is really a search for the divine “other” that you want to project yourself to. So in essence, you are looking for the “God” that is you.
By: Kay on October 31, 2012
at 3:38 am
Really good lessons, Kay. Thanks for sharing. Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on October 31, 2012
at 5:26 am
Dear Donna, I have a conjunction of jupiter, uranus, mars and the moon in Libra and pluto in Virgo, all in my 5th and neptune, sol and merc. next store in the sixth, Scorpio. Saturn retrograde is across the way in Aries along with an oppositional north node and chiron. Venus squares everything in Capricorn. The last week has been intense, bringing me to find out what’s going on- Jupiter coming direct has made me very intuitive and I can actually feel it’s nature- or whatever it is that has lead me on this odyssey to find out if it was something in the heavens. I have been up for three nights, finding out what a chart is and reading everything I could find. It seems I have a “Yod” with my “stellium”. I have no idea what this means, but lately, I have had the impending feeling something really painfull, maybe even physically is about to happen. I try to dismiss this and am a believer in Christ, yet, I know that this thing about Jupiter regaining it’s normal relation to earth has sent me on this search. Is Venus squared to all 5 planets in the fifth House (concentrated at pluto) serious? What does having this stellium and yod mean? with saturn indirectly, and chiron and the north node directly opposing all retrograde? I’m asking because my life feels on the brink of huge changes, only I’m not sure. the only planets venus isn’t squared to are saturn and neptune. My ascendant has a few trines (uranus mars monn) if that helps. Please help.
By: L A Miles on February 2, 2013
at 1:48 am
Hi, LA, managing a stellium is a life-long learning curve, and it sounds like you’re on the brink of some breakthroughs. To analyze your stellium would take pages and pages–and days and years–and I’m not doing individual charts any more, but could recommend some people. You could also begin putting the pieces together if you got my self-help workbook, The Stellium Tool Kit. Read about it here: https://skywriter.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/donna-cunningham-introduces-the-stellium-tool-kit/ Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 2, 2013
at 3:23 am
Hi Donna and everyone
Just thought I would add my little bit here about stelliums. I have Venus, Mars, Sun and Mercury in Sagitarius in the 5th house. My chart has a bucket formation with my moon being the only planet above the horizon – effectively leaving a lot of houses empty.
The stelliem in my chart has been a great source of energy, vitality and optimism. It has prompted me to be involved in many creative and artistic projects and I nearly always have something on the go. Although I hanker for it to provide me me with a source of income – when I begin to become financially afloat through any particular creative avenue. I then resist and cannot go any further as the creative stream then becomes a job and not the majic of creative energy.
I have had Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto all conjunct this stellium during my life and that through that process I have expereinced the sensation of the burning away of dross. Layer upon layer of my intimate self bared and sensitised with each successive unfoldment. There is definately self interest, but also a sense of brilliant ideas bursting forth from somewhere and the intense burning desire to believe in them and somehow bring them into material form. This has been particularly during outer planetary conjunctions quite obsessive and driven…. (Pluto good example of that. LOL).It tends to maifest in a curious mix of self interest invested into furthering humanitatian peace – BUT the need to do it MY way. Which obviously brings me into opposition with others from time to time.
I expereince a constant tension between giving away my energy to the group/community and investing it in myself. I do a lot of community work, volunteer work etc and even through I have tried to find a balance by using my abundant creative skills (through delivering workshops etc) I never seem to quite make it work and usually give more of myself than I can afford. I find it easier to market other artists and musicians than I do believing in my own talents.
I hope this is not too long I am new to this blog. Thanks for a great blog.
Nicolette
By: Nicolette Dixon on February 16, 2013
at 3:24 pm
Dear Donna,
I have a stellium of Mars retrograde, Uranus retrograde and Pluto retrograde exact (in Virgo) in 1st house. As a female, what this has resulted in is a lifelong struggle with other people projecting their repressed or “dirty” sexual side on to me, no matter how I dressed, behaved or spoke – I was a virgin until I was 16, and I have been a laced up, frightened, sexual late bloomer (Mars retrograde in Virgo) until well into my 20’s but the sexual abuse and social terrorism from males and other women began with puberty and in overt and dignity destroying ways that were never justifiable. I was an “easy target” for their insecurities, issues and projections (Mars/Uranus/Pluto retrograde in 1st) because I was often isolated, alone and socially vulnerable due to race, class and singular status in the communities I found myself in (Uranus/Pluto retrograde in 1st). As a defenseless young female, I internalized alot of these horrible messages (Mars stellium retrograde) and really believed it was me and that I was a horrible person who must be deserving of this because why else would it happen? Most of my life has been spent healing from the bloodless trauma that I was subjected to during my formative and vulnerable years as a youth and as a young female.
