Cancery (Latin for Crab), the fourth sign of the zodiac, is a cardinal water sign. It is a negative (in the value-neutral sense of being negatively charged), Feminine sign ruled by the Moon. It's symbol is the crab, and its glyph is said to represent the two claws of a crab. It takes its name from the Latin word for crab. A moody, sign Cancer is the sourc of the term crabby. Cancer is associated with the breasts and stomach, and people with a Cancer sun sign are prone do digestive and weight problems. The key phrase for Cancer is I feel.

Cancer, like many other signs of the zodiac, does not have a developed mythology. During the second labor of Hercules (it might be better termed the second feat or test), while he was struggling against the many-headed hydra, a giant crab bit him on the heel to create a diversion. Hercules however, crushed it underfoot. This crab , Carcinus (Greek for crayfish), was an ally of Hera, queen mother of the gods, who opposed Hercules. The crab was rewarded for self-sacrificing loyalty when Hera promoted it to distinction as the constellation Cancer. The sign Cancer is often compared with a turtle (the symbol for Cancer in the Babylonian zodiac), and a right source of symbolic associations for Cancer can be found int he image of the turtle, another shoreline dweller.

Cancerians are best known for their attachment to home and , like the turtle, would be happy to carry their house everywhere (if only they could). Although homebodies, they enjoy travel if they know they have a secure home to which they can always return. Like Carcinus, they are strongly attached to their mother (or to the more nurturing parent) and tend to be nurturing parents themselves. They are highly sensitive individuals who are easily "Crushed", which is why they have developed an emotional "shell" within which they can retreat. They are moodier than any other sign in the zodiac, and food represents emotional security to them. Like all water signs, the regard emotions as more real than any other aspect of life.

Emotional Keywords
Artistic and dreamy, maternal, kindhearted, romantic, domestic, impressionable, psychic, imaginative, serene, intuitive, restless, despondent, sometimes lazy and self-indulgent.

Mental Keywords
Versatile, self-sacrificing, receptive, expresses great veneration for ancestry and precedent, thorough, persevering, cautious, reserved, brooding.