Try one of these Cancer season rituals to make the most of the Sun’s four-week journey through this cozy water sign.
Bring it in! Nurturing Cancer is the water sign that rules family and domestic matters. Make your space feel welcoming and supportive of your current lifestyle. Cancer season is also a great time to get back in touch with relatives and dear, old friends.
Try one of these Cancer season rituals to help you connect to your feelings as well as those you hold close to your heart.
Cancer Season Rituals
1. Expand your empathy
Feelings are subject to change without notice during the four weeks of Cancer season. Don’t write off other people’s fluctuations (or your own!) as mere “moods.” This heart-centered zodiac sign helps you expand empathy.
Ask open-ended questions such as, “What’s that like for you?” or “How do you feel about that?” Be curious and listen to the answers. Don’t have access to those conversations yet? Gain greater understanding in a book like Brené Brown’s Dare To Lead.
2. Sharpen your EI
Hone your emotional intelligence with personal growth books, workshops, mediations and more. Have you heard the saying: “e-motion stands for energy in motion.” If that’s true, then why are so many of us still stuck or anxious? Most likely, we aren’t getting to the root cause of our pain—which is the hard, but necessary, work. Of course, trauma can be generational. If you’re stuck in an ancestral pattern, it’s a great time to begin working with a trauma-informed therapist.
3. Your home and family are the stars
The Cancer-ruled fourth house sits at the very bottom of the zodiac wheel, representing your foundation. Connect with your origins, whether you do a DNA test kit, heal a generations-old chain of pain or honor your ancestry by documenting family traditions on video. Bonus: studying your ancestry can have mental health benefits.
4. Make home a little sweeter
Use the four weeks of Cancer season to enjoy your abode, since Cancer rules the home. Some ideas you could try:
• create a little reading or meditation nook
• build a Little Free Library bookstand in your front yard
• freshen up a space with some new pillows, plush towels or a fresh area rug
Need help making your space like a haven? Our Home Decor Horoscopes by zodiac sign may give you some inspo!
5. Flex your epicurean muscles
Nourish yourself by connecting to the food you put in your body. Connect to your heritage or get a taste of other cultures. Pick up a cookbook like Imad’s Syrian Kitchen: A Love Letter to Damascus. The renowned chef lost his six restaurants in Syrian war and fled with his family, eventually settling in London. Read stories of his family’s migration and rich history while learning to make the mouthwatering dishes like baba ganoush and mudjara.
From Imad: “From the traditional dishes that my mother first taught me to cook, to the imaginative food that has become my own, my recipes tell my story.” Or binge-watch multiple seasons of No Reservations as a tribute to late Cancerian food and wine connoisseur Anthony Bourdain.
6. Indulge mindfully
Self-soothing Cancer can awaken an urge to emotionally eat, since food is one of the most widely accepted forms of comfort. During the four weeks of Cancer season, slow down and indulge mindfully. Take part in preparing a meal instead of throwing down ready-made meals while you zone out at your desk. Up your Crab caché by inviting friends over for intimate dinner parties. Put on our playlist for Cancer season, pour some fine wine and prep a meal together as you laugh, talk and bond.
7. Make way for the astrological alpha female!
Cancer rules the zodiac’s fourth house of home, family and women. So this month, girls indeed run the world! If it was up to us, as astrologers, International Women’s Day (in March) would coincide with the Cancer season.
Nonetheless, let us hereby declare this zodiac season a time to celebrate and appreciate the maternal figures and inspiring women in our lives. What we could all do: Take a stand for gender equality—certainly a topic of extreme importance as reproductive rights hang in the balance. Speak up, voice your opinions and don’t end sentences with a question mark unless it’s an actual question. Keep up with the latest on women’s rights issues from the Human Rights Watch.
8. Go global with your girl power
Did you know that 1 in 3 girls in developing countries is married before age 18? Not only are these young women left uneducated and economically disempowered, complications during pregnancy are the leading cause of death for teens, globally.
Women make up the majority of the world’s poorest citizens, too. Yet, educating women is proven to be one of THE keys to ending poverty and forwarding world peace. A small micro-loan from an organization like Kiva—which you could totally donate to if inspired—can help a woman start a business in a developing nation. Or see if one of these organizations supporting women and girls around the world speaks to you, or find one locally.
9. Make a date with your muse
All human beings are creative. Your ability to tap into that force depends on how willing you are to quiet your inner control freak to allow the muse to track you down. Self-protectiveness is a Cancerean trait, but we all need to connect to that vulnerable underbelly of the sensitive Crab during this time.
Cancer is one of the zodiac’s most yin, receptive signs. For this Cancer season ritual, try to loosen up, soften, widen your embrace, and roll out the energetic welcome mat. To connect with the creative force within, quiet “inner chatter” long enough to let divine inspiration flow through.
Other, simple Cancer season rituals you can do
You may also use the following to help get in the zone during the practical energy of Cancer season.
A Cancer season mediation to hear and be heard
Or a Cancer meditation that invokes the water element
Working with crystals for Cancer season
And let our Cancer season playlist be your soundtrack for the Sun’s four week transit through this sign!
