Third Decan of Cancer (20°–30°)

The Moon doubled at the end of its own sign

The third decan of Cancer runs from 20° to 30° of the sign. In the Chaldean order the Moon follows Mercury and rules this face, and since Cancer is the Moon's own sign, the Moon here holds both the sign and the face. The triplicity scheme gives the third face of a water sign to Pisces and so to Jupiter, with Neptune as the modern co-ruler. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer as well, so both rulers of the face are at ease in the sign. Tradition puts the exact degree of Mars's fall at 28° Cancer, inside this face.

The result is the most lunar stretch of the zodiac. Feeling, memory, imagination and the pull of the past run deep, and Jupiter through Pisces widens them toward faith, compassion and the dream world. Planets here tend to live a rich inner life, absorb atmospheres and remember everything. They can also sink into a mood and disappear inside it. The last face of a sign prepares the handover, and here the water of Cancer gathers before the fire of Leo.

The hunter with spear and hounds

Agrippa, following the Arabic image lists that the Picatrix brought into Latin, describes the third face of Cancer as a hunter with a lance and a horn, leading his dogs out to the chase. He reads it as contention among people, the pursuit of those who flee, and taking hold of things by arms and struggle. After the feast of the second face, it is a surprising turn.

The hunter shows the hidden side of the Moon's deep water. Cancer withdraws, broods and remembers; then, roused, it pursues with tenacity, the crab that will not let go. The dogs are instinct, loyal and sharp-nosed, following a scent the hunter may not consciously know. The decan holds both states, the still pool and the chase. The Golden Dawn title for the face's card, Lord of Blended Pleasure, names the mix: satisfaction stained with discontent, enough to have, too little to enjoy, which is often what sends the hunter out.

Sopdet and the opening of the year

The decans were thirty-six Egyptian stars that marked the night hours, each for about ten days, recorded on coffin lids from about 2100 BCE. At their head stood Sopdet, the star Sirius, identified with Isis, together with Sah, the stars of Orion, identified with Osiris. Sopdet's return to the dawn sky after its seasonal absence was the signal for the Egyptian new year and the coming flood of the Nile.

In the Roman period that rising fell in July, while the Sun stood in or near the last degrees of Cancer, so this face sits close to the moment the Egyptian year began. A water sign of memory and the mother, in the season when the waters rose, fits the old calendar well. Which decan star the Egyptians placed in this exact stretch is uncertain, since the lists vary. The page on the Egyptian decan gods tells more about Sopdet and Sah.

The Four of Cups, Lord of Blended Pleasure

In the Golden Dawn system the Four of Cups is the Moon in Cancer, the last decan of the cardinal water sign, and Book T titles it the Lord of Blended Pleasure. Behind it stand The High Priestess for the Moon and The Chariot for Cancer.

The Rider-Waite card shows a young man sitting under a tree with his arms crossed, three cups on the grass before him and a hand from a cloud holding out a fourth. He does not look up. Read through this decan, the card shows the Moon turned inward: so absorbed in feeling, memory or disappointment that a new offer goes unseen. The cups he has are not empty, and the one held out is real. The decan's work is to notice it. The hunter of the old image is the same young man once he stands up and goes out after what he wants.

A Sun or several planets in the third decan of Cancer

A Sun here belongs to people born in roughly the ten days before Leo begins, the middle of July. You tend to feel strongly and remember vividly, with a strong imagination and an attachment to home, family history and places that hold memories. You need time alone to process what you absorb. When you are low, you may withdraw and miss what others offer; when something matters, you pursue it with surprising persistence.

Several planets in this face give a chart emotional depth, intuition and a contemplative streak, often with artistic or spiritual interests from the Piscean side. The common gift is compassion grounded in real understanding. The common difficulty is moodiness, or nostalgia that keeps you from the present. Look at the Moon and Jupiter in your chart, since they rule this face.

Working with the third face of Cancer

When you withdraw, set a time to come back out, and tell someone. Keep a journal of what you feel and remember; this face processes by reflecting. Each week, list one thing that was offered to you, an invitation, a kindness, a chance, so the fourth cup does not go unnoticed. Spend time near water. When you feel the urge to pursue something, follow it, since the hunter is this decan's answer to its own stillness.