No, really. You weren’t.

I’ll stop you right there and repeat:

You. Were. Not. Born. On. A. Cusp.

You were not born on a cusp. Period. I don’t care if your birthday is October 23rd, November 22, or December 22nd and for the love of the universe: Virgos, stop telling me that you were born on the cusp of Leo or Libra and Capricorns, stop telling me that you were born on the cusp of Sagittarius. Being a Virgo is great. Being a Capricorn is great. Anyone who doesn’t know that doesn’t know enough astrology to tell you otherwise, and anyone who is making sweeping judgments about astrological signs as if it matters is probably too young to be advising people in any capacity.

What is a cusp then?

The cusp is ONLY between the 29 degree of one sign and the 0 degree of another sign. There’s no cusp at 28 degrees, or 27 degrees or at 1 degree or 2 degrees. That’s not a “cusp”: a cusp is a point of transition. The cusp is like the exit on the highway, not the sign that reads that the exit is coming up soon. You don’t suddenly veer off to the right as soon as you see the exit sign in 1/2 mile or 1/4 mile, right when there’s nothing there but a guard rail and some really freaked out drivers in the far right lane. You’re still on the highway until the actual exit appears. The 29th degree is the highway exit itself, because it is still a part of the highway, just leaving the highway. The 0 degree is that street you hit when you first enter the town or city you’ve exited into and all the locals are honking at you because you actually make a full stop at the red light before turning (what the fuck is up with that shit, Pennsylvania?)

This is not necessarily a “blend” of the signs, though it could kind of maybe appear that way initially because signs next to each other tend to either initiate traits or refine traits from the previous sign.

The 29th degree is the culmination of the energy of the sign, and the 00 degree is the raw, unfiltered energy of the new sign…though it could kind of look like a “blend” of signs. Yesterday, for example, the Sun went from the 29th degree of Scorpio to the 0 degree of Sagittarius.

This means the sun went from the culmination of Scorpio to the edge of Sagittarius on the Bridge of Truth, which is the thing that binds them: Scorpio looks deep for what is pure, without pretense, without reason, and Sagittarius searches for truth to share with the world. What is pure is what is true, vulnerable, and naked, and Scorpio mines it from the depths of the Earth and Sagittarius raises it up to the Sun for the world to see.

But the person themselves, the human being, is not the blending of energies, because that is a process that happens over the course of time, and a birth chart is a snapshot of a time when someone is born, and they’re either born when the Sun is at the culmination (or perfection) of a sign OR when the Sun is at the beginning (or celebration) of the next sign. Thus, the person with the Sun at 29 degrees Scorpio is more inclined to the perfection of Scorpio, which is mining for existential gold, as opposed to the raw energy of Scorpio, which is seeking power for the sake of it. The person with the Sun at 0 degrees Sagittarius is more inclined to the beginning of Sagittarius, which is the ability to explore and experience everything for the sake of it, as opposed to the culmination of Sagittarius, which is to specifically seek out which is good for the soul to share with the rest of the world.

Next month at the solstice (which I took off from work, because the solstice means more to me personally than Christmas, and I need to start taking my nature-related holidays), the Sun will go from 29 degrees Sagittarius to 0 degrees Capricorn. The Sun will go from the perfection of Sagittarius (see above) to the raw newness of Capricorn at 0 degrees. The 0 degree of any cardinal sign is an Aries Point, which is especially powerful and a force to be reckoned with, and at 0 degrees Capricorn, the Sun is focused on making its mark in the world and has all the ambition for worldly status (and more specifically, immortality) than 29 degrees Sagittarius. This particular Aries Point at 0 Capricorn is the degree of superlative, the person who wants to be forever known as the best of something, the most of something, the greatest of something, but actually do the thing that makes the rest of the world want to hold them in that regard. Sagittarius talks the talk, but Capricorn walks the walk, and Capricorn will walk the path forever, and alone if it must, to die a legend, whereas Sagittarius will tell it’s own legends to whomever will listen or just happens to be in earshot.

