The Constellation Ruminations #4: Cancer

Cancer is one of the original twelve constellations that make up the zodiac. Before we had astrologers (although that’s not technically accurate, as we’ve always had astrologers—people who looked to the stars to define meaning and prophecy), astronomy and astrology were often considered one science. The Babylonians, watching the sky during the first millennium BCE, divided the sky into twelve separate parts. This separation then moved into Greek astronomy by the 2nd century CE, and after that became a part of Hindu astronomy as well.

The English word zodiac comes from zodiacus, which is the Latin form of the Greek word zōdiakòs kýklos, which means “cycle or circle of little animals”.

The ram, the bull, the crab, the lion. You know how it goes.

Image originally from https://starregistration.net/constellations/cancer-constellation.html.