Sun sign question

I have a question, that is very basic but I can't find a direct answer anywhere, and I know some of the experts here will have an opinion!

I know the sun sign is regarded as only a SMALL piece of the whole astrological puzzle.

However, I was wondering how closeness to the next sign at time of birth affects that one piece.

For example, I know someone who was born on Nov. 22, and missed being a Scorpio sun sign by just 2 hours, according to my research.

So they are a Sag.

Wouldn't they have a great many Scorpio tendencies as well, or does it not work like that? For example, is it like being pregnant, either you are (a Scorpio or Sag) or aren't, or is there a gray area???

Thanks,
Whitestar

Whitestar said:

I have a question, that is very basic but I can't find a direct answer anywhere, and I know some of the experts here will have an opinion!

I know the sun sign is regarded as only a SMALL piece of the whole astrological puzzle.

However, I was wondering how closeness to the next sign at time of birth affects that one piece.

For example, I know someone who was born on Nov. 22, and missed being a Scorpio sun sign by just 2 hours, according to my research.

So they are a Sag.

Wouldn't they have a great many Scorpio tendencies as well, or does it not work like that? For example, is it like being pregnant, either you are (a Scorpio or Sag) or aren't, or is there a gray area???

Thanks,
Whitestar

Click to expand...

Pieces of a whole puzzle, yes. Think of the Zodiac this way: the signs all put together tell a "story of humanity," or what it is to be a human (a general human). The entire Zodiac is there in everyone's chart --we all have the potential to have bits of ourselves symbolized in any of the signs at any given time.

When a "birth" occurs it gives us a convenient moment at which to take a snapshot of the heavens and place our symbols on a chart --similar to laying a spread of tarot cards. Just as the cards draw as they may, the stars fall on the Zodiac chart where they may for that moment. What gives that moment particular significance for its subject is that it is "our" moment by virtue of being the moment allocated as "birth". It is associated with us through us.

You will find astrologers who interpret drawing influence from adjoining signs in the same way aspects are given some leeway, but you will also find astrologers who tell you that the Sun in Saggitarius means just that, and it needn't mean anything more. Like a tarot spread, what planetary positions we are given to view are sufficient in themselves to provide radical symbolsim.

We are unique people and it's a generalized story, so the astrologer's task is to relate that story to things about the subject in terms of the particular event for which the chart was made. (This is why a person reading for themselves, for their own issues, finds the most radical symbolism; because no one can know you better, or make the connections as well, as you.)

Your friend is a Saggitarius, and also a Scorpio, and also all the pieces of the whole Zodiac --we are all playing out the story of humanity. But the Sun in "Saggitarius" or "Scorpio" will mean something unique to each individual as they read about the sign and align their own thinking to view their personality traits in association with what the sign means.

Hopes this helps a bit.

Thank you Willamena for your answer!

I especially liked your analogy between a tarot spread and a snapshot of the heavens at birth.

I guess your explanation did help...

I'm still thinking about/pondering it

Thanks!

For Whitestar

There are two perhaps-contradictory factors which we work with in astrology. These are Waves and Zones-Segments.

Waves are cyclic-like and can be seen in terms of two planet's aspecting each other -- they approach exactness of a square aspect (for example) then separate from that exact aspect. Planets approaching an angle are another example.

Zones-Segments are discrete, defined, bounded zones such as a sign or a house. Many astrologers have noted that the boundary between houses seem not to be so sharp as that between signs. This may be due to the question of which house system is best, the accuracy of birth time, etc.

Personal questions for each astrologer have to be thought about: Do I treat sign and house cusps like I treat aspects and angles? I would suggest not. We have to keep in mind that what works in one part of astrology doesn't always work in another part of astrology. Of course you could always take my approach and never use signs or houses since they don't add much and they do cause a lot of confusion at times. Dave

Hi Whitestar.

Your question is indeed very basic, and here is your direct answer, which you haven't yet had.

There is no such thing as being 'born on the cusp'. The idea that there is some grey area of shared responsibility around boundaries of signs is a direct consequence of newspaper astrology. The reason that Sun signs are used by the press is because the vast majority of any given population will know which sign the Sun was traversing when they were born, just by knowing the date of birth, and this isn't possible for any other planetary position.

If you are born around the twenty-first of the month, you can never be sure of which sign the Sun is in, not without knowing the year or time, because the date upon which the Sun enters a sign will vary slightly from year to year.

The Sun is definately and absolutely in one sign or the other, and in your friend's case, this person is a Sagittarius, and not somehow also a Scorpio. This can't happen.

So you were quite right to conclude that your friend is Sagittarius.

Thanks for the additional replies.

Boundaries between signs are set, not fluid, NOT a gradual melding into the next sign.

You either are one thing or another.

Got it!

Thanks, got the answer I was looking for

Whitestar