Moon has found me

Cancer, the crab, the night feeder, and water sign. The animal that hides in the cracks and crevices or sometimes just submerged ever so carefully in the sand. Crabs most often live and thrive where the salt water meets fresh and creates a murky environment where they may hide easily and conceal themselves. While they protect themselves with a tough outer shell and quick moving claws, they are quite sensitive and soft underneath.

A Cancer likes a secure home, they feel at peace when they have a safe place to retreat from the threatening outside world. Being as they are a water sign, like Scorpio and Pisces, they are often deeply affected by the emotional world around them. If they feel vulnerable or exposed to the changing of the tide they will confidently and coolly retract back to a safe hiding place. If they feel welcome and comfortable they might just take up space and spread out on a hot rock. The crab does not move directly, due to their numerous legs they are able to swim, walk and crawl about in ways that are not afforded to many other creatures. They may know what they want but their path is seldom direct, they will weave about both water and land taking a much longer path just so they can reach their destination by their own design. They often have a natural ability to sense what is coming at them, their intuition heightened as they navigate the ever changing world around them.

Cancers due their diverse spatial prowess are not known to be the most direct of the signs. They do not respond well to impersonal requests or cold environments. They do not like to be forced to march in line or at the behest of a crowd. They like to take things slow and enjoy the comforts of home life or the company of a good friend or lover. They can get hurt easily when they feel emotionally vulnerable and usually at the hand of those they are close to. When outside danger or threats approach they will get their claws ready and head for the cover of muddy waters by the time an outside force might try to invade their sanctity and space.

I’m going to take a look at Jack White, he’s not only a Cancer Sun but a Cancer Moon as well. He has made a career of navigating the music industry in his own unique way. As simple as the White Stripes music may be, it is its strictness and simplicity that brings the bravado to make it really stand out. Perhaps Jack White created his own trends in which to follow so that he wouldn’t be caught following someone else’s. With the strictness of the colors, the instruments used, the speed of the recording process, the band stood defiant by imposing their own set of rules. In the late 90s we had been overrun with new digital recording techniques, where songs could have hundreds of tracks (layers) of music on a single song. The White Stripes succeeded with the antithesis, basically recording as simply as they could, letting the most primitive stand on its own. The simple production hit me like a splash of water in the face at the time. The strictness in dress also stood out to me, in the late 90s the rock world had been inundated with loads of Shock Rockers who seemed like they would do, say, or wear anything just to get noticed, the well dressed matching duo really stood out against the then current vogue. I remember first hearing White Blood Cells and the song “We’re Going to be Friends” and just loving the simplicity and the innocence of it. I think it digs into the softness and sweetness that cancers wish to see and feel more of in the world.

Another Cancer that took her life and style in her own unique way is Debbie Harry from the incredible band Blonde. This band were able to hop genres and defy the preconceived notion of rock music in that era and Harry was happy to head the outfit with her cool and suave persona. Blondie took shape as a punk band in New York City, but if you were in the city during the late 70s and early 80s, there was a lot of incredible music being written and performed. The popularity of Disco was reaching its arc, its clean precise rhythms adorned with its glimmering couture was filling up dance floors across the city. Meanwhile CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City seemed to fill their clubs with the stark contrast of bands like the Ramones, Television, and the Talking Heads performing a stripped down rawer form of rock n’roll. Seldom did the glamour of Disco meet the grit of Punk. Blondie melded the two incredibly well on their first big hit, the 1979 Single “Heart of Glass.” The term heart of glass presents such a dichotomy that is inherent to the Cancer, something so soft yet so breakable at the same time.

Now we can take a look at the President of the Blondie Fan club, another cancer known for his unique blend of genre blending. Jeffery Lee Pierce and his group the Gun Club were able to mix the wild howls and laments of the early American blues with the urgency and energy of punk. Pierce, flush with so much unbridled emotional energy was able to deliver songs that put raw emotion and the darker side of the psyche to the forefront. The vocal interplay of howling refrains, flanked between unwieldy slide guitars creates a musically brackish environment in which Pierce seemed able to truly express himself. Forever on his own path, widespread success never came his way but for anyone who values someone who comes from and makes their own way, he will continue as an inspiration. Here’s a favorite track of mine from the Gun Club’s first offering which came to me at a young age when I hadn’t quite heard anything remotely like it, the haunting “Promise Me.”

Cancer is uniquely ruled by the moon. No doubt matters of the dark and its illumination will play a large part for this sign. They may have a natural affinity for the night time, they may feel most comfortable in the tepid moonlight, giving cover to those who move discreetly and subtly when the light is low. They may be your best friend in times of need or if you’ve found yourself in a dark spot.