Cancer, Family And The IC

“We can speak without voice to the trees and the clouds and the waves of the sea. Without words they respond through the rustling of leaves and the moving of clouds and the murmuring of the sea.”
–Paul Tillich

The sign of Cancer is ruled by the Moon, motherhood, the emotions, femininity. Cancer rules the 4th house and the second angle, the IC or nadir. The 4th house is the realm of the family, the home, ones roots and ancestry. The IC or nadir is a point (angle) that can be analyzed to understand one’s personal attitudes and the conditions of one’s “home base.” The Moon itself can be examined to determine what is necessary for one’s satisfaction and the IC is complementary in its involvement as it shows our archetypal home, where we came from and, in a greater scope, where our needs originate.

The IC is expressive of our experience and sense of family in general. It can show where how we attach to our family, what we see as “family” and even how we relate in the family unit.

Planets aspecting the IC or in the 4th house express where we come from and our inner nature that is tied to our roots. Planets transiting this area bring energy to understand, illuminate and cultivate growth in our inner nature. Outer planet transits here can feel (the Moon) very unsettling. It is the very seat of our feeling of self. However, maintenance here is important in keeping your foundation strong. Taken with the Moon’s aspects and placement, the IC is a great point to consider when seeking satisfaction. It is the very root of the birth chart and the center of one’s stability.

Where is your IC? What is “home” to you?

17 thoughts on “Cancer, Family And The IC”

  1. You know what? Nothing is “home” to me. Home = snuggly warm safe place where I feel loved and belong? Does not exist for me. Home is where I am sleeping tonight and stashing my stuff. This is why I start gagging every time someone goes on about Cancer and the wonderfulness of home.

    I have Aquarius IC. Aquarius seems to be the absolute coldest sign emotionally, and my family and I do not relate to each other. Figures, eh?

  2. Libra, with pluto in scorpio in the 4th. I feel at home in a beautiful, harmonius place. My childhood was like this, but with a lof of Pluto under the surface. It’s given me a depth that I strive to find in every venture and every person. Mine is the beautiful house with the garden on the corner…the one where the witch lives!

    I have my moon in the 11th. I have always felt I’m part of a big group, especially a group of women in my family.

  3. My IC is in Leo in my third house.

    My whole county is home to me, with the area I lived as a child being the most home like.

  4. This is really interesting to me. I came from a very broken home with a lot of abuse inside the house. I have never had any sense of having a family, and I remember from my infancy wanting to be part of a family but never knowing how, and eventually growing weary and losing hope.

    In my chart all the planets are between Pisces and Scorpio. Only five signs and houses are occupied, my third through eighth houses are completely empty. My IC is in Taurus and it’s a ghost town down there.
    But … I have the Sun, Mercury, Pluto, and Venus in Scorpio in the 10th. Venus and the MC at 10 degrees Scorpio. I’ve certainly read a lot about my Scorpio-ness and all that, but I haven’t yet understood why over half of my chart is empty.
    I can say that during my life I have felt a severe lack of a foundation, protection, strength, and especially safety. I guess that’s all Taurus stuff.

    The funny thing is I’ve never had a Taurus close to me. I feel an insane attraction to the Taurus moon though, and can identify it by the sound of the voice.

  5. hmm i can make my “home” anywhere i go. i’ve surfed many couches and am always welcomed by friends to stay. i don’t have a problem with my real “home” but never want to be there for some reason. i’ve been living with my bf and his parents for the past two years but am DYING to get our own place now. Ic in Aries. Curious.. cuz even though i can “make” my “home” anywhere, doesn’t seem like any place really satisfies for long. even when i was in college i would stay over in my bfs room instead of mine, very interesting… must look further into this.

  6. With 3rd house Neptune Rx quite conjunct my 4th IC… that question sometimes is like a mystery. Ive got Sagittarius there… my moon is on Aquarius in the 6th adding the cold Jenfullmoon mentioned*… Sagy ruler is on the 10th conjunct MC, pushing me out there.
    *but it sextile the IC… so not so cold.
    10th Gemini Jupiter opposes IC
    Neptune conjunct IC
    2nd Scorpio Juno semi-sextile IC
    1st Libra Pluto sextile IC

  7. My IC is in Sagittarius, and it’s empty. I empathise deeply with jenfullmoon, autumn, and Paulo. My childhood was filled with abuse, abandonment, and addiction. My NN is conjunct Venus in Cancer/10th house, and my whole existence has been about bucking my origins and carving out a home and family for myself in this world. I’ve done what I can, but you can’t really fight Karma; and apparently, having a close-knit family and a stable home aren’t part of mine. That hasn’t stopped me from trying, even if it often feels futile; but it’s my primary directive.

