CANCER
The Crab…June 22 to July 22

Cancer, your element is Water and your quality is ‘cardinal’. As the most driven Water sign, you take charge of heart matters, home matters and business matters with organic ease. The Water element means you are a Feeling Type, psychically attuned, sensitive by nature, with emotional insight and healing potential.

‘Cardinal’ means you are a mover and shaker, driven by a rush of feeling-oriented energy. Your feelings are expansive and your awareness of people’s needs, of moods and atmospheres, make it easy for you to take charge by giving people what they need. Your way of pushing things to happen is very subtle way, working on emotions. Your sensitivity can also pull you away from people, sending you scuttling for a sea cave, beset by fears and worries or simply in a deep Moon-wane. You are happiest when protecting the people and home you love, while using your natural gifts in a creatively satisfying way. You are the ‘mother’ of the zodiac, the fourth sign, your key phrase: “I nurture”.

MOON: Planet of Feeling
Your Planetary Ruler

Lavishing attention on those you love and obeying the impulses of your heart, keeps you on the move. In ancient Arabic astrology Cancer is: “of cold and humid nature” and ”It’s angel holds the keys of the creation of this world.” (Mystical Astrology According to Ibn ‘Arabi ) Being the Moon’s own sign you keep your psychic antenna in constant use and tend to wax and wane. Emotionally absorbent around other people, and driven to achieve your goals, you need regular rest. If like the Moon you could retreat every month as Moon wanes until after the ‘black’ New Moon, your moods and general health would benefit greatly. Since life’s demands make this difficult, just easing off the pressure during those low energy Moon times and getting some solitude, will restore your creative spark. Emotional insight is the Moon’s gift and constant responsiveness gets heavy, so never feel guilty about time out. The parts of the body ruled by Cancer are the stomach, breasts, diaphragm, womb, ribs and abdominal organs. Sometimes sensitive to food allergies and often sensitive to hormonal shifts, Cancer is happiest and healthiest with a simple well-planned diet and a gentle, supportive home atmosphere.

The lunar goddesses of myth often spent their time on tasks of protection and redemption, even protecting worthy mortals. Two well-known Moon goddesses are the Egyptian Isis and Diana the huntress, both depicted with the ‘horns’ of the Moon on their head. Isis, most ancient Moon goddess has a powerful tale of love and devotion. When Osiris her husband was killed by his jealous brother and his body cut into fourteen pieces and spread around the globe, Isis went into action. Taking the shape of a bird, she scanned the world, eventually finding thirteen pieces of the dismembered god. Not satisfied until the last piece was found, she continued her search for years, eventually finding the last piece and simultaneously conceiving a child – Horus. Horus became the new king and the now redeemed Osiris became king of the underworld and Lord of the Dead. Her task was done and she reigned in peace.

In the later Greco-Roman myth, Moon goddess Diana was the twin sister to Apollo the sun god and both carried a quiver of bright arrows. Like Venus her beauty caused all the gods to seek her hand and she also refused them. Unlike Venus she chose chastity instead, successfully convincing her father, Jupiter to allow this. As a virgin goddess, she nonetheless fell in love with two mortals – the first she carried off to a cave and kept in an eternal sleep, so she could gaze upon his beauty. The second, Orion, she accidentally killed with an arrow, then made him a constellation in the heavens. The Moon goddess expresses both the destructive and constructive face of emotions. She opens the veil on life’s mysteries, so clearly represented by the waxing and waning of the Moon. Moon goddesses are always on the move just as the Moon is the wanderer of the heavens.

Moon represents the receptive flow of life, the mediator of the human heart. Her special message for Cancer is to honour your own truth and trust your organic wisdom.

CANCER

Metal: Silver, ruled by the Moon.
Colours: White, silver and silvery hues.
Herbs for Health: Agrimony infused as a tonic and used externally as an astringent. Lemon-scented balm in soups, also lemongrass and chamomile as teas to calm the stomach.
Foods for Health: Fish, shellfish, fresh fruit and salads, particularly lettuce, chives and parsley.
Flowers: Lotus, moonflower and white oriental lilies.
Scents: Lily-based perfumes, jasmine.

You can find out more about the current planetary influences specific to your sign if you check the Current Planetary Transits Astrological Interpretations.