Cancer: dates, traits and meaning
Cancer is the zodiac sign of people born from about Jun 21 to Jul 22, when the Sun is in Cancer. It is a cardinal water sign, traditionally ruled by Chandra (Moon).
What the sign means, in both traditions: the Western Cancer and the Vedic Karka, and where your own Moon sign and rising sign come in.
- Dates
- Jun 21 to Jul 22
- Element
- water
- Mode
- cardinal
- Ruler
- Chandra (Moon)
- Vedic name
- Karka (sidereal), on the sidereal zodiac
Cancer as a Sun sign
Cancer starts things: it is a cardinal sign. As a water sign it feels the room before entering it, and needs safety before it can be brave.
If the Sun was in Cancer on your birthday, you carry its drive: the way you push into the world. That is the sign every column is written for, and it is a twelfth of the story.
Your Moon sign is how you feel and recharge, and your rising sign is how you come across; both are computed from the same birthday, with the time.
Cancer as Karka
In Vedic astrology the sign of the same name is Karka, measured on the sidereal zodiac. That zodiac sits about 24 degrees behind the Western one. So most people with a Cancer Sun have their Vedic Sun in Gemini.
In Vedic astrology, though, "your sign" means your Moon sign, the Rashi, not your Sun sign. Your Moon sign is independent of your Sun sign and needs your birth date, time and place.
Today's reading for this sign is read both ways: Cancer today, and the Karka rashifal.
Cancer compatibility with every sign
How Cancer pairs with each of the twelve signs, itself included, in love, communication, conflict and marriage, with the Vedic view of each pair.
Worked example
One fixed example birth, run through the same engine as the calculator, so the page and the result can never disagree.
Example: someone born at noon on 6 July 2000 in London. Computed, not a customer.
On the Western zodiac their Sun is in Cancer. On the Vedic, sidereal zodiac the same Sun is in Mithuna (Gemini).
Their Moon sign, and so their Rashi, depends on their birth date and time. It could be any of the twelve signs.
How it is worked out
The elements follow the classical order of the signs: fire, earth, air and water in turn. The modes run cardinal, fixed and mutable in turn. The ruler is the traditional one used in both Western and Vedic astrology.
What this cannot tell you
- A Cancer Sun describes one part of a person. It says nothing about the Moon sign or the rising sign.
- The dates are approximate. A birthday within a day or two of a change of sign needs the birth time to settle it.
- This is for reflection and cultural interest. It describes tendencies, and is not medical, legal or financial advice.
Related questions
What is Cancer in Vedic astrology?
- The same sign is called Karka. The Vedic zodiac sits about 24 degrees behind the Western one. So most people with a Cancer Sun have their Vedic Sun in Gemini.
If my Sun is in Cancer, what is my Rashi?
- Your Rashi is your Moon sign, which is independent of your Sun sign. It can be any of the twelve, and needs your birth date, time and place.
Find your Moon sign and Rashi
Enter your birthday for your Sun, Moon and rising sign, and your Rashi, in plain words.
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Your first reading
Your Sun, Moon, Rashi and rising sign. Then today, this week, this month and your year, with what each means for work, money, family and health. The week names which days are yours and which to keep small.
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