An Over-the-Border Stellium: Unexpected Energy Pile-Up

There's a wonky spot in my astrology chart that has always puzzled me.

Like, I know it's there, and I easily interpret the spot six degrees clockwise, but this little bit, I have never really understood.

I've been looking at my chart for years, so if you have a spot that doesn't reveal itself easily, don't worry. Every astrologer struggles with this. Understanding unfolds over time, like the blooming flower.

A week ago, my spirit team started telling me this spot was important. My Pluto, specifically. I heard the word “Pluto” in my mind and saw an inner image of the chart and the spot where Pluto sits.

For a good couple weeks, I had no idea what it meant.

I know what Pluto in general signifies: deep transformation, cthonic entities, unavoidable change, the steamroller that will flatten you if you don't hop on board. My Pluto's in Libra in the 8th so my particular transformation should have something to do with deep-healing aesthetics or relationships. But somehow the pieces just weren't coming together.

Then I started to help a client with her website. She is super smart and had all kinds of amazing ideas, but she was struggling to figure out how her dazzling content fit into the visual layout.

That's easy for me!

I've designed 13 websites, and I'm a natural at merging written details with a visual arrangement. I think that's why I like making those cheat sheets on my Etsy shop! Fitting all the information into the right visual boxes is so satisfying!

Christmas morning, actually, I woke up with this realization: It's my over-the-border stellium!

A quick technical explanation

“Stellium” is the astrology term for a cluster of three or more planets within a few degrees of each other.

In your life, it indicates a pile-up of energy, momentum in a single sign and house that signals a big focus of activities and interests, an area where attention or efforts are continually drawn.

I have Mars, Mercury, and my Sun within three degrees of each other in Virgo in my 7th house, and I'm consistently drawn to problem solving (Virgo) for other people (7th house).

But modern astrology has never really known what to do with a cluster of planets that crosses the border between TWO signs or houses.

In fact, I coined the term “over-the-border” stellium because as far as I know, there isn't actually a technical word for this arrangement.

But I have one.

How it plays out

In my natal chart, this Virgo cluster - Mars, Mercury, and the Sun - is joined by Pluto in Libra. The very planet my inner self had been highlighting in the two weeks leading up to the holiday!

Mercury and Mars are at 21° Virgo, my Sun is at 24° Virgo, and then Pluto is at 1° Libra...right over the border.

So it's close enough – within 7° of the Sun – to mingle its energies, but it's not in the same sign as the Sun. And furthermore, Virgo is an earth sign, and Libra is an air sign, so those don't meld easily. Earth and air are not traditionally compatible.

That, by the way, is always true of an over-the-border stellium. If you have a cluster of planets that bridges Scorpio and Sagittarius, you're trying to combine fire and water -- not a natural combination!

But even though they're in incompatible signs, over-the-border planets are still energized by their proximity to the group.

So you likely find that all of the planets’ meanings are highly active in your life. However, because the signs are not compatible, it may feel hard to understand exactly how they all work together.

I think that's why it took me so long to understand my own over-the-border stellium.

I couldn't figure out how this Pluto in Libra was tagging along with all my Virgo planets. Until I understood the pattern while working on this website! When I work on writing website copy or editing for my clients – a very “7th house Mercury in Virgo” activity – I inevitably end up creating a much deeper transformation than any of us originally anticipated. Transformation…Pluto, get it?

Someone hires me to tighten up the words and correct grammatical errors, but I end up rearranging the paragraphs, writing a brand new hook, and adding a few examples from our conversations. We always end up with a much more impactful final product.

It's like the worst thing you can say to me is, “Just do what's easy and simple,” and imagine that means I won't make very many changes. Because what's easy for me actually is to transform the whole thing!

Clients often respond with comments like, “That's exactly how I wanted it to sound, but I didn't know how to get it there!” Or “I didn't realize that all that was in there…”

I just had a client who came to me with an article for a small publication, but after I finished editing, it ended up getting published in the National Journal of Geo-Cosmic Research!

So here I was working with this client on her website, and instead of just adding a single page and cleaning up her copy, we ended up finding better photographs, diving into a bunch of case studies, and energizing the layout with new text on every page. The new website presents a much broader range of her offerings and highlights her skills in a more dynamic and engaging way.

I finally could see my stellium at work.

I now go into client meetings a bit on the edge of my seat to see how it's going to work out since even I can't really predict what's going to happen…

Honestly, it feels really great to be anticipating and enjoying my own energies.

Finding it in your own chart

Or how about the charts of family, friends, or people you work with? (You can see this even without a birth time...)

Can you find an over-the-border stellium and do a little meditative inquiry on how those energies might work together in unexpected ways?

If you don't find one, you can do the same analysis with a sign that has its planetary ruler in the house next door. (If you're not sure about planetary rulers for each sign, they're listed on my free 1-page cheat sheet available at this link.)

My husband has his Sun, which rules the sign of Leo, in the sign of Cancer, right next to Leo. For a long time, he had trouble expressing his passions (a Leo activity) because he was so focused on taking care of other people (a very Cancer activity). In fact, this is a chronic problem for people with the Sun in Cancer (born between June 22nd and July 21st), and now you know why! That “ruler next door” energy makes it hard for the planet to vitalize the activities of the sign it rules.

If you have situations where you're not really sure how your energies go together, it's very possible that you have an over-the-border stellium or a ruling planet in the sign next door (or also, it could be 5 signs away, which is 150° angle).

Understanding how life experiences are represented by our astrology charts helps us figure out what's happening and also feel more confident. We can identify abilities to dive into. I'm more confident that it's not a fluke that I end up initiating transformational conversations. In fact, it's a skill I can feel proud of and rely on to help my clients.

What about you? Where are you looking for more confidence or direction to help you rely on your abilities?

If you want help understanding this, feel free to reach out to me. But I bet if you access your own spirit team and intuition, and look at the keywords for each planet and sign, you'll come up answers to understand how this functions for you.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think of this article or leave a comment below. I'm really eager to work on these tougher nuts to crack in astrology to help us all understand ourselves and our lives better.

Thank you, and I hope you had a very happy holiday wherever you were celebrating!