Jupiter in Cancer 2025-26
- rae diamond
- Jun 16
- 8 min read
Jupiter in Cancer: Belonging as a Portal to Benevolent Growth
As Jupiter, the planet of faith and growth—known as "the wood star" in China—transits through the sensitive sign of Cancer (6/9/25 – 6/29/26 PDT), we benefit from embracing opportunities to grow our experience of belonging. So the foremost questions at the outset of this year-long transit are:
What nourishes and deepens your sense of belonging?
How might you nourish and bring benevolent growth to that which you belong to?
We humans feel belonging in:
family
chosen family
genetic family
adopted family
communities
local
tribal
occupational
religious
political
shared hobbies
creative
the places we inhabit:
a home
a locale
a place of work
a place of play
a place of practice
a place of devotion
a country
or any other location (big or small) that you feel connected to and ideally rooted in
a particular calling:
the arts
activism
a religion
volunteer work, etc.
Illuminating the Cancer Shadow: Fear, Walls, & Hiding
Let's get the shadow side of this transit clear. Jupiter brings growth and opportunity, but it's also possible to grow that which is not beneficial—usually without intent or awareness. Shadow stuff is mostly the stuff we're not looking at. All signs have their brilliance and their shadow, which essentially boil down to the sign expressing in either a courageous way that embraces life in all its complexity and transcends fear—or in a way that indulges fear.
Cancer's greatest gift is its sensitivity, which gives powerful intuition, deep understanding, and a capacity for a profoundly healing compassion. Cancer's greatest weakness, however, is also its sensitivity, which gives Cancer a tendency to hide away, to build walls around itself (here I must point out that the United States, born on the fourth of July, has its sun in Cancer and is literally building walls at its southern border), to "over-mother" or smother those it wishes to protect, keep close, or control, and to attack anyone who might threaten its safety or the safety and well-being of those it considers within its circle.
to avoid shadowy growth this year, explore:
What are you afraid of?
Does this fear cause you to turn away from life, or does it inspire you to strategize a wise way forwards?
Are you hiding anything from yourself or others?
Are you hiding away from anything?
Is this a necessary hiding (for example, in order to heal, or to build or develop something that will be revealed later)?
Have you built any walls that are blocking opportunities for positive growth to unfold in your life?
Jupiter in Cancer: Backwards Is the New Forwards!
Crabs walk sideways, so part of how this sign operates is to backtrack, take the side roads, and enter through the side door or back door. This means growth during this transit will happen in a similar fashion. How this will manifest for you is a bit of a riddle, but here are some suggestions for reaping the benefits of the indirect Cancerian (humble nod to the wonderful Rob Breszny for coining this term) approach.
One of the key concepts with Jupiter is exploration, and one of the key concepts with Cancer is renewal (the moon, which rules this sign, dies and is reborn every month, so in Cancer we must turn inwards to emerge and come into a new fullness), so...
Explore—and in the process bring healing renewal to—your ancestry. I recommend the book, Ancestral Healing by Daniel Foor, as a good starting point for exploring and understanding this process, but there are many paths you might take with this work.
What gifts have you not received from your ancestors by not knowing what's in your own bones and blood?
What ancestral burdens have you been carrying that, with understanding and compassion, can be laid down, enabling you to proceed with greater ease?
How might you redeem the mistakes of your ancestors in a way that brings greater meaning and purpose to your own life?
Explore—and in the process bring healing renewal to—your own past. You cannot change the past, but you can change how you see it, and if you frame your past in ways that empower and inspire you, then your past becomes an engine that drives you forwards into your future with less effort—and with Jupiter's galvanizing influence, more conviction.
You might make your own explorations through meditation, journaling, creative work, and spiritual practice.
If you are considering therapy, I recommend working with a highly trained practitioner in the Internal Family Systems model, which explores the mind as a multiplicity that is interconnected in the body. This system is one of the best ways for resolving/evolving trauma, addiction, and working more compassionately and skillfully with OCD, ADHD, and autism. As someone with traumas I could not remember because of concussions and near-death experiences, this has been the only method that has enabled me to access and work with these wounds.
Explore—and in the process bring healing renewal to—the history of where you are.
Are you inspired to benefit the land where you live, the flora and fauna there, the Indigenous people of your area? If this sparks inspiration in you, follow that light in the most respectful ways possible.
Even though it seems counterintuitive to the western way of thinking to go backwards in order to go forwards, this is actually the way of nature. Consider how much more energy you have after resting. Take a big jump, and notice how you instinctively push down into the ground in order to give more power to your rise.
How else might you move forwards
by going backwards?
Compassion is the Ultimate Multi-Tool
With Jupiter transiting through the Cancerian wonderland of deep and wide compassion, we have incredible opportunity to grow in our hearts and in our wisdom.
