Cancerians have a strange way of moving through life in a sideways manner, never approaching life head-on, but always from the side. They generally do not tackle anything straight away, but always from the flank. Emotionally, they are up one minute and down the next. These mood swings are sometimes difficult for others to understand and deal with. Cancerians are tenacious, sympathetic, industrious, sociable, thrifty and protective. They can also be argumentative, sensitive, emotional, martyr-like, intuitive, psychic, and patriotic. Cancerians respond to life through their emotions rather than through their minds. They tend to absorb the emotional vibrations of wherever they're at, so it is important to always be in positive environments. Because they live in their feelings, they unconsciously seek sympathy and attention and affection from others. They have a strong need to feel secure. Home and family bring the highest sense of security. Because of all this, they want to be first with those they love or they are very unhappy. Cancerians must learn to release their loved ones to live their own lives. Cancerians are well-known for changing — their minds, their moods, anything. Since they usually possess a slower moving life force, they are usually less active than others. In order to be active, they must first motivate their mind. In general, they dislike exercise. As a consequence, they may become out of shape and gain weight in later years. Cancerians most often have excellent memories. This causes them to reminisce about the past and how things were done then. They are generally pack rats, saving everything, especially if it has some sentimental value. This gives a sense of security. Cancerians are home loving, fond of family life and domestic tranquillity, enjoyers of travel and adventure, quietly tenacious and hard working for the welfare of the family. No matter how far they may roam, they always want a home to come back to. They may not be in it very much, but they still want a secure home base. Cancerians are conservative, but unfortunately, they are born worriers. Their tendency to keep all their problems to themselves is the reason some of them suffer from ulcers. They have this sense that something is about ready to sneak up on them and "get" them. Watch a Cancer walk and see if they aren't walking a bit sideways, looking ahead of them and behind them at the same time. Stabilizing the emotions is important work for any Cancer person.

You tend to be very serious and responsible, thinking that duty calls first before all else. You are not comfortable displaying your emotions for all to see and you certainly don't want them to think that you need help and support. You never want to appear emotionally weak. There is a great sense of ambition within you, perhaps because you feel unloved, unwanted or inadequate. You then work very hard because it makes you feel important or needed. You need to feel secure in your own authority. Security needs are what drive you. You may be shy and insecure over your own worth and can be overly sensitive to real or imagined hurts. Sometimes you feel as though you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You are especially uncomfortable with emotional dependency, and will tell yourself and others (even children) not to be a "baby". You need to accept that no one is self-sufficient all the time, and to be gentler with your "childish" emotional needs and wants. To others, you may appear to be rather hard-nosed and tough, with a business-like attitude toward their personal concerns and feelings. Your feelings and loyalties run deep, but you often do not let people know how much you care. You also need to learn to relax, enjoy yourself, and play sometimes. You are conservative, reliable and ambitious. You have the ability to bring plans to completion. On the negative side, you may be ruthless in your desire for power and success. Selfishness and manipulation are possible. You desire recognition. The emotions are steady, but can be quite cold.

Your mind is connected with your memories, feelings, and emotions from the past. You tend to hold on to the memories of things because they give you security. You are highly interested in inner, subjective, and personal issues, and your thinking is based more on feelings, intuition, personal experiences, and prejudices rather than reason or logic. Intellectual abilities and accomplishments without heart or soul mean little to you. You are a sensitive listener and deeply interested in a person's feelings and inner life. In addition to psychology, you are probably drawn to education, art, poetry, music, or mythology. You are shy and somewhat reticent about speaking in public, but you will open yourself up and share your thoughts in small, intimate, little family-type circles of people you know and trust. You perhaps enjoy keeping a diary or chronicle of your thoughts and feelings regarding your day-to-day happenings. Your mind retains and absorbs knowledge easily. You are intuitive, psychic, and sympathetic, yet may become depressed over your own problems and the problems of the world. You may have difficulty in getting to the root of the problem because you so easily become involved emotionally with the people instead of the problem. You may have difficulty in making decisions or you may simply change your mind constantly. Mental focus and control must be developed.

In love affairs you are generally loyal and steady, especially if your partner is demonstrative and affectionate. You are oriented towards the sensual side of life in everything you do and it may show through too much weight. You are tremendously responsive to beauty and physical appearances, and the physical attractiveness of your partner is very important to you. You enjoy indulging yourself and the ones you love and it is too easy for you to be extravagant and perhaps to put too much value in material things. Comfort is important to you and you hate getting your hands dirty. At times you can be lazy, hoping or expecting someone else to do the dirty work. Self-control needs to be developed and added to the qualifications you already possess — warmth, charm, sympathy, artistic. Guard against possessiveness, jealousy, and taking the easy way out in your relationships. You aim to please in practical and earthy ways.

Once you set your mind on a goal, your dedication, determination, and commitment to it are extraordinary. You never give up and find it difficult to change your mind or course in mid-stream. Whatever you have set your sights on, you refuse to give up or let go of it. You are loyal to a fault, unless someone betrays your trust, then all heck can break loose. You are patient and usually slow to anger unless someone takes you too far. That is when you charge, just like the bull Taurus stands for. You are reliable and consistent and can handle more of the workload than most around you. You prefer a regular routine, with definite hours and clearly defined responsibilities and tasks. You enjoy building and seeing the results of your hard work. Things you can put your hands on appeal to you. You need to see practical results, not theory and you are not satisfied with intangibles like just having a good time. At the same time, you have a lazy, comfort-loving side and there is often a good deal of inertia for you to overcome before you get going. Once you get a momentum going, your energy level is strong and steady. Keeping things going is your strength, especially once someone else starts them. Material well-being and security are large factors in determining what you do. Your stamina and persistence is your great strength but it can also work against you; you can get caught in a rut and refuse to seize new opportunities. You also tend to play it safe and to limit yourself in that way. Change scares you. So does disease and pain. At times you have a decided stubborn streak where no one can reach you. Possessiveness and jealously may cause problems for you in relationships. Money and possessions are important to you for the feelings of security they bring. Re-evaluate your values. Sharing should be cultivated. Your tongue may be quite unruly at times.

You are clever, witty, and cheerful. You love traveling because of the knowledge you gain from your experiences and the people you meet. There may be a natural talent for learning and speaking foreign languages. Excessive nervous energy may lead to agitated speech or in the tendency to talk too much or promise more than you can deliver. There can be literary ability of a marked degree. Your mind is inventive, with a love of mathematics or other abstract subjects, along with the ability to understand them. You are constantly looking for those things in life which will expand your horizons and your own mental outlook or philosophy of life. Various religions or aspects of law may interest you mentally.

You possess diplomatic, organizing, executive, and leadership ability along with a strong will. You tend to be self-reliant, conservative, and are extremely efficient. You may have difficulty expressing your emotions and your affections, which may make you appear cold and unloving. You need love, but may not know how to go about giving or receiving it, thus you may isolate yourself from others. Your love is motivated by strong feelings of duty and responsibility and you show your love by taking care of business and doing what is required or by giving material things to loved ones instead of yourself, which is what they really want. On the negative side, you may be cruel and quick-tempered, jealous, and may resort to underhanded means to satisfy your ambitions. Heart trouble is possible with this position. You need to be admired for your ability to get things done efficiently and effectively.