Thursday, March 12, 2015

Pisces Sign-wise

 From Searle's Zodiac by cartoonist Ronald Searle
The more posts I write, and the more natal charts I inspect, the less I feel able to label anyone with the name of the zodiac sign through which the Sun was travelling as they were born. There are clearly defined labels and characteristics associated with each zodiac sign, available in any astrology text book. These are labels and keywords applying to essences of the signs; they are almost always stated in descriptive terms which are human-related, in order to assist readers wishing to learn how to interpret the natal charts of humans.

Other than for a small number of people who, at birth, had all personal planets and ascendant in just one zodiac sign, text book guidelines for any single zodiac sign, taken as description of a person who was born as the Sun traversed that sign, are going to seem anywhere from a touch off course to miles adrift in a sea of confusion.

Bearing that in mind, a look at Pisces, last of the 12 zodiac signs, through which the Sun now travels. Pisces, like Aquarius, has two potential rulers: its traditional ruler is Jupiter, but modern astrologers hold that Neptune rules Pisces. Jupiter does fit its other sign of rulership, Sagittarius, very well. How did it traditionally fit Pisces? Jupiter's reputation for excess could relate to a potential for addiction associated with Pisces; Jupiter has links to religion and philosophy, the Age of Pisces, through which many astrologers consider we are still wandering, was marked by the start of Christianity.

Neptune as Pisces modern ruler: Neptunian traits can be reflected in any sign if Neptune is strongly placed and aligned in a chart, same thing applies to traits of Uranus, modern ruler of Aquarius. I'd hesitate to apply reputed Neptunian traits (e.g. love of the sea, film/photography, highly creative, dreamy, foggy) automatically to anyone born with a strong showing of Pisces in their natal chart, unless Neptune were linked by aspect to personal planets.

On the whole I find it safer to rely on Pisces' astrological element and quality for guidance: Mutable Water. Translated = gentleness, sensitivity, emotionality, empathy. Once Pisces is thrown into the natal mix, though, it becomes part and parcel of something else.

Let's use a metaphor: natal chart as ...a salad. Lettuce (or any leafy vegetable), the base of many salads, remains lettuce or leafy vegetable whatever else is tossed into the bowl - but its flavor blends differently when taken as a mouthful of lettuce and walnut, or lettuce and olive , or lettuce and strawberry, with a delicate vinaigrette ...or, well, you get the idea. Lettuce is still lettuce, but it takes on a different characteristic depending on accompaniments. Unless you ate a bowl of lettuce, unadorned by dressing, even without salt and pepper, you'd never experience the true flavor and texture of lettuce. Likewise, unless a natal chart is composed purely of personal planets and ascendant in a single sign, you'd never see unadulterated Pisces (or any other sign) in a human personality.

I'd like to write about a purely Pisces person, I'd love to meet one, I don't know one. I know one with Sun at 1 Aries, Mercury at 29 Pisces, and Saturn at 26 Pisces - the husband! He's "cuspy" - but proper astrologers don't often give "cuspiness" much credence. I can "feel" his Pisces parts (he doesn't allow just anyone to do this!) They are, however, always being frog-marched into hiding by Aries, not to mention being occasionally outshone by Moon and ascendant in Leo.

So here we have Pisces manifesting as someone with artistic talent, love of photography; with a rather quieter nature than is often found in Aries Sun + Leo Moon and rising - yet with a background in management; impulsive and spontaneous, but can't remember what day it is or what he had for breakfast, or even if he did in fact have breakfast. It's all rolled up into one....Aries modifies Pisces, Pisces modifies Aries, and Leo modifies both and is, at the same time, itself modified. As it happens, in the husband's chart Neptune trines Jupiter - so the two rulers of Pisces are in harmony with each other, and Neptune semi-sextiles Moon, so Neptune's link to photography is relevant here.

What I'm trying to say, in convoluted fashion, is that although every sign has it's intrinsic meaning, it's unwise to assume that the sign's text book meaning will show up unmodified, or even in an outwardly recognisable form, in a flesh and blood human being.

6 comments:

Sonny G said...


