with the breasts and the stomach, and people with a Cancer sun sign are prone to
digestion and weight problems. The key phrase for Cancer is I feel.
Cancer, like many of the other signs of the zodiac, does not have a developed
mythology. During the second labor of Hercules (it might be better termed the second
feat or test), while he was struggling against the many-headed hydra, a giant crab bit him
on the heel to create a diversion. Hercules, however, crushed it underfoot. This crab,
Carcinus (Greek for “crayfish”), was an ally of Hera, queen mother of the gods, who
opposed Hercules. The crab was rewarded for sacrificing loyalty when Hera promoted it
to distinction as the constellation Cancer. The sign Cancer is often compared with a tur-
tle (the symbol for Cancer in the Babylonian zodiac), and a rich source of symbolic asso-
ciations for Cancer can be found in the image of the turtle, another shoreline dweller.
Cancerians are best known for their attachment to home and, like the turtle,
would be happy to carry their house everywhere (if only they could!). Although
homebodies, they enjoy travel if they know they have a secure home to which they
can always return. Like Carcinus, they are strongly attached to their mother (or to the
more nurturing parent) and tend to be nurturing parents themselves. They are highly
sensitive individuals who are easily “crushed,” which is why they have developed an
emotional “shell” within which they can retreat. They are moodier than any of the
other signs of the zodiac, and food represents emotional security to them. Like all
water signs, they regard emotions as more real than any other aspect of life.
The sign that the Sun was in at birth is usually the single most important influ-
ence on a native’s personality. Thus, when people say they are a certain sign, they are
almost always referring to their sun sign. There is a wealth of information available on
the characteristics of the zodiacal signs—so much that one book would not be able to
contain it all. Sun-sign astrology, which is the kind of astrology found in newspaper
columns and popular magazines, has the advantage of simplicity. But this simplicity is
purchased at the price of ignoring other astrological influences, such as one’s Moon
sign, rising sign, etc. These other influences can substantially modify a person’s basic
sun sign traits. As a consequence, it is the rare individual who is completely typical of
her or his sign. The reader should bear this caveat in mind when perusing the follow-
ing series of sun sign interpretations.
One traditional way in which astrologers condense information is by summarizing
sign and planet traits in lists of words and short phrases called keywords or key phrases.
The following Cancer key words are drawn from Manly P. Hall’s Astrological Keywords:
Emotional key words:“Artistic and dreamy, maternal, kindhearted,
romantic, domestic, impressionable, psychic, imaginative, serene, intu-
itive, restless, despondent, sometimes lazy and self-indulgent.”
Mental key words:“Versatile, self-sacrificing, receptive, expresses great
veneration for ancestry and precedent, thorough, persevering, cautious,
reserved, brooding.”
At present, there are various astrology report programs that contain interpreta-
tions of each of the 12 sun signs. A selection of these for Sun in Cancer has been
excerpted below:Cancer
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