Cancer in Astrology: Meaning and Traits
Cancer in Astrology: Meaning and Traits
A deep dive into the meaning of the zodiac sign Cancer in astrology, and some of the traits and characteristics of people born with that sign prominent in their birth chart, with astrologers Steph Koyfman, Acyuta-bava Das (Adam Elenbaas), and Chris Brennan.
Cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac, and it is a feminine or nocturnal sign, cardinal, watery, and ruled by the Moon.
This is the fourth in a series of episodes where we do a deep-dive into each of the signs of the zodiac, one per episode, in order to really understand their core meaning and significations.
Steph and Acyuta-bava’s credentials for this episode are that they both have prominent Cancer placements in their birth chart. Steph has the Sun and the Midheaven in Cancer, and Acyuta-bava has the Sun and Mercury together in Cancer.
During the course of the episode we talk about various keywords and traits associated with Cancer, and also look at some birth charts of famous people who were born with different planets in that sign.
This is episode 359 of The Astrology Podcast:
Some of the keywords we discussed were drawn from a Twitter survey:
What keywords do you associate with the zodiac sign Cancer? ♋
— Chris Brennan (@chrisbrennan7) July 3, 2022
Steph’s website:
https://www.ladycazimi.com
Acyuta-bava’s website:
Patreon for The Astrology Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/astrologypodcast
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#TheAstrologyPodcast #CancerAstrology
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:48 Steph and Adam’s (formerly Acyuta) Cancer credentials
00:01:16 Cancer overview and graphics
00:03:12 Crab symbol
00:04:23 Cancer and thema mundi
00:07:20 Rulership of the Moon, body, nurturing, memory
00:10:55 Corrective quality to Gemini
00:12:18 Jupiter’s exaltation in Cancer, memory, writing
00:18:11 Changeability, moods, rhythmic
00:27:20 Cancer vs. Capricorn
00:29:14 Cancer vs. Leo
00:32:06 The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis and the Moon
00:39:16 Leo’s corrective function to Cancer
00:41:53 Imagination, dreams, intuitive
00:51:17 Lunar consciousness and time
00:53:08 Sensitivity and overly sensitive
00:57:23 Frida Kahlo
00:58:20 Cancer vs. Scorpio
01:00:02 Cancer vs. Pisces
01:06:00 Third house
01:10:06 Shyness
01:16:33 Humility, wanting to feel needed
01:24:40 Avoidant, defensive, clingy
01:30:00 Saturn and Mars in Cancer
01:34:35 Anthony Bourdain and food
01:37:37 Pablo Neruda
01:40:18 Ernest Hemingway
01:40:53 Lana Del Rey
01:45:14 Robin Williams and sadness
01:48:00 Kurt Cobain
01:55:20 Courtney Love
02:00:17 Tom Hanks and child-like
02:07:00 Garrison Keillor
02:11:08 Familiarity
02:13:52 Saturn in Cancer
02:16:15 USA Cancer Sun
02:18:45 Overly sentimental
02:21:27 Cancer vs. Libra
02:24:29 Cancer vs. Aquarius
02:27:15 Steph’s website and offerings
02:27:55 Acyuta’s website and YouTube
02:28:45 Patrons and sponsors
I have mars in cancer in the 3rd but my moon is in Aries in the 12th
I love that this was posted on my birthday! My Sun, Ascendant, Jupiter and Lilith are in Cancer 🙂
Cancer sun, cancer rising and more cancer in my chart. I relate to so much of what the three of you are discussing, I truly appreciated this.
