EARTH MOTHER - METAPHYSICAL CANCER

My parents were crabbing enthusiasts.  They lived in Daytona Beach, Florida and in that area there are many marshy, tidal mudflats where they caught crabs.  One day my dad was reaching down to grab a crab and the crab instead grabbed his finger (crab karma?).  He immediately cut off the claw with a pair of wire cutters but the detached claw did not release its viselike grip on his finger.  My mom was unable to pry the claw apart with a pair of pliers so she drove my dad to the house of a friend who finally managed to pry the claw off but only by using two pairs of pliers!  My dad later lost the blackened nail on that finger.

One way of understanding first principles of a zodiacal sign is to examine the features and behaviors of the creature portrayed by the sign and constellation in the sky.  The moral of the above story is that if you get close to a strong Cancer type (Sun, Moon, or several planets in Cancer), they may latch unto you and hang on for dear life.  Crabs and Cancer type people (Cancer is the name of a genus of crabs) can have a "crabby" disposition and pinch in defense as my dad discovered.  The females of many species of crabs carry their eggs on their bodies until they hatch, which is emblematic of the protective and nurturing nature of the sign of Cancer.  Crabs are one of the few animals that can literally run fast in any direction - even sideways - so Cancers can easily sidestep a question or back step on an issue.  Crabs veraciously defend their homes (always near the watermark) and retreat there when threatened, just like the Cancer part of us.  Here is an example of how this symbolism can be applied in a person's birth chart.  Although I don't have any planets in Cancer, this sign is associated with my sixth house (the setting of my work, my office, coworkers).  When I was working for the State of Florida more than two decades ago, I always tried to arrange my office in such a way that my desk either faced the door or was next to and "guarded" the door.  A number of my coworkers came to me for support but when I felt vulnerable or unappreciated I retreated to my office and closed the door (like a crab retreating into its burrow).

Cancer is the first of the water signs (the others are Scorpio and Pisces) and water is the quintessential medium in which life in the embryonic state is nourished and grows, whether in the shell of an egg or in utero.  This sign, more than any other, represents the "earth mother" from which all life is born and sustained.  Cancer types are usually very connected to their mother and family in general, which is representative of the importance of the Moon in our birth charts and our emotional connections with and memories of the past.  At the most basic level, Cancer is the most feminine of the signs and is symbolic of fertility, nurturance, the womb, receptivity, and the act of containing, holding and protecting.

The mythology of Cancer and even of the Moon is scant.  The Moon represented the Greek goddess Selene, sister of Helios (the Sun) and daughter of two Titans.  Selene, with her bright crown, illuminated the night sky after Helios sank below the horizon.  The best-known myth about her is her love for Endymion, a mortal whom she kissed while he slept.  Endymion asked Zeus (Jupiter) for immortality to be with Selene, which was granted but on the condition that Endymion remain asleep for eternity.  Every night Selene visited him, thus the rays of the Moon caress us mere mortals as we sleep (except when she is too near her brother to be seen).  Other Greek goddesses like Artemis (Diana to the Romans), Hecate and Circe were also associated with the Moon.