Astrology Cusps, Confusing?



Damn Right they are.



When I first started really reading part about astrology cusps in my study of astrology, I was confused.

Every piece of information in each book I bought said something contradictory from the book before.

So someone is said to be born on an astrology cusp, are they really torn between two Sun signs? Let's work this out.

What is an Astrology Cusp?



It's the transitioning space between one Sign to another. In other words,  it's that little bit of space or time where 30 degrees goes back to 0.

Each of the constellations is 30 degrees in measure. We number the celestial longitude distance in a zodiac sign 0 to 29, with 30 degrees going back to 0 of the following Astrology sign.

So, which Sun sign are you if you were born on an Astrology cusp?



The only way to really know is to check out an Ephemeris. You have to find the placement of the Sun on the day, year and time you were born.

Having said that, I will explain why I've come to think that the Astrology cusp is a myth at worst or at best an exception.

It's not because cusps don't exist or never were, but because people are lead to believe, that they are two Signs at once, equally.

We read this in Astrology books and articles along with a flimsy excuse as to why a person may feel they are two Signs.

The excuse? Because they are "in fact" two Sun signs.

Astrology Cusps - Why I think a Singular Answer is not Enough to Explain



These are some of the legendary facts that I found out about Astrology cusps, written in Astrology books and articles.

The things I've  read about when the cusp happens:

Some say:

*Someone is born on a cusp if He or She is born the first 5 days or the last 5 days.

In other words,  5 days before or 5 days after the month changes*

Others say:

*You are a cusp baby only if the Sun is actually touching the line that marks off the Zodiac signs with the caveat that this occurs within 12 hours of either side of the zodiac signs that they point to.*

And there is:

* There really isn't a true dividing line between the signs they mostly run into each other.

So if you are born at the minute and second of transition, you are a cusp.*

Some say:

*Someone is born on a cusp if He or She is born the first 5 days or the last 5 days. In other words,  5 days before or 5 days after the month changes.*

Others say:

*You are a cusp baby only if the Sun is actually touching the line that marks off the Zodiac signs with the caveat that this occurs within 12 hours of either side of the zodiac signs that they point to.*

And there is:

* There really isn't a true dividing line between the signs they mostly run into each other. So if you are born at the minute and second of transition, you are a cusp.*



What is said about the cusp persons traits:

Some say:

*When you are born on a cusp, Your Sign is precarious and so you take on characteristics of the next sign.*

Still others wax esoteric saying:

*That if your soul is born at the end date of one Astrology sign you have fulfilled all the lessons in that sign.

If you are at the beginning date of the next sign you are wide-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on the new lessons.*

Some say:

*When you are born on a cusp, Your Sign is precarious and so you take on characteristics of the next sign.*

Still others wax esoteric saying:

*That if your soul is born at the end date of one Astrology sign you have fulfilled all the lessons in that sign.

If you are at the beginning date of the next sign you are wide-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on the new lessons.*


All this reads like hypothesis, conjecture and esoteric philosophic theories. It isn't helpful when you are trying to find out what's what and it does not do any favors for Astrology.

This is one place that skeptics will zone in on if they are worth their salt.

If I were to choose explanations from above that makes sense to me it would be:

  1. *You are a cusp if the Sun is touching the line that marks off the line that divides the zodiac signs and your birth happens within 12 hours.*
  2. *You are a cusp if you are born the moment transition occurs.*

What I think about Astrology Cusps



If you really want to know you need to have knowledge of what minute that Signs changed. You can't go by the dates that Astrology writers tell you, not unless they list what time the signs transitioned.

As far as personality traits go, I think a true cusp person has a Sun sign, they'll just have tendencies of the next Sign that seem to come and go so often they feel like they have two Sun signs.

It may be that the most people who profess to be Astrology cusp signs really wish they were another Astrology sign, when all they really have are tendencies of one Sign mixed in with their actual Sun sign.

Having said that, all of us are a mixture of Zodiac signs that make up our characteristics in totality.

At times, we may all feel as if we are on a cusp, depending on the situation at hand.

Example; a person who has the personality of Sun in Sagittarius with the thinking and communication of Mercury in Scorpio.

In everyday terms, you will find that this Sagittarian will sometimes relate to you, speak to you or think like a Scorpio.

**I am not trying to tell you that being born on a cusp is just like having any other birth date.

**I am not saying the previous answers of when someone is born on a zodiac cusp or not, are all right or all wrong.

**I am saying I have researched these divergences and what it comes down to it, there is a little bit of truth in each answer.

**I am saying that having a last 5 days or first five days birth-date, just takes more research before you find out what your sign is, you have to be more precise.

**I am also saying you are either one Sun sign or another, not both.


On the bright side, there are a few arguments for why you may feel like you are straddling two Sun signs.

One reason is zodiac progressions.

Your birth chart advances one degree each year.

So, if the Sun is one degree away from the adjacent zodiac sign the forward motion will put the Sun into the following zodiac sign by the time you are a one year old.

By the time, you reach your teenage years, this second zodiac sign will be showing in your character substantially.

The Sun will stay in this second sign until your late 20’s to early 30’s.

This is a reason for you not feeling you are the actual Sun sign you were born under and feeling more affinity for the following zodiac sign.

Another explanation for your feelings of being two zodiac sun signs is because of the planet Mercury.

Mercury travels close to the Sun. It's usually before or after the Sun.

So let's say that you were born at the end degrees of Gemini, so your Mercury slipped into Cancer.

The Sun dictates your ego, your raison d'être, it's very potent and apparent in your personality.

However, Mercury shows how you think and express yourself and it's also potent. So it's easy to see how you could feel as if you are two zodiac Sun signs.

When the Sun goes into Gemini's last degrees, you're so open to ideas and you often change your mind.

But your mind will sometimes be influenced by the (Mercury) in Cancer and you'll then be so glued to your ideas that people would call you small minded.

What a contradiction, right?

If neither the first nor the second explanation work for you here is a third, and it’s my final answer. ;)

Find an ephemeris and check for your ascendant or rising sign. Then locate where your other Planets and their Zodiac signs are.

You may have several Planets inside the same Zodiac sign.

Example: ** I am a Sag, Mercury (Scorpio), Mars (Scorpio), Venus (Scorpio). I was not born on a cusp, but every day I feel like I was.

Even though I am not born on a cusp, Scorpio is so prominent in my chart that I feel it as much and sometimes more than my Sun sign, but other people experience me as a Sagittarius.**

But I digress...

When you locate those Planets and the Houses they rule with the Signs inside, the ruling Planet of that zodiac sign may be powerfully aspected.

Alternatively, you may have a powerful Planet aspect in a certain zodiac sign.

On the other hand, the planets may all be in a House that another Sign rules. One last thing to check for is your Mid-heaven.


From what I have gathered, people born on astrology cusps should think of themselves as having a Sun sign with tendencies of another Zodiac sign.

Be a Zodiac sleuth and you will find the obvious reason why you feel like your living with two Sun signs at once, that reason is found in your birth chart.


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