The following post is an astrological delineation of Stephen King written  by a colleague Peaches McCullough, an Atlanta based astrologer. It first appeared in The Galactic Press and is presented here with permission of The Galaxy Express website.

Everyone knows at least one book or movie that was written by Stephen King. Among some of the more popular cult favorites are “Carrie,” a 1976 film about a teenage girl misfit with telekinetic powers who gets revenge on those classmates who torment her daily, by setting the whole town and school ablaze.

The 1978 novel “The Stand,” which also became a television movie series, is about a post apocalyptic battle between good versus evil, after a government experiment for a cure to the flu kills off almost all living people and animals, bringing forth national disaster and mayhem.

There is also “The Dead Zone,” a 1983 horror/thriller about a school teacher who after awakening from a seven year coma finds that he also has psychic abilities.

All of these books and movies mentioned above and many more  are the product of King's dark  and prolific imagination, as well as a testament to his many hours of hard work and dedication to his writings over the past 40 years.

He seems to be a fairly normal, intellectual, middle aged gentleman. He has been married for over 30 years to his college sweetheart and dedicated, loyal spouse, Tabitha Spruce King (also a  successful novelist in her own right), and together, they have reared three very talented grown children , as well as being the proud grandparents of several grandchildren.

But what about the author himself-who is Stephen King really, beneath the successful author and family man image?

As an astrologer looking at his natal birth chart, this is where we will begin to explore the hidden forces deep within him and in his early childhood and young adulthood environment that helped to shape him into the highly regarded, award winning, prolific author of horror, science fiction, and suspense.

Stephen Edwin King  was born at 1:30 AM E.D.T. on September 21^st, 1947 in Portland, Maine, the second son to parents, Nellie and Donald King. 

According to this information, he is a Sun Sign Virgo, with a Sagittarius Moon sign and Cancer Rising sign on the Ascendant.

When a person has their Sun placed in the sign of Virgo, this can indicate that their life path is one of some sort of service or healing to others. Stephen came in with a life purpose of healing through writing, educating, teaching and communication with others (Mercury ruled Virgo Sun placed in the 3^rd House). He will tend to do this in a manner where he shines behind the scenes, away from the spotlight (Sun in Virgo, 3^rd House cadent).  Stephen's  3^rd house Sun is part of a stellium or group of planets that form a series of conjunctions to each other, augmenting the 3^rd house focus on learning, teaching and writing. This grouping starts with the Sun placed at 27 degrees of Virgo, conjunct Venus at 2 degrees Libra, combining forces with Neptune at 10 degrees Libra, which also happens to be conjunct with Mercury, ruler of the 3^rd house, placed at 15 degrees Libra, just minutes from the cusp of the 3^rd house, but technically Mercury is placed in the 4^th house.

With Mercury so closely placed to the 3^rd house group, though, Mercury's energy is being pulled into that stellium and the group of planets together are acting as a concentration of his energy into the house of the conscious mind and every day routine. Simply put, if you want to know what someone is thinking a lot about and the quality of their mind, a good place to start is with the 3^rd house and Mercury placements by sign and house. With this kind of configuration, you can be sure Stephen has a fine intellect and razor sharp mind that is quickly able to form perceptive impressions at lightning speed. He constantly reads and writes on a daily basis. These impressions form the basic core of his character and identity of whom and what he is in this lifetime.  Stephen's mind tends to be very busy place, concerned with the creative expression of something artistic, beautiful, and balanced in shape and form.

This  stellium will tend to influence how he expresses himself with others through writing and teaching. He is always focusing on new techniques of writing and communicating as well.  Mercury is also favoring,  through a sextile aspect, his 1^st house conjunction of both Pluto at 15 degrees Leo and Saturn at 18 degrees Leo. Sextiles always represent some sort of beneficial applied opportunity in the natal chart. In this case, the 1^st house conjunct of two of the most powerful planets in the zodiac gives a major clue that he will be influenced by fate and destiny (1^st house can represent destiny and Pluto represents hidden, unavoidable forces at work, that shape his destiny).  When we take a closer look at Stephen's Cancer Ascendant, and the 1^st House Pluto/Saturn conjunction, much more is revealed about the circumstances and forces at work in his early years, that has also contributed to who King is as a person today.

