Cancer Personality & Characteristics
Cancer natives are some of the most challenging kinds of individuals when it comes to getting to know them and their core selves. They pretty much corner the market on being emotional on a deep level. When it comes to their personal and family life, Cancerians are extremely dedicated to those they are attached to. They keep them very close — sometimes uncomfortably so!
Cancer is ruled by the Water element, which is the highly emotional and intuitive elemental sign. Their watery essence allows them to flow through some things easily in life, but this could also cause them to have a difficult time establishing a grounded footing in their realm.
Cancer's planetary ruler is the Moon, which correlates quite well with their Water aspect, as the Moon is a determining factor in ocean currents worldwide. The Moon is also a figurehead for the dark and whimsical nature of the emotional realm; this makes Cancer natives equivalent to the "sensitive artist" trope seen so much in modern-day culture.
Cancer is a Cardinal sign, and quite literally comes into being on the first day of summer, which is generally seen as a time of adventure and inspiration (heralded, ultimately, by the Sun's natural warmth). Cancer natives are commonly initiators of emotion, whether through art, in relationships, or even in their career. These individuals can tap deep into the wellspring of their souls to inspire themselves toward new life paths.
Cancer Strengths
Cancer natives are deeply loving and caring individuals. They can (and will) bend over backward to give loved ones and close friends the attention and respect they feel they deserve. While their main sense of loyalty is usually with their own blood family, Cancerians can also take on surrogate families (especially if they come from difficult familial situations). In this case, Cancer natives will be just as vigilant in nurturing and defending their chosen family as they would be if they were their blood relations.
Probably the greatest strength of a Cancer individual is that they are fantastic listeners. They can even fulfill an almost counselor role for people going through times of distress. Their open-mindedness is befitting of their watery elemental nature, and it allows them to go with the flow as they intellectually whittle down a person's problems to figure out how to best help them. It also helps that these individuals are usually extremely trustworthy and know how to keep a secret.
Cancer Weaknesses
Cancer natives can be quite clingy and needy. They may even potentially act in a nefarious way to keep the love and stability in their lives completely unabated. They have what looks to be a hard exterior (much like a crab) but can fall to pieces if they feel they are abandoned.
Another negative trait of this Sun sign is that if abandonment does occur, especially in a negative or chaotic manner, the Cancer native will most likely hold a grudge against the individual responsible for a long time, if not forever.
Forgiveness is a possibility with Cancerians, but being able to let the past go, even after a successful reconciliation, is extremely challenging for them. This can lead to them brooding for long periods of time, relieving negative past experiences over and over again, which is detrimental to their mental well-being.
Cancer Career & Money
Cancer natives are workaholics when it comes to their profession, and will usually be the last person to leave a work site at the end of the day. They are steadfast in making sure a job is not only done to completion but also done correctly the first time. While they can perform well in teams, they generally prefer to work alone.
Just as a crab quite literally wears its home (which doubles as protective armor) on its back, Cancer natives are focused on establishing a sense of security in their lives. Anything that leads to greater financial stability down the line is a crucial thing for them to pursue. This includes long-term investing strategies and spending money in a careful, budget-minded manner.
Due to them being natural taskmasters, they are also extremely efficient when it comes to time usage, and they can inspire others to be as punctual and focused as they are.
Because of their innate ability to care for others, Cancer natives work best in careers in the service or nonprofit sectors. Hospice care and nursing are also fantastic career paths for Cancerians as they require attention to detail and the ability to empathize with others. Cancer natives, if they have the talent and drive, can gravitate toward the arts as well, which gives them fertile ground to bring their emotional inner selves into the external world.
Cancer Love & Sex
Love is a powerful motivator for Cancer natives, and they aren't flippant about it in the least. Since their feelings seldom come to the forefront very easily (unless they are angered or wronged in a significant way), it can take a long time to develop a relationship with a Cancer.
It's also quite challenging to reel them into a relationship as they are cautious towards overt interest thrown their way. This is due to their unwillingness to expose themselves or their inner emotional states. It often takes someone numerous tries to get a Cancer’s attention or to earn their devotion. But once someone does, Cancer natives can fall head over heels in a powerful way.
Commitment is key when it comes to Cancer natives. They want to build something lasting and are not interested in the short-term, seat-of-the-pants style of romance in the least. Once in a committed relationship, Cancers must be made aware that they are the most important thing in your life; otherwise, they can fall into deep states of depression fairly easily.
In some more extreme cases, Cancers can have very negative relationship traits, such as codependent behavior or utilizing mental manipulation techniques to get their way and keep the relationship "stable."
When it comes to sex, unsurprisingly, Cancer natives are ruled more by their heart and emotions and less by their libido. That isn't to say that they don't enjoy sex on a purely basic level; they absolutely can and often do. However, it's in their best interests to be with partners that satisfy their emotional needs in tandem with their more carnal desires.
