That stellium in your chart is probably a triple conjunction.

That’s right I said it! I jest, but it is a common occurrence to see people in forums like Reddit asking about the multiple ‘stelliums’ in their chart when often times there are actually zero stelliums.

At some point in the past, someone took the astrological qualifiers that define a stellium and decided “eh” then bastardized it into something that kinda sorta resembles a stellium but isn’t.

You might ask “So you mean a stellium isn’t three planets hanging out in the same space in your chart?” No, it’s not. In fact, there are actual criteria that must be met before something is considered a stellium, much in the same way that a grand trine or a yod or anything else has criteria that need to be met before we can name it. 

What actually qualifies as a stellium?

As defined by the late Donna Cunningham in The Stellium Handbook, a stellium requires the following:

☆ Four or more planets

☆ At least two of the four planets must be something other than Sun, Mercury, or Venus

☆ Planets must be linked by conjunction with an orb of up to 8 degrees, or 10 degrees for chained conjunctions

☆ Only planets count! Asteroids, nodes, or angles crowding up a house sign in your chart? It doesn’t count towards the stellium.

Stelliums can form by house (all planets in the same house but not necessarily in the same sign) or by sign (in the same sign but not necessarily the same house) and are strengthened when in both the same house and sign.

I’d like to clarify that not everything has a name, or needs a name. You might have something close to a mystic rectangle for example, but if it doesn’t meet all the criteria you can’t call it a mystic rectangle. Same goes for the stellium. With that being said, let’s look at what is commonly mistaken for a stellium; the triple conjunction. 

A triple conjunction is:

☆ THREE planets

☆ All planets are conjunct / in a conjunction chain

☆ It is potent, focused, and noticeable in the chart and can exist with or without Sun, Mercury, or Venus.

While powerful in its own right, the triple conjunction does not qualify as a stellium.

As Cunningham mentions in her handbook, stelliums are supposed to be rare. Three planets traveling through the same space in one’s chart at the same time is actually quite common.

The other mistake I see people quite confidently make online is that a stellium is “three or more planets in a house or sign but ONLY the inner planets.” I’ve also seen people claim only the outer planets count. I’ve not seen the definition/qualifiers for anything else in astrology bent and stretched on the whim of the chart holder or astrologer as much and as often as I’ve seen it happen with the stellium. It’s not a stellium because it “feels right” to call it that. I think part of the confusion comes from people conflating definitions with interpretation. How someone chooses to interpret a concentration of planets is subjective. Whether something qualifies as a stellium is a matter of terminology, not opinion! 

So why does any of this even matter in the first place? Because people will always take advantage of ignorance when they can. You or someone you know may hire an astrologer to tell you more about the stellium in your chart, except the astrologer you hired isn’t trained or certified, they’ve learned from YouTube videos and Reddit threads and now they’re charging you so they can tell you all about the stellium you don’t have. Unfortunately, the loose definition has metastasized over the years. A simple Google search for ‘stellium’ will describe something closer to a triple conjunction. Three planets conjunct in a house or sign are still a concentration of energy in one container, and it’s something to pay attention to in its own right. It matters because we muddy the waters when we change definitions of terms to suit ourselves. In the grand scheme of things, this can contribute to the erosion of astrology’s credibility. 

If you’re interested in more information on stelliums, please seek out the only known reference work on the subject, The Stellium Handbook by Donna Cunningham – available online!