Stephen has the family oriented sign of Cancer placed at 29 degrees (Anaretic or karmic degree) on the horizon when he was born.  Cancer is an intuitive, perceptive sign by nature.  Cancer, the Crab is also a protective sign, with a tough outer shell, protecting the sensitive, tender skin beneath. Those with Cancer rising usually are very protective of themselves and family, can be very patriotic, and approach life somewhat sideways to get to a goal or purpose-but this sign is also noted for being quite tenacious when focused and will never give up or give in-a very determined sign indeed. Cancer rules the stomach and chest (breasts for a woman) and Cancer is not noted as being a very vital sign on the Ascendant, especially in childhood. With Cancer as his rising sign, as well as Stephen's natal Sun in Virgo cadent, indicates his vitality is not all that it could be and that throughout his life time he must always be vigilant through healthy habits and routines. The Sun in Virgo indicates one of his weak spots could be his solar plexus/intestinal area and the Cancer Ascendant indicates the stomach or chest area in addition needs to be looked after carefully.

His Ascendant is receiving a nice sextile from his Venus in Libra in the 3^rd House, along with that same natal Virgo Sun in the 3rd-this probably helps to not only strengthen his vitality somewhat, but also indicates he is blessed with a certain kind of refinement and charming manner that most people would respond well to in his personal everyday contacts.

When we look into the 1^st House conjunction between Pluto in Leo (sign of royalty, show business, children and creativity), where Pluto is considered at its strength, and Saturn in Leo, which is in its detriment, we see that most of what King has come in to learn about as far as life lessons go, is how to handle internal issues of self- control, transformation and empowerment through right use of power (Pluto) and lessons in self responsibility, hard work, dedication and planning (Saturn). Pluto in Leo in the 1^st House suggests that hidden circumstances around his birth and early years were intense, and that an issue regarding the abandonment of one of the parents early in life (Pluto also rules the intercepted Scorpio 4^th house of a parent) would play a big role in how he saw authority figures and handled self control issues. Pluto's influence over 4^th house matters also hints at a lot of family secrets as well.

In 1950, shortly after Stephen's second birthday, his father, a merchant seaman, abandoned his wife and family.  Steven's mother then assumed the role of supporting King and his brother through a series of menial, low paying jobs afterward, in addition to some support received through his mother's extended family. King learned great deal about the right and wrong use of power through this parental situation, as the 4^th and 10^th houses in a person's natal chart also forms what is called in astrology the family and parental axis, and Pluto rules over his intercepted sign of Scorpio in the 4^th house. The 4^th house rules over one of the parents as well as end of life circumstances, among other things.

King's mother, Nellie King, seems to have been dealt with more than her fair share of hardships.  After her husband's abandonment, she became the sole means of support for King and his brother during the 1950's,  a difficult position for a woman in that day and era. Nellie relocated often in Stephen's early childhood years in order to find work to support her children.  She eventually relocated back to Maine when King was 11 years old, in order to take care of her own parents until their deaths.  Afterwards, Nellie became a caregiver in a local residential facility for the mentally challenged for many years. She passed away in 1973 at the age of 59 in a hospice in Maine from uterine cancer.

This event likely occurred under the shadow influence of King's 1^st natal Saturn Return, since King was 26 years old at the time.  He also had gotten his first major breakthrough book with the publication of “Carrie.” His actual Saturn Return date was three years later, in the fall of 1976.

Steven's mother, a very self sacrificing figure in King's life, was born under the sign of Pisces; the planet of self sacrifice, Neptune, is at 10 degrees Libra in King's natal chart; Neptune is conjunct within 2 degrees of his 4^th house cusp at 12 degrees Libra. Neptune in King's chart also opposes his Aries M/C and rules his Pisces 9^th house of higher education and publishing. This aspect alone speaks volumes about his mother's influence through her stoic sufferings and hardships on his financial and educational goals, in addition to his writing career. Often, when Neptune is found in a natal chart connected to or in the 4^th house of a parent, one of the parents could have a health issue; usually some sort of a wasting disease can be indicated from this aspect.

A person with this aspect in their natal chart could also be losing a connection with the parent due to a health or mental issue as well. It could have been difficult for Stephen to see his mother in an objective light in addition, because Neptune's energy is more about confusion than clarity. The 4^th house also represents the soul, so Stephen is likely to develop his compassion for all of humanity through some sort of personal sacrifice and service that he is uniquely able to offer through his own life experiences.

The patron planet of those that write, teach and communicate, Mercury, is also placed in Libra in his 4^th house, conjunct Neptune in the 4th- this aspect is what indicates Stephen's ability to tap into his imagination on a soul level and communicate that back to the masses. Stephen, simply put, is gifted in “telling a good tale”. Mercury rules both Stephen's Virgo 3^rd house of writing and communication, as well as his 11^th house of goals, wishes and dreams.

The planet Uranus, planet of genius and the unexpected, is placed in Gemini, the sign of communication and writing, in the 11^th house of goals, hopes, wishes and dreams, is also inconjunct Jupiter in King's natal chart, which rules both the 5^th house of creativity and children and co-rules his 9th^th house of higher education, higher consciousness and long distance goals. Uranus itself rules his 8th house of other's resources, and endings, and co-rules his Capricorn 6^th house of work and health, and the Capricorn 7^th house of partnerships and marriage.  This means that he is prone to having sudden financial changes, in particular in the arena of other people's money. These changes also affect his health and career. Uranus' influence was likely an issue when he first began receiving book advances for contracts for publishing his books. 

