Cancer: Tenacious and Indomitable!

We’ve celebrated the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemispheres and hot summer is upon us.  Cancer is ruled by the Moon whose soft silvery light reflects the Sun’s bright, bold fire.  The soft and tender aspects of Cancer seem somehow lost in this world of late, though I see them around me reflected in the nurturing qualities of people I know.  Thank goodness for that!  We need home, family, good food, security do we not?  Especially when we’re young and even when we’re very old.  Cancer protects and cares for those in need.  At least that is its archetypal calling—–the love of a good Mother watching over her brood.  

What kind of energies are impacting Cancer these days?  We still have Pluto in Capricorn opposing this sign for 6 more long, long years.  Pluto will begin to leave Capricorn in March of 2023, but will return for it’s final purge later in that year until it finally moves on in January of 2024.  This opposition was exacerbated when Uranus was in Aries for seven years in square to Cancer and Capricorn both.  We’ve seen much upheaval and change ensue, most of which has been turbulent, violent, and ruthless in the extreme in all the hotspots on the globe.

Now we have Saturn entering the picture in Capricorn and opposing Cancer.  It will do so until December of 2020 when it finally moves on for another 30 years.  As Saturn moves ever closer to Pluto Cancer will feel the intensity and heaviness of this opposition and it will be anything but a waltz in the park.  Oppositions almost always involve relationships between what appears to be self (the part you are identified with) and not-self (the part you project onto someone else).  In truth an opposition is between things that are actually alike because they differ only in degree along one spectrum of 180 degrees.  So oppositions require awareness and cooperation to be brought into balance and harmony.  If opposites polarize then separation is the result.  

A good example of this right now is the increasing polarization witnessed in the mass migrations through-out the planet where common people try to escape the woes of war, famine, tribulation just as peoples through-out history always have done.  In the United States of America, a Cancer sun-sign country, we now have this enormous immigration issue where families are being separated at the border.  Is this not a Cancer-Capricorn polarization made visible to all?

 One side is against what they deem an illegal invasion; the other side seeks and wants asylum for those they know to be victims of violence in places like El Salvador and Guatemala.  Both signs are involved here; Cancer can try to build walls to secure those already part of a nation/family, or Capricorn can be the force of law, hard-nosed to the core, also policing as a border patrol and steeled hard against soft-heartedness or any type of leniency; Cancer can also be the families seeking asylum and their supporters having empathy for people who suffer and feeling an outcry over wee children being separated from their parents, or Capricorn can be the determination and grit of people driven to endure hard times and tribulation willing to risk much in the bargain.  This Cancer/Capricorn polarity is a long thread with two ends after all.  

America has been shaped all along with this opposition since the Declaration of Independence from British rule and domination was declared back in 1776.  America has Pluto in Capricorn widely opposite it’s Sun in Cancer, but strongly opposite it’s Mercury in Cancer.  This is a nation of immigrants and many of those immigrants who gained entrance were cut-throat crooks and criminals.  There were the bad apples mixed in with the good.  Such is the nature of duality, and this nation is now re-experiencing it yet again with transit Saturn beginning it’s run through Capricorn opposite all those Cancer planets in the natal chart, just as Pluto has been pressing down, down, down on all those Cancer vulnerabilities.  How many times do we witness the phenomena of the oppressed becoming the oppressor later on down the road?  What is it about human nature that psychologically twists this so?  Pathology is often created out of initial abuse and perpetrated on and on through generations.  It is true of societal bodies as much as individuals.  Are we not seeing the pathology of nations at work here?

We also have Chiron in Aries, now following Uranus, squaring off with Cancer and Capricorn creating more changes.  Will they be further wounding or possibly healing in nature?  It all depends on the consciousness of those embodying those energies, though the natural laws and forces of nature may be equally powerful and we humans are only one part of that greater whole though we often think we can conquer it all.  If you are a Sun sign Cancer, or have other major planets or points in that sign, it will be important to be aware of where Saturn, Pluto, and Chiron impact you.  Your Sun represents what fuels you towards your true purpose in a lifetime.  So look to the relationships in your life which impact you from that opposite sign of Capricorn, and look to the tensions arising from Aries that force you to release and heal so that you can move on.