Is deep dive into the meaning of Leo also coming? Can’t wait…
(draws glyph w/skin marker on his hand "you’re mars." Draws venus glyph on her wrist, "My venus is with your mars somehow in time and space." tries to move on.. anyway, iWould say that "clingyness" btw happy bday america, love you huge archetype in my life, hate lana del rey & kendrick but oh well, billy gibbons how to make a cancer leave you ("slammed door") 101 scorpio rising sry, "clingyness" [moon tells me,] is her axis rotation. Earthlings you are her child. hers and the suns. she reflects his attitude & he relies on her but they both absolutely love you! [humans of all time] You’ll never get it right that Defending ones culture is not the same as militarism but humanity suffers the less we Know quote unqwote. "letting go" from pitbull = "piano in the dark" kurtis cobain. Clingy we are she and she is we. push, pull, gravity? aliens? humanity. huge manitee. folks. folk somgs woody guthrie. not seeing that other side! not happening says the moon. Cant explain how we’ve never seen her backside..(moons well um moon) I dedicate "explosions" from ellie goulding to cancerians. Humanity like they explain is supposed to be a community a villiage like the two rainbows wax on ax off left or right witch way does it go? we went way off course. so a cancer piscean cries. or worse. bettey davis eyes ( her north node=tribe).love y’all! astrologer slash astronomer= gemini, all sides. yall sides. not only did my venus conjunct his mars but also his ascendant. sigrid +the disciples "plot twist".. like you said, joan baez. along with scorpio jupiter rising and pluto in cancer we get len chandler (FTA on netflix=vietnam travel) and of course gem bob dylan who was born same year did a song on emmett till. the revolution man! jane fonda via cancerian our emoji calendar july 17 kiefer sutherlands dad donald,, dont ask me how i know, billie lourde princess laya’s daughter(headband in scream queens s/o and infamous/controversial camera female director for "borders" miss M.I.A. "petals" by chromatics/ venus /courtney Love. Tell the truth your truth is intuition don;t let anyone tell you other wise
The grossest sign of all.
Enjoyed this episode as I am enjoying them all. I have a grand water trine in my chart (♋Mars ♏Moon, Neptune ♓Jupiter) but even I find cancers I know closely to be both more emotional and also tougher than I am by nature. I’m grateful for my Mars placement as I feel it made me a fierce loving mama in raising two children on my own.
Such a beautifully nourishing rich meal this. As an almost 60 yr old Cancer Sun unaspected in 12th, I feel like I finally understand Cancer. I am very grateful and I disagree with you Chris – it was at least as good as the Leo one (good as that was!)
Cancer Moon Mars Jupiter and (ceres) in the 8th. SOOO much I resonate with! words I would use: defensive, protective, deep, nostalgic, music, intuitive, empathic, passive aggressive, moody, nurturing, stubborn, polarity I also have a Scorpio rising, and a Libra stellium in the 10th Sun, Mercury, Pluto, NN. I literally feel like 2 people in one body. I am super sensitive to energies of ALL kinds. A few astrologers have said I have a very interesting chart. I definitely feel like a loner. lol
As a Capricorn with Saturn in Cancer I feel like I attract Cancer energy especially Cancer Moons into my life. And, unfortunately, I find them difficult to deal with. One one hand, Cancer is supportive, genuine but passive and timid and on the other hand it’s a psychological nightmare filled with gaslighting and emotional manipulation.
Cancer energy never is mid. It’s always at one extreme of the spectrum. I hate to say it but I keep alert around Cancer energy now.
What always gets me about Cobain is the last song released while he was alive was “I hate myself and I want to die”. A lot of people couldn’t understand why he’d get married at his peak and not choose a better spouse, plus imagined how great being rich and famous was. Yet, it takes the brain a long time to chemically adjust after drug addiction along with a battle with (basically) his employer about in Utero. It was common for musicians to be addicted to drugs fighting labels who’d state the artist was worthless without them. Reportedly true, Courtney Love sided with Geffen that the album was trash which likely did contribute.
Revisited this one finishing up studying the psychological significance of Lilith in terms of archetype since it’s in conjunction with Jupiter cancer 11th. I will eventually look into how it’s being used in astrology where I may gender neutralize it (a little). The dream that officially shifted me to Jung was a dream mentioned in comments before which was of “anima” but specifically “lilith”. Large empty house (think Tim Burton gothic weird) in a secluded mountain/forest area where a woman was sitting in an also empty attic looking into a light. In the light she could see people looking at themselves in the mirror.
“Modern women, the daughters of Eve, fre-
quently encounter their Lilith nature in the
mirror. In fact, the Zohar refers to Lilith as
the unclear mirror of prophesy (Zohar I 24a).
As Isaac Bashevis Singer writes:
There is a kind of net that is as old
as Methuselah, as soft as a cobweb and
as full of holes, yet it has retained its
strength to this day. When a demon
wearies of chasing after yesterdays or of
going around in circles on a windmill, he
can install himself inside a mirror. There
he waits like a spider in its web, and
the fly is certain to be caught. God has
bestowed vanity on the female, particu-
larly on the rich, the pretty, the barren,
the young who have much time and lit-
tle company.” That was specifically what was happening in the dream, she actually explained it. At this point, black moon lilith was square natal and part of the transit on 11/08/22 is a lilith return during a cancer ZR.
