When is the first day of cancer

Cancer dates in astrology are typically from June 21-July 22. If your birthday falls in this date range, you most likely have a Cancer Sun sign. Although Cancer horoscope birth dates can change depending on the year, these are typically the Cancer calendar dates.

About Cancer dates

For about 30 days each year, the Sun travels through the part of the zodiac occupied by Cancer. June 21-July 22 is typically the Cancer birth date range. Occasionally, the Cancer start date will be a day earlier on June 20, or the Cancer end date will fall a day later on July 23.

Cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac, which contains 12 signs in total. The Cancer star sign is an emotional water sign (element) and a leadership-oriented cardinal sign (quality). As the only cardinal water sign in the zodiac, Cancer people seek to create secure situations and relationships in their lives where they feel important, indispensable and (most importantly) needed. This maternal sign likes to nurture and be nurtured, creating lasting bonds. If you date a Cancer, you’ll get a “parent” and a partner in one, as this sign can be possessive and known to cling.

Did the Cancer dates change?

The constellations have shifted. Is there a different Cancer birth date range now?

Periodically, astronomers will announce “breaking news” that horoscopes aren’t accurate because the constellations have shifted. Or they will announce is a 13th zodiac sign, citing the constellation Ophiucus and claiming that the horoscope dates for Cancer (and every other sign) have changed.

Here’s an interesting bit of clarification between astronomy and astrology. The actual constellations have shifted over the ages, but astrology follows a different system, which uses “artificial” constellations. Rather than following the movement of the visible stars, Western astrology is based on the apparent path of the Sun as seen from our vantage point on earth. Within that path, astrologers have carved out static zones, and we track the planetary movements against these. That is why Cancer dates remain the same even as the heavens keep shifting.

In second century Alexandria, the great mathematician and astronomer/astrologer Ptolemy created the Tropical Zodiac, which is a fixed system that is not affected by changes in the constellations or the Earth’s axis. Ptolemy used the same names for the zodiac signs as he did for the constellations, which is why there is confusion around the Cancer birth date range. The Tropical Zodiac is static and not affected by shifts in the Earth’s axis. It begins every year with the Aries pseudo-constellation, which is based on the position of the Sun at the spring equinox on March 21.

As the website Astrologer.com explains it:

Western astrology is based on the planets and their motion relative to our year (the Earth’s annual orbit of the Sun) and not on the distant stars. Before astrologers started to compile planetary tables, the backdrop of the distant visible ‘fixed’ stars proved to be most consistent system for measuring the positions of the ‘wandering stars’, known as the planets in our solar system. The 12 sign zodiac was defined by the stars within chosen constellations along the ecliptic (the apparent annual path of the Sun) in Mesopotamia at the end of the Iron Age (around 500 BC). Though the Babylonians used stars and constellations for measurement, they were also using zones which start from the position of the Sun at the March Equinox which was, is and will always be the start of the sign of Aries in the western system.

Vedic Astrology and Cancer star sign dates

Vedic astrology, also known as Jyotisha, is the traditional Hindu astrology system. It is based on the Sidereal zodiac, or Nirayana, which is an imaginary 360-degree “belt” of zodiac signs divided into 12 equal sectors. However, Vedic astrology is different from Western astrology in that it measures the fixed zodiac, rather than the moving zodiac. So in Vedic astrology, the Cancer dates would be July 14-August 14. Go figure!

View Your Cancer Horoscope

Cancer Daily Horoscope

Cancer Weekly Horoscope

Cancer Monthly Horoscope

Dates of other zodiac signs

Aries Horoscope Dates (March 21-April 19)

Taurus Horoscope Dates (April 20-May 20)

Gemini Horoscope Dates May 21-June 20)

Cancer Horoscope Dates June 21-July 22)

Leo Horoscope Dates (July 23-August 22)

Virgo Horoscope Dates (August 23-September 22)

Libra Horoscope Dates (September 23-October 22)

Scorpio Horoscope Dates (October 23-November 21)

Sagittarius Horoscope Dates (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn Horoscope Dates (December 22-January 19)

Aquarius Horoscope Dates (January 20 to February 18)

Pisces Horoscope Dates (February 19 to March 20)