Chiron in Aries will be an important note to watch even though it’s considered a minor player by some.  For me it’s often a major player in the lives of my clients.  Chiron in Aries needs to be the ‘sacred warrior/warrioress championing the rights of each individual.  Autonomy and independence are important Aries themes.  Where does individuality fit in the scheme of things today?  If Cancer represents the foundational core which protects and strengthens the individual (Aries) until they are strong enough to hold their own and enter the realm of equality with another (Libra), then Capricorn must also represent the protection of the State, the collective body which has enough checks and balances in place to allow the family to do its important role as the nurturing source.  These Cardinal signs are key to everything else in the Zodiac for they initiate what is to come.  We are in a time of initiation, are we not?

Thankfully Cancer can benefit from the off-sets of Jupiter in Scorpio, Uranus in Taurus , and Neptune in Pisces.   Jupiter is still in that sign of deep transformation until November 8th when it enters its own fiery sign of Sagittarius.  While in Scorpio trine aspects flow to all the degrees of Cancer from the 13th to the 29th.  Jupiter encourages Cancer to set sail for new shores and coaxes the hesitant crab out of its comfortable shell.  This is a waxing trine encouraging growth and expansion.

Uranus in Taurus will activate and awaken Cancer for seven long years providing new opportunities to change and thus stabilize in new ways.  Lifestyle inventiveness in a myriad of forms may emerge where Cancer’s life improves ultimately.  This sign may actually benefit from the upheavals to the economy and basics of life that Uranus in Taurus symbolizes.

Neptune in its own sign of Pisces is now mid-way through that elusive sign.  We have until January of 2026 when Neptune finally leaves and enters Aries fully; that’s 7.5 more years.  This is what I’ve meant by our increasingly YIN time this year when Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are all in that realm together.  Neptune in Pisces is so oceanic and works its magic by dissolving away the old in preparation for the new.  This is so true for Cancer now due to the waning trine cycle.  It is a letting go process that takes us back to that original theme of family and home.  Migrations occur whether we like it, condone it, or seek it.  These waves of change can not be stopped.  The way we view family continues to morph especially now with the LBGT movement and the melting pot phenomena of inter-racial mixtures.  The flood gates are open environmentally as well.  Nothing is permanent.  Life is change.  So Neptune bids Cancer to go with the flow and allow things to run their course as they will.

I’d like to now look at some examples starting with the United States of America whose 242nd Birthday is about to be celebrated.  This Sun in Cancer country, irregardless of what Rising sign is used, is comprised of 6 Yin and 4 Yang planets.  It’s Cancer stellium creates a Cardinal dominance.

 The Solar Eclipse of July 12th at 20 degrees of Cancer is positioned between the Sun and Mercury striking a cord of emphasis on both Purpose and the mercurial functions of movement, trade, commerce, and the nation’s communication and telecom industries.

 This note is also where transit Pluto is beginning to oppose, and then Saturn joining with it.  Cancer, by nature, is defensive rather than aggressive, but Mercury in America’s chart rules Mars, it’s aggressive nature which tends to spill and go everywhere with its square to Neptune, often resulting in chaos in its wake.  If all these elements of a collective nation are about to get doubly emphasized by an eclipse, purged by Pluto, and tested mightily by Saturn, what is likely to be the outcome?  What will this nation look like when it’s finished with Pluto/Saturn?  We have until 2023 to find out.

