In my most recent weekly forecast, I wrote about Mars in Leo and the need for asserting your ego. To know how to go about it, I advised looking at where 1 degree Leo falls in your natal chart. That prompted a question from Renick in Tokyo, who writes:

For me, that’s dead-on conjunct my natal Sun, along with my Saturn and Mercury and opposed my Moon. This kind of complex arrangement is beyond my interpretive skills. What does it mean when a big-deal conjunction occurs on top of a natal chart pattern like that? More broadly, I never really know how to interpret that chart pattern: a stellium opposing one planet. I’d like to hear your thoughts. Thanks for writing your blog! It’s always enlightening.

Renick, if it makes you feel any better, Mars has been sitting exactly on my Descendant, with predictable results for my close partnerships!

Yes, having Mars on your Sun can be a challenge, but it’s actually one of the more positive Mars conjunctions. Mars and the Sun are both “ego” planets, and so their energies work quite nicely together. This is all the more true when the conjunction occurs in Leo, since the Sun is Leo’s ruler.

Normally, you would be bubbling over with energy under this transit, but with Mars stationed and just sitting there like a heavy lump, I’ll bet you’ve been dragging. That makes it hard for you to put this energy to its best use, which would be some good, hard physical work. If you’re feeling the need for strenuous activity but can’t get moving, the resulting frustration could make you very irritable. I also wouldn’t be surprised to hear that you got some kind of nasty infection or hurt yourself. That can sometimes happen under this transit, and Mars is in your sixth house, which rules health.

If you don’t have the energy to throw yourself into late nights at the gym, then late nights at the office might work, too. The only problem there is that sitting in a chair all day might make you fidgety and irritable, and it’s back to being in a fighting mood.

As for Saturn and Mercury, I wouldn’t worry too much about Mars affecting them, as they are far enough away and not in the same sign. I’d be more concerned about the eclipses in July if I were you, but that’s another question for another time.

In general, though, you are right that it’s much harder to interpret a chart when a planet hits a natal stellium or, conversely, when a transiting stellium falls near a natal planet. It definitely complicates things, and I’ve admitted a few times in the past year that I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. When there’s that much going on, there are just too many variables.

That said, the house position gives us major clues. In your case, you have a lot going on in the sixth house, which is associated with health, the workplace, and your daily routine. It also can indicate issues with small pets.

I hope that puts you at ease. Thanks for writing, and thank you for the kind words!

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