For many astrologers, including here at Horizon Astrology, time is as important as anything in the zodiacs. This is why we pay special attention to cusps, and why we think Western sun sign astrology truly comes to life when combined with Chinese year signs. We are interested in the idea that all living things embody the energy of the moments when they come into being, and that astrology offers a way to identify what is—and what is not—attributable to those moments. 

Celebrities as Mediums for Understanding Energy Influences

Celebrity culture has always been a source of fascination for audiences. But the exploits and relationships of famous people also offer an unparalleled resource for understanding how different energy matrixes—i.e., different moments in time—may influence personality and compatibility. 

Today, for example, is the birthday of crossover country artist Kacey Musgraves (08/21/1988, Leo Dragon). Born on the cusp where the performance- and leadership-oriented Leo transitions into the more reflective, goal-focused energy of Virgo, Musgraves appears to have been destined to disrupt conventions and express powerfully creative instability from birth. Her desire and capacity to achieve impact may be further dramatically magnified by the energy attributable to the Chinese Dragon year, which tends to bestow individuals with near-infinite dynamism and a love for center stage. 

Fulfilling this destiny in her own unique way, Musgraves’ debut album, Same Trailer Different Park (2013), included lyrics about drugs and kissing girls that saw her work banned from US country radio and censored by the Country Music Association awards. Since then she has pushed the limits of conventional country—becoming known as “the country star for people who hate country music”—and has spoken unashamedly about drug use, including a seven-hour, therapeutic-guided psilocybin mushroom trip. Yet she has achieved extraordinary popularity, all the while maintaining an arguably Virgo-influenced emphasis on remaining grounded in spite of her success, telling the Guardian in 2021:

I’m lucky the album that was the most successful for me [Golden Hour (2018)] came at the end of my 20s. I feel pretty unchangeable at this point. And I work hard to keep attached to reality. Being detached from reality is one of my greatest fears. I’ve seen it a lot of times in the industry, getting to work with artists I looked up to, and I would be astounded at how detached from reality they were. It scared the shit out of me, so I never want to be like that.

As 2024 is a year of the Dragon, the occasion of Musgraves’ birthday offers a chance to understand the specific influences that may shape people born at the present time, or how this moment may affect the fortunes of other signs. 

The Leo/Virgo Cusp in a Dragon Year

As well as Musgraves, other celebrities born around the present time—the cusp of Leo and Virgo in a Dragon year—include the British actor Rupert Grint (08/24/1988). Grint has to date seemed less provocative than Musgraves, no doubt due to his fame as a child actor growing into adulthood via the Harry Potter films. But recently Grint has been branching into more edgy high-profile roles. Describing Grint’s performance in Knock at the Cabin (2023), director M. Night Shyamalan (08/06/1970, Leo Dog) said, “Rupert’s such a sweet human, and I find him very curious, because there’s clearly darkness that he taps into when he works. But he doesn’t let it escape like the rest of us do. He’s a bit of an enigma.”

Another famous example of the Leo/Virgo cusp and Dragon influence is the band leader who became one of the most celebrated “big band” leaders of all time: Count Basie (08/21/1904, Leo Dragon). Basie’s autobiography strikes a humble tone that conveys similar qualities of self-belief and determination to those exhibited by Musgraves, as when he writes, “You can’t have but one leader…That’s why I tell them in my band, ‘Keep your eyes on the fellow at the piano. The sparrow. He don’t know nothing, but just keep your eyes on him and we’ll all be together on what’s going down.’” Basie is also matter-of-fact yet incredibly defiant about social challenges he encountered on the road:

[Y]our eating and sleeping accommodations were Jim Crow even when you were the hottest attraction in the biggest theaters and auditoriums or the top night spot in town… If I haven’t spent a lot of time complaining about all of these things, it’s not because I want anybody to get the impression that all of that was not also a part of it. It was. So what? Life is a bitch, and if it’s not one damn thing, it’s going to be something else… I’ll just say that I was not surprised when things got strange one way or another. I’ll just say that I didn’t intend to let anything stop me if I could help it, and that should tell you something. 

Virgo and the Dragon

After the Leo/Virgo cusp passes, the Western sign of Virgo settles into the more conventionally Virgoan traits—the powerful ability to imagine and anticipate consequences, thanks to Virgo’s Mutable energy, and the aptitude for prioritizing and steady progress that is common to all three Earth signs (with Capricorn and Taurus). Couple this with the powerful, magisterial energy of the Dragon, and the result is a recipe for resolution and achievement of the most awe-inspiring kind. 