I too have this experience in my own life.. many years ago I went to metaphysical book store who's owner was a professional astrologer. She'd done 100's of reading and was most always accurate as knowing one's sun sign after she'd met them a few times. She had 22 years of experience at this sunject and was known for her intuition as well as acute accurancy when reading the inner and overall chart.... I had known her 3 years and been to her store 40 to 60 times:)
I always paid cash in so no licence showing when paying my bill as would have been true.. at the 3 year mark I asked for a full chart reading.. It took 3 weeks to do the report and evaluated , only then was your reading scheduled...
When I arrived for mine, the first words out of her mouth were " I am STUNNED, that you are not a scorpio~!! she actually asked me if I'd lied about my birth information, just to make it look like she didnt know what she was doing.. ::YIKES- do I look that devious??:: lol
I assured her I was paying 75.00:::large amount at that time:: just to fool around...She did the reading but at the end she said again, she was shocked she had sincerely believed I was scorpio and that I was'nt was mind boggling to her. I had always been clearly myself when visiting there I assure ya'll..
so when folks tell me their sun sign, I know all too well there is much to be learned about them far beyond that.
Mike said , some months ago , he felt my ascendent was way to close to the end of libra, not to reflect as more scorpio than not:)
that hit home with me in a big way.. yes I was taught/trained by my mother to be charming/libra but lemme tell ya'll "I aint that dang charming and it isnt my first instinct when dealing with anything :):) luckily most folks cant see whats really going on in my mind.. if they could, I'd be screwed .

Sonny G said...

update lol

I assured her I was NOT paying 75.00:::large amount at that time:: just to fool around

Twilight said...

Sonny ~ Interesting! There's something else to factor in too, our own astrological make-up will likely colour how we see others, and what stands out to us in another person. Maybe the store owner had Scorpio emphasis in her own chart.

LOL - Or maybe your Moon conjunct Uranus likes to surprise people with the unexpected. :-)

I do think there's more in "cuspiness" than astrologers like to admit, but it's hard to prove - as is everything astrological. It all comes down to personal experience.

mike said...

Re cusps - I definitely consider cusps. A person with a 27* Libra ascendant has a hefty portion of Scorpio in their first house. When a planet transits or aspects Scorpio, that individual will be affected in their first house. I have a number of friends and relatives that have late-sign ascendants and each invariably has distinctive features of the sign occupying the bulk of the first house, and those characteristics come through more strongly than the sign on the ascendant.

Even if an individual has an ascendant in the early degrees of a sign, if that first house contains any portion of the next sign, that next sign will flavor the first house. Same logic applies: when a planet transits or aspects that portion of the next sign, it will be experienced in the first house. It's the same for any house in the natal chart...few, if any, individuals will have only one sign in each of their houses.

I have 7* Gemini on the ascendant and the 2nd house cusp has 29* Gemini, so I'm fully Gemini first house. My 6th house cusp is 22* Libra and has Scorpio intercepted, with the 7th house cusp at 7* Sagittarius. I have three signs in the 6th house. Saturn's transit in Libra ended back in 2012, but I'll still be experiencing Saturn's transit of my 6th house through the end of 2015.

The coming (new Moon) solar eclipse at 29* Pisces will directly aspect anyjazz, Twilight. Keep us posted as whether this has any significance.


Sonny - I keep leaving you a note about a message on last Thursday's "Cartoon Appreciation".

Twilight said...

mike ~ Sonny responded - the comment had been lurking in "awaiting moderation" I published it yesterday and left you a note to that effect (somewhere).

Yes your points on first house and houses generally are good ones - if a person knows their accurate time of birth...and depending on the house system being used too, I suppose.
Variables, variables!

I'm not expecting much significance from the eclipse - I had a direct hit from a solar eclipse on my natal Sun a few years back - nothing happened. I'm not into eclipses as being portents of anything at all.
But I shall post anything of interest in that regard, sure! :-)
PS: As it happens, though...lol...we are tentatively planning to go off on a wee birthday trip for Himself (b'day 22 Mar.) actually setting off on 20th. I'll report "from the road" if we ever do get "on the road" again, that is. I count on nothing these days!

Sonny G said...

Mike.. what Annie said:)

thank you again