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Stationary planets in the birth chart are very powerful and significant.
By Leslie Hale — Written on May 04, 2023
A stationary planet is a planet that is just about to turn retrograde or direct, but not yet moving and at a temporary standstill. Stationary planets in the birth chart can be very powerful and significant.
When this process occurs, time may seem to stop as a result and action tends to slow down. All planets can retrograde (except the Sun and Moon) and they all have a stationary period before they begin the apparent backward or forward motion. During the stationary period a planet has stopped and is neither moving forward or backward but sitting at the same degree for a matter of a few days — or with the outer planets, it can be up to a month.
In traditional astrology, the stationary planet is considered afflicted and weak. On the other hand, stationing planets possess another level of meaning because, in the process of grinding to a halt, its influence is greatly amplified and typically plays a large part in the individual's life for better or worse depending on the focus of the individual.
As Evolutionary and Intuitive Astrologer Taryn Leigh Bond explains on TikTok, a stationary planet is "not thinking about what other planets are doing, it's thinking about expressing the function of that planet as fully and completely through the personality of the sign that it’s in and the area of life it is in.”
How to find stationary planets in your birth chart
Stationary retrograde or direct planets do not show up on the free software that exists on the internet. To discover if you have a stationary retrograde or direct planet it is necessary to look at an ephemeris.
To discover stationary retrograde planets in your birth chart, first pull up your birth chart using a calculator such as the one on Astro-Seek, which will provide a list of your natal planet placements. If this list shows and R next to a planet, that means the planet was retrograde when you were born. Planets without an R were direct at your time of birth.
Next, use an ephemeris calculator to find each planet's placement around your birthday. "Look to the days directly before and directly after your birthday to see which direction the planets were going and if it changed," Bond explains. It is stationary retrograde or direct only if the planet is at a degree where it has stopped and remains at that same degree on your birthday.
"If you have a stationary planet, congrats," wishes Bond. "that's your superpower!"
Meaning of stationary planets in the birth chart
“If you have a planet that is stationing to go retrograde or direct in your birth chart, this is a planet that you will come face to face with because it’s not gonna budge. It is going teach you whatever it’s trying to teach you according to your own birth chart," says Bond.
So if you have stationary planets in your birth chart, here's what it's trying to teach you.
Natal Mercury stationary
Indicative of versatile and deep thinkers who like to communicate all of their ideas to others and be moved by what they communicate and talk about. Sometimes infants with this placement are slower to start talking. Hillary Clinton was born with stationing Mercury along with Joseph Stalin and George Lucas.
Natal Venus stationary
People with this placement are pleasure seekers with a love of art and beauty. These individuals are drawn to nature and often quite attractive and love most sensual pleasures. Michelangelo was born with a stationing Venus along with Amy Winehouse.
Natal Mars stationary
This placement is indicative of assertive individuals who like a good fight and often have warrior energies. They have a magnetic appeal and draw others with their passion and fire. FDR, Bernie Sanders and Rupert Murdoch all have a stationing Mars.
Natal Jupiter stationary
These people frequently have an ideological perspective of things. They sometimes get caught up in the promotion of their own perspectives which can be for better or worse and their sphere or audience can be large. Those born with a stationing Jupiter include Donald Trump and the Dali Lama.
Natal Saturn stationary
Those with this placement can feel as though they are carrying heavy burdens and lean toward sadness but are committed and have a great deal of discipline. They often do best in their career later in life and at times some may suffer a fall from grace, such as Bill Cosby. Dick Cavett and Bill Moyers also have a stationing Saturn.
Natal Uranus stationary
These individuals are unique in their experience and life and are free thinkers, seekers of liberty and freedom for all and are often ahead of their time. Sometimes, however, they are eccentric lone wolves. Among those born with a stationing Uranus are Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Lady Gaga.
Natal Neptune stationary
They often feel the suffering of the world and are sensitive, spiritual and compassionate. They are lovers of art and beauty and sometimes escapism through drugs or some other source and their imaginations are vivid, like that of Nikola Tesla and Rod Stewart.
Natal Pluto stationary
These individuals can inspire change and transformation in others. They can come across as magnetic to others and have such powerful personalities they seem scary to some who do not like or fear great change. Joni Mitchell and Neil Young were born with a stationing Pluto.
Leslie Hale is a professional astrologer offering personal astrology readings worldwide by phone, WhatsApp, or Zoom.