Virgos born in a Dragon year include some of the most celebrated individuals of any born under this Western sign. Perhaps the archetypal Virgo Dragon is the actor Keanu Reeves (09/02/1964). In a gushing article naming him the fourth-greatest actor of the 21st century, the New York Times noted how Reeves has progressed from “the blank, earnest confusion that defined his [early] characters” to becoming, “one of our most credible action heroes, and also one of our most resourceful and inventive character actors.” Overall, the Times concluded, “There is more to the man than the sum of these parts, which are puzzles and koans, chapters in a perpetually updated manual in meta-modern movie stardom as a way of being.” Another way of thinking about Reeves would be as a complete fulfillment of Virgo destiny—endlessly patient, hard-working, dependable, and reflective—yet supercharged with the dynamism of Chinese Dragon energy, whether he likes it or not.

Other high-profile actors embodying Virgo Dragon energy include Naomie Harris (09/06/1976). Even before finding fame in films like the Pirates of the Caribbean and James Bond series, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Harris adopted a principled, uncompromising approach to her personal mission, telling Glamour in 2020:

When I started out [in acting], there weren’t a lot of Black roles for women and it was tough. But I always set out with this mission statement: ‘My job is to portray positive images of Black women. If I get presented with a stereotypical role, I’m not going to play it. If it doesn’t move the story forward about Black women and show us in a positive, strong and multifaceted light, then I’m not going to play those roles. It was difficult in the beginning, because I didn’t have any money. I was trying to support myself and I’d have to say ‘no’ to roles that I needed to pay the bills, but it paid off.

Legendary Virgo Dragon actress Raquel Welch (09/05/1940) was known as the highest profile “sex symbol” of the 1970s, yet she displayed a similar brand of unapologetic fortitude when she accepted the transgender lead role in Myra Breckinridge (1970). To be regarded as an “Amazonian sex symbol” was “kind of ridiculous”, Welch famously said: “Everything’s a big fat cliché, as far as the media’s concerned, and sometimes there’s no way out of this little cul-de-sac they put you in.” Virgo Dragon actor Mickey Rourke (09/16/1952) similarly riled against being pigeon-holed based on his handsome looks, to such an extent that he embarked on a professional boxing career. He subsequently leveraged his depth of acting skills, and perhaps his changed physical appearance, into acclaimed roles in Sin City (2005) and The Wrestler (2008), for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Virgo Dragon director Brian De Palma (09/11/1940) established a reputation for refusing to compromise his artistic vision. He explained about his most famous film, Scarface (1983): 

I was able to beat the ratings board with Scarface. Even though they rated it X, I was able to appeal to the whole committee and we got it passed. There’s a lot of controversy about how Scarface was edited, but in reality, everything I cut out to appease the rating board I put back in and that’s what you see. 

Blending determination, an aptitude and love for language, and a powerful drive for achievement, it is no surprise that Virgo Dragon energy has also manifested in many famous writers. The unashamedly confronting, convention-defying Roald Dahl (09/13/1916) is one of the best-loved and successful children’s authors of all time. The transformational French writers Guillaume Apollinaire (08/26/1880), who coined the term “cubism” and transformed the landscape of literature and art in the early twentieth century, and Nobel prizewinner Annie Arnaux (09/01/1940), who revolutionized the memoir as an art form, have also showcased Virgo Dragon energy in intellectual domains. 

Other supercharged celebrities who illustrate the potentialities of the Virgo Dragon combined sign include multi-grand-slam-winning tennis player Jimmy Connors (09/02/1952), rapper Eazy-E (09/07/1964), and actors Rosie Perez (09/06/1964), Carice van Houten (09/05/1976) and Alexander Skarsgård (08/25/1976). 

Fortunes for Other Signs

The distinctive dynamism of the Dragon, coupled with the reflective and steadying influence of Virgo, provides a heady mix for other Western and Chinese sign combinations. This year’s most generally favored Chinese signs are the Rooster, the Rat, and the Monkey. Where any of these signs combine with Taurus, Capricorn, or Pisces—lookout! These combinations embody ideal energy for taking advantage of the prevailing energy current over the next four weeks. Personal or professional adventures, life-changing endeavors, taking the trip of a lifetime—don’t hold back, for the timing now is as good as any imaginable.

On the other hand, the least-favored Chinese signs during the Dragon year are the Dog and Rabbit. Square energy in the Western zodiac can be consistently challenging, so anyone with a Chinese sign of Dog or Rabbit, and a Western sign of Gemini or Sagittarius, would be well advised to lay low wherever possible. These combined signs are likely to find that cherished plans face considerable hurdles over the next few weeks—if it’s possible to delay or defer until the environment is more fortuitous, that would definitely be advisable.