Water Series Part One Cancer the Crab
Water Series Part One
Cancer the Crab
4/10/23
Welcome to the Water Series! The water element and associated architypes are so very important to understand if you are on a spiritual or evolutionary path. The water signs can point us toward emotional health and healing. Whatever healing means for you, the water placements in your chart can assist in the journey. Reflect for a moment on the element of water. Our bodies are composed mainly of water, we need water to survive, and we feel a lot better when we are properly hydrated! Imagine the great depths of the ocean, another world happening below the surface. The water signs show us the very depths of our own soul. They are as important to our evolution as drinking water is to the physical body.
Cancer is the first water Architype represented by the crab. It is easy to envision the shadow side of the crab. The crab has claws and runs sideways. Use your imagination and we see where this can be a problem. But, the water here is deep. Like the ocean, Cancer has profound depth. If you have come into this life with strong Cancer placements or love someone who does, then you know what I mean. Even if you have no planets in Cancer, this is still an important Architype to understand as Cancer is ruled by the Moon. We all have a moon, and it runs the emotional show. The key to your emotional wellbeing is that beautiful cratered being that hangs perfectly in the sky. That’s right. The Moon unlocks the key to your soul’s happiness. Bet you didn’t learn that from your Sun sign! Let’s dive into this emotional journey through the depths of Cancer.
Evolutionary Intentions
Cutting right to the chase, the evolutionary intention of the Cancer architype is to simply feel emotions. Questioning and deeper processing of these emotions comes later in the Water signs. First is feeling. We cannot work on healing ourselves if we can’t feel our deepest hurts. It may be easy enough to go through life asleep and unaware of our real feelings, but that is not going to push you towards growth or evolution. If you are reading a blog on Evolutionary Astrology, then at least some small part of you believes in the higher purpose of the soul’s evolution. Processing emotions starts with feeling. It really is that simple and yet that difficult all at once. Remember, the water can be much deeper than it appears. And, no one ever said this journey was easy.
The Mother
Cancer also represents the “mother” architype. A Cancerian person on the best days likely has a warm and nurturing presence. Cancerians love and protect their people fiercely! This warm mother energy can have a shadow side and we will get to that, but on the highest expression this mother energy can be used to nurture ourselves. I have often heard the terminology “re-mothering”. We all carry the potential to “re-mother” ourselves. Even if you don’t identify with any wounding from your mother, chances are you have left the protection of your mother’s immediate shell. She is likely not with you all the time to feed you and make sure you get enough sleep. You are now tasked with ensuring your own needs are met. Moms have a big job that spans way beyond making sure physical needs are met! The best mothers are attuned to the needs of their children and intuitively know how to nurture their emotional well-being. We should treat ourselves with the same nurturing, intuitive motherly love that we would a small, helpless infant.
Soft Shell Crab
The crab has a shell. In nature this shell serves a protective function. When the crab on the beach feels threatened or senses a seagull heading in his direction, he retreats into the shell or runs into a hole. This can work very similarly for us humans. Call it home, our safety net, sacred space. If we are lucky then we have someplace that feels safe and that we can retreat when we are feeling stressed out. If the crab wants to grow, however, he must eventually ditch his shell to find one with a bit of extra space. What happens if he chooses not to? He simply won’t grow. Apply the same principle to humans and you can see the problem. Our Cancerian placements can point to where we may be reluctant to escape our shell and make ourselves vulnerable for a while. You have probably all met someone on this lower side of the Cancer architype. Perhaps the person has worked his/her whole life at the same job despite the lack of passion for this job. Maybe this person ignored many true passions because “the bills won’t pay themselves”. There is something to be said for stability and the same old shell, but is it coming at the price of evolutionary growth?
When the crab sheds his shell, he is taking a huge risk! For that moment he is naked and vulnerable. Most of us don’t show up to life naked on a regular basis. In the comfort of our own shell, sure! But imagine walking into work naked. In fact, many people have nightmares about this. Vulnerability is difficult. We fear rejection, misunderstanding, somehow being belittled. Cancer feels everything so deeply, including the feelings of others. Without their shell they have just stepped into the world naked. They are feeling everyone’s judgmental stares and laughter on the deepest levels of the soul. For some of you, just reading this may stir up a sense of anxiety. When we put vulnerability in these terms it is easy to understand why Cancerians can sometimes get caught in the comfort zone of their own shell, even if it is a size too small. Why upgrade my shell when the one I have is perfectly fine? Well, maybe it is growing a little snug…
Shadowy Mother
As we explored, Cancer is the Mother Architype. Motherly love is a beautiful thing. But, like every Architype can have its shadow. Constantly giving love to others can wear us down quickly! Hiding behind the mother architype can also be problematic and a way to avoid feeling our own feels. This is where the crab runs sideways. We can busy ourselves enough by running sideways to avoid facing our own feelings. We have all probably experienced the running sideways mother architype.
