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According to an ancient Greek legend, the Crab somehow ended up allied with the Hydra against Heracles! Its shell was needed less to protect its body—no armor could withstand Hercules' club—than to shelter a vulnerable heart. Those two great claws frighten no one: everyone knows there is no creature more tender or self-sacrificing. Above all, Cancer dislikes change. Loved ones are what this sign holds most dear, which is why Cancer needs the protection of loving people as well as talismans. Those people are the real shell.
Cancer's talisman stones offer help in every undertaking: emerald, pearl, moonstone, aquamarine, aventurine, chrysoprase, agate, amethyst, sapphire, turquoise, and alexandrite.
Emerald
Emerald is associated with material comforts and wealth. More than anything, Cancer wants a cozy home behind sturdy walls. With emerald's help, they can build a safe refuge and create an underwater garden of their own, where time moves more slowly than it does above and a quiet breeze is only an echo of the storms outside.
Emerald shares its favor among lovers, warriors, pregnant women, and poets. It is a symbol of fertility. Its gifts to lovers and expectant mothers are easy to understand: children are the richest harvest. But what does emerald give warriors and poets? And how does it help the other people born under this sign?
The answer is simple. To Cancer standing up for what they believe is right, emerald gives a warrior's courage and the boldness of a poet who rises above convention.
Pearl
A pearl forms as a mollusk's defensive response: layer by layer, it covers a grain of sand with plates of aragonite. There is something of masonry in the process. Cancer, always looking for shelter, will feel far more secure by entrusting their protection to pearl, which builds happiness for lovers.
Moonstone
Moonstone, or adularia, is said to protect against the influence of lunar fields. Perhaps that means the Moon's magnetic field, which astronomers say it once possessed. Or perhaps it means the plains and craters in which we make out eyes and lips when we tilt our heads back at night to gaze at that shining face.
Either way, along with the Moon's ebb and flow comes a strange feeling that swaps waking life with dreams. Moonstone protects Cancer from sadness, sleepwalking, and the effects of hypnosis.
Aquamarine
Aquamarine, Poseidon's messenger, watches over sailors and travelers. It helps them pass between Scylla and Charybdis and serves as a safe-conduct among mermaids and naiads. Most of all, it offers rescue from life's troubles as well as storms at sea.
Cancer is an introvert and a poor judge of people, which often leads to missteps in communication. Aquamarine makes other people's intentions transparent and helps Cancer find loyal friends.
Aquamarine is considered a stone of the wise. It has been used for eyeglass lenses since 1300. Perhaps its reputation for bestowing wisdom began with book lovers. Or perhaps its owners noticed they could understand the essence of things more clearly. Whatever the reason, aquamarine helps Cancer distinguish friends from enemies and avoid seeing an insult where none was intended.
Aventurine
Cancer is excellent at thinking things through after the event. They know exactly what they should have done—but the Moon and a sleepless night are the only audience left to hear it. Cancer isn't a coward; they'll always rush to someone's aid. Speaking in public is another matter. They need a talisman that helps them shake off shyness and timidity, adding enough healthy daring to make an impression. Aventurine is just the stone for the job.
Aventurine awakens Cancer's courage. No, it won't send them completely off the rails: their resistance to change is too strong. But it will help them state their views clearly to the boss or charm someone they like. Aventurine keeps Cancer's mind clear while adding a little drive. They'll fly toward interesting events as though on wings!
Chrysoprase
When Cancer dreams, they resemble a child taken to a toy store. They've chosen what they want, but for some reason are convinced they won't be getting it. Their biggest dream meets the same fate: Cancer somehow assumes it can't come true.
A dream needs hope and faith in one's own abilities. Chrysoprase awakens those feelings and gives Cancer the wisdom to distinguish a real dream from an empty fantasy. Cancer makes the plan; chrysoprase brings success. Together, they have every chance of winning!
Agate
As soon as Cancer picks up agate, something in the world seems to change. Even without a particular reason to be happy, the heart grows lighter. A happy heart wants to share its joy, and Cancer finds the gift of eloquence.
The great Greek orator Demosthenes is said to have practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth to improve his pronunciation. Surely those pebbles were agates: diction alone doesn't make a great speaker. Courage, inspiration, and passion are needed, too. Those are precisely the priceless qualities agate gives Cancer. And someone who feels good about themselves is always healthy. That kind of health and longevity comes as agate's bonus gift.
Amethyst
Amethyst guards against harm, the evil eye, and witchcraft. For Cancer, it also makes an excellent defense against delusion and bad weather. It may not part the clouds overhead, but it can warn Cancer when, for example, a trip would be better postponed.
