Saturday 21 February 2015

There Is No Such Thing As An Astrological Cusp!

As a professional astrologer, working in private practice, every now and then I come across a client who says they were 'born on the cusp.'

I would like to demonstrate in this little article, how there is No Such Thing as a Cusp.

You can ONLY ever be one sign of the Zodiac....

Whatever does that mean?

How can this be?

Astrology uses mathematical astronomical calculations to determine which sign of the Zodiac you are.

They are not randomly decided by the date of your birth. They are calculated by your personal birth information. 

Each sign of the Zodiac from Aries-Pisces is worked out (in Western astrology) by starting with the Spring Solstice....that section of the sky is called Aries...the next bit is called Taurus, and then Gemini and so on, round and round the sky until we get back to Aries.

Now, if we're going to divide all of the sky above our heads into a circle of signs, we have to use the mathematical fact that a circle contains 360* degrees.

And since there are 12 signs of the Zodiac, each sign, or portion of the sky, is going to be 30* degrees big.

Your Sun sign, or sign of the Zodiac is calculated (using astronomy) by the orbit of the Sun, across the sky above our heads. You're called a Pisces, or a Taurus because the Sun was in the bit of the sky that we've calculated is called Pisces/Taurus on your day of birth.

Yes, Astrologers know that the Sun doesn't orbit the Earth, it's the other way round, but that doesn't have anything to do with Astrology. 

In Astrology we're looking up at the sky and noting the planets, (not the stars, stars are too far away to use)...and the Sun, everyday, moves across the sky and takes approximately a month to go from one part of the sky to the next....

And it does it on different dates, on different months, on different years. The dates you read in magazines and on certain websites, are only approximate Zodiac sign dates. They're not accurate.


This is the Astrological symbol for the Sun:

Here's an Astrological birth chart. These are what professional Astrologers use to do their jobs.

Imagine that the yellow horizontal line, going from left to right, is the horizon, and the yellow shape in the centre, is the Earth.

The sky is divided into 12 segments, and all those red blobs are the planets on the day this person was born.

Don't worry about those other planets, just look for the Sun symbol, where it says Gemini.

It's the circle with a dot in the middle....and is located right near the 'i' in Gemini....


This person was born when the Sun was 11* degrees in Gemini and because they were born during the day at 12pm, in the afternoon, the Sun is high in the sky...



This person was born when the Sun was 17* degrees in the sign of Leo and as they were born really early in the morning, at 12.05am, their Sun is below the horizon...so they was born during the night.

If you were standing on the yellow earth in the centre, the Moon would just be visible on the horizon (in the sign of Gemini) but the Sun would be below the Earth as it's nighttime and dark!

Now you should be getting the idea that Astrology isn't just the sign of your Sun sign...there is much more to it than that.

You're not 'just a Gemini, or Leo, or Pisces'...there are other things to consider....but we won't be covering them in this post...we're just discussing the wrong use of the word cusp.

Remember.

Each sign is 30*degrees big...so the Sun has to travel through each bit of the sky from one place to another before you can be called the next sign of the Zodiac.

I shall demonstrate a bit further...

If you were born on the 19th February 1970, in London according to magazine and Internet info, you'd probably think you were an Aquarius.

In this example, the young lady was born at 1am, she has a Scorpio Ascendant, Sun in Aquarius and Moon in Leo....
All well and good, She's a 29* degrees Aquarius, and all is right with the world...

Her Sun is located below the horizon as she's born at night time...



However, if she was born anytime after 2am, she'd be a Pisces...

What?

How?

In this next example, same date, still early in the morning, but now the Sun has moved into Pisces...on a day not 'normally attributed to Pisces... 

The young lady below now has a Sagittarius Ascendant, Sun 0*degrees in Pisces and Moon in Leo  

Now astrologically, this makes for a completely different personality, a totally different viewpoint on life and the only similarity is the sign of the Moon and the other planets, but even they are located in different houses...

So, let's just make this clear.

Do Not rely on magazine or internet websites to determine your Zodiac (Sun) sign if you were born either at the beginning or the end of a Zodiac sign, between the 19th-22nd of each month.

Your Time and Location of birth can make a huge difference and if you're wondering why the daily horoscopes don't match up to your life, that is why.

There is NO such thing as a cusp, you are either one sign or another.

You might be like the examples above, a 29* degrees Aquarius or 0* degrees Pisces, but you'd be either one or the other, you can't both!!

So, find out how many degrees you are of the sign you were born under, and celebrate knowing exactly what sign you are !!

Enjoy!!


You can get your birth chart made accurately and free on http://www.astro.com/


Mary English is a professional Astrologer and author of 14 Astrology books, the first one of which is called 'How to Survive a Pisces'...the sign she was born into.
These twelve are published by John Hunt Publishing/Dodona books and O-Books
Mary @ Dodona Books
She has also self published two books, one of which is about the Astrology of Indigos, her speciality.


Her personal website is http://www.maryenglish.com/