Reflections on Cancer

Tasha Tudor, children's book author and illustrator.
Mars, Saturn, and Pluto in Cancer.

The Sun represents conscious experience, the Moon, subconscious. The way we are able to see this half of life occurring in the darkness is through the reflected light of the Sun. The respite from the bright light of day is welcomed in the night of Cancer, despite the fears that often inhabit this world.

Within this blanket of darkness lies man's vivid imagination, and Cancer governs this world of dreamers, writers, artists, musicians, and all interpreters of fantasy. Both the Sun and the Moon are needed to bring this into actuality, and human well-being requires its existence. Cancer excites the imagination to the extent that fear is often evoked, real and otherwise, and these people can't often tell the difference. Shadows and strange creatures loom in the night and Cancer knows them well.

Here we have a holding close to the self and protecting as this photo of Tasha Tudor illustrates. Perhaps the darkness is what moves us to embrace and shield in this zodiacal sign. The natural clustering together, staying close and warm when the night descends. The necessity of human touch.
The Moon is unschooled instinctive response. When a person takes in sense impressions the feeling is Cancer before it is picked up by Mercury for translation and reaction. So the Moon governs how each individual responds to life.

The Sun in Cancer is the combination of these two great forces. The light of the Sun illuminates the subconscious and this is what these people characterize. They express the feeling nature for all to identify with. Cancers will enter a room, for example, and feel a million sensations which will be revealed in their faces, their body language, and their timidity and caution as they proceed. They see in the shadows and feels every shift in the air. No wonder they need time in retreat, away from the endless sensory input. But with the Sun placement there is often a confidence within this feeling world, and an ability to handle the sensitivity. They know what to do. When to hide, when to emerge. When they can soothe another, when they can't. When others are milking them excessively, and when the tenderness is really being appreciated and used.

The Moon in Cancer is extremely immersed in the feeling response and they are often beset with fears, sorrows, premonitions both real and unreal, and insecurities. Brooding is common. But they have the ability to experience untainted happiness like no one else. There is a constant flux of moods and the Moon in Cancer gives in to all of them. This sensitivity makes them good judges of character and the quality of "soul" so highly prized in people is found in this sign placement. An understanding of, and an ease with, what it is to be human. The Moon here is especially in need of retreat and the hurt feelings that often disturb others around them are simply the only way they know to find solace and time to themselves. The hurts guide them well.

The symbol of the crab is appropriate in the way Cancers can move in any direction suddenly helping them cope with their acute sensitivity to stimuli. They are often encouraged to be tougher, but why should they be? They are told not to take things so pesonally, but I have my doubts as to whether this can really be achieved. They get over it in time.
One fallacy about Cancers is their dependency. While this is often apparent, it is not a rule. Grant Lewi says it well:

The defensive, protective instincts dominate Cancer, whose life aims at security. Capable of great self-sufficiency or of being a clinging vine, the Cancer branch will take the turn as indicated by the roots, which must always be in secure soil. If independence serves security, cancers will be independent; if security depends on another, cancer will cling.

I think the greatest attribute of this sign is the gift of intimacy. When someone gets one of my full Cancer hugs, they never forget it. We enfold people completely, absorb them, and all boundaries are momentarily gone. Of course, at 5 feet tall, they have to be short to get the full effect.
Photo: Richard W. Brown