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Compatibility
Cancer Tiger and Libra Snake

It may appear to be something of an energy minefield, but there is real potential here—provided the famously disagreeable combination of firstwest and secondwest fulfills its potential for life-changing personal growth, and the precarious firsteast and secondeast match is carefully controlled.

Western Zodiac sign, Cancer
Western Zodiac sign, Libra

Western Zodiac

Cancer and Libra

Compatibility overview

The match between firstwest and secondwest summons powerful energy that is frequently hard to control, but also deeply rewarding. These two tend to spar like champions, as their instincts on most subjects could hardly be more different. Yet few combinations are able to produce the transformative positive effects that these two signs can bring out in one another.

Cancer and Libra - Relationship Horoscope

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

Read more about the CANCER TIGER and LIBRA SNAKE combined zodiac signs...

In Western astrology, an interval of three steps, as there is between Cancer and Libra, is known as a Square aspect. This hard 90° angle brings forth some punishing energy. At times it may feel as if no topic or field of endeavour is safe from disagreement or contestation.

Libra's all-encompassing, deliberative attitude is highly intellectual, and they are keenly interested in social institutions and practices. Cancer's instincts, on the other hand, tend to be much more private and emotional, focusing on empathy, the home, and nurturing a comfortable identity. For Libra, Cancer can therefore seem vague or distracted, whereas Cancer may think Libra is preoccupied with superficial concerns that obscure more foundational elements of life. The intensity of Libra's interest in ideas and society usually produces a highly extroverted and at times harshly critical personality, while Cancer is naturally far more introverted, sensitive, and moody. These tensions can be traced in part to the respective elements. Libra's Air always emphasizes cerebral, social concerns, where Cancer's Water is essentially fluid and abstract. Further, these signs share a Cardinal modality, meaning they both express the pure energy of inception, when any project is at its most inchoate and raw. Without a counterbalancing modality, Cancer and Libra have little choice but to face head-on the differences between them.

In spite of these challenges, however, the true gift of Square energy is that it is highly conducive to growth. For one thing, the sheer power of this connection can be intoxicating or enchanting. Personal or sexual chemistry is strongly indicated. Further, the sparring between Cancer and Libra can provoke extraordinary personal development for both parties. There is a quality of having one's feet held to the fire about interactions between these signs. Few matches in the Western zodiac can so potently crystallize for Cancer and Libra exactly what they most desire in life.

Not all Square matches survive without evolving in form, and strategies for compartmentalization can be helpful in many cases. Yet ultimately this energy can be a blessing for both signs, and if it can be controlled, it may lead to a life-changing and deeply rewarding relationship.

Celebrity Cancer/Libra Pairings*

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

Billy Crudup and Naomi Watts
Billy Crudup and Naomi Watts (click for attribution/s)

Billy Crudup (7/8/1968, Cancer Monkey), Naomi Watts (9/28/1968, Libra Monkey) : The actors became a couple around 2017 and appeared together on the red carpet at the SAG Awards in February 2022. Both have children from previous relationships. In an Instagram post after the Emmy awards, Watts said simply: "What a night... What a dress... What a gent... ❤️✨"

Willem Dafoe (7/22/1955, Cancer Sheep), Giada Colagrande (10/16/1975, Libra Rabbit) : The actor and film-maker have been married since 2005. "I met [Colagrande] on the street in Rome in 2004. I knew of her because I'd seen her films and we had some mutual friends. Getting married was very impulsive and romantic. We were having lunch and I said: 'Do you want to get married tomorrow?' I called up City Hall and they said: 'If you get here in the next couple of hours, you can register and then you can get married tomorrow.' So we ran down there."

Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird (click for attribution/s)

Megan Rapinoe (7/5/1985, Cancer Ox), Sue Bird (10/16/1980, Libra Monkey) : The basketball and soccer players have been a couple since 2017. Individually and together, they have been credited with "[B]oundary-obliterating levels of achievement on and off the field." Speaking about their lives together after they retire from professional sports, Rapinoe described: "I’m excited. Because there’s like [miming separate boxes with her hands] Megan, and Sue. And then there’s Megan and Sue. And I think that there’s so much to be done in all of those three buckets...I hope [our legacy is that] people see it doesn’t have to be this slog where you’re just a selfless servant. You can have fun, you can be successful. You can do it your own way."

