Astrological Cusps, Bruce Springsteen, and Lana Del Rey

Analyzing cusps...

I have met many people born on the cusp between two signs, who relate to one sign more than another and essentially claim that favored sign as their own. Others say “I’m a little of each.” However, only by checking the exact placement of the Sun when you were born, will you know your Sun sign for sure. An astrologer can look up your date, time, city of birth for you, or you can use an app to it for you. Either way, if you are interested in astrology and have your time of birth, I’d recommend finding out for sure.

Yesterday my favorite female musical artist celebrated her 40^th birthday. Happy Day to Lana Del Rey, born on the cusp between Gemini and Cancer! Her Sun was a mystery for awhile, but as she noted in her song “Chemtrails Over the Country Club”: “My moon is Leo, my Cancer is Sun.”

I remember when I first heard LDR. It was a Friday in early 2012. I was writing in my “office,” the Tea Lounge in Park Slope, Brooklyn. My writing buddy Lauren had left for the day and I was sitting on a big couch, computer on my lap, when I heard the sounds of orchestral music. I thought it was the opening to the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” until I heard a female singer’s voice and a 21st Century vibe with some hints of Roxy Music underneath. I asked the new coffee bloke behind the counter who the singer was and he said, “Lana Del Rey.” I’d never heard of her. The song was “National Anthem,” and I immediately became obsessed with her music, especially after watching the video.

Of course, as an astrologer I’m always curious about the planets, so I looked up her birth details online. At that time, no time of birth time was available, which was too bad, as she was born on the cusp. I admit I thought Gemini, as I took in her ouvre of music and watched her vintage-tinged videos. Her vibe was very presentational, and she seemed like a true pop star. The glam of her public persona made me think Gemini, like Marilyn Monroe. Plus she references Marilyn in the “National Anthem” video (above).

To my surprise, LDR seemed to be a polarizing figure on the Internet. The haters mocked her for changing her name from Lizzie Grant, as if countless male singers hadn’t taken stage names. And then she was reamed for her performance on Saturday Night Live. She’s a chanteuse and stayed pretty still as she sang. But apparently this was considered criminal!

Shortly after, Kristen Wiig played LDR on Weekend Update “apologizing” for what she’d done to viewers. It’s fabulous, and props especially for the reference to Shaggy!

So it turns out, once LDR’s birth time was released that she actually has Sun, Mercury, and Mars all in Cancer. When you are born on a cusp you either have a Sun at 29 degrees of the earlier sign, or 0 degrees of the later sign. LDR has Sun at 0 degrees Cancer. (Signs go from 0 to 29 degrees.) Water signs are sensitive and Cancers are particularly self-protective. I’ll bet all that misogynistic hating really hurt. Geminis are better at shrugging off the chatter. With moon in Leo (pride) and Scorpio rising (intense emotion), it probably hurt her a lot.

She continued to release stellar music. But with such clarity of emotion, LDR shifted gears in her career in 2019 when she released the critically acclaimed LP Norman Fucking Rockwell. Her sound softened, lyrics more intimate, and she emerged as a brilliant singer-songwriter. The lovers of LDR knew that all along; finally she was getting some respect! If you’re not familiar, here is one of my fave tracks, “Mariner’s Apartment Complex:”

Turns out that my favorite male singer shares a mutual admiration society with LDR. LDR sings, “‘Springsteen is the king, don't you think?’I was like, ‘Hell yeah, that guy can sing’” in her track, “American.” And on his SiriusXM show, Bruce described LDR as someone who "creates a world of her own and invites you in." He praised her as one of the best songwriters in the country.

credit: Far-Out Magazine.

Springsteen was born on the cusp between Virgo and Libra. Born on September 23rd he has a 0 degree Sun in Libra. He’s a double Libra with Sun and Moon in the Venusian sign, as well as Mercury and Neptune. He does have Saturn in Virgo, however. It’s interesting that his North Node (what he’s coming into in this lifetime, is in the sign opposite his Sun — Aries.) Oftentimes Libras are torn between giving everything over for love, and then feeling like they have lost themselves. The Aries/Libra nodal duality brings that out even more. (See last week’s column on the North and South Nodes.)

And even though he is not a Virgo, perhaps his Saturn (planet of hard work) in Virgo, the sign that cares about working hard and being of service) comes out in much of his music. The subject of the working class is a big obsession for Bruce. Here is a song that captures the haunting echoes of being a working class kid, and sacrificing for love:

And yes I am counting down to the opening of the Bruce biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere. (RD, little girl — put your stockings on and fix your hair up pretty!)

As always, if you are curious about your astrology chart, upcoming transits or want to book an Astrology-Based Counseling (ABC) session, or a tarot card reading: visit www.jilldearman.com.

Below, a look at the wild recent marriage of LDR to a dude on the bayou who leads tours of alligator swamps. And he too was born on a cusp!