CANCER THE MOON AND THE 4 TH HOUSE “There’s no place like home” There is something strangely ominous of the topic of home resurfacing the story of the “Wizard of Oz” as “home” for many has being shaken to the core lately with turbulent weather with storms, whether actual weather such as the drastic tornadoes ripping your home from its roots, washed away by floods and tsunamis or crushed and broken by drastic earth shattering earthquakes, or the economy destroying so many livelihoods forced to lose their sanctuary with all the other emotional traumas shaking up our internal compass and sense of security with all the chaos and change in the world. The Moon ruling Cancer is the natural ruler of the 4th house (IC cusp). cus p). The Moon and the 4th house are associated with our roots, home, family, our inner depths, security, shelter, safety and sustainability. It’s where everything everything begins and where some believe everything ends. The 4th house cusp (the IC) is one of the 4 major points of the cardinal cross of the chart – ASC- DESC (Horizontal axis of self (ASC) and relationships (DESC). MC-IC (Vertical axis axis of outer world and career (MC) inner world and home (IC). The 4th house cusp and the IC is below the horizon hence the call to an inner private domain. The Moon ruled Cancer crab is cautious and tends to move slowly albeit sideways with intentions ever inching toward their goal with tenacious persistence. Cancer crab and their hard shell protecting the soft underbelly hence the association with the stomach and breasts. The Moon and Cancer Cancer rule over our our mother or nurturer – the person who protects protects you and shelters shelters you from the the storms. Cancer and the crab crab tentacles grip and grab on to form attachments, finding something to hold onto and don’t want to let go-when we talk of touchy feely moody clingy-we are talking about Cancer and the Moon. It’s where we take our sentimental journeys and get pulled into a reflection of nostalgic memories. The dynamics of relationships relationships start with the family of origin. Our roots are undeniable and no escaping these first relationships-they are hard wired into our psyche. The Moon is water water based – a deep river of emotional reserves that continue to rise and fall throughout our life. Much of our life experiences stem from early childhood and family with our skeletons in the closet and pink elephants in the dining room. We all have our dramas and stories surrounding our early years and the coloring of our family influence throughout our lives. The idealism and longings of home and its place has its own storyline and drama and for many including some kind of dysfunctional family dynamics. The patterns and rituals of our early upbringing run through the repeated grooves in our psyche
regarding out past every time we encounter a present or future challenge or incident. Home means many different things to many people. To some it is peace and tranquility, to others busy chaos that brings incredible amounts of distress. More than external family, home is the depths of our inner psyche, our inner home, whether peace within ourselves, our own foundation we return to- home becomes more of a state of mind than matter. The home is like an unconsciousness storage haven as well as a dumpster and emotional dust bin and collector of past residue with all the undiscovered, uncovered, hidden crevices of your own shore, shell to hide in. Home/family and the 4th house is a rich dark tunnel to consciousness. As the 10th house is a very public house, the 4th house is a private sanctuary for our inner most feelings, emotions and needs. It houses our memories where reminiscing in that place we go to nurture ourselves and feed our soul and give ourselves a recharge from the hustle and bustle of the demands of our daily grind. It’s also the place of displacement where we take out our outer frustrations and kick the dog as its place as a release for the pent up stress. When we think of home and family-what comes to mind for many? Safety or security – the 3 little pigs and what is your need and style around home-is it a tent, house made of straw, wood or brick? Is it a structure of solidity, a beacon of respite-or a continuous wavering and shifting uprooted bohemian sack on your back? This is the core emotional base where everything grows from and what we carry with us wherever we go. When we speak of home base, we are talking about going back to the basics, the beginning- the roots and stem that branch out our family tree and extended experiences. The Moon/IC as it relates to any transit or progression is key in its timing and with the tides ever shifting – hence the Moon meters the gravitational pull of the current tide which further accentuates the eclipse points as critical turning points in the fusion of lunar/solar climaxes. Most culminations and manifestations of chart patterns come to fruition with the Moon’s activations and triggers of the longer lasting transits. Early planting –the seeds sewn into each New Moon has its fruition through the Full Moon. Each cycle opens up the inner deep delving that exposes all the scars and joys of early family life and childhood. This continuous center point is accessed each time and it is the key to unfolding our own blossom of emotional depth. Looking at your Moon and its aspects and where it sits in your chart can reveal much about home and family and your early roots as well as energies/transits and planets around the 4th house. Venus ruled may need a home with peace, beauty and tranquility. Mars ruled may show much action around the home and possible
conflict. I have often found Uranus associated with the home to show continuous disruption and change. Moon aspects tell much of the emotional disposition-Moon Saturn would show stable and enduring emotion where you accept hardships and take responsibility-usually present in long term relationship through thick and thin-Moon Uranus on the other hand can show chaos and an unsettling home life and emotions. Neptune may show homes around the water and a deeply restless yearning to keep moving and live a gypsy lifestyle-literally where you seek the grass is greener. When they say home is where the heart is, then the kitchen must be the soul as all the sustenance and nurture that comes from food. It’s no wonder the association with cooking/comfort, emotional sustenance and warmth by the hearth as Cancer is also closely associated with farming, food, cooking. I spent my early years financing my higher education by working alongside chefs. Having cooking as a passionate hobby was a great blessing, as performing work that you love always brings joy and satisfaction. I grew up with many cooks and chefs in my family. My mother’s kitchen was known as short order cook station as we were always drilling her our specialty orders of the day until one day it was ” you want something different, make it yourself”…hence my growing interest in experimenting with my gourmet tastes. Soup was a big staple in my home upbringing. It was almost mandatory that soup’s on – and every day, a different kind. Coming from a family with Pluto Cancer roots, it’s no wonder during war time they survived on soups –stretching the dollar – soup for survival and the soup kitchen. I have carried through the tradition with one of my favorite things being cooking soup. I too have my cauldron brewing and my own soup kitchen with a various soup de jour where there is always soup for you! Stirring the pot-there is something deeply reflective about a pot of soup-simmering, stewing, steaming, hot, nurturing, smells of comfort. Stirring the pot, letting the ingredients merge, conjuring up feelings of home, safety, sustenance – filling the bellies. Soup becomes a mish mush, throw a little of this in and that-just a continuous increase to the medley much like our early home life-the carried mixture of experiences, emotions that either sit settled at the bottom of the pot with periodic stirring, boiling points, simmering and then settling again-some like to keep it undisturbed, settled while others see the need to stir the pot. My home sweet home is spending a lot of time in my kitchen. For me its seems congregating around the kitchen where it’s most comforting. My kitchen is on the south side, bright (painted a cheery green). I moved my office (laptop) to this area
as well as I find it really fuels my creative juices and flow especially with my back deck kitchen door open to the summer sun with a garden, herbs and plenty of flowers. I don’t move too far from the homestead either these days, never venturing far off from my neighborhood which is probably attributed to my strong Cancer progressions-since my Sun progressed into Cancer and New Moon progressed into Cancer last year, I have become a true homebody.
