Astrological Cusps

Foundation Stone of Learning

Are you a cusp?  If you were born close to the beginning or end of your Sun sign your answer should be a resounding—Yes. The window of time for being a “cusp sign” is the last 2-3 days and the first 2 days of a sign, referred to as being born on “The Cusp”.

People born on the cusp of 2 signs tend to possess traits of both signs. The point where one sign begins and another ends results in a blending of the energies of both signs. As the Sun transitions from one into the other, the energies they identify with blend and merge. If you were born within a cusp period you will find it interesting and beneficial to study both your own Sun sign and its neighbor positioned near to your birthday.

Individuals born on the first or last day of a Sun sign will be included in the dates assigned to that sign and be assigned the Sun sign name. When you are born on a cusp, you are blending and merging traits, and the sign names can be misleading. Paying attention to the dates is the best line of action for understanding your personal Sun sign traits. Having a reliable Natal chart cast will reveal precisely where the Sun was at the time you were born.

The actual cusp is the point at 0 degrees of the new sign. Those of us born close to the end of one sign and approaching another, say within 2 degrees of the beginning degree of the next sign, are still referred to as being born “on the cusp”.

There are differing opinions among Astrologers as to just what being born on a cusp means. Some suggest that where a sign ends and another begins there is a distinct end to the current sign. One character type suddenly ends and another distinct character begins. Absolutely untrue! Rather, there is a fading out of the influence of the current and a gradual increase in traits related to the following sign. There is a definitive transition period of influence across the threshold between the signs. This is true for the influence of the sun and each of the planets.

As an example, if I am born at 28 degrees of say Virgo; the Virgo traits will be waning and Libran traits—the following sign—will be increasing. Considering this, if I am born at 1 degree of Libra I will have overtones and nuances of Virgo traits still visible and working in my general character.

So the questions is, “What traits apply to me, born on the cusp of two signs?” The answer is: People born on a cusp have traits that blend, merge and collide. There is ambivalence in a cusp sign. Rather than giving you a lesson in Astrology, the meanings for the cusp signs follow.

Because the traits of one sign may be contradictory to those of the next sign, I look to the placement of Mercury to further define the cusp sign.

Mercury is never more than 28 degrees from the Sun. Mercury is found ahead or behind the Sun depending on its motion – moving faster or slower in relation to the Sun. Thus, Mercury is always in your sun sign, or in one of the signs on either side of your Sun sign. Although the position of Mercury – Mind - is very important in everyone's chart, it is a pivotal position when you are born on a cusp.

Say your sun sign is 29 degrees Virgo. If Mercury were behind the Sun—28 degrees or less—it would be in Virgo too, reinforcing the Virgo traits. Remember, Mercury is never more than 28 degrees behind or ahead of the Sun. If Mercury were ahead of the Sun—in this example 2 degrees or more—it would be in Libra, emphasizing the Libran traits. Mercury represents how you think and communicate, and analyze situations.

Following this you would look to Venus. Venus is never more than 46 degrees from the position of the Sun, either ahead or behind it. Venus shows how you feel, how you value anything based on judgment. Good or bad, like or dislike, pleasant or unpleasant. Venus makes value judgments, based on feelings.

The Sun, Mercury and Venus represent the basic self. What you are predisposed to. The undeveloped self, before personality, the Moon, is formed.

Meant to provide a basic understanding of the cusp influence, considering the placement of Mercury and Venus—thought and feeling—we get greater insight into the influence governing the cusp type.

Your astrology chart is interpreted as a whole, therefore, just giving a view of certain parts is only a piece of the story. To know the whole story, you need to have a birth chart drawn and analyzed by a person thoroughly versed and competent in the art and science. If you wish to study beyond the Sun sign influences, it may be time to do so.

“Astrology is the oldest of all sciences. Its history can be traced so far into the past that it becomes a hopeless task to actually discover when and where it had its origin. From Babylonia and the Chaldeans we find a belief in Astrology spreading throughout the whole world. Once the religion of a great and mighty race, it taught its people wisely, lifting their aspirations by faith, hope and reverence through the media of the planetary spirits to the supreme One and Universal Spirit, the Logos of the solar system.

When we come to consider that Astrology was the beginning of most that we hold valuable in art, literature, religion and science, and know that the constellations were our first pictures, also that astronomy, and to a certain extent mathematics, sprang from Chaldean Astrology, we may judge of its value to humanity, and wonder not at its survival amidst the fall of nations and decline of mighty races.

The truth can never be destroyed, and when we recognize in Astrology the law of the Supreme Ruler of our solar system, we need some courage before we commence the task of learning the harmony of that law; and yet, the same energy that is expended in seeking to refute it, if turned in the direction of learning its first principles, would unbar the gate that leads to its understanding. ”

—Alan Leo,
Astrology for All, 1899