A Short Tale of Aries & Cancer

Gashaponma was only thirty-three years of age and already she had survived sciatica, breast cancer, melanoma, retinal detachment, cerebral aneurysm, that deadly disease she wouldn’t dare to even mention, HPV, Hep-C & B and MS, in order of appearance. Most people told her that all she had was the sickness of a feeble, cowardly mind. But only she knew how much she had suffered through the years; the highs and lows of discovering disturbing symptoms and then being miraculously cured by the power of fear and prayer. She barely stepped out of her house. She feared the germs out there and she feared the people who carried them. She feared the potential of violence in every human too. She basically feared everything.

Her best friend sympathised even if she didn’t quite get what went on with her friend. Preying Mantis was the opposite of Gashaponma. She was fearless and free of care of disease and despair. This unlikely pairing was quite well matched on most days. When Mantis went rushing into situations angels would run screaming from, Gashaponma would drag her back by demanding care for her ailing self. One time, when Mantis was about to get into a physical brawl with a biker gang in a pub in Glasgow, Gashaponma saved her by the bawl (of needing a Paracetamol for a near-fatal headache). Poor dedicated friend Mantis had to choose nursing care over physical combat.

Mantis was pure of heart and caring that way, sharply contrasting Gashaponma’s self-serving and preserving nature. But together, they represented the kind of polarity every human must contend with at least in one area of their life, at least once in their lifetime.

In this particular case they both realised over time that selfishness and selflessness were both needed in order to create a peaceful, joyful, perfect world.

Mantis learned of self-preservation as a virtue essential to ensuring sustained energy for taking righteous action in smaller, less grandiose, more effective steps. She also learned that her manner mattered as much as her intent; that her aggressive promotion of ‘right’ and ‘rights’ could be misconstrued as selfish and dilute her point.

Gashaponma learned that only by healing others could one stifle the spread of diseases – of the body and of the heart.  If she wanted to live a secure and safe life, she needed to go out and nurture the world into a comfy cocoon. She learned that the people menacing the streets were simply hurt egos acting out for the want of a kind word. She also learned that worrying about all that had befallen her in the past prevented her from the quick reactions the present often demanded.

Mantis and Gashaponma were vastly different, and unconsciously learning to become one another.

Preying Mantis was Aries.

Gashaponma was Cancer.

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Situated 90 degrees apart, the signs of Aries and Cancer ‘square’ each other in the zodiac wheel. Popularly associated with the archetypes of the martial ‘I’-centred go-getter and the stay-at-home nurturer respectively, the two seem to be at cross purposes with each other, but are they? Indeed, this is the  question every ‘square’ aspect and sign in your chart should be asked.If your chart is full of squares, like mine is, (or if you’re dealing with a person who ‘squares’ you), it needn’t be a terrible prospect. Once you find the common motivation it can make for a creative force that harmoniously surges forth.

Behind every annoying seeming trait in another is a story, a reason, and a potential for something constructive. Partnerships that recognise this last longer.

And anyway, the sign we are born under is merely the starting point whence we learn to become another, and another, and another, till we’ve developed a 360-degree perspective.

Dedicated to my Aries best friend. 🙂