Summer Blockbusters as Cancer Season
Celebrating Our Cancerian Queens (and Kings) Movie Style
Welcome & Welcome Back, Witches!
Before we dive in to this week’s edition, I have a smol announcement to share: today will be the last full Practical Magic for a short while. After next week’s Retroscope, I’ll be taking a two week breather to enjoy Cancer season and to finish cooking up some of the summer fun I have in mind for you all. We’ll return to regularly scheduled issues on Tuesday, July 16th.
This week though, is the solstice, and I could not be more excited for the official start of summer, which is coming in scorching hot and right on time with sky-high temperatures in regions across the US.
This warm welcome to the season gave me the idea for a fun way to explore the sign of Cancer.
Summer blockbusters! So break out the popcorn and pull up a chair. We’re going to dive deep on Cancer through some summer time hits.
What am I waiting for? Let’s get to it!
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What’s the Deal with Cancer?
Like every sign we’ve covered here so far, Cancer is somewhat susceptible to over zealous stereotyping. And while it’s often hilarious (see below), this can muddle the core meaning of the sign and make it harder for us to work with the energy of the sign in our own lives and birth charts.
Cancer is known in these somewhat cartoonish terms as an over emotional, often intense sign. Case in point:
Digging a little deeper and getting to know Cancer can balance this out (and make the memes even funnier, honestly).
Cancer is a water sign, so it is connected to our emotions, and as the cardinal water sign, it has it’s own brand of intensity, which is where that stereotype comes from. It’s also a feminine sign associated with home and family, so Cancers are often labelled “the mom” of the zodiac.
But really, when it comes down to it, Cancer energy has a powerful ability to nurture and facilitate growth, shielding those within it’s purview as they learn to stand in their own truths.
We often think of nurturing as a soft, even gentle experience, but as we’ll see below, that’s not really the kind of nurturing that feeds true growth. Instead, Cancer energy at it’s best knows where tough love is needed as well as when a cheerleader is needed. And in healthy balance, can spur you forward like no other.
Let’s take it one step deeper with a look at 3 core Cancerian qualities as shown in big hit summer blockbusters.
Trait: Protect at All Costs
Movie: Independence Day
Hot take: Independence Day is an intensely Cancerian movie, at least, it is by the end.
Though the move starts with some heavy Aries energy, like trying to blow the aliens up without much more information than “aliens are here,” as it becomes clear that brute force is not going to resolve anything, the leaders are pushed to find a new approach altogether.
That does not mean everything is resolved with a good, heartfelt chat, which has it’s time place in other movies. They still need to fight to defeat the threat. But the citizens of earth (what’s left of them any ways) learn that they can’t protect their home and maintain their grievances against one another.
Their very survival depends on banding together, finding their commonality in the will to live, and sharing resources — namely ideas and information.
Shadow: A Little Too Protective
Movie: Bridesmaids
One beautiful element of Cancerian energy is that she is about the tribe she chooses. This can be blood relation, but it also can include anyone she finds deep resonance with, regardless of family lineage. Cancer is all about her tribe. And once you’re in that tribe, you are in.
Now, as we discussed above, Cancer, as a Cardinal sign and a water sign, can take things a little too far, especially when it comes to their tribe.
The movie Bridesmaids captures the journey of one woman who learns, among other things, to relax that intensity for her chosen tribe a bit.
Light spoilers for the movie here: Annie, Kristin Wiig’s character, has a minor major meltdown when celebrating her best friend’s engagement and wedding. Though Annie’s live is at an all time low as this happens, her spiral really comes from being faced with how much her friend has grown and changed, and feeling left behind and betrayed by that growth.
This is the a version of Cancer’s shadow side. It’s so filled with love and loyalty, that sometimes it can see any change to the status quo as a threat. And the reaction when that happens isn’t always the healthiest.
Trait: Fully Ride or Die
Movie: Thelma and Louise
This trait is it’s own light and shadow side, so I’m including both in one here.
Cancer, once it’s in, is all in. (She shares that trait with Taurus, tbqh.) And i can think of no better movie to capture that energy than Thelma and Louise.
Two friends head out on a road trip to take a break from the crap in their lives and enjoy each other. As events around them spiral out of control, one thing never changes: each is fully committed to protecting the other from those outside forces, consequences be damned.
And consequences there are, because the shadow side of this trait is a kind of reclusiveness and reluctance to look outside of the safety of the tribe for resources or support. Loyalty and protectiveness are beautiful qualities, yet out of balance, they can sow a self-destructive distrust.
TLDR: Cancer energy shows up for all of us one way or another, whether we have strong placements or no planets at all in the sign. It’s worth practicing noticing when this energy comes up for you, the light and the shadow. It’s only in honoring the needs being expressed by both sides that we can truly work with the Cancer energy in our lives, instead of against it.
And That’s All She Wrote!
She, of course, being me. I hope you enjoyed the read — I had a lot of fun writing it for you!
Reply to this email or leave a comment to let me know what you thought and if or how Cancer energies show up in your life. I love to hear your stories, plus every interaction really helps the newsletter’s visibility. 💜💜💜
See you all next Tuesday for more planetary fun and who knows what else!
PSST: Do you ever think about filling your life with more…magic? I have! And I have all kinds of ways to support you in doing so, and I’ve cataloged them all here:
