the cancer child

8/2/2019 The Cancer Child

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The CANCER Child

Dear, dear, how queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as

usual.

Write it down so you'll remember it and not be surprised every day of your life: your

Cancer baby will change his moods as frequently as you change his diaper. It's a

strange new world for the lunar infant. He'll be fascinated by delicious things to eat

and drink, and he'll love all the colorful pictures which pass before his sharp little

eyes, and impress themselves on his indelible memory. What he experiences will

never leave him. When he's old and gray, your Cancerian boy or girl will remember

every feeling and emotion, and be able to give it back as an exact image.

One of the dearest Cancerian women I ever knew was born in Europe, and when she

was ill, she would sing every word of the Russian lullabies she had heard as a child,even though she came to America almost half a century ago. Most of us would be

lucky if we remembered the tune or words to "Rockabye Baby."

From breakfast until bedtime, the busy mind of the Cancerian child will be recording

what he sees and hears.

It's difficult for worldly adults to follow him up his Moon mountain of dreams or go

beside him as he wades in the streams of his luminous imagination. His emotions are

rich, colorful and varied, but for all that, he may be lonely.

Playing with lunar babies can be loads of fun. They're funny little creatures, with droll

expressions and eyes that almost talk by themselves. Their features constantly contort

with tears, twist with a grimace or spread wide with smiles. It's interesting to watch

those elastic expressions, but you may frequently wish you could predict when he's

going to giggle, or get that faraway look in his eye as he listens to the curious music

every Moon child hears.

These youngsters have more emotional needs than Pisces boys and girls. Much more

than with any other children, the strongest influence on Cancerians is always the early

home environment. From infancy through the teens, young crabs are tremendouslydependent on the reactions of their parents and their brothers and sisters. Your lunar

child may be too shy to express his real inner desires, but he secretly wants to be made

over, cuddled and adored. If he doesn't get attention and approval from his family,

relatives and friends, the rejection can simply crush him. I have a close friend who

was born in July. Late one night in her kitchen (where else?), we were talking about

her childhood.


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She told me, "When I was a little girl in grade school, my parents gave me ten or

fifteen cents a week to spend. But I never spent it. I saved it, so I could give a prize."

"For what?" I asked her.

A wistful look passed across her wonderfully mobile features. "Well, I used to offerfifty cents at the end of each month to the friend who treated me the nicest."

At first I was amused, and started to remind her of all the candy and treats she had

missed by passing out her entire allowance for kind treatment, but something in her

eyes changed my mind.

Although your young Cancerian may briefly turn into a rebel without a cause in

adolescence, during his tender years the little crab is usually easy to manage and dis-

cipline. His inner life is very real to him, and he'll happily play by himself for many

hours. He may even have an invisible playmate called something like Boris or Betty,who helps him make mud pies, plant imaginary flowers or play cowboy and Indian.

The make-believe Boris or Betty are always well-behaved and courteous. They will

always let the Cancer youngster win, and they'll give in to his desire to be a gentle

leader without a murmur. Sometimes these imaginary playmates will disappear for

weeks at a time, but they'll return as soon as a real, live neighborhood chum or

schoolmate wounds those little lunar feelings or bosses the Moon child around too

much. As docile and quiet as most Cancerians are. Cancer is a cardinal Sun sign of

leadership. Despite their tender emotions and gentle manners, they are not followers.

There's a great deal of independent thinking and individualism.

If your offspring follows the pattern of most July children, he'll get his way and be

slightly spoiled around the edges. It's the squeaky hinge that gets the most oil. He

won't exactly squeak, but he can get mighty weepy when he's ignored or treated

harshly. Talk about tears! A Moon child can cry rivers and flood a room. It's as if

someone left the kitchen spigots running. If all that dampness doesn't get him the

tender sympathy he must have for healthy emotions, the little Cancerian boy or girl

will grow up into a dry-eyed adult with a barren heart, unable to give or receive love

easily-seeking solitude, forming very few warm friendships-and become a recluse in

old age.

When such a sensitive little crab is in your care, it's really urgent to laugh and cry with

him and to calm his fears. Hell have a whole passel of them. Your own. lunar child

may not have each one on the list, but he's sure to have quite a few. He can be afraid

to go to sleep in the dark without a soft night light, afraid of fire and matches, afraid

of fast cars and loud noises. He can fear strangers, large animals, bright lights, food

he's never tasted before, lightning and thunder.


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Lots of young loony-birds get the blues when it rains. A spring or fall shower can do

strange things to the inner nature. It can make him suddenly want to write a poem,

paint a picture or make music. At other times, it can cause him to hide his frightened

little head under the bedspread, while his bottom half protrudes and trembles visibly.

This child requires much emotional empathy to develop his fine, loving, artistic andcreative qualities. If it is given wholeheartedly in his formative years, it will help him

grow into a patient, generous, quietly confident and open-hearted adult. If attentive

understanding is denied him, his natural compassion and gentleness may be warped

and twisted into self-pity and bitter, silent brooding. Fear, unless coped with early, can

become illogical prejudice and hatred. Little crabs who have been stunted in their

emotional growth sometimes turn into suspicious snappers, often revengeful and even

suicidal. At best, these moody, unhappy men and women lead sad, uneventful lives,

unless they make a dramatic decision to bury themselves in building a financial

empire or developing a latent talent. Either one can mercifully replace the love and

affection withheld from the gentle lunar heart when it was the most vulnerable -in

childhood.

