MOTTO: Safeguard and Nurture Life! Protect Self!
With Cancer rising, you present a nurturing type of identity to others when you are feeling energetically supported. When you are not feeling supported, you feel moody, becoming overly sensitive, defensive or argumentative. The moon, representing feelings and the need for emotional security, rules this sign. Cancer is a sign made up of cardinal, water, and yin energies.
With the cardinal energy of the Cancer sign as your instinctive way of using energy, you are a self-starter. You do not allow others to dictate to you what decisions to make nor do you wait for someone else to take the first step. With the self-assurance and resourcefulness of the cardinal energy, you know what you want and “will not be made to do without it for long.” (Rising Signs, p.74) With Cancer rising, what you want is emotional security.
With the water element influencing your behavior style, you respond emotionally to the energies of your surroundings. Highly sensitive to the atmosphere around you, you absorb these energies whether they be negative or positive. You are like “a sponge” in this regard. (A Spiritual Approach to Astrology, p.64) How you feel in any given moment is largely due to the emotional tenor that you sense in the atmosphere. Your mood subsequently adjusts itself to that tenor. For example, if you sense that others around you are on edge, you absorb this tense energy and your mood is negatively affected. If you enter a happy, uplifting atmosphere, your mood will be positively affected.
The crab symbolizes the sign of Cancer. The yin energy of this sign reveals itself through the symbology of the shell of the crab. The shell of the crab is used for protection against the dangers of its world. In much the same way, you protect yourself from emotional harm by withdrawing into yourself. The identity you instinctively present to others before you emotionally trust them is shielded somewhat by this protective shell. Because of this, you present an aura of aloofness as you go about your day-to-day activities.
Intuitively able to tune into the feelings and emotional signals from others, you base your actions on your emotional perception of the situation. You weigh your decisions on the potential safety and the emotional support the outcome has for you and your loved ones. Your decisions mirror the degree of your own inner emotional security. If you are feeling emotionally insecure, the decisions you make will be based on hurt feelings and perceived disapproval from others. If you are feeling emotionally secure, the decisions you make will be based on a compassionate, nurturing viewpoint.
Cardinal energy seeks to control. The water element of this sign adds an emotional tenor to your decision making. Yin energy is receptive and reactive. With the combo of these three energies influencing your Authentic Self’s personality, the metaphorical cloak you put on to interact with and meet the demands of the world around you is reserved and supportive, and depending on the emotional atmosphere you find yourself in, worn like a suit armor to shield yourself against negative energies or worn for its soothing, approachable qualities.
A supportive environment for the Cancer sign energies–cardinal, water, yin–is one in which you feel physically secure and emotionally nurtured. A secure home base and nurturing family gives you the strength and emotional where-with-all to go out into the world each day. Emotional by nature, your energetic needs as you go about your day-to-day activities are affected by the level of nurturing you receive and how secure you feel within yourself. When you are feeling supported by your environment, the nurturer in you comes out. You are energetically responsive to the needs of others around you and actively engaged in taking the lead, albeit collaboratively, in the goings-on around you. You allow your authentic self to come out of its protective shell and engage your positive energies in your surroundings. You are cooperative, receptive, and easy to be around.
Depending on the needs of the situation, you are sympathetic, industrious, sociable, protective, and/or thrifty; all positive traits of the Cancer sign. (A Spiritual Approach to Astrology, p. 63).
Cancer on the first house of your natal chart places a significantly higher importance on home and family in the expression of your authentic self. Cancer is “the sign of the Mother” giving you “a strong need to nurture and protect.” (Knack Astrology, p. 28) With Cancer rising, you are the family protector and nurturer. Even when you are out in the world, you are oriented to home and family and it is their well-being that guides your actions. It is equally important to you that your home and family nurture and protect you as well.
Now, to the Cancer Shadow Self:
When you don’t feel emotionally secure and nurtured, your emotional equilibrium is thrown off balance, triggering your Cancer shadow self to emerge. You turn inward, seeking alone time to “recharge your psychic batteries” and restore your emotional equilibrium. Until it is restored, you find it difficult to engage harmoniously and socially with others. (Rising Signs, p.79)
Whether at home or at work, when you feel your emotional well-being is threatened, your energies droop and you respond accordingly. You withdraw yourself from the activity around you and go into your protective shield mode by withholding your authentic self from others. You become argumentative and cross, sulky, moody, overly sensitive to comments made by others, or just all around resentful of the situation you find yourself in. Another way you may respond is to play the martyr/ long sufferer as a way of getting support from those around you. When you respond in one of these ways, your behavior is antithetical to the nurturer nature that is at the core of your authentic self.
There are Feng Shui adjustments you can make to create a home environment that feels energetically supportive and safe both emotionally as well as physically.
