2005 Planet Waves Annual for Cancer

by Eric Francis

BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, you will be able to proudly wear the t-shirt that says, 'Saturn Went Through My Sign, And I'm Only Better For It'. But not quite yet. One of the counsels of Saturn is patience. Another is humility, which is another way of saying earthy: grounded, clear and in a state of observing the world around you.

In the simplest terms possible, I propose that the mission of Saturn in Cancer is to help you grow up. Most people in the Western world are suspended in a kind of limbo between childhood and adulthood, yet able to enjoy the privileges of neither. Most kids are under enormous pressure to grow up too young, while most adults still resent not having had a real childhood -- having borne the burdens of their caregivers. Saturn in Cancer has been for you a process of burning off that karma and standing up as someone who understands that responsibility is necessary; who strives to have a realistic sense of the world; and who is determined to succeed despite your acknowledged shortcomings.

It's said that Saturn is in its 'detriment' in Cancer, because Saturn rules Cancer's opposite sign, Capricorn. Perhaps planets are not considered well placed in their opposite sign because it's consistently so difficult for us to see others' point of view. But we need to see and feel that perspective if we're really going to have empathy for the people around us, and for ourselves.

If Saturn is working to remove anything from your life, I would say it's the emotional factors that lead your emotions to be so unstable. To a greater or lesser degree, this trait can stir up some havoc in the lives of Cancerians, and Saturn's main objective is to pull you beneath the surface to find out what it is in your emotional body that causes you to lose your center so easily. As this has gone on, you've been confronted with many of your fears about yourself and your relationships. And, one by one, I trust that you've addressed them.

Fear is fear, as you've learned; it's not something that is actually tangible, happening, or looming on the horizon. It is an emotion. While it's usually wise to counsel people to be more in touch with their emotions, I think Saturn has taught you to stand back from them and observe them as waves or energetic processes that move through you. As you notice them, you can let them go. If you attach to them, they can develop into something else -- but only at your bidding.

In this time, you've experienced the danger, the beauty and ultimately the power of partnership. You have been through so much. It is possible that your closest emotional relationships have for a long time felt like a series of disasters or long struggles. People have had a tendency to cut two ways. The result is that you've become extremely attentive to the details of relationships.

And, I sense that no matter how important or disruptive any other person may be to you, or how much power they may seem to have, you've learned to remember and remain clear about who you are. No other person's feelings, projections, or intentions are an excuse for you to not feel good about yourself, or for you to judge yourself in any way. Part of true humility means not having the false humility of feeling inferior. And part of real self-esteem means having a certain arm's length relationship to praise.

The idea is to go deeper than these things. If you've learned nothing else in the recent adventures of your life and of your inner journey, it's how capable of depth you are, and how much true intimacy must be part of your relationships. And as I write, I can hear the tumblers moving inside the lock as that particular key turns. The door that separated you from others is about to open. But you must take your newfound vigilance with you.

True intimacy as we know it is an adult privilege. This is where the excellent maturity-oriented work you've done will come in handy. Intimacy requires the ability to stay centered, to factor the feelings of others, and at times to experience love as something selfless, where 'oneself' is not the central focus of the discussion. Intimacy is sharing.

Chiron transiting Aquarius will open up the flow of energy between you and people around you -- and quite possibly someone in particular. My sense is that this transit represents a specific expression or experience that will take you to a new depth, where you can see, feel and share what is possible. When you get there, I think you'll suddenly see how close to the edge you've been for so long.

It's true that so much seems to hang by a thread, and that the lines between success and failure, happiness and sadness, loneliness and contentment, or life and death, can seem awfully fine. The thing is, they actually do exist. There really is no gray area possible in these matters -- and where there appears to be one, it's best to stand back, because perhaps the most critical theme of 2005 is that ambiguity is not an option. You need to know just what state you are in: committed or noncommittal; desiring or not; turned on or not; feeling like you belong somewhere or not; trusting someone or not.

Based on all your new information about yourself, and the confidence you have gained from having your determination tested over and over, you'll be faced with a series of decisions on which so much seems to hinge. It does, and that's okay; it's so rare in this lifetime that we get into territory where everything really does matter.

Remember that it's never easy for a water sign person to truly feel good about herself because you feel so much, so deeply, and on this plane of reality there are so many reasons for doubt. But even you would agree that one of your greatest personal assets is determination, and you seem only the stronger for having faced your fears and weaknesses so directly.

Has anything been easy the past couple of years? Yet despite the seeming difficulties, enforced changes and uncertainty, your life has proceeded as if according to a plan. You have succeeded in distinguishing yourself from the teeming mass of civilization.

And if there has been a sense of scarcity in some areas of your life, it has been met by unusual abundance in many others. In such times, the only thing that stands between you and not having enough is your ability to conduct basic commerce: to exchange, to share, and to receive.

Men are experiencing an entirely new relationship to the role of women in their lives.

I don't suggest you come to terms with the fact that for most people, sex is extremely boring. You're not going to endure that... PW

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