Cancer – The Crab, the Tortoise and the Beetle

08 May 2011, pencils, crayons and photo work

Master EK explains that when the earth begins to tilt back from the highest point of the summer solstice, the Sun appears to travel sidewise from North to South. Hence Sun is described as a crab while passing through this sign. A branch of symbolism represents it as the beetle which can transform a worm into a butterfly. This marks the transformation of matter into mind, the passage to spirit. The picture illustrates these aspects of the symbolism of the sign.

I took a photo of a crab running on a beach, between water and land, i.e., the physical and emotional plane; another of a turtle swimming in the waters. The turtle is a symbol of the man who has learnt to withdraw from the outer to the inner and to come out again when needed. The swimming turtle is elegantly floating through the waters, for it has mastered the emotional plane. And above you see three ladybird beetles flying. They represent the stage where the soul has liberated itself from the dense matter of the three lower planes and is ascending into the vast worlds of the spirit.

In the centre you see the moon shedding its light on the surface of the water. Moon is the ruler of Cancer, and the reflective light stands for the illusions created when you see only the reflection and not the original. There is a movement of reddish veils around the moon for which I used a picture of a rose, representing the heart governed by Cancer. The rose also stands for the intuitive and mystic nature of the sign. In the left upper corner, you also see the symbol of Neptune, the higher ruler of Cancer, and the glyph of the sign in the right upper corner.