The Balance of Water

• Cancer (cardinal feminine Water)
• Rulership: Stomach; breasts; womb; abdominal cavity (4th House)
• Calendar date: 22 June – 22 July
• Planets in rise: Jupiter, Neptune
• Planets in rest: Moon
• Planets in detriment: Saturn
• Planets in fall: N/A
• Scorpio (fixed feminine Water)
• Rulership: Sexual organs; gonads; genitals; lumbar vertebrae; muscles of lower back (8th House)
• Calendar date: 24 October – 21 November
• Planets in rise: Uranus
• Planets in rest: Pluto
• Planets in detriment: Venus
• Planets in fall: Moon
• Pisces (mutable feminine Water)
• Rulership: Feet; immune system; ductless glands (12th House)
• Calendar date: 19 February – 20 March
• Planets in rise: Venus
• Planets in rest: Neptune
• Planets in detriment: Mercury
• Planets in fall: N/A

Welcome to Cancer and the 9th House of the Zodiac! Like the Moon orbiting the Earth, Cancer is about the parent-child relationships and taking the initiative to care for those who need it. Cancer is the feminine sign of cardinal Water who moves forward and initiates action, but unlike the brash, fiery Spirit of Aries, Cancer initiates change through her feelings and emotions. Cancer teaches the importance of proactively nurturing, mothering, and supporting a goal.

Cancer is characterized by her emotional sensitivity: she’s compassionate and feels the pain of others. Because Cancer feels her way through life, she immediately picks up on every nuance and change of others (which makes her a wonderful parent.) The glyph of Cancer is representative of the parent-child relationship between the Earth and the Moon, but it also representative of a woman’s breasts which nurture a child in its infancy. Cancer has a powerful maternal instinct and possesses a driving desire to care for others and provide a parenting influence in their lives. With her cardinal Spirit, she steps forward to put things in motion for the betterment of others.

Crabby Cancer has a set of sharp pincers to attack those who injure her. The saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” was probably written by a man after being royally pinched by a wounded Cancer. For that matter, any of you who have a parent born under the sign of Cancer know first-hand how easily a wounded Cancer can pinch you in places you didn’t know you had.

Cancer isn’t just the parent in the parent-child relationship, but also the child: she requires a parent-child role and she’s happy to fill either one of those depending on her mood. Cancer typically only fills the child role in a relationship or displays her child attributes when she’s having a bad day or is in a poor mood. Like a child, Cancer can be immature or childish and can sling the arrows of discontent with both alarming accuracy and surprising ease. In Cancer’s Mind, everything makes sense when it comes to doing what’s best for you (or for her, in the child aspect), so she can also be irrational. You just can’t argue with a Cancer because for every contradiction you can find, that’s just one more reason why you’re part of the problem. Cancer can also be manipulative in a terribly sweet way. Because she obviously knows what’s best for both you and her, she’ll do whatever it takes to get what she needs, even if that means she has to play one person against another or pinch you with her pincers to show you what she doesn’t like.

Cancer is at home in the 4th House of home, roots, end of life circumstances, and the more nurturing, accepting parent. The 4th House is the house of the nuclear family and the traditional sense of home. It is that place from which a person comes and to which they can always return: no conditions, no strings attached – they have to take you in when you go home. It also shows a person’s “end of life” circumstances: when people near the end of their lives, they are comforted to be with friends and family and to transition in a familiar place. Home is what we strive to create and recreate through the course of our lives and home is where we’ll be both at the beginning and end of our finite existence. 

Cancer rules the stomach, breasts, and concavity of the abdomen. Like several other signs, Cancer resides in one of the same organs as the her ruler the Moon. The stomach is the principal member of the digestive process and also an endocrine gland which secretes ghrelin and gastrin to moderate appetite.

Cancer’s rulership of the breasts is true for both men and women, but is more significant for women. The mother-and-child orbit of the Earth and Moon echoes the mother’s and child’s relationship formed during pregnancy, nursing, and the early formative years. Additionally, the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone signal the mammary glands to begin lactation. Breastfeeding is more than just nutritional care or a bonding experience: the mother’s breast milk imparts immunity. This happens because the suckling infant’s saliva enters the mother, whose immune system reacts and generates the exact antibodies needed to ensure the infant’s best health, vitality, and immunity against illness and disease. Not counting the immunological benefits, breast milk is filled with important vitamins, minerals, proteins, and plenty of fat to satisfy the nutritional demands of a growing baby.

Welcome to Scorpio and the 8th House of the Zodiac! Scorpio is the feminine sign of fixed Water, and you know you’ve met her because looking her in the eye freezes you like a deer in the headlights. Scorpio is famous for having the most striking eyes you’ve ever seen which look straight through you and into the depths of your very soul. Crystal blue, storm grey, emerald green, chocolate brown – Scorpio’s eyes reflect extremes and have caused more than a few fatal attractions. Not every Scorpio has the wildest eyes you’ve ever seen, but all Scorpios have emotional and Spiritual depths the rest of us can only wonder at. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, be careful you don’t fall in because it’s a long way to the bottom! Halloween, All Hallows Eve, or Samhain as October 31st is variously named, falls within Scorpio’s birth date. Many people believe that the veil separating the living and the dead is thin at this time and Scorpio takes her depths from this time of Spiritual transition.

