Digital Collage by Dianna
Cancer is the fourth sign of the Zodiac. This is why it's the mother of the world. It is the nurturing water that feeds the Spring seeds so they bloom as Summer arrives. Notice how whiteness has made us focus on motherhood as an unpaid, thankless duty born by those socialized as female rather than allowing everyone to have a nurturing, sensitive Cancer side. Yes, it can be overprotective & nativist but that's because it's trying to support the family NOT because it's inherently othering. As you study Cancer make sure you don't allow the steady stream of emotional keywords to distract you from its strong, intuitive nature. We must allow the Cancer part of us (and of others) to be able to express both sides to be complete. The mother who holds on so tight the offspring is crushed hasn't done their ShadowWeRK. A mother who knows when to let go & when to push a little is a balanced Cancer. *Please stop seeing mother as a gendered word, thanks.
Cancer Keywords: Home, Nurturing, Nostalgic, Clannish, Protective, Fearful.
Cancer Archetypes: The Crab, The Mother, Basket Weaver, Soup Chef
Cancer Shadows: overly protective, fear focused, phobic, nativist, clannish, suffocating with emotional needs, defensive, emotional instability, clingy, sentimental, nostalgic, insecure, a vulnerability that becomes hostility, control freak, retentive, unyielding, rigid, irrational, unpredictable emotions, emotionally manipulative, absorbs others emotions, victim complex, stuck in the past, ancestral wounds, co-dependence, smothering, insatiable.
Seasonal Cancer:
Cancer is the ingress of Summer’s luscious nutrients. We’ve harvested the first round of veggies and early seedlings. We’re able to make delicious soups & teas from our Spring farming efforts. We come together with family & the animal's migratory journeys to their feeding & birthing grounds begin. Those babes made in early Spring are born & we’re all focused on raising our young. The rain returns; deep blue, green & foamy- it surrounds us but is then slurped up quickly by the plants & animals as the warm sun returns to dry it up & send it back into the water cycle. We need the new water for drenching our seedlings which are now promising a big harvest very soon. The light is bright & we see the Sun more as daylight stretches out to be longer than the dark once again.
Cancer Associations:
- Dates: June 21- July 22
- Colors: Foamy White, Sea Green, Deep Blue, Smokey Grey.
- Body: The Breasts, Belly, Body Waters.
- Beings/Animals: Mother, Crabs, Frogs.
- Stones & Crystals: Moonstones, Pearls, Opals, Emeralds, Chalcedony
- Objects & Metals: Water, bodies of water like bays, rivers, & the coastline. Houses, Nests, Caves. Silver.
- Plants, Flowers & Herbs: Melons, Soups, Figs, Milk. Peppermint, Verbena, Tarragon. Alders, Willows, Water Lilies, Honeysuckles.
- Element: Water.
- Mode: Cardinal.
- Talismans & Personal Objects: Childhood memories, objects, photos of ancestors.
- Tarot: 7 The Chariot.
- Goddesses: Ceres, Danu, Demeter, Isis, Ixchel, Meskhoni, Rhea.
- Number: 2
- Day of the Week: Monday
- House Associations: Fourth House: Home, Family, Ancestors, Places of Rest, Graveyards, Safety.
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Planetary Rulerships:
- Ruler: The Moon, Exalted: Jupiter, Fall: Mars, Detriment: Saturn
- The Moon: Emotions, Intuition, Nourishment, Inner Child, Mother, Instinct, The Breasts & Belly, The Body Waters.
- It’s all about how you FEEL!