First, let's get clear about what compassion is and what compassion is not. At its most fundamental level, compassion is a capacity to be with whatever pain or difficulty arises in a caring way. In a state of true compassion, there is no looking away, and there is no attempt to change whatever is arising. Compassion creates a caring and understanding container in which a natural unfolding (and therefore resolution, healing, insight, and understanding) of the situation can occur.
"Compassion:
Attack with it and win.
Defend with it and stand firm."
– The Tao Te Ching
This ability to be with our own pain and with the pain of others enables us to understand difficult but deep truths about ourselves, about those we relate with, and about the human condition. As we develop our capacity for compassion, wisdom naturally grows. Conversely, for all the ways we turn away from our own suffering or the suffering of others, wisdom cannot grow, and instead we end up with ignorance (because we have turned away or ignored) in those areas. But remember that this is not permanent in ourselves or in others.
What will it take for you to turn towards the pain you have not yet faced in yourself or in the world
How might you inspire others to turn towards pain that is being ignored?
That last question is of course the million-dollar question for those of us interested in inspiring the have's to care about the have-not's. This brings us to the next section of this post...
Jupiter in Cancer: We Are Stronger When We Band Together
A good way to resolve that Cancerian fear of being such a sensitive and vulnerable being is to band together with others. Find not only strength, safety, and support in numbers, but also diversity, inspiration, laughter, and that deeply important feeling of belonging. Join with like-minded folks who share your beliefs (Jupiter stuff) and with whom you feel a sense of belonging (Cancer stuff). And maybe, together, we can answer that million-dollar question which I will state again a little differently:
How might WE inspire
those who turn away from the suffering of this time
to turn towards that suffering?
Jupiter's transit through Cancer gives us this opportunity: if we can inspire compassion in others, we can engender greater change. Inspire care. This comes through sharing stories, listening to others, and connecting. Jupiter inspires, so look for ways to inspire compassion, and this will bring support to your cause/s.
A Tension to note:
Jupiter is not alone. At the start of Jupiter's transit through Cancer, it is in tension with Saturn and Neptune. This creates a feeling of gridlock until late July, so breathe through the tension for now. There will be more forwards movement soon—both in your endeavors and aims, and in the endeavors and aims of others.
In the Body...
Cancer rules the stomach and breasts. This transit manifests in a few ways here:
If you have breast tissue, check it regularly for lumps because Jupiter brings growth, and we are living in stressful times, so we are all a little more prone to illness.
Really, really trust your gut. Your conviction will be felt in your gut this year more so than usual. So perhaps have a daily practice of connecting with your belly. Sense into that space. What knowing or messages emerge there?
Cut down on sugar, especially if you are dealing with any inflammation issues. Your body will be more sensitive to this substance (grown in the tropic of Cancer!) than usual.
Strengthen your core muscles. Instill supportive growth in the region of your belly. This is a natural side effect of Qigong practice!
Open the front of the body with mindful stretches. Our lifestyles cause us to hunch forwards most of the time, which constricts the muscles in the front of the torso and neck. Much of the back, neck, and hip pain people suffer from can be resolved with stretching the front and strengthening the back. This, too, is a natural side effect of Qigong practice. My online classes are particularly good for this approach to body wellness.
Growth in the Heart
The last tip I'll offer is maybe the most important of all. This year (June 2025 through June 2026), grow your capacity to love.
Explore the ways you shrink from love and gently challenge yourself to transcend those limitations, one baby step at a time.
Learn to love yourself more. What is the love you've always wanted? Give that to yourself. Then you'll know both how to give and receive that love to and from others.
Expand your family in a way that feels true and sustainable for you. Take in a stray animal (humans are also animals!), or expand your definition of what family is.
Be as kind as you can because
everyone is feeling the stress and anxiety of climate change whether they know it or not;
kindness comes from compassion and inspires compassion, which inspires wisdom, which changes the world for the better;
everything you do ripples out beyond your knowing, and consider the good that is likely to ripple out from any kind act or intent...
Lastly, it's worth mentioning that Jupiter is "exalted in Cancer," which means this planet functions really well in this sign.
So use this time to expand in ways that nourish you in beneficial ways for all.
And in the ways that you feel abundant, give generously in ways that nourish that which you believe in, and that which supports you.
The Earth supports all of us, so consider how you might support our shared, living, breathing, whirling home.
Find great ways to support the Earth in my book, The Cantigee Oracle (available through Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Barnes and Noble).
Here's wishing you a year of benevolent and heart-ful growth, of inspired action that resonates warm and bright in your gut, of deeply felt belonging, and of expanding wisdom and care in the best ways possible for all. Thank you for reading! Join my Substack for monthly inspirations and stories, and visit my art shop or tip jar if you feel so inspired.
<3 Rae
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