Yes – this is without regard to the Sabian symbols, but for each one, I don’t think my interpretation is incompatible with the symbols.

Everyone is going for walks nowadays.

We are on the cusp of a more psychologically damaging second wave.

With the shelter in place advisory in effect in Chicago, everyone is going for a walk and this Sagittarius can’t take that. You would think that I would be happy to see so many fellow pedestrians out and about, but no: this actually really sucks.

In fact, I almost bought a treadmill, but a decent on that would fold up and fit under my bed would be too expensive, too big, and too heavy, so I relented and got an exercise bike which will come on Monday, and I’m excited.

Why would I rather sit on a stationary bike in my apartment staring at a HD train journey through Norway while listening to The Tubes than get fresh air?

Because in order to walk around and socially distance, I can’t enjoy any part of it. I have to be ever vigilant of all of the other people around me who just discovered walking for fun, especially the pieces of shit who still won’t wear a mask. I have fucking assholes on bikes riding on the sidewalk (even though that’s illegal) right up on my ass and expect ME to move.

Seriously – if you’re riding your bike on the sidewalk in Chicago and you’re an adult, you’re a piece of shit, and I’m glad you’re not wearing a helmet.

Then, when you want to cross the street or even an alleyway, you have to dodge cars, and many of the car are coming out between parked cars because the sides of the roads are completely flanked because people aren’t going anywhere.

So I can’t listen to music. I can’t drift off in my thoughts. I can’t walk around a cemetery or some other bike-free, car-free path because those places are closed or closing before I get out of work. I can’t even walk in the road along Ravenswood Ave because they’re taking down the old bridges and there’s equipment and rubble blocking the way.

And no: I’m not going to walk around the path in a city park while homeless men shout dirty things at me.

So I feel a little trapped here in the city now, actually.

I feel a little trapped because now, if we’re going to shelter in place, I don’t have anything else happening in my life that overshadows this, and I’m starting to get the emotional and social crises that people had the first time around.

I know that, intellectually, I will likely survive this. I think most of us do have an idea that there is life after this. Frankly, I am not looking forward to all the late nights and possible weekends that I will have to spend at work trying to organize my files and adapt all of my makeshift office at home back into a cohesive, universal filing system.

But I had another pressing issue while in isolation, I didn’t think about the crises others are going through in isolation. The loneliness, the cognitive dissonance of having all the time in the world and none of the motivation. The fear that the life you created for yourself may not be available to you anymore, that the world will change — and that you too, may have changed too much to return.

This could be a time of incubation, but for many, it’s a time of stasis and static.

Yesterday, with the Sun at the 29th degree of Scorpio, Venus entered Scorpio and the Moon entered Pisces squaring the Sun. Mercury entered mid-Scorpio. This is not so much a time of secrets or hiding, but rather, incubation and of determining whether or not to be vulnerable, because there is power in vulnerability, but also power in secrecy.

And for those of us flying by the seats of our pants since March, it’s difficult to admit that we’re still doing so after all this time, but we are. No one expected to be stuck working at home (or not working) for a year.

Scorpio waits; Sagittarius does not, and I’m wondering how a possible lockdown could affect people now that we know what we’re facing and what could actually be, and it’s not just homemade bread, Netflix, tie-dyeing and gaining some weight, but a loss of optimism, creeping despair, and the rationalized desperation that has gripped a lot of people who so far have not faced a major personal loss yet or forced major life change.

Jupiter and Saturn will soon be back at the cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius in a few weeks, and I wonder what will happen when both the planets of expansion (Jupiter) and restriction (Saturn) sit on the cusp of the sign of establishment and hierarchy (Capricorn) and of revolution and egalitarianism (Aquarius).

I’m going to try to go for a walk and think of something to buy at the grocery store so it feels like it has a purpose.