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2nd decan of Cancer: dates and rulers

The second third of Cancer would turn sensitivity into a precise memory and a fitting word, or into an ardor to defend loved ones.

  • memory
  • fine intuition
  • protective instinct
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2nd decan of Cancer: Mercury (faces), Scorpio (triplicity)
The essentials

The 2nd decan of Cancer at a glance

For you

Cancer’s sensitivity that understands or that fights: naming emotions with Mercury, defending them with Mars.

A strength

Understanding what loved ones feel and standing up for them when needed.

Something to watch

Dwelling on old wounds or overreacting when a loved one is criticized.

Decan planet
☿︎ Mercury
Associated sign
♏︎ Scorpio (Mars)
Read more
Calculate my decan

By Thomas Guilhot · updated

The 2nd decan of Cancer: the meaning

The series of faces moves from Venus to Mercury: it therefore rules the middle of Cancer.

The triplicities give this decan to Scorpio, the second water sign, and to Mars, its traditional ruler; moderns add Pluto. The contrast is marked between the quick messenger and the warrior, but both would give Cancer a more active sensitivity, less passive than the sign is sometimes said to be.

Under Mercury, one would describe a person with an impressive memory, able to name all the cousins and recall the detail of a conversation from ten years ago. They like telling the family story, keep a journal, write letters, and find the photos everyone thought lost. Under Mars and Scorpio, they would be more protective and intense: ready to go to the front for a brother treated unfairly or a child left out.

The downside would lie in this very memory. Old wounds would stay raw, and a wrong word could awaken an old quarrel. The Martian version risks a defensive touchiness; the Mercurial one, rumination. Writing down what weighs, then rereading it with a cool head, would help this decan tell memory from resentment, and keep from its past what nourishes rather than what hurts.

Sign
CancerWater, cardinal; ruler: Moon
Degrees
10° to 20°Longitude 100° to 110°
Faces (Chaldean)
MercuryPlanet 6 of the Chaldean order
Triplicity
Scorpio (Mars (modern: Pluto))2nd water sign

The 2nd decan of Cancer: tradition

What tradition says

Mercury has no dignity in Cancer; Mars is even in fall there, according to Ptolemy, who places its exaltation in the opposite sign.

How is it calculated?

The faces give Mercury; the triplicities give Scorpio and its ruler, Mars.

Frequently asked questions about the 2nd decan of Cancer

Mercury or Mars: which ruler for the 2nd decan of Cancer?

The Chaldean faces give Mercury, who follows Venus in their series. The triplicities give Scorpio and its ruler Mars, with Pluto for the moderns. The two rulers lead to two different portraits: a sensitivity that analyzes and remembers, or a sensitivity that defends and protects with surprising energy.

Why is Mars in fall in Cancer?

Ptolemy places Mars’s exaltation in Capricorn; the opposite sign, Cancer, thus becomes its fall. Tradition sees in it a combativeness that expresses itself poorly in a water sign devoted to shelter and family, hence reactions that are more defensive than offensive. It is a symbolic idea, not a forecast about the person.

What are the dates of the 2nd decan of Cancer?

This decan occupies the start of July, while the Sun crosses the central ten degrees of Cancer. The moment of entry and the moment of exit differ slightly each summer. They are recalculated for the year and displayed in French local time in the table; for an older birth date, the calculator finds the Sun’s degree to the minute.

Neighboring decans

The three decans of Cancer

The decans of Mercury (faces)