Just don't expect any ménage à trois situations with these particular natives. They are some of the least promiscuous as far as all of the Zodiac signs are concerned, and they usually are looking for a solid and committed relationship, bar none.
If you're interested in pursuing a relationship with a Cancer individual, it's best to make sure that they know without a shadow of a doubt that they mean the world to you — and frequently! Since they can be moody at times, it's also crucial to be able to cultivate empathy to see where they are coming from when those dark times strike them particularly hard.
How to Attract a Cancer
Cancer men and women share certain traits, despite there being a little nuance between both of them. Here are a few key things to keep in mind if you want to initiate a little romance with a Cancer native in your life.
How to Attract a Cancer Man
Cancer males rarely take the initiative to make the first move, even though they are fully aware that they probably should and that the rules of society haven't changed much in this regard. If you fancy the cunning crab in your life, you might need to initiate the first contact to get his attention.
Be careful when doing this, however, as his overly sensitive nature might find such a forthcoming individual too aggressive or dominant for his tastes. A little bit of nuance with this critical first encounter will go a long way toward smoothly catching his heart.
Once you've broken the ice and entered into a relationship with one, you'll find that Cancer men are far more emotionally-driven than a lot of the other zodiac signs. You’ll also discover that he can wear his heart on his sleeve more visibly than others.
A cancer man is likely looking for someone to share a life with for the long haul, and this can include raising children as well. Cancer men make excellent fathers due to their caring and dependable nature. They get great satisfaction from feeling essential to the lives of their loved ones, and it will positively drive them, even in their lowest of times.
How to Attract a Cancer Woman
Much like the male natives, Cancer women can be complex. They can be tough nuts to crack and won't respond well to some of the more usual ways to get someone's attention. Her interest, as well as her dedication to you, has to be earned slowly yet surely.
Thinking about a one-off "just for fun" relationship with a Cancer woman? Forget it. Much like the male natives of this sign, they are in a relationship for the long haul and aren't looking for spontaneous romantic flings. True and passionate romance is the name of the game here with these women.
A common thread among Cancer women is a small bit of what someone would see as more conventional or old-school values. This isn't to mean that they are stuck-up or caught in the past, but merely that they still very much enjoy and want to adhere to relationships that are solid, long-lasting, and that have the ultimate goal of creating a family down the line. This ties into the Cancer's essential "householder" nature; they must always having a stable, safe, and comfortable home environment to return to so that they can decompress after dealing with the rigors of daily life.
If you're interested in a Cancer woman, it's crucial that you treat her with respect, stay faithful to her, and don't ever betray her trust —lest you want a terrible enemy that will rarely forgive and almost certainly never forget!
Cancer Family & Friends
Family and friends are probably the most significant thing in a Cancer native's life, but a Cancerian can be fairly overwhelming to their loved ones at times. Their caring nature can make them extremely loyal; they always have their loved one's back. The flip side of this, however, is that they can be agonizingly overbearing at times due to the fact that they simply care so very much in the first place!
Cancer individuals need to make sure that the relationships in their life, both friendly and familial, stay healthy, regulated, and consistent. Otherwise, they can become very despondent and feel neglected. At the same time, however, they should also cultivate a sense of understanding that everyone has different lives to lead, and not every re-scheduled family event or friend outing should be taken as a personal offense.
Cancer Health
In traditional astrological lore, Cancer is considered to be a phlegmatic sign. This ultimately means that it is of a cool and damp nature, which isn't surprising given that it's a water sign after all!
Phlegmatic individuals are usually predisposed towards protecting their bodies from various diseases and infections; however, it can be a double-edged sword. Phlegm, in this particular traditionalist view, can also be produced in large amounts. This can ultimately cause an imbalance in either a stagnant or obscenely saturated sort of way. Cancer individuals can easily retain water and all sorts of other toxic aspects of negative emotions in their bodies, ultimately leading to indolence, depression, and sour moods.
Also, in traditional astrology, the Moon presides over the mental realm. Not only does this mean that Cancerians have incredible memories and the ability to be critical and dissect any number of complicated subjects in a logical manner, but it also can suggest that they may have latent intuitive psychic faculties as well.
Cancers can also be faced with fairly drastic psychosomatic pain, especially when things in their lives aren't going the way they want them to. They can get physically ill in the form of stomachaches or even long-lasting anxiety-related issues, especially since they can be so emotionally charged about anything and everything.
Cancer natives can also deal with weight gain due to stress eating. If a Cancer struggles with this, they should combine a healthy diet and exercise regimen, or else they could potentially fall into disarray when it comes to their health — especially if long periods of depression or stress are factored in.
Cancer natives should also be vigilant when it comes to getting proper rest or they could easily fall into stress-inducing patterns, repeating them over and over again in a cyclical manner, much like the Moon itself does.
