The twelve signs of the Zodiac represent twelve different characters, sort of like roles in a play. They can be described as archetypes, models into which human personality traits tend to group. Plato had theories about mental ideas - or forms - that were imprinted in the human mind before birth.
The psychoanalyst C. G. Jung picked up the idea and developed his own meaning to the word. He stated that there are fixed numbers of models or types that we all share without necessarily having been taught them. They're part of what he called our collective unconscious and influence how we look at reality and what we expect from it. He also meant that we should see these archetypes as inner clues as to how we can grow into self-realization.
The twelve signs of the Zodiac can be seen as a system of archetypes, making a complete world of sorts. We will be looking at the twelve signs and using each archetype to help manifest that particular energy in our own lives. Notice also that the shifting of the seasons as the sun travels through the Zodiac tells us a lot about the characteristics and energy of each signs. On June 20th the Summer Solstice, the Sun will enter Libra and summer has officially begun.
Cancer, a cardinal water sign ruled by the Moon, is the archetype of protection, healing, nourishing, and the establishment of roots and it symbolizes the. Cancer’s outward mode of expression allows it to heal and nurture endlessly. Of the three water element signs Cancer is the activator and creator of imagination and the master at expressing emotion. They might be more traditional, but they are devoted deeply to those who they love and in the enlightened person, to all life. Cancer teaches that at the center of being is a temple of holy silence where you can commune with divinity. Find it and you will discover compassion for all living beings.
The house with Cancer on the cusp is where you need to be a source of forgiveness, support, and soulful yearning. The same goes for the House that contains the Moon, the soul of the chart. It is in those realms of life experience that you can show others how to navigate emotion and create imagination. If the soul is not nourished, the imagination becomes rigid.
When your Cancer energy is misdirected you become oblivious to all need save your own. Lost in emotional over-protectiveness, the shadow of Cancer emerges making you irritable and irrational. You become self-indulgent and might eat or drink just to feel safe as you did when you were a baby. Insecurity and a lack of sensitivity is the sign of Cancer depleted and lonely. Learn to overcome the shadow through expressing the opposite sign Capricorn, gaining discipline, responsibility, and wisdom. The Spiritual principle of Cancer is compassion, the recognition that people are being the best people they can be within the limits of their upbringing, education, and current awareness. This included those you perceive as enemies. You can have compassion for everyone if you decide to. The best tactic is to respond to destructive behavior with love and forgiveness. That is the warm, eatery essence of Cancer’s compassion. The glyph for Cancer symbolizes a mother nurturing a baby at her bosom, two souls in loving union. Like the pincers of a crab, the two arcs of heart receptivity and consciousness extend from the creative centers of the two individuals, the complete realization of familial bonds. The symbol reveals the oneness of all life. As it rotates and expands it invites us to open our hearts to love without conditions and acceptance of human frailties and differences not as weaknesses, but as unique qualities and wonderful patterns of diversity.