Venus in Cancer | by transit and in the birth chart
/Venus in Cancer - by transit
What happens to Venus when she enters the Moon's home? Well, we get a combination of Venus themes (pleasure, beauty, harmony) and Lunar themes. Lunar themes include: our bodies, our deepest emotions, and our most intimate connections.
When we add Venus' harmonizing, befriending and connection-oriented nature to Cancer's deeply nostalgic and emotional landscape, we can experience a strong emphasis on our emotions, our social bonds and our longing.
When Venus moves through Cancer, we might be swept up in nostalgia or a feeling of longing for a past we can never return to. There might be an urge to look through old photos of your ex during this week. What and who do we desire? What do we feel like we're missing? What are we longing for?
We might feel a little extra vulnerable over the next few weeks, a little extra emotionally needy. Sometimes Venus in Cancer can inspire us to love with a little too much fear, a little too much attachment, because we feel so emotionally invested in our social connections. This is true for romantic relationships, but it's also true for our friendships and family relationships.
The Moon is an ever-changing planet, whose light ebbs and flows, and who appears in different places in the sky every night. Thus, we can expect our emotions and connections to feel extremely moody, sensitive, prone to fluctuations.
While Venus is in Cancer, this is a lovely time for us to explore our emotions in a more soulful and intentional way. This is a great time to pile on the self-care, to reach out to therapist or counsellor and dive into your feelings, to text a friend you really love but haven't spoken to in a while.
However, the danger is that we might expect too much of others, and unconsciously demand that they fix up. It's important to take responsibility for our emotions, and to respect that not everyone can show up for us in the way we want them to in the moment. If your bestie isn't available for a 3 hour convo, have some back-up ways to find a similar sense of connection and support (just don't blame them for being busy!).
Venus in Cancer - in the birth chart
When someone has Venus in Cancer in their birth chart, the themes and archetypes described above has a life time to express in their lives. If you're someone with Venus in Cancer, it's essential to study the placement of the Moon in your birth chart — the sign and house of the Moon will give you crucial information about how well supported your Venus is, and how the Venus in Cancer themes might express in your life.
But, of course, there are some generalizations it's safe to make about folks who were born when Venus was in Cancer.
Venus in Cancer people tend to be very friend- and family-first type of individuals. There is a strong emphasis in their life on nourishing and connecting with others. Their social bonds are very important and soothing for them, and they have a natural tendency to cherish, develop and nurture the people in their lives.
The need to care for others is very strong with Venus in Cancer people. They are often looking for ways to show up for the people they love, going the extra mile with a sweet, thoughtful gesture. Venus in Cancer people are absolutely the type of person to bake you cupcakes on your birth day, send take out to your house when you're sick, or start a meal train when you're recovering some surgery.
And while for the most part these natural inclinations are lovely and sweet, there can be a dark side to Venus in Cancer's need to express affection. The love of connection, sweetness and pleasantness can cause a Venus in Cancer person to stubbornly ignore or deny any darkness that exists, instead insisting on an idealized vision of the world that has no room for mistakes. There can be a tendency towards secrecy and deception — unable to face potential conflict or difficult, a Venus in Cancer person might choose to lie, deny or ignore what's happening.
Venus in Cancer's deep need for emotional connection can border on neediness, and also have a tone of never being satisfied. This can cause Venus in Cancer people to demand more and more, and can also speak to themes of jealousy and emotional manipulation, perhaps using the sweetness and friendliness of Venus in Cancer for nefarious ends.
That's not to say ALL Venus in Cancer people will do this or have these tendencies — people are complicated, and we will have shades of each inside of us. The placement and position of your Moon sign will give even more detail about how these themes show up in your life, but every single birth chart is unique, and every single person is unique! There are soooo many different ways these patterns can appear in our lives.
There is often a sense of romantic fondness of the past and a tendency towards nostalgia for Venus in Cancer people. Cancer & the Moon's connection to the past can often manifest in Venus in Cancer people aesthetically — they might be attracted to "retro" or "old fashioned" things from the past, like roller skates or retro video games. There could often be an interest in antiquity and the past, a deep love of ancient art and thought.
This connection to the past, combined with the Moon's association with the people who raised us, means that Venus in Cancer folks often have a deep, karmic connection to their parents and/or the people who raised them, and their place of origin. These connections could be helpful and supportive, or they might be challenging, depending on the individual's chart. But regardless of the tone or quality, this sense of deep, emotional connection to home, family and place of origin can be very strong for folks with Venus in Cancer.
Examples of people with Venus in Cancer
I've selected a few examples of famous people with Venus in Cancer to highlight specific parts of the archetypes discussed above. Of course, we don't know the inner lives of celebrities and famous people, so take all of these observations with a grain of salt.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie has Venus in Cancer, exactly conjunct her Ascendant. This specific placement brings the Venus qualities of beauty and pleasure into her physical appearance and her overall life direction — seems pretty accurate for a famously beautiful movie star, no?
But the Venus in Cancer themes go even further — Angelina Jolie is known for adopting multiple children and for wanting a big family. (Is there problematic white saviour stuff bound up in that? Absolutely! But we'll save that for another blog post) Thus, we can see how the desire for family, deeper emotional connections (and maybe even a desire to fill an emptiness inside of her?) can express in someone's life.
Donald Trump & Clint Eastwood
I wanted to mention Donald Trump and Clint Eastwood because they both hit on some really essential themes of Venus in Cancer that we don't often think about. They also speak to the ways that toxic masculinity can express itself through this placement.
The nostalgia and longing of the sign of Cancer can evoke a sense of nationalism disguised as patriotism. Examples of this nationalism can be found in Donald Trump's whole shtick. The entire concept of "Make America Great Again" is bound up in nostalgia, a desire to return to past that never actually existed. Meanwhile, we have the movies of Clint Eastwood — movies about cowboys and war and men fighting for freedom. Movies that glorify American nationalism.
Donald Trump is also an interesting example of a Venus in Cancer person because of his connection to his family. Trump clearly benefited enormously from his family — his fortune came from his father, and he used that wealth to start his career. But there is also discussion about how difficult his upbringing was, and what a toxic culture it was within the family. Thus, we can see the double-edged sword of Venus in a Moon-ruled sign. We can also see how Trump has prioritized his immediate family — his children were deeply involved in his campaign and presidency, and he is clearly deeply concerned with his legacy and the future of the Trump name.
I hope you've found this exploration of Venus in Cancer helpful! Tracking the movements of the inner planets through the zodiac signs can be a wonderful way to learn astrology and to deepen your relationships with the planets.
Do you have Venus in Cancer? Share you experiences in the comments below! I'd love to hear how some of these traits resonate with you.
Not sure if you have Venus in Cancer? Check out my guide on how to look up your birth chart for more info. Plus, you can always book a reading to get a personalized overview of your birth chart.
Want to learn more about what Venus in Cancer means in your chart?
Book a reading to get an in-depth look at your birth chart and what makes you unique.