“Although both luminaries continue to
rule, the Moon clearly feels herself to be di-
minished. God’s intervention in her lover’s
quarrel robs her of her freedom of choice.
As a result of the Moon’s diminishment, the
k’lifah (or husk of evil) that is Lilith was
born.”
You also have Tanin’ver, her cosmic blind dragon steed, which also may symbolize rahu/Ketu. Lilith as a consort of saturn is interesting, it’s also interesting that the dark feminine (both masculine and feminine) when integrated properly is Venusian by nature. That was the perspective taken listening to this episode again.
A new astrology story: I read that book so fast that I searched for another (transference: Jung is going on and on about Agrippa where I’m pushing it back until I’m not burnt out) where I immediately found one I forgot about (wasn’t published yet when I wanted to read it) called Dark Religion: Fundamentalism from the perspective of Jungian Psychology. Went ahead and reluctantly bought it, turns out the publisher is Chiron and I’m in a 9th house taurus profection with chiron in taurus. Seems perfectly fitting. Episode still enjoyable the 2nd time.
should we start putting our signs on our cv’s LOL
Chris this is so good! I learned so much about the sun and moon. I received so much clarity into the sign of Cancer.
Cancer’s escapism is sleep
I’m a Cancer. And I don’t take shit from anyone and burst into tears over advertisements.
And MY GOD if it’s a full Moon, I get VERY unpredictable
Let us know in the comments what placements you have in Cancer, or what keywords you associate with that sign!
I love this series. Jupiter, south node and Uranus in Cancer.
This was great information. I’m a Cancer Rising, Moon, Mercury, and Venus all in Cancer first house.
My son’s Cancer placements are Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars with a Leo Rising A whole lotta crabby right there, but he is also thoughtful and caring person as well!
Thank you
Crabs on the beach practice repetition (practice!) by digging out their tunnels…walking sideways with an arm full of sand to dump at the end of a little worn in path.
Cancer rising with Mars at 29 degree (Leo sun/Libra moon) Overall my chart is a bowl shape and my reoccurring dreams are of the shore (often with deep drop offs and high dunes) this podcast felt like a copy, a reflection of what I think/feel I’m putting out into the world. I’m looking forward to the Leo episode!
are cancers artistic? or not really
Uranus 28 Cancer H11 square Neptune 29 Libra H 2. This is a generational placement. I see this as a break with traditional mothering role – a certain need to reconcile the role of mother. This makes a trine out sign with natal Moon/Saturn and a partile trine to IC, so there was a sense of duty as a mother and for my mother and a co-present need to break away – want release from the responsibility and perhaps liberation from the legacy of women’s role in general in the family unit. Natal Mars ruling the Scorp IC is exalted in the very patriarchal Capricorn!
The square to Neptune in Libra, is that breaking from some traditional way of bonding that must be reconciled with the idealization of partnership and marriage, which in my chart was stable (Venus in Taurus) – but not traditional. Marriage and mothering was going through massive changes when I came of age in the early 70’s. No surprise this square was in place for many.
i hate being a cancer so much and honestly i can’t stand the way we are described.
i always hear people say this “oh you have other placements in your birth chart”, except, i can’t go with that conclusion because not only am i a cancer sun but also a cancer rising, venus, and saturn.
it’s just so annoying. nothing i hear about my sign ever makes me feel inspired or good about myself. i don’t want to accept it. i wish i had a cooler sign. this sucks
Oh my gosh this is so in depth!!!
Thank YOU all❣️
My placements in cancer;
Sun, Moon, Rising, Venus and North Node
My opposites. I spot them so fast. They act like serious business ppl rather than are it and that’s how I know someone is reflecting me.
‘Cancers are Pisces with better boundaries’ i’ve said the same thing actually haha
1:48:00..yayo..
What is interesting is Courtney Love and OJ Simpson both were born July 9th. I have an ex boyfriend born July 8th who threatened to kill me, very over possessive. I also have found some people born July 7-9 have some kind of addiction.
I have Cancer Rising, Scorpio Sun. Pisces Moon. I have no tolerance for the mundane. I pull and push and all emotions when it comes to the mind. It’s not on purpose it just feels comfortable. I always need to feel comfortable.
