The fourth sign of the zodiac, usually dated June 21 to July 22: a cardinal water sign ruled by the Moon, the Crab, read as protective, emotional and devoted to home.
Cancer at a glance
Cancer begins the summer quarter: the Sun enters it at the June solstice, when it stands farthest north. It is a water sign, with Scorpio and Pisces, and a cardinal sign, one of the four that open a season. The Moon rules it, the only sign ruled by a light that changes shape every night, and its symbol is the Crab. Its polarity is the receptive one. The tradition gives Cancer the chest and stomach, the parts that hold and nourish. Its opposite is Capricorn, and between them lies the axis of private and public life: home and family on the Cancer side, career and standing on the Capricorn side.
The Cancer character
The tradition reads Cancer as the sign of belonging. Water makes it feeling and intuitive, the Moon makes it moody, nurturing and tied to memory, and the cardinal mode means it acts on those feelings rather than only having them. A Cancer is described as caring, protective and loyal to the people it counts as its own, with a long memory and a strong sense of home, whether that is a house, a family or a circle of friends. Like its crab, it is said to be soft inside a hard shell, cautious with strangers and fierce in defense of those it loves. The same instincts can turn into moodiness, clinging and a habit of retreating when hurt, and astrologers often give the sign the lesson of saying what it feels instead of waiting to be understood.
Cancer in love
Cancer is read as one of the most devoted signs in love: slow to trust, but warm, attentive and protective once it does. Home and a sense of family matter to it, and a partner who makes it feel safe wins more than one who dazzles. The water signs Scorpio and Pisces are read as its natural matches, sharing its emotional depth, and the earth signs Taurus and Virgo as its friendliest, offering the steadiness it needs. Capricorn, the opposite sign, is the classic balance of home and ambition. Aries and Libra square Cancer and are read as a clash of emotional needs. A whole-chart comparison, as always, says more.
Cancer at work
The tradition points Cancer toward work that cares for people or places: nursing and medicine, teaching and childcare, social work, cooking and hospitality, property and interiors, history and anything to do with memory, such as museums and archives. It is read as a loyal colleague who makes a team feel like a family and remembers everyone's birthday, and as someone who works best in a place it feels safe. Criticism is said to land hard, and a Cancer often does its best work for people it believes in rather than for money alone.
Cancer beyond the Sun sign
A planet in Cancer is read as working through feeling and protection. Cancer rising gives a gentle, guarded first impression; the Moon in Cancer, the Moon in its own sign, deep feelings and strong family bonds; Venus in Cancer a tender, nurturing way of loving; and Mars in Cancer energy that rises to protect others. The birth chart calculator shows all of your placements. Below are the Cancer dates for the coming years, its compatibility with every other sign, its three decans and the slow planets' stays in it.
Cancer season dates
Cancer season is the part of the year when the Sun is in Cancer, and anyone born in it is a Cancer. By the US Eastern calendar it began between June 20 and June 22 in the years 1950 to 2049, and ended between July 21 and July 23, when the Sun moved on into Leo: the dates shift by a day with the leap-year cycle and the time zone. Times are US Eastern, to the minute; almanacs can differ by a minute.
How Cancer relates to each sign by the traditional rule: signs of the same element (four apart) and of friendly elements (two apart) are read as easy, squares and quincunxes as friction, neighbors and opposites as mixed. A whole chart says far more than two Sun signs.
Three of the four popular lists we compared give Cancer blue (deep blue, pale blue, light blue), and three give it silver. William Lilly gave Cancer “green or russet” in 1647, and its traditional ruler, the Moon, “a colour spotted with white and other mixed colours”.
Each sign splits into three decans of ten degrees, about ten days of the Sun's stay. The modern system gives each decan a sign of the same element; the older one gives it a planet in the Chaldean order, and the Golden Dawn a tarot card.
When Jupiter, Saturn and the outer planets pass through Cancer: everyone born in those years shares that placement, with its retrograde loops counted as one stay.
Jupiter next in Cancer 2037 to 2038Last there 2025 to 2026.
Saturn next in Cancer 2032 to 2035Last there 2003 to 2005.
Uranus next in Cancer 2032 to 2040Last there 1949 to 1956.
Neptune next in Cancer 2065 to 2079
Pluto not in Cancer again before 2100
Cancer in the sky
In 2026 the Sun stands in front of the constellation Cancer from Jul 20, 2026 to Aug 10, 2026, about a month later than the sign's dates: the signs are measured from the equinox, which has drifted west against the stars since the zodiac was named.
Cancer is usually dated June 21 to July 22, the part of the year called Cancer season, which starts at the June solstice. From 1950 to 2049 the Sun entered Cancer between June 20 and June 22 by the US Eastern calendar, so birthdays around those days are worth checking to the minute.
What is Cancer's element and ruling planet?
Cancer is a water sign of the cardinal mode, ruled by the Moon. Water is read as feeling and intuition, the cardinal mode as initiative, and the Moon as mood, memory and care, which together give Cancer its protective and emotional nature.
Which signs are most compatible with Cancer?
By the traditional rule, Scorpio and Pisces, the other water signs, and Taurus and Virgo, in the friendly element of earth. Capricorn, the opposite sign, is read as a pairing of home and ambition that can balance well.
Why is the sign called Cancer?
Cancer is Latin for crab, the animal the constellation has been drawn as since antiquity. In Greek myth it is the crab Hera sent against Heracles. The sign's crab, soft inside a hard shell, is read as its protectiveness.