horizon astrology banner image with composite nebula formations

Compatibility
Cancer Ox and Leo Sheep

The firstwest and secondwest pairing contributes an initial wariness here—nevertheless, there is real potential for a long-term successful and close relationship, if these two can navigate the challenging intensity of the firsteast and secondeast.

Western Zodiac sign, Cancer
Western Zodiac sign, Leo

Western Zodiac

Cancer and Leo

Compatibility overview

Next-door signs in Western astrology, like firstwest and secondwest, are often looked at with skepticism. Astrologers have traditionally thought of them as like real-life neighbors, who make each other nervous, and are best suited to respectful distance. In fact, however, there is considerable potential here. They may not let their guards down for a while, but these signs can ultimately become highly effective collaborators, and may share an enduring and rewarding bond.

Cancer and Leo - Relationship Horoscope

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

Read more about the CANCER OX and LEO SHEEP combined zodiac signs...

Adjacent to each other on the Western zodiac wheel, Cancer and Leo form what is known as a Semi-sextile aspect. This so-called minor influence—one of only two, with the Quincunx—has a less pronounced effect than other connections, which contributes both freedom and aimlessness to the relationship.

Certainly at the beginning, differences between these signs are likely to be more apparent than synergies. For one thing, the elements here are notoriously difficult to reconcile. Cancer is a Water sign, highly sensitive and emotionally fluid. They incline towards interior peacefulness, and are vulnerable to being overborne when crowded or pressured by others. Fire sign Leo, on the other hand, tends to be as passionate and commanding as anyone in the zodiac—fiery and resolute when strong, furious or smoldering when uneasy. Thus Cancer may find it hard to maintain a sense of themselves, as they either get riled up by Leo's abundant energy, or feel disturbed and long for greater tranquility. Leo, meanwhile, may find Cancer wayward, inconsistent, or moody, which can make Leo worry that their independent spirit is under threat, or that their ambitions for honor and social connection could be compromised.

Sustained contact, however, may produce transformative results for this pair. Cancer and Leo share highly compatible modalities. Cancer is a Cardinal sign, expressing the pure energy of beginnings, initiation, and inception. This is beautifully compatible with Leo's Fixed nature, with its emphasis on realization and real-world accomplishment. Hence, in spite of initial nervousness, these two are capable of forging highly successful collaborations.

Independence and dialogue will be essential for these two, given their differences. Yet the contrasting natures of Cancer and Leo also open up a world of creative possibilities, if they are able to work together successfully. Semi-sextile energy is also well-known for being conducive to bonds that strengthen and deepen over time. However frosty or standoffish Cancer and Leo are early in their relationship, they may ultimately forge one of the most dependable and nourishing alliances in the zodiac.

Celebrity Cancer/Leo Pairings*

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

Courtney Love and Edward Norton
Courtney Love and Edward Norton (click for attribution/s)

Courtney Love (7/9/1964, Cancer Dragon), Edward Norton (8/18/1969, Leo Rooster) : The actor and musician dated between 1996 and 1999, after they appeared together in The People Versus Larry Flynt (1996). Love has continued to speak fondly about Norton and to express regret about their separation. In 2006, she said: "I should have married Norton...I left him for a bad man who stole all my money. I left Ed Norton, who was good and wonderful, for an average bad man who was in A+R. It’s upsetting."

Vin Diesel (7/18/1967, Cancer Sheep), Paloma Jimenez (8/22/1983, Leo Pig) : The actor and model have been together since 2007 and have three children. Though they have said little about their relationship in public, Diesel has said: "While I was doing [The Pacifier (2005)], it really started to bring out this desire to have a child. It took a couple years after that to find the right person and to hopefully be mature enough to be a great father which is really all you want to do." About Jimenez, he has described: "She's so stunningly beautiful, but the thing people don't realize is she's my rock, so she's so stunningly beautiful on the inside. She's just so wonderful in so many ways."

Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall
Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall (click for attribution/s)

Jerry Hall (7/2/1956, Cancer Monkey), Mick Jagger (7/26/1943, Leo Sheep) : The Rolling Stones frontman and model/actor were together from 1977 to 1999 and had four children. (An ostensible 'marriage' in Indonesia in 1990 was later annulled.) Their relationship was frequently interrupted by Jagger's infidelities. Hall described in 2003: "[Jagger is] a sick, addictive womanizer who made me very unhappy...[Now he] lives next door and doesn't have a kitchen. I'm trying to get him to get his own place -- with a kitchen...He's the most fabulous ex- husband. He's extremely generous. We never argue about the children. We adore each other."

Anjelica Huston (7/8/1951, Cancer Rabbit), John Huston (8/5/1906, Leo Horse) : The director and actor were father and daughter. Anjelica Huston has described: "[My father] was often not with my mother and often not with me, which didn't alter in any way my profound love for him...That was what he did. He was an adventurer, and he lived in a grand style, and everything around him and everything he did was a grand gesture." In her memoir, Watch Me (2014), she recalled their first collaboration, A Walk with Love and Death (1969) as, "[A] personal, commercial, and professional disappointment." Describing the success of their later film, Prizzi's Honor (1985) (for which she won an Oscar), she wrote: "For Dad and me, it was proof that if you believe in each other, are willing to risk humiliation, and put your heart on the line, miracles can happen."

Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon
Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon (click for attribution/s)

Kevin Bacon (7/8/1958, Cancer Dog), Kyra Sedgwick (8/19/1965, Leo Snake) : The two actors share one of the most enduring Hollywood relationships, having married in 1988. They have two children. Bacon has said that that when they met on the set of Lemon Sky (1988), "I found her, you know, really very beautiful and sexy and aloof. And I was just immediately in love with her and she was just immediately put off by me." Sedgwick has described: "[Bacon] was very friendly and sweet and every night after work he would say, ‘Who wants to go out to dinner?' And the whole cast would say yes except for me. And later on he told me that the only person he wanted to say yes was me and I never said yes and he was always stuck with the check, poor guy...I had no great role models in terms of healthy marriages...but [after we got together] I knew in my heart and soul that he was the right person. It was an unquestionable truth of mine. I've never had anything like that before or after."

Darren de Gallo (7/21/1974, Cancer Tiger), Amy Adams (8/20/1974, Leo Tiger) : The two actors began dating a year after they met in an acting class, and after a seven-year engagement married in 2015. They have one child. Adams has described: "[de Gallo] has sacrificed a lot. But he travels with me and helps to keep the family together, and I really do appreciate that. But I don’t value it because he’s a man doing it, I value it because he’s my partner… My husband is an extremely competent caregiver."

Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger (click for attribution/s)

Sylvester Stallone (7/6/1946, Cancer Dog), Arnold Schwarzenegger (7/30/1947, Leo Pig) : The two actors shared a high-profile rivalry as muscle-bound action stars in the 1980s and 1990s. Stallone has said that for a time the pair, "[C]ouldn't stand to be in the same galaxy...We truly, truly loathed each other." A low point, confirmed by Schwarzenegger, was when he feigned interest in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992), to lure Stallone into making a likely unsuccessful film. However, the two have since become strong friends. Stallone described in 2022: "Arnold’s very wise and he loves to talk about philosophies which have got him to where he is. It’s good to talk to a man who actually has put his money where his mouth is, and he’s achieved that. Then we start goofing around and being crazy — just laughing at the old times. I told him: 'We are the last two tyrannosaurus.' We’re the last two meat eaters, and there’s not much beef left out there. So we better enjoy each other."

Elton John performing in the 1970s wearing flamboyant outfit with decorative starry background

Explore sign profiles for combined Western and Chinese zodiac signs.

Gay couple being joyful with decorative starry background

Explore the Golden Nine most compatible matches by combined sign, or the challenging energy of the Four Challenges.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong with a decorative starry background

Match a celebrity with any combined sign or birthdate.