I’m loving the this series Chris but this one in particular didn’t seem to bring up some of the shadow traits like the others….I’m 43 years old and some of the most horrible people I know are cancer sun… for reasons that you covered but not actually showing where that extreme of it…the cancer knowing how people feel and are can lead to narcissistic behaviour…I have met 4 people cancer sun’s that have controlled others and manipulated them to their will in exactly the way that you have depicted in this episode but to extreme and narcissistic tendency and control of others emotions is very clear…is this just me, or a real cancer thing
Cancer sun Libra moon and rising thought it was very interesting about the writing part. I write alot in my journals to help me sort out my emotions. I like to keep track of it.
Thanks!
I heard about how other cancers told me that he dreamed about a nintendo model that he later got one year ago. At the time, I told him because I heard somewhere (I think it was from Alisha)that cancer is the manifestor. so they manifest things to their life.
♤ This series is wonderful. Sign is explored by the same sign person.
♤ Yeah, bhakti Yoga is good for watery signs.
♤ Rememberace of death is entry into your awakening.
Here’s my take – I feel that the astrological signs don’t make much logical sense or emotional sense. There are parts of astrology that I love, though. Don’t get me wrong. My mother is an astrologer and believe me astrology can be pretty amazing with the aspects of the planets, but in terms of the signs, there’s no real authenticity to them a lot of the time, at least when I talk to people about them. If Cancers and Pisces are so vulnerable all the time, wouldn’t THEY have the anger issues and be the “jerks," so to speak? From life experience and from me myself I know the time that I’ve been the most angry and resentful is the time I feel the most vulnerable. People who feel vulnerable and are called crybabies will eventually have a lot of anger and rage, whereas people who are taught that they are confident and mentally smart are usually more stable and loving because they love themselves since they feel strong, confident and stable. (Which most people say Aries are very strong.) In this case I don’t think those people who are told that would have as much temper and anger issues. To me it’s this area of the signs don’t make sense. There’s a certain rage that comes with feeling vulnerable and being told you’re weak or you cry too much, and it doesn’t make you a “loving” person. It makes you afraid to express love and hardens you. Being told you’re soft and vulnerable and submissive and cry all the time will naturally make you more of a frustrated, tough, and temperamental person as it did to me, because you want to PROVE otherwise eventually and fight back. It’s just psychology. I grew up around astrology fanatics and being told I was a "sensitive" "emotional" "vulnerable" person for being a Cancer with a Pisces moon plus being a girl, that hardened me a lot and now I personally have a pretty bad temper and see the world in a rebellious, "I need to fight back" kind of fashion, and the idea of me crying or sharing my heart in front of anyone, even my parents is purely embarrassing and the idea of it gets me mad. I don’t know if what I was told growing up was the exact reason for this mentality and I’m sure there were many but I’m sure it was related. I feel astrology should be about empowerment and true psychology, you know? I’m curious if anyone else agrees with me.
Then when I got a Vedic/Sidereal reading, I was told I am a Gemini with an Aquarius moon, and I naturally felt more confident to express my emotions because I wasn’t seen as a stereotypical crybaby anymore with my sign! When I hear about my Western, tropical, standard astrology signs – Cancer and Pisces, it makes me want to be tough and angry and bitter in order not to be seen as "weak," and it doesn’t feel too good. But when I get the Vedic reading it makes me feel like it’s OKAY to be emotional or cry when I feel sad because I’m naturally a stronger, more masculine person (according to those signs) and am not seen as a stereotype of my current emotion! (I don’t know, I’ve just been told that water signs are more effeminate and weaker which really upsets me. And also, to be honest, when signs that are seen as the opposite as well, like Aquarius or Aries, it also doesn’t sit right with me.) It’s amazing how mentalities work. I love astrology but this is what I don’t really like about the signs. I feel they’re seen too black and white nowadays, when people are very complex and emotions and psychological programming are much deeper than we think. (I’m mainly talking about how most people on the internet talk about astrology now!) I still love your discussions though, don’t get me wrong 🙂 I absolutely love astrology and I grew up with it – my comment is just a little something I have noticed.
Tom Hanks fun facts:
He collects antique type writers
He writes nostalgic short stories
I share my birthday with Tom Hanks! One year, I sent him a birthday note with a drawing of a type writer. He sent me one back, hand typed. It is framed on my wall, one of my most prized possessions.
My mom calls him my BFF haha
Best birthday buddy ever !
cinging, a crab will let go of its arm before an object. i think they can grow a new one!
Hello, is it possible to include the timestamps for this episode? Much love❤
keyword emo
Cap Sun Cancer Moon here, I think cynicism not sarcasm is where Caps are at and it can be quite interesting with these to leading signs