Galactic Guidance, a Zodiac Advice Column: What should I do if I was born on the cusp of two zodiac signs?
When your horoscope app doesn’t have the answers, look to the stars for advice. And by that, we mean look to Gala Galactic, HelloGiggles’ resident zodiac advice columnist. If you’ve got zodiac questions, she’s got answers for Galactic Guidance: A Zodiac Advice Column. All you have to do is send your Qs to [email protected]. Happy stargazing!
Dear Gala,
I’m a cusp-er, born on December 22nd, so I’m Sagittarius and Capricorn. I never know which zodiac sign to look at on my horoscope app. I never know what to believe and often have astrological identity crises. How should I navigate that duality?
Love,
The In-Betweener
Dear In-Betweener,
I have to break some news to you…and you might not like it. Outside the back pages of print magazines and fun online sites that provide approximate dates for each zodiac sign, cusps do not exist.Here’s the thing: it’s not your fault that you were led to believe you are a “cusp-er.” We live in a world that loves to generalize and simplify, despite the fact that many things in our magical universe require precision and time.
The zodiac wheel is divided by degrees, and each section represents a different sign. There are shifts between degrees because the Sun’s position changes slightly from year to year (and throughout the day), but it’s all accounted for mathematically. Although one can be born on December 22nd in the afternoon and be a Sagittarius one year, and be born in the evening and be a Capricorn a couple of years later, there’s a sure way to find out which one you are. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life wondering and bouncing from sign to sign.
Here’s what you do next: Go to your birth chart, or to any birth record possessed by a parent or guardian, and find out the date, time, and location of your birth. Using this information, you can then have your chart read by an expert, or you can have it generated on a site like astro.com. There’s a tab on that site called “Free Charts,” and under that there is a tab for “Personal Portraits.” This will generate a general version of your natal chart for you — general, because the explanations will be sampled from a larger pool and aggregated, rather than tailored to work with your specific situation — and give you some answers.
If you have always felt a distinct relation to both Sagittarius and Capricorn, you might find that your natal chart features aspects of both signs, even if only one of them is your Sun sign.
Having said all that, there’s a chance that, despite the precision of natal charts, you might be destined to be a “cusp-er” forever. If you are one of the unlucky few who has no way of finding out your birth time (because you were born in a place where it wasn’t customary to record it, because you were adopted, because records are sometimes lost to fires and time), your only answer might be to move through this world as both — sometimes a Sagittarius and sometimes a Capricorn.
In this case, take time to reflect on the instances when you feel more affinity for one or the other. What within you seeks to continually expand your sense of self? What within you aches to prove your commitment to your goals through discipline and dedication? When do you feel most free, and when do you feel seen and appreciated?
While Sagittarius shoots his arrow, looking forward to what is possible, Capricorn takes stock of those possibilities and builds the framework for accomplishing them. Do you carry the wisdom of both signs? Can you learn to carry the wisdom of both signs?
Whatever steps you need to take going forward, know that Sagittarius and Capricorn are in deep relation with each other. They merge philosophy and praxis. And finding out which one you are doesn’t have to mean losing the lessons you’ve learned by walking with the other.
Good luck,
Gala Galactic