Chinese Zodiac sign, the Ox
Chinese Zodiac sign, the Sheep

Chinese Zodiac

Ox and Sheep

Compatibility overview

Forewarned is forearmed—there is no sugar-coating in Chinese astrology when it comes to reputedly difficult matches. The combination of firsteast and secondeast is notorious for personality clashes or intense rivalries, because the instincts and personalities of these signs tend to be diametrically opposed. That said, the prospects here are by no means all negative, and there can be significant, even extraordinary, upsides to this relationship.

Ox and Sheep - Relationship Horoscope

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

Read more about the CANCER OX and LEO SHEEP combined zodiac signs...

Around the Chinese zodiac wheel are six infamously Opposite matches, including that between the Ox and Sheep. The characters of these two signs could hardly be more different. Where the Ox's natural disposition is resolute, determined, and opinionated, the peaceful Sheep inclines towards fluidity and abstraction. Hence interactions between these two often amplify a sense of polarization and tension.

The Ox, who prizes solidity in their professional and private lives, may find that the changeability of the Sheep makes them feel as if they are always in the midst of shifting sands. The Sheep, on the other hand, can be profoundly destabilized by the Ox's unwavering world-view, which for the Sheep stymies the aesthetic ideals of freedom and beauty that give their life meaning. The result can be a vicious circle, where both signs become ever more uncomfortable and entrenched in their positions. The wilful Ox, trying to force stability onto the relationship, may seem increasingly rigid and domineering. The Sheep, desperate to avoid criticism and feeling closed in, could find themselves running around in frantic circles, constantly changing their mind.

Like all Opposite relationships, however, the discord between these two can, in fact, yield truly astounding results. Like the symbols of Yin and Yang, each of these opposite signs supplies bountiful energy in an area where the other is most deficient. If their respective forces can be joined into a common cause, these two can therefore wield an extraordinary collective force. Collaborations or competitions—even conflicts—between these two have the potential to be amazingly successful, captivating the attention of audiences with what is in effect a full spectrum of energy.

It may still be a challenge for the Sheep and Ox to share in each other's successes, such is the incompatibility between them. However, counterbalancing Western energy, or a combination of self-acceptance and generosity, may enable them to reap together an embarrassment of riches.

Celebrity Ox/Sheep Pairings*

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

Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn
Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn (click for attribution/s)

Jane Fonda (12/21/1937, Sagittarius Ox), Katharine Hepburn (5/12/1907, Taurus Sheep) : The two actors co-starred memorably in the film, On Golden Pond (1981), for which Hepburn won an Oscar for Best Actress. Fonda described in 2021: "What an interesting woman. I mean, we were not friends. [Hepburn] was really competitive. She really thought that I was out to win more Academy Awards than she was, and when she won for On Golden Pond I called to congratulate her, and she said, 'You'll never catch me now.'...She did not like me. She once [said] that I didn't have a soul...She took that very seriously about teaching to younger people. She took me—I can't say under her wing, she didn't like me very much...What I loved about her was that she took the job of being an elder very seriously. She was intentional about teaching me and talking to me, including giving me line readings, and I found that just wonderful."

Keira Knightley (3/26/1985, Aries Ox), David Cronenberg (3/15/1943, Pisces Sheep) : The actor and director worked together on the biopic, A Dangerous Method. Talking about the sadomasochistic scenes in the film, Cronenberg has said, "I had a lot of fun. I’m not so sure about Keira...We had a very frank discussion about what would disturb her, what she was comfortable with, and so on. She was never comfortable with it, but comfort was not my main thing."

Frank Vincent and Joe Pesci
Frank Vincent and Joe Pesci (click for attribution/s)

Frank Vincent (4/15/1937, Aries Ox), Joe Pesci (2/9/1943, Aquarius Sheep) : The two actors were longtime friends and collaborators as bandmates and a comedy duo before becoming famous for their roles as gangsters in Scorcese blockbusters including Goodfellas. Speaking of his highly combustible, love-hate relationship with Pesci, Vincent commented, "We were like a husband and wife and broke up many times...Every night we'd argue over every word...We would never say who's the boss but we were two very creative people."

