Water Signs: Cancer ∙ Scorpio ∙ Pisces

Water signs are deeply connected to the emotional realm, embodying qualities of tenderness, nurturing, and compassion.

The personification of Cancer is the crab. A crab doesn't walk directly toward you but instead goes from side to side, and this is reflective of Cancer's ability to navigate opposites and find balance in nurturing and caring for others.

Maybe a circumstance in your life presents itself and you are able to naturally see both sides.

Similarly, to know that you are cycling up, if something keeps coming up over and again, are you able to navigate that circumstance better today than you were able to the last time around?

Crabs have a soft underbelly and when they get poked, they may respond by holding back and withdrawing, protecting themselves from potential harm. These responses are signals, guiding us to pay attention to specific aspects that require acknowledgment and understanding.

Scorpio can be personified by the scorpion, the snake, the eagle, and the Phoenix, and each of these represent different aspects, but they're all related to the idea of starting, changing, and stopping -- what we call Cycles and Rhythms.

One metaphor is that of the snake shedding its skin and for a time the snake is vulnerable and has to hide, like going into the Underworld. During this retreat, the skin grows back, and now it's powerful again.

So it's your ability to be okay shedding yourself of the old ways that need to change. Scorpio is comfortable delving into the depths and processing what others may think of as dark concepts.

Where you have Scorpio, you may want to stay hidden. Suppose Scorpio shows up in the 11th House (Groups and Organizations). You may want to hold back at the beginning, stay in the shadow, and make sure it's safe first..

If Scorpio is related to the Death card in the Tarot and going into the Underworld, then Ophiuchus, the 13th sign in Sidereal astrology) is related to the Judgment card and is about coming back out in a way that is more balanced, renewed, and connected to life. Ophiuchus is healing yourself and others through redemption.

*More about Ophiuchus in another post, but for now let's say some astrologers think of Ophiuchus as being a higher vibration of Scorpio,, which really does make sense when you look at their relative positions in the sky, and so they relate Ophiuchus to the element of water. I believe Ophiuchus is related to the fifth element, which in Hawaiian is called Keawe..

Pisces, of course, is the two fish swimming in opposite directions, symbolizing the duality of this sign.

When it's in harmony and conscious, Pisces can be amazingly intuitive, very tranquil, present, compassionate. So chill, so spiritual.

If you've ever watched koi, you know that watching fish going round and round can be monotonous and even a little doze-y. Where Pisces goes out of harmony, there's the risk of even going into a fantasy world, like not dealing with reality. Everyone has Pisces somewhere, so you want to look for patterns of terrific insight and intuition, then escaping and disappearing, or even a struggle with holding boundaries.

Where these water signs appear in a person's birth chart offers insights into their emotional nature and how they deal with feelings, nurturing tendencies, and cycles of emotions.

The progression from Cancer to Scorpio (through Ophiuchus) and finally to Pisces represents a journey through emotional depth and transformation.

Cancer's nurturing and cyclic nature leads to Scorpio's intense and transformative experiences, which further evolve through Ophiuchus's healing and redemption, ultimately culminating in Pisces' profound compassion and intuitive understanding of the interconnectedness of all things.

Photo Credit: Moises Villarreal