I’ve never professed to be any kind of expert Mundane astrologer.  What I have observed is that a Cancer executive branch will most probably always be conservative, even though the ‘people’ of the nation (Moon in Aquarius) may be more mixed with radicals (both left and right), progressives and conservatives of all stripes mixed together.  Cancer isn’t an extreme sign like Scorpio, for example.  It tries to maintain security at all costs through sheer tenacity of purpose.  I also have found that the danger of Pluto in the mix is the drive for power through the pursuit of greed first.  This is nothing new on this planet where conquest drives so-called progress.  So I’m observing from my remote perch, and put more faith in what is locally around me as a rule.  There are plenty of good, honest, and ethical people working hard towards a better future.  I do believe in the 100th monkey phenomena and I do believe in miracles, so I continue to exercise my faith that humanity will come through this ever deepening and dangerous rite of passage a brighter and more conscious species after 2023 when the downward spiral shift reaches the bottom.

 I’m just not sure that the policy of ethno-centric isolationism is the answer for survival on a shrinking planet especially by such a young, arrogant, and immature nation as America.

Is Jupiter and Neptune aiding this nation?  Some would say yes as Jupiter expands into the future, and Neptune washes away and dissolves the past.  Uranus will certainly speed things up soon as it begins to sextile that Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer which implies the nation’s wealth and economy.  Will there be a transformation of the Federal Reserve?  Will the US debt be wiped out?  Will new technologies bring healing and freer forms of energies?  Will earth changes actually prove helpful in the bigger picture?  There are definitely more questions than solid answers for me at this point.

I see that the Solar Return on July 5th for this nation has a double Cancer signature with Sun rising in the 1st house indicating a year of change of identity.  There is a Grand Trine in Water with both Jupiter and Neptune showing a flow of current unstoppable even as Mercury in Leo is opposed by Mars in Aquarius, both in square to the Jupiter in Scorpio and to Uranus in Taurus creating a great Fixed Sign Grand Cross.  Heated debates and polarization within the collective body will be on-going and strongly broadcast through all the range of media outlets.  The Moon is conjoining Chiron in Aries, both in square to Saturn.  Individual rights seem to be increasingly restricted and much wounding of these rights will continue.  It’s a complex chart to unravel and will prove to be a volatile year even as some progress is made.

I will now share information about a couple of Cancer people that I know as examples of some of the features I have explained above.

Anna Danes, born on the 4th of July also,  is one of the best examples I can find in my files of clients/friends whose life epitomizes all of what the best of Cancer can be in spite of her trials and tribulations.  I encourage you to look at her marvelous web site and if you are on Facebook, follow her there for she is not afraid to share her journey with everyone.

Anna is an extremely talented jazz singer who writes her own songs/lyrics as well as sings the classics.  She is presently writing a book about her journey which started when “her family fled communist Poland for Sweden in 1979, leaving their familiar lives, family and friends behind…..”  Yes, she is an immigrant who eventually arrived in California sixteen years ago.  She became a lawyer and then a stay-at-home mom, but at the age of 43 (mid-life crisis years) she transformed her life and career to pursue her dream that she is now actualizing.  However, further hurdles have included divorce, love lost, and combating breast cancer twice.  She is now undergoing radiation treatments but that indomitable spirit and tenacity is shining through and she is candid enough to share it all on Facebook because she is willing to put a human face to the glamour and glitz of show business, which I see as an increasing trend.

Her Sun in Cancer is in trine to her ‘Sun ruler’ the Moon in Pisces, which is in trine to Neptune rising in Scorpio.  All that watery strength keeps her dreams alive no matter the travails.  Pluto (ruler of her entire chart) opposes her Moon at the top of her chart showing the signature of transformation that she is willing to move through and then share.  She also has Mars in Sagittarius symbolizing her passion and directness in both pursuing her goals, but in also taking a forthright stand. Her birth map is highly complex indicating the twists and turns of fate and destiny she is willing to survive with her indomitable spirit.  I feel blessed to know this brave and gifted woman!

