Relationships · 14/22 · Advanced

Patterns and Chart Shapes

Stelliums, grand trines, T-squares... read the chart through its big shapes.

Beyond looking at angles one at a time, looking at the big shapes that several angles form together lets you grasp a chart's character at a glance. Let's cover a few representative ones.

Four shapes that come up often — a cluster (stellium), a triangle (grand trine), a T, and a cross.

Stellium is a shape where planets cluster in one sign or one house. That area's color shows up very strongly. (Three or more is usually called a stellium, though the exact threshold varies a bit by school.) It's also the most popular pattern with everyday users.

Grand Trine is a shape where three planets link up in a perfect triangle, meaning a natural talent that flows without effort. T-Square, on the other hand, is a shape where two planets face off (opposition) and a third pushes hard on both (square) — strong tension and big drive at once. When four planets face off in a cross, that's a Grand Cross. Tension shapes may look hard, but that's exactly why they're a drive that grows a person a great deal.

(There are also special shapes like the Yod, where two planets cooperate in a sextile while both aim at one point.) The key point is — the big picture a shape draws shows a person's life rhythm more than any single angle does.

Let's look at an example

Enter your birth date (and birth time), and we'll find whether You's chart has shapes like a stellium, grand trine, or T-square.

A stellium (planets clustered in one spot) especially shapes personality a great deal.

Enter your birth date to see your own chart

See my astrology report

Check what you just learned straight against your own birth chart.

This content is for reference and entertainment, based on traditional Chinese metaphysics and astrology.