Cancer is one of the least easy of the signs to pin down. Personalities can range from the timid withdrawn mouse to the most brilliant shining stars. All have several basic traits in common, though, including conservatism and a love of home and hearth. Both genders find the most satisfaction and feeling of safety when there is a "nest" to retreat to where they can rest and recharge in the bosom of their family. There is a tendency to love a darker, more mysterious type of house filled with creature comforts rather than a showcase to impress visitors.

There can be a time for play and exploration yet the need to return to their "cave" to recharge can confuse their friends and make them seem more mysterious. Business associates can see them as shrewd, a formidable, thick-skinned presence while their intimate friends and family may see a very different character, one with a sympathetic and kindly sensitivity to others, especially those they love.

This sign is able to identify with the circumstances of others because of the depth of their imaginations. They are often over-imaginative and can descend into fantasy, often trying to shape their lives to fit some overly romanticized ideal. Cancer is often fascinated by the occult and can be more open to psychic influence than the average. If they can reconcile the personal conflict of their urge to be outgoing with the reserve that causes them to withdraw into themselves, then at best they can inspire a generation, especially the youthful part of it, by their idealism. A job in which they can express this, and in which they can do well, would be as a leader working with a youth organization.

Tenaciously loyal is the phrase that best describes Cancer. These folks are fierce protectors of those they hold close. "Mom and apple pie" come first to this sign with an over-protectiveness that can't be rivaled. Just remember to return a Cancer's affection or they can become a bit petulant. They are extremely loyal friends but the negative side of their faithfulness can turn into clannishness, the narrow patriotism of "my country right or wrong"; and the probability of closing ranks in suspicion and coldness toward those considered as outsiders.

Cancer is noted for a seriously retentive memory, particularly for emotional events which can be recalled in vivid detail for years after. Childhood memories strongly govern how their lives are shaped since they live intensely in the past in memory and in the future in imagination so that small triggers will easily rouse the emotion all over again.

These are the people who while being generous to a fault, helping others through their travails can end up with the biggest inferiority complex on the planet. Members of this sign are normally ambitious and will curry favor by seeming to drift with majority opinions, outlooks and current fashions. As a result they frequently change their opinions and loyalties and, indeed, their occupations!