  8. Wow, this is deep stuff. I’m really happy I read this because just this weekend I was thinking about the IC, and the fourth house.

    You see, my home was alright. It was my place of refuge (from the world), but my room was a place of refuge (from the home).
    Emotional aspects of the family eventually caused me to seek out m own path and ultimately, I physically detached myself from this ‘home’ by moving away. Even now I yearn for this ‘home’ but I do not feel at home in it.

    My ASC is in cancer. My IC is in virgo. My chart ruler is the moon which is in Taurus in the 11th house – just like @sunlover 117 I feel at home with groups, friends, associations, and networks. I feel safe with a happy, expansive (jupiter there too) network.

    And just like le-soleil i have my NN in the 10th house. I feel the pull to go out, to leave, and probably due to an afflicted IC ruler (mercury), it ultimately didn’t take much for me TO leave.

    But here is what has really made me think about this, Satori.
    If my ascendant is in cancer, and my chart ruler is the moon, would the 4th house mean something special? I don’t know how to better articulate my question, hehe.

    What I mean is, I have had several people with their planet(s) in my 4th house, and I get very, very attached to them. I’m rather aloof in most cases – but when their sun/moon/venus/mercury is in my 4th or ON my IC, I get unbearably attached. Granted, when placed there, their planet(s) would trine my taurus moon, too, so that might play a role.

    But I wonder, if my ASC is in cancer and my chart ruler (taurus moon) is much afflicted, then would some planet on the IC/in the 4th house ——> because the 4th house is cancer’s house, right? ——-> truly cause me to take notice, would truly cause me to break my walls down?

    Sorry for the run on sentences. I just can’t take my mind of this [most recent] person with his sun down there – as I rarely engage in inerpersonal relationships like this, I haven’t been able to be very rational about it at all. Was wondering if sometone touching my IC would be especially important due to my cancer ascendant. Thanks.

  9. Sadge IC with Neptune there as well, my home can be everywhere but mostly it’s where l feel good inside. l have foggy visions of my home&roots, they are abroad so it does fit my profile!

  10. “Home” and IC are a strong theme for me with a lot of repeating intertwined aspects. I have the moon cj the IC in Aries. Mars in Pisces.
    – cj Jupiter cj the IC in Aries -whaaam
    – opp Pluto cj the MC in Libra – most exact aspect in my chart – baaam
    – sq Saturn in Cancer H7 – shibammm
    – sextile Mercury in Gemini/H6 – whiiizzzz
    – trine Ascendant cj Neptune (H12) in Sadge – wooohhh

    Least to say there are plentiful of issues here and this is a central challenging theme in my life that has been a source of pain but that I have come to face up actively and intuitively and with optimsm (which helped a lot) – and I have survived like a warrior maybe (Aries 😉 and found the meaning of what is “home” to me, searching deep down into my roots , my unconscious. – that journey actually led me to astrology.

  11. I’ve Jupiter conjunct my IC in Aquarius. But my experience was/is very different from Jenfullmoon’s.

    I had a fabulous family growing up, very loving and supportive, albeit strict. I rebelled and left (Jupiter) at 17 and traveled across the country to finish High School with my father’s brother’s family (whom I had only met a few times). It was an adventure that sort of set the tone for the next couple of decades.

    As much as I love my family, I’ve always been considered the ‘independent’ one. It’s not enough for me to discover a place over a week or two vacation- I want to ‘feel’ (Moon in the 1st) what it’s like to live there. So, most of my adult life, I’ve lived far away from the rest of my family.

    I also can feel very much ‘at home’ when I’m traveling. I love hotel living! With my husband’s work, I’ve been on the road with him for months at a time and am perfectly content.

    Very interesting post, Satori! Thanks!

  12. IC Sag 3rd nothing there. Jupiter cj Uranus Cancer 10th. le-soleil said it, and I too empathize with those she does. Yes, I guess my siblings are the closest I get to feeling at home but those times together are very few and far between now and the past cannot be recaptured anyway. Now I get it about being on the move all my life – few believe me when I say how many places I’ve laid my head. I know where I feel at home and that is wandering along a deserted oceanside beach: it’s the true dream of my life to make it there someday.

  13. my IC is in cancer. i also have mars in cancer in the 4th.

    home is where my mom is? i’m totally remedial at this. anyone wanna help?

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