Courtney Love (7/9/1964, Cancer Dragon), Carrie Fisher (10/21/1956, Libra Monkey) : The actor and musician/actor shared a strong friendship after they met at the Oscars ceremony in 1997. In the Foreword to Love's book, Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love, Fisher wrote: "There’s a saying: 'Some of us can’t find heaven without backing away from hell.' Well, it seems to me that that’s been part of Courtney Love’s experience—not that she’s found heaven, but I’m sure she has seen glimpses of the place. How could she not, with all her experience fighting her demons?…After all is said and done—whenever that is—she is a survivor. Unfortunately, the only thing wrong with being a survivor is you have to keep getting in trouble to show off your gift. Getting in trouble and then getting out again, bearing gifts."

Will Smith and Jaden Smith
Will Smith and Jaden Smith (click for attribution/s)

Jaden Smith (7/8/1998, Cancer Tiger), Will Smith (9/25/1968, Libra Monkey) : The father and son actors have appeared together on screen several times. Will Smith's memoir, Will, described: "After Earth was an abysmal box office and critical failure, and what was worse was that Jaden took the hit. Fans and the press were absolutely vicious; they said and printed things about Jaden that I refuse to repeat. Jaden had faithfully done everything that I'd instructed him to do, and I had coached him. We never discussed it, but I know he felt betrayed. He felt misled, and he lost his trust in my leadership. At fifteen years old, when Jaden asked about being an emancipated minor, my heart shattered. He ultimately decided against it, but it sucks to feel like you've hurt your kids."

Paul Schrader (7/22/1946, Cancer Dog), Mary Beth Hurt (9/26/1946, Libra Dog) : The director and actor have been married since 1983 and have two children together. They have rarely spoken in public about their relationship, but in 1989, Mary Beth Hurt said simply, "I have everything I want, everything I need. And more. Paul and the kids are the best thing that ever happened to me."

Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield
Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield (click for attribution/s)

Mike Tyson (6/30/1966, Cancer Horse), Evander Holyfield (10/19/1962, Libra Tiger) : The two former world champion boxers fought for the WBA heavyweight title in 1996, with Tyson infamously biting Holyfield's ear. Years later they reconciled, with both speaking warmly about the other. Tyson said, "We're both at a stage in our lives where we can work together and make really a good thing happen. He's a beautiful person. I've known Evander since I was 15." Holyfield commented, "He appreciates that I forgave him. He's forgiven himself. That's how you make adjustments in life."

Cheryl Cole (6/30/1983, Cancer Pig), Simon Cowell (10/7/1959, Libra Pig) : The two media personalities were both judges on The X Factor in the UK. They had a public falling out when Cole was dropped from the US version of the show after one episode, then reconciled and appeared together again in the UK edition. Often described as "frenemies", Cole described one exchange as follows: "[Cowell] said the same thing to my face about me manipulating him. I said: 'Simon, seriously – you've become so cynical that you think people manipulate you, but I'm not one of those people. Maybe what confuses you is that I don't play with you; you can't buy me.' And he said to me: 'When I say you manipulate, I mean it in the sincerest form of a compliment. Meaning: you're highly intelligent, and I don't even think you know you're doing it.'"

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Chinese Zodiac sign, the Tiger
Chinese Zodiac sign, the Snake

Chinese Zodiac

Tiger and Snake

Compatibility overview

Devotees of the Western zodiac are often surprised by how critical Chinese astrologers are of certain energy matches. Nowhere is the Chinese prognosis as bleak as with the Adversary matches along the fourth degree axis. One such pairing is that between Tiger and Snake, an unsettling combination that is likely to test even the most amiable personalities.

Tiger and Snake - Relationship Horoscope

Read more about the TIGER and SNAKE zodiac signs...

Read more about the CANCER TIGER and LIBRA SNAKE combined zodiac signs...

An infamous adversarial energy surrounds the pairing between the Tiger and Snake.

