“Cancer is the custodian of the truth that ‘what we tend will then tend to us.'”
– Caroline Casey
My husband is a Cancerian. One of my best friends, Steve, is also a Cancerian. I confess that most of my life, many of my closer relationships had been with Capricorns – the polar opposite sign of the Crab. Since meeting my friend Steve and my husband, and other Cancerians along the way, I have been learning a lot about this lunar sign.
The first thing, that I’ve learned about Cancer from these two men in my life doesn’t fit the stereotype.
Although I’m married to one, I still find Cancerians a mystery – lunar logic.
The image I have is that Cancerians are like a castle with many walls.
One should feel blessed to get past the drawbridge into the first inner circle. But to reach the keep, well, that’s for only a few. Even then, one can’t ever take it for granted that they are indeed inside the keep. Plus there’s a room in this vast castle that only its sovereign knows, and it should be respected. One needs a room of their own. The privacy of their deepest inner sanctum is only theirs and not to be barged in.
In every astrology book, we see descriptions of Cancer-related to the mother archetype.
What I’ve noticed is that our relationship with our mother (good, bad, indifferent) plays out in our relationship with a Cancerian. They can become our surrogate mothers or the mirror in which we act out what we couldn’t do with our mothers.
This could be healing or more painful, depending on the level of consciousness between you and the Cancerian in your life.
Nurturing is a big thing too. There’s a need to protect, tend, nurture in one aspect or other. I jokingly tell my husband that he has all this patience in ‘nourishing‘ a TV series for a long time (years even!) even when it’s not that great. But he keeps at it, in the hopes that the writing will improve and the show will find its rhythm. Rarely he gives up mid-season and drops the show.
Then there’s safety. Their famous moodiness is proportional to how safe they feel. The more stressful the situation/environment, the harder the shell comes over to protect their ‘soft underbelly.’ Being out of place, not feeling safe at ‘home’ leads to the crankiness that any cheesy astrology book or magazine will mention. There’s truth to the stereotype.
And so is hunger.
Hunger for food. Hunger for safety, care, attention, and love. Cancer rules the stomach and breasts leads to the ‘hangry’ phase – another manifestation of the notorious moodiness. Nourish and tend to your Cancerian, and they blossom, and you will be invited further into their castle of riches. Forget to do that, and the claws will come out.
Joking aside, Cancerians teach us something that we desperately need in our culture: a sense of belonging to something. It can be family, our land, our neighborhood, our work environment. What matters is the sense that we are building memories, linking past to present and future. A sign that teaches us about the landscape of Memory, it’s vital to feel connected at an emotional level if we want to feel safe, nourished, and also that we belong.
Remember that Cancer is the CRAB, an animal that carries its ‘own house’ wherever it goes and is equipped with strong claws that both attack, but also protect. Cancer will use those claws to protect those who are inside their ‘castle walls.’ There’s immense loyalty in this sign of remembrance and the rhythm of emotions.
It’s a lunar sign, ruled by the Moon, and to best understand Cancers, we need to have a connection to the Moon and its connection to emotional development and rhythm.
A core truth of Cancer: it’s not just about feeling, it’s about feeling part of something.
It’s about feeling that the environment is not only safe but that it will support them. It will support life, the gestation of the seeds, and the young in the family. That’s why it’s a family-oriented sign. It doesn’t mean they will have children necessarily. It means that whatever is their ‘children’ (i.e., their business, their art, their creativity, etc.) needs an environment where it will be supported, nurtured, and be able to grow.
While Gemini is about getting the ideas out there, Cancer is about taking those ideas and giving it a home to grow and mature. Example: Gemini says, “I’ll write a book.” Cancer will help the Gemini clear out a room in the house to make it the office where Gemini can now have to use it as its writing office. Plus, it will bring the afternoon tea with cookies to feed the Gemini as it works.
Lastly… Cancer is the least visible constellation in the sky, and the ancients called it the “Power of Darkness.” It’s the darkness of the womb of gestation—the darkness of the potentiality inherent in the New Moon. For the Chaldeans and Platonist philosophers, Cancer was considered the gate through which the souls came from heaven into earthly life.
Another symbol of Cancer is the BOAT or the ARK – think of Noah’s ark – all the animals in pairs so that they could procreate and bring their young into the world. Cancer is also associated with the fertility of the Great Mother Goddess in all her manifestations.
For the next 30 days, we can honor the Cancerians in our lives or ourselves if you are a Sun in Cancer. But even if you don’t have any planets in Cancer, we can take this time to walk down memory lane, review our history (personal and collective), and tend/nourish all that we want to bring into the world, or the young (children or new ideas/projects) in our lives.
My husband and I have this ritual joke for his birthday. I take him out to dinner on his birthday to eat steamed crabs. I say we must ‘sacrifice and eat his people, so that he may journey around the Sun one more year.’ He appreciates a bit of dark humor and the deliciousness of the dinner.
