Why Being Born on the Cusp Doesn’t Make You a Freak: Myth vs. Reality

A cusp is an astrological division between signs or houses.

Being born “on the cusp” refers to the Sun being in the very late or early degrees of a sign (each sign has 30 degrees) at the time of birth.

However, despite the edge of the Sun being able to creep into the next sign while it’s on the cusp, technically, the center of the Sun at any given time is in either one sign or the next, not both.

Each year the Sun changes signs from Sagittarius to Capricorn for example, at different times, on different days, within a period of a few days. The Sun does not change signs on the same day or time every year for any sign.

Also, your life isn’t “influenced” by astrology, but it is represented (“As above, so below” Hermes Trismegistus) by the hundreds of factors in the comprehensive astrology and numerology charts.

Every sign of the zodiac is represented in your comprehensive charts, in one way or another. The Sun was transiting one of those 12 signs at the time of your birth. Our modern, universal, Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar, based on the length of the tropical year (the time interval between vernal equinoxes), but there’s a lot more to astrology than the Sun.

Sun sign astrology didn’t exist until about 100 years ago, it was developed mainly for New Age entertainment (and profit), and it’s a travesty to the body of ancient methodologies which represent authentic astrology. It’s understandable why many people exposed to today’s “astrology,” found in generalized “horoscopes,” dismiss it as pseudoscience.

The Sun sign is only one of hundreds of astrological indicators: placement and health of heavenly bodies such as the Moon, planets, fixed stars, Arabic Parts, etc., along with their rulers; patterns formed by multiple factors forming a solid system of checks and balances–it’s a language as comprehensive as any other.

Whenever someone asks, “Which sign am I?” or “Am I both signs?” I’m happy to tell them their Sun sign, but I’m compelled to say, “I must first clarify for you that Sun sign astrology, which you are referring to, is trivial. It’s nonsensical. It’s like taking your hand and saying ‘I’m a hand.’ No, you’re not a hand, just like you aren’t ‘an Aries,’ for instance. You’re a collection of multiple body parts. But if you insist on Sun sign astrology, technically you can have only one Sun sign.”

Mercury is always close to the Sun, and when the Sun is in the very early degrees of a sign, often Mercury is in the late degrees of the sign before it. Or Mercury is just ahead of the Sun in the next sign. Other heavenly bodies are also just ahead or behind the Sun, and some others are in the sign of the Sun. So what you think is a Sun sign, is really an assortment of energies.

What you believe to be a Libra Sun, for example, could instead be heavy Gemini or Aquarius (also masculine air signs) energy in the comprehensive charts.

What you believe to be a Taurus Sun, for example, could instead be heavy Capricorn or Virgo (also feminine earth signs) energy in the comprehensive charts.

Also consider the symbolism of comprehensive numerology.

What you think is a Leo Sun, for example, could easily be an abundance of 1, 3, and, or 5 energy.

What you think is a Pisces Sun, for example, could easily be strong 2 and 9 energy.

There is always a unique dominant planet in each person’s natal comprehensive charts–the “chart ruler” (this is not the Ascendant ruler, by the way–that’s a modern astrology misconception). Sometimes it’s the Sun, many other times it’s not.

Let’s say a person was born on January 18th with the Sun in late degrees of Capricorn. Although you might interpret that to be also an Aquarius Sun “because he seems like ‘an Aquarius’ too,” what you’re really picking up in this case is a very strong Natal Mars in Aquarius in a strong house, with its ruler also very healthy and in a strong house, along with being fortified by the Ptolemaic aspects to a couple of other heavenly bodies, in part.

At the same time, his Sun being very firmly in the Sign of Capricorn, while in a weak house and debilitated by other heavenly bodies, translates into the Sun in Capricorn being a minor player in his comprehensive charts.

When you confuse one Sun sign for another, it’s also possible you could be sensing triplicity (three signs belonging to the same element, such as fire–Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) rulership, or terms divisions, which is the separation of each 30 degree sign into 5 sections.

For example, Egyptian Terms divides the sign of Pisces into these sections: Venus rules the first 12 degrees, Jupiter rules the next 4, Mercury rules the next 3, Mars rules the next 9, and Saturn rules the final 2 degrees.

What you might think is Sun sign symbolism, is instead a collection of energies.

If you insist on considering only one indicator, the Ascendant (and all connected to it), otherwise known as the Rising sign, is more personal, much more so than the Sun sign.

More information here about why it’s important to avoid exclusive reliance on Sun signs.

Copyright © 2010 Scott Petullo