Delving into the Esoteric Nature of Cancer

Written by Peter Joy - co-facilitator of our monthly full moon meditations

“Cancer symbolizes the need for emotional security, for feeling that one’s environment will support one’s existence, and for feeling nurtured by those around one. If these aspects of the energy work properly, Cancer also symbolizes the need to support and nurture others, giving to others what one has already received. But if the needs of Cancer are not fulfilled, one often becomes caught in infantile patterns of behaviour: behaviour that is grasping and emotionally possessive from fear of losing those that are loved.”

Robert Hand, Horoscope Symbols (Schiffer Publishing: 1981) p 218

There is a lot to consider in this description of the zodiac sign Cancer by American astrologer Robert Hand. The extract represents only part of what he has to say about Cancer. As always, it is difficult to sum up the qualities of a zodiac sign in a few sentences. We are dealing with spiritual energies which exist beyond the physical realm and manifest through that realm in a variety of ways. Therefore, descriptions through words will always be limited. However, Hand’s thoughts are a useful beginning point for looking more deeply into the energies which underlie maternal qualities much needed in the world today: the impulse to nurture and the impulse to protect.

If we begin with the physical body, we find that Cancer has rulership of organs and processes which serve to both nurture and protect human life. (When I use the word rulership in the astrological sense, I am referring to an energetic similarity between two things which manifest upon the physical plane. Two forms share an underlying quality; they both have a similar essence). Astrologer Jane Ridder-Patrick identifies the following organs as being associated with Cancer:

• Breasts
• Stomach
• Pregnant uterus
• Ovaries and testes
• Containers of all kinds eg. the stomach, gall bladder, sinuses and eyeballs
• Protective coverings of organs eg the pericardium which surrounds the heart, the liver capsule and the meninges of the brain
• Mucous and serous membranes
• Body fluids of all kinds
• Posterior pituitary gland (Note that the posterior pituitary gland is significant for its role in releasing the hormone Oxytocin to stimulate the contraction of the uterus during childbirth as well as the lactation process).

Jane Ridder-Patrick, A Handbook of Medical Astrology (CrabApple Press: Edinburgh: 1981)

The breadth of anatomy outlined here shows the scope of the Cancerian energy within the human body, male and particularly female. Principles of protection and nurturance are represented by the container-like shape of several organs and those such as the stomach or female breasts which provide nutrition to the body or developing child. Therefore, the capacity to nurture and protect is very much alive in us at the physical level of our being.

To consider how the Cancerian energy manifests at  psychological and emotional levels we need to consider the relationship between Cancer and the Moon which is said to rule the sign at the personality level. Both sign and planet have very much to do with how we form a secure inner foundation from which to function as an integrated and autonomous individual. In the chart of an individual the astrologer looks to the placement of the Moon and Cancer to gather information regarding the early childhood and relationship with the parents, as well as the type of home life and emotional patterns inherited from the family. It is well established that children who do not experience safety, protection and nurturing during childhood will find it difficult to develop and provide those qualities to themselves as adults. The tendency is more likely to be that they will manifest the Cancerian energy destructively through self-sabotaging behaviours such as manipulating others to get their needs met or using material possessions as substitutes for a sense of material security.

What is at play here is an attachment to the physical and an attachment to form. This arises from fear and a need to identify with something or someone in order to feel safe. Thus, as individuals we can become overly attached to our partners or families, our work, our possessions, our cultural or national identities in order to bolster our sense of self-worth. It is worth noting that in the chart of a nation, the Moon and Cancer represent the people. It is not surprising then that we see dynamics at play in the world where the fears and emotional responses of the masses are manipulated to facilitate the material gain of leaders who themselves are fearful and bent on securing their identities through the accrual of wealth.

This attachment to the material or familial and national identities in truth represents a roadblock in what is a greater process of spiritual evolution. This is the process by which we incarnate as physical beings, already the recipients of nurturing and protection from the physical bodies of our mothers. We then grown and develop both physically and emotionally so that we take on the role of protector and nurturer of ourselves. We are then in a position to evolve into the autonomous and integrated individuals who can  “support and nurture others, giving to others what has already been received.”

That next step is of course to manifest the Cancerian energy at a Soul-level. Here we must look at the relationship between Cancer and the planet which is its esoteric ruler, Neptune. Neptune embodies the qualities of Love and Wisdom. It comes into play when we begin to identify not with the material concerns of the personality but with the spiritual values of the Soul. This involves a love of humanity and developing a group-consciousness which seeks to nurture and protect at a universal level. At this level of consciousness, the need to grasp at material acquisition and employ manipulative and fearful tactics to create a sense of security simply does not exist. Our orientation turns towards applying our minds and hearts towards looking after the greater whole by manifesting those Neptunian qualities of Love-Wisdom in our daily lives.

Astrologer Alan Oken has written that “Desire is humanity’s initial response to form: ‘I want. I need. Give me’. One feels hunger on all three levels of the personality: mental, emotional, and physical”. (Soul-centred Astrology (Ibis Press: 2008). However, as we move towards a Soul-Centred form of consciousness, we move away from the need ‘to have’ towards the need ‘to know’. We begin to look at the light within the form rather than identifying with the form itself. An example of this is the difference between trying to feel safe, grounded and nourished by acquiring material possessions and trying to support others to cultivate these qualities in themselves.

The pathway from identification with the material towards identification with the Soul is neither easy nor straightforward. Alan Oken writes about a dilemma particular to the Cancerian energy. As the sign which represents the “gate-in” to incarnation, Cancer tends to move back and forth between the spiritual realm where all is unified and the physical realm where our task is to create the separated, autonomous individual who can then contribute the gifts of nurturance and protection to Humanity.  He writes:

If the personality is not safely anchored through a strong, integrated, and aligned ego structure, the magnetic force of the waters of the psyche will indeed try to pull the struggling individual back into unconscious and undifferentiated beingness. One has to work incredibly hard to unmask the mirages of Neptune . . . to arrive at the illumination of Neptune as a vehicle for the Sun.”

(Soul-Centred Astrology, p 182

The “pull back into unconscious and undifferentiated beingness” can be seen through self-destructive behaviours as co-dependency on others, seeking to find wholeness through addiction or sacrificing our needs to others. All ways of eroding the autonomous, integrated and separate sense of self needed to help us find our spiritual purpose, our Sun.

Cancer provides a great opportunity to reflect deeply upon how we create a sense of security for ourselves, in what ways are we hungry and in need of nurturance? And most importantly, how do we support others in this quest?