Maybe you were at a party and the host/hostess ran around in circles (or sideways) all night long ensuring everyone else had what they needed. Thinking back, you never saw her stop to eat, drink, or even use the restroom! She didn’t miss a beat! You talk to her later and she tells you how stressed out and nervous she was about hosting this big event. She kept herself busy enough in her “mother” role to avoid her feelings of angst. Hmmmmm, maybe you’ve even been this hostess before. It’s a good way to throw a nice party, but not so great when it comes to the evolutionary intention of Cancer. Here is one example of someone placing their own needs on the backburner. There could be a thousand more examples, but you get the point. We aren’t going to see much evolutionary growth if we are never tending to our own needs and “re-mothering” ourselves.
Momma Luna
The Moon could be an entire blog or book on its own (and probably will be soon)! It is a vast topic in Astrology. With all its phases, eclipses and magic, a few paragraphs simply won’t do it justice. But, for now we will hit some highlights. In Evolutionary Astrology, the moon is just as important as the Sun! That’s right, if you’ve simply been reading your Sun sign horoscopes then you’ve been missing some important information! Cancer is all about feeling emotions. The moon represents our emotions. Just like the phases of the moon our emotions and attitudes can wax and wane.
Steven Forrest states it best in his “Book of Water” when he describes a persons moon as the mood or attitude toward life averaged over time. Of course, as humans we have emotional highs and lows often all in one day. But, the moon in our chart can point us to our average emotional undertones. Perhaps you are generally a more serious, traditional person, inclined towards career. Maybe your moon lies in Capricorn which would help explain this attitude. Although emotions are very private and represent the deepest parts of us, we can’t help but spill this emotional attitude into day-to-day life. If you are someone with a lot of water in your chart, then you really understand this. A “watery” person can literally feel the emotional attitude of someone just after exchanging a glance or slight smile.
If the Sun in our chart represents our sanity, then the moon is our key to happiness. We need to feed the emotional parts of our soul to feel truly happy and fulfilled. That is why Sun sign horoscopes may not always resonate. We can go through life “sane” and seemingly normal but still very unhappy. Learning to navigate the needs of your Moon can unlock a new layer to your life and reality. Looking at your natal Moon can also unlock a lot of information on how you experienced your own mother. This is great information if you are learning to “re-mother” yourself.
4th House
Cancer belongs to the 4th house of the zodiac. If you are looking at your chart this is the southernmost point. As we have explored our feelings can often be hidden in the most inward (southermost) places of ourselves. The 4th house also represents family, our roots and heritage. These things can be the “shell” that protects us. Where do we go when we are feeling afraid and vulnerable? We often retreat into our family and home. Planets and placements of your fourth house can speak a lot about your emotional life and how you can best express emotion.
The Medicine
Directly across the zodiac from the 4th house lies the 10th house where Capricorn enjoys residing. As we explored in our Capricorn blog, this energy is more about getting things done and less about feeling. Capricorn is less concerned with emotions and will not let emotions get in the way of completing the task at hand. Capricorn offers a great balance for one who may be entering into the shadowy depths of Cancer. It is quite easy for Cancer to become “shell shocked”. Afterall, it is a very difficult time to exist as a human and the world can be a very scary place to navigate. We can spend the rest of our days in our shell, or we can put our emotions aside sometimes and get out to leave our mark on the world.
It can be easy to mask our own emotions by constantly nurturing others and busying ourselves running sideways. Of course, feeling our emotions is so important but, if we spend our entire lives “shell shocked” and unable to take action on our emotions then there again we have missed the evolutionary mark. Too much of anything is never good. It is always a balancing act. We need Cancerian energy to heal our souls but Capricorn brings forth the energy we need to take action on our emotions. Take our previous example of the person working the safe but passionless job. Some Capricorn doing energy to exploring their true passions would be of great use! Capricorn says now we must process and do something about these feelings! Remember that the Sea Goat can climb any mountain and will provide the drive we need to do the shadow work it takes to heal the feels!
What Now?
We must feel to heal! I think that will be a new mantra! I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on the mother architype. How was your relationship with your mother? What have you done today to “re-mother” yourself? How are you running sideways from your feelings? I also encourage you to check out our Natal chart and see where and in what sign your moon lands. This can give you the clues you need to piece together the emotional attitude of your life! Also check out your fourth house. It’s complicated and here we have only scratched the surface. A natal chart reading by a trusted Evolutionary Astrologer would be helpful for a deeper understanding of how this energy shows up for you! Stay tuned for next time as we continue our journey through Water. Next up, Scorpio. This energy is all about dissecting our feelings more deeply… Cancer provides the first step to emotional healing. Scorpio is phase two! If you are on a healing path then you wont want to miss this next step!