Cancer is one of four cardinal signs, "cardinal" referring to a mode of activity that occurs when any astrological body passes through the sign. Much like the phrase cardinal direction, the term implies knowing where we’re going and what the goal is. Or at least that’s what we’d like to think, right?

There are four cardinal signs in the zodiac, with one in each element (earth, air, fire and water). Cancer is the water sign, and water is the emotional element, perhaps to be associated with tears, or with how the Moon, long associated with emotions, tugs on the world’s oceans, creating tides. And tugs on our bodies, which are water-filled.  

We’re not going to get into what medicine (and the legal system) have to say about the Moon’s effect on our watery selves (a subject too vast and complicated to contemplate here), but it is safe to say that the yearly month of Sun in Cancer is filled with decisions. Cancer is the sign following Gemini, the sign all about choice. First you sort out and choose, then you actually decide. So under Cancer there’s less hesitation. And more willingness to learn the cardinal way—i.e., through doing.

It’s also a time of dynamic Cancerian emotions, descriptions of which generally reflect Things Oceanic, which is the realm of Cancer’s totem animal, the crab. So during Cancer we experience strong currents of emotion and periodic waves of frothy discussion. We tend to go back and forth (ebb and flow) about how we feel about life, and yet the comings and goings of daily life seem more natural than ever under Cancer. Cancer is the sign of house, home, family and traditions, all situations that arouse our protective nature—and sometimes our urge to protect ourselves. Every year, as the Cancer vibe becomes active, we feel the touch of our personal childhoods and sense the flow of humanity more vitally than at other times. Under Cancer we play in protected tide pools, we encounter stormy emotional waters, we draw from still wells of resilient wisdom, and encounter upwellings emanating from the depths of our entrenched past.

And yes, every once in a while we get swamped by an emotional tsunamis or just act crabby.

So that’s the Sun. And while the Sun is in cardinal water, Uranus is in Pisces—mutable water. Mutable signs represent... [become a Daykeeper subscriber! Then you can read Boots' entire monthly analysis and overview right now—and every month!]

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