I thought I’d start of this new year with a renewed sense of purpose. And as I’ve said before, my sole purpose with this website, other than the ins and outs of sexual astrology, is primarily to destroy the pervasive stereotypes of the Cancerian character that everyone likes to espouse. As such, I’ve decided to make this information free for all, since frankly, everyone desperately needs to read this. The Cancerian experience is that of a long ascension. We are commanding, in our own quiet way. We hear Capricorn, but we see no one else but ourselves, and as such we can be cold, crooked, destructive…but we can also be psychic, as well as sensitive and intuitive.
Cancer is focused on taking care of the self and one’s own group or family above all else. This is a turning point where we make critical decisions for personal benefits. No matter what anyone says, THER IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PROTECTING YOURSELF. It is essential for survival. The instinct of survival — or self-preservation — aims at gaining, maintaining, and improving life. By its very nature it works against anything that destroys or endangers life. Just as the body needs health to live, so the soul needs health to live most constructively. In order to live, one needs to be safe from destruction and damage. However, it is also essential for Cancers to act with wisdom rather than solely a need for self-preservation. At such times, where we most need to feel we are acting on our own volition, taking care of ourselves first, that we are most easily manipulated by others. What feels like free choice may be the result of emotional manipulation or coercion. Research studies continually show how quickly we create logic based explanations to retroactively explain choices made out of fear or emotion.
Choices made with the natural processes – in concert with nature will serve Cancers well. Those done against nature or natural laws to create a sense of security can only be successful in the short term since you will be at odds with the forces of nature and the universe. The symbol of Cancer is “69” which can be looked at three ways: as either breasts, the nurturing milk of the mother or as a crab. It is also ouroboros, a circular symbol depicting a snake, or less commonly a dragon, swallowing its tail, as an emblem of wholeness or infinity. And yes, perhaps Cancers tend to “swallow their own tail”, so to speak, when it comes to interactions with others and how they react to and view the world. As such, Cancers are looked at as “psycho” by many but only because they’re real. Real in their emotions, and in their very life essence. People love to hate on it or attempt to marginalize and dismiss it, but the fact is that they can’t deny Cancers, and their authenticity unsettles them. See the Cancer conundrum on my classic tumblr answer to a question that went viral.
When we seek act out of fear or insecurity in general, we forget to love, we forget to think, and we act solely on emotions. Love is the essence of Venus, intelligence is Mercury; the Cancerian’s lunar-based emotions, though much-maligned, exist to keep us secure, to fear the unknown and to reproduce our species. Our emotions alone lead us to immediate, short term solutions. Think of the actions and choices of a teenager – they live with intensity and heightened emotions, passionate about everything, learning but not logical, driven more by the urge to mate since they have neither the experience nor full capability of the long term, enduring, selfless aspects of love that comes with age. The teenage brain is still growing and these capacities to evaluate consequences are not fully formed until age 25 or so. We can all easily revert to this state when we feel insecure or are in the company of someone acting out of insecurity.
Cancer is more than just emotions, it is the ideal of the perfect mother who loves unconditionally and is willing to make emotionally contradictory decisions to insure the long term survival of those in her care. It represents femininity in the form of the mother goddess, ruling over the natural universe, who nurtures us and prepares us and our families and societies to exist on the earth over generations. Wisdom is a part of this, wisdom is not reaction, but action in conjunction with the all the resources available with an eye both to the short term and long term goals. The teenager is at odds with the mother for this very reason.
Cancer is about coming to fruition. Feelings are more important that action or organization and structure. There’s a need to project feelings or connect with others on an emotional level. Hard work got Cancer to where they are today, the experiencing allows their subconscious to catch up with their logic. But the thing is that they need both working together or the subconscious will derail even their best efforts. Cancers should pay attention to both the good and the undesirable, but fight tendencies to wallow in either. These following adjectives also cover Mars in Fall and Saturn in Detriment, showing a need to engage others to accomplish goals and the need to experience the material realm: charming, agreeable, accommodating chameleon like façade can hide someone with a cruel streak beneath. Cancers want to appear selfless with enormous sympathy for all; they set boundaries, but their difficulty in setting limits and saying “no” can result in coldness or harshness when they attempt it.
