Ruler-Moon-Element-Water-Quality-Cardinal
Cancer is the fourth sign of the occidental zodiac
Cancerians have the following characteristics: Imagination-Affection-Insight-Caring-Tenacity-Caution
Cancerian sins may include: Avarice-Possessiveness-Irritability-Moodiness-Despondency-Hypersensitivity
With the coming of the summer solstice, the unfettered romp of Gemini is drawn earthward by the tidal pull of Cancer, the Crab. Cancer’s ruling planet is the moon, linked in astrology to nature, gestation, motherhood, and the creation and preservation of life. Perhaps more than any other sign. Cancer represents the passive, receptive, but profoundly powerful and encompassing female force in nature-the all nourishing, or all devouring, mother. The Crab symbolizes the sea, the cradle of life.
As is typical I the ongoing dichotomy of the zodiac, Cancer’s characteristics are mostly opposite from those of the preceding sign. When Geminis are expansive, adventurous, and forward looking, Cancerians build boundaries make homes, and gather and gather tings in for incubation, protection, nurturance, and mothering. Cancerians are family centered, tradition bound, tied to the past, fearful of the future and the unknown. Security is one of their major goals. While Geminis laugh at life, Cancerians tend toward melancholy and introversion. They are as restless and moody as the shifting tides. They find the real world threatening, astrologers say and like to retreat into dreams and fantasies and to shelter themselves in the relative safety of the past.
Memory is one of Cancerians special gifts. Geminis deal with experience by expressing it. Cancerians by remembering it. The taste and smell of certain biscuits were enough to call up the whole fictional world that Cancerian Marcel Proust created in Remberance of Things Past. Cancerians love all things old; they cling to old possessions and old ways. They are wonderfully retentive; thus they make fine historians-caretakers and custodians of the past.
The symbol of the Crab s highly emblematic of the Cancerian nature. Metaphorically, Cancerians have a hard outer shell and soft interior. They need to feel safe if they are to put aside their brittle exterior and expose their considerable vulnerabilities. They risk little and flinch easily. They are wary, defensive, and quick to withdraw into their shells. Like the crab, they approach the world obliquely, sideways. They tend to be exclusive in their local contacts; at the same time, they are particularly touchy about being excluded by others. And they never forget a slight. The Crabs’ antennae are amazingly acute; another distinctive Cancer gift is great powers of perception.
Extreme sensitivity to their environment and to what others want or need makes Cancerians excellent business people. John D. Rockefeller and department-store magnate John Wanamaker were born under the sign of the Crab. Cancerians are also good resource people-the ones who always seem to know where the best goods can be had or the best services rendered. And they share their information generously-up the point. Cancerians keep score. Their expect their kindness to be returned. If they are disappointed, they become withdrawn and hostile. It is then that the Crabs’ pincers come into play, ripping at the vulnerabilities they sense in others.
