Happy Birthday, Cancers!
You know how we all need to feel like a baby some time and need cuddling and emotional healing? Where do we go for that? -- To the Cancers. And I know all you Cancers out there are saying, “Oh no, but I’m sick of handling all the whiners in the world.” Well, hey, it’s your job. Especially Cancer rising types, as they project out to the world, “come here you poor little thing and I will give you a big hug and lots to eat.” Cancer thinks that food equals love. Cancer is here to be the caretaker. They are wonderful with small children and elders.
Their houses are filled with plants, animals, family photos and dishes from their great-great-grandmother. All of the stuff around them makes them feel warm and cozy. They have nostalgia for the good old days and complain about how much better life was under Eisenhower. It’s great when you visit them to get the home baked cookies, but if you stay too long you can start to suffocate and you will run out the door and Cancer will start to cry. No one cries as easily as Cancer with the exception of Pisces.
Now you may think that Cancer is a weak sign because it is a water sign and rules emotion. But you are wrong. The quality of Cancer is cardinal and all cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Capricorn) have a dynamic approach to life; they go after what they want even though in the case of Cancer it may not be obvious. Cancer wants to bond with others. They will go after a relationship, but not in a direct way. They take 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. They are subtle, they skirt around you, come at you from different angles. They insinuate, hint, wheedle, cozy up, ingratiate themselves and this behavior can drive an Air Sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) totally mad. But then again, maybe we air signs are just too obtuse to pick up the signals. They are way ahead of us in emotional language. While we are trying to figure them out in a rational manner, the Cancer Crab snags us in their big claws and once they have us they won’t let go.
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Their best qualities of Cancer are their emotional sensitively to suffering; their negative side is sulking and moodiness
You have the Cancer archetype if you have the Sun, Moon or the ascendant in Cancer or if you have a stellium (3 or more planets) in Cancer. But remember none of us is a pure zodiac sign; we need to take the other archetypes in our birth chart into consideration.
Each archetype can best be explained by one of the classical myths.
I like the myth of Demeter for Cancer.
Cancer
Water Element: Soulful, emotional experiences
Cardinal Mode: Outgoing, radiant and dynamic energy
Hero Type: Active hero, introverted style
Archetypes: The Mother, The Healer, and The Cook
Cancer Moon: Inner need to Nurture
Cancer Sun: The Search for Emotional Bonding
Cancer Ascendant: Surrounded by Family and Food
Myth: Demeter
Demeter or “earth mother” is the goddess of grain. She is associated with food and fertility. She is mankind’s best friend. She is not flirtatious or wicked, like the other goddesses. Demeter had only one daughter, Persephone, the maiden of spring. Persephone was playing in the fields and reached to pick a narcissus. Suddenly, Hades appeared through a chasm in the earth. He abducted Persephone and brought her to the underground in this black chariot which was driven by coal-black steeds. The hills echoed her cry. Her mother sped over land and sea as she searched for her, but no one would tell Demeter the truth of what happened. Demeter wandered for nine days without eating or sleeping. Finally, Helios the sun, who sees everything, told Demeter what had happened. She was so upset, that the earth became a barren wasteland where nothing would grow, and the people began to starve. Zeus finally realized he had to do something. He sent the gods to Demeter one after another, but she would not listen to any of them. She refused to let the earth bear fruit until she had seen her daughter. She wandered to Eleusis where she met the old crone Baubo, who finally got her to eat by lifting up her dress and doing a lascivious dance. This made Demeter laugh and the earth started to blossom again.
This myth is about the 3 stages of womanhood-- virgin, mother, and crone. Persephone and Demeter were too attached to their roles and refused to grow beyond them. Persephone wanted to stay a little girl forever. Zeus noticed this and told Pluto he could have Persephone for a wife because she was old enough to be married. Persephone became the queen of the underworld. Demeter was hanging on to the mother role and refused to grow into the Crone until she met Baubo who showed her that there was a life for the body beyond the mother role.
Cancer Traits: Cancer types are nurturers. They hold on to emotional bonds. They cannot accept it when loved ones grow away from them. They care more about the family than the world and can be moody and non-rational. They need to develop a broad view of things. When hurt, they often withdraw and refuse to deal with the world, but must learn to allow humor in their lives. In the end, they need to overcome their strong attachment to the past and nurture mankind. A love of family can become a detriment to their progress.
Primary Goal: To nurture themselves and others. They start out caring for babies and then children and then adults and if they follow their true path they end up with a vocation in the healing arts, working with families or with food. We really need Cancers right now to heal the earth.
Challenge: Who or What should I nurture?