Isn’t It Time We Rebrand A Certain Ill-Named Zodiac Sign?

Is it not ironic that the most sensitive, shy and nurturing sign of the zodiac should bear the name of a dreaded disease? Well, I think so.

Unless you were born under the sign of Cancer, the unfortunate name of this sign probably doesn’t bother you personally. You may very well recognize the unfortunate overlap of terms but feel nothing more because it is not your problem. I think I speak for other people with a Cancer Zodiac Sign, when I say that although we can compartmentalize in our mind, the astrological cancer from the cancer disease, the shared namespace still bothers us on some level.

Cancer is afterall a scary word, and the disease it represents is even scarier. Each year, cancer kills more people than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. That’s more than 1.7 million people per year. When you do an internet search about Cancer, you have to specify that you’re talking about astrology, otherwise you get nothing but medical results. You don’t have that problem when searching about any other zodiac sign.

Understandably, many people born under this sign may be reluctant to admit their zodiac to someone they meet. Telling someone “I am a Cancer” just sounds like an awful case of self-loathing. You have a disease? No! My personality is a disease! My astrology sign is Syphilis. It means I am clingy and hard to get rid of. It’s as if, like Batman, we ironically forged an identity around something we and everyone else fears or despises (no offense to bats). And yes, as if Cancer weren’t enough, there is also the STD referred to as ‘crabs’ to further humiliate us.

It was the Greek physician Hippocrates who is credited with being the first to associate the deadly tumefied growths known as Cancer, with a crab. He called them ‘karkinos’, the Greek word for ‘crab’ reputedly because the mass of cells were hard like a crab’s carapace. It was the Greco-Roman Celsus who later translated Karkinos into its Latin equivalent, ‘Cancer’, which is the term used in his encyclopedia of medicine titled “De medicina”. Others extended the analogy between crab and tumor when they observed that the veins sprouting out from it resembled legs of the sea creature.

It doesn’t matter that the astrological identity of Cancer preceded the nosological designation. At this point, the word ‘Cancer’ has been thoroughly sullied, stigmatized and drummed into the consciousness of society as a fearful disease. The origin of its meaning has been tragically hijacked. But rather than try to recover or salvage it from the medical lexicon, I say we should abandon the name altogether and do an astrological rebrand. Perhaps the damage can be undone with time, but it would take generations, maybe a century or two, to purge its meaning and image fully. Is it worth it? I say “no”. For all intents and purposes, the word ‘Cancer’ is forever marred by the trauma it is associated with. And so, in the words of Elsa, “let it go”.

Why not adopt a new name? No need to change anything about the sign itself and what it represents. Let’s just choose a different nomenclature so we can once and for all distance ourselves from this bane on our astrological identity. Regardless how you feel about astrology, it really isn’t fair that one zodiac sign should carry the freakish albatross of a disease the magnitude of Cancer around its neck. It is worth noting however that apparently, being associated with a deadly disease doesn’t necessarily tarnish a brand’s market value. All the negative press about “coronavirus” during the height of the 2020 pandemic could have been damaging for the Corona beer brand, but as it turns out, it only boosted sales. There is a small chance that being associated with a deadly disease adds a bit of edginess to a zodiac sign that is otherwise equated with softness and sensitivity.

But let’s get back to basics, shall we? The origins of western astrology and the 12 zodiac signs have been traced back to the Baylonians. They were the first people we know of to ascribe names and meanings to the constellations and planets. The modern Western astrology we use today descends directly from the principles and concepts they established. In Babylonian times, the Cancer constellation was ‘Praesepe’, which translates as “enclosure, stall, manger, and hive”. Additionally, Taurus was ‘Pleiades’ and Scorpio was ‘Spica’. The other signs were effectively the same as we know them today. It was the Greeks who later changed these three signs to their current forms, Taurus, Cancer and Scorpio.

Historically, and across different civilizations, the Cancer constellation and zodiac sign has gone by a number of other appellations including Carcinus, Litoreus, Astacus, and Cammarus. The general meaning and representation has been rather consistent. Cancer has always been associated with some type of shelled creature including crayfish, lobster, snapping turtle and water beetle. In the Egyptian zodiac, Cancer was depicted as the scarab, a sacred beetle that symbolizes immortality and rebirth.

In ancient Greece, the mythic lore of Cancer tells of a giant crab that attacked (and was ultimately crushed by) Hercules during his fight with the monstrous Hydra. It was Hercules’ jealous step mom, Juno (or Hera), who put Cancer up to the task and in exchange for the creature’s noble sacrifice, she honored Cancer with a place among the stars with other heroic constellations.

The call to replace this zodiac name is something I think most people would not be opposed to. What we replace it with may be slightly more contentious. But, there are already a handful of legacy sobriquets that we could bring back, namely the ones mentioned earlier. We could put it to a vote, preferably by Cancer sign people only. I would entreat whatever astrological consortium or board with authority to do so, to officially rename the Cancer Zodiac according to the result. Personally, I would be happy with just about any of the alternatives but I am slightly partial to ‘Carcinus’ or ‘Astacus’. If I’m honest though, I think a moon related name would be best. May I suggest “Luna”? Aries, Taurus, Gemini… Luna. Yeah, that sounds cool, doesn’t it?

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Jetta Moon

Jetta Moon is an artist, writer and astrology blogger with a passion for creativity and psychology. He is also an enthusiast of MBTI theory and loves to research and write about what he learns. Jetta's background in creative writing has helped develop a unique and insightful perspective on the zodiac, which he shares with readers of this blog.