FENG SHUI Adjustments to Enhance Beneficial Energy and Limit Harmful Energy:
There are adjustments you can make outside your home that will enhance the flow of beneficial energy to and limit the flow of harmful energy from entering your home. To encourage healthy energy to flow into your home, add elements of nature such as flowers, potted plants, trees, and bushes. Make sure these elements of nature do not block light from entering the house and that dead leaves and plants (which represent stagnation) are removed. Water features such as fountains and ponds represent abundance, so they too, will encourage healthy energy to enter your home. Meandering paths keep energy from rushing in uncontrollably while at the same time inviting it to flow in, continuously but gently. Add welcoming light to illuminate your entryway and pathways. Light activates energy around you, motivating you as well as brightening your emotional outlook. (feng shui your life, pp. 157-165)
To limit harmful energy from entering your home, look outside to see if there are what in Feng Shui is considered unfavorable energy producers nearby. These are churches, hospitals, cemeteries, funeral homes, police stations, railroads, freeways, and airports. The first five generate disquieting and disruptive energy and can invoke negative feelings of grief, fear, insecurity, and vulnerability. The last three generate tremendous amounts of energy which are unsettling and instill a sense of vulnerability, resulting in feelings of fear and anxiety. Other sources of unfavorable energy outside your home are telephone poles, electrical stations, cul-de-sacs, dead ends, and T-Junctions. The sharp corners and edges of buildings and objects that point directly to your house “shoot arrow-like energy” to your home and can affect the health and finances of those residing within. (feng shui your life, pp. 159-160)
Feng shui solutions to these adverse conditions involve remedies that limit their negative effect. Adding wind chimes outside will “moderate and disperse unfavorable energy”. Convex mirrors placed above your door and gazing balls set next to your door will deflect negative energy. Trees and bushes planted so that they obscure the view of the negative energy-producing buildings will help to block that energy from entering your home. Any one of these fixes or a mix of them will help to protect your home from harmful energy entering it. (feng shui your life, pp. 159-160)
Implementing these enhancements and remedies will create a home environment that feels energetically supportive and safe. As you increase the flow of beneficial energy to your home and decrease the flow of harmful energy from entering your home, you will feel more energetically strengthened to meet the demands of everyday life.
Another key factor to consider as you go about your daily life is the moon. The moon rules emotions. The moon is the fastest planet of the zodiac. Spending about two and a half days in each sign, it goes through all twelve signs in less than a month. It reflects the characteristics of the sign it is in. Since it is the ruling planet of the Cancer sign, it plays a large part in how you feel on any particular day.
As the moon changes signs every two and a half days, your energetic emotional outlook changes. Like a sponge, your feelings/moods soak up the positive and negative energy of the changeable moon. This makes the energy with which you go about your day-to-day business quite fluid. This could play havoc with you on those days where you are already not feeling emotionally secure. On these days, you may find it very difficult to control your emotions. If you can relate to this, and you wish to balance out the ebbs and surges of your emotional energy, create energetic support in your environment through Feng Shui modifications.
FENG SHUI Support for Stabilizing the Effects of the Moon’s Movement Through the Signs:
Energetic support for this water sign is the stabilizing nature of earth. Adding earth elements to your environment will help you to feel more grounded. It lends a sense of constancy to the air, helping you to feel more rooted. Oddly enough, feeling more grounded will release you from the tug of the moon’s emotional influence.
Activate the Health/Unity area of your home which is located in the center (western and classical) of your home. This is the area that represents perfect balance between yin and yang energies. Activating the area serves to center and ground your energy. It supports your emotional well-being. Earth is the element for this area. Strengthen the earth element by adding earth colors such as yellow, brown and ochre to the central area of your home. To further strengthen the earth energy here, add items that are square in shape made of stone, clay, or brick. To enhance nourishing, supportive energy in this area, add comfortable furniture placed in such a way as to encourage inclusiveness.
In astrology, the earth element represents the qualities of being practical, realistic, and taking care of your basic physical needs. Items that represent the earth element are comfortable and enduring in nature. Features such as brickwork, sculptures, leather, and stone are enduring in nature and so lend a feeling of physical support and stability to your environment. Comfortable furniture arranged in a way that invites congeniality and companionship will lend a feeling to your environment that is nurturing and supportive.
Creating an environment that provides you with a feeling of physical and emotional stability, security, and comfort has the added benefit of helping you to connect with your authentic self-expression as the primal mother figure who nurtures and ensures the safety of loved ones. If you can tap into this essence of your Self, you will be able to withstand the vagaries of the moon’s movement through the signs.
Finally, because home and family are major sources of your energetic needs to nurture and protect, it is important to address energetic support for you and your family.
FENG SHUI Tips for Supportive Family Energy
The Foundation/Family area of your home is a great place to start to encourage supportive family energy. This area “represents your roots–past, present, and future.” (feng shui your life, p. 136). It also represents healthy community ties. It is located in the middle left (Western) or East (Classical) side of your home.
The emotional tenor you sense when you enter this area of your home should be happy, uplifting, and invigorating. To achieve this, your first task is to remove all clutter from this area. This includes removing all dead things like dead plants, dried flowers, ashes of the deceased, and mementos of dead things. “Only living energy belongs in the Family center.” (feng shui your life, p. 137) Also, remove any photos of people or places that resonate with negative energy or that you have a negative reaction to. Instead, use this area to place any items that you associate with good health in general and healthy family relationships specifically. Adding healthy plants, upright objects made of wood, green colors, and photos of happy memories with your family to this area will activate the positive energy of the family sector. Cherished heirlooms and antiques are appropriate for this area as well.
Whether out in the world or in your home, you respond to life based on your emotional interpretation of it. (A Spiritual Approach to Astrology, p. 64). When you are feeling nurtured and safe, your energies bloom. Others turn to you when they need a sympathetic ear and emotional support. Your home is your retreat and your family your source of comfort.
You are learning about yourself through the reactions of and responses from others to your behavior as you go about your daily life. Their feedback to you regarding your actions will be either positive or negative. You will enjoy positive feedback from others when you operate from a sympathetic, encouraging, and nurturing approach. Whereas, negative feedback can occur when you are defensive, moody, argumentative, or overly sensitive with others. Regardless of the type of feedback, you will continue to grow, and your authentic self will continue to discover something new about itself. (Introduction to Evolutionary Astrology, discussion on the archetype of the 1st house/ascendant/rising sign)
Feng Shui for your Rising Sign 