What's my sign?

FAR too long ago, I invited you, friends and Internet vagabonds, to ask me anything. And the preternaturally curious Zen took up the challenge and asked me to validate her hunch that my astrological sign is Cancer.

Now you would think that this would require only a relatively straight-forward answer, right? Well, no. And the reason why might become clearer …

First, I loved the question, because I love Cancers. Love love LOVE them. I consider it an honour to be compared to a Cancer. Some of my closest friends – particularly from my childhood - are Cancers. I think it’s because they tend to be more sensitive than other people, and, especially in my earlier days, I needed some particularly sensitive people in my life who could see beyond the noise and static that I was sending out.

Astrology.com also describes Cancers in this way:

The mascot of Cancerians is the Crab, and much like this shelled little critter, Cancerians are quick to retreat into their shells if it suits their mood. No wonder these folks are called crabby! For Cancer, it's not that big of a deal, though, since they consider this 'shell' a second home (and they do love home). The flip side of this hiding is that shell-bound Crabs are often quite moody. Further, in keeping with their difficulty in sharing their innermost feelings, it can become a Herculean task to pry a Crab out of its secret hiding place. What to do? Give the Crab time -- eventually these folks will come out to play again.

In many ways, this could describe me. I certainly tend to withdraw when I’m dealing with “stuff”, and I’ll only come out when I’m good and ready. However, I have very strong opinions about moody people (having had to deal with a few the last 38 years), and I firmly believe that it is completely wrong to take one’s bad mood out on anyone else. I know there are medical/psychological conditions where the person may not actually have that much control over how they treat other people, but such cases are rare. If I’m tired or upset, I consciously try to ensure that I don’t take those feelings out on anyone around me. I can’t really say whether I’m successful at this, but I *think* people find me fairly even-tempered.

But I digress … The truth is that I was born during the transition period between two signs, so I tend to have qualities of both signs (or so the theory goes). Since I’m not big on my revealing my birth date to the Internet (for privacy concerns), I won’t say here which signs these are. But from one sign to another, there are distinct contrasts, and perhaps this cusp/combination business explains why I am so “complexe”, as a French instructor once called me (after I sat in maybe 2 of her classes). On the other hand, there’s nothing really in either sign – to the best of my knowledge, at least – explains why I love home and gardening and nurturing as much as I do. (Surprisingly enough, Cancer does not appear anywhere in my astrological chart … go figure.)

Is there anything to this astrology business? I don’t know for sure, but it’s fun to ponder. For example, does the fact that my moon sign (emotions) is Virgo explain why I’m inexplicably drawn to Virgos? Does (one of my) sun signs explain why my relationships with Virgos are often a two-steps-forward-three-steps-back experience? It’s a fascinating possibility … :)