Scorpio is a person who is naturally inclined to go to extremes in everything she does. Scorpio may not consider herself an extremist because in her Mind she may only be going a short distance, but when you compare the depth of a Scorpio to everybody else her short distance becomes a football field. She is a native daughter to great depths and distances! Scorpio may not necessarily be a disciplined individual, but she can be disciplined about how she pursues a goal or a person in her life. Because of her deep emotions and the depth of her passion, she can easily set anything else aside to focus on what she wants.

She is steadfast in her desires and will travel to the ends of the Earth to find what she’s looking for. She is purposeful in what she does and seeks purpose and meaning in her own life. She sees people and experiences as transformative and can fairly be called a vampire for the fact that she often takes more from others than they do from her. At the risk of sounding cheeky, “Scorpio lives to live.” It’s all about the transformation or those moments which touch the soul. Physical intimacy, lust, desire, deep religious devotion, meditation – these are all things which are instrumental to Scorpio’s pursuit of deep, transformative experiences which move the soul and touch the emotions.

It’s important to consider Scorpio’s pursuit of deep transformation and the importance she gives to it because on a bad day it all comes to bear: Scorpio gets what Scorpio wants and can be among the hardest to dissuade from a particular course of action. Because Scorpio sees the depth and scope of a goal or task, she’ll go after that with all her power. She can’t be controlled, can’t be persuaded – in fact, she might do something just to spite you and show that she can do it. She can be a true rebel, with or without a cause!

Scorpio is sometimes called a schemer, and it’s not entirely untrue: Scorpio has been known to mull deep thoughts and deeper plans in her head for long periods before revealing them. Scorpio can keep things tucked away in her Mind and hidden from others which turns her into a cauldron or pressure cooker: don’t be around when she boils over. Unlike some of the signs of the Zodiac which are able to separate their emotions from their self-concept, Scorpio has a much harder time with this. Contradicting a Scorpio doesn’t mean that you’re going against what she thinks, but that you’re going against who she is. To defend this position, Scorpio can be argumentative and even downright contrary, sometimes for no good reason other than that she enjoys arguing with you. If you know a Scorpio, be aware that if you choose to argue with one that you’ll be in for a long-winded argument (of which you may never hear the end.)

Scorpio is at home in the 8th House of sex, death, all forms of loss, communal loss, transformation, and money. The 8th House is analogous to the great mysteries of the joy of sex, the loss of death, and the mystery of transition and rebirth. Sex is both for pleasure and for procreation and leads to the birth of both children and ideas. When people come together and share emotions the results can be both tangible and intangible. Death is not necessarily loss but a journey into the final mystery of the underworld of rebirth and renewal. Many Pagans believe that at the time of Scorpio, the Crone Goddess mourns the God and journeys to visit him in the underworld where they join in union to renew the cycle of life. Because money has transformative power, it too is associated with the 8th House. Money is also frequently encountered as an inheritance when a parent passes away, thus a second reason it is encountered in the 8th House.

Scorpio rules the gonads, sexual organs, genitals, womb, and lumbar vertebrae. Scorpio governs two important endocrine glands: the placenta and the gonads. The placenta is the uterine lining which supports the gestating fetus. The placenta could be called a disposable endocrine organ in that it is designed to be passed from the body after the child is born. Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is one of the chief hormones secreted by the placenta and it promotes increased synthesis and secretion of estrogen and progesterone during the course of the pregnancy. The placenta also synthesizes and secretes human placental lactogen and relaxin. Placental lactogen signals the development and operation of the mammary glands and relaxin softens the bones of the hips to prepare the female skeleton to deliver the fetus.

The gonads are the human sex organs. In males they are the testes, and in females they are the ovaries. The testes reside in the scrotum and primarily secrete testosterone. Testosterone is the male sex hormone which promotes the development of male sex characteristics: increased muscle mass, greater bone density, development of facial and body hair, production of sperm, deepening of the voice, and so on. Women also require testosterone but produce on average more than fifty times less than men; this difference is insignificant because women are far more sensitive to testosterone than men. In females the gonads are the ovaries which reside in the pelvis. The ovaries are regulated by the pituitary gland which moderates the levels of gonadotropins and folliclestimulating hormones in the bloodstream. The ovaries chiefly secrete estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is the primary female sex hormone which promotes the development of female sex characteristics: slight build, lighter voice, smaller frame, breast development, and so on. Progesterone promotes conception and inhibits the elimination of the uterine lining.

