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Compatibility
Aries Dragon and Cancer Dog

As combative and intense as any relationship under the sun—yet there may be critical benefits here, as firstwest and secondwest offer rare prospects for personal growth, and the firsteast and secondeast can provide extraordinary achievements and social impact.

Western Zodiac sign, Aries
Western Zodiac sign, Cancer

Western Zodiac

Aries and Cancer

Compatibility overview

The pairing between firstwest and secondwest brings powerful, swirling energy. This is not a match for the faint of heart! The Square aspect—where signs are three steps, or 90 degrees, apart—is associated with combativeness and tension, but also potency and progress. This powder-keg, contentious yet productive potential of Square relationships is never more apparent than when these two signs encounter one another!

Aries and Cancer - Relationship Horoscope

Read more about the ARIES and CANCER zodiac signs...

Read more about the ARIES DRAGON and CANCER DOG combined zodiac signs...

Chances are, the intense energy between Aries and Cancer will reveal itself immediately. For better or worse, these two find each other hard to ignore!

In the beginning, at least, mutual admiration or sexual chemistry is strongly indicated for these two signs. However, a rush of disputes, provocations, or clashes of wills is equally likely. Aries' element, Fire, is often said to be least compatible with Water signs like Cancer. Ambitious Fire souls can find themselves fizzling in disappointment, while normally more placid Water types may feel powerless to avoid boiling over. Aries and Cancer both represent the pure, initiating Cardinal modality of their respective elements, so there is none of the softening influence that complementary modalities can bring.

Surprising as it may seem at times, though, this relationship has real prospects for various successes. In a word, the secret for this highly-charged Square relationship is growth. The conflicting natures of Aries and Cancer can drive each party to assert themselves in ways that independently may well be impossible. Hence this is a fertile match for all manner of power couples, whether creative, professional, sporting, or romantic. Even feuds can yield invaluable life lessons. It may be trite to say, but whatever doesn't kill these two will almost certainly make them stronger.

Celebrity Aries/Cancer Pairings*

*Click on the names to see both Western and Chinese zodiac matches for that pairing.

Gerald Ford and Betty Ford
Gerald Ford and Betty Ford (click for attribution/s)

Betty Ford (4/8/1918, Aries Horse), Gerald Ford (7/14/1913, Cancer Ox) : The 38th US President and First Lady were married from 1948 until Gerald Ford's death in 2006. They had four children. Betty Ford had been married previously, and Gerald postponed their wedding because he was unsure whether voters would accept him marrying a "divorced exdancer". They had a famously charged relationship, with Gerald a conservative Republican (at one time Richard Nixon's vice president) and Betty expressing liberal views about equal rights, abortion, gun control, marijuana, and premarital sex. After Betty gave an interview in which she described Roe v Wade (the now-overruled US Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion) as a "great, great decision", Gerald Ford wryly commented that she had probably cost him 20 million votes. Betty was also known for saying about them sleeping together in the White House, "I guess if you’re president, you’re supposed to become a eunuch." Later, Gerald led a family intervention about Betty's alcohol and drug dependence, which led to the Betty Ford Center for rehabilitation. At Ford's inauguration in 1974, he said: "I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman—my dear wife—as I begin this very difficult job."

Pharrell Williams (4/5/1973, Aries Ox), Helen Lasichanh (7/22/1980, Cancer Monkey) : The musician and fashion designer/model have been longtime partners and married in 2013. They have four children together, including triplets born in 2017. While the family has maintained their privacy, Williams said in 2018: "I’m in awe of women and my wife. To carry another heartbeat inside your body for nine months — in my wife’s case she had four heartbeats — is beyond anything a man can give back to the universe."

Emma Watson and Malala Yousafzai
Emma Watson and Malala Yousafzai (click for attribution/s)

Emma Watson (4/15/1990, Aries Horse), Malala Yousafzai (7/12/1997, Cancer Ox) : The actor/activist and education activist share a mutually admiring relationship. In a a high-profile interview with each other, organized to open the Into Film Festival in 2015, Yousafzai described how she had been influenced by Watson's 2014 speech to the UN launching the "He for She" campaign: "[T]his word feminism, it has been a very tricky word. And I had, when I heard it the first time I...heard some negative responses and some positive ones, and I hesitated in saying, am I a feminist or not? And then after hearing your speech when you said, if not now, when, if not me, who, I decided that there’s no way, and there’s nothing wrong by calling yourself a feminist. So, I am a feminist and you all should be feminist because feminism is another word for equality."

Jackie Chan (4/7/1954, Aries Horse), Joan Lin (6/30/1953, Cancer Snake) : The two actors have been married since 1982 and have one child together. Although their relationship has faced challenges, including Chan fathering a child with another woman in 1999, they have remained together. Chan wrote in his 2018 memoir, Never Grow Up, "When I started to empathize with [Joan Lin], I came to respect her more and more. She is a strong woman, stronger than I am in so many ways."

Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma
Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma (click for attribution/s)

Jacob Zuma (4/12/1942, Aries Horse), Nelson Mandela (7/18/1918, Cancer Horse) : The first and fourth Presidents of South Africa shared a close connection as anti-apartheid activists and one-time fellow political prisoners at the Robben Island prison. In 2012, it emerged that Mandela had paid debts accrued by Zuma, apparently as a way of improving Zuma's political prospects. The author William Gumede, who wrote Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC (2007), described: "Nelson Mandela gave [Zuma] the money to pay off all his debts as a personal favour. It was in the hope that he would walk away from all those dubious benefactors. The idea was to say: 'You know what, I'm seeing and hearing all this stuff and it doesn't look good. There are no strings attached but I want you to clean up your act.'"

Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman
Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman (click for attribution/s)

Akira Kurosawa (3/23/1910, Aries Dog), Ingmar Bergman (7/14/1918, Cancer Horse) : These two legendary filmmakers shared a profound mutual admiration. In a letter celebrating Bergman's 70th birthday, Kurosawa wrote: "Your work deeply touches my heart every time I see it and I have learned a lot from your works and have been encouraged by them. I would like you to stay in good health to create more wonderful movies for us."

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Chinese Zodiac sign, the Dragon
Chinese Zodiac sign, the Dog

Chinese Zodiac

Dragon and Dog

Compatibility overview

Chinese astrologers are well known for unflinching assessments of relationships they believe do not attract good fortune. That is certainly the case with the match between Dog and Dragon, one of the six famous Opposites. In short, this relationship has a notorious reputation for hostility and tension. Nevertheless, there is more to the story here, as the prospects are by no means exclusively bad.

Dragon and Dog - Relationship Horoscope

Read more about the DRAGON and DOG zodiac signs...

Read more about the ARIES DRAGON and CANCER DOG combined zodiac signs...

The infamous reputation of the Opposite matches in the Chinese zodiac stems from the directly opposed energy between them. Negative traits tend to be constantly amplified. In the case of the Dog and Dragon, the faithful Dog is apt to get caught between fawning infatuation and deep-seated anxiety. The Dragon is likely to exploit cruelty and criticism to get the attention they crave.

Probably the greatest problem is the potential lack of respect. The Dog's well-earned reputation for hard work and loyalty may seem wasteful and weak in the eyes of the proud Dragon. Meanwhile, the Dragon's incomparable flare and drive could strike the Dog as lacking substance—as well as ignoring, even bullying, those less fortunate.

When these two find themselves in partnership, whatever the context, it can be helpful to keep these essential differences in mind. Ultimately, they each supply universal energy that the other does not have. While perhaps unsympathetic as between them, the result can be awesomely powerful. This is a pairing that can dominate social, business, or political circles, sporting arenas, indeed the world at large. But they are likely to need a range of more congenial allies, too, if they are to maintain patience with one another for an extended length of time.

Celebrity Dragon/Dog Pairings*

*Click on the names to see both Western and Chinese zodiac matches for that pairing.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump (click for attribution/s)

Vladimir Putin (10/7/1952, Libra Dragon), Donald Trump (6/14/1946, Gemini Dog) : The relationship between President Trump of the US and President Putin of Russia was a source of much fascination during the former's term in the Oval Office. In the US, the apparent friendliness between the two—historically unprecedented between Russian and American leaders—drew criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans.

Harvey Weinstein (3/19/1952, Pisces Dragon), Steven Spielberg (12/18/1946, Sagittarius Dog) : The celebrated film director and now-infamous producer already shared a fraught relationship long before Weinstein's conviction as a sex offender. The tension between them resulted in two competing movie projects about the kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, as well as a confrontation over Shakespeare in Love defeating Saving Private Ryan for the 1999 Best Picture Oscar. "When I saw Spielberg later, I don’t think it was a lovefest," Weinstein said about the incident. "That was a tough one."

Jeb Bush and George W. Bush
Jeb Bush and George W. Bush (click for attribution/s)

Jeb Bush (2/11/1953, Aquarius Dragon), George W. Bush (7/6/1946, Cancer Dog) : The two brothers, part of the Bush political dynasty and respectively a former US President and Governor of Florida, have famously shared a fractious but formally supportive relationship. A cousin described in a published memoir that, "When they were young, Jeb was just somebody for George to torture."

Orlando Bloom (1/13/1977, Capricorn Dragon), Justin Bieber (3/1/1994, Pisces Dog) : The singer and actor made headlines after an altercation between them in Ibiza, Spain. Footage of the event appeared to show Bloom throwing a chair at Bieber.

Nicki Minaj and Rihanna
Nicki Minaj and Rihanna (click for attribution/s)

Rihanna (2/20/1988, Pisces Dragon), Nicki Minaj (12/8/1982, Sagittarius Dog) : These two legendary entertainers collaborated together on tracks including "Fly" and "Raining Men" in 2010. After years of a rumoured feud and apparently unfollowing each other on social media, they reunited in 2021.

Chelsea Noble (12/4/1964, Sagittarius Dragon), Kirk Cameron (10/12/1970, Libra Dog) : The two actors married in 1991 and have six children (four of whom are adopted). They met on the set of the TV show, Growing Pains (1985-1992). They have since starred together in films including A Little Piece of Heaven (1991) and Mercy Rule (2014), and several times Noble has played an uncredited "kissing double", as Cameron is an Evangelical Christian who refuses to kiss a woman who is not his wife. Noble has described: "We've learned that we have to be respectful fo each other's need for personal space. On the set, we have separate dressing rooms, and sometimes that's where we find personal time. Because of our friendship, we can say 'I need a little space' or 'I need some time alone,' and we respect that, instead of taking it personally...Instead of taking our frustrations out on each other, we've learned how to best work through things. We don't walk away from each other, or run to separate work places. We face each other and work things out."


Combined Relationship Horoscope

Final Words

The Square combination of firstwest and secondwest may sometimes wonder if there is anything they agree about at all, yet this potent connection also offers rare opportunities for both signs to crystallize who they are and what they want out of life, and to cultivate greater self-awareness, patience and generosity in communicating. On the Chinese zodiac side, the energy between the firsteast and secondeast is similarly powerful and conflictive—though again there are countervailing positives, as few combinations can summon such a spectacular and impactful coalescence of energy. It may take a supreme effort to maintain this ferocious connection over the long term, but for as long as it endures, this is a recipe for a blazing, unforgettable relationship.

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