Cancer Zodiac Sign: Dates, Traits and Ruling Planet

Usual dates

June 21 to July 22

Element

Water

Mode

Cardinal

Ruling planet

Moon

Dates and the edge days

Cancer dates are June 21 to July 22. June 21 and July 22 are the edge days: the year and the birth time can put the Sun on either side of the change. The calculator checks that moment instead of trusting the printed range.

Element, mode, and ruler

Cancer is a water sign, and it is cardinal. Cancer is the cardinal water sign. It begins around the June solstice, so the tradition treats it as the opening of the second half of the year, with the Moon as its ruler. Protective, sensitive, loyal to home and family.

The Moon is the only luminary that rules a water sign in the classical scheme. That is why Cancer write-ups talk about tides, home, and memory more than about argument or display. Cancer is drawn as a crab, and the textbook picture is a hard shell around a soft inside: protection of family, a long memory, and a retreat when the mood turns. Water signs are the tradition's name for feeling rather than for thinking or doing. Treat that as folklore attached to a real solar position.

Moon in Cancer

The Moon in its own sign, Cancer, is described as feelings that are close to the surface and tied to home. Comfort looks like familiar people and a known room. Because the Moon is both the ruler and the body being placed, a changeover day needs the birth time.

Cancer rising

Cancer rising is the old description of a first meeting that feels guarded until trust is there. It is still just the sign on the eastern horizon. Two births on the same date can have different rising signs if the clocks differ.

Sign and constellation

The constellation Cancer is faint. Its best known feature is the Beehive cluster, a tight group of stars also called Praesepe. The sign begins around the June solstice.

Calculators

For the Sun sign, use the zodiac calculator. The Moon, Rising, Mercury, Venus, and Mars calculators answer a different question, and the Cancer horoscope is a separate daily note on the same sign.

Zodiac sign calculator · Moon · Rising · Cancer horoscope

Dates usually counted as Cancer

June 21 · June 22 · June 23 · June 24 · June 25 · June 26 · June 27 · June 28 · June 29 · June 30 · July 1 · July 2 · July 3 · July 4 · July 5 · July 6 · July 7 · July 8 · July 9 · July 10 · July 11 · July 12 · July 13 · July 14 · July 15 · July 16 · July 17 · July 18 · July 19 · July 20 · July 21 · July 22

Questions

What are Cancer dates?

Cancer dates are June 21 to July 22 in the usual tropical calendar. Those two edges are changeover days: the year and the birth time can put the Sun in Cancer or in the neighboring sign. Each date page below uses noon UTC, the same engine as the zodiac calculator, so you can see whether that birthday stays in Cancer.

What month is Cancer?

Cancer season sits in June and July. It does not fill either month on its own. June 21 is the usual start, and July 22 is the usual last day, with a clock time that shifts a little each year. Use the date list on this page, or the June and July birthday hubs.

When does Cancer season start?

Cancer season usually starts on June 21. That is the calendar day when the Sun is treated as entering Cancer, but the exact minute depends on the year. The zodiac calculator uses the same tropical longitude as these pages. If the birthday is June 21 or July 22, check the year rather than the printed range.