In 1973, for example, Stephen received an advance of $2500 for the book manuscript of “Carrie” which even by those monetary standards in the 1970's was not considered that much of a monetary gain. Later on though, when the paperback rights to “Carrie” were sold, he received $200,000 dollars, half of the $400,000 that was split with the original publishers. He had actually thrown the first few pages of the manuscript for “Carrie”  in the garbage pail; he thought that the script was “too childish”; his wife fished it back out and encouraged him to complete it and “Carrie” became over time one of his best selling stories, eventually becoming a best-selling movie.

At that point in time, the notice of this book advance was sent via telegraph, as Stephen, due to financial hardships, did not have a telephone at his place of residence, in a mobile home trailer park at the time.

The struggling writer was working at a local school as an English teacher at the time, as well as working odd jobs and selling short stories to various mystery magazines to help support his wife and small growing family of three small children.  The inconjunct aspect between Uranus in the 11^th house and Jupiter in the 4^th house seems to indicate a need for an adjustment between his family (4^th house) and his career goals (the 11^th house). The planet Uranus, which also represents our urge to be an individual, is also receiving another harsh aspect, a square from the Sun in Virgo in the 3^rd house. Sun square Uranus usually means there is a tendency to have issues with the father or authority figures, as well as foreshadowing sudden separations in his life from important males.

Since the Sun also rules his Leo second house of finances, he had a decision resolve the conflict about his finances (2^nd House) and his goals and wishes (11^th house). This inner conflict about his personal self worth (second house) would have also affected his income, at times in a negative way. This inner conflict affects his sense of self or self esteem, again causing him to likely alternate between being overly willful and prone to being abrupt and a decided coolness and detachment to others. The mounting pressures of struggling with finances, writing and balancing a career and family, began to take a personal internal toll on King during this time- in addition to dealing with a lot of insecurity, rejection and self criticism. Virgos can be unduly harsh on themselves. 

During this time, Stephen began to have a hidden drinking and substance abuse issues that lasted well over a decade. Stephen has admitted that he didn't feel he deserved to be successful in his career-he even went as far as to publish a series of books under a pseudonym of Richard Bachman in the late 1970's just to prove to himself that his success was not just a fluke of chance or fate. This same aspect also means that the issues with nurturing would have also influenced his selection of a mate or partnership, and that he would seek a mate that was steadfast, supportive and endowed with down to earth qualities (Capricorn 7^th house). Tabitha Spruce King, his wife of over 30 years seems to be match for those sterling qualities, and she herself is also a successful author and mother in her own right.

Pluto's influence in the natal chart of King is very strong, because not only is Pluto strengthened by being prominent by angle, maximizing the influence of Pluto and making it more obvious for the world to see, Pluto is also exalted by cosmic state, increasing its power to produce those things related to Pluto and the meanings related to those of the 1^st house. In astrology, Pluto is the planet mainly known for horrible or terrible things, like filth, sewers, murder, violence, torment, and hell.  Pluto derives these types of meanings because in Greek Mythology, Pluto was the god that ruled Hades or hell, the underworld. Pluto is known to represent hidden forces at work in the human psyche, like those that are involved in volcanic activity.  Usually, wherever Pluto is placed in the natal chart, its influence is usually doing something hidden and subversive. This planet intensifies the qualities of Stephen's Cancer ascendant, and Pluto here also represents his need to be in total control of his destiny and life's purpose.

The first house of a natal chart reveals your outlook on life, as well as how you view the world.  This house also shows how you may appear to others. With Pluto in this house, it makes him seem more intense, secretive and charismatic, like a Scorpio. His natal Pluto is also well supported by mostly positive aspects from it to his 3^rd house of siblings and the mind.  So, he is likely to have channeled this intense inner drive in a positive way, through his imagination and writing. Pluto can also represent compulsive tendencies and obsessive behaviors. King is the self proclaimed “Grandmaster of Horror” and seems to have a fascination with fear, death and horrible things that terrify and go bump in the night. Stephen mentions in one of his interviews that he is compulsive about his writing, literally obsessed by it to the point where he would not sleep or eat that his wife has had to suggest to him to “give it a rest already, Stephen”. 