There’s a great secret here that philosophers have known for ages. And it’s a secret only because it’s so obvious that no one bothers to notice it. Consider the nature of water, a weak and lowly substance that flows freely around all obstacles. If you live a life of the same “humility” as water, even the jaws of hell cannot bite into you. But the more solid you become in the pride of your own strength to avenge yourself against insult, the more those jaws have to grasp onto—and once they have you, you can’t fight free, no matter how many bandoliers you have draped over your shoulders.
So the more you let go of your “identity”—the more you die to yourself in perfect humility—the less you have to defend; and the less you have to defend, the less reason you have for anger.
Cancers are, at turns, sensitive, labile, dreamily, passive, unsure, cool, uncertain, dependent, relaxed, self-sacrificing, familiar, peaceful, passively, instinctively, readily, sociably, patiently, considerate, emotional, sentimental, peaceful, imaginative, thrifty, faithful, resistant, protective, vulnerable, generous, romantic, nostalgic, tender, poetic-minded, motherly, nurturing, dreamy, indolent, greedy, devoted but also timorous, unrealistic, evasive, anxious, independent, stubborn, moody, touchy, stay-at-home or inaccessible, suggestible, medial, easily unsettled or overwhelmed, romantic, imaginative, flexible, opportunist, intuitive, irrational, seductive, placid, secretive, introverted, pleasant, artistic, and charming, indecisive, moody, confused, wavering, lazy, scatterbrained, vulnerable, impressionable, unpredictable, and above all else impossible to categorize.
Here are some bullet points about Cancers:
- The women tend to be very driven to excel, can be prone to panic attacks.
- Excitable – can be really upbeat or get overwhelmed with negatives, especially Cancer females.
- Can be at turns, mothering, nurturing, protecting
- In the unevolved, Cancerians can indeed be clingy and smothering
- Emotionally manipulative
- Water condenses air
- Tolerance without understanding
- With difficulty, they do draw clear boundaries between themselves and others, which makes others resentful of them.
- Review what is, Everything must be reconsidered
- They create safety for others and demand having safety and security for themselves
- They like romanticism and poetry
- They search for higher meaning rather than harsh realities
- History is important to them and are great believers in the phrase “those who don’t know their past are doomed to repeat it.”
- They believe in togetherness
- They’re sensitive, imaginative, gregarious, cautious, domestic, and helpful.
- They can also be timid, self-absorbed, opinionated, acquisitive, moody.
- They are easygoing and love pleasures, but when strong decisions are required they are sometimes too relaxed.
- They desire to live as straightforwardly as possible.
- Has an intuitive understanding of the “vibes” around them.
- Generous, giving, loving and caring, but only when their own needs for emotional support, love and security have been met. If they are not met, they tend to withdraw into themselves and become very insecure and selfish.
- Cancerians’ home and family (especially their mother or the person who played that role for them early on) represent security for them and thus assume a larger-than-life importance.
- They have vivid and long- enduring memories of the past.
- Desire to have a secret quiet place of your own in order to feel at peace.
- Feeding others can give them great pleasure
- They enjoy being part of a large family, or at the very least, a strong and loving one.
- These individuals seek to obtain mental and physical comforts at all costs.
- Cancers possess highly protective and defensive instincts aimed at domestic security.
- When threatened, they armour themselves by withdrawing into solitude.
- They tend to eat when upset
- Sometimes heroic, sometimes very immature.
- Cancers use an indirect approach in dealing with others. Rather than direct confrontations, they are more apt to resort to using emotional appeals. This is because they react emotionally to everything they experience in life. Many succeed in life because their genuine concern for the welfare of others inspires loyalty as well as cooperation and trust.
- They need to control their moodiness, intolerance, timidity, and emotional reactions.
- Their intuition is head and shoulders above everyone else’s in the zodiac (unless they are caught up in their own emotions).
- Arts and crafts, music, or writing are other preferable methods of emotional release, rather than gastronomic indulging or watching television.
- They like to relax around or in the water.