"Born on the Cusp"
By Felissa Rose



The term "born on the cusp" refers to a period right before or after the Sun changes zodiacal signs. The actual day varies each year so a person say for instance born on January 19th might be either a Capricorn or Aquarius, The Sun doesn’t usually enter a new sign at midnight so the time and location of a person's birth would determine what Sun sign they are. The Sun could enter Aquarius at 12:15 PM in San Francisco but since it is 3:15 PM in New York City at this time an individual born on that day at 12:15 PM in New York would still have a Capricorn Sun.

There are 12 signs of the zodiac and each sign has 30 degrees totaling a complete circle of 360 degrees. A planet located at the 29th degree of a sign is considered "unstable" which means that the planet would take on characteristics of the sign it is actually placed in as well as the next one. For instance if an individual is born with the Sun at 29 degrees of Gemini one would have Gemini as well as Cancer traits. Sometimes the person would respond to life as a Gemini making decisions logically and analytically and then as a Cancer through feeling and intuition. Having other planets or the Ascendant and Midheaven in one of these signs could slant the individual more into one sign than the other.

If a planet is unstable it doesn’t mean that the individual having it is inconsistent, for it could enable one to have a wider outlook and broader choices. Possible difficulty could lie in being pulled in two directions at the same time, making them go back and forth between the two signs. They might be perfectly comfortable with this but others could find this behavior confusing and unpredictable.

Having the Sun, any planet, or important angle (ascendant, descendant, nadir or midheaven) at the first degree of a sign gives an unique tone to the manifestation of that energy. People having the Sun at zero degrees of a sign often feel like a stranger in a strange land expressing who they are. In a way they have to start from scratch. Whatever conditioning taught by peers, family and society doesn’t seem to work for them. Often there is a feeling of being different and they have to make their own way in life quite unlike where they have come from and what has been expected of them.

This also relates to the expression of other planets in the chart so for instance if an individual has Venus, which is the ruler of harmony and all types of relationships --- artistic as well as personal, at zero degrees of a sign they would demonstrate an uniqueness in their personal relationships or aesthetic tastes. This would be neither good nor bad -- just different and could be quite interesting.

In a future article I’ll describe more examples of having planets on the cusp.






Copyright 2000 Felissa Rose. All rights reserved.