Cancer Rising – What Is The True Meaning Of Your Cancer Ascendant

by Dawn Rose

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Understanding your Cancer rising sign and how it fits in with your Sun and Moon signs can be a bit confusing.

This is why I have created a separate article on the Rising Sign Meaning, which you can check out here.

In short, the zodiac sign, which stands as a rising sign in your horoscope determines the specific manner in which the energies and qualities of your Sun sign will be manifested in your lifetime.

For example, someone with a Pisces Sun sign and a Cancer rising will have the chance to manifest their compassionate, intuitive nature (Pisces) a lot more easily, because they will be driven by the inner motivation to help people, take care of them, and try to meet their emotional and material needs – all qualities of their Cancer rising sign.

The very same person would find it a lot harder to realize this Cancerian nature with an Aquarius rising, which would make them more freedom-loving and independent.

This is why one of the very first things to be analyzed in a natal chart is how harmonious the interaction between the rising sign and the sun sign is. Whether they are placed in signs that complement or contradict each other.

In addition, we should also consider and closely examine the planet, which rules the Ascendant and therefore the whole natal chart (in the case of Taurus rising, the ruler is Venus); where this planet is placed by sign and by house, and how it interconnects with the Sun and Rising signs.

Usually your physical characteristics are determined by the combined influences of the signs, where the Sun, Moon, rising, and the ascendant ruler are placed.

For example, if you are a Virgo with a Sagittarius rising and a Leo Moon, and your Jupiter (the ruler of your ascendant) is placed in Gemini, we will say that your Sun sign is Virgo, your Moon is in Leo, your Rising is in Sagittarius, and your horoscope and ascendant ruler is in Gemini. The latter will further color the characteristics of your rising sign.

The rising sign is something that you need to manifest and demonstrate gradually throughout your life, and this is why some of the traits and characteristics of this sign can be overemphasized and more obvious than some of the qualities of your Sun sign.

For example, someone with a Leo rising is ‘more Leo than the Leos’. They wish to be noticed at all cost, and they suffer if they don’t receive the attention they seek. Their strong desire to be the center of attention provokes their inventiveness, but their manners would also be a bit more demonstrative than those of a Leo Sun sign. In comparison, someone with a Leo Sun has the calm confidence that they are the king and he or she receives the attention they deserve with dignity. A Leo Sun attracts this attention effortlessly.

To learn all the meanings of each zodiac sign, planet, and house, Download The Fast Track To Astrology Cheat Sheets.

Now that you have a good idea of the meaning and significance of the rising sign, let’s move on to

Cancer Rising Appearance

There are two distinct types of Crabs

First is the Moon-type – oval face, smooth skin, wide smile, round eyes and childish expression. The body-type is curvy, and the eyes, skin, and hair are generally light.

The second type of Cancer risings are with pronounced cheekbones, open forehead, closed eyebrows, and small eyes. In general, the appearance of the face is interesting, intriguing, but there may be some deformities in the teeth. The body type is bony, strong, with broad shoulders, arms and wrists – small or large. This type of Cancer risings are usually darker when it comes to skin, hair, and eyes.

Cancer women tend to gain weight after the age of 35, have either a very pronounced breast size, or exactly the opposite – a hardly visible bust, narrow hips, long arms and legs, healthy nails. Men with this ascendant often have rounded shoulders and broad thighs.

Among women, Cancer risings often have large, expressive and beautiful eyes.

For a full list of words and phrases, associated with Cancer and all other signs, planets, and houses, Download the Fast Track to Astrology Cheatsheets.

Cancer Rising Meaning – An Overview

Cancer as a rising sign gives a strong sense of attachment to the home, family, parents, especially the mother.

Cancer rising have pronounced personality traits, related to food and security, thrift and conservatism. Although they are conservative and do not like new and sudden changes, they are able to adapt well. Cancer risings can very well sense the thoughts of others and respond to them.

