PISCES - The Love of Love

This part 12 of a 12-part series. It’s a little meditation on understanding the signs based on the Archetype.   

The last part of this series is Pisces, the 12th sign of the zodiac. Its symbol, two fish swimming in opposite directions bound by a cord in the middle, embodies the metaphorical struggle of the sign. One that is pulled between the physical and the spiritual realms, yet unable to be fully immersed in either.   

Finishing our analogy, Pisces season in the Northern Hemisphere is the transition from winter to spring, when the days are gradually warming and the weather becomes more unsettled. It’s the dissolution of one season into the next, and for various cultures, the ending of the current year before a new one begins at the Spring Equinox.  

Think of the qualities associated with Pisces: Feminine, mutable, water.  Through these, we can build the image of a sign that is reactive to its environment (feminine), adaptable and inconsistent (mutable), intuitive and emotional (water). That’s a good start, but when we look at the planetary dignities, a more complex picture of Pisces emerges.  

Pisces, like Scorpio and Aquarius, have both a traditional and a modern ruler, and here we can see how Jupiter and Neptune influence the sign. Jupiter, the planet of expansion, gives an optimistic worldview and heightened feelings which present as intuition, compassion, and faith. With Neptune, the planet of illusion and dissolution, we develop compassion and understanding. What happens is a loss of boundaries, and while this can be great for spiritual development, it can be more difficult to manage in the material world. There’s a reason Pisces is associated with suffering, Jupiter with exaggeration, and Neptune with toxins, escapism, and addiction.   

With Venus exalted in Pisces, we see the planet’s natural affinity for refinement, sensual pleasure, the arts, and relationships enhanced to a remarkable degree. Like with Neptune, however, inability to manage this influence can lead to overindulgence and escapism.  

Two planets are in triplicity in Pisces: The Moon which underscores the sign’s association with emotion, memory, and instinct, and Mars which puts the planet’s energy to use to fulfill the creative drive. 

Mars actually has mixed dignity in the water signs, ruling Scorpio but in fall in Cancer. In Pisces, Mars in Pisces puts beliefs (Jupiter), intuition (Neptune), and the senses (Venus) into action, making it excellent for artistic endeavors, caring professions, and selfless service to a higher ideal. In Pisces, Mars does retain a bit of passive-aggressiveness that you get when it’s in Cancer, but the mutability of Pisces means it’s rarely sustained. Mars in Pisces is a lover, not a fighter.  

Sun and Saturn peregrine in Pisces shows that you don’t necessarily need organized leadership or foresight to achieve the goals of Pisces. And of course, Mercury is in detriment, because rational thinking takes a backseat when in the sign of blind faith and idealism.  

Pisces’ association with the 12th house shows its alignment with the traditional meanings of the house, including endings, suffering, imprisonment, servitude, and the unconscious. Along with the 6th and 8th, it’s one of the three “unfortunate houses” representing the things that take you away from life. But Pisces on the 12th house cusp of the Archetype is also telling you the ideal way to approach these necessary parts of life: With compassion, with faith, and with selflessness, both for ourselves and for others. 

If we derivate, Pisces is the realization of Gemini, meaning our thinking determines how much we suffer. Thankfully the mutability of both signs means we’re given the ability to change. Conversely, the realization of Pisces is in Sagittarius. Here we see the symbolism of how suffering shapes our belief system. Do we anticipate salvation through our suffering, or do we become hardened by resentment? What we achieved in 10 and shared broadly through the 11th, helps us develop compassion in the 12th.

When I say Pisces is the love of love, I don’t mean romantic love. I mean the ability to recognize the absolute unity of life and see ourselves as an integrated part of the whole. It’s this understanding that illuminates the path to transformation before we can begin a new cycle.