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Compatibility
Aries Ox and Cancer Dragon

The energy between firstwest and secondwest is famously challenging, yet equally capable of yielding lifelong benefits, especially when complemented by the calm and nurturing connection between the firsteast and secondeast.

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 OX and CANCER DRAGON 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 Ox
Chinese Zodiac sign, the Dragon

Chinese Zodiac

Ox and Dragon

Compatibility overview

It may not be the most headline-grabbing match in the Chinese zodiac, but the combination of firsteast and secondeast has very strong prospects. These two are likely to have a great deal in common, and with ample good fortune surrounding them, they are well placed to forge a strong and nurturing bond. Not to mention having plenty of fun along the way.

Ox and Dragon - Relationship Horoscope

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

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

Similar to the elements in Western astrology, the four essential Trine Families of the Chinese zodiac separate naturally into pairs that are harmonious with each other. The families of the Dragon (with the Monkey and Rat) and Ox (with Rooster and Snake) combine to form one of these highly congenial inter-family groups. While the Ox and Dragon may not receive quite as much attention as some other combinations between their families, they benefit considerably from the wonderful energy that surrounds them.

Early encounters between the Ox and Dragon will tend to be relaxed affairs, with both parties slipping easily into a comfortable groove. Dragon natives are so brilliantly captivating that they often overwhelm others with the sheer force of their personalities, so the Ox's strength and self-assurance can immediately put them at ease. Ever proud and ambitious, the Ox hates the idea of wasting their time on anyone undeserving, so keeping company with the majestic Dragon fulfils their deep-seated sense of purpose. As these two become closer, the promise of their initial connection can mature become a terrific source of meaning and fun.

These are two of the most powerful signs in the Eastern zodiac, which for the Dragon in particular can be intensely demanding and lead to occasional feelings of isolation from other signs. The Ox's prodigious abilities, by contrast, are balanced by a desire to build secure spaces for themselves and those close to them. Many Dragon/Ox pairings are thus able to leverage the vitality and dazzling appeal of the Dragon alongside the determination and caring instincts of the Ox. There may sometimes be limits to how far this can go. The Dragon's freedom-loving spirit always resists restraint, which may at times make the Ox feel distant, even rejected. The Dragon may sometimes feel the Ox's demands are too controlling or impossible to satisfy. There is so much good fortune and common ground between these two, however, that one way or another positive outcomes are highly favoured.

It will come as no surprise if this combination yields a lasting, pleasurable, and deeply nourishing relationship.

Celebrity Ox/Dragon Pairings*

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

Elsa Pataky and Adrien Brody
Elsa Pataky and Adrien Brody (click for attribution/s)

Adrien Brody (4/14/1973, Aries Ox), Elsa Pataky (7/18/1976, Cancer Dragon) : The couple dated between 2006 and 2009. Pataky famously bought Brody a castle in upstate New York for his birthday. About their meeting, Brody said, "It was a miracle...The first time I saw her I was completely spellbound. I told Elsa later that I was so uncomfortable because she was so beautiful and so lovely and sweet. I became very self-conscious."

Dana Reeve (3/17/1961, Pisces Ox), Christopher Reeve (9/25/1952, Libra Dragon) : The couple—both actors and activists—were married in 1992. After Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in an accident in 1995, they founded the Reeve Foundation to treat and cure spinal cord injury. Their relationship was later chronicled in the New York Times bestseller, Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve.

Alexandra Grant and Keanu Reeves
Alexandra Grant and Keanu Reeves (click for attribution/s)

Alexandra Grant (4/4/1973, Aries Ox), Keanu Reeves (9/2/1964, Virgo Dragon) : The visual artist and actor have been close for many years. In 2011, they published a book together, Ode to Happiness, containing Grant's drawings and Reeves' poetic text. After they revealed they were a couple in November 2019, Grant said:" “I think every single person I knew called me in the first week of November, and that’s fascinating. But the question I’ve been asking in all of this is: 'What is the opportunity for good?'"

Gore Vidal (10/3/1925, Libra Ox), Howard Austen (1/28/1929, Aquarius Dragon) : The writer and advertiser/stage manager were partners from 1950 until Austen's death in 2003. Burr Steers, Vidal's nephew, described: "They were as close as any married couple. It was a really tight relationship. They were connected in a fundamental way. Howard took the piss out of him. He really protected Gore. Gore lost a big chunk of himself when Howard died. He couldn't really function as a person on his own."


Combined Relationship Horoscope

Final Words

As a Square combination, firstwest and secondwest are almost inevitably destined to pivot from disagreement to disagreement. Yet their confrontations have incredible potential to crystallize their respective senses of direction and self-knowledge. In this relationship, the productive potential of the signs’ Square energy is enhanced by the natural affinity between the firsteast and secondeast, which may tend more towards comfortable friendliness than burning passion, but can often be as trustworthy as any match in the Chinese zodiac. There may be disputes aplenty, but these two are more than capable of providing each other with lasting support and pleasure.

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