Cancer zodiac sign and its interpretation

This page offers a few texts published in several pages of our website along with other unreleased features. Its aim is to describe and to recapitulate the mains characteristics of Cancer.

It is useful to recall that to be a Cancer means to have one's Sun in Cancer, which requires to know the exact time and place of birth in addition to the date. Indeed, sometimes a one-minute gap is enough for the Sun to shift signs when the birth occurred near the end or at the beginning of a given sign.

Astrotheme enables you to find rapidly the exact position of your Sun and your Ascendant, should you have any doubt.

The astrological sign of Cancer and its personality

You are dreamy, with a psychological nature that is oriented towards nostalgia for things past, towards your mother and your family. Your instinct and your need to protect yourself from the outside world are highly developed.

Your inner life is rich, with a vivid and even unlimited imagination, a propensity to avoid all risks and to pursue security.

You show your true face only to persons you can trust and you need the well being brought about by the nostalgia for the past.

Cancer' sayings and key-words

The words "I feel" encapsulate the character of Cancer, whose need for security and emotions is highly developed.

The sign of Cancer is emotional, sentimental, peaceful, imaginative, sensitive, faithful, resistant, protective, vulnerable, generous, romantic, nostalgic, tender, poetic-minded, motherly or fatherly, dreamy, indolent, greedy, and devoted.

But sometimes it is also timorous, unrealistic, evasive, passive, anxious, dependent, stubborn, moody, passive, lazy, touchy, stay-at-home or inaccessible.

The sign of Cancer and its astrological characteristics

Rulership and exaltation in Cancer

Each astrological sign has traits which are similar to, or different from, those of certain planets. They are known as planetary dignities. The planet having the strongest affinities with a sign is said to rule the sign and to be in its domicile, i.e. at home. It expresses itself with all its might, unreservedly. When a planet does not match a sign too well but remains compatible, it is in its exaltation. It gets its strength and its energy from the said sign though to a lesser extent than a planet in domicile.

The sign of Cancer is in analogy with the Moon, its ruler. It gets along well with Jupiter, the planet which is in exaltation here.

The astrological sign of Cancer shares several features with the Moon: fertility, sensitivity, femininity (in a female chart), imagination and memory (or lack of, depending on the aspects she receives). The Moon is also associated with dreams, the unconscious, subjectivity, moods, the past, nostalgia, but also with laziness, nonchalance and whims.

To a lesser degree, Jupiter's characteristics also influence this sign, i.e. some level of open-mindedness, generosity, the taste for comfort, the facility to become integrated into society, and benevolence, but in the flip side, exaggeration and pretentiousness.

It must be noted that the interpretation of each zodiacal sign echoes the meaning of its House: the first sign and the 1st House, etc. Therefore, Cancer, the fourth zodiacal sign, is in analogy with the 4th House: it represents the native's family, ancestors, roots, and home, both the home he comes from and the one he will set up. This house also describes the real estate patrimony, childhood, and emotions. It is located at the bottom of the chart, and like the Ascendant, it is an angular house. For some authors, 4th house represents the mother instead of the father.

Cancer Elements, Quadruplicities, and Polarities

Water element of Cancer

The twelve zodiacal signs are divided into four sectors matching the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. An element includes three compatible signs (triplicity), each element being mutually complementary.

Cancer, like Scorpio and Pisces, is a Water sign: this element rules the world of emotions, the unconscious, sensitivity, and feelings. The natives ruled by the water element are secretive, intuitive and emotive persons who feel what is unnoticed by other people. However, they lack realism and find it difficult to adjust to the tough and materialistic world. Water makes the native fruitful, imaginative, dreamy, selfless, with an artistic bent, but also lazy, irresolute, vulnerable, and hypersensitive. People ruled by the water element display a lot of kindness, empathy, and generosity, but when they are hurt or feel that they are in danger, they become sly, unpredictable, and disorderly.

The Cardinal mode of Cancer

Signs are also divided into three sectors comprising four signs each. They are the Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable sectors. Quadruplicities are also referred to as mode: the Cardinal mode, the Fixed mode, and the Mutable mode. Like elements, they rule different values and have characteristics of their own.

Cancer, like Libra, Capricorn, and Aries, is a Cardinal sign. Cardinal signs are creative and enterprising signs, some sort of engines. Their peculiarity is to be selfish, to pay excessive attention to themselves, and to always want to be at the top of the list. However, this means of assertion may vary significantly from one sign to another.

The sign of Cancer progresses by discreetly moving sideways, and pounces on what it wants when it is certain that the way is clear. In case of failure, it uses emotions in order to soften up its entourage.