It can't be emphasized enough that these sensitive children can imagine hurts or

slights, and dream up a rejection which never existed. Special care has to be taken to

convince them that they're good, smart, pretty, handsome, loved and wanted. Many

parents sense this, which is why lots of little crabs are pampered so much at home that

they get quite a shock as adults when they discover the world takes a cool,

disinterested view of their personal desires. No wonder so many Cancerians fondly

remember Mama and practically build a shrine to her as they grow older. No one else

will ever again care quite so much. The big question with a Moon child is always

whether to be overly firm and warp him, or overly permissive and spoil him. Finding

the middle road is never easy, and the problem can keep you up a few nights. The

keyword is: relax. Love usually finds the way. The best formula is a good old-

fashioned spanking when he needs it, with plenty of hugs and kisses and lots of

physical expressions of affection at all other times.

Teachers normally find the Cancerian boys and girls whizzes in history. They seldom

forget dates or events. That's because, thanks to their mirror-like sensitivity, they can

read about something that happened years ago, and almost believe they were there. If

Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, or Abraham Lincoln themselves could return and tell

their stories, they probably wouldn't be recounted with much more color than the

typical young Cancerian uses when he discusses the happenings of the dim and dusty

past. It's as if they actually saw the Battle of Lexington, the signing of the Declaration

of Independence and the shot fired on Fort Sumter. There's hardly a detail they can't

imagine. It's easy to see why so many of these sensitive boys and girls go on the stage,

become creative photographers or follow a distinguished career in music or art.


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Instructors of the young lunar mind may now and then complain of stubbornness or

daydreaming, but it's not often that either failing becomes pronounced enough to be

really troublesome. There may be some exaggerating. The boy may describe the

ordeal of being attacked in the woods by a dangerous bear to explain some scratches

caused by a fall from his own front porch. The girl may give a sad recital of how she

was locked out with no supper by cruel parents, after what was only a mild argumentwith her family. But a few tall tales can be expected when you consider the strong

mental impressions created by reading adventure stories with the lunar imagination.

When there's real heartache, instead of make-believe tragedy, the typical Cancerian

child will normally remain quiet and decline to speak about it. There's an old Chinese

proverb: "He who is really hurt-doesn't talk."

Like the Libran child, happy Cancerian youngsters can run up the family food bill to

fantastic proportions and soothing hurt feelings caused by the nickname Fatty is

common. If there's a lot of brooding or nervousness, the nickname may be Skinny. It's

best to bypass all nicknames with Moon children. They should never be teased.

Most young crabs look forward to working for pay, and they'll scour the

neighborhood for odd jobs. Your Cancer child will begin early to cut grass, sweep

leaves and babysit. He'll return bottles for refunds, help hang out the laundry, assist

the trash men, sell lemonade at the curb, or anything else he can think of that will

make his pockets jingle. The pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters-and finally the dollars

he makes will be carefully accounted for, and a good portion of them saved. After a

while, you may be able to save some yourself-on his allowance. He'll probably supply

his own spending money sooner than other children, and be proud of it. You'll find

him easy on your pocket-book in many ways. These children often work their way

through college. The boys will have a healthy curiosity about the business world. The

girls will be efficient in cash matters, too, but they'll also spend lots of time with their

dolls and baking brownies, practicing for their future careers as mothers.

The Cancer child will keep you amused with his jokes and his contagious laugh. He

can make funny faces that look like Halloween masks, and he sees the humor in every

facet of the human parade as it passes. Give him, if possible, a little plot of earth he

can call his own, where he can plant things with his green thumb and watch them

grow. He'll be tenderly concerned with relatives who are ill, financial emergencies in

the family, and the difficulties of his friends and neighbors. Lunar youngsters love

books about heroic people who braved hardships to do great deeds, and they'll be

especially gentle and sympathetic with animals. But if they feel cruelly treated

themselves, they may pass on the cruelty, or rather, reflect it to others smaller than

themselves in a sort of "kick the cat" progression. Young crabs can live up to the

name and be quite crabby, but such moods seldom last more than a few hours, before

they're replaced by a lovable loony grin.


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As you turn off the lamps at bed time, you may wonder, as all parents do about a day

in the not too far distant future when the little head that keeps popping up "for one

more drink of water" will be missing. The house will be still then, and empty of his

alternating tears and laughter, after the funny, imaginative little crab crawls away to

raise his own family. Will he forget? Not if he was born in late June or July. Years can

go by, and he may sail on distant seas, but you can keep his bean bag-the one he gaveyou that Saturday afternoon you quarreled-on his dresser. And you can leave her rag

doll in its place on the window seat. Your Moon child will come home again ' many

times throughout every tomorrow-to meet old memories and return to the past. No

matter how many miles separate him from yesterday, anywhere he lives is always

handy to home. Keep the cookie jar full.

the cancer child

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