Pisces in 2009

“I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.” Thomas Aquinas

Pisces, the final sign before the cycle begins again, is the mutable water sign of the zodiac. She is a being of feeling that is like the water that spills over a damn and fills all the cracks and crevices of the ground or the water that ripples and moves with the wind. All of the universal love of Aquarius is combined with emotional caring, creating the desire in Pisces to help people or animals who are in pain or in need. They are so sensitive that their emotional body changes with the emotional atmosphere of their environment. The greatest lesson for Pisces is to learn the discrimination of her opposite sign, Virgo, and be cautious about extending help so that she doesn’t lose herself in the process of rescuing others. Sometimes Pisces is so sensitive to the needs of others that she shuts down and isolates herself as a self-protective measure. It is important for her to learn at an early age to block out negativity from the people around her, which can make Pisces physically ill. There are several good books on the market about psychic self-defense, and it would be helpful for any Pisces who finds she is having problems when around negative people to learn some of those techniques. One technique for blocking the effects of negativity from others is to just place a piece of plastic wrap over the belly button area under your clothes. Another is to visualize your aura filled with white light, or to visualize yourself surrounded by mirrors and reflect the energy away from you. However, since knowingly causing others ill is bad for your karma, it would probably be best to visualize the negative energy returning to the earth rather than to the person who sent it, as most people who are radiating negative energy are unconscious of that fact. Some Pisces turn to alcohol or drugs to numb themselves to the emotional effects of the negativity around them, but the above techniques are cheaper and easier on the body.

Pisces, like the other mutable signs, now has to deal with the prolonged Saturn/Uranus opposition. People born from approximately March 5 to March 21 will feel this difficult aspect more intensely until Saturn finally leaves Virgo, and the seriousness it brings to Pisces’ lives will taper off at the end of October. For those being affected by the Saturn/Uranus opposition, life is a combination of restriction and rebellion. Duties and health problems can make life seem like it’s slowed down to a crawl with little or no laughter or joy. On the other hand, adding to the stress, situations that Pisces have taken for granted keep changing unexpectedly. Life will begin to lighten up at the end of October, but Uranus will continue to transit Pisces until 2011, moving back and forth between Aries and Pisces beginning this July. The best way to handle Uranian energy is to go with the flow and follow your heart. Pisces is the most psychic of all the signs and is at her best when she trusts herself. You have to realize that the changes are freeing you from stagnant situations and the harder you attempt to hold onto your old ways of doing things, the more stressed out you will become.

On March 16, Mars goes into Pisces until April 22, making a conjunction to Uranus on April 15. This will be a critical period for people born around March 15, with the potential for explosive or rebellious events (arguments, sudden separations from people or jobs, infections, or the sudden desire for freedom from humdrum routine). This conjunction will be felt by everyone in some way, but for Pisces, it will be more intense and more personal.

In the Tarot deck, The Moon is the card associated with Pisces. This card (in the Rider-Waite deck) contains a mysterious pool from which a crayfish is struggling, torn between staying in his comfortable environment or moving into unknown realms of dry land. Two wolves, symbols of instinct, guard the pool of our deepest emotions, and both are looking at the full moon above. Two towers are in the background, guarding the outside world from the unknown. This card is about allowing the mysterious into our lives, but not allowing it to take us over. The element Earth, with its every day duties and realities, and the element Water, the emotional life that we all have within us, join forces in this card, and it is the lesson of Pisces to ground deep emotion so that life isn’t a desert devoid of the profound connections people can only experience when they join together emotionally. To accomplish this, Pisces must move out of her place of comfort and act on her need to be compassionate without causing harm to herself. She is a creature of the water and her symbol is the Fishes, a symbol for the soul. Without emotional connection, the soul of each of us never experiences firsthand that it’s not alone, which, if we let her, is what Pisces will show us. The pool of Pisces’ compassion is limitless, but her ability to protect herself from the disillusionment wrought by those that prey on the feelings of others is not. If you are a Pisces, jump into that mysterious well of emotion and share it with those you love and trust. Your gift to others is through unconditional emotional love, and your lesson is to discriminate so that you do not lose yourself in the process.