Rian Johnson (12/17/1973, Sagittarius Ox), Natasha Lyonne (4/4/1979, Aries Sheep) : The actor and filmmaker collaborated on the TV show Poker Face, an innovative throwback to serialized shows from the 1970s. Johnson described: "The whole thing is a bespoke suit, cut entirely to [Lyonne]...[W]hen I first came to her, all I came to her with was the notion of a procedural show, case-of-the-week thing, you at the center of it. That’s all I had. And then we started up conversations and went back and forth and really started true collaboration...Everything about it was trying to harness and even amplify everything that I love about watching Natasha on screen. The whole thing is completely cut to measure for her."

Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner
Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner (click for attribution/s)

Caitlyn Jenner (10/28/1949, Scorpio Ox), Kris Jenner (11/5/1955, Scorpio Sheep) : The two media personalities were married for 22 years. They had two children together and raised a blended family including children from their previous marriages. Shortly after finalizing their divorce in 2014, Caitlyn (previously Bruce) Jenner came out as transgender in 2015. Kris Jenner has said publicly that the publication of Caitlyn's memoir, The Secrets of My Life, resulted in a period of estrangement, but that relations have since improved: "We're fine. Yeah, we're friends. And I see her when she's at a family thing so it's, you know, settled down a lot. I think [Caitlyn's transition] was a big shock. It's a scary thing to go through because you know nothing about it. It's a subject I never thought that I would ever have to directly deal with [or] confront [or] be understanding about. Something that I didn't, you know, understand."

Meryl Streep (6/22/1949, Cancer Ox), Robert De Niro (8/17/1943, Leo Sheep) : These two famous actors worked together on the sets of Falling in Love (1984) and The Deer Hunter (1978). When presenting an award to Streep, De Niro stated, "Meryl is the most generous and giving actor...She not only inhabits her own character, she helps bring out the character of everyone else on the screen...Meryl doesn't seem to have any imperfections. And I say that with the most love for you, Meryl."

Rakim and Nas
Rakim and Nas (click for attribution/s)

Nas (9/14/1973, Virgo Ox), Rakim (1/28/1968, Aquarius Sheep) : The two rappers have collaborated together and share a close bond as part of the hip hop community. Seeking to dispel rumours about a breakdown in their relationship, Rakim acknowledged that he felt there was a breach of privacy in Nas's tribute track, "The Unauthorized Biography of Rakim", which references Rakim’s professional and private history. Rakim explained, "I pulled him [Nas] to the side and let him know I still got love for him. At the same time it’s principles. I’ve always been a reserved person. There’s certain things I speak about and certain things I don’t speak about. I just felt violated almost that he touched on certain things I haven’t even touched on."


Combined Relationship Horoscope

Final Words

Early in their relationship, the adjacent semi-Sextile signs firstwest and secondwest will often be all too aware of their stark differences, though this energy can in fact prove hugely promising over time. In this case, however, the near-constant combustibility of the firsteast and secondeast Chinese zodiac match provides some serious obstacles. To build and fortify this relationship, these two may need to leverage the attention-grabbing thrust of the Chinese zodiac side for mutual gain, thereby accessing the more dependable solidarity and devotion of their semi-Sextile energy.

Woman and dog appearing to high-five with decorative starry background


Also on Horizon Astrology...

Liza Minnelli with a decorative starry background

Explore celebrity news and events through a lens of the Western and Chinese zodiacs .

Toni Morrison with decorative starry background

Explore sign profiles for combined Western and Chinese zodiac signs.

A young Bob Dylan with decorative starry background

Match a celebrity with any combined sign or birthdate.

Aretha Franklin with decorative starry background

Explore the combined Western and Chinese zodiac signs for celebrities from all walks of life.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter with decorative starry background

Explore relationship horoscopes for any two celebrities.

Princess Diana with decorative starry background

Explore your Golden Nine most compatible combined signs - with celebrity examples.

Marilyn Monroe with decorative starry background

Explore the Four Challenges, your most challenging energy matches - with celebrity examples.