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Compatibility
Leo Rooster and Cancer Dog

The slow-burn energy of firstwest and secondwest may lead to a powerfully dependable and nourishing bond, provided the signs can navigate difficult headwinds arising from the firsteast and secondeast combination.

Western Zodiac sign, Leo
Western Zodiac sign, Cancer

Western Zodiac

Leo and Cancer

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.

Leo and Cancer - Relationship Horoscope

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

Read more about the LEO ROOSTER and CANCER DOG 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 Leo/Cancer 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."

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Chinese Zodiac sign, the Rooster
Chinese Zodiac sign, the Dog

Chinese Zodiac

Rooster and Dog

Compatibility overview

Chinese astrology is far less equivocal about matches considered to attract bad energy than its Western counterpart. Unfortunately, the combination of firsteast and secondeast is one of the six notorious Adversary pairings, which generally have the worst reputation of any in the Chinese zodiac.

Rooster and Dog - Relationship Horoscope

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

Read more about the LEO ROOSTER and CANCER DOG combined zodiac signs...

The six Adversary matches along the fourth degree axis are well known for their potentially unstable energy. In the case of the Dog and Rooster, the earnest diligence of the Dog runs headlong into the Rooster's endless enterprise and panache.

If the sensibility of the Dog is captured in a single concept, it is their love and support for the underdog, for causes that are undervalued and neglected by society at large. The Rooster is almost incapable of fulfilling this description. Rooster natives tend to be larger than life from the moment of first impact, fashionable to the hilt, with energy to burn. Hence these two will likely clash from the beginning. In the eyes of the Dog, the Rooster may appear to be all pomp and no substance—a noisy, posing, and superficial distraction from people and projects that are truly deserving. For the Rooster, meanwhile, the Dog can be an interminably boring worrywart, a judgemental handbrake on the kinds of expansive enterprise that make life worth living.

Initial friction can become especially damaging over time. As a duo, these two will tend to take turns at being hypercritical, overanxious, wounded and bitter, or patronizingly antagonistic—oftentimes all at once. The hallmark of this energy is that hostility is more indirect than direct. Fury is thus more likely to fester than explode, and instability can persist without ever building to a direct confrontation. Attempts to defuse the tension are likely to achieve little more than rehashing the same old disputes, so contrary are the instincts of these conflicting personalities.

As ever in astrology, success is not foreclosed by such troublesome energy. But strongly positive influences on the Western side, or sophisticated strategies for conflict resolution, may be necessary for these two to find happiness together.

Celebrity Rooster/Dog Pairings*

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

Madonna and Mariah Carey
Madonna and Mariah Carey (click for attribution/s)

Mariah Carey (3/27/1969, Aries Rooster), Madonna (8/16/1958, Leo Dog) : A longstanding feud between the two music superstars has seen them exchange harsh criticisms. Said Madonna, "We have to realize that the same country that acquitted O.J. is the same country that...buys Mariah Carey records. It's this homogeneity. But it's got nothing to do with art." Carey responded, "I really haven't paid attention to Madonna since I was in seventh or eighth grade when she used to be popular."

Tucker Carlson (5/16/1969, Taurus Rooster), Donald Trump (6/14/1946, Gemini Dog) : The 45th US President and media personality had appeared to have a supportive relationship, with Carlson being described in 2020 as, "[P]erhaps the highest-profile proponent of 'Trumpism'." However, private messages revealed in early 2023 revealed Carlson's antipathy towards Trump. Carlson's messages included: "All of [Trump's business ventures] fail. What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that."; "We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait...I hate him passionately."; and "[Trump's] a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us. I’ve been thinking about this every day for four years."

Prince William and Meghan Markle
Prince William and Meghan Markle (click for attribution/s)

Meghan Markle (8/4/1981, Leo Rooster), Prince William (6/21/1982, Cancer Dog) : The complex relationship between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and other members of the British royal family, particularly Harry's brother Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine, has become one of the most famous feuds of all time. During the Netflix documentary series, Harry & Meghan, Markle spoke about a senior aide to William who gave unfavourable evidence in a lawsuit she brought against an English tabloid. "It's your brother," Markle said to Harry on screen. "Not gonna say anything about your brother, but it's so obvious."

Quincy Jones (3/14/1933, Pisces Rooster), Michael Jackson (8/29/1958, Virgo Dog) : The producer and musician collaborated on the celebrated albums Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. Since Jackson's death, Jones has been outspoken in his criticisms of the "King of Pop", saying, "Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs...The notes don’t lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come. Greedy, man. Greedy."

Priscilla and Elvis Presley
Priscilla and Elvis Presley (click for attribution/s)

Priscilla Presley (5/24/1945, Gemini Rooster), Elvis Presley (1/8/1935, Capricorn Dog) : The musician dubbed "The King of Rock and Roll" and the actor/businesswoman met when Priscilla was 14. They later had a famously troubled marriage. Both reportedly had multiple affairs. Priscilla described how Elvis stopped being attracted to her after their daughter was born, as he "had a hard time dealing with me being a mother and the little girl that I was to him", and referred to herself as "Elvis’ living doll, to fashion as he pleased."

Errol Flynn (6/20/1909, Gemini Rooster), David Niven (3/1/1910, Pisces Dog) : The two actors from Hollywood's golden age were frequent co-stars and lived together for a time. Niven's memoirs included seriously unflattering descriptions of Flynn. "The great thing about Errol," Niven wrote, "was you always knew exactly where you stood with him because he always let you down."

Minnie Driver (1/31/1970, Aquarius Rooster), Matt Damon (10/8/1970, Libra Dog) : The two actors were a high-profile celebrity couple after they began dating while co-starring in Good Will Hunting. Driver has claimed that Damon effectively broke up with her by announcing on Oprah that he was single: "It seemed like a good forum for him to announce to the world that we were no longer together, which I found fantastically inappropriate. Of course, he was busy declaring his love for me on David Letterman a month previously."


Combined Relationship Horoscope

Final Words

The neighborly semi-Sextile connection between firstwest and secondwest usually needs some time to see past their differences and initial nervousness, although in the long term they have quite wonderful potential for support and tenderness. Admittedly, in this case the firsteast and secondeast combination presents a difficult obstacle, often contributing a serious lack of sympathy or understanding. Yet semi-Sextile energy is nothing if not a quiet achiever. With determination and careful strategizing, these two may find that long-term dependability, nourishment, and reward prove less difficult to achieve than they first thought.

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