House Cusp Orbs

I'm not always sure how to read planet aspects to house cusps. what prompts this question is a transit Pluto on my 8th H cusp and upcoming Cap FullMoon.(I like the cafe astrology interpretations of new & fullmoons in houses)
Also how do you look at house cusp orbs in relation to Natal and SR Charts?
I have Mercury conj MC
11th H Sun conj cusp
and 6th H Neptune/Mars within 3 degrees of DSC definitely functions as a relationship thing

IF a planet is within the orb of the cusp is it going to function in BOTH houses? or does it depend on rulerships, etc.?
anyone: opinion??

First, it depends upon your definition of "within orb".

But assuming the planet is on the cusp (1-2 degrees, 3-4 for angles) I read it for the next house....UNLESS it is the ruler of the house it is actually in....or
it is conjunct other planets in earlier degrees which pull it back into the house it's in.

HOwever if it is exactly on the cusp (within a degree) I always read it for that next house.

TRANSITS on cusps: this is very specifically connected to the chart as a whole and also other transits at the same time. So a chart would have to be shown.

Usually you will feel a planetary energy in the following house for a few degrees before it actually gets there. Usually. I'd have to see the chart.
LIN

wishfish,

A good set of questions. What this really points to is the accuracy of the Asc, from which all house cusps originate. So it is most important to be sure of the Asc degree as precisely as possible. If one says, well my birth time is 'accurately' recorded, this has still not been answered. For while you were present at your own birth you were and are in no position to determine how accurately the time was recorded or that this automatically translates into an accurate chart.

Because a house cusp is not an object and gives no light to create an 'orb', aspects to such cusps must be quite close in order to be active. So no, 1° is not close enough to consider that a planet is operating in the next house. Evidence that it is would point to the chart's Asc being off by 1°.

Houses are not prisons that define a planet's action of themselves. Pluto will still be Pluto whether in 7th or 8th.

As far as solar return horoscopes go, throw them out. The only houses that matter are the ones in your birth chart. Houses constructed for/from predictive methodologies add only another layer of interpretive impracticality and irrelevancy. Stay focused on the birth chart first and foremost as the essential astrological influence upon you this lifetime. Predictive tools are only secondary and only as to the movements of the planets against the natal definitions. Make sure the natal chart is precisely accurate. Anything that can be asserted within astrology can be tested. You can find some material about that on my website.

Right-- house cusps cast no orbs, and if a planet is at the end of the sign it might be felt primarily in the next house.

One thing to consider is that there are a bunch of different house systems available, and they can give you different cusps. You can try these out on the "free charts" pages at Astrodienst. You might be used to using Placidus, whole signs, equal house, or what-have-you, but house cusps are basically artifacts of the system used to construct them.

I agree-its NOT the cusps that have orbs, but rather the PLANETARY (or star) orbs, which could reach over to join with a given cusp.