The life of a Cancer rising can be very unpredictable in nature with big ebb and flow in the financial situation, changes in profession and place of work for reasons beyond their control.

Men with a Cancer rising are often both the father and the mother in the family and do great with children.

Marriage is happy for Cancer risings when it happens in older age. Men with this ascendant are often attracted to older women or to women, who have a higher social status than them. Their reserved and cautious nature is even more pronounced than in women of this same ascendant, and they do take a long time to choose their intimate partner.

Cancer risings may be attracted to older partners, or to those, who have already built social status and authority (Capricorn rules their seventh house of partnerships and marriage).

Does this mean that they will definitely choose a Capricorn partner? No, their chosen one may not be with their sun in Capricorn, but he or she will have some of the qualities that characterize this sign –

Caring for children and family, or taking up the ‘mother’ role in different groups and organizations, is the fate of people with this rising sign.

For a full list of words and phrases, associated with Cancer and all other signs, planets, and houses, Download the Fast Track to Astrology Cheatsheets.

Cancer Rising Traits – Main Psychological Drivers

When Cancer rises on the eastern horizon at the time of birth, the main psychological engine of a person is his or her need to feel protected, calm and confident in life.

Let’s look at the behavior of the crab, because this will show us clearly what motivates those born with a Cancer ascendant. The crab comes out in open, unprotected spaces only in an extreme, absolutely urgent cases. Most of the time he prefers to hide in his shelter – for example, a niche in the rock. There the crab feels completely protected, because he cannot be attacked from behind or from the side. If an animal has the stupidity to attack the crab frontally, it feels the strong bite of the crab’s claws.

Similarly, those born with a Cancer rising feel most protected and confident in their own home. For the presence of a cozy home is the first real prerequisite for them to feel protected from the vicissitudes of fate.

Often Cancer risings even have a certain place in their home, where their sense of security is the strongest. This can be a favorite armchair, sofa, corner, etc. Most likely they spend most of the time in this very place in their home.

Cancer rising security needs

Cancer rising build their security on several major fronts in life.

The first of them (already mentioned) is their home. At the subconscious level, having a home is equivalent to effective protection against sudden changes in their environment. Like the crab, Cancer rising feel at ease and protected in their own niche in the rock, despite changes in tides and sea waves.

Secondly, Cancer rising associate their sense of security with the availability of material means of existence. Since the ascendant predetermines psychological motivation, one of the main driving forces for Cancer rising is the desire for stable material prosperity.

Don’t forget that money has a different purpose for the various signs of the Zodiac. They strive to earn them in the name of completely different goals and tasks. Libra, for example, associate the availability of money with the ability to buy a variety of fine and luxurious items. For Scorpio, the main driving force to earn money is strength and power.

For those born with the Cancer ascendant, however, the availability of money and material possessions is simply a necessary prerequisite to feel protected against the vicissitudes of fate. A stable bank account gives them a sense of security against possible cataclysms to which they may be subjected in the material reality.

Cancer rising traits – family-oriented

The third pillar that gives Cancer risings a sense of security is building a stable family with a partner and having children.

Naturally, one must also examine the position of Venus, the Moon, and the Sun in signs and houses, as well as the aspects that these planets make in order to properly judge the attitude towards the partner, family and children in each case.

However, common to most people born with the Cancer ascendant is the desire to form a stable family, as this gives them a sense of security and protection. Often Cancer risings (especially in the presence of many planets in Cancer, Taurus, Libra, or 2nd, 4th and 7th house), tolerate relatively incompatible or even toxic partners for long periods of time, simply because they are horrified by the thought of spending their lives alone.

For Cancer risings, on a subconscious level, this can be equivalent to complete insecurity.

Cancer rising challenges – transcending psychological and material needs

Naturally, the feeling of security, which is built on the basis of material possessions, property or family is an illusory feeling. This applies not only to Cancer, but also to other signs. However, other signs understand this relatively more easily because they are programmed differently.

