The Sun Enters Cancer
June 20, 2024
Helios’ sunny chariot is making its way to the high point in the Wheel of the Year on June 20, ringing in the Solstice and the initiation of Cancer season. This year’s Solstice is just one day apart from a brilliant Strawberry Full Moon, the first of two full moons that lie in Capricorn’s domain this year. (Read AO’s articles on the Full Moon and Solstice.)
Transitioning from the buzz and cacophony of Gemini’s pollinating frenzy, the Sun’s ingress into the sign of the Crab feels like a much-needed respite. Gemini season ended with a few tense planetary squares. Remember those? Venus/Saturn, the Sun/Saturn, Mercury/Saturn, Venus/Neptune, and Mars/Pluto!
The arrival of the Sun, in the cardinal sign of Cancer, is Sol's first encounter with a water sign this astrological year and could be the bubbling wellspring of connected emotionality that we all need. Leave it to the Moon-and-mother-ruled Cancer season to help release tension and provide some good, grounded nurturance when we need it most.
Welcome to Cancer season, friends! - Alison
The Sign of Cancer and the Zodiac Man
Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and in traditional medical astrology, this round, soft, and nurturing quality is reflected in the parts of the body ruled by Cancer: the breasts, stomach, and womb. From the dark safety of the womb to the first sips of a mother’s milk to the digestion of food throughout life, these body parts exemplify the care, nurturance, and maternal qualities that define Cancer.
People with strong Cancer placements are known to have sensitive stomachs, often embodying stress through poor digestion. On the other hand, Cancer natives are known to have strong intuition or “gut sense”, and to feel excitement through the sensation of butterflies in the stomach. Nourishing food is a highly important love language to the sign, with nourishing meals equating to a feeling of security and contentedness.
Looking at the similarities between these three body parts, we notice too that they change frequently, just like the phases of the Moon and the process of crabs shedding and growing new shells. The uterus and the stomach frequently shed their linings and regrow new cells—the womb’s cells every 28 days in a menstrual cycle, and the stomach’s cells every 3-6 days! Breasts also go through subtle changes over a monthly menstrual cycle, changing size and shape, as well as changes in tenderness and sensation due to fluctuating hormone levels. They certainly change- in both form and function- through a life cycle, from childhood to puberty to pregnancy to childbirth to elderhood.
The womb, the breasts, and the stomach: the ever-adapting, ever-changing, ever-nurturing parts of the body. The places where life itself is sustained.
A recent article from the Farmer’s Almanac about their historical publication of the Zodiac’s correspondence with the body, known as the Man of Signs, says this about Cancer: “For instance, if someone wanted to wean their baby, they would wait for the Moon to be in the sign of Cancer, as it was believed to influence nurturing and growth positively.”
The Almanac continues to include a calendar in their print edition and on their website called “Best Days,” which gives the best days of each month for doing various things, i.e., cut hair to increase growth, plant vegetables, quit smoking, lose weight, wean, mow grass to slow growth- based on the Zodiac season, phase of the moon, and planetary relationships. Check it out!
The Sign of Cancer in the Life Cycle
After the social, chatty, and playful childhood of Gemini comes the stage of life represented by the Crab: puberty & adolescence. Like the parts of the body it rules, Cancer’s spot in the human life cycle is also an era of deep nurturance and rapid, continuous change.
When I think about the sudden onset of bodily changes around puberty, I’m reminded of the onset of the intensity of mid-summer after a bustling late-spring. After reveling in the blossoming flowers and sunny days of Gemini season, Cancer’s mid-summer heat makes me want to go inside and shut all the doors. It’s reminiscent of a 13-year-old pre-teen saying, “Just. Leave. Me alone,” slamming the door to their room with a newly-added “keep out” sign, and blasting the latest emo Taylor Swift (or, in my case, Nirvana) release while they write in their live journal. (Ok, I’m dating myself here, but you get the gist.)
Like the token pre-teen and teenager, Cancer is known for being moody, sensitive, and, well, emo. But they’re also known for caring SO much… about their friends, about their place in the world, and in the case of most teens I meet, about justice, equality, dignity, the environment, and the world at large. And the future.
I recently read back through some journals I wrote from ages 13-16, and I was blown away by a few things: first, how much I changed my mind; second, how much I cared about making sense of the world and the meaning of life. I remember writing these diaries in my room with the door closed on my bed, where I’d hung a black mesh fabric overhead to replicate a cave more than a room’s enclosure. From that place of safety, I could ponder and write about the larger world and my place in it. From that place, I could care the most. From that place, I could provide nurturance for my emerging thoughts and epiphanies and slow down alongside the process of my changing body.
The crab is often known for its “hard shell,” an inelastic exoskeleton it will eventually outgrow. In a process known as ecdysis, which happens several times during the crab’s life cycle, the outer shell eventually molts, while a new larger shell forms underneath. When the old shell finally sluffs off, we find a very soft and delicate shell ready to grow. The now-exposed permeable soft shell undergoes a rapid expansion by taking in water, allowing the crab to get larger each time it molts. Because the hard shell does not allow any expansion, the crab must shed its shell to get larger.
The water sign Cancer, like the crab, like the teenager, like the womb and the stomach, nurtures by being adaptable, by growing out of old patterns and habits with fluidity, by accepting big changes (that feel like deaths) as the most natural part of life. Unlike the opposite side of the sky, where the Capricorn sea-goat climbs from the bottom of the sea to the tallest mountain peak, Cancer undergoes a different change of terrain: the shifting landscape of the internal world, the body, emotional terrain, the things that flow like water.
Only that which can change can continue. – James Carse
Self-Care in the Season of the Crab
Cancer is a powerful sign in a way that is not always recognized by our achievement-oriented modern world. The time of summer solstice shows us the most potent sense of burgeoning aliveness- the ripening of fruits, pollen turning into sweet honey inside the hives. Like the adolescent in the cycle of life, there is a sense during this season that something big is just around the corner.
During this season, I invite you to care for yourself by going inward and meditating on the beauty of change. I invite you to write in your journal, to listen loud to your favorite emo tunes (from the era of your teenage years, ideally), and to find a cozy spot in your house where no one can access you, even if for just a few minutes.
You are not hiding in your shell, no- that gets a bad rap. Instead, you are giving yourself a safe space to nurture your wildest dreams and fledgling ideas, reinforce your emotional intelligence, and expand your newly formed shell with nourishing water before it hardens into a new phase of life. Think of it as a period of retreat, not isolation. The world of emotions is not linear, and this is the time of year to allow them to swirl.
I recommend baths, pools, and hot springs, always, for this summery water sign. I like aloe vera, chamomile, and burdock root, too. In this season of Cancer, remember that your sensitivity is your strength.
Cancer Season Dates to Note
June 20: Sun enters Cancer
June 21: Full Moon in Capricorn
June 21: Mercury in Cancer sextile Mars in Taurus
June 29: Venus in Cancer sextile Mars in Taurus, Saturn begins retrograde in Pisces
July 5: New Moon in Cancer
July 11: Venus enters Leo
July 15: Mars conjunct Uranus in Taurus
July 21: Full Moon in Capricorn
Alison Dale is an artist, ecological astrologer, and somatic guide based in the traditional lands of the Tewa people, known today as Santa Fe, NM. She is also the host of the podcast Cycles of Time (@cyclesoftimepodcast). Learn more about her work and current offerings at alisonmariedale.com or on Instagram at@astro.somatics.