My second example is someone I have known since birth because I am her godmother.  I have agreed to keep her Cancer Sun/Moon in Pisces/Pluto in Scorpio identity private, but she is willing for me to share her story even so.  I will call her ‘G’ for godchild.  G showed beauty and talent from a wee age such as taking to computers like a duck to water, but she was diagnosed as dyslexic once she entered school.  Thankfully, her mother provided her with the best tutors she could find and supported her every step of the way.  At the vulnerable age of 14, G lost her father to brain cancer, and this bereft state left her weakened, as she like Anna has Moon in Pisces.  There is no moon sign more sensitive I have found!  Following this trauma in the family she suffered from several complications of genetic, hormonal, immunological and microbial origins, and is still not through the woods.  She and her mother were both diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease back in 2010 for example, but G also suffered from undiagnosed gastrointestinal problems that weren’t correctly diagnosed until late 2016.  She has nearly died countless times.  She basically attended high school in bed thanks to Stanford’s on-line program for the gifted.  I have helped choose several surgical procedural dates in the past so I can attest to these multiple tribulations!

Just to give you an inside view here’s a quote from a letter her mother wrote, “True to G’s indomitable spirit, she is still ‘inventing the future’.  G designed a surgical animation tool that resulted in a reduction of patients’ post-op narcotic use by 50%.  A similar surgical animation resulted in a father and mother sobbing the surgeon’s office after viewing the animation and understanding for the firs time that their son’s debilitating pain was not “psychological’ in nature as other physicians had diagnosed, but was in fact due to a spinal cord injury.” 

‘G’ has the chart of a poetess, a business woman, an inventor, a scientist, and more.  She is a brave, brave soul!  There is a Kite pattern in her chart with Sun/Vesta at the tail opposite Uranus/Neptune at the head, while Moon in Pisces trine Pluto in Scorpio round out the entire configuration.  Her healing work is just beginning for the age that is about to begin.  I now give you her latest journey in her own words from a group letter she recently sent out:  “As you know, a year ago or so I decided it was time to pursue graduate school.  My health had improved to the point I was no longer in immediate danger, although I still struggle to be up and about.  After four years of illness in bed, I decided it was time to build what life I can—even if I need to move at a slower pace.

I chose to apply to British Universities.  The shorter time to get a degree independence, and lack of teaching requirements meant an easier time for me physically.  

In December I was accepted to a master programs in technology at Oxford and in in January to a masters program in business at Cambridge.  At first I intended to pursue Oxford.

In April, my mother and I made a trip out to choose between my two original program choices. However, a few weeks before our trip, I received an invitation from the Engineering Department at Cambridge to meet.  The department head and co-head were interested in my work and we met a two-hour interview.  Halfway through the meeting, I was asked to leave the room.  When the co-head came and retrieved me a few minutes later he said:  ‘Well, when the conversation is that fast you know it is either really good or really bad!’

They declared support of my application on the spot, waiving the need for a master’s degree.  After several weeks one’s application must be approved by about 18 different people!) I have been formally offered a place.  So it looks like I will be entering my probationary year as a PhD student in Engineering, focusing on Systems Design in healthcare this fall!”

It might also interest you readers that the college within Cambridge that she will attend is where Stephen Hawking’s completed his PhD, and where he continued to live for the rest of his life.  This is a college, Gonville and Caius, that gladly supports those with disabilities.  This college has produced poet laureates, architects, politicians, authors, and 14 Noble Prize Laureates.  As G states, “Its alumni record is particularly rich in scientific and medical accomplishments.”

G is part of a wave of young women now entering career opportunities heretofore unavailable gender-wise.  This Neptune/Uranus generation in Capricorn will accomplish great feats in our future.

I also want to point out that both Anna and G have gone through that opposition of Pluto to their Sun’s, as well as the square from Uranus while it was in Aries.  What lies ahead for both of them is the opposition of Saturn which implies some hard work as well as relationships with those in some type of authority.  Capricorn for both women supports their Moons in Pisces which will give them both an edge in endurance and tenacity.  They’ve both proven their metal strength and will power.  Let’s wish them well as they persevere. Tender feeling Cancer is strong!!!