A confounding aspect of this combination is that the Tiger and Snake both have strong visual appeal, and both naturally focus on abstract ideals over more everyday concerns. Someone who knows them separately could be forgiven for imagining they might get along famously! Yet appearances here can be quite deceptive. The Tiger's instincts favor speed, action, and decisiveness. The Snake, by contrast, leans towards restraint, patience, and reflection. This essential disconnect tends to produce instability and miscommunication. These two will likely vacillate between recklessness and procrastination, secrecy and tactlessness, miserliness and extravagance.

More challenging still, the conflict here is ambiguous rather than direct. Resentment is more likely to fester than to reveal itself through confrontation. There is a quicksand quality to communication, so even attempts at kindness and resolution can be misconstrued by the receiver, or make the giver feel as if they have surrendered or compromised their true self. Ultimately, for a Tiger and Snake to succeed together will likely require strong counterbalancing energy on the Western side, or highly-developed conflict resolution skills. Otherwise the personal growth of both parties may lead to limiting the relationship's scope, or even abandoning it altogether. If such countering forces are brought to bear, however, there is potential here for harmony, and for the relationship to inspire profound personal growth.

Celebrity Tiger/Snake Pairings*

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

Slash and Axl Rose
Slash and Axl Rose (click for attribution/s)

Axl Rose (2/6/1962, Aquarius Tiger), Slash (7/23/1965, Leo Snake) : Before reconciling in 2015, the two founding members of Guns N' Roses were almost as famous for the feud between them as for their legendary collaborations. A lowpoint was Rose saying in 2009 that, "Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after [1988’s GNR Lies]. In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided — and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better."

Marilyn Monroe (6/1/1926, Gemini Tiger), John F. Kennedy (5/29/1917, Gemini Snake) : Monroe's performance of "Happy Birthday" for John F. Kennedy is one of the most famous events in modern U.S. history. Rumours have abounded of a sexual relationship between the two, but according to reports any such liaison was not especially memorable for either of them. The only known photo of them together shows Kennedy looking down and away.

Megan Fox and Michael Bay
Megan Fox and Michael Bay (click for attribution/s)

Megan Fox (5/16/1986, Taurus Tiger), Michael Bay (2/17/1965, Aquarius Snake) : The actor and model Fox starred in the first two Transformers films directed by Bay, but was famously dropped from the third instalment after saying this about the director: "He’s like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for…"

Phil Collins (1/30/1951, Aquarius Tiger), Lily Collins (3/18/1989, Pisces Snake) : The celebrated musician and his model/actor daughter seemed to reconcile in 2020 after a well-publicised estrangement. Lily Collins wrote in her autobiographical essays collection, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me (2017), addressing her father: "We all make choices and, although I don’t excuse some of yours, at the end of the day we can’t rewrite the past. I’m learning how to accept your actions and vocalize how they made me feel. I accept and honor the sadness and anger I felt toward the things you did or didn’t do, did or didn’t give me. I’ve learned a lot and my eyes and heart are wide open."

Barbara Walters and Rosie O’Donnell
Barbara Walters and Rosie O’Donnell (click for attribution/s)

Rosie O’Donnell (3/21/1962, Aries Tiger), Barbara Walters (9/25/1929, Libra Snake) : The two television personalities, both stars of The View, famously clashed during a dressing room confrontation in January 2007 following a dispute about Donald Trump. O'Donnell has since been quoted as saying, "I said something about her daughter, which I should not have said. But I did...Things that were way too personal to bring up, and I brought them up, and I felt regretful since."

Tom Cruise (7/3/1962, Cancer Tiger), Brooke Shields (5/31/1965, Gemini Snake) : The two actors starred together in the 1981 film, Endless Love. In 2005, Cruise criticized Shields' use of antidepressant medications to treat postpartum depression. She rebuked him: "[C]omments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere...If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease."


Combined Relationship Horoscope

Final Words

The Square energy between firstwest and secondwest is perhaps as contrary as any in the Western zodiac. However, while it may sometimes feel as if there is nothing these two cannot disagree about, their disputations can yield great positives, offering rare insight into their individual identities, and producing lifelong benefits. In this case, the greater challenge may be navigating the disturbing energy of the firsteast and secondeast, one of the Chinese zodiac’s most notorious combinations. Clear communication, independent roles in the relationship, and encouraging sensitivity wherever possible may be important for these two, if they are to maximize the available prospects for successful collaboration and affection.

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