Pisces is on the cusp of my 3rd house and there are no planets there, which of course doesn't mean life is devoid of Piscean themes and activities. I have dreams. I like music I meditate sometimes. I can be romantic. Neptune was in the sky when I was born, and so was the traditional so called ruler of Pisces, Jupiter. We all have at least a little Pisces in our lives, in our psyche, and when the Sun arrives in Pisces each year in late February, it's a great time to acknowledge those romantic, dreamy parts of ourselves. If you're into astrology, which presumably you are at least a little if you're reading these words, it's a fine time to see where Pisces is in your natal chart and what is going on there.* Also to take into account the Pisces related planets, Neptune and Jupiter and the condition of the 12th house which represents an area of life where Piscean themes play out.
When I first started zealously learning about astrology, the internet existed but social media did not. I devoured information in books, some great email newsletters from eminent living astrologers, copies of The Mountain Astrologer which arrived in the letterbox and in person classes in the home of a lady in Manhattan. And of course the wonderful website Astrodienst, astro.com, which to this day is one of the greatest resources on the internet on any subject. As I learned to view my life, the lives of others and life itself through the lens of astrology I reached a point which I considered to be too obsessive, a point at which I could not view any event without imposing an astrological framework. I dialed it back and while I never stopped paying attention to astrology, it no longer ruled my world, even as the world kept turning. There were times when I undeniably felt the impact of major planetary transits, but it was not until the Saturn/Pluto conjunction of January 2020, which I'd been anticipating with interest for years that I really dived back in. After all, under that transit I found myself with a lot of newfound time on my hands, a strong internet connection, and thankfully my health.
So to my waking thoughts this snowy morning as I emerged from the hypnopompic realm, where there was a dream sister I had, whilst knowing I don't have a sister in "real" life; my first conscious thought was that the Sun had moved into Pisces, which is on the cusp of my third house which rules, among other things siblings. My second thought was that earlier in the dream, further from the waking moments, I'd dreamed of an old friend I hadn't much thought of in years who perpetually struggled with drug addiction. In the dream, our mutual friend was telling me he'd seen him and that he was as much into heroin and cocaine as he ever was. My friend seemed surprised, as if he thought the addiction had been a phase. I was surprised by his surprise.
Pisces is the zodiac sign most closely associated with the dream realm. Astrology teaches us that of we may feel our dreams communicating with us more intensely during a Pisces transit. Deep feelings, in fact, are a Piscean condition. I would say this is especially true under a Mercury retrograde, in which Mercury is approaching its station, the moment in which the planet appears to end its reverse motion, pause and then once again begin moving forward through the Zodiac. Pisces is associated with escapism, which of course on earth includes drugs and alcohol use. So I couldn't help but consider the reappearance of a drug addict friend in a dream to be a signal to me that the Sun had indeed moved into Pisces and Mercury was indeed still retrograde in Aquarius (friends), approaching its station, astrologically addicted as I am, so much so that I reach for these interpretations before I've even opened my eyes in the morning.
Life has been such in the past year that I no longer think of my astrology addiction as a problem. In fact I've found an online community of likeminded astrology addicts who assure me that "doing" astrology every waking moment is normal. It feels like it helps and doesn't harm me and in fact I'll take this empathetic Pisces season to garner compassion for people who reach for the thing that soothes their feelings and brings their world into a softer focus, making it easier to digest, in the hope that they find what they are seeking, whether it be community or a hand to hold. If it seems that there is an obscure message here, to you, to me, that's right. Pisces rules confusion, and also illusion. These qualities can fuel imagination in the best possible ways, allowing great music, poetry and visual art to be made manifest. This in fact is the greatest time to seek and find inspiration. If you can't see it, pray for it. In Pisces, the veil separating us from the spirits up above is at its thinnest.
On Jupiter, the traditional ruler of Pisces, consider the notion of faith. When we consciously blur the edges of reality, leaning more into the dream than the material world, there is generally a sense of faith that we will awaken. At the end of winter, there is faith that the springtime will arrive, the germinating seeds will burst into clear view, there will be more light and and our focus will return. In the meantime, Let's Get Lost. Let's Dream A Little Dream. If Everybody Must Get Stoned, have faith that it's a way of gaining a temporary respite from the harsher realities of life. And if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, take a summer swim, for Pisces is as deep as the ocean, as high as the sky.