The influence of Saturn in his 1^st house would also be a major factor in his early life.  Often, Saturn in the 1^st house denotes a difficult beginning, early in life.  His early years were certainly reflective of that. Between the many moves and difficult financial circumstances that forced his mother to accept help from her family, it could not have been a very easy childhood at all for Stephen or family. The 1^st house of the chart also refers to the physical body.   In Stephen's case, this seemed to show up as issues with frequent throat and inner ear infections, leading up to perforated eardrums and a loss of his hearing (Saturn in detriment conjunct Pluto in the 1^st house). Saturn rules the skin, teeth and bones, as well as the physical sense of hearing. Pluto references the immune system-Saturn conjunct Pluto probably indicates the suppression of his immune system to fight off colds leading up to the throat and ear infections.

Stephen's advice to aspiring future writers reflects the wisdom he has gained over the years with the passage of time. He says you must be disciplined, work hard and preserve through dedication. He himself sets a daily goal of 4-6hrs of writing time, as well as 2000 words a day minimum. Saturn also represents one's fears; he has a list of phobias from bees to enclosed places. One of his biggest fears is that he would fail at being a successful writer. During his lifetime, Stephen would want to watch his skin, bones, teeth, as well as his back and heart, and take good care of himself through nutrition and frequent physical checkups.

One aspect in particular that stands out in King's natal chart is his Mars placement in the 12^th house in the sign of Cancer (Mars in detriment or bad cosmic state).  One way this could play out is since the 12^th house can represent your unconscious behavior from past lives and the 12^th house represents your Achilles heel or weak spot, and Mars represents how well you use your energy; Stephen could unconsciously exhibit tendencies that do not benefit his best interests. He could literally be his own worst enemy. He could also have a tendency to put up a lot of protective barriers, especially about how he handles his anger or irritation (Mars). The 12^th house is also a house of chronic health issues, so it could mean he needs to watch his stomach (ulcers or easily irritated stomach) or chest area (Cancer) carefully. 

Mars co-rules his 4^th house of a parent (Scorpio) as well as his Aries M/C. The Aries M/C also represents one of the parents or an authority figure, so his parental issues of abandonment by a parent affects his destiny and how he earns his livelihood.  Aries on the M/C cusp also indicates he wants to be a pioneer in his profession. He likely feels that he has to go it alone in the world (that message is also being repeated by the lone wolf placement of Pluto in the 1^st house). This also can indicate he only feels safe if he is in control, because of the damage done to his ability to trust at such an early age. Because Mars is so well aspected though, he is able to mitigate this circumstance and to put it to good use, through healing and writing in particular (Natal Mars in Cancer in the 12^th house of hidden matters sextile the natal Virgo Sun in 3^rd house).

When looking at his chart, it should be strongly noted that he does have extremely positive,  helpful influences in his natal chart that are protecting him from some of the more negative aspects.  He has 7 trines in his natal chart; 3 of which form a major Grand Fire Trine to the M/C-both Pluto and Saturn in Leo in the 1^st house of self and destiny trine his 5^th House Moon in Sagittarius-this trine completes the circuit to the life path and world at large, represented by the Aries M/C. The Sagittarius Moon helped him with his popularity with the public (the Moon influences the public and rules his Cancer Ascendant, how he comes across to others).  This Moon is very nicely aspected in his chart-he has a great deal of sensitivity and in this case the Moon reflects the light of his soul (the Virgo Sun) in a philosophical and insightful way (Moon in Sagittarius). This Grand Fire trine means that he has a gift of inspiring and encouraging others to challenge themselves to be their personal best. His natal Sun in Virgo is also trine his North Node in Taurus. This means that his life purpose (North Node) is all about building financial security and what he values in life (Taurus North Node).

Stephen also has 7 sextiles, which show that he has still had a life complete with more opportunities, more than the average person. He still had to exert the effort and hard work to receive the benefit of those sextiles; the difficult aspects and life circumstances he encountered helped him to see their worth. A good natal chart usually is a blend of challenging and difficult aspects; together these forces help to develop character in a person and bring wisdom and knowledge, because one is able to go within themselves to correct their mistakes.

Stephen has Jupiter, the planet of happiness, prosperity and bounty ruling the Sagittarius 5^th house of enjoyment, creativity and children, placed in the 4^th house of home, family and the later years. He has now found happiness through his family and children and grandchildren, and is better able to enjoy sweet success in life in his golden years. Though he officially retired in 2002 from writing, he still continues to write and has passed this legacy on to his own family (two of his grown children also write successful novels in their own right).

When asked by an interviewer why he writes, he responded “The answer to that is fairly simple- there was nothing else I was made to do. I love writing and I was made to write stories and I love to write stories. That's why I do it. I can't imagine doing anything else and I can't imagine not doing what I do.” He is also asked often why he writes such terrifying stories and he answered with another question “Why do you assume that I have a choice?” His natal chart shows very clearly that his destiny was to write, for his muse of inspiration was both terror and fear. And now he doesn't have anything to fear anymore.