Yin polarity for Cancer

Lastly, polarities divide the Zodiac into two groups of six signs. Polarities are referred to as Masculine and Feminine, Yin and Yang, or Active and Passive.

These characteristics alternate from one sign to the next in zodiacal order. Active signs indicate extroverted, expansive, and fairly physical people who express themselves easily and are quite energetic and enthusiastic. Passive signs are more introverted, internalised, intellectual, deep, and calm.

Cancer is passive, or Yin.

The sign of Cancer and its physical appearance

Even though they may not perfectly match your outward appearance, if your Ascendant, or to a lesser extent, your Sun, is in Cancer, you might take on the following characteristics:

Physically speaking, Cancer people have round-shaped features and tend to become stout when they reach their thirties. The hair is dark and thin or sparse. The nose is small, the eyes stick out, the chin is round, and the complexion, fair. The height is small to average.

Expressions and attitudes suggest softness, dream, astonishment, sometimes naivety. The entire appearance is subtle, reassuring and protective.

Their favourite colours are white and black.

The sign of Cancer and its health

The stomach and the breast are the parts of the body in analogy with the sign of Cancer.

Its health is usually good, but the lack of physical exercise may prove harmful. Similarly to Taurus people, who are definitely more active than Cancer, there is a danger that, with time, Cancer people put on too much weight because they do not practice enough outdoors or sports activity.

In addition, their extreme sensitivity and their mood swings may play tricks on them in the long run and cause stomach pains, anguish, and tears. It takes very little to upset them. They ought to learn to remain Zen under all circumstances, for this little effort would enable them to save so much time.

The sign of Cancer and its hobbies

If your sign is Cancer, one of your first centres of interest consists in enhancing your life setting with curios, furniture for the house and the garden, interior decoration, and getting a home for yourself if you don't have one yet.

Thus, many Sundays are very likely to be dedicated to scouring antique shops because this activity nicely blends two Cancer's peculiarities, your home, source of protection and harmony, and your fondness for objects with a past such as ancient curios, regardless of their cultural, private, or material value.

Males enjoy do-it-yourself crafts, gardening, or the restoration of pieces of furniture, while females are more interested in knitting, embroidery, interior decoration, and cooking tasty dishes and desserts.

However, these hobbies may be great sources of satisfaction for Cancer of both genders. You are also attracted to all water-related activities such as sea cruise, fishing, lake excursion, nautical sports and games such as canoeing, diving, water polo, surfing, etc. but also so-called quiet sports like golf.

Your sensitivity naturally draws you to classical music and singing which are calmer and more reassuring than techno and rap music.

Your fondness for the past and your nostalgic side may turn you into a great antique collector. You may be interested in a large variety of things ranging from cars, to stamps, books, furniture, tapestry, etc. provided they are ancient.

Cancer and Love

The affective life of people born with the Sun in Cancer – and often of those who have the Ascendant in Cancer, is marked by the desire to be loved and appreciated.

Extremely sentimental, Cancer yearns for his soul mate while at the same time being distrustful and worried as long as he is not certain that he is not making a mistake, which may require quite some time.

For Cancer, the slightest signs of affection or on the contrary of insensitivity may have nice or terrible consequences. He may find himself in incongruous situations after having dreamed of a situation which was just virtual, or because he caused a clash with no objective reason.

There are actually two types of Cancer, including from a sentimental viewpoint. One of them tends to withdraw into his shell and to seldom get out of it because he feels the danger in a relationship, rightly or wrongly; the other one is whimsical, lunatic, unsteady, and unable to wake up to reality owing to his exceedingly receptive "antennas".

Provided that Cancer handles these ups and downs brought about by his overly strong sensitivity, and that he keeps his disproportionate need for security in check, is a pleasant, affectionate, sensual partner, often faithful for life. Cancer may become the best spouse.

Cancer and work

Since Cancer is very cautious, he waits for the right moment to embark on a professional activity. But then, nothing can stop him.

If you are Cancer, you are a careful person, and you wait for the right time before you take action, but then, nothing can prevent you from implementing your project, which is often related with real estate matters or with the past. Unless particularly salient factors of your natal chart indicate otherwise, owing to your need for protection and your worry-prone nature, it is quite unlikely that you play a prominent role early in life.

You have a sedentary lifestyle, and you need to be with people who are close to you in order to feel in confidence. Besides, it takes you quite some time before you grant your trust. Art, literature, music, the cinema or the stage, are domains in which you may receive public applauses and achieve great fame.