An amethyst talisman also holds Cancer back from excess of any kind, including irresponsibility and carelessness.
Sapphire
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Shakespeare declares in Othello, the Moor of Venice. Cancer thinks so, too. Spiritual questions draw this sign, and sapphire is a stone that can carry its Cancer owner to the heights of the spirit. It helps those in its care find love and brings success to every undertaking.
Turquoise
"Victory or love?" Many people wonder which gift to ask of turquoise. A rider who owns turquoise won't fall from the saddle. So, victory? The Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus established the custom of adorning a bride with turquoise. Should the request be for love? In Mongolia, lamas say turquoise watches over its owner's health, growing pale to warn of danger. Perhaps health, then?
Turquoise looks after Cancer in every area. This talisman brings success in battle, luck in love, and robust health.
Alexandrite
"Where there's love, there's jealousy," Europeans say of alexandrite, which changes from pink and red—the colors of love—to green, the color of jealousy. In India, the stone is associated with prosperity. Whether Cancer chooses passionate feeling or wealth, alexandrite will look after their health as well. "Health and beauty are inseparable," Lope de Vega declares in The Dog in the Manger. We would add that good health makes prosperity easier to achieve, too.
Cancer Stones at a Glance
- Emerald gives Cancer courage and boldness and helps them find harmony.
- Pearl brings happiness to lovers and builds confidence.
- Moonstone protects Cancer from sadness, sleepwalking, and the effects of hypnosis.
- Aquamarine helps Cancer find loyal friends and understand people's intentions.
- Aventurine awakens courage and a healthy taste for adventure.
- Chrysoprase brings success and hope and helps Cancer fulfill dreams.
- Agate gives health and longevity, along with courage, inspiration, and passion.
- Amethyst checks excess, including irresponsibility and carelessness, and protects against witchcraft and delusion.
- Sapphire brings success and supports spiritual searching.
- Turquoise grants love and health.
- Alexandrite gives Cancer strength and prosperity.
The Best Stone Colors for Cancer
Green, White, and Clear
The Moon, the Sun's companion, looks kindly on Cancer and helps this sign find a spouse.
- Jade gathers every virtue within itself. Cancer only needs to choose the quality they want to cultivate: tenderness or kindness, a thirst for knowledge or patience. Or perhaps success in love and wealth?
- Peridot, together with the Moon, guards Cancer against bad dreams and helps them win people over in waking life.
- Opal gives Cancer the support to receive the love and sympathy they crave.
- Clear quartz helps Cancer understand others and be understood—equally important in love and business negotiations.
Stones Cancer Should Avoid
Cancer longs for company so much that, once they find someone to talk to, conversation alone may not be enough. They can start lecturing, even though they won't accept criticism themselves. Cancer also likes spending money and can become dependent on things—chocolate, for instance.
Think back to the Greek legend: all the other animals sided with Heracles, but the Crab attacked the hero. It's worth asking why. How did it overcome its natural indecision? That's what happens when Cancer puts too much trust in authority and loses command of their feelings.
Garnet, zircon, and carnelian can intensify Cancer's feelings so much that they become overwhelming and lead to reckless actions. Cancer would do better to avoid these stones than put themselves to the test.
- Garnet encourages extravagance and thoughtless spending.
- Zircon gives Cancer an uncharacteristic, devil-may-care boldness.
- Carnelian doesn't help Cancer find love; it cures them of it.
Garnet
There are plenty of big spenders among Cancers. Swept up in the moment, they can spend their very last penny. After that brief pleasure, they feel no remorse; their only regret is that the money ran out so quickly. Garnet merely feeds those desires.
Zircon
First, zircon is often radioactive. Second, its hyacinth variety is loved by thieves and merchants for the audacity it gives them. Does Cancer really need that kind of courage?
Carnelian
Carnelian won't help Cancer find love that is returned. Quite the reverse: as a healing stone, it recognizes love as an illness and cures it.
Gold and Silver in Cancer Jewelry
Gold
A goldfish's scales, the plumage of birds of paradise perched in trees along the Amazon, a nugget in a prospector's sieve, treasures waiting their turn in shipwrecks on the seabed: that is what gold jewelry means to Cancer. Many see no contradiction between the water element and this metal of the Sun and fire. Cancer can—and should—wear gold to feel vigorous and determined.
Silver
Gold attracts Cancer, but silver is this sign's metal: a moonlit path across the water, the soft sigh of a silver maple, vast shoals of gleaming herring hauled in by fishermen's nets. Silver jewelry brings Cancer safety and plenty.
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