Sexual and reproductive health is important, but are also a very broad, deep field of study and I encourage you to research these subjects on your own. What I want to emphasize about Scorpio is the mystical or Spiritual significance she has in the human body: Scorpio, like several other signs, resides in one of the same organs as her ruler: in this instance, Scorpio resides with her secondary ruler Mars. The union of opposites is to be expected because Scorpio first belonged to Mars before she was reassigned to Pluto; however, what is unexpected is Scorpio’s rulership of the lumbar vertebrae and how those vertebrae relate to other nerves and muscles. Spinal nerves extending from the lumbar vertebrae tie in very closely with those from the sacral vertebrae. Spinal nerves extending from the lumbar vertebrae primarily innervate muscles of the abdomen, and afferent nerves relay sensation to the central nervous system from the lower back, hips, front of the legs, tops of the feet, and the external genitalia.

What’s significant about this is that the muscles of the perineum are innervated by nerves which extend from the sacral vertebrae, which are home to both airy Aquarius and earthy Saturn. See what’s happening here? Airy Aquarius, earthy Saturn, fiery Mars, and watery Scorpio all come together in one location. Saturn’s earthy sacrum hosts airy Aquarius which innervates Mars’ perineum who rules watery Scorpio! Sexual intercourse and reproductive health are the ecstatic union of the elements of creation.

Welcome to Pisces and the 12th House of the Zodiac! Pisces is the feminine sign of mutable Water and is quite possibly the most sociable and gregarious sign of the entire Zodiac. If Cancer is a river and Scorpio is a swamp, then Pisces is a trickling stream or a babbling brook. The glyph of Pisces describes two fish bound at the tails but swimming in opposite directions. Owing to her emotional nature and mutable character, Pisces is in touch with everything around her and has a measure of empathy others can only imagine. Pisces is acutely aware of her place in the world and how she relates to those around her. Pisces is often deeply religious or highly Spiritual, and even if she’s not a member of a church or a devout follower of a chosen tradition, she still has a very Spiritual or empathic connection to the people and places around here. She’s empathic and cares for the humanity and dignity of those around her; I’ve met several Pisces and they have always been the most concerned, caring people.

In my experience, Pisces is also one of the most insightful people, too. Pisces doesn’t sweat the small stuff – like the trickling stream to which we compared Pisces, she keeps things moving in a quick and light-hearted manner. On a good day, a Pisces is a terrific boss to work for because she just wants to know that all is right with the world. Part of the reason that Pisces is such a wonderful person to have around is because she’s so empathic and in tune with others: when something is wrong or out of order, she can feel how it affects you because it affects her. When Pisces lends a hand or offers a shoulder to cry on, it’s not just because she wants to help you, but because she wants to help herself, too. By working through your obstacles with you, both she and you grow stronger and share an experience. 

On a bad day, though, that’s also one of Pisces’ weak points. Because she is so acutely in tune with others’ needs, troubles, struggles, and obstacles, she can often have a difficult time seeing where her life ends and another’s life begins. She has difficulty setting or maintaining boundaries and like a trickling stream or body of Water trickles into other people’s lives. Their problems become her problems and she feels the greatest urgency to help them because in her Mind, she’s helping herself as well. Because Pisces has a difficult time saying no, she often finds herself made into a victim. Less scrupulous people may discover her lack of personal limits and take advantage of her giving nature by always having just one more thing she can do for them.

This boundless (literally, without boundaries) personality can lead Pisces to experience a great amount of unnecessary emotional suffering. Addiction – in all forms and varieties – is a common struggle for Pisces. This strong emotional attachment to people and causes isn’t entirely a drawback, though: when Pisces is moved to work for a good cause or a wonderful person who doesn’t take advantage of her good nature she’s almost a rival to Leo in her devotion.

Pisces is at home in the 12th House of the Zodiac. The 12th House could be called the house of the mystic – it is the house of secrets, seclusion, withdrawal from the outside world, the unconscious, and the subconscious. It is also the house of self-defeat or what’s sometimes called secret enemies: those things which can undo us but which we might not see. 

Pisces, the sign of mutable Water, rules the feet and to a lesser degree also the immune system and ductless glands. Pisces’ rulership of the immune system and ductless glands is an extension of her ruler Neptune and it echoes the cleansing, boon influence of her first ruler Jupiter. You may scoff at Pisces’ modest claim to the feet, but the feet are much more than a lowly pair of appendages. Not counting their obvious and practical purposes, the feet are powerful psychic and Spiritual conductors. For example, reflexologists practice a highly specialized form of therapeutic massage in which only the feet are manipulated. Detailed charts have been established which map the entire body and everything in it to specific zones of the soles of each foot. Through precise manipulation and stimulation, reflexologists can affect the health and wellness of the Mind and entire body through only the feet. Reiki practitioners also commonly report powerful psychic or Spiritual insight when giving Reiki for the feet.