You may also excel in any hotel and restaurant activities since they imply contacts with the public. You seem to have a knack for attracting their sympathy, provided that you accept to be a bit "cool"!

Furthermore, if you are able to put aside your fears for the unknown and your need for sedentary lifestyle, the Water element associated with the lunar principle of mobility and change enables you to deeply enjoy long travels, crossing seas and oceans to faraway or exotic lands.

Cancer people are quite versatile. Thanks to their need for security, they are very likely to be successful in many different professions, such as those of hotelier and restaurant mentioned above, but also real estate agent, notary public, corporate manager, accountant, actor, sailor, diver, historian, antiquarian, social worker, wood-worker specialised in fine furniture, musician, or poet.

The symbolism of the sign of Cancer

Countries and cities associated to Cancer

Below are several traditional features associated with the sign of Cancer.

For the countries : Holland, Scotland, North and West Africa, New-Zealand, Paraguay, Algeria.

For the cities: Amsterdam, Manchester, Tokyo, New York, Istanbul, Stockholm, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Cadix, Algiers, Tunis, Bern, Magdeburg.

Animals, Food, Herbs and aromatics for Cancer

The animals in analogy with Cancer are crabs and animals with shells.

The foods in analogy with Cancer are milk, fishes, watery fruits and vegetables, turnips, white and red cabbages. For herbs and aromatics: tarragon, verbena, saxifrage.

If you are Cancer, you must start to be careful about what you eat as early as possible since, as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure... You tremendously enjoy good dishes in rich gravy, and creamy desserts or ice creams, and therefore, you must be vigilant! Desserts, ice-creams, and chocolate, which you like very much, are typical lunar food. The potential dangers are gastric ulcer, indigestion, and colitis.

Seaweeds and trace elements against weight gain, as well as sufficient hours of sleep and balanced meals against stress should be enough to avoid problems.

Regarding your culinary tastes, you are often among those who find solace or comfort in sweet food. To begin with, you cannot do without the candies of your childhood. You always have at home all sorts of liquorice wheels, vintage Roudoudous (European hard-candy) or Coca-Cola frogs. Along the same "It was better before" lines, you relish the prospect of attending a candy-floss making workshop. You gladly experience recipes passed down from generation to generation: slowly simmered jams, or vanilla creams for their sweetness.

Dairy-based desserts appeal to you. Think of flans or of ice-creams which melt on your tongue. Do not forget to flavour your creations with verbena, a plant connected to your sign.

Flowers, plants and trees associated with Cancer

Flowers and plants: geraniums, white roses and white flowers in general, water lilies, morning glory, bear's breeches, and lilies. Trees: all trees full of sap.

Stones, Metals and Salts associated with the sign of Cancer

Stones, Metals and Salts in analogy with Cancer are pearls, silver, lime and calcium phosphate.

Celebrities with the Sun in Cancer

Astrotheme's database of celebrities lets you know who are the most popular personages. There are two possible criteria: the number of clicks on a celebrity's page, or the number of visitors who put them in their favourite file of their account. The examples below take into account both criteria, at the date of creation of these pages.

Taking into account contemporary people, the three most popular females are Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and Beyoncé Knowles. The most popular males are Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.

However, we are focusing here on people born with the Sun in Cancer. The currently most popular people are: Diana, Princess of Wales, Tom Cruise, Selena Gomez, Pamela Anderson, Ariana Grande, William, Prince of Wales, Meryl Streep, Robin Williams or for the last century, Marcel Proust.

Famous people having a Cancer dominant

The Sun in Cancer corresponds exactly to the topic of this article. However, it may be interesting to check the dominant of the chart. Indeed, it sometimes happens that the only planet in Cancer is the Sun, but that the other planets or an angle such as the Ascendant are in a different sign. Although the chart's owner is a Cancer, his chart may display a more "powerful" sign than Cancer. This is called the "dominant sign".

Conversely, some people are not Cancer, although Cancer is their planetary dominant. In that case, they display Cancer features. In some cases, they are "much more Cancer" than people having the Sun in Cancer.

Astrotheme has computed eleven types of dominants for all the entries of its database. They include the dominant sign and in particular, the Cancer dominant.

The most popular people having Cancer as their planetary dominant are, for some of the most famous ones: Leo Hugo Chávez, Gemini Michou, Taurus Valentino, Aquarius Boris Yeltsin, Sagittarius Francis Cabrel, or Aquarius Eva Gabor.

The other signs of the zodiac

You can also read the files about the signs of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.