A little over a year ago I did a video on the Shapley Attractor but never made an “astrological ramblings” post about it (I have tried to make more time for writing recently and it feels SO GOOD to be doing this again). Why do this post now? Well, there has been an influx of people reaching out over the summer about different Galactic conjunctions they have in their charts, and conjunctions to Shapley (and the Great Attractor) have been brought up a whole bunch. Since Shapley and the Great Attractor aren’t actually ON the Galactic Grand Cross questionnaire, I think some people have wondered if I have done any research on them at all. In answer to that question…yes, yes I have (eventually the Great Attractor, Shapley, and even the Dipole Repeller need to be added to the current questionnaire or a new one needs to be created). 
**Side note: If anyone wants to be a part of the Galactic Center/Galactic Grand Cross research, shoot me an email or leave a comment on this post and I’ll get you the questionnaire ^_^

What is the Shapley Attractor? It’s a deep space anomaly (an even bigger anomaly than the Great Attractor!) that functions kind of like a black hole but isn’t a black hole. As far as I know (in 2024 as I’m writing this) scientists aren’t really sure what the hell Shapley actually is. What science does seem to know is that Shapley appears to be pulling things towards it (like the Great Attractor does, but Shapley does this in a more extreme way), and that it appears to be within (or near) the Shapley Supercluster. The Shapley Attractor is pulling a BUNCH of different galaxies towards it due to its high density and gravitational pull.  
-There is a line of thought that brings the Great Attractor and Shapley together, viewing the Shapley Attractor as a composite of the Shapley Supercluster and the Great Attractor. There is line of thought that the Great Attractor is being pulled TOWARDS the Shapley Attractor instead of functioning with Shapley. There is another line of thought that the Great Attractor and the Shapley Attractor have no correlation with one another (they are just, essentially, two attractor anomalies in the sky that happen to function in a similar way but that’s it). No one really seems to know anything definitively one way or the other as of September 2024
-Like the Great Attractor, the Shapley Attractor is lying behind the Zone of Avoidance meaning that it’s very hard to see (like the GA) with visible light wavelengths. 
-Shapley Supercluster/Concentration is pulling itself together instead of expanding with the universe (and pulling other galaxies towards it in the process). 

The Shapley Attractor can be found at 2° Scorpio (I’m not sure how to pull this in a natal chart, you will just need to eyeball it – in the chart above I have a yellow star where Shapley would be found if it could be pulled). In my research on this so far, I’ve been focused on conjunctions between planets, angles, etc. in the chart. While a large orb, I’ve been looking at conjunctions 7° applying with and separating from Shapley as being influenced and pulled. So, essentially, any planets, angles, etc. that you may have from 25° Libra to 9° Scorpio would be within Shapley’s grasp. Obviously, the closer the planet, angle, etc. is to 2° Scorpio, the more of a pull Shapley will have on it (and the more it will be influenced by Shapley). 

So…..like….what the fuck can one DO with Shapley in an astrology chart? How can one read it in a chart and bring it down to Earth? I definitely have some thoughts on what Shapley could indicate alongside any planets, etc. that happen to be conjunct.

Shapley is an attractor like the Great Attractor (GA), which means any planets, angles, etc. that happen to be conjunct EITHER of these will ATTRACT people, places, things, and situations towards it. Also like the GA, Shapley is in the “Zone of Avoidance” which is an area of space that can’t be seen with visible light waves. Even if the GA & Shapley can’t be seen with visible light waves, though, they both still exist. This makes me think that planets, etc. conjunct Shapley (and the GA) are always attracting something towards it…. even if the person isn’t conscious of this attracting that happens as it is happening. This right here makes me think that people with conjunctions to Shapley need to be VERY aware of what they attract into their lives via the planet, angle, etc. that is conjunct Shapley. It does seem to me that the attraction that occurs with Shapley (as with the GA) tends to have an affinity for the planet, angle, etc. that happens to be conjunct Shapley (or the GA). 
**For instance (using my chart as an example), I have Mars conjunct Shapley within 2°. This means that I need to be very aware of the kind of Mars people, places, things, and situations that I pull into my life. I’m going to PULL this stuff into my life no matter what, so I need to make sure that I’m only pulling to me the highest vibration of Mars in Scorpio energy. 
…..and THAT’S the challenging part, pulling in the highest vibration of Mars in Scorpio energy (or the highest vibrational energy of whatever planet, angle, etc. happens to be conjunct Shapley). 

Shapley does feel like it’s more challenging than the Great Attractor; this has been gleaned from my own personal experience, client experience, family/friend experience, and of people who have wanted to share with me their personal experience with Shapley even though there isn’t an official questionnaire about it yet. There are a couple of reasons why I think this is the case:
1. Shapley happens to be along Via Combusta (also known as the “Fiery Way” and the “Burning Way” from 15° Libra to 15° Scorpio). Since olden times (lol) this part of the chart is thought to bring “bad luck” to any planets, angles, etc. that happen to fall there because of all the difficult fixed stars in the area.  I’m not sure how much traditional astrologers actually work with this antiquated idea in a natal chart in present day, but due to the fixed star thing it IS used in horary astrology/event astrology (seeing a planet along Via Combusta, especially the Moon, in a horary chart/event chart can signal some fuckery and/or difficult shit afoot). 
2. Scorpio energy is SO extreme and intense, and Shapley happens to be in the sign of Scorpio. This in and of itself makes me think of Shapley functioning in a more challenging way than the Great Attractor. 
**That’s not to say that the Great Attractor can’t be challenging though (it definitely CAN be). While Sagittarius energy can definitely function in “big” and “extra” kinds of ways, it often lacks the extremity of Scorpio energy. 

Because Scorpio energy is SO extreme (this is one of the ways that it can function), it seems to me that WHATEVER is attracted via Shapley is going to be attracted in an extreme way. All planets, etc. in the chart have a higher vibrational and lower vibrational way that they can function (what they want to express). In saying that, it IS possible to pull the highest vibrational energy of the planet, etc. conjunct Shapley into one’s life (the “positive” extreme), but more often than not (not universally….but often) it seems that people pull in the the lowest vibrational energy (the “negative” extreme) of the planet, etc. conjunct Shapley in the form of people, places, things and situations. Attraction of the lowest vibrational energy of the planet, etc. appears to happen for a couple of reasons:
1. The person is expressing what the planet, etc. conjunct Shapley wants to express in an extremely low vibrational way (this may or may not be a conscious choice). Should this be the case, the person could come face to face with people, places, things, and situations that are also expressing the lower vibration of that planetary (etc.) energy. The point of this seems to be to show the person how they are and, ideally, how they don’t want to be.
2. The person isn’t expressing what the planet, etc. conjunct Shapley wants to express AT ALL in the first place (again, this may or may not be a conscious choice). Should the person come face to face to with people, places, things, and situations expressing the lowest vibration of what the planet (etc.) conjunct Shapley wants to express, it seems that it is to get the person to WAKE UP to their own planet conjunct Shapley (or to WAKE that planet up). Should this person have their planet “woken up” in this way, they want to not stoop to the lowest vibrational level of the planet, etc. Instead, it seems important that they go a different way, a higher vibrational way, with that planetary, etc. energy.

When the highest vibration of the planet, etc. is expressed through the planet conjunct Shapley, it seems that the person is able to pull in the VERY BEST of the planetary energy in an extreme way in regards to people, places, things and situations (extremity doesn’t have to be “bad”). My advice? Get to know any planet, angle, etc. conjunct Shapley in your chart as best as you can. If you need help with this, you can have me read for you (click here for this).