Cancer (constellation)

Mythology

As the constellation vaguely resembles a crab, it may, together with the Hydra constellation, form the basis of the myth of the Lernaean Hydra, one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles, with which it is associated.

Related Topics:
Hydra - Lernaean Hydra - The Twelve Labours - Herakles

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Cancer is said to have been the place for the Akkadian Sun of the South, perhaps from its position at the winter solstice in very remote antiquity. But afterwards it was associated with the fourth month Duzu (June-July in the modern western calendar), and was known as the Northern Gate of Sun.

Related Topics:
Akkadian - Winter solstice

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Showing but few stars, and its lucida being less than a 4th-magnitude, it was often considered "Dark Sign", quaintly described as black and without eyes. Dante, alluding to this faintness and position of heavens, wrote in Paradiso:

Related Topics:
Lucida - Magnitude - Dante - Paradiso

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:Thereafterward a light among them brightened,

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:So that, if Cancer one such crystal had,

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:Winter would have a month of one sole day.

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Astrology

The Western astrological sign Cancer of the tropical zodiac (June 21 - July 22) differs from the astronomical constellation and the Hindu astrological sign of the sidereal zodiac (July 21 - August 9).

Related Topics:
Astrological sign - Tropical zodiac - June 21 - July 22 - Sidereal zodiac - July 21 - August 9

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In some cosmologies, Cancer is associated with the classical element Water, and thus called a Water Sign, forming Watery Trigon with Scorpio and Pisces. It is also one of the four cardinal signs (along with Aries, Libra, and Capricorn).

Related Topics:
Classical element - Water - Trigon - Scorpio - Pisces - Aries - Libra - Capricorn

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It is the domicile of the Moon or "House of the Moon", and this concept might originate from an ancient belief that Moon was located here at the creation of the world. Cancer is also the exaltation of Jupiter, and the traditional astrology claims it is the triplicity of Mars, one of the three lesser dignities which the modern astrology does not recognize.

Related Topics:
Domicile - Moon - Exaltation - Jupiter - Triplicity - Mars

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Since Cancer is the opposite sign of Capricorn, which is the domicile of Saturn and the exaltation of Mars, Saturn naturally becomes detriment in Cancer, and Mars, although has the dignity of triplicity, becomes fall.

Related Topics:
Capricorn - Saturn - Detriment

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Many modern astrologers consider it to be significant that Pluto was discovered on the longitude of 20 degrees Cancer and the first atomic bomb was detonated at the moment when Saturn reached this longitude. Saturn is said to become particularly malefic in Cancer and Leo, for they are opposed to Saturn's own domiciles. Richard Saunders writes in Astrological Judgement and Practice of Physick (1677) that Black Plague of 1593 has been caused by transiting Saturn in Cancer, breeding "Flegm, thin Water, and Melancholy mixt".

Related Topics:
Pluto - Longitude - Atomic bomb - Saturn - Leo - Richard Saunders - 1677 - Black Plague - 1593

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Each astrological sign is assigned a part of the human body, viewed as the microcosmic counterpart of the heavenly signs. Cancer rules the breasts and belly. Caesius likened the sign to "the Breastplate of Righteousness" in Ephesians VI:14.

Related Topics:
Caesius - Breastplate - Ephesians

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Elsbeth and Reinhold Ebertin extended this concept to that every single degree of 360 degrees of zodiac correlates to a specific part of human anatomy. In their Anatomische Entsprechungen der Tierkreisgrade (Anatomical Correspondences of the Zodiac Degrees, 1949), the section about Cancer starts with the 1 degree of Cancer correlating to the sixth rib, ends with the 30 degree of the sign correlating to the twelfth dorsal vertebra.

Related Topics:
Reinhold Ebertin - Zodiac - 1949 - Rib - Dorsal - Vertebra

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In the 1970s there was a proposal to rename the zodiac sign, as some astrologers felt that an imagined association with the disease Cancer was off-putting. Some people with the sun sign of Cancer refer to themselves as "Moonchild" instead, the sign being ruled by the Moon in astrology.

Related Topics:
1970s - Cancer - Moonchild

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Alchemy

In the symbolism of alchemy, Cancer is related to the process of dissolution, i.e., a process by which a substance is dissolved in a liquid like an acid.

Related Topics:
Alchemy - Dissolution - Acid

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