Whether you love the emotional waters of deep and sensitive Cancer or not, we’re going to be riding its waves for quite some time!
In other words, we’re amidst Cancer season, which kicked off on June 21st. Maybe you’re already familiar with this zodiac sign, or maybe you’ve never been acquainted with the crab, thinking it had little to do with you.
If this crossed your mind, however, you’d actually be mistaken!
Thanks to the incredible depth of our birth charts, it’s likely that you have Cancer in your birth chart somewhere, whether you knew it or not — and what better time to unpack this special placement than now?
The Cancer Zodiac Sign
After communicative and intellectual Gemini, Cancer slows us down as the fourth zodiac sign, teaching us about the emotional, intuitive side of ourselves.
Rooted in the element of Water, the sensitive crab shares qualities of its fellow underwater siblings (Scorpio and Pisces) with a strong emotional depth and a profound intuition. However, that doesn’t just mean that Cancer is all emotion and no talk.
As a Cardinal sign, Cancer actually has strong leadership potential, demonstrated by the fact that it rules the 4th house — the astrological house of family and foundation. In other words, Cancer has the potential to be the head of a house, teaching us the importance of partnership, love, and cooperation.
As a result, having an awareness of where Cancer is in your chart can help you understand these important aspects of yourself and really help you shine within the realm of emotional intelligence and leadership!
The Impact of Cancer Season
Cancer season, as you may expect, highlights many of the core themes of its sign.
We’ll be wrestling with its themes of emotional development, spiritual progress, and family and home. In the heart of Cancer is the heart of… ourselves. We learn to explore our true inner feelings and desires.
You can best see how Cancer season will affect you by taking note of where Cancer is in your natal chart!
Cancer in the Birth Chart: Planets
First, check to see where the sensitive crab lands on the planets of your birth chart. These can have a major impact on the core pieces of your personality and who you are as a person.
Sun, Moon & Rising in Cancer
Any Sun, Moon, or Rising (also known as the Ascendant) placement in Cancer creates a very prominent Cancerian energy within you.
The Sun, representing the ego and a core piece of the self, would reflect Cancer energy in various facets of life. The Moon, governing emotion and your inner world, allows you to connect with Cancer in the emotional space.
And finally, with a Cancer Rising, the traits are projected outwards, making it a noticeable part of who you are to others around you.
Mercury in Cancer
Having a Cancer Mercury places the softness, sweetness, and intuition of Cancer within the intellectual and communicative space.
If you have this placement, you’re likely to have a natural disposition to kind communication, and you approach learning and discussion with empathy and compassion.
Venus in Cancer
Venus in Cancer highlights the standard qualities of the crab but in love and relationships.
Cancer arguably thrives in this placement, creating an emphasis on emotion and foundation in how you approach relationships. It may be difficult to sustain a “fling” as you tend to take matters of the heart seriously, but overall your connections with others will always be something you deeply appreciate.
Mars in Cancer
With Mars in Cancer, the energy of the crab is prominent with your drive and ambition.
However, despite Mars being the planet of will and war, Cancer doesn’t thrive off of acting impulsively. With Mars in Cancer, you act slowly and intuitively, and you’ll likely confer with your heart before making a real decision.
And although this placement is capable of strength with its Cardinal roots, you’ll have to be mindful of its non-confrontational tendencies and learn to stand up for yourself.
Jupiter in Cancer
Jupiter in our chart shows us where we experience luck, opportunity, and expansion.
With this placement, you’re at your best and will receive the most reward when you yourself can be charitable and create opportunities for those you care about.
Jupiter in Cancer overall thrives in fortifying the home and creating comfort for themselves and others.
Saturn in Cancer
Unlike bountiful Jupiter, Saturn in our charts sheds light on themes of limitation and difficulty and learning hard lessons.
As a result, Saturn in Cancer is a bit different from other Cancer placements in that there’s more of a tendency to hide your emotions. Sometimes, the weight of what you feel and the depth of your emotional world can be challenging to share with others.
However, as with the regular with Saturn, overcoming this difficulty will make the themes of Cancer all the more powerful within you.
Uranus in Cancer
Folks with Uranus in Cancer, with this placement taking up some of the late 40s and most of the mid-50s, make up what we know as the “baby boomer” generation.
Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and the Moon has a feminine touch often associated with fertility and motherhood. So baby boomer is actually quite a fitting term, even for astrological reasons! This generation placed emphasis on themes of family, the home, and the emotional sense of self.
Neptune in Cancer
Neptune was last in Cancer in the early 1900s, making this a fairly unlikely placement for those in the present day.
However, this placement offers deeply psychic and intuitive insights, linking Neptune’s dreaminess with the crab’s subconscious strength.
Pluto in Cancer
Some older folks may have Pluto in Cancer, with this placement lasting from the 1910s to the late 1930s.
