The Zodiac Dispatch: It’s Cancer season and things are getting emotional

You can’t spell ‘Cancer’ without c-a-r-e. Indeed, ‘care’ is the operative word for this season whose element is water, whose mode is cardinal, and whose symbol should be a teardrop running down the cheek of an anime princess. Sometimes Cancer cares too much, which can manifest in us being overly sensitive, even moody. After all, the Crab is ruled by the always changeable moon. But ultimately Cancer season is a nourishing time, perfect for being with family, friends and children out of school for summer. 

It's a kind of shelter from the frenetic socialising of Gemini season, a site of recovery and recuperation vis-a-vis crowded festival grounds (such as Soho House Festival on 7 and 9 July). Scorpio and Pisces (both water signs) get along most well with the Crab, while Aquarius and Capricorn (both Saturn-ruled) might be a bit uncomfortable with its emotional nature. Regardless of your sign, if you find yourself getting a bit teary-eyed at the sight of a grandmother showing her grandchild a caterpillar and explaining the cycle of life, thank caring Cancer for that. 
  

Cancer
‘It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.’ These lyrics from Lesley Gore’s 1963 pop hit should be hewn in stone over the gates leading to Cancer season – your season – which lasts until 23 July. Indeed, with the emotional Cancer Sun in your ego zone over the next few weeks, expect to be more sensitive but also more assertive than usual. You are the maternal figure of the zodiac and, for better or worse, that can sometimes mean self-sacrifice. But with Venus (love) and Mercury (communication) joining the Sun in your selfhood zone this month, it’s a time for self-care and expressing your desires rather than bracketing them. So, cry if you want to.
 
Leo
Two cat images to consider as visual analogues for your Cancer season: first, a bedraggled puss, sour-faced from the rain; second, a lion, with a thorn in its paw and/ or licking its wounds. Neither of these images is great, but they go some way to explaining your astrological fate this month. You see, the emotional Sun in Cancer (a cardinal water sign) transits your unconscious sector – a fluid albeit murky area of the chart. That means you have double water elements dousing your fiery nature (hence wet cat). The unconscious zone also has to do with the past, traumas, and addictions. It’s known as the House of Bad Spirit, where we confront the pain of the past (hence the thorn in paw). How should you deal with this transit? Think of it as an introspective time of recovery, forgiving, and letting go to heal your soul for the approaching ascendance of Leo season. 
 
Virgo
Although Cancer’s symbol is the Crab, the spirit animal of this spirit animal is the Mother Hen. With the maternal Cancer Sun activating your friendship sector this season, it could very well be that you find yourself wanting all your chicks around. Indeed, this is a transit betokening a time to have friends near, as you all recover together from Glastonbury and the like by watching Sex And The City reruns and drinking Bellinis. No foxes in the henhouse this month. This season is about friendship and nurturing, even if that’s not usually in your Virgo nature. 
 
Libra
The domestic Cancer Sun activates your career zone for the next few weeks. The Crab loves the home, while the career sector in a chart has more to do with reputation, power, public persona, and calling. Astrologically, this contradiction could manifest in you feeling that your work-life balance is off. If possible, working from home during this season might be wise to bring a sense of equilibrium. A full moon in never-business-casual Capricorn on the 14th marks a good day to meet up with a supervisor to discuss work-related issues at the office. Capricorn moon is not a day for maternal Cancer vibes.
 
Scorpio
The homebody Cancer Sun activates your travel and philosophy zone this season. Despite travel being highlighted for you, Cancer energy doesn’t lean towards journeys far and wide. Come to think of it, your nature (fixed water) isn’t for adventurism on the open sea or distant lands, either. Accordingly, this transit portends a more holy, inward or spiritual time for you, either through restorative spiritual practices (meditation, yoga) or the rich lifeworlds opened by the elective affinities of novel, poem, or film. Go with the power of this placement and read Jane Kenyon’s The Boat Of Quiet Hours to achieve Zen peace through the book’s spare verse with its undercurrent of sadness. 
 
Sagittarius
Your intimacy zone gets highlighted by the maternal Cancer Sun this season. This area of the chart has to do with sharing things and letting go. Of course, there is also an element of ‘letting go’ when it comes to Cancer energy in that it involves self-sacrifice (its maternal nature often gives up its own desires for others). In contrast to self-sacrifice, you tend toward self-indulgence. But here the cosmos is saying ‘be more Cancerian this month.’ Try getting beyond narrow self-interests in order to arrive at real intimacy with another. 
 
Capricorn
With the emotional Cancer Sun energising your relationship zone, take this month to focus on showing a bit more softness towards those around you, particularly as it relates to business partners and long-term significant others. You are Saturn-ruled and can sometimes be distant, but Cancer is all about proximity. If you’re somewhat emotional towards a partner these next few weeks, that might not be the worst thing. It’s a sign, ultimately, that you care. Maybe even send a poem to your helpmate soonish. It can be complex and non-sentimental about relationships (For What Binds Us by Jane Hirshfield, say), but send it nonetheless. 

Aquarius
The restorative Cancer Sun lights up your health and wellness zone, marking a transit perfect for nourishing the body with good diet and exercise. The month of July can be notorious for high-octane hijinks (festivals, barbecues, and drinks on the patio with friends). Thankfully for you, Cancer energy is like a grandmother at the stove, making chicken soup for the soul, after long and spiritually sunburnt weekends. Welcome this nurturing energy into your life. Sometimes maintaining a good health routine is tough, but you have the cosmic gift of self-care activated over the next few weeks to make such maintenance more manageable. 

Pisces
With the fertile Cancer Sun shining on your fun and romance zone this season, expect intensified feelings for potential suitors and/ or your current helpmate. What’s more, you have Venus (love) transiting your romance zone. Accordingly, it’s not hard to imagine you at a coffeehouse, reading Sappho, with cartoon hearts rotating above your crown upon seeing someone order a latte. All of this is well and good, but you should also keep in mind that this zone of the chart deals with fertility. Recreational romance could spell procreational realities. 

Aries
Unlike Cancer, which loves the home, you prefer to be burning calories at the gym or bridges at work. With the soothing Cancer Sun highlighting your home zone all month, take a cosmic cue, run a bath, and relax. This is not a season for tempers flaring. Indeed, only barbecue grills should be red hot (replete with sausages for family and friends). So, don your chef’s apron and invite people over for some beer. Next month, fiery Leo season begins and you can return to your butane and matchbox essence. Until then, show a bit of Cancer care for others around the backyard grill. 

Taurus
The sensitive Cancer Sun illuminates your communication sector over the next few weeks. If your social media presence gets a bit sappy (memes of Van Gogh’s sunflowers with quotes by Einstein about world peace), know that the Crab is at work. But the Crab can also be crabby. If you find yourself writing rambling, overly-sensitive group texts to friends about a passive aggressive intonation by a colleague, this too is a very Cancerian form of communication. The sentimental memes are OK in the end. The sensitive texts – not so much. 

Gemini
With the nurturing Cancer Sun lighting up your money sector over the next few weeks, don’t be surprised if you want to spend on items of sentimental value. There is an element of nostalgia to Cancer season. Home and security are also important factors in the Cancerian calculus. You may not feel comfortable, accordingly, spending on frivolous things. Even though it’s summer, warm comforters for the couch in winter may pique your interest. Do not resist this kind of inclination. You will thank Cancer come November, when you’re wrapped up watching old episodes of Peep Show.