Cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac. It is a water sign, a cardinal, feminine sign, the first sign of summer, corresponding with the time of ripe fruit. It starts on the day of the summer solstice, on 21 or 22 June, and lasts until the 22 or 23 July, depending on the year.

Passive, sensitive temperament, always on the defensive. Need for tenderness, understanding, protection. Rejection of aggressive behaviour due to inability to keep cool in a confrontation. Contemplative, impressionable, temperamental, moody nature endowed with a fertile imagination. Intuitive temperament, easily influenced but occasionally tenacious and determined when a fixed aim is set. A mind that is dreamy, creative, inspired, nostalgic, anxious, conservative and impractical. Maternal devotion and childlike gentleness that is full of charm. Cancerians are greatly attached to their material wellbeing, their home and family, their roots and the past. Psychologically, this sign corresponds to the period of gestation and to the physical and sensitive states of early childhood, which they tend to fix in time, retrieve and retain as adults. Cancerian love always has a fairy tale quality, with a princess, a prince charming, but also a curse to be lifted and threatening monsters to overcome. It is pure childhood love, maternal love, romantic love, which is immersed in an ideal and unattainable dream or fixed forever in a face or in a name.

Cancerians are the home-lovers of the zodiac. They express their natural love and kindness best through the family unit. They can be worriers and the family is also the natural outlet for this anxiety. Cancerians are imaginative and intuitive and when this is harnessed to logical and rational thought processes they make clear-sighted decisions. Those born under the sign of Cancer are emotional and brave and they never give up! Their worst fault is moodiness and they can be overprotective.

Cancerians are often drawn to the caring professions and they show an aptitude for nursing. They also have good business sense and can be shrewd and cunning. Cancerians are good with money and know how to accumulate and hang onto it. Their tenacity is also apparent in their careers - they like to settle and commit themselves to a chosen career path.

Cancerians are made for warm, loving relationships. They have so much to give and will do it naturally and intuitively. They never demand in a relationship, they are happy to create something that will automatically deliver what they need and require. They are sensual lovers but can be oversensitive. A Cancerian partner is sentimental and their love of the past will always ensure that anniversaries and special occasions are suitably celebrated.

Once in a committed relationship, a Cancerian will want to completely embrace family life. They adore children and their parenting skills are largely instinctive. The Cancerian parent must guard against being smothering and overprotective, it comes naturally to this defensive sign but it can cause friction, particularly with adolescent children.

Cancerians are not usually amongst the frenetic exercisers of the zodiac. They put their energies into their home and relationships rather than onto the sports field. They have a lot of vitality and nervous energy and need to keep their system well-balanced. Nervous anxiety can affect the digestive system and this should be watched. The sign of Cancer influences the breasts, stomach, and glandular system.