“Cusp Signs” don’t exist! Here’s why!

Dear NightFall Astrology readers,

The concept of “cusp signs” is so present in pop astrology that I thought it necessary to debunk this common misconception! I know, I know, those of you who have their Sun at the beginning or end of a sign won’t feel so special anymore, but remember that one of the main Universal laws is that we’re all unique, not special; these are 2 very different things.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I want to make it clear that “cusps” do exist (such as a cusp of a house), but “cusp signs” don’t, and here’s why.

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Let’s define the cusp signs’ myth: it’s essentially the idea that if you were born near the beginning or the end of a sign, you get some of the neighbouring sign’s significations imported into you.

There are several reasons why this isn’t the case, but before diving into them, let’s first give a brief definition of astrology.
Astrology is the study of celestial alignments in correlation with earthly events. It isn’t causing anything; it’s signalling it. Causation in astrology is another myth I’ll debunk in one of my upcoming premium articles.

Stemming from that, in astrology, we are not just looking at the Sun, which is the sign most people know based on their birthday. We’re looking at an entire natal chart! In astrology, there are various kinds of charts, but every chart is the inception of a promise to be carried forth.

When the chart delineates a human life, it’s called “a natal/birth chart” and constitutes the majority of the current astrological practice.

But make no mistake: in any astrological chart, we see how planets are either on one side or the other. There is no gradient, no blending, and no mixing around cusps!
A cusp describes being at the beginning or the end of a sign. It is a quantitative or a numerical term to describe being near those beginning or end numbers, not a qualitative one.

Some people may even be calling themselves a cusp because they aren’t sure which sign they are if they’re born near the beginning or end date of a sign because some years, this date varies. This is why it’s essential to have your exact birth time to pull up your accurate birth chart because there’s no way for you to be both Sun signs.

Your Sun Sign is in one of the 12 zodiac signs. Each planet cannot be in more than one sign. If your Sun is in Aries even at one degree of this sign, it is a hundred per cent in Aries, not in Pisces.

It’s also important to note that you are never one sign: you are never ‘just’ a Leo or ‘just’ an Aquarius; you are an entire natal chart! Your Sun might be in those signs, but you are not just one sign.

Almost everyone who thinks they’re an Aries/Taurus cusp doesn’t understand that they’re an entire natal chart, so if you haven’t already checked it, it’ll demonstrate astrology’s complexity.

Often, people think and believe they have qualities of both signs because they have planets in them. For example, you can have your Sun at the end of Taurus and Mercury at the beginning of Gemini. This could represent that while in the world you’re doing something with your career that’s very Taurian (like gardening or horticulture), something that is Earth or food-related, you might communicate in a very fast-paced and curious way, which leads you to feel like you have some of Gemini’s quick-witted qualities and the Taurus slow and steady ones as well.

And while the zodiac is not a gradient, there are nuances. The signs are divided into decans, bounds and triplicities, which gives more texture and detail to their expression. These are all concepts coming from traditional astrology that was there way before the 20th-century pop or modern astrology.

The bounds set a legal standard of judgment: basically, a planet in a planet’s bounds/terms will act judgement-wise like that planet.

The Trigon/Triplicity Lords indicate success, material conditions, and the standard of living for the planet.

Finally, there are the decans (the Egyptian are the most used ones): a three-part division of each sign. They describe the nuanced superpower of that portion of the sign.

{ Side note: I recommend Vettius Valens’s (an ancient Hellenistic astrologer) “Anthology” to get a deeper insight into these divisions }.

These ways of describing and peering into the terrain of a sign don’t change the inherent signification of the sign. They aren’t changing what the sign means; they’re adding details.

I repeat: these nuances are NOT a blending of the signs. You can have a planet at 29 degrees 59 minutes of a sign, but the second it moves into zero degrees of another sign, it’s not mixing the two at all!

Feeling like you have qualities of the neighbouring signs is because you have planets in those signs. This is a very common occurrence as Mercury can only be one sign away from the Sun and Venus 2 signs away from it.

Cusps refer to a geographical designation of the borders of the zodiac.

Furthermore, the presence of cusp signs would raise huge issues around other foundational astrological concepts, such as the domicile and exaltation scheme, aspects, and timing techniques.
Thus, many of the conceptual foundations in astrology hinge on particular calculations of planets and rationale around the timing of certain signs in specific contexts, that the mere idea of cusps indicating a blending of signs goes against thousands of years of valid techniques.

And if someone is speaking about cusps signs, I would be cautious. I’ve never encountered a well-read and competent astrologer who advocates for cusp signs.

Astrology is a complex subject, and pop articles and books can’t do it justice!

So, are you born around the cusp of a sign, or do you have any planets at 0 or 29 degrees of a sign, and you’re having to unlearn this after reading this article? Let me know in the comments down below!

Thank you for reading.

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Your Astrologer – Theodora NightFall ~

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