It wasn’t until my 30’s that I started recognizing (I am not exaggerating) that this was other people projecting their crap onto me (which included horrible amateur astrologers/suburban housewives and dirty old men looking at my chart and reading all manner of sexual excess and perversion in it and nothing else!) and I started recognizing the sick mentality of the culture I was living in. Scapegoating specific types of female for the collective unconscious inability to deal with female sexuality is common and had I gone to better schools, I might have had access to woman studies information to make sense of this madness sooner). I finally just decided to embrace all of me and if I were going to be projected onto, I should embrace those projections and make them work for me. Interestingly, the people you would expect to demean me and rob me of my dignity most are the ones who show me respect and it remains the middle class, suburban rubes who are the most psychically violent with their insulting assumptions, hyper-judgments and repressed projections and all without cause. Just because I walked into the room and something about the way I look (1st house stellim) triggered their issues.
It wasn’t until my 40’s that I stopped judging myself and I stopped apologizing for my existence and I have wholly embraced the severe limitations of the average person for what they are, and what that would do to me if I continued to let their approval mean something to me. Once I gave up the desire for their approval and found the real visceral knowledge that I am on my own in this life and I have a freedom and an inner strength because of this freedom from being forced to live on the fringe instead of an embraced member of the herd (Uranus in 1st), I am mentally happier and healthier and I have more peak experiences in a month than most of these rubes and sheep will ever dream of having in 3 lifetimes.
I don’t like people much and often feel like I am one giant exposed nerve walking around having to deal with these swamp dwellers but like a Brothers Karamozov character, I have a tremendous love of humanity and I will be the first person to jump in and risk my life to save someone else’s. More than getting away from the average person and their petty issues born of mediocrity and a desire to be special…. I have a greater desire to alleviate suffering (stellium in Virgo, Sun in Pisces) because I also know that relentless pain can turn even a saint into a monster.
So that’s my experience with a 1st house stellium involving Mars/Uranus/Pluto retrograde.
Some day, it will work as an advantage instead of a disadvantage in life.
By: Jen on November 27, 2014
at 10:31 am
Very hard, Jen, to be such a target of other people’s sick and unconscious Pluto projections. As someone with a triple conjunction of a first house of Mars, Pluto, and Chiron on my Ascendant, I know very well what you’re talking about–very similar experiences. (For instance, I’ve several times been accused of being seductive by a roomful of people when not one of them was even remotely attractive to me.)
Have you ever run across my book, Healing Pluto Problems? I think you’d relate to much of the material and hopefully find some helpful suggestions. (Available in hardcopy and Kindle from the publisher, RedWheel/Weiser.) Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on November 27, 2014
at 11:18 am
“…. been accused of being seductive by a roomful of people when not one of them was even remotely attractive to me.” —- YES, EXACTLY. Oh the stories I could tell you about how awful people are, especially to young women who have no social or personal protection.
And yes, I have your book. I am a HUGE fan of your work and your approach. You are one of the few – and I mean, without exaggeration, few astrologers I hold in any esteem these days for exactly the reasons stated in my earlier post, among other reasons. You are the kind of astrologer that I try to model myself after.
Your book is one of the best treatments on Pluto that I have seen and I have revisited it many times. Next to actual therapy, it has been a huge help so thanks for writing it. Seriously.
By: tranceplayJen on November 27, 2014
at 5:08 pm
Thanks. I’m glad it helped. The odd thing is that, though it was written in the 1980s, when I reread it, it’s not at all out of date. I guess the issues we Plutonians struggle with in our relationships with others just don’t change all that much. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on November 27, 2014
at 5:42 pm
Hi dona.i have a question that cant get out of my mind.my planets are in less then 120 degree with first one being jupiter in scorpio and last one saturn at 25 degree aquarius.my 12th house begin at 1degree pisces…does it mean that saturn is kind of “conjunct ” my 12th house + can i consider my bundle is conjunct the 12th hous cuz of condensation of energy in less than 120 degree?the planet before saturn is at 20 degree capricorn.
