It has been very hot; therefore it is difficult to believe that summer started on June 21. Our calendar defines seasons by the apparent movement of the Sun and in fact on June 21 it was the longest day of the year, when the Sun reached its maximum height – that is the summer solstice.
Our ancestors celebrated the power of the Sun, as a creative energy, by jumping over bonfires. These festivals are still around, appropriately called Midsummer, a meteorological correct name for this period of time, at least where I am .... These pagan civilizations believed that maximum height the village youths were able to jump would be the height of their crops. Jumping over bonfires became part of Saint John's day celebrations in many Christian countries.
There is a simple historical explanation: the early Christians, for survival reasons conducted their religious celebrations at the same time as the pagan ones. The birth of Christ is celebrated around the winter solstice and the birth of Saint John the Baptist around the summer solstice.
To honor the Sun at its apex is also a global reality. The Chinese celebrate the Goddess Li, goddess of Light, of summer, of Noon, in Scandinavia there are countless festivals making the most of the longest days of the year and American Indians promote tribal gatherings where dancing and chanting take place.
Astrologically speaking, Cancer sun sign starts on the solstice. Congratulations to everybody born between June 21 and July 21. When we say "my sign is... " we are referring to the sun sign. We all have a little bit of Cancer in us, especially those that have the Moon or Ascendant in that sign.
The themes related to Cancer are origins, roots, home, family, parental relations, the unconditional love of the Archetypal Mother (both sexes) and physical and emotional nourishment.
Cancer is a water sign, very sensitive and receptive to others around them. People with high cancer traits are intuitive, real sponges absorbing vibrations from the their surroundings. It is always good to have a Cancer friend: they listen empathically to our problems, bring us broth when we are sick and never walk out on us.
Since they have a very good rapport with the emotional world, many cancers are excellent musicians. Some like Shubert or Mahler very well know but I have friends that sing, play guitar, piano and flute, thus sharing their souls and sensitivity.
There are two Cancers that everybody knows that represent the archetype at its best.
• Antoine de Saint Exupery, born June 29, 1900, author of "The Little Prince". The most memorable phrase and possibly the gist of the story is verbalized by the fox "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." Seeing with the heart is a Cancer trait and this sentence could only have been written by one of them
• Meryl Streep, born June 22, 1949, the greatest actress of my generation, has been nominated for an Oscar 16 times. However she only won twice, for "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Sophie's choice". In both movies she played a distraught mother. Is it coincidence, synchronicity or one more way in which astrology manifests itself that the best performances by "crab" Meryl Streep are related to the essence of the cancerian archetype?
Originally published on July 6, 2011 at adeus até ao meu regresso
