PISCES / The Fish / February 19th – March 19th

As the twelfth and last sign of the Zodiac, Pisces is at the end of the circle, the sign of eternity, reincarnation, and rebirth.  In mystical terms, it is described as half-body/half-spirit pulled between material existence and spiritual concerns.  Pisces is thought to be an old soul.

Subtle and intuitive, this mystical sign is born with the gift of prophecy.  Like other water signs (i.e., Scorpio and Cancer), Pisces can see deeply into the human psyche.  It gathers information through instinct, sensing things before it knows them.  These insights are rarely wrong.

Pisces is the mystical sign of the poet and dreamer.  When it puts energy into creating fantasies, it is the most creative of all the zodiac. 

This sign’s element is water, and the imagery of the sea is evident in how it adapts to shifting currents.  It is sensitive to criticism and other people’s feelings and is hugely influenced by its surroundings and the people who touch its life.  In fact, Pisces will often “meld” with others, owning another’s problems, joys, and woes as its own.  While this trait can be a blessing, it is also a curse.  Learning how to say no will be a lifelong project yet, Pisces may never learn how to say no at all. 

Pisces’ symbol – two fishes linked together and swimming in different directions – points to its tendency to vacillate between one idea and the next.  It can be difficult for Pisces to decide what to do with its life.  Often it never attains the position in life to which its gifts entitle it to.

Pisces is capable of great sacrifice and high intellectual achievement. It will work tirelessly in the background, especially for a cause it believes in.  While this sign often lacks the confidence to be a leader, it always acts as a guide, teacher, and role model to many. Blending compassion and understanding with great verve, Pisces exerts power on people whose lives it touches

Yet, absent-minded Pisces is often late and unreliable.  It resists things like shopping lists, maps, and instructions, preferring to feel its way through life than follow a plan.  Pisces much prefer to go with the flow rather than make waves and can appear wish-washy at times.

Ancient astrologers called Pisces the sign of “Sorrow from Self-Undoing”. A fatal flaw in Pisces is the tendency to flee from what it doesn’t want to deal with and has a high susceptibility to drugs and alcohol.  

Key words:  Compassion, adaptable, versatile, changeable, imaginative, sensitive, perceptive, intuitive, empathetic, soft-hearted, accepting, devoted, indecisive, lazy, escapist, illusion, spiritual, deceptive, cheater, artistic, gentle, martyr, trusting, sad, wise, receptive, emotional, romantic, impressionable, mystical.

Glyph: The pictograph represents two Fishes tied together.  It is also a picture of the human feet (the part of the anatomy that Pisces rules).  In symbolic terms, the glyph is two crescent moons connected by a straight line.  This represents emotion and higher consciousness tied to and limited by the material world.

Myth: The two fish represent the fish that Aphrodite and Eros transformed into to escape the monster Typhon.