By: Alex on January 3, 2015
at 6:16 am
No, I don’t think so, Alex. The bundle of planets would begin in Jupiter’s house and end with Saturn in the 11th. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on January 3, 2015
at 7:22 am
Hello there … coming to understand a 4th-house stellium next to an IC at 29.58 degrees of Libra, comprising Moon at 1.25 degrees Scorpio, Mercury at 1.5 degrees of Scorpio, closely conjunct Pluto and including Venus as well.
This stellium has been fascinating and tumultuous to live through … IC, Moon and Mercury are essentially atop one another. The closeness plays out in different ways, but means for me very, very deep, profound, close moon feelings (wouldn’t have always said this, but moon is my deepest and most sacred, blessed, protected feeling inside) followed a hair’s breadth behind by logic-focused, analytical, babbley Mercury. All swirls together into a deep vortex that seemingly goes straight through me, below and beyond, energetically.
I honestly feel, very powerfully, that my calling in this life involves seamlessly blending logic and deep emotion in narrative, drawing on Pluto’s feeling of deep inner volcanic power of the earth and transformation, to craft oratory for myself or others that has a freakishly, effortlessly profound effect on audiences. This is not bragging because I feel like the power does not belong to me … it’s spiritual access to a gift that belongs to the universe.
It’s like I delve deep, deep, deep into and beyond and below myself to get the right feeling, then Mercury turns it into emotive sound-music-words with a powerful, deep, volcanic punch and kind of blows people’s minds … it’s like channelling a beautiful, destructive Kali-goddess-force through my heart and voice and pen straight into people’s energy fields or something. A few times I have tapped into this and felt truly possessed and alive in this energy: Making the opening high school graduation speech even though not the Valedictorian, and making people cry with the powerful emotion in it, age 18; writing editorials in college that were picked up by national newspapers without a single ounce of self-promotion, ages 20-22; writing a speech for my top corporate leader boss for 6,000 professionals that many claimed was the ‘best keynote they ever heard,’ at age 26; or writing a scholarship essay that got me selected to a finalist pool of 30 from thousands of people, also age 22. it all comes from the same very deep, transformative place.
All that is so close to Pluto, and in Scorpio at that … that whole grouping is square Mars and sextile Neptune, so I have let an immature Mars energy bully my feminine moon, and let Pluto obscure it … but the whole shebang has a spiritual, Neptuney feel.
Typical Pluto in the 4th path of neglect in youth. Intense power struggles between Virgo Sun-Cancer Moon father and Pisces Sun-Sag Moon mother saw what felt like the complete devastation of my childhood after age 5, complete with child neglect and plenty of -isms, from two otherwise very decent and lovable people. Plutonic power struggles lasted into the early twenties, when I moved away.
Poor Moon has just been hidden, bullied, interrupted and glossed over for so long, that I really do feel like this stellium, in such a deep place, the 4th house, the womb, is in fact like a volcano … there’s a latent, enormous power deep inside, it’s deeply, powerfully feminine, and when I tap into that with my mercury mind and share it it has an effect that rumbles the ground and vibrates people’s souls … not every day, never predictably, but always there, latent, building, growing, gestating, with no fear or anxiety, only knowing.
Funny old thing, that 🙂
By: Anonymous on November 3, 2016
at 5:06 pm
6 years later. 30 now. Saturn Mars Moon Uranus in Sagittarius, house 1. Jupiter Sun house 3 Pisces Venus house 4. But the sagg stell is not a practical sign and im sitting on my hole here. Neptune s n Capricorn, Pluto Scorpio south node 11th north node Taurus 5th. I hate the art college I went into for free, 4 years.I am interested on many things but don’t want to be held by them as I have chosen to understand what art is as I was always creative I just didn’t have the confidence. have a daughter of 1 in brasil near 6,000 miles away who’s stellium is in Virgo( I do see her), sun mercury in Scorpio 5th: ) my midheaven is virgo, her midheavens in pisces.her mothers north nodes 5th house Leo, mine 5th taur
By: Swords on December 7, 2016
at 5:26 am