Pluto, the planet of transformation and change, marks for this generation some turmoil with themes of home, family, and stability. With the beginnings of the Great Depression, and the changing landscape of the twenties, the Pluto in Cancer generation grew up with a sense of family and home that was different from their predecessors.
Chiron in Cancer
Chiron shows us where we hold some of the deepest wounds.
With Chiron in Cancer, you may have wounds with themes of family and have difficulty expressing standard Cancerian qualities. This means opening up to your emotional world can be difficult, and you’ll have to learn to find love in yourself and in the world around you.
Cancer in the Birth Chart: Houses
Even if you have no planets in Cancer, you can still see where the energy of the crab lands in your chart through your houses.
One of your natal houses should fall in Cancer (depending on the house system, some may have more than one; and some may have none)!
Cancer in the 1st House
If your 1st house is in Cancer, the qualities of this sweet and sensitive sign are projected outwards.
Whether or not you tend to resonate with the qualities of Cancer yourself, others recognize compassion, empathy, and sweetness within you. You have the ability to be an emotionally grounding presence in any group situation, and people may come to you frequently for guidance or insight.
Cancer in the 2nd House
If your 2nd house is in Cancer, you acquire abundance through, as you may expect, Cancerian themes.
As the 2nd house rules over assets, you’re more likely to be successful with things like family businesses, taking care of others financially, and keeping an income flow akin to the nature of Water.
Cancer in the 3rd House
If your 3rd house is in Cancer, you tend to express yourself with the typical Cancerian flair — soft, sweet, and empathetic.
As the house of communication and travel, you may take a unique approach to these topics and prefer to keep these themes restricted to your immediate close circle. After all, you thrive mostly with those that you love.
Cancer in the 4th House
As the 4th house is what Cancer rules over, this placement tends to thrive!
The house of foundations, family, and the home, Cancer feels… well, at home, here. You take creating your sense of home and stability seriously, and having a strong foundation in this area that involves a lot of love and compassion is important to you.
Cancer in the 5th House
If your 5th house is in Cancer, the qualities of the crab can come out in love and with your hobbies. Sensitive and artistic, you can express yourself easily with the arts.
In love, you’ll need emotional security and stability from a partner and are unlikely to settle down quickly for anything otherwise.
Cancer in the 6th House
If your 6th house is in Cancer, you offer an empathetic and intuitive approach to health and wellness, as well as how you choose to serve others.
With Cancer in the 6th house, you’re more likely to experience a strong pull towards community service, and you’ll want to be of emotional assistance to others, offering a shoulder to cry on or lean on to whoever needs it.
Cancer in the 7th House
If your 7th house is in Cancer, you may find it difficult to settle down immediately, and not because you’re commitment-phobic.
In fact, Cancer in the 7th house takes matters of the heart very seriously. With a strong desire to make a serious heart-to-heart connection with those whom you let into your life, this placement demands powerful emotional connection and stability from partners.
Cancer in the 8th House
With the 8th house in Cancer, your motto is: honesty will always be the best policy.
Despite some desire to keep much of your emotional world hidden, you’ll be very much interested in the emotional and subconscious landscapes of others.
As the 8th house deals with occult knowledge and Cancer desires emotional intimacy, you’ll always be the one to crack open someone’s deepest secret.
Cancer in the 9th House
If your 9th house is in Cancer, the way you experience standard 9th house themes will come with an emotional touch and investment.
As this house rules over things like philosophical and religious systems, spiritual ideologies, and different cultures, you’ll search for those that strike an emotional chord within you, wanting to be touched on an intuitive, subconscious level.
Cancer in the 10th House
If your 10th house is in Cancer, you express the traits of the crab in your career and professional life.
You’ll be more inclined towards career paths that can help you embrace a one-on-one, emotionally nurturing side. With a healing touch, you do well in careers like teaching, nursing, or social work, for example.
Cancer in the 11th House
With the 11th house in Cancer, this typically innovative and communication-focused house thrives more when in one-on-one settings.
This means that you’re able to make larger social circles, like your friends and peers, feel like family, but also that you’ll generally prefer to keep the socializing small.
Cancer in the 12th House
If your 12th house is in Cancer, the dreamy qualities of this house are emphasized with Cancer’s equally subconsciously-focused traits.
In other words, there is a lot of intuitive and spiritual strength to this placement if you’re open to embracing a more otherworldly side!
Embracing Our Inner Crab
Whether or not you saw the qualities of Cancer within you already, you’re sure to be able to notice them now. Understanding where this special, sensitive placement falls in your chart is important to self-understanding and growth.
If you’re a Cancer, follow your horoscope, and for everyone, make use of the astrology calendar to keep track of when Cancer season starts and ends and where other transits may be impacting this special season.
Related article: The Essential Crystal Collection for Cancer Season
