There is a swelling and an intensity to Summer Solstice, a rising tide reaching its fullness. Hedgerows reach skywards, fruits are softening and ripening around seeds held deep within. The Sun is still (Sol-stice), at its zenith and the energetic pulse of the Wheel of the Year is peaking. The day is longest and the night is short. We are immersed in light and warmth.
Welcome to the Theatre of Being and the Zodiac essence of Cancer. Summer Solstice draws you across the threshold of the ancient yet timeless portal, embellished with mystical symbols. As you pause, you behold a beautifully woven hazel archway entwined with rambling wild rose and honeysuckle. A great tribal roundhouse lies ahead, a place of living, meeting and ceremony. Woodsmoke, carvings, woven and decorated weapons and textiles evoke images of gatherings over time, holding a wealth of memories. There is a honeyed hum as kinfolk prepare for Summer Solstice – re-connecting to honour and remember all which has passed since Winter Solstice, when dreams moved into action and another round in the journey of Life began. Fruits are gathered, bread is kneaded, risen, baked and then shared as stories are told throughout the longest night. And at the break of dawn, the ceremonial beholding of the rising Sun. A golden magnificence and a pause before the Wheel of the Year turns once more.
Cancer is the fourth sign of the Zodiac, of Cardinal Water. The wellspring, ever flowing and life sustaining. The instinctive creation and nurturing of lasting close relational bonds. The weaving and strengthening of kinship, family and tribe via shared lives and stories. The creation of home as a nest – a place of nourishment, rest, retreat, safety – a gathering together and a weaving of tribal bonds, a place of respite before re-entering the wild winds of Life.
The symbolic glyph of Cancer is the Crab. With a soft belly, protective hard shell and nimble-legs, the crab is a creature of both rocky caves and tidal waters – safe home and wider journeyings. The planetary ruler of Cancer is the Moon – forever tethered in relationship with the Earth, interdependent, waxing and waning, ebbing and flowing.
Emotionally sensitive and attuned to shifting tides of feeling and nuance, Cancer is highly responsive and may be either emotionally expressive or guarded. A treasure trove of memory and rich imagination infuses the everyday. This is a sign of deep feeling, nostalgia and melancholia, evoking feeling in those around them, story-weavers, artists and creatives – carriers of imagination. The carer, the nurturer, the bringer of solace and comfort. If wounded, Cancer may neither forget or forgive, as the hurt settles into core memory, of which a dragon is guardian.
The essence of Cancer is the Great Mother archetype and mother-child bonding. Loving, secure and protective holding. The weaving of safety, security, connection and belonging, Enduring and resilient emotional bonds. Instinctive and intuitive. Creation of sanctuary, nest, cosy homestead, loving presence, the rocking cradle and the lullaby sung through generations. Deeply knowing the necessity of nurturing support and protection of children, the young and those who are vulnerable.
Consider the creaturely need in Nature, of an injured or abandoned wild animal being in need of shelter and care to strengthen, heal or mature into independent release back into the Wild. And the nest which holds and protects the egg and the baby bird, as it is fed and learns to fly, in preparation for going beyond the nest. Holding and letting go are tides of Life itself.
And… let’s not forget the fierce Wild Mother, instinctively wary, protecting and shielding her young with teeth and claws in the face of threat. Who is ‘in’, or ‘out’? Who or what is unsafe and deemed as ‘other’ or outside of a bonded group? Who do we accept or reject? Spots or stripes, wings or hooves? Blood line, race, religion, philosophy, politics? These may all powerfully trigger demarcation lines. And fear, real, perceived or manipulated, is a powerful instinct which evokes feral alert. It generates and tightens both bonds and borders, which we are currently seeing in action, globally. Belonging and feeling safe and welcomed within a group, is a powerful source of connection which offers safety and protection in a world which may be or feel threatening beyond home territory. Yet this instinctive drive to belong may also lead to ‘othering’. Look closely and care-fully at where this is in action and how it unfolds…
Within this Zodiac essence of Cancer lies deep learning on the art of both holding and letting go. The precious quality of emotional presence and loving kindness which nourishes another, is essential to Life and survival. And the respect of anothers growth towards freedom and independence is equally important. There is a right time for both. And they interweave. Here lies the crucible of deep enriching relationship – the building of secure roots which enable sufficient trust and safety, to open fledgeling wings and fly. And those wings which glide on journeys into the beyond, may in turn bring home stories which may weave into richly hued tapestries of memory.
To ponder –
- What is the feeling texture, the emotional pulse carried and sustained along your family line?
- Is there a story or stories?
- How does it weave into your life – what have you inherited?
- What do you personally gift and bring to this story?
- Is there something you may wish to bring to the family hearth and story – a weaving of another thread amidst this time of Cancerian ambience?
May you feel the warmth and radiance of the midsummer Sun. May you forge connections and bonds which bring care and joy, and enrich through time. May you revel in loving kindness. May you delve into your family story, discovering and knowing what to hold close and what to release. May you treasure and nurture your kith and kin, and cultivate ways of caring for and and nurturing your own precious self.