Cancer rising fight long and hard to build their home, which is their fortress and bastion against all possible attacks from the outside world.

In reality, however, we can never find absolute security and protection in any material construction. A fire, earthquake, flood, or tsunami is enough to destroy everything. Decades of investment, policies and stocks can collapse in just a few hours on the stock exchange.

The average duration of marriages these days is already beginning to be measured not even in years, but in months. Children, even in the presence of an ideal family, grow up and leave home to live their own independent life.

It is obvious that the only protection from the vicissitudes of fate can be found in faith. The roots of every action performed in the material realm are in the spiritual world. It is not always possible for us to understand the logic and justice of what is happening in the material world from our earthly point of view.

From a higher, spiritual point of view, any unexpected turnaround in life is fully justified and fair. Therefore, faith, prayer, and trust in the divine wisdom, emanating from the spiritual world is the natural imperishable weapon against the ever-changing material reality.

Cancer rising traits – unusual approach to life

The crab has a strange approach to life and this can be seen in the way it moves.

It never moves in a straight forward manner, but takes successive steps forward, sideways and then backwards.

Therefore, Cancer risings do not like to face their problems in life face to face. Rather, they attack them laterally and circumferentially in an indirect way.

Cancer rising never want to face life in a straight-forward way and accept what awaits them. They prefer to look back and forth at the same time. Cancer rising look at the past with great interest.

On the one hand, this is because they like to experience again and again the good and beautiful memories they have accumulated. On the other hand, they worry that certain wrong decisions and actions from the past can appear as ghosts and haunt them in the future.

This is how Cancer rising, standing uncertainly in a shattered balance between past and future, find it very difficult to relax and feel happy in the present moment.

The main life task for Cancer rising is to shake off the shadow of the past, to look forward to the future with enthusiasm and to fully enjoy the present!

Cancer rising traits and the Moon

The moon is the celestial body that not only governs the sign of Cancer, but also the cyclically changing tides.

Water, on the other hand, is an element, associated with emotions, feelings, and memory. It’s not hard to see why those born with the Cancer ascendant are so emotionally volatile.

Just like the tides, the emotional state of Cancer rising can change drastically several times a day. An innocent word is capable of causing an emotional thunderstorm, while a benevolent gesture is able to provoke a surge of positive emotions and feelings for them.

It is not uncommon that this frequent change of mood irritates others and can lead to serious friction and disagreement. At best, those born with a Cancer rising can learn to be in sync with both their own inner rhythm and the rhythm of the people around them. If they learn to achieve it, they can always glide on top of the wave of social tides.

We have said that the sign of Cancer is associated with the Moon, which is also related to maternal and protective functions.

One of the main forces that drives Cancer rising is the patronage and protection of people in their immediate family circle. Often everything outside this circle is perceived as a threat to their personal existence.

A distinction must be made between the desire to possess close people (typical of Taurus, for example) and the desire to protect oneself from the attacks of the outside world (inherent in Cancer).

Cancer rising traits – unexpected family developments

Some of those born with a Cancer rising do not form a family and have no children. They become so involved with their work that their vocation, job or profession becomes extremely personal and begins to play the role of a family circle for them.

Logically, their protective instincts focus on their personal ideals, aspirations and goals. In some cases, instead of caring for people in their close family circle, those born with the Cancer ascendant want others to take care of them.

A Cancer rising predisposes one to the the desire to stay under their mother’s wing as long as possible.

This rising sign evokes the need to overcome some psychological predispositions like over-identification with the mother; the need for the world to play a mother role; overdependence on the world that plays the role of the mother; constant search of the ideal mother-like figure in a partner, etc.

Cancer rising traits – attachment

Once he catches something in his claws, the crab doesn’t let go.

So do those born with a Cancer rising.

Cancer rising tend to cling onto something, be it a person, a job, or even their emotions. They just find it hard to release and let go. This applies to both their positive and negative emotions. Cancer risings can spend years, accumulating grief, sadness, suffering, or developing a phobia, and they cannot easily part with that feeling.

They cling to it as the crab grabs it with its forceps and doesn’t let go until another stronger feeling prevails.

A psychotherapist (or experienced astrologer) can successfully solve such a problem for someone born with an air rising sign by applying arguments, explanations, and a healthy self-reflection. With the water Cancer rising, however, such an approach would not only be completely fruitless, but in the worst case it could be turned against the one who tries to apply it.

Such behavior is valuable when the rising sign is unknown and needs to be determined. Typically, those born with a Cancer rising need minimal provocation to stand in their defensive-offensive position.

Cancer rising traits – anxiety

One of the key words for Cancer is anxiety.

This applies both to everyday life, and in terms of their health state.

Cancer rising are constantly worrying that they have fallen victim to one disease or another. As their imagination is highly developed, in this case, it can play a bad joke on them.

Those born with a Cancer rising can invent various diseases and search for hours for symptoms, described online, until they finally find confirmation of their imagined illness.

The problem is that they are starting to get seriously anxious about the consequences of their imaginary illnesses. As a result of this anxiety, they can develop real symptoms by closing the vicious circle in which they have entangled themselves.

When they know of this tendency, Cancer rising should strive to control it and replace it with regular doctor check-ups that confirm their health. Otherwise, such an activity can become a hobby with terrible consequences.

Cancer rising challenges and life goals

Cancer is a sign, mainly related to feelings and emotions.

Those born with a Cancer rising have the task to self-fulfill and realize their goals in life through the fine-tuning of their sensory nature.

For those Cancer risings, who also have a significant number of planets located in water signs (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces) or water houses (4th, 8th or 12th), the task is to find a productive way to use their sensual nature and intuition without being totally overwhelmed by their emotions and not to be swayed pointlessly in all direction in life.

Cancer risings need to develop “thicker skin”, because otherwise the slightest, innocent remark by others can provoke in their souls enormous and lasting excitement.

The Cancer rising, who have a lot of planets in earth or air signs or houses have the task of finding how many emotions and feelings are hidden in the depths of their subconscious. Hidden beneath the surface of their apparent pragmatism and down-to-earthedness. These people manifest circumstances in their lives that make them discover, re-evaluate and productively use the enormous power of their sensual nature, lodged deep within them.

Cancer rising compatibility and love life

When Cancer rises on the eastern horizon, we always find the opposite sign – Capricorn to set on the west.

Capricorn is located on the cusp of the 7th house, that of the partner. Excessive outbursts of feelings and emotions, common to Cancer rising, are calmed and brought to a specific practical direction by the earthly Capricorn.

The water element of Cancer with its inherent tendency to moodiness is forced through the practical, earthly partner of the Capricorn type to take a certain shape and calm down.

Cancer rising should choose a partner, who helps them build a stable material structure with a certain shape – something unthinkable, in the presence of the water element only.

Ultimately, however, Cancer rising should develop such qualities as pragmatism, practicality and earthliness, so that they can attract the right type of partner.

The French artist Vincent van Gogh was born with a Cancer rising and its ruler, the Moon, squaring Venus, Mars and Neptune. His chaotic and painfully changeable life testifies to the extremes that the emotional chaos associated with this sign can bring one.

However, the Austrian composer Franz Schubert was also born with a Cancer rising and its ruler – the Moon, in Pisces, in the X house. This is a remarkable example of how emotions, feelings and musical talent (Moon in Pisces) have been channeled in a perfectly constructive way in the house of career and maximum achievements in life.

Please remember that Sun Moon and Rising signs are not enough to properly evaluate compatibility or one’s personality.

You can see a very accurate and beginner-friendly step-by-step guide on how to check compatibility with your partner, taking into consideration the most important elements in the birth chart here.

And if you wish to order a full in-depth analysis of your natal chart that examines the interrelatedness of all elements and also provides a report with